African Business articles from January 2005

African Business archives from January 2005

Economic policies: an appeal to the IMF, World Bank.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)
January 1, 2005... Please allow me to use the letter pages of African Business to appeal to the IMF and World Bank to consider the plight of the poor in Africa. Poverty levels in most African countries are now approaching 75%. The majority of the continent's...

The Saharawi issue: call for balanced analysis.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2005... I have yet to see the pan-African Anglophone press make any kind of balanced analysis of the Saharawi issue, and your magazine is no exception. This oversight is even more incredible when you consider what a long-running controversy this...

Taking safeguards: repelling the mosquito.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)
January 1, 2005... I was fascinated to read about the discovery of an indigenous mosquito repellent (Products and Processes, African Business November 2004). But until this new wonder repellent comes to market, it would be useful if a better knowledge of how to...

Aviation debate: pan-African carrier a disaster.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2005... Allow me to respond to the letter from your reader Jacques Sassine (African Business December 2004 issue) who calls for the formation of a pan-African carrier in the wake of the recent failure of Ghana Airways. In fact, I would argue, that is...

Beware the debt trap: property is at risk.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2005... Herald Tagama's article regarding the formalisation of property rights in Tanzania ('Title deeds could unlock trapped wealth,' African Business December 2004 issue) makes interesting reading, but I am afraid misses a crucial point with regard...

Maasai land: an update please.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)
January 1, 2005... I refer to your article Maasai demand return of ancestral lands (African Business October 2004 issue)--a fascinating story of how the ramifications of colonial era land grabs are now emerging as a number of thorny issues for African governments...

Prize letter: win a free annual subscription!
January 1, 2005... 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...

Celtel wins International Finance Corporation Client Leadership Award.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Leading Pan African mobile telecommunications group Celtel International is the recipient of the inaugural International Finance Corporation Client Leadership Award. The award, which was presented to the group last month, seeks to recognize...

Enterprise: foster SMEs, governments told.(small and medium-sized enterprise)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Africa has been told to put more time, money and effort into its entrepreneurs or face the consequences of development decline. "Without development of the small and medium-sized enterprises, Africa won't develop," Joseph Nyamunde of the...

Export promotion: Africa's first trade and investment expo.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(exhibition)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... South Africa will host the continent's first-ever multi-sectoral export promotion exhibition aimed at buyers and investors. The inaugural exhibition, Export Africa 2005, will run at Gallagher Estate near Johannesburg from May 17 to 19. A...

Infrastructure: faster Zambian copper exports.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Zambia's recovering copper and cobalt mining industry was further boosted with the announcement that its Copper Belt region is to be re-linked with Angola's Benguela railway line to facilitate transport of its copper exports to European and...

Governance: jolt for Africa's leaders.(British Broadcasting Corp., survey)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Africans may love their continent, but they're not so sure about the politicians who run it for them. Late last year, a BBC survey found that the people of Africa hold their region dear; another survey, this time by the World Economic Forum,...

Emergency funding: UN appeals for southern Africa relief.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... The UN's World Food Programme says it needs $400m for its Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation for southern Africa, to combat rising levels of poverty and HIV/Aids in the region. Appealing for donations, the WFP's regional director, Mike...

Finance: oil price assists Angola.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Angolan finance ministry spokesman Bastos de Almeida said recently: "Angola's inflation objective for 2005 is 15% and next year we expect gross domestic product to grow 16%, thanks to growth in oil production." However, economists point out,...

Economy: Zimbabwe making progress, says IMF.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(International Monetary Fund)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... The International Monetary Fund will not resume lending to Zimbabwe for the time being, but it did give the beleaguered country a pat on the back for making some headway in turning its struggling economy around. Noting signs of economic...

Health: tragedy of Africa's child deaths.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Many developing countries are falling behind in the race to lower the numbers of deaths among pregnant women and children under the age of five by the year 2015. A new World Bank report says more than 11m children died in 2002 before...

Agriculture: storm in Kenya's coffee cup.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... The Kenya government doubts that expanded competition in the coffee industry will do the sector much good, and it could force all growers to sell their crops to the government's Kenya Planters Co-operative Union. According to Co-operative...

AB guide to African currencies.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
January 1, 2005... [pounds sterling] COUNTRY CURRENCY STG $US EURO ALGERIA (Dinar) 137.91 72.06 95.29 ANGOLA (New Kwanza) ...

