African Business articles from May 2007

African Business archives from May 2007

The globalisation of identity: African citizens of the world.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... There is an on-going emotionally charged debate on the issue of illegal immigration such as in France with the presidential candidate Jean Marie Le Pen's manifesto, in the US with a government decision to build a wall along the frontier with...

Managed exchange of skills.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... The solution lies less in building walls and barriers and more in understanding that the globalisation of identity is a fact of development and human endeavour. Large scale globalisation of identity is a reality and is here to stay even though...

China good for Africa: development must be human-based.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... The editorial in African Business' March 2007 issue, China is Good for Africa, will have been lauded by many people who are looking for a new development partner for Africa to either replace or complement the activities of the World Bank and...

The Zimbabwe debate: opinions down south.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... Your leading editorial, "Mugabe--The Lost Opportunities" (African Business, April 2007) highlighted once again the continuing misfortunes of the once-prosperous, now near-failed, state of Zimbabwe. Having travelled recently in South Africa,...

Wanting more: a grateful reader.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... I would like to congratulate you on your very informative Top Companies report. You cannot overestimate the utility of having all this information under one umbrella. Too much of business in Africa is opaque and financial data is hard to get,...

Solar airport for Uganda.(Aviation)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Work has already begun to rehabilitate and redevelop the disused Mutukula Airport in the district of Rakai in southern Uganda. The new airport, which is scheduled to open before the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in November, will be...

Annan to chair MIF Prize committee.(Leadership awards)(Mo Ibrahim Prize)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Kofi Annan has been appointed chairman of the committee for the Mo Ibrahim Prize. Annan, the former UN Secretary-General, will be joined by five international statesmen who will select the winner of the world's largest prize in monetary terms:...

New, affordable PC.(Technology)(Quanta Computer Inc.)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Quanta Computer, the Taiwanese company manufacturing the low-cost laptop to be distributed to children in the developing world under the non-profit One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) scheme, has confirmed it will also develop an ultra low-cost PC for...

Cape Town lures call centres.(Communications)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... As well as the South African government providing a $140m package of incentives for the development of call centres, including substantial tax breaks for every job created, the provincial government of the Western Cape has set aside $2.75m in...

New UN anti-slavery fund.(Human Rights)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... The curse of people smuggling and forced labour are being addressed by a new UN global fund to fight international human trafficking and slavery. According to Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the UN Office of Drug and Crime: "Slavery...

Church considers its past.(Reparations)(Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams about Church of England's role in slave trading)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... The leader of the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, has suggested that the Anglican church should consider paying reparations for its role in the transatlantic slave trade that saw as many as 13m Africans shipped...

APP meets for first time.(Development)(Africa Progress Panel)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... The Africa Progress Panel (APP) met in Geneva, Switzerland, for the first time last month to begin work on assessing whether G8 countries had moved towards meeting their pledges, made at their annual meeting in Gleneagles last year, to double...

Virgin flies East Africa.(Aviation)(Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd.)
May 1, 2007... Virgin Atlantic is going head-to-head with arch-rival British Airways as well as Kenya Airways by launching daily services between Heathrow and Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, from next month. The service begins on 1 June operated by an Airbus...

AB guide to African currencies.(Briefs)(Statistical table)
May 1, 2007... AB Guide to African Currencies Country Currency [pounds sterling]STG Algeria (Dinar) 139.77 Angola (New Kwanza) 158.56 Benin (CFA) ...

Home sweet home.(Editorial)
May 1, 2007... Not so long ago, an article in an international publication described how a leading Indian IT expert, who was head of a major US corporation, had decided to return home. The journalist who had written the article questioned him closely. Why had...

Avoiding disaster.(Climate change in Africa)
May 1, 2007... The Stern Review, which is recognised as the most detailed and comprehensive study of the impact of climate change on the world, has stated categorically that the global phenomenon will become the biggest threat facing mankind. Africa, which is...

Private capital better than aid: there is little to show for the more than $320bn of aid committed to Africa since the 1970s but the story is very different for private capital. It stimulates local economies, creates knowledge and transfers skills. Africa, urges our columnist, should seek out more private investment capital.(View from the City)
May 1, 2007... Africa's share of global capital flows is like the proverbial drop in the ocean. It is generally agreed that the continent must find ways of attracting much-needed foreign capital and achieve knowledge transfer in order to raise living...

King coal ponders renewables: South Africa's energy sector has long been dominated by coal-fired generation. Government insists that it wants more renewables in the mix, but little progress has been made so far. Neil Ford reports.(Energy)
May 1, 2007... The South African economy has long been driven by coal. Some of the country's biggest companies are coal mining firms, coal exports from Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) generate a large proportion of total foreign revenues and the industry...

Ghana power crisis now critical: Ghana's acute shortage of power for both domestic and industrial users is reaching crisis point. Stephen Gyasi Jnr. reports from Accra on efforts to head off the looming blackout.(Energy)
May 1, 2007... A new company is to be established by the government of Ghana to help solve the nation's energy challenges and also encourage strategic investments in the sector. The Minister of Energy, Joseph Kofi Adda, said the new company which will be...

