African Business articles from April 2006

African Business archives from April 2006

Venture capital for Africa: leads please.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2006... A number of your readers and your editorial touched on two issues that I have been pursuing for the past few years. That is equity funds for African entrepreneurs and the Diaspora's involvement in developing private investment in Africa. ...

The commodities problem: improving markets.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2006... Last December's WTO ministerial conference in Hong Kong for the first time highlighted the central role of commodities in economic development and global trade issues for developing countries. As was stated in the final draft declaration: "The...

African language: commonalities are an asset.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2006... I was most interested to read that Microsoft are launching a Kiswahili version of their Word software (Microsoft launches Swahili Word--African Business, February 2006). It is commonly thought that the profusion of languages in Africa...

Prize letter: win a free annual subscription!
April 1, 2006... African Business will award a free one year subscription to the reader whose letter is chosen as the Prize Letter for that month. (Existing subscribers will receive a free annual renewal). Your views on Africa and matters affecting Africa are...

No pay, no play.(football players are not going to play until they were paid travel allowances)(African Nations Cup in Egypt)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Zimbabwe's footballers should go to youth training camps to learn that patriotism is more important than money. This is the recommendation of Gibson Mashingaidze, chairman of the country's Sports and Recreation Commission, who was outraged that...

Nigeria gets $50m to fight avian flu.(from World Bank)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The World Bank has stepped in with a cash handout to help Nigeria, the first African country to face an outbreak of avian flu. The Bank warned that all countries in sub-Saharan Africa should now be considered at high risk of infection. The...

The root of bird flu?(is poultry industry)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Small-scale poultry farming and wild birds are being unfairly blamed for the avian flu crisis now threatening Africa, says a new report from environmental watchdog, Grain. The report maintains that the international poultry industry is the root...

Angola's new stock market.(capital markets)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Southern Africa's fastest-growing economy will have a stock and derivatives exchange this year. Oil-rich Angola has started the process of establishing a bourse in Luanda by inviting capital market experts from around the world to advise the...

Indian steel giant steps into Zim.(Global Steel Holdings)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... In one of the biggest foreign direct investments in Zimbabwe in recent years, Indian metals giant, Global Steel Holdings (GSH) will inject $400m to rehabilitate Zimbabwe's decrepit iron and steel works (Zisco) in a makeover that will increase...

S Africa's black bosses on a roll.(senior executives are in demand)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... South Africa's black senior executives, regarded as "gold" by both public and private employers, are commanding up to 30% more in salary than their white, coloured or Indian counterparts. A limited supply of skilled and experienced black...

Zambia copper needs power surge.(electricity demand)(Zesco signed contract with Equinox Resources Ltd.)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Zambia needs more electricity in a hurry to power its increased copper output. State power utility, Zesco, will spend $1.2bn on two new stations--one, a 750MW facility on the Kafue River gorge and another, the 120KW Itezhi-Tezhi power project...

Relief for Lesotho's rag trade.(taxes were cut on clothing exports)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The Lesotho government has abolished its tax on some clothing exports as it seeks to widen the apparel range it sells overseas. "This tax cut means that any manufacturer supplying the US or Europe from within Lesotho will be free of tax,"...

'Round-tripping' squared off.(Taxation)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... A blitz on businesses and individual earners has earned the Namibian government over a billion dollars in additional tax revenue following a 'zero tolerance on tax evasion' crackdown. The squeeze followed reports of some businesses operating in...

Botswana hikes up interest rates.(Botswana central bank)(inflation)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The Botswana central bank has introduced an inflation-taming target range of 3%-6% in a move triggered by inflation soaring to nearly 17% in recent months, the highest in 12 years. In a parallel move, the bank hiked its key interest rate by...

AB guide to African currencies.(Table)
April 1, 2006... AB Guide to African Currencies Country Currency [pounds sterling]STG Algeria (Dinar) 128.37 Angola (New Kwanza) 138.70 Benin (CFA) ...

Let us harness our wounded pride.(Africa's economic conditions)(Editorial)
April 1, 2006... Once again Africa's starving will stalk television sets across the world as the drought in northern Kenya and the Horn bites in earnest. Once again charitable organisations will issue heartrending appeals for funds and once again the mute...

Africa's 1000 top companies.(Cover story)
April 1, 2006... AFRICAN BUSINESS' annual listing of Africa's top companies has proved hugely popular with our readers and subscribers, particularly investors, multinational agencies, global businesses, development and business researchers, university students...

