African Business articles from November 2006

African Business archives from November 2006

Europe and Africa: a rational solution.(THIS MONTH'S PRIZE LETTER)(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... Africa's economic growth may be above 5%, but increasing numbers of desperate Africans are risking everything to leave the continent. GNP growth is in fact a highly misleading statistic and not indicative of true sustainable development and far...

Logo controversy: an African World Cup?(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... The story about the countdown to the 2010 World Cup (The Fun and Games have begun--African Business August/September issue) poses very interesting questions for those of us who have become intoxicated with what it means to be 'African'. The use...

Serving to inspire: a call for a new business network.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... I fail to understand why your circulation is so low here in Nigeria, from where I am writing. Perhaps it is because your publication is only known within elite business circles and can only be purchased from selected newsagents such as within...

Population growth: Africa's new challenge.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... Regarding your cover story Africa's Exploding Cities (African Business August/September 2006 issue) you might have heard that this country, the US, passed an important population milestone last month. On 17th October, the official US census...

AB's Tom Nevin scoops Novo Nordisk Prize.(African Business )(Tom Nevin awarded Novo Nordisk Media Prize 2006)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... African Business associate editor, South African Tom Nevin, has scooped the prestigious Novo Nordisk Media Prize 2006 for his reporting on the scourge of Diabetes Type 2 afflicting young people. His article 'Type 2 Time Bomb' appeared in Men's...

One voice for African diamond producers.(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... African diamond producers could boost both the prices fetched for their stones and their global influence by banding together and not relying on foreign organisations to determine markets and prices. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This is the...

Africa's 'Silk Road'.("Africa's Silk Road: China and India's New Economic Frontier", a report from World Bank)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... A recent massive increase in African trade and investment by Asia's two emerging economic giants--China and India--holds great potential for growth and job creation in