African Business articles from November 2004

African Business archives from November 2004

African leader: patterns of leadership.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... I write in response to your July 2004 issue. In his 2001 book, The Essential Drucker, US management guru, Austrian-born Dr Peter Drucker said "the future may be 'post-Western'; it may be 'anti-Western'. It cannot be 'non-Western. ...

Prize letter: win a free annual subscription!(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... 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...

Africa's top banks: puzzled over rankings.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... I read with interest 2003's version of Africa's Top Banks and therefore snapped up your latest edition the moment it hit my newsstand. Imagine my disappointment when I noticed that you are missing out on rather large banks in East Africa,...

Protect export prices: our resources are valuable.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... I am responding to African Business' August/September cover story 'Formula for Africa's Rapid Growth'. According to the article, it seems that our export commodities are of little value in terms of money but that most of the world's developed...

Currencies: Swazi buying splurge.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Swazis can't make up their minds whether the strong rand is a good thing or not. Swaziland is part of the Common Monetary Area (CMA) with South Africa, Lesotho and Namibia and as such its currency is tied to the rand, come what may. On the one...

Investment: massive oil windfall for Angola.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Angola will be the big beneficiary in US oil giant Chevron-Texaco's $20bn development splurge in Africa over the next five years. Earmarking $11bn in exploration and development for Angola, Chevron-Texaco plans to increase its operational share...

Peer review: nothing to hide.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Peer Review Mechanism )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Zambia has told the African Union's Peer Review Mechanism (PRM) that it is ready to bare its social, political and economic soul. The central African country joins a handful of other AU states willing to be reviewed and pronounced good members...

Finance: ExImBank to increase its Africa investments.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Concrete evidence of reduced barriers to trade, a crackdown on corruption and debt repayment is making Africa a more secure region to trade with. This is the judgement of April Foley, vice-chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the US, who has...

Electricity: power privatisation in Nigeria.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The Nigerian government is hoping to push through legislation this year that will lead to the overhaul of its electricity supply capacity sector and boost economic development. Vice-president Atiku Abubakar says investors in the country's...

Resources: cobalt smugglers impoverishing DRC.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The Democratic Republic of Congo is missing a crucial opportunity to benefit from the current boom in world cobalt prices because much of its ore is being smuggled out of the country and the vast majority is leaving unprocessed. According to...

Labour: S African jobs not keeping pace with GDP.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Gross domestic product)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Although the South African economy has been accelerating to new growth highs over the past nine months, real increases in employment creation have disappointed, according to Statistics South Africa's twice-yearly Labour Force Survey. Economic...

Banking: forced merger for Zimbabwe banks.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Struggling Zimbabwe banks might be forced to merge if they are not able to raise their capital reserves to Z$10bn ([pounds sterling]1m), an increase of 2,000%, as directed last December by the Central Bank. The deadline was 30 September, 2004,...

Back to the future: the world 45 years on.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The World Bank's new book, Responsible Growth for the New Millennium: Integrating Society, Ecology and the Economy says world income will reach more than $135 trillion, up from $35 trillion today, and much will rely on how that wealth is...

Restitution: a place in the sun.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Five thousand descendents of former Zanzibar slaves have begun moving into their new homes in a R9m housing development recently opened near Durban in South Africa. The Zanzibaris, one of the smallest minorities in the country, were forcefully...

AB guide to African currencies.(Illustration)
November 1, 2004... AB Guide to African Currencies COUNTRY CURRENCY [pounds sterling]STG ALGERIA (Dinar) 131.25 ANGOLA (New Kwanza) 157.04 BENIN (CFA) ...

African and proud of it.(EDITORIAL)
November 1, 2004... Now it is official and the world can be told about it: Africans are proud to be African. The BBC World Service carried out the largest survey of its kind, interviewing 7,671 Africans all over the continent to find out how they saw themselves....

Prof. Maathai Africa's forest goddess: within a week of winning the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, Professor Wangari Maathai was back at work, criss-crossing the country, dressed as usual in a simple kitenge cloth wrap and sandals. Alnoor Amlani looks back at the career of one of the most feisty forces in modern African history.(2004 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER)(Biography)
November 1, 2004... Most Africans think of Kenya as a green country--but that is only because few ever visit the north of the country. Kenya is on the fringes of the vast north African desert that covers much of Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and Chad. Kenya's once...

Africa could benefit from bio test: a lack of enforceable regulations, a dearth of scientific knowledge and an epidemic of corruption have enabled foreign companies to exploit Africa's resources for decades. But a test case, now in the US courts, could change all this and enable Africans to enjoy financial rewards from their resources.(DATELINE USA)(Kenya Wildlife Services)
November 1, 2004... The Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) is the latest African organisation to seek financial redress for the alleged illegal extraction of Africa's biological resources. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In a legal filing in the US on behalf of KWS,...

The sweet taste of success: the Schwab Foundation has announced the results of its prestigious Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs Award for 2005. Oscar Ekwensi profiles the work of Farouk Jiwa of Honey Care, one of the African winners.(ENTERPRISE)
November 1, 2004... Farouk Jiwa, the founder of Honey Care from Kenya, has been selected as one of the world's 'Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs' by the Switzerland-based Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. This is the fourth consecutive year that the...