Lessons in how to wreck a thriving country.(Cote d'Ivoire)(Editorial)
January 1, 2005... It is instructive of the depth to which Cote d'Ivoire has sunk that the recent relative calm should be described by journalists as 'good news'. Abidjan, until a few years ago one of Africa's glittering capitals, is so badly potholed that...

What does 2005 hold in store?(AFRICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW)(economic conditions in Africa)(Cover Story)
January 1, 2005... For every African economy that has performed well over the past few years, there is another that has recorded disappointing economic figures or which has been undermined by political troubles. Producing a review of the continent's overall...

Development: a fortune in catfish.(PRODUCTS & PROCESSES)(fisheries)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... A rural South African community is cashing in on a global fish fad and earning a healthy income in the process. The folk of KwaZulu-Natal's Dindi district are earning around R500,000 a year farming catfish for an overseas market clamouring for...

Innovation: let there be landing lights.(PRODUCTS & PROCESSES)(runway lights )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Sometimes, the label "Africa, the Dark Continent" has to be taken literally, as pilots who fly the continent's skies will tell you. In SADC countries alone, there are over 2,000 rural airfields that cannot handle emergency landings at night,...

Invention: gel substitute for paraffin could save lives.(PRODUCTS & PROCESSES)(fuel stoves)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Fire is an ever-present danger in Africa's shack and shanty towns, where houses and shelters are often made of quick-to-ignite wood, plastic and cardboard. Knocked over paraffin lamps and stoves are often the cause of starting fires with...

Agriculture: humble cassava moves into the limelight.(PRODUCTS & PROCESSES)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Africa's premier poverty fighter is having a conference named after it, has had a board named in it honour and has been accorded a prestige position in the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad). The commodity: cassava. Last...

Initiative: there's a fortune in them there 'weeds'.(PRODUCTS & PROCESSES)(Camphor trees of Durban)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Generations of Durban, Kwazulu-Natal, dwellers have known them as camphor trees and they have graced the city's streets for a century or more. Now the city fathers have decided in their wisdom that the stately plants are "alien invaders" and...

Development: a light fantastic.(PRODUCTS & PROCESSES)(UV Waterworks being developed for infection control)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... More than half of the world's population is exposed to water contaminated with pathogenic organisms. Now, scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US are developing a simple, effective device that can greatly reduce...

Invention: put Tiger in your putt.(PRODUCTS & PROCESSES)(introduction of ProAim)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Professionals and amateurs agree: putting (for non-golfers, that is the part when the players, having hit the little white ball hundreds of metres from the tee, are finally in a position to 'putt' it into the hole) is the most frustrating part...

What will four more years of Bush mean for the world? If nothing else, last November's US presidential election proved that a skilful politician, equipped with a sufficiently large campaign budget, can be re-elected despite a dismal economic performance.(VIEW FROM THE CITY)(Bush, George W)
January 1, 2005... Incumbent US President George W Bush won a stunning electoral victory last November. Along with enhanced majorities for his Republican party in the US Senate and House of Representatives--and, unlike in 2000, a significant popular mandate--this...

Artists repay debt to Africa: African artists, such as Robert Glen and Susan Stolberger are opening doors for other creative talents from the continent to make their mark around the world and also show Africa in its best, most dramatic light.(DATELINE USA)
January 1, 2005... African music marches to a beat all of its own, one that is fast gaining international recognition through the efforts of Congolese singers like Papa Wemba and South Africa's world renowned Miriam Makeba. But music is not the only African art...

Is Nepad nothing but a talk shop? What has Nepad achieved in the three years of its existence? The founding fathers of the movement say there has been little else but talk; others disagree.(DEVELOPMENT)(New Partnership for Africa's Development)(Abdoulaye Wade)
January 1, 2005... When Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade is asked what the Nepad recovery plan has achieved in its three years of existence, he says: "Nothing. Whenever I am asked what we have done, it is meetings, meetings, meetings. We need action." ...

A bright future for precious metals: the West's continuing economic growth represents good news for Africa's precious metal miners and gemstone producers who can anticipate buoyant markets for their products. Moin Siddiqi reports.(COMMODITIES)(Industry Overview)
January 1, 2005... The markets for gold, silver, platinum and gemstones are all highly sensitive to global business cycles. Frenetic activity in times of booming consumer spending--particularly in the wealthy Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development...

