African Business articles from April 2002

African Business archives from April 2002

Letters.(Brief Article)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2002... DREAM CARS I am both a car enthusiast and a regular reader of your magazine. I have noticed that recent issues have been carrying car reports, and that has just added to my enjoyment of African Business. The report at the begining of the...

AB guide to African currencies.(Brief Article)(Directory)
April 1, 2002... AB Guide to African Currencies Country CURRENCY [pounds sterling]STG Algeria (Dinar) 111.47 Angola (New Kwanza) 51.13 Benin ...

Hunting without killing. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... An arrangement that inflates big game hunter's egos, keeps environmentalists happy and is a handsome foreign currency earner is taking off in South Africa and other southern African countries. It's a kind of rent-a-trophy deal in which big-five...

Zambia wants Anglo's mines. (Business Briefs).(Zambian government will take over Anglo American Industrial Corporation Ltd.'s vacated copper mines)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Zambian government has ruled out closing down the copper mines soon to be vacated by Anglo American lust two years after resuming ownership. Instead the mines would be transferred to the government on a 'going concern' basis. Zambia's...

Giant DRC mine marking time. (Business Briefs).(Democratic Republic of Congo)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Meanwhile, development in the Democratic Republic of Congo of what is thought to be the largest high-quality copper sulphide orebody in the world is marking time as risk insurers wait for a cessation to the war in that country. The Kamoto mine...

Agoa green light for Tanzania. (Business Briefs).(African Growth and Opportunity Act )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The lucrative United States market awaits textile export products from Tanzania under the African Growth and Opportunity Act signed in Dar Es Salaam in February. The AGOA ratification ends 18 months of waiting as Tanzania gathered evidence to...

Steep price tag for development. (Business Briefs).(cost of United Nation Millennium Development Goals)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The World Bank estimates that financing the successful achievement of a key set of development goals known as the United Nation Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) could cost between $40bn and $60bn a year in additional aid for the next 15...

Two-oceans road link nears end. (Business Briefs).(transcontinental superhighway )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Construction on the final link of the transcontinental superhighway linking Maputo in Mozambique with Walvis Bay in Namibia was launched in February in a project that will inject more than R3bn into the regional economy and create around 3 000...

SA cemetery crisis. (Business Briefs).(South Africa )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... An environmental disaster is reportedly facing South Africa as it runs out of space to bury its dead. In KwaZulu-Natal province alone, environmentalists are warning that upwards of 3m bodies will have to be buried within the next 10 years as...

San told to move or go thirsty. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The cost of supplying life-giving water to some 500 Basarwa San (bushmen) people in Botswana's Central Kalahari Game Reserve is about R100,000 a month - that's too much for the Gaborone government and they're turning off the taps. The...

Nigeria wants its artworks back. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The clamour is rising from African countries for Britain to return historical treasures, much of it forcibly plundered and removed during the colonial era. Focal point is a collection of nearly 1000 'Benin bronzes' (such as the one in the...

Madagascar's moment of truth.(election controversy, economic growth in Madagascar)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)(Editorial)
April 1, 2002... March has been a bad month for democracy in Africa. The ramifications of the tumultuous elections in Zimbabwe rumble on with the fallout threatening the whole of Africa. We will discuss Zimbabwe at length in our next issue. However, while...

Obasanjo factor begins to pay off. (Nigeria).(President Olusegun Obasanio )
April 1, 2002... In this special report. we look for signs of economic progress as Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanio nears the end of his first term. Although nobody could have realistically expected the new government to solve all the country's problems so...

Manufacturing is the key. (Industry).(Nigeria)(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... The Nigerian obsession with oil partly explains the country's tiny manufacturing sector. A lack of investment, a lack of confidence and above all a lack of government interest have all sprung from the concentration upon the oil sector. Yet this...

Strategic changes on the way. (Oil and Gas).(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... As the main source of national income, the Nigerian government has tried to maximise oil revenues in order to fund its other commitments. While oil prices have fallen from the $30-35 barrel seen in 2001 to the current level if $19, the...

Nitel sale back in quagmire. (Telecommunications).(Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd.)(Company Profile)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... Nigeria's tortuous telecoms callisthenics continues unabated. After decades of pleading by telephone users, the government finally decided to sell off 51% of the badly limping parastatal, Nitel. It invited tenders last November and in typical...

Egypt ready to negotiate Nile waters. (Natural Resources).(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... While Egypt remains the 'gift of the Nile', at least 10 other countries in eastern Africa have a significant interest in its waters. But outdated regulations over the disposal of the waters are becoming an increasing source of friction. Now, as...

Electronic patient records will boost health-care. (Products & Processes).(InterSystems Corp. installs TrakHealth in South African hospitals)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Remotely-based medical professionals, including GPs and pharmacists, will benefit from EPR (electronic patient record) systems to be installed in South African hospitals. They will be able to access them through a no-charge security encoded...

Close the loop on PC theft. (Products & Processes).(WebDetect Computer Tracking System)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... There are nearly as many ways to protect a PC as there are to steal one. Until now most anti-theft strategies fell into one of three basic categories: physical restraints, alarms and control systems. These protection strategies may deter or...

Keywords shortcut the Internet. (Products & Processes).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Companies can now simplify the way customers and suppliers find them on the Internet by using their company's name as their web address. Instead of having to remember the full web address people can simply enter the company name in the browser...

