African Business articles from August 2004

African Business archives from August 2004

A question answered: achieving Africa's Renaissance.(This Month's Prize Letter)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2004... As an avid reader of African Business I very much enjoyed your fascinating article 'The Great Trek North' in the August/September 2004 issue concerning the northern movement of southern Africa's white farmers. The article's final question...

A critical view: editorial suggestions.(This Month's Prize Letter)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2004... I have just finished reading the June edition of your magazine African Business, one of my favourite magazines. But this particular issue didn't really go down so well with me as I have noticed consistently that South Africa, controlling much...

Attracting FDI: contacts please.(This Month's Prize Letter)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2004... I am an African American businessman residing in Cleveland, Ohio in the US. For some time now I have been researching how I can do business with Africa. Last year I trawled my local book stores, actually venturing further afield than usual, and...

Governance: blame us, not our leaders.(This Month's Prize Letter)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2004... I enjoyed your last issue very much, and would like to reflect on some of the points raised. I have read, in African Business and various other Africa interest publications, that we must sell Africa as good place for investment. ...

Prize Letter: win a free annual subscription!(This Month's Prize Letter)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2004... 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...

Heritage: threat to Mandela's prison island.(Business Briefs)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... South Africa's Robben Island, famous as the place of imprisonment of Nelson Mandela for 27 years, is cracking under the pressure of more than 300,000 visitors a year and other problems. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A report by the World...

International: Aristide's R1m joyride.(Business Briefs)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... South African taxpayers forked out nearly a million rand to send Thabo Mbeki's presidential jet to Haiti to fetch former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, his family and entourage and take them to Pretoria. The 26,000km round trip was...

Markets: JSE's new one-stop bond shop.(Business Briefs)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... The Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) will give the Bond Exchange of South Africa a run for its money later this year by launching a bond market of its own. The new exchange will offer a shortcut to bond market clients allowing them...

Economy: Zimbabwe economy 'on the mend'.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2004... "The Zimbabwe economy has bottomed out and it's definitely looking up. The worst is over," says Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank governor, Gideon Gono. He told reporters in Harare that he had used "a strong dose of unconventional monetary policy"...

High net worth individuals: African super-rich on the rise.(Business Briefs)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... There are now over 100,000 African millionaires on the continent, and the rise in number doesn't look like slowing. A survey by Merryl Lynch's technology services company, Capgemini, shows that the number of individuals with personal assets of...

Survey: Africa positive about globalisation.(Business Briefs)(Globescan)(University of Maryland)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Contrary to common perception, Africans are positive about globalisation, according to international polling firm Globescan and the University of Maryland in the US, although they feel they are treated unfairly by rich countries in trade...

Finance: Malawi gets deadline from IMF.(Business Briefs)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Malawi has until the end of September to improve its financial performance if it wants to be considered for fresh aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Malawi's finance minister, Goodall Gondwe, says the "IMF wants to see if the new...

Agriculture: Africa to 'wait and see' on GM foods.(Business Briefs)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Mali President Amadou Toumani Toure believes the leadership of Africa has an obligation to its people to provide them not only with food security, but also food safety. Speaking for west African heads of state at a meeting in Ouagadougou...

Transport: time for interconnected links.(Business Briefs)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Africa is in urgent need of an integrated rail network connected with the continent's ports, roads and waterways. The South Africa transport minister, Jeff Radebe, told an annual conference on African transport: "The challenge is how to link...

AB guide to African currencies.(Illustration)
August 1, 2004... AB Guide to African Currencies COUNTRY CURRENCY [pounds sterling] STG ALGERIA (Dinar) 132.04 ANGOLA (New Kwanza) 153.95 BENIN (CFA)...

Welcome to the weird world of WTO.(Editorial)(World Trade Organisation )
August 1, 2004... As we were going to press, members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) were locked in heated and acrimonious discussions in Geneva. You might recall that during the WTO summit in Cancun last September, talks between the rich and poor...

Formula for Africa's rapid growth: after almost five decades of independence, how is Africa faring in terms of economics? Is the continent improving, staying still or regressing? How can it meet the Millennium Development Goals? Editor Anver Versi ponders the issue.(Africa's Economic Performance)
August 1, 2004... For the last three years, the African Development Bank (ADB) has published an invaluable, comparative analysis of Africa's economic performance. The aim of the document--African Economic Outlook (AEO)--is to assess annual economic changes on...

No real will to attack global poverty: despite all the pious words emanating from Western leaders, there is little or no real commitment to help solve the problems of the developing world. The gap between the rich and poor is growing wider--leading to a more unstable world.(View from the City)
August 1, 2004... International trade and official aid policies--vital in promoting sustainable development--have yet to make a tangible impact upon eradicating poverty in 50 least developed countries (LDCs), 34 of which are African. Since the 1950s, while the...

