African Business articles from February 2006

African Business archives from February 2006

African perceptions: make 'foreign' a foreign word.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... After I finished reading your editorial titled 'Change the point of view' (African Business, December 2005 issue), I could not wait to thumb through the rest of the magazine to respond to your ideas. On a serious note, I'm one of your greatest...

African diaspora: look to the 'near' abroad.(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... This is a response to the editorial by Anver Versi, 'Let us embrace the African diaspora' (African Business, November 2005 issue). Let me first state that at least in the case of African-Americans, stereotypically negative perceptions of Africa...

Extend the embrace: stimulate investment.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... It has been fascinating to read the on-going debate aroused by Anver Versi's editorial 'Let us embrace the African diaspora' (African Business, November 2005 issue). I would describe Mr Versi's comments regarding attracting support for the...

Prize letter: win a free annual subscription!(Letter to the Editor)
February 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...

Hot wheels: stolen cars--SA's growing export.(South Africa)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... The Johannesburg-based Institute of Security Studies (ISS) says stolen cars are a major South African export to its impoverished neighbours. ISS reckons South Africa is the biggest single source of vehicles smuggled within the Southern African...

The ideal island: Mauritius as the African Court of Justice?(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Mauritius has been cited as "an appropriate country" for the seat of the African Court of Justice. The Indian island state has the backing of South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki who called on African leaders to "push a little harder" to secure...

Poor poorly treated: those in poverty short-changed in healthcare.(Health programmes to poor people )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Developing countries have been warned to check for gaps between intentions and verifiable results in helping poor people battle illness and disease. Health programmes designed to reach poor people often end up instead helping the better-off, a...

Hunger worsens: food shortages bite in Africa.(humanitarian agenda)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... The lives of millions of Africans are at stake as food shortages become more acute, especially in Zimbabwe and Malawi. According to the United Nations' humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, more than 10m people in southern Africa are in need of food...

Compensation call: Uganda facing billions in claims.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Reparations that could cost Uganda $8bn for invading and pillaging the Democratic Republic of Congo "has set a precedent in the sub-region and countries will think twice before engaging in conflicts and taking advantage to enrich themselves",...

Diversification delivers: think beyond minerals, Africa told.(economic reform)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Economic policy reforms are the key to Africa's development and sustainable growth, the chief amongst them being diversification away from economic reliance on minerals. This is the view of Greg Mills, executive director of the Brenthurst...

Disparity dangers: SA's income gap a worry.(South Africa)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... South Africa has the emerging world's highest income gap, and it continues to widen, a new study conducted jointly by the World Bank and the South African department of trade and industry has shown. The difference in income far outstrips...

Rating an award: Fitch ushers Namibia into the club.(Fitch Ratings)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Namibia has joined an elite membership by becoming sub-Saharan Africa's third country to receive an investment grade credit rating. Its assignment of a BBB- with a stable outlook by Fitch Ratings brings Namibia in line with Botswana and South...

Profits of peace: Angola rebuilding its tourist attractions.(flourishing economy)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Resource-rich Angola is adding tourism to its growing income-generating economic activities. A three-decade long civil war all but ruined well-stocked wildlife parks, seaside resorts and transport systems, and now a flourishing economy, fuelled...

Electric connections: towards a continental power pool.(electricity supply)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Africa's five existing power pools should be integrated within a decade as a major step in meeting the continent's growing need for electricity. According to Joshua Kofi, president of Updea, the African energy consortium, such a pool would...

AB guide to African currencies.(African Business)(Illustration)
February 1, 2006... AB Guide to African Currencies Country Currency [pounds sterling]STG Algeria (Dinar) 129.36 Angola (New Kwanza) 142.38 Benin (CFA) ...

Africa's heroic entrepreneur.(Mohamed Ibrahim)(Biography)
February 1, 2006... One of the founding principles of African Business magazine was to promote and encourage African entrepreneurship, both on the continent and within the wide African diaspora. Judging from our mailbox, this issue is also of great significance to...

Tanzania's new age leader.(Jakaya Kikwete)
February 1, 2006... Tanzania, once dubbed the 'man-eat-nothing' society by its East African neighbours to reflect its socialist leanings, is now outperforming both Kenya and Uganda and is set to increase the growth gap over the next decade. A large measure of its...

Jakaya Kikwete at a glance.(politics)(Biography)
February 1, 2006... The timeline: 7 October, 1950: Born in Msonga village, Bagamoyo district. Attended Msonga Primary School, Lugoba Middle School, Kibaha Secondary School, Tanga High School and the University of Dar es Salaam where he majored in...