New life for old tyres. (Products & Processes).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... When your tyre's life is hanging by a tread, what do you do with it? If you live in the KwaZuluNatal, South Africa, town of uMhlathuze, reincarnation could be on the cards. The tiny northern Zululand hamlet is the recipient of a R3.2m grant...

Seaweed gel a hopeful aids virus barrier. (Products & Processes).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Some 6,000 HIV-negative women from South Africa's Cape and Gauteng provinces, and Borswana, have been recruited to test science's latest preventative of HIV/Aids. A substance called Carragard, extracted from the carrageenan variety of...

Let there be light - forever! (Products & Processes).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... How seriously are we to take the news from Ireland that the secret of free energy has at long last been found? It is claimed to be an electro-mechanical device that is able to replenish its own source of energy. The inventor is a...

Oil draws Mano River states closer. (Oil and Gas).(security agreement between Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Morocco)
April 1, 2002... Leaders of the Mano River states have finally come together to reach a security agreement for their troubled region. At a summit meeting in Morocco at the end of February, Presidents Charles Taylor of Liberia, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone...

US duped by Sudan 'slave' trade. (Dateline USA).(death of Jonas Savimbi may be opportunity for peace in Angola)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... The United States has suspended discussions with the Sudanese Government aimed at relations between the two countries. This follows a Sudanese army helicopter attack on a relief centre in rebel held southern Sudan during which 17 civilians...

Safmarine extends global reach. (Shipping).
April 1, 2002... This issue sees the start of a new section dedicated to shipping involving Africa. The section will provide up to date news and commentary on various vital aspects of shipping, ports and harbours and other maritime matters. To start off the...

Factory ship from hell. (Shipping Briefs).(Atlantic Dawn)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A huge row is brewing amongst EU countries and West African states over the introduction of the world's largest fishing vessel to fishing grounds off West Africa. The Irish-flagged 144-meter long Atlantic Dawn has already been dubbed 'the...

Will satellites solve Africa's telcom problems? Rob Rose look at the satellite options available in Africa and discusses their viability. He also looks forward to exciting new things to come. (IT Africa).(includes mergers and acquisitions information)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... At telecoms conferences throughout the world, one finds tech pundits enthusiastically pronouncing that the solution to wiring-up Africa lies in the very box conveniently located on the table in front of him or her. The truth of the matter is...

Mining gets better and better. (Botswana).(Debswana)
April 1, 2002... Debswana, a joint venture between De Beers and the government of Botswana, is the pillar of the Botswana' s economy accounting for one-third of the country's GDP, 45% of government revenues, and 75% of export earnings. How Debswana performs is...

Ostrich farming booms. (Botswana).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Ostrich farming is booming in Botswana. And the sector boasts one of the best marketing agents it could expect: the former President, Sir Ketumile Masire, who - as he is fond of reminding people - was a farmer before he was a President. ...

In from the cold. (Libya).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The first sign of a real thaw between Libya and Europe came when flights between Paris and Tripoli resumed after a 10 year suspension. Regular services on Libyan Arab Airlines began February with weekly flights between the two capitals...

The 'Chameleon's triumphal return. (Benin).(Mathieu Kerekou's political policy in Benin)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... When Mathieu Kerekou was voted back into power a year ago (March 2001), the international financial community held its breath, fearing that the Beninois strongman would return to his old Marxist ways. His control over the Beninese economy...

Aga Khan group buys Moz Hotel Icon. (Benin).(Aga Khan Development Network acquires Hotel Polana)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Aga Khan Development Network has further widened its commitment to economic development in Mozambique with the purchase the world-renowned Hotel Polana in Maputo. This is AKFED's first step in a tourism development programme for Mozambique...

Tough times for the toughest. (Kenya Safari Rally).(World Rally Championship event may be discontinued)
April 1, 2002... The Kenya Safari Rally, acknowledged as the toughest and most exciting event in the World Rally Championships, could be facing the chop. Organisers have been making ominous sounds about safety and funding - but as John Kamau reports, there may...

Ban on ageing autos drives Nigerians round the bend. (Wheels).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Cheap old cars imported from Europe have kept many Nigerians on the road in troubled economic times. But now the government wants to stop any more of these 'tokunbo' autos from entering the country. An irate public drives home the point that...

'Bumsters' to get the bum rush. (The Gambia).(tourism policy)
April 1, 2002... The 'travelphobia' induced as a result of September 11 could be the making of The Gambia's tourism expansion. The small west African country has set itself an ambitious new target for visitor arrivals. But first, says Dr Karamo Sonko. it must...

Diamond: The History of a Cold-Blooded Love Affair. (Reviews).
April 1, 2002... By Matthew Hart [pounds sterling]15.9 9 Fourth Estate ISBN 1-84115-279-X A mong Canadian writer Matthew Hart's previous non-fiction books is Golden Giant, the story of the greatest gold discovery in the Americas. About this book,...

Coloured Lights.(book review)
April 1, 2002... By Leila Aboulela [pounds sterling]9.99 Polygon ISBN 0-7486-6298-7 Coloured lights is a collection of 11 short stories from Leila Aboulela, winner of the 2000 Caine Prize for African writers. Shortly after winning this prize, in...

Twelve Bar Blues.(book review)
April 1, 2002... By Patrick Neate [pounds sterling]9.99 Penguin ISBN 0-670-88791-9 Shortlisred for the 2001 Whitbread Award in the novel category, Patrick Neate's 'Twelve Bar Blues' has received its fair share of acclaim. It is an epic book that...