African Business articles from January 2007

African Business archives from January 2007

The benefits of liberalisation: ICT and development.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... Bianca Wright asks an interesting question in the 'ICT and African Development' Special Report (African Business, November 2006): Are African countries benefiting from liberalisation? Her answer is that in most cases it is too early to tell....

Africa's top banks: CRDB Bank correction.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Correction notice)
January 1, 2007... I refer to the cover story, 'Africa 's top 100 banks', published in your November 2006 issue. CRDB Bank features on pages 19 and 36. Please note that the Bank's correct name is CRDB Bank and not CRDB. I hope this information will be useful in...

Global warming: conference carbon footprints.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... I was delighted to read the editorial Global Warming and Africa (African Business December 2006 issue) which addressed the issues surrounding the whole emissions debate, the first post-Kyoto conference in Africa, and the Clean Development...

Africa's exploding cities: designing for Africa.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... Your far-reaching coverage of the state of Africa's cities (Africa's Exploding Cities, African Business August/September 2006 issue) was a fine piece of reporting but there was one element missing. It is clear that a huge number of decent new...

Gold standards: purchasing offsets.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... Following on from last month's editorial Global Warming and Africa, for many consumers in the West, attempting to protect the climate has become more sophisticated with a plethora of options available to make a company, airline ticket or...

The Green Revolution marches on: a new initiative launched.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... There was an interesting development to your cover story Africa's Green Revolution (African Business December 2006 issue). The Green Wall Sahara programme was launched in the Nigerian capital Abuja at the end of the Summit of Heads of State and...

Diamond beneficiation boost for Namibia.(De Beers Group S.A., free up the supply of Namibian rough diamonds)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Namibia's fledgling diamond cutting industry has received a major boost with De Beers agreeing to free up the supply of Namibian rough diamonds. "As a result of the successful negotiations, the local cutting and polishing sector will benefit...

Mandela throws PAP a financial lifeline.(Pan African Parliament's financial constraints solved)(Nelson Mandela)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The Pan African Parliament's (PAP) coffers have been given a major boost with the launch of a Nelson Mandela-sponsored trust fund to help ease the continental body's financial constraints. Since its launch in 2004, the PAP has faced a number of...

Skills and investment the key.(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Boosting economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is dependent on expanding infrastructure investments, improving the investment climate, harnessing skills for innovation and building institutional capacity across the continent, according to a new...

Ethiopia making strong MDG progress.(Millennium Development Goals)(World Bank's Africa Development Indicators 2006)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Ethiopia is making steady progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and has achieved remarkable results in key areas, says the World Bank's Africa Development Indicators 2006. Detailing a collection of data on 53 African countries using...

China forgives $200m Zambia debt.(Finance)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Zambia's economic fortunes edged up another notch with the announcement by Chinese President Hu Jintao that China is writing off the $211m owed by the central African nation. The debt was incurred when China built the Tanzania-Zambia railway to...

Banks must push Africa's green agenda--IFC.(International Finance Corporation's opinion on a green Africa)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, says banks in developing countries must increase their lending to climate-friendly technology companies. Lars Thunell, IFC's executive vice-president,...

Kenya's pioneering deal.(Kenya sells carbon credits to World Bank)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... In the first deal of its kind in Africa, Kenya is selling 900,000t of carbon credits to a World Bank unit. The Community Development Carbon Credit Fund says the purchase of the credits from the Olkaria II geothermal power plant will stretch...

China could finance new Mozambique project.(Power)(Export Import Bank of China)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Mozambique has completed negotiations to build a $2.3bn hydroelectric power plant at Mpenda Nkua, 70km north of Cahora Bassa dam. The new facility, possibly funded by China's Export Import Bank, will generate 1,200MW of electricity. The rapidly...

Zimbabwe offers compensation to white farmers.(Agriculture)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The Zimbabwe government has invited some 1,000 white farmers to apply for compensation for property seized in land reforms launched six years ago. The government-owned Herald newspaper ran a statement by the minister of lands, Ngoni Masoka,...

AB guide to African currencies.(Business Briefs)(Statistical table)
January 1, 2007... AB Guide to African Currencies Country Currency [pounds sterling]STG Algeria (Dinar) 139.17 Angola (New Kwanza) 157.66 Benin (CFA) ...

Farewell to Kofi Annan.(Editorial)
January 1, 2007... It is time to say farewell to one of Africa's greatest heroes--Kofi Atta Annan who relinquished his position as the UN's secretary-general at the end of December. No secretary-general in the history of the organisation has been lavished...

Africa's mobile revolution--the second phase.(Cover story)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... For over five decades, since most of Africa achieved its independence, the continent's telecommunications system was the least developed in the world. The exceptions, which proved the rule, were South Africa and to some extent, Zimbabwe. Even...

