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Kearney joins Noble - 26 August 2009
Tom Kearney, formerly commercial director at Bisichi Mining, will join Noble on September 1. Kearney left Bisichi at the end of July.
Kearney has accepted a position with Noble’s Africa Commodities Group (ACG), a joint venture in South Africa with Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) company Altius Investment Holdings. The j.v. is owned 60% by Noble and 40% by Altius and focuses mainly on coal business in South Africa.
Kearney will take up a chief executive position responsible for trading, origination and asset development.
Noble has also recently hired Brandon Summerford from LBH to head up operations at ACG and Papi Molotsane, the ex-CEO of South Africa’s Telkom, as a consultant. Molotsane was also group executive of operations for Transnet.
Fine Brothers Celebrates 100 Years
On Thursday the 26th February 2009, Fine Bros (Pty) Ltd celebrated its 100th
birthday on Cape Town Market. A glitzy gala dinner was hosted at the Cape Town
market where 500 guests from a diversified background within the Fresh Produce
Industry where in attendance. The evening was a great success and Fine Bros are
ready for the next 100 years of business. The guest speakers for the evening were
Ian Lourens (Chairman of Lebombo Growers), John Holmes (Chief Operations officer of CTM),
Dr Anwar Nagia (Chairman of CTM) and Quintus Visser (Entrepreneur and Family friend
of the Norman family). The evening was well orchestrated by the MC, Ryan O Connor from
KFM, and he had the audience captivated with his well known charm and sense of humour.
Count of Eight Entertainment
Count of Eight Entertainment's mission is to provoke change and tolerance in
a society, where it is easier to judge than to understand.
Born from a concept created by co owner Amy Rosslind the organization seeks
to focus on the difficulties and situations that women had overcome in their
lives.
They aim to articulate their message through stage productions where the
focus is on creating an awareness that ignites excitement and a subsequent
passion to form part of the solution to the issues of drug abuse, sexuality
and teen pregnancy.
Altius Investment Holdings through its commitment to making social change
visible is proud to be associated with Count of Eight Entertainment and its
vision of being part of the solution to the ills facing our society today.
Bursary Awarded
Altius Investment Holdings and it’s subsidiary Cape Town Market recently awarded
a bursary to a highly regarded individual namely Justin Hendricks.
Justin is a final year Forensic Auditing student who upon completion of his studies
will be deployed within the Altius group. It is believed that he has a bright future
and that he will add significant value to the teams at both Altius and Cape Town Market.
Concluding the formalities with Justin (right) on behalf of Altius Investment Holdings
and Cape Town Market respectively is Mr. Abdullah Waggie.
Altius United Captures Title
Altius United CC was crowned the WP cricket association 1A league champions for the
2008/2009 season at their home base namely Green Point Track on Saturday 14 March 2009.
They came from behind to record a scintillating 63 run victory over St Augustine CC and
in the process thwarted the challenge of the other contenders.
The newly crowned champion side will now represent the Western Province Cricket Association
in the National club championship to be held in Gauteng later this year.
Amecus Awarded Post Office Contract - August 2008
Education Company Amecus has been awarded a major training contract by the Post Office.
The contract, which will commence in October 2008, is to provide Finance and Triple
Bottom Line training to all senior managers throughout the Post Office. In late 2009
similar programs will be taught to junior managers.
Altius held its AgM on 24th May 2008 at the Cape Town Market. The majority of shareholders attended
the morning function travelling from all parts of South Africa. Shareholders were welcomed to the
meeting by the Chairman of Altius, Dr Anwah Nagia. Dr Nagia reported on a year of excellent growth
for the company and on good prospects for the years ahead. The Chairman reminded shareholders that
Altius had established a good record of social responsibility and that it was important that Altius
maintained a balance between creating shareholder wealth and making a difference to those less
fortunate in the community.
In his report to the AGM, Rob Lowe, CEO of Altius, advised shareholders that Altius had evolved into
a commodities based business. Soft commodities such as fruit and vegetables were traded through the
Cape Town Market and would be developed further in the years ahead through the newly established
division Altius Green. In addition sugar, maize, wheat and soya would be traded through Africa
Commodities Group. Hard commodities such as coal and iron ore would be traded through Endulwini
Resources and Africa Commodities Group.