Women get top posts in new cabinet.(Zakia Hamdan, Asha-Rose Mtengeti Migiro and Basil Mramba)
February 1, 2006... One of the most striking aspects of the new Tanzania cabinet named by president Jakaya Kikwete is the number and position of women who have been appointed. Six women were given cabinet portfolios and about half of the 31 assistant...

South Africa--the post-apartheid economic miracle: the South African economy, which just before the end of the apartheid regime was ailing badly, has astonished the world with its robust growth over the past decade. This has been done against a background of greater challenge than faced by the former regime.(economic outlook)
February 1, 2006... Within the span of a decade, South Africa has revitalised its previously sanctions-gripped apartheid economy, restructured state institutions to improve the delivery of public services and established a competent macroeconomic policy framework....

Microsoft launches Swahili Word: Microsoft's decision to launch a Swahili version of Word is likely to ignite a silent revolution in communications across a large swathe from the east coast to the heart of central Africa. Neil Ford has the details.
February 1, 2006... It has long been taken for granted that non-African languages are the main means of communication in business and education in Africa as in the rest of the world. The various African lingua franca of the pre-colonial period continue to be used...

Africa takes centre stage.(oil and gas markets)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... The African oil and gas sector is enjoying the best period in its recent history. Oil prices are high and will continue to remain so; demand from both the West and East is increasing and only some technical hurdles are getting in the way of a...

African oil becomes new FDI magnet: Africa's growing importance as an essential source of oil for Western economies will ensure that FDI into the sector will continue to increase.(foreign direct investment)
February 1, 2006... The growing importance of the Gulf of Guinea to the US economy has been well trumpeted in recent years. As domestic production has increasingly been unable to keep pace with rising consumption, Washington has long sought to diversify its source...

China, India boost African status: the bullish entry of China and India in the African oil industry is changing the traditional relationship between Africa and the West. It gives Africa a powerful platform from which to negotiate.(OIL AND GAS SPECIAL REPORT)
February 1, 2006... The US and British oil giants have dominated the Nigerian oil sector for so long that it is difficult to imagine the country without them. Other large European oil firms, such as Total and Eni-Agip, have also invested heavily in the country but...

Gas: piped success.(Nigerian liquefied petroleum gas )
February 1, 2006... While investment in the African oil sector has been driven by high prices and rising global demand, gas sector development is also being driven by developments in international consumption. The general global trend away from oil and towards...

Songo Songo an overwhelming success: Tanzania's gas-to-power project, Songas, has exceeded even the most optimistic forecasts and is likely to set a new trend in the generation of power in the sub-region.(hydroelectric plants )
February 1, 2006... Tanzania's economic resurgence has been well documented. A country that had suffered from years of stagnation, low investment and overbearing state control has gradually turned itself around as a result of economic reform. The renaissance has...

Oil price to remain high.(markets)
February 1, 2006... The current high price of oil has a wide range of implications for Africa. It increases interest in more marginal acreage, boosts revenues for oil producing states and increases the cost of almost everything in Africa because of the knock-on...

Lost & found: child tracker.(South African Police Service)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Hope and peace of mind for parents are part of a new computer device that can keep a 24-hour track of children. Trackid SA came online in South Africa in January to help locate missing children and bridge the gap in limited state resources for...

Small potatoes: back to the roots--and riches.(rural community in KwaZulu-Natal)
February 1, 2006... A project described as "a new factor in organic consumerism" is lifting a rural community in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, out of poverty through the take-off of a humble root vegetable in upmarket stores around the country. Little did the...

Driven to dink? Water, water everywhere ...(AirWater system)
February 1, 2006... Africa still has a long way to go before all its people have close access to clean, safe water. An innovation by a German inventor brings that dream a step closer for poor people living next to the sea. It's a simple cone made of durable...

Lean, clean and green surfer: protection for marine ecology.(Powerski International introduced Series 250000 Catalytic Converter)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Motorised surfboards have been around for a while but have paid scant heed to the damage they were doing to ocean environments in the toxic fumes emitted by the clattering two- and four-stroke engines. Powerski International says it has...

The quack on your back: the T-shirt knows ...(records heart respiration rates, body temperature)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Is that chest pain the onset of a heart attack, a pulled muscle or a bout of indigestion? Ask your T-shirt. This new offering for better health is made of a soft, washable fabric with optical and electrical fibres woven into it. The...