Breaking down mobile boundaries: Africa is the fastest growing telecoms market in the world as network operators extend their areas of coverage and prices tumble. The growth curve is predicted to continue for the next five years, reports Neil Ford.(Telecoms)
January 1, 2007... The African mobile telecommunications sector is widely regarded as one of the continent's most successful industries. While state-owned fixed line telecoms companies failed to satisfy expectations on demand and reliability, newer private sector...

Key economic benefits of mobile technology in Africa.(TELECOMS)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... A developing country which has an average of 10 or more mobile phones per 100 population between 1996 and 2003 would have enjoyed per capita GDP growth that was 0.59 percent higher than an otherwise identical country. This is twice the...

The big players.(telecommunication industry in Africa)
January 1, 2007... Despite the massive expansion of the African mobile market over the past five years, the emergence of pan-African operators has been impeded by a combination of regulatory obstacles, the sheer number of players in the market and restrictions...

Jumping the gap: Africa's telecoms' shortcomings, its vast distances and poor and sparse infrastructure, could be its salvation, says African Business editor Anver Versi. The continent can leap-frog straight to cutting-edge technology.(Telecoms)
January 1, 2007... Cellphones have now become so much part of everyday life that we hardly wonder how they work. In fact, the modern cellphone is actually a radio--a highly developed and sophisticated radio but a radio nonetheless. It is an advanced version...

Matching fixed line to mobile success.(TELECOMS)
January 1, 2007... With potentially the biggest mobile market in Africa, Nigeria is an attractive target for the sector's major players. Market penetration stood at just 7.6% at the end of 2004 but increased rapidly to 14.4% by the end of 2005, highlighting the...

Neotel issues challenge to Telkom.(TELECOMS)
January 1, 2007... While developments in mobile technology and growing competition have dominated the telecoms sector in most of Africa, perhaps the most noteworthy development in South Africa during 2006 was the end of Telkom's fixed line monopoly. In...

New licence for Kenya.(Telecoms)(Communications Commission of Kenya)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) has announced that the licence for the country's second fixed line operator will be awarded at the start of 2007. In order to drum up interest, the government has decided to offer an additional...

Etisalat enters Egyptian market.(Telecoms)
January 1, 2007... Competition has increased in the Egyptian telecoms sector following the award of Egypt's third mobile network licence. Egypt's National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology...

Wireless revolution comes to Africa.(Telecoms)(Conference news)
January 1, 2007... As part of Africa's leap into cutting-edge telecoms technology, a couple of important conferences on wireless broadband were held in Lagos and Nairobi late in November and early December. The conferences were organised by AITEC Africa, the...

Africa on course for sustained growth, says AfDB president Kaberuka: Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) chats with African Business--Excerpts.(Interview)
January 1, 2007... The world has never seen so much prosperity and yet there is so much poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, a region left behind by the sustained global economic boom. On current trends only a few African countries will achieve most of the UN...

African currencies stay steady as dollar plunges: the rapidly-sinking dollar is bad news for Africa's exporters as most commodities, including oil are designated in dollar terms. On the other hand, African currencies are now far more stable than they have been over the past decade.(View from the City)
January 1, 2007... While the US dollar remains the benchmark currency across Anglophone Africa, the currencies of the 14 members of Francophone Africa in West and Central Africa track the movement of Europe's single currency, the Euro. The dollar recently hit a...

Energy and sustainable development.(Special Report)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... THERE CAN BE NO ECONOMIC OR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT RELIABLE SUPPLIES OF ENERGY. AS THE ACCELERATION OF AFRICA'S ECONOMIC GROWTH GATHERS PACE, THE CONTINENT'S ENERGY REQUIREMENTS WILL INCREASE IN TANDEM. AT THE SAME TIME, GLOBAL DEMAND FOR...

Paying for the sins of others: Africa is virtually blameless in creating global warming yet the impact of climate change is likely to fall most heavily on the continent. Africa must act--but do what exactly? Neil Ford offers some suggestions.(Special Report: Energy and sustainable development)
January 1, 2007... Alongside factors such as underdeveloped capital markets and unreliable infrastructure, the lack of access to energy resources is generally regarded as one of the biggest impediments to economic growth and higher living standards in Africa....

African oil: demand will remain strong.(Special Report: Energy and sustainable development)
January 1, 2007... The impact of increasing worldwide concern about global warming on the African oil sector is difficult to assess. The industrialised world has largely turned against the use of oil as a power sector feedstock, but there are many other uses for...