Endulwini Coal Receives Mineral Rights - July 2008
On 3rd July the Department of Mines & Energy signed off the grant of New Order Mineral
Rights to Endulwini Coal. The rights relate to Endulwini’s property at Groenvlei in
Kwa-Zulu Natal. The property, which has been renamed Kwagga Colliery, contains measured
reserves of 103 million tons of low ash coal and 38 million tons of anthracite. A mining
plan and feasibility study is now in the course of preparation. It is expected that mining
will commence in early 2009.
Africa Commodities Group meets in Bali - May 2008
The quarterly Board of Directors meeting of Africa Commodities Group was convened
in Bali on 29th May 2008. The meeting received a progress report from the asset team
that has been deployed in Southern Africa since the beginning of this year and approved
the establishment of joint ventures with two coal mining groups.
The directors attending the Board Meeting also attended the Kalimatan Cup, an annual event
hosted by Noble Energy Incorporated.
Annual General Meeting - May 2008
Altius held its AGM on 24th May 2008 at the Cape Town Market. The majority of shareholders
attended the morning function travelling from all parts of South Africa. Shareholders were
welcomed to the meeting by the Chairman of Altius, Dr Anwah Nagia. Dr Nagia reported on a year
of excellent growth for the company and on good prospects for the years ahead. The Chairman reminded
shareholders that Altius had established a good record of social responsibility and that it was
important that Altius maintained a balance between creating shareholder wealth and making a difference
to those less fortunate in the community.
In his report to the AGM, Rob Lowe, CEO of Altius, advised shareholders that Altius had evolved into
a commodities based business. Soft commodities such as fruit and vegetables were traded through the
Cape Town Market and would be developed further in the years ahead through the newly established division
Altius Green. In addition sugar, maize, wheat and soya would be traded through Africa Commodities Group.
Hard commodities such as coal and iron ore would be traded through Endulwini Resources and Africa Commodities
Group.
Altius Green is born - May 2008
On Tuesday 27th May 2008 the shareholders in Altius Green (Proprietary) Limited
signed the Subscription & Shareholders agreement at the offices of Altius at Cape Town
Market. The signing of the agreement ended several months of planning and negotiation for
this important initiative.
Altius Green will focus on commercial opportunities in the agri-business sector. Dr
Mohammed Karaan has been appointed Chairman of Altius Green.
Visit of the Foreign Minister of Singapore - April 2008
Altius hosted the Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Singapore,
Zainul Abidin Rasheed, to breakfast on Wednesday 2nd April at 08.00 in the James Frater Boardroom
at Cape Town Market. The Minister was accompanied by the High Commissioner for Singapore to
South Africa Justice M P H Rubin.
The visit enhanced the strong business relationship that Altius has with Singapore through its
joint venture with Noble Group and other business initiatives.
The Minister addressed those attending the breakfast concerning the strong ties that exist between
South Africa and Singapore and there followed a discussion concerning measures that might be taken
to strengthen these ties further.
Amecus Corporate Governance Specialists - April 2008
Dr Mike Ellis-Smith, Managing Director of Altius subsidiary, Amecus, recently reported
on progress as follows:
Amecus is currently training the entire Sappi Group of Companies on Triple Bottom Line
Management. Sappi’s involvement with the environment through its forestation, is extensive;
as a company it is a keen custodian of its environmental practices, and routinely reviews
all of its best practices in this regard. It is also a leader in the development of people
in its BEE activities, and is a Blue Chip Listed Company on the JSE. It is particularly
satisfying that Sappi has chosen to use Amecus as their consultants in Triple Bottom Line
training and responsibility. Content of ‘’Managing the Triple Bottom Line’’ program can be
seen on the Amecus website.
The Holcim Cement Company, which used to be known as Anglo Alpha, has just signed Amecus to
train the company in Triple Bottom Line Management. Holcim, with its quarries and Factory Kilns
around the country falls under the jurisdiction of the Mining Charter, The Amecus program, which
covers the Mining Charter in detail, highlights the 3 key elements of the Charter which Holcim
required to send as a developmental message throughout, namely: Fairness, Sustainability and Change.
Linked to the Financial competence in the program, Holcim felt that the content of the Amecus course
was ideal for this multiple purpose.