Cash benefits: banks on the rural doorstep.(automated teller machine)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... The Moses Kotane municipality in South Africa's Northern Province is scoring a quiet breakthrough by pioneering an initiative to bring banking to deep rural communities. And while the banking revolution arrived in no more complex a form than an...

New energy: carbon capture.(British energy giant BP )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... With new evidence of the onset of global warming, the race is on to find ways to lower emissions of carbon dioxide (C[O.sup.2]). British energy giant BP is already viewed as a world leader in the capture and storage of C[O.sup.2], a process...

Anti-HIV/Aids development: chemical condoms tested in Africa.(microbicide prophylactic)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... A massive clinical trial spanning four African countries is underway to test the efficacy of new anti-HIV/Aids "chemical condoms" that could revolutionise women's lives. Researchers hope to have the product generally available in five years....

Fighting the flab: appetite control within 10 years.(hunger-regulating hormone research)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Scientists in the UK and US have identified a hunger-regulating hormone which, they say can, be manipulated to boost or suppress a person's appetite. Says a nutrition expert at London's Imperial College, Professor Steve Bloom: "We should be...

Sweet news: dark chocolate for good heart health ...(research at the University Hospital in Zurich)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... A daily square or two of dark chocolate could keep your heart healthier, say researchers at the University Hospital in Zurich. Research showed that the intake of 40gm of dark chocolate significantly improved the smoothness of blood flow in the...

... and coffee for the brain.(good memory by boosting brain activity)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... In Austria, health researchers have found that a daily cup of coffee helps a good memory by boosting brain activity. Scientists have been studying the effect of coffee on those areas of the brain that regulate short-term memory. They found that...

Every breath you take: vitamin D for better breathing.(treatment for breathing disorders)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Want to breathe more easily? Beef up your intake of vitamin D, says the American College of Chest Physicians' Journal. Offering good news for asthmatics and other sufferers of breathing disorders, the publication reports on a study which found...

Portugal loosens iron grip on Cahora Bassa: after years of effort, the government of Mozambique has finally succeeded in prising open Portugal's iron grip on the Cahora Bassa dam. This can lead to a period of sustained growth for this southern African country.(ENERGY)
February 1, 2006... It is now 14 years since President Joaquim Chissano and Renamo leader Afonso Dhaklama signed the historic deal in Rome that brought an end to Mozambique's devastating civil war. In the intervening period, the country's economic fortunes have...

Hong Kong a disaster for the poor: the WTO Hong Kong ministerial meeting in December, says Tom Nevin, was a slap in the face of the developing world but a triumph for the industrialised countries who want no change to the status quo. The battle continues.(SPOTLIGHT)
February 1, 2006... The WTO Hong Kong ministerial meeting was a lost opportunity to make trade fairer for poor people around the world. Rich countries put their commercial interests before those of developing countries. This was the indictment handed down by...

Golden boom only benefits 20 percent: South Africa, only one decade after the end of apartheid appears to be enjoying a golden period of sustained growth. However, those celebrating form hardly a fifth of the population as a legacy of the country's divisive history. Tom Nevin reports.(economy)
February 1, 2006... South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki has announced a determined onslaught on poverty and joblessness to bring more South Africans into the economic boom. South Africa closed the books on 2005 as one of the more successful years in recent...

Economy clicks into the right gear: slowly but surely, Nigeria is hauling itself out of the economic pit to which it was consigned following decades of military rule. Most encouragingly, non-oil sector growth is now outperforming growth in the oil and gas sectors. Has Nigeria's time come? Neil Ford reports.
February 1, 2006... As 2005 turned into 2006, the Nigerian government responded by turning its attention from the greatest challenges facing the state to specific issues where it could make more of an impact in the short term. [GRAPHIC OMITTED] In the...

Bongo to extend rule to 45 years: President Omar Bongo, already Africa's longest serving head of state, has won another seven years in office following the latest elections. While Bongo's rule has brought stability and prosperity, the question is what will happen when he finally goes and the oil runs out. Neil Ford reports.(politics)
February 1, 2006... Great advances have been made in the cause of African democracy over the past decade. More heads of state have voluntarily handed over control to both members of their own party or opposition leaders than at any time during the independence...