Hydro: the cleanest option.(Special Report: Energy and sustainable development)
January 1, 2007... As has already been argued, most African countries rely on low emission power generation. While there are some emissions from hydro schemes as a result of the build-up of decaying vegetation, they are certainly a low carbon option in comparison...

Gas: environmental windfall.(Special Report: Energy and sustainable development)
January 1, 2007... During the 1990s, it was often claimed that Nigeria flared more gas than anywhere else in the world. While Russia may have been able to put up a challenge for this unenviable title, there is no doubt that Nigerian gas flaring was, and is, a...

Low-emission alternatives.(Special Report: Energy and sustainable development)
January 1, 2007... Aside from large hydro schemes, the options for low carbon power generation fall into two categories: nuclear reactors and renewable energy. Renewable forms of energy production, such as solar power, wind turbines, geothermal and biomass,...

Cape Town's V & A Waterfront sold: the sale of Cape Town's world-famous V & A Waterfront has aroused mixed emotions among the city's inhabitants, but as Tom Nevin reports, the pessimists have no real cause for worry.(Victoria & Alfred Waterfront acquired by Nakheel, black economic empowerment and London & Regional Properties)
January 1, 2007... Capetonians are reputedly a toffee-nosed, standoffish lot, with a reputation of being cliquey, and sniffy about the millions of travellers from around the world who come to 'the most beautiful Cape in all the world' to spend lashings of...

And now for a car that's completely different.(Motoring)(cars that are cheap and environment friendly)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The international automotive transport industry is doubling up on its efforts to beat the fossil-fuel bug. In the process, along comes a car that's totally at odds with all others in the genre--even if the proposition it advances is not...

Fuel fraudsters meet their electronic match.(FuelMaster Express reduces fraud and the need for petrol cards at the fuel pump)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... New technology is making quite dramatic advances in all but eliminating fuel fraud for some of Africa's transport fleet operators. Fuel accounts for around 40% of transporters' running costs. With high petrol and diesel prices, garage card...

Lap desks proliferate in S African schools.(South Africa's Lapdesk company launches products)(Lapdesk Company)
January 1, 2007... An ingeniously simple solution for a critical need, the lap desk is sweeping South Africa and will soon spill over into neighbouring countries and further afield on the continent. According to some estimates, 80m children in Africa, over 4m...

Candle lights of health and fortune.(Natural products)(South Africa's Council for Industrial and Scientific Research helps Hi Hanyile factory create new mosquito repellent)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... More than a means of illumination or to lend enchantment to a romantic dinner, the candle is breaking new ground in extending indigenous knowledge to manufacture a means of repelling mosquitoes and create wealth and rural job opportunities at...

Eco-friendly cardboard coffins.(Packaging)(Carrie Yau talks abouts reducing time taken for funerals)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... In the quickening search for planet-saving green products, coffins are now available that are as bio-disposable as the people despatched in them. They also burn more easily and cleanly in crematoriums. The cardboard 'Eco-Coffin' has made its...

USB to knock the CD off its perch?(compact discs lose market to ultrasound B-scan)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Is the barely conspicuous computer memory stick ringing the death knell for the compact disc? In the pursuit of recording and storing music, first came the vinyl record, then the audio tape and, currently, the CD. That's about to change once...

Exercise vs the common cold.(Medical Moments)(physical training helps in fending off coughs and common cold)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... If colds bug you, try a little PT. New research is showing that physical training can be one of the best helpers in fending off coughs and the common cold. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Research published in the American Journal of Medicine...

Don't forget your curry.(Medical Moments)(spices in curry helps fight alzheimer's disease)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... More reason for more people to eat more curry is that it might help in the fight against Alzheimer's disease. Medical researchers suspect that curry spice ingredients curcumin and turmeric help the immune system dispose of amyloid beta, the...

Make mine muesli.(Maximillian Bircher-Benner's muesli is a favourite among dieticians)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... When Swiss physician Maximillian Bircher-Benner concocted his dried, uncooked vegetable cereal over 100 years ago, he would have had no idea that he'd change the breakfast-eating habits of millions of people around the world, and probably...

Eat a little, live a lot.(over-eating puts strain on heart, liver, kiney and circulatory system)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Doctors are coming to consensus that the average Westerner should cut back on a third of his or her daily intake of food. Their modern lifestyle habits and the hyped up marketing of foods often means people eat more than they should and often...

Sleep is the key.(Sleep deprivation effects physical and mental health)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Overall health is more vitally dependent on a good night's rest than was previously thought, researchers are finding. "There is increasing evidence of the strong relationship between sleep quality and physical and mental health," says Dr Phylis...