Local knowledge builds a regional network.(Ecobank)(Interview)
August 1, 2004... Operating throughout West Africa, Ecobank has built an enviable reputation amongst its international peers by focusing on a regional network of branches that offer an ever expanding portfolio of quality business and private banking services....

Reparations test case heads for US courts: flamboyant US lawyer, Ed Fagan, who won $1.2bn from Swiss banks for the Nazi Holocaust, has now targeted the South African government for crimes committed during the apartheid regime. Does he have a case? Tom Nevin reports.(Legislation)
August 1, 2004... The most perplexing fact regarding Ed Fagan's lawsuit is that it is attempting to gain redress for the effects of apartheid from the key people who helped dismantle it "for continuing to allow companies to exploit victims without protecting...

Turning the dearly departed into flowers.(Process)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... From the 'Department of Questionable Good Taste' comes the news that a Swedish company has produced an environmentally friendly way of burying the dead by turning them into garden compost which "lets them come back as flowers". ...

Malaria treatment from China.(Process)
August 1, 2004... Has China succeeded where the global multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry has so far failed? The humble wormwood leaf, if authorities are to be believed, could provide an effective answer to malaria. Artemisinin, a compound based...

A sun-powered computer.(Medicine)
August 1, 2004... A South African-designed miniature personal computer (PC) can function off solar power or a car battery, making it fully portable and employable in virtually any environment. "The EZgo models are attached to the back of a standard 15-inch...

Bars to keep out robbers.(Invention)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... To be a smash-and-grab victim once is bad enough--for your car window to be smashed and your belongings grabbed three times in a month calls for drastic action. That's what inspired partially-paralysed social worker, Lee-Anne Gater of...

Licence to suck blood--legally.(Innovation)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Africa's famous 'vampires'--leeches--are back on their bloodthirsty trail--legally. For thousands of years they were used as an alternative treatment to blood-letting (an antiquated and now abandoned practice of draining blood to cure diseases)...

Ultimate virus fighter?(Innovation)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Could those sneaky, stealthy and destructive computer software viruses finally have met their match? Shaya Technologies thinks so. The Johannesburg information and communication technology specialist thinks its solution is so innovative it...

Feeding hunger for traditional foods.(Marketing)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Traditional African foods that flourish in rural areas are appearing on South African city supermarket shelves and restaurant menus to meet the demands and appetites of the urban drift--the steady flow of pastoral folk lured to the bright...

The shadow of Darfur: the shadow of Darfur is clouding the recently renewed relationship between the US and the government of the Sudan. The cloak of secrecy over what is really going on in the area is making matters worse. It is time for more openness.(Dateline USA)
August 1, 2004... The fighting in Sudan's western region of Darfur began in February 2003 when groups of students and activists rebelled against the central government in Khartoum. They claimed that their demands for greater development in the region were being...

Pan African Parliament--money pit or a beacon of hope? South Africa has 'won' the right to host the new Pan African Parliament, but taxpayers who will have to foot the bill seem less than thrilled. Tom Nevin reports.(Topic)
August 1, 2004... Lauded as a "blessing" by the government and lambasted as "the prize nobody w anted" by its taxpayers, South Africa has won the right to host the Pan African Parliament. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It was a victory already dubious enough in...

Coke plant heralds new beginning in Somalia: the long-drawn out civil war in Somalia has devastated the country's business climate but things may be about to change. A new bottling plant for Coca Cola could be the start of better days to come. Abdi Ali reports from Mogadishu.(Industry)
August 1, 2004... Signs of normality are beginning to return to Somalia--which has been wrecked by civil war. A new Coca-Cola soft drink plant was officially opened in Mogadishu, the capital city, signalling the beginning of a new business era. ...

Economic impact of the 'happy hawker': Africa's 'informal sector', ignored by government statisticians, is in fact a vital, bustling, non-stop hive of activity worth billions of dollars. Now the South African government wants to use this sector to grow the economy and create jobs. Tom Nevin reports.(Trends)
August 1, 2004... On the highways and byways of Johannesburg, Nairobi, Mogadishu, Dakar and other African towns and cities, they're the 'happy hawkers'--a cheerful, bustling throng of roadside traders from whom you can buy, or so the word on the street says,...

Last of the independents: Africa lost the last of its home-grown oil companies when Energy Africa was purchased by Tullow Oil. How will this affect Africa's energy industry?(Oil and Gas)
August 1, 2004... More than two years of wrangling over the fate of South African-based Energy Africa has finally come to an end. The company has been taken over by Irish firm Tullow Oil, thereby sealing the fate of Africa's only real independent oil company....

A refined approach.(oil and gas refining,africa)
August 1, 2004... Despite its oil riches, there seems little prospect of Africa taking control of its own oil and gas sector. State run companies play a big role in major producing countries like Algeria, Nigeria and Angola, yet involvement by the private sector...