Nigeria joins the big league: Nigeria says it will be able to increase its oil production to four million barrels a day by the end of next year, three years ahead of its original estimate. While this will bring a sharp spike in Nigeria's revenues, it may upset some of its Opec partners.(Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)
April 1, 2006... In a surprise announcement, Nigeria's oil minister Edmund Daukoru has revealed that Nigerian crude production capacity is expected to reach 4m barrels a day (b/d) by the end of next year. The government had originally hoped to boost capacity to...

Prices rise as demand soars: base metals such as copper and steel are fetching some of the highest prices in recent history as demand outstrips supply and inventories run low. The conditions are right for a wave of new mining investments across mineral-rich Africa. Moin Siddiqi reports.(Industrial metals)
April 1, 2006... Industrial metal prices have been surging ever higher, in the wake of growing demand from the US, China, India, Japan and the eurozone. Supply tightness and critically low levels of inventories are also helping to firm prices upwards. In...

Dawn of a new economic order? The Western dominance of the world's economy is being challenged by a small but powerful collection of emerging markets led by China, Brazil and India. The economic map of the world in 50 years' time, says our columnist, will be very different from what it is today.
April 1, 2006... While the countries which form the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have enjoyed virtually unchallenged control of the world's economy since the industrial revolutions of the 19th century, emerging markets are now...

Museveni is 'good for business': Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni will continue to lead the nation for another five years following his victory over rival Kizza Besigye in February. What will his tenure mean for the country's business community? African Business' man in Kampla, Stuart Price spoke to a variety of businesspeople to gauge their expectations for the next five years.(UGANDA)
April 1, 2006... After the intense political issues which surrounded Uganda's recent presidential elections, many people are looking beyond polling day and wondering what the outcome will actually mean for the country over the next half decade. [GRAPHIC...

Deadly mixture of guns and oil: those living, or trying to make a living, in the oil-producing Delta region of Nigeria have always demonstrated acute resentment at the way they have been treated by the government and oil companies; now, as Neil Ford reports, there seems to be an upping of the ante.(NIGERIA)
April 1, 2006... Government reforms finally seem to be making a big difference to Nigeria's economic stability. The revolution in the banking sector has taken many by surprise, the country is developing one of the world's biggest gas industries and some...

Battle to keep darkness at bay: a freak accident at Koeberg nuclear power facility which plunged the Western Cape into darkness has exposed South Africa's fragile power supply capacity. Now, reports Tom Nevin, the race is on to match power supply to the increasing demand brought about by higher economic growth.(SOUTH AFRICA)
April 1, 2006... South Africa and its Southern African Development Community neighbours have been decidedly edgy over the region's electricity supply position ever since the South African government conceded, about two years ago, that the region was heading for...

More power to the people: Angola is at a crossroads; it earns the bulk of its income from oil and diamonds but the majority of its people live in poverty and jobs are hard to come by. For the country to develop its non-oil economy, it needs far more power than it can currently muster. Neil Ford looks at various generating schemes now in place.
April 1, 2006... International attention on Angola generally revolves around its blossoming oil sector and efforts by the IMF and others to force the government to make its financial dealings more transparent. Yet after 30 years of independence and just four...

Africa's jewel in the Atlantic: Cape Verde, comprising a collection of small islands off the coast of Africa in the Atlantic, has been quietly but surely growing in prosperity and must now be ranked with Africa's other economically successful states. Neil Ford reports on what makes Cape Verde tick.(CAPE VERDE)
April 1, 2006... Botswana, Tunisia and Mauritius usually head the list of African economic successes but, almost unnoticed, another nation, off the north-west coast of the continent, might be about to join the list. [GRAPHIC OMITTED] One of Cape...

Making the case for clean oil: re-evaluating energy options.(Sustainable Fossil Fuels : The Unusual Suspect in the Quest for Clean and Enduring Energy )(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Sustainable Fossil Fuels The unusual suspects in the quest for clean and enduring energy By Mark Jaccard [pounds sterling]40 Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-861-799 In recent months African Business has reviewed a...

Love-letter to a city: tribute by Fela's drummer.(Lagos No Shaking)(Sound recording review)
April 1, 2006... Lagos No Shaking Tony Allen Honest Jons Cat: HJRCD20 'Lagos No Shaking' is the latest in a string of Nigeria-related albums from the UK-based Honest Jons label. 'Lagos Chop-Up' and 'Lagos All-Routes' were acclaimed...