Democratising the mind: elections.(TUNISIA: EUROPE IS THE BENCHMARK)
November 1, 2004... On October 24, some 4.7m Tunisians went to the polls to elect their President and Members of Parliament (Chamber of Deputies). As expected, the majority of voters backed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's spectacularly successful social and...

Quality to take priority: economy.(TUNISIA: EUROPE IS THE BENCHMARK)
November 1, 2004... President Ben Ali outlined his vision for the next five years in a 21-point manifesto. The programme looks to consolidate gains made over the past five years and maintain growth at around the average of 5%. The thrust of the new strategy is on...

Sudan now third biggest African oil producer: Sudan now ties with Equatorial Guinea as Africa's third-biggest oil producer. If exploration ventures go to plan, it will soon rival Angola and become a major international player.(OIL AND GAS)
November 1, 2004... While oil sector attention rightly continues to focus on deepwater developments in the Gulf of Guinea, rising output in Sudan is often ignored because of the political complications associated with the industry in that country. ...

Reversing the brain drain: how can Africa stem or even reverse the 'brain drain'? Stuart Price talked to Africarecruit's Dr Titi Banjoko about her organisation's aims and objectives.(MANPOWER)
November 1, 2004... With Africa operating in an increasingly competitive global economy, one of the most vexing issues facing the development of the continent is the 'brain-drain' syndrome. The problem challenging many African countries today is how to stem the...

Saving energy: a safer, cheaper stove.(PRODUCTS & PROCESSES)
November 1, 2004... According to Mark Tanton, assistant project manager of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), southern Africa could be heading for a crisis that will see the region unable to meet its energy requirements within three years. As a...

Traditional knowledge: indigenous mosquito repellent.(PRODUCTS & PROCESSES)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... For centuries it was a closely guarded secret, but now the cat is out of the bag and Africa is on the verge of keeping mosquitoes at bay with a 100% effective repellent. Back in the mists of time, traditional healers in the Mpumalanga...

Dryland farming: a Botswana miracle.(PRODUCTS & PROCESSES)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Pandamatenga is as dry, dusty and desolate as it gets and, half-a-dozen years ago, yielded little more than a handful of sorghum and a few scrawny cattle. Today, the sprawling region in northern Botswana produces some 90% of the country's...

A fruitful discovery; Banana power: Africa, take note.(PRODUCTS & PROCESSES)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Millions of bananas around the world are thrown away each year because they go off, are pockmarked, bruised or too small--or they're fed to livestock or ploughed into the land for fertiliser. With a whole-sale value of approximately AU$350m,...

Early-warning breakthrough: the fire watchdog camera.(PRODUCTS & PROCESSES)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... It was a case of low-budget, home-grown beating big bucks, high-tech. A Durban, South Africa, technician has trounced five international contenders in perfecting a device to detect and prevent forest fires in Canada. Dr Gavin Hough had...

Will GM foods overwhelm Africa? Many African countries have been steadfastly, and some say bravely, resisting the tide of genetically modified foods. But, Tom Nevin reports, it now seems that the tide cannot be held back any longer. What are the implications for African farming?(AGRICULTURE)
November 1, 2004... For African leaders in some of the worst food-starved regions of the continent, the biggest concern over genetically modified (GM) crops is the danger of contaminating their domestic food crops through cross pollination with GM types, and all...

End for S African forex controls in sight: the issue of foreign exchange controls in South Africa is guaranteed to raise voices and tempers on both sides of the equation--with some swearing by the 'big bang' approach and others warning of the dire consequences of such a move. Moin Siddiqi explains what is at stake.(VIEW FROM THE CITY)
November 1, 2004... Despite significant economic liberalisation over the past decade, capital controls are still in force in many African countries, including South Africa. Before explaining the merits of freeing capital inflows and outflows in African countries,...

The vanishing oil tankers: when it comes to scams, believe the unbelievable. Over the past year-and-a-half, three fully loaded oil tankers, firmly moored in Nigerian and Ghanaian waters, vanished overnight. Mystery or magic? Milan Vesely dug a little deeper.(SHIPPING)
November 1, 2004... In a plot resembling a thriller movie, three oil tankers operating in Nigerian and Ghanaian waters have been stolen in the past 18 months. Piracy on the high seas is nothing new--the Malaccan Strait in Indonesia and the Somali coast around the...

The space-age water diviner: finding water in Darfur's arid regions had been an almost impossible task, until a French geologist applied Cold War spy technology to his boundless imagination. He has been able to pinpoint sources of underground water to aid and relief organisations. Milan Vesely has the story.(TOPIC)
November 1, 2004... Sudan's Darfur region on the eastern border with Chad is in the international headlines. Tens of thousands of refugees escaping Sudan's 'civil war' are now encamped on either side of the border. This humanitarian disaster rivals that of the...