Impala Platinum Mining Company has previewed the Mining Version of the Amecus Triple Bottom Line program,
and subject to the final approval of the Operational Board, the program is to be introduced at the Mines
in June. The program has been extensively tailor-made to the Mining Industry, specifically in regard to
measures of (i) Financial profitability, (ii) Environmental Accountability (iii) Social Sustainability.
The SA Post Office is to commence training in Financial Management in May, subject to their final loading
onto the system of Amecus as an accredited vendor. The Practical Managerial Finance Program – alternatively
known as Finance for the non-Financial Manager, has been tailor-made for South African State Owned
Enterprises, and includes continual reference to the Public Finance Management Act – the PFMA – which is
also included in an accessible appendix in the program. In easy-to-follow format, the program content teaches
managers of State Enterprises the use interpretation and compilation of the three financial statements needed
by every manager, notably: (i)The Income Statement; (ii) the Balance Sheet; (iii) The Budget. The content was
seen by the Post Office as being one of their most critical training needs.
Eskom has recently accredited Amecus as a registered vendor, with accreditation being supplied from both
Megawatt Park as well as by Distribution. The content of the Amecus Triple Bottom Line program fits entirely
with Eskom’s stated policies regarding environmental, social and financial reporting standards. A pilot program
for the course is currently being scheduled in Cape Town, and the content has been accepted as a necessary
inclusion at the Eskom University College in Midrand.
The giant Sasol Group of companies has used the Amecus Triple Bottom Line program on two occasions and following
a recent series of discussions and updates of the program, Sasol is currently favourably reviewing further
inclusion of the program into its development programs. Amecus is an accredited Service Provider with the
Services SETA, and as such enables its clients to claim back a substantial portion of its training costs spent
on Amecus. SETA accreditation is virtually a sine qua non for training providers to South African companies,
and is a valuable, sought after imperative.
Amecus is currently being graded as a Level 3 Provider on the BBBEE Score Card by the National Empowerment
Rating Agency. The Altius Holdings ownership of 51% of Amecus, together with Amecus’s own accredited BEE
suppliers, and its own activities directed at continuous training and upliftment of South Africa’s previously
disadvantaged employees makes Amecus a very favourable company for high BBBEE grading.
We at Altius say “Well done, congratulations and keep up the good work” to our Amecus colleagues!
Altius United Cricket Club – March 2008
The Altius United Cricket Club First XI beat Durbanville at the Green Point Track on
Saturday 22nd March by an innings and 135 runs. As a consequence Altius United moved to
5th place on the A division log with 1 round of games remaining. Winning the last game
could see Altius United finishing amongst the top three of the league.
On Sunday 23rd March the Altius United Second XI annexed the one day trophy in their division.
The surprise visit of former Pakistan test cricket hero Saeed Anwar to the game provided an
extra exciting dimension to the event.
Africa Commodities Group – February 2008
A meeting of the Board of Africa Commodities Group was held at the offices of Altius Investment
Holdings in Cape Town on 1st February 2008. Four of the seven directors flew into Cape Town from
London, Singapore and Hong Kong for the meeting.
The Chairman of ACG, Dr Anwah Nagia, reported good progress since the inaugural meeting of the Board
held in Hong Kong in August 2007.
Africa Commodities Group – January 2008
On Wednesday 30th January members of Noble Group Limited from London and Singapore
and Altius Investment Holdings hosted a cocktail party at the V&A Waterfront to officially
launch their joint venture Africa Commodities Group. The guest of honour was Western Cape
Premier Ebrahim Rasool.
150 guests were welcomed to the occasion by Andrew Bingham, Senior Vice President of Noble
Energy and Executive Chairman of Altius, Dr Anwah Nagia.
Premier Rasool welcomed Noble Groups investment into South Africa particularly at this time of
high energy demand. The Premier was also delighted that Noble Group had selected a Western Cape
group, Altius Investment Holdings, as its BEE partner of choice.
The Kramer & Petersen Songbook – Dec. 2007 – Jan. 2008
Altius Investment Holdings was proud to be the sponsor of “Songbook” for its debut run at
the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town in December 2007 and January 2008. David Kramer wrote “Songbook”
as a tribute to his late friend and partner Taliep Petersen.