Black achievers soar with Eagle Awards: legendary footballer George Weah and CNN news anchor Tumi Magkabo were among the winners of the 2004 Eagle Awards in London. Pernille Goodall has the story.(EVENTS)
January 1, 2005... Two of the most easily recognized African personalities were among the winners during a star-studded gala night honouring black achievement world-wide. CNN International news anchor, Tumi Magkabo and renowned footballer George Weah led a list...

SADC plots ambitious economic decade: the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has enormous potential and could become one of the world's top 20 regional economic blocks--that is if it can overcome the host of problems currently besetting the organisation. Tom Nevin examines the Community's recently released targets for the next 10 years.(TOPIC)
January 1, 2005... The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has a busy ten years ahead as it tries to make economic sense of the 14-nation region's vast human and economic resources. It has set an ambitious agenda to pull the region out of the doldrums...

JSE set to become virtual Pan-African exchange: S Africa's biggest stock exchange, the JSE has been given the green light to list companies from other African countries. The advantages can be significant, but so can the disadvantages. Tom Nevin reports.(STOCK MARKETS)(Johannesburg Stock Exchange)
January 1, 2005... The exchange control department of the South African Reserve Bank has given the go-ahead for foreign companies to list on South Africa's stock exchanges. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has been encouraged to develop an index to include...

Nigeria's gas potential virtually limitless: Nigeria's estimated natural gas reserves currently stand at 159 trillion cubic feet but so far only the Bonny Island Plant is making use of this bounty. The scope for expansion is therefore almost limitless.(OIL AND GAS)
January 1, 2005... It is often argued that Nigeria has made little progress towards economic diversification since oil first became the dominant force in the national economy in the 1970s. In fact, it would be more correct to argue that the non-hydrocarbon sector...

"Initiative Africa" trophy 2004: three women rewarded for their initiative in Benin, Botswana and DRC; Western Union supports African ingenuous development in Africa.(Kgalalelo Ntsepe, Mama Balagizi, Grace Dotou)
January 1, 2005... Paris, December 1st 2004--Western Union Financial Services Inc., a worldwide leader in money transfer services today announced the winners of its "Initiative Africa" Trophy 2004. The "Initiative Africa" interactive television program was...

Somalia's Phileas Fogg President: as Somalia's interim government in Nairobi, Kenya announces the composition of its cabinet, our Guest Commentator takes a wry look at the activities of the president-elect, Abdullahi.(GUEST COMMENTARY)
January 1, 2005... "Somalis have always been adept at manipulating benefactors," said a Western diplomat in 1970s Mogadishu. He was commenting on how Siyad Barre's military regime managed to befriend such sworn enemies as the Soviets and the Chinese; the Iraqis...

We are not the ANC's lapdog--Cosatu: South Africa's government, writes Tom Nevin, is facing its biggest ever political crisis as one member of the ruling tripartite alliance, the labour movement Cosatu, is threatening to break away.(SOUTH AFRICA)(African National Congress, Confederation of South African Trade Unions, South African Communist Party)
January 1, 2005... The South African government is facing the biggest political crisis in its decade-long rule, as pressure mounts on its rapidly unravelling coalition partnership. Mounting discontent by the alliance's labour component at what it regards as its...

Pohamba to fire up economic engine: the only political change brought about by the November general elections is that Sam Nujoma has been replaced by his old friend Hifkepunye Pohamba. The economy however, is another matter, as Tom Nevin reports.(NAMIBIA)
January 1, 2005... Politically, it will be business as usual with, most commentators say, former President Sam Nujoma in the wings flashing cue cards to the players on stage. Economically, however, Namibians could be in for an entirely new show with incoming...

Economic strategy gets full marks: the future looks bright for the Ethiopian economy following a string of good news over the past few months. Donors have slashed debt repayment and the World Bank is encouraging more investment. But, as Neil Ford reports, a great deal of work is still to be done if Ethiopia is to turn the corner.(ETHIOPIA)
January 1, 2005... An intensive World Bank assessment of the Ethiopian economy concluded that the government is implementing a solid "vision for growth and poverty reduction", while the Paris Club of major creditors agreed to slash Ethiopia's external debt. ...

Discarding dogma, embracing pragmatism: the government of Senegal finally seems to be shaking up the country's lethargic economy, which has long promised more than it has actually delivered. Several reforms, reports Neil Ford, are designed to give the economy the shot in the arm it requires.(SENEGAL)
January 1, 2005... Power sector reform aims to attract foreign investment to provide sufficient additional generating capacity to supply electricity to a larger share of the population. At the same time, the government is attempting to inject more efficiency into...