Action to halt dismal sporting slide: following a number of dismal and humiliating international sporting results, the South African government has decided on a radical change in the way the country's sports bodies are administered. Tom Nevin reports.(SOUTH AFRICA)
November 1, 2004... South African sport is in a mess and needs a tough business approach to put it right. This is the view of the South African government, stung by the poor showing of the nation's athletes at the Athens Olympics, lacklustre soccer accomplishment,...

Marriage of convenience under severe strain: although the union between Tanganyika mainland and the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba has endured so far, relations have been strained. These stress points have been increasing over the past decade, raising new doubts over the future of the union. Report by Neil Ford.(ZANZIBAR)
November 1, 2004... The union between the former colonial territory of Tanganyika and the archipelago state of Zanzibar has been regarded as a successful example of political integration in post-colonial Africa. Despite periodic tensions between the islands and...

Recovery based on solid foundations: Mozambique's economic recovery continues apace. Substantial investments in infrastructure, including power and transport, indicate that the recovery will continue for a considerable time to come. Neil Ford reports.(MOZAMBIQUE)
November 1, 2004... Mozambique's economic recovery over the past decade can be attributed to a number of factors. Its proximity to a South Africa that is keen to promote growth and build ties with its near neighbours is undoubtedly near the top of the list. ...

Sugar loses its sweetness: the sugar industry in Mauritius is facing a huge threat. The European Commission is planning to cut the price it pays for this commodity by more than a third over the next two years. Nasseem Ackbarally reports from Port-Louis.(MAURITIUS)
November 1, 2004... Mauritius is banking on a concerted effort to lobby friendly European countries in order to reverse the European Commission's plans to drastically cut the price it pays for sugar. For the last 30 years, the sugar industry on the island has...

The world comes calling: with the US finally lifting its general trade sanctions, Libya is now firmly back in the international arena and is wasting no time catching up on investments and infrastructural development. Report by James Badcock.(LIBYA)
November 1, 2004... The announcement in late September that the US administration was to lift its remaining general trade sanctions against Libya was yet another milestone in the North African country's march towards international respectability and, more...

Morocco pays price of neglecting rest of Africa: Morocco appears to have neglected building up relations with other African countries, especially further to the south, and has paid the price for this neglect. Faycal Lescarret-Benhassain says there is now a new realisation of the need to improve relations.(MOROCCO)
November 1, 2004... When, on September 15, South Africa announced that it would recognise the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), Morocco's government experienced a major setback. How could this have happened, officials wondered--precisely at the moment when...

A treasure-trove of wisdom: how to capitalise on local knowledge.(Book Review)
November 1, 2004... POOR PEOPLE'S KNOWLEDGE PROMOTING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES Edited by J Michael Finger and Philip Schuler $24 Oxford University Press and World Bank ISBN 0-8213-5487-6 Africa's poor earn a pittance from...

Bobbo's case study--Ghana.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... An example of the limitations of standard IP mechanisms in protecting indigenous art is Kente cloth, a traditional Ghanaian form of weaving that depicts significant life events. Africancrafts, a not-for-profit organisation founded by American...

Managers Not MBAs: A Hard Look at the Soft Practice of Managing and Management Development.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2004... MANAGERS NOT MBAs A HARD LOOK AT THE SOFT PRACTICE OF MANAGING AND MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT By Henry Mintzberg [pounds sterling]24.99 Pearson ISBN 0-2-736-6324-0 In this sweeping critique of how managers are educated and...

Scribbling the Cat: Travels With an African Soldier.(Book Review)
November 1, 2004... SCRIBBLING THE CAT TRAVELS WITH AN AFRICAN SOLDIER By Alexandra Fuller [pounds sterling]16.99 Picador ISBN 0-330-43327-X When Alexandra ("Bo") Fuller was home in Zambia a few years ago, visiting her parents for Christmas,...

Where We Have Hope.(Book Review)
November 1, 2004... WHERE WE HAVE HOPE By Andrew Meldrum [pounds sterling]17.99 John Murray ISBN: 0719566509 Andrew Meldrum arrived in Zimbabwe as a young journalist in 1980. He had been lured to the country by the excitement of the first days of...

Purple Hibiscus.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2004... PURPLE HIBISCUS By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie [pounds sterling]12.99 Fourth Estate ISBN 0-00-717611-2 Fifteen-year-old Kambili's world is circumscribed by the high walls of her family compound and the frangipani trees she can...

Science and Technology in Africa.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2004... SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN AFRICA By Ibulaimu Kakoma and Paul Tiyambe Zeleza [pounds sterling]24.99 Africa World Press ISBN 1-59221-112-7 Africa has been grappling with the question of modernity and modernisation for a long...

What We've Lost.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 1, 2004... WHAT WE'VE LOST By Graydon Carter [pounds sterling]12.99 Little, Brown ISBN 0-316-72867-5 Long-standing editor of US magazine Vanity Fair, and hailed as the 'King of New York', Graydon Carter has turned his attention from...

Mix and match cultures: unique Swiss-African blend.(Taffetas)
November 1, 2004... TAFFETAS Most Records Cat: MOST1002 Every once in a while a group of musicians from different musical backgrounds come together, bringing with them a whole host of cultural experiences and unique musical talents. Between them they...