Oil: Mittal and Addax join the fray; With an increasing number of Indian and Chinese firms challenging the Western majors for exploration rights, the face of Nigeria's downstream investment has changed forever. Neil Ford reports on the latest developments.(NIGERIA)
January 1, 2007... Even as the Nigerian government prepared its latest exploration-related licensing round, massive new investment in recently licensed acreage was being agreed. International oil firm Addax Petroleum and Indian firm ONGC Mittal Energy have both...

Where will World Cup fans sleep? Will South Africa's hospitality industry have enough beds to accommodate the masses of foreign football fans arriving in the country just four years from now? Tom Nevin investigates.(SOUTH AFRICA)
January 1, 2007... About 7.3m tourists visited South Africa last year, according to the government's Tourism South Africa organisation. Given annual increments, that figure will probably rise to around 8m in 2010 barring major upsets. Add another half-million...

Waiting for the democratic dividend: DR Congo's first democratic election for more than 40 years must be judged a success. The result has been widely accepted and the conflagration that many expected has failed to materialise. Will this central African country now settle down to reap the economic benefits of democratisation? Report by Neil Ford.(DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO)
January 1, 2007... When the polls closed, the result of the second round ballot was fairly clear. The incumbent, Joseph Kabila, had won with 58.05% of the vote to Jean-Pierre Bemba's 41.95%. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [GRAPHIC OMITTED] The result was...

Battle for Mombasa port: the proposed privatisation of Mombasa port has become a political hot potato in the run-up to the general elections at the end of the year. Privatisation is certain to improve efficiency but at what cost in terms of jobs? Neil Ford reports.(KENYA)
January 1, 2007... A long struggle over the fate of East Africa's biggest port is likely to be a central feature of the Kenyan political scene over the next year. The government has made it clear that it intends to transfer control of Mombasa port to a private...

Indian firm set to run railways: it appears more than likely that an Indian railway management company will take over the running of Tanzania's railways. This could dramatically cut the cost of transporting goods, as Neil Ford reports.(TANZANIA)(Railway Technical and Economic Services of India to manage Tanzania Railways Corporation)
January 1, 2007... Despite recent delays to the contract, Tanzania looks likely to join Kenya and Uganda in transferring the management of its main rail services to a private company. [GRAPHIC OMITTED] Nairobi and Kampala are convinced that Rail Valley...

Avoiding an apocalypse: man's greatest challenge.(Heat: How to Stop the Planet Burning)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Heat How to Stop the Planet Burning By George Monbiot [pounds sterling]17.99 Penguin ISBN 0-713-99923-3 George Monbiot is one of the world's most influential writers and thinkers and in this book he turns his attention to...

Hello Africa--Tell Me, How Are You Doing?: A Noble Continent in Painful Renaissance.(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Hello Africa--Tell Me, How Are You Doing? A Noble Continent in Painful Renaissance By Osei G Kofi R275 One World Books (SA) ISBN 0-620-35534-4 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This is a book on Africa that tells it like it is....

The Book of Chameleons.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... The Book of Chameleons By Jose Eduardo Agualusa Translated by Daniel Hahn [pounds sterling]11.99 Arcadia Books [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ISBN 1905147155 Set in contemporary Angola, The Book of Chameleons is populated...

Emancipation Without Abolition: German East Africa 1884-1914.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Emancipation without Abolition German East Africa 1884-1914 By Jan-Georg Deutsch [pounds sterling]17.55 James Currey ISBN 0-85255-985-2 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This study examines the complex history of slavery in East...

Sardines and Oranges: Short Stories from North Africa.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Sardines and Oranges Short Stories from North Africa By Tayeb Salih and 20 other North African authors [pounds sterling]8.99 Banipal ISBN 0-9549666-1-9 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This book is a collection of 26...

The Nile: From the Mountains to the Mediterranean.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... The Nile From the Mountains to the Mediterranean By Aldo Pavan [pounds sterling]24.95 Thames & Hudson ISBN 13 978-0500513255 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Nile winds some 6,695km from the heart of Africa to the...

Economic Integration and Development in Africa.(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Economic Integration and Development in Africa By Henry Kyambalesa and Mathurin C Houngnikpo [pounds sterling]55.00 Ashgate ISBN 0 7546 4603 3 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The debates over what African economic integration and...

Greetings in Jesus Name: The Scambaiter Letters.(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Greetings in Jesus Name The Scambaiter Letters Mike Berry (AKA Shiver Metimbers) [pounds sterling]8.99 Harbour Books ISBN 10 190 5128 08 8 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We all receive a deluge of e-mails, amongst those...

Peace, love and unity: the Iso message.(Sound recording review)
January 1, 2007... Senegal Ismael Lo Wrasse Records Cat: WRASS183 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Ismael Lo, or 'Iso' as he has been affectionately known since childhood, is what might be described as a 'musicians' musician', a star who has won...