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Wednesday, November 25, 2009.

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Shannon de Ryhove.

Making headlines today:

South Africa's economy exited its first recession in almost two decades in the third quarter, boosted by a rebound in manufacturing that is picking up steam on a global recovery.

Africa's biggest economy joins advanced countries in returning to growth after three quarters of contraction, although it is still seen declining almost 2% for the year.

Statistics South Africa said that gross domestic product grew by an annualised 0,9% in the three months to September compared to the previous three months. This was more than expected and reduced the chances of any more interest rate cuts in this cycle.

It said the economy bounced back from a decline of 2,8% in the second quarter and a near three decade record drop of 7,4% in the first quarter.

Norwegian State-owned oil and gas company Gassnova and South African petrochemicals giant Sasol have signed a memorandum of understanding enabling Sasol to explore the possibility of becoming a participant in the carbon dioxide Technology Centre Mongstad, or TCM.

The TCM is currently under construction on Norway's West coast and would be a leading research centre for carbon capture and storage . The test facilities are planned to capture 100 000 tons a year of carbon dioxide, and operations are expected to start in 2011.

TCM is an international technology cooperation, established to test, verify and demonstrate technology suitable for deployment at a large scale, of carbon dioxide capture facilities.

Also making headlines:

Alfa Romeo, Audi, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Suzuki, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo battle it out for top honours as finalists in the 2010 Car of the Year competition.
Business Leadership South Africa will work on strategies to promote ‘nonracialism' in South Africa.
Telkom sees Nigeria as a growth engine for Africa,
And, British Airways launchesa a 29-million-rand initiative to boost small businesses in South Africa.

That's a round up of news making headlines today. For more on these and other stories please visit engineeringnews.co.za.