African Business articles from March 2008

African Business archives from March 2008

The heart of civilisation: averting a conflict in Africa.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... I have learned an incredible amount about Africa over the last four years from your magazines which I read on a monthly basis. Please allow me to express my thoughts on our continent. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We all know that Africa is...

Climate change: funding Africa's defence.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... I was very impressed by your recent coverage of the global warming issue and how it will disproportionately impact the African continent (African Business May 2007 issue). As Africa is probably the global region that is least able to deal...

A writer's award: student sponsorship.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... As a committed reader of your magazine for many years, I was very interested to read about the African Banking Awards and more recently the African Business Awards that you are sponsoring. Please allow me to suggest another Award that you...

The China-Taiwan paradox: diplomacy and business.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... Your correspondent Lameck Masina made some interesting points in his article Taiwan dumped for China (African Business February 2008 issue) but he neglected one that I find one of the most intriguing. Even though Beijing refuses to acknowledge...

Don't forget us! World Cup ticket prices.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... I was happy to read that Fifa will make cheap tickets for the 2010 Soccer World Cup to be held in South Africa (World Cup 2010 Watch, African Business February 2008 issue). But even the cheapest are $20 and they are only for South African...

Uganda's fortune: avoiding the curse.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... I read with interest Neil Ford's article regarding Uganda's great fortune in discovering hydrocarbon deposits in the Lake Albert region (Avoiding the Oil Curse, African Business December 2007 issue). This is very good news for a country...

Ghana cocoa gets a boost.(Agriculture)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Cadbury has promised to invest $87m over the next decade to support high-quality sustainable cocoa output from around the world. Ghana, as the world's second largest producer and Cadbury's biggest supplier, will receive more than 70% of the...

Ford commits to S Africa.(Automotives)(Ford Motor Company)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) has announced a R1.5bn ($205m) investment to build a new engine plant in Port Elizabeth and an assembly line at Pretoria to produce a new pick-up model. This new investment, from one of the world's...

UBA, MTN sponsor TV show.(Investment)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... United Bank for Africa (UBA) and MTN Nigeria are to sponsor the Dragons' Den TV show in Nigeria. The Dragons' Den features five real-life business people who are each prepared to invest N10m ($86,000) of their own money in new enterprises....

Delta wins Liberia concession.(Mining)(Delta Mining Consolidated)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Delta Mining Consolidated (DMC), the Johannesburg-based diversified junior exploration and mining group, has won the $1.6bn concession to develop the Western Cluster Iron Ore Deposit in Liberia. DMC currently trades in the South African, SADC...

Nigeria calls for security force.(Oil & gas)
March 1, 2008... Nigeria's President Umaru Yar'Adua has called for the creation of an international marine force to protect the offshore oil industry in the Gulf of Guinea. After a meeting with President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, who...

US-Africa seminar upbeat.(Tourism)(Corporate Council on Africa And Africa Travel Association Tourism and Sports Seminar at the Jacob K Javits Convention Center in New York)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... At the end of last month, the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) and Africa Travel Association (ATA) co-hosted the first US-Africa Tourism and Sports Seminar at the Jacob K Javits Convention Center in New York. Entitled, 'Making Africa the...

Rwanda opens a securities exchange.(Stock markets)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... The Central Bank of Rwanda (CBR) has opened a securities exchange, the Rwanda Capital Market, in the capital Kigali. Initially it will deal in corporate and treasury bonds, but the CBR says it will include other products such as equities in due...

Botswana upgrades airport.(Aviation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Botswana has raised a P62m ($10m) loan with the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (Badea) for a planned upgrade of the country's principal airport and its international gateway, the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport. This sum...

AB guide to African currencies.(BRIEFS)(List)
March 1, 2008... Country Currency [pounds sterling]STG Algeria (Dinar) 130.56 Angola (New Kwanza) 146.08 Benin (CFA) 880.66 Botswana ...

The power of feeling good.(corporate social responsibility)(Editorial)
March 1, 2008... What will hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup achieve for South Africa in particular and Africa in general? There are of course the usual projections: new infrastructure, thousands of extra jobs, a welcome cash injection when an estimated million...

Rising tide of FDI reaches Africa.(Editorial)
March 1, 2008... In 2006/7, global foreign direct investment flows reached a new record, registering around $1.3 trillion. Significantly, a new pattern has been emerging. Flows to the developing world are increasing and south-south investment is on the rise. In...

South-south trade fuels investment growth.
March 1, 2008... The world in 2006/07 was a significantly kinder and more prosperous place than it was in the preceding couple of decades. And that was mostly because of a more settled global economic environment that expanded at an admittedly tentative 3%. ...

South Africa biggest investor in Africa.(Foreign direct investment)(Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd.)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... For the past five years or so, South Africa has been the biggest global foreign direct investor in Africa, led by such trail-blazers as Standard Bank, one of South Africa's big four financial services institutions. The bank has extended...

The inevitable trade-offs.(Foreign direct investment)
March 1, 2008... These days, gifts of beads and blankets for large tracts of fabulously wealthy land have been replaced by an increasingly fast-flowing stream of foreign direct investment as players in the new scramble for Africa bid for stakes in resource-rich...

The Asia connection.
March 1, 2008... Foreign direct investment in Africa by developing Asian economies is on the rise and has the potential to reach much higher levels, according to a joint report by Unctad and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) titled: Asian Foreign...

The new Chinese wave.(Foreign direct investment)
March 1, 2008... Its own considerable territory notwithstanding, China is generally resource-poor and regards Africa as the cornucopia of the vital natural resources it needs to fuel its rapidly-growing economy. China has swung its gaze to the DR Congo and...