Labour-intensive growth is vital: the last UN peacekeeping troops pulled out of Sierra Leone at the end of 2005, signalling an end to the physical intervention of outside forces in the country's affairs. Can the country, now at peace, find the right economic formula to sustain peace and stability? Neil Ford discusses.(United Nations)
February 1, 2006... Sierra Leone has undoubtedly taken a series of important steps on the road to recovery. The civil war has ended and the disarmament process has proved an outstanding success. At the end of 2005, however, the last United Nations peacekeeping...

Elections--business holds its breath: with just a matter of weeks to go before Uganda's all-important vote to determine the country's next president, Stuart Price went to meet some of the country's entrepreneurs to gauge their hopes and fears.(economy)
February 1, 2006... In the capital, Kampala, excitement is mounting as preparations for Uganda's first multi-party vote in over two decades gather pace. The battle is a straight fight between President Yoweri Museveni who has amended the constitution to allow him...

Mozambique--Africa's rising star: Mozambique's tourism sector is flourishing thanks to legislative reforms and the opening of high quality hotels and resorts throughout the country. Stephen Williams reports on the work still in progress.(tour and travel)
February 1, 2006... Speaking at a congress of tour and travel agencies being held in Maputo last November, Mozambique's prime minister Luisa Diogo, confirmed that her country had attracted over 700,000 tourists in the previous 12 months and that the government's...

Soludo scoops highest award: the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Professor Soludo was presented with the world's most prestigious banking award at a ceremony in London last month. African Business editor Anver Versi was there.(Charles Soludo presented with The Banker magazine's Global Central Banker of the Year award)
February 1, 2006... At one of the most glittering African events in London so far this year, Professor Charles Soludo was presented with The Banker magazine's Global Central Banker of the Year award. This is the pinnacle in terms of achievement that the governor...

An expert analysis: four decades in perspective.(Africa: A Modern History)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 1, 2006... Africa A Modern History By Guy Arnold [pounds sterling]35 Atlantic Books ISBN 1-84354-175-0 At over 1,000 pages long, including endnotes, a comprehensive index, 25 maps and 40 black and white plates, Guy Arnold's history...

W Arthur Lewis and the Birth of Development Economics.(Book Review)
February 1, 2006... W Arthur Lewis and the Birth of Development Economics [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] By Robert L Tignor [pounds sterling]22.95 Princeton University Press ISBN 0-691-12141-9 W. Arthur Lewis was one of the foremost intellectuals,...

A Voyager Out: The Life of Mary Kingsley.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 1, 2006... A Voyager Out [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Life of Mary Kingsley By Katherine Frank [pounds sterling]9.99 TPP ISBN 1-84511-020-X The Victorian era saw the proliferation of eccentric and daring travellers hellbent on...

Capitalism: As if the World Matters.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 1, 2006... Capitalism [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As if the World Matters By Jonathon Porritt [pounds sterling]18.99 Earthscan ISBN 1-84407-192-8 As our great economic machine grinds relentlessly forward into a future of declining...

Place of Reeds.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 1, 2006... Place of Reeds [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] By Caitlin Davies [pounds sterling]12.99 Simon & Schuster ISBN 0-7432-5953-X Caitlin Davies was in her 20s and studying in America when she met and fell in love with the enigmatic...

The African Aids Epidemic: A History.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 1, 2006... The African Aids Epidemic [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A History By John Iliffe [pounds sterling]45 James Currey ISBN 0-85255-891-0 This book is aimed initially at those who want to study the history of the Aids epidemic...

Darfur: A Short History of a Long War.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 1, 2006... Darfur [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A Short History of a Long War By Julie Flint and Alex de Waal [pounds sterling]36.95 Zed Books ISBN 1 84277 696 7 Sudan's westernmost region, Darfur, sprang into notoriety early in 2004...

Politics in Land and Water Management: A Study in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
February 1, 2006... Politics in Land and Water Management [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A Study in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania By Fred Simon Lerise [pounds sterling]24.95 Mkuki na Nyota Publishers (Tza) ISBN 9987-41729-9 In this book, case...

Managing Urban Futures: Sustainability and Urban Growth in Developing Countries.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Managing Urban Futures [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sustainability and Urban Growth in Developing Countries By Marco Keiner, Martina Koll-Schretzenmayr and Willy A. Schmid [pounds sterling]45 Ashgate ISBN 0 7546 4417 0 ...

Praise the lord: a spirited celebration.(gospel songs)
February 1, 2006... The Best Gospel Album in the World... Ever! Featuring 100 Voices Virgin--EMI Cat: VTDCD742 The gospel music genre has its roots firmly planted in African song, and it has always been inspirational, even before recording...