Taliep Petersen and David Kramer worked together for twenty years (1986 – 2006), writing songs
and creating musicals that have been performed across the globe in cities like Kuala Lumpur,
London, Vienna, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, New York and Las Vegas. To honour their friendship
and the legacy of Taliep’s music, David wrote and presented “Song Book”.
The evening of song and dance was a celebration of their creative partnership, featuring highlights
and popular songs written by the musical duo during their long association, which established a body
of work that reflects Cape Town's past and present.
“Songbook” played to full houses throughout its run and will be returning for three extra weeks from 16th
April to 3rd May 2008.
District Six Homecoming Festival - November 2007
The annual District Six Homecoming Festival was hosted by Altius Investment Holdings in November 2007. One of the first sponsors to respond to the challenge was Altius Investment Holdings who had made its Cape Town Market in Epping available as venue for the festival when the earlier District Six venue was nullified by destructive winds. Spokesperson Dr Anwah Nagia gave the station the assurance that the festival would have a home at the Cape Town Market for 2008 for the second consecutive year.
This is particularly good news for the station since its previous home at Greenpoint Stadium will be out of commission until 2010, although the City of Cape Town had assured VOC that they wanted it to return to this stadium upon completion. Festival goers had also enjoyed the new venue and in the post-festival feedback, the majority had requested a return to the Cape Town Market.
Nagia, who is also the chairperson of the District Six Beneficiary and Redevelopment Trust, said they had been excited about naming the 2007 festival after District Six. “The Cape Town Market had been used by people who once lived in the CBD, but who had been dispersed to the Cape Flats and townships. Apartheid may well not be on the statute books any more, but the condition people live in remains a product of apartheid. Today it is sad to see that people who once owned business in the CBD have been relegated to the sidewalks and stations.
“So when an opportunity came for us to buy the former Epping Market from the city, we pulled out all stop to make it happen, because it meant returning the market to the people. When VOC needed a new home for the festival it provided us with a great opportunity and we almost begged them to consider the venue. So saying that we had come to the station’s rescue would be taking credit unfairly,” Nagia said.
He said the company was proud of its association with VOC and what the station had accomplished in the last 13 years. “We must remember that in the dark days before 1994, there was no such things as a free press where you could hear, read or say what you wished. It had all been banned. But post 1994, government afforded communities access to radio to expressed themselves in their own nuanced fashion.
“In the last 13 years, we have only been impressed by the dynamic structure and content of VOC radio. Programs and content have become increasingly professional and it is now extending beyond the radio to the internet to such an extent that this is becoming the first place for people to check what is going on. Therefore we must endeavour to keep this radio going”.
Nagia added that the station presented the business sector “lots of traction and acceptability” within the Cape Muslim community, which needed to enjoy more support. “Therefore we would like to see the festival back at the Cape Town Market this year,” Nagia said.
Africa Commodities Group – August 2007
On 14th August three Altius directors, Anwah Nagia, Robert Lowe and Omar Moola, travelled to Hong Kong to attend the inaugural board meeting of Africa Commodities Group.
ACG is a joint venture between Altius and Noble Energy Incorporated, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore listed Noble Group Limited. Noble Group is a world leader in the management of the global supply chain and NEI is the world’s second largest thermal coal merchant with plans to supply more than 25 million tons of coal this year.
ACG was established to pursue opportunities in minerals, agriculture and industrials in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Limpopo Premier Visit - August 2007
On 30th August Altius hosted the Premier of Limpopo, Mr Sello Moloto, at the Cape Town Market. The Premier was accompanied by members of his cabinet and heads of department. Altius show cased Cape Town Market, Amecus Corporate Governance Specialists and Africa Commodities Group to the Premier and his entourage. All three companies are keen to invest in Limpopo Province.
In the evening the Premier was the guest of honour at a dinner hosted by Altius attended by 150 senior businessmen and other guests. The dinner was held at the Arabella Sheraton and the guests were entertained to music by courtesy of David Kramer and the late Taliep Petersen.
Springbok Colours – July 2007
Altius and its subsidiary, Cape Town Market, are the main sponsors of Anton Wynand, an emerging competitive cyclist. Anton is paid a monthly retainer and is provided with equipment including a state of the art bicycle.
Anton came 42nd in the Pick n Pay Cape Argus cycle race and was recently selected to represent South Africa at international events. Anton was recently awarded his Springbok blazer.
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