S Africa joins elite FDI destinations: for the first time, an African country, South Africa, has made the list of the top 25 most attractive destinations for global foreign direct investment. It now ranks 18th in the world from a very low base 14 years ago. Neil Ford explains this remarkable achievement.
March 1, 2008... A study of cross-border investment flows has revealed that South Africa is the 18th most attractive destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the world. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Since coming to power in 1994, the African...

Gazprom to signal end of Western domination? Nigeria's growing importance as an international gas supplier has been highlighted by talks between Abuja and gas giant Gazprom. The Russian company is the biggest gas exporter in the world. What lies behind Gazprom's foray into Africa?(ENERGY)
March 1, 2008... Representatives of Gazprom have met with Nigerian oil officials to discuss Russian investment in the Nigerian oil sector, building on communication between Nigeria's President Umaru Yar'Adua and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin last year....

Coal is back.(INDUSTRY)
March 1, 2008... Although coal is regarded as a 'dirty' form of energy, it is still one of the cheapest forms available. The demand for coal is growing, especially in Asia. Can South Africa, one of the world's leading producers take advantage of this situation?...

Black firms move into manganese: some of the world's biggest mining companies have signed deals with empowerment firms to further develop the South African manganese sector. But, as Neil Ford argues, the country's critical shortage of power could undermine the deals.(MINING)
March 1, 2008... As in most other industries, mining sector investors are required to allocate equity to black empowerment enterprises (BEE) in order to share the economic benefits of their projects more widely among South Africans. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

Prices remain firm for softs.(COMMODITIES)
March 1, 2008... The past year has generally been as good to African agricultural commodities as it has been to their mining and energy counterparts. There has been strong global demand for African crops such as cocoa, tea and coffee but the glut in the supply...

Change is in the air.(Special Report: Aviation in Africa)(Report)
March 1, 2008... Most established airlines were set up as national carriers and their routes have been jealousy guarded by their respective governments. The continent's biggest airlines compete head to head on very few routes and privately owned operators have...

Air safety: 2008 deadline for Africa.(Speical Report: Aviation in Africa)(Interview)
March 1, 2008... The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) met for its 39th general assembly in Mauritius. Members discussed many hot issues concerning the future of air transport on the continent. Nasseem Ackbarally interviewed the organisation's...

Africa's low cost airlines: plenty of room for growth.(Special Report: Aviation in Africa)
March 1, 2008... The viability of low-cost airlines (LCAs) is threatened by very high fuel prices, which are largely the result of record crude prices coupled with some regional refining problems. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LCAs have seized an ever-growing...

Bafana Bafana deepen gloom.(WORLD CUP 2010 WATCH)
March 1, 2008... South African national soccer team, Bafana Bafana's very poor performance in the recently concluded African Nations Cup has depressed the spirit of South African fans ahead of the World Cup. And to add to the gloom, the lights might not work! A...

Mittal wrapping up Africa? As the pace of Asian investment in African raw materials begins to pick up, India's Arcelor Mittal, the world's largest steel producer, has announced new investment in West African iron ore mining. What are the implications for Africa? Report by Neil Ford.(INVESTMENT)
March 1, 2008... Although headquartered in Luxembourg and headed by London-based Lakshmi Mittal, Arcelor Mittal is regarded as one of the new wave of Indian companies that are making a huge splash in their respective sectors in Africa. [ILLUSTRATION...

Cautious optimism as calm returns.(KENYA)
March 1, 2008... Kenya is counting the political, economic and social cost of the eruption of violence that followed the now discredited presidential elections. The image of Kenya as a stable, harmonious nation has been tarnished, but many see the tragedy as an...

Small earners face brunt of economic fallout: the effects of the violence that engulfed Kenya post the December elections, as usual, have fallen most severely on the small-scale farmers and workers. Dennis Onyango went on a fact-finding mission to the rural heartland of Kenya. Here is his report.(KENYA)
March 1, 2008... The economy looks bad and it could get worse. It is not just about the big income earners like tourism and horticulture, which have sustained the country for years. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Everyone, from the fishermen in Lake Victoria...

Delta aims to become industrial power: an ambitious industrial project, based on the presence of liquefied natural gas, is one the drawing board in the states of Ogun and Ondo. It will involve developing a new shipping hub and a large scale industrial zone. Report by Neil Ford.(NIGERIA)
March 1, 2008... Countless initiatives have been launched in Nigeria to promote industrial development over many decades. Most have disappeared without trace, as the country has failed to build on the solid base given to it by its oil and gas wealth. ...

Power cuts at crisis point.(SOUTH AFRICA)
March 1, 2008... The power cuts in South Africa have now attained crisis proportions. There are fears of a growth slowdown and a brake on the country's hitherto record investment inflows. Then there is the World Cup looming in two years time. Who or what is to...

Timber exports banned to save forests: Sierra Leone is losing its rainforests to uncontrolled logging by Chinese and other companies. The situation has become so bad that President Koroma has slapped a ban on all timber exports. Neil Ford reports.(SIERRA LEONE)
March 1, 2008... The government of Sierra Leone has followed its temporary ban on the export of minerals, with a similar embargo on timber exports, as it seeks to re-establish control over the export of raw materials. As in neighbouring Liberia, the dividing...

Searching for Kony: Uganda's running sore.(Book review)
March 1, 2008... The Wizard of the Nile By Matthew Green [pounds sterling]16.99 Portobello ISBN: 978-1-84627-030-7 This book describes the attempt by Nairobi-based Reuters correspondent Matthew Green to meet Joseph Kony, leader of the Lords...

Musical explorers: the many-headed hydra.(Sound recording review)
March 1, 2008... Camping Shaabi Think of One Crammed Discs CRAW 42 Building some of the most unlikely alliances in World Music, Belgian beatniks Think of One have a well-deserved reputation for working with artists of various musical genres...