The African Development Bank Group.(African Development Bank Newsletter)
May 1, 2007... On August 4, 1963, 23 African Governments signed the Agreement establishing the ADB in Khartoum, Sudan. Eight additional countries signed up in December. On September 10, 1964 the agreement came into force when 20 member countries subscribed to...

The Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative: emerging issues & challenges for the way forward.(African Development Bank Newsletter)
May 1, 2007... The Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI), originally referred to as the G8 Proposal, was initially presented in the G8 Finance Ministers' Communique entitled, Conclusions on Development, issued on 11 June 2005. This was later reaffirmed...

Africa: cradle of civilisation.(Topic)
May 1, 2007... In the second part of his trilogy on the emancipation of Africa, Dr Hippolyte Fofack argues that contrary to some widely held perceptions, a thriving scientific culture existed in Africa but the 'cultural holocaust' that came in the wake of...

The family silver for hire: one of the most heated debates in Africa has been over the issue of the privatisation of state-owned organisations. Some countries have gone for a middle way by appointing private management to run state assets. Will this approach do the trick? Neil Ford discusses.(Topic)
May 1, 2007... Discussions of economic reform in Africa often centre on the privatisation-versus-state ownership debate. Supporters of the former claim that state control stifles innovation, while its opponents argue that selling state owned assets is akin to...

Alex Cummings obligations of success: Alexander B. Cummings, president and chief operating officer, Africa Group, the Coca-Cola Company, talks to African Business Editor, Anver Versi.(African Business Leaders)(Interview)
May 1, 2007... Trying to interview Alex Cummings was a bit of an odyssey. The problem was finding a slot when we were both in the same place at the same time. As president and chief operating officer of the Africa Group of the Coca-Cola Company, his travel...

Africa and the Middle East: a new front; Middle East money is pouring into Africa as investors turn away from traditional Western markets to take advantage of the continent's huge potential. Mark Sorbara reports.(Investment)
May 1, 2007... Since the 11 September 2001 terrorist outrages, Middle East citizens have felt less welcome than previously in the tourist spots of Europe and North America. As a result, they have tended to search out alternative leisure destinations. In...

Different captain, same chart? In Nigerian the question is whether the country's economic direction will alter according to which party wins the elections. Neil Ford ponders the matter.(Nigeria)
May 1, 2007... April's presidential and legislative elections were undoubtedly of great importance to Nigeria's emergence as a civilian, democratic country. Yet the run-up to the polls highlighted the fact that politics in the West African state remains based...

2010: too much of a good thing? As we continue to monitor South Africa's preparations for the 2010 World Cup, we have received assurances that contrary to the pessimistic note in our last issue, the country is well on track to achieve all of its infrastructure plans. The problem, now, as Tom Nevin reports, is that it might be too preoccupied with 2010.(South Africa)
May 1, 2007... Minds are resting easier now that officialdom has assured football fans that South Africa will have its string of avant-garde stadiums grassed up and in trim in time for the 2010 soccer world cup. More comfort has arrived with the news that the...

A steady hand on the tiller: after one year in office, Tanzania's new president, Jakaya Kikwete's main role appears to be to maintain the momentum of the country's economic transformation, but, Neil Ford reports, the country will look to him to lead the charge in increasing inward investments.(Tanzania)
May 1, 2007... President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania has now been in office for just over a year. The gradual economic reform of the past 20 years began to bear fruit in about 2000 and the new president's role is mainly to ensure that the national economy...

Fuel shortage hits business hard: increased demand for fuel has led to shortages of diesel and petrol, with pumps running dry in both western Kenya and Uganda. Stuart Price reports from Kampala on how businesses are trying to cope.(Uganda & Kenya)
May 1, 2007... Just as it seemed Uganda had emerged from a crippling electricity supply crisis for lengthy periods of last year, a sudden shortage of diesel in the capital has once again seen increased power-rationing for domestic and business consumers...

Few bumps on privatisation path: Malawi's privatisation programme has been rated as one of Africa's most successful initiatives despite criticisms over some aspects of the divestiture exercise. Lameck Masina reports.(Malawi)
May 1, 2007... Malawi's privatisation programme, part of the IMF and World Bank's prescribed economic reforms for the country, was mainly aimed at removing government from the ownership and day-to day management of commercial enterprises. The theory was that...

The world's favourite diplomat: A Man of Peace in a World of War.("Kofi Annan")(Book review)
May 1, 2007... Kofi Annan By Stanley Meisler [pounds sterling]19.99 Wiley ISBN 0-471-78744-2 Including the incumbent, Ban Ki-moon of South Korea, there have only been eight UN secretary-generals in the 62-year history of the organisation,...

The Mauritanian minstrel: exploration and originality.(Daby Toure)
May 1, 2007... Stereo Spirit Daby Toure RealWorld Cat: CDRW142 Mauritania is not particularly renowned for its musical output, but it is where Daby Toure, a remarkable young Paris-based musician was born and raised. His father, Hamidou...