Kufuor wins 'grown-up' elections: the presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana last month produced the biggest turnout of voters not only in the country's own history but also in that of the West African region. Does this indicate a change in the style of politics in the region, asks Anver Versi?(GHANA)(John Kufuor)
January 1, 2005... President John Kufuor, who was re-elected by the largest popular participation in Ghana's history, has pledged to combat poverty during his second four year term of office. [GRAPHIC OMITTED] The turnout, at 83.2% of the estimated 10m...

Oil may rescue locust-hit economy: Mauritania recently celebrated its 44th anniversary of independence with President Maaouiya Ould Taya surveying a curious mix of circumstances in the country he has ruled since 1984. James Badcock reports.(MAURITANIA)
January 1, 2005... Celebrations over 44 years of independence in this West African country were somewhat muted as citizens looked back on a strangely mixed year. [GRAPHIC OMITTED] Locusts rampaged through Mauritania, as they did throughout the Sahel...

MTV rolls out Africa channel: MTV, the world's largest music broadcaster, will launch a new channel dedicated to Africa in February. This will be the organisation's 100th channel and also complete its coverage of all regions of the world. Anver Versi looks at the pros and cons of this new musical movement.(SHOWBIZ)(MTV Networks Inc.)
January 1, 2005... The announcement that MTV--the world's biggest TV network dedicated to urban youth music--will be launching a new channel specifically for Africa has been greeted with delight by the continent's army of youthful music lovers. [ILLUSTRATION...

Papa Wemba bounces back: one of Africa's most famous and beloved musicians, the Congolese Papa Wemba caused shock and dismay when a French court found him guilty of 'people smuggling' and sentenced him to 30 months in jail. Milan Vesely profiles Papa Wemba's tempestuous career.(SHOW BUSINESS)(Biography)
January 1, 2005... During Papa Wemba's four months in a French jail (26 months of his 30-month jail sentence was suspended since he had already spent time behind bars during the trial) the 55-year-old 'King of African Hip' says he came "face to face with God"....

What is the world's worst calamity? Academics crack hard nuts.(Global Cries, Global Solutions)(Book Review)
January 1, 2005... GLOBAL CRISES, GLOBAL SOLUTIONS Edited by Bjorn Lomborg [pounds sterling]19.99 Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-60614-4 The book explores opportunities for addressing some of the most serious challenges facing the world...

Tell Me No Lies.(Book Review)
January 1, 2005... TELL ME NO LIES By John Pilger [pounds sterling]20 Jonathan Cape ISBN 0-224-06289-3 Over the past few decades, 'investigative journalism' has come to mean the kind of brave reporting that exposes injustice, wrongdoing and,...

A Burning Hunger.(Book Review)
January 1, 2005... A BURNING HUNGER By Lynda Schuster [pounds sterling]18.99 Jonathan Cape ISBN 0-224-04168-1 On June 16 1976, the students of Soweto rose up in protest against a new rule that all teaching in African schools had to be done in...

The Girl Who Married a Lion.(Book Review)
January 1, 2005... THE GIRL WHO MARRIED A LION Alexander McCall Smith [pounds sterling]8.99 Canongate ISBN 1-84195-530-2 Alexander McCall Smith has compiled this fascinating collection of African folk tales from Southern Africa, tales that...

The Remarkable Baobab.(Book Review)
January 1, 2005... THE REMARKABLE BAOBAB By Thomas Packenham [pounds sterling]12.99 Weidenfeld and Nicolson ISBN0-297-84373-7 The much loved author of a bestselling book on trees now homes in on the most extraordinary tree of them all. Standing...

The In-Between World of Vikram Lall.(Book Review)
January 1, 2005... THE IN-BETWEEN WORLD OF VIKRAM LALL By M G Vassanji [pounds sterling]14.99 Canongate ISBN: 1-84195-538-8 Double Giller Prize winner M.G. Vassanji's The In-Between World of Vikram Lall is a haunting novel of corruption and...

Clear as a Bel: a true diva returns.(Mbilia Bel)(Biography)
January 1, 2005... MBILIA BELISSIMO MBILIA BEL Sterns CAT: STLD 1098 Mbilia Bel is often described as the first true pan-African female singing star--even if others such as Miriam Makeba might also claim such fame. But what is undeniable is...