The best of times, the worst of times: the contrasting tourism fortunes of Zambia and Zimbabwe, on either side of the spectacular Victoria Falls, could not be starker. Zimbabwe's loss has become Zambia's boon. Milan Vesely reports.(Tourism)
August 1, 2004... The tourist trade, a major source of foreign exchange in some African countries is now becoming nothing but a distant memory in others. Nowhere is this more obvious than in Zambia and Zimbabwe--two nations on opposite sides of one of the 'Seven...

Opinion divided on strength of rand: opinions on the strengthening South African rand are almost equally divided--some see it as a sign of confidence in the country; others as a short-cut to economic disaster. Who is right? Tom Nevin has been finding out.(South Africa)
August 1, 2004... This is another fine mess you've gotten us into, Stanley," as Oliver Hardy famously used to say to his side-kick, Stan Laurel in the 1950s comedy series, Laurel and Hardy. It could be South Africa talking to its currency. [ILLUSTRATION...

Obasanjo squares up to unions: the Obasanjo administration is finding itself increasingly at odds with the country's trade unions. A stand-off is looming. Neil Ford discusses whether unions help or hinder economic progess.(Nigeria)(Olusegun Obasanjo)
August 1, 2004... One of the main themes of the Nigerian government's programme of economic reform has been controlling the power of the country's trade union movement. Whether leading the fight against fuel price deregulation or opposing job cuts that...

Sweet and sour upgrade: a stable political climate and sound economic policies have helped Cape Verde gain reclassification to the ranks of 'medium developed countries'. However, as Neil Ford reports, this promotion is a mixed blessing.(Cape Verde)
August 1, 2004... Together with the Maldives, Cape Verde expects to be reclassified as a medium developed country (MDC) by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). While 'promotion' from the group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) may be seen...

The battle for the Chagos archipelago: Mauritius is preparing to go to the International Court of Justice to re-claim its sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago. Nasseem Ackbarally reports from Port-Louis.(Mauritius)
August 1, 2004... Prior to Mauritius' independence in 1968, the colonial power, Great Britain, divested the Chagos archipelago from Mauritian territory, renaming the islands part of the 'British Indian Overseas Territory' (BIOT). Then they evicted the...

Feats of Clay? The British High Commissioner in Kenya, Edward Clay, set off a huge furore when he accused the current government of allowing corruption to reign. Alnoor Amlani reports on the aftermath.(Kenya)
August 1, 2004... In mid July Sir Edward Clay--the British High Commissioner to Kenya gave a fiery speech at a private luncheon for the British Business Association accusing the newly elected NARC government of corruption. His speech was uncharacteristically...

The looming energy crisis: a warning to the world.(Books)(Book Review)
August 1, 2004... THE END OF OIL By Paul Roberts [pounds sterling]17.95 Bloomsbury ISBN 0-7475-7075-2 Hydrocarbon resources are a vital export commodity for many African countries. Africa's oil and gas export revenues, in total, amount in...

The Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy.(Books)(Book Review)
August 1, 2004... THE COMMANDING HEIGHTS THE BATTLE FOR THE WORLD ECONOMY By Daniel Yergin & Joseph Stanislaw [pounds sterling]10.99 Touchstone Books ISBN 0-694-83569-X The 'commanding heights', according to Pulitzer Prize-winner Daniel...

The Dumbest Moments in Business History.(Books)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
August 1, 2004... THE DUMBEST MOMENTS IN BUSINESS HISTORY BY ADAM HOROWITZ AND THE EDITORS OF KBUSINESS 2.0 [pounds sterling]9.99 Nicholas Brearley Publishing ISBN 1-85788-351-9 Josh Quittnor, the editor of the San Francisco based Business 2.0...

The Art of Ife: A Descriptive Catalogue and Database.(Books)(Book Review)
August 1, 2004... THE ART OF IFE A DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE AND DATABASE Frank Willett (with Barbara Blackmun and Emma Lister) [pounds sterling]25 Hunterian Museum CD-Rom--University of Glasgow [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The art of Ife is an...

The Art of the Advantage: 36 Strategies to Seize the Competitive Edge.(Books)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
August 1, 2004... THE ART OF THE ADVANTAGE 36 STRATEGIES TO SEIZE THE COMPETITIVE EDGE By Kaihan Krippendorff [pounds sterling]14.99 Thomson ISBN 1-58799-178-0 The author of this book begins by telling us that he had been compiling...

African Folklore: An Encyclopedia.(Books)
August 1, 2004... AFRICAN FOLKLORE: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA EDITED BY PHILIP M PEEK AND KWESI YANKAH [pounds sterling]120 Routledge--Taylor & Francis ISBN 0-415-93933-X Described by the publishers as "the most complete guide ever assembled of folklore...

The pope of style: Papa Wemba's first 20 years.(Music)(Biography)
August 1, 2004... MWANA MOLOKAI PAPA WEMBA AND VIVA LA MUSICA 1977-1997 Sterns STCD3019-20 Shungo Wembadio Pene Kikumba, known in his youth as Jules, is better known to the world as Papa Wemba. An artist of prodigious talents and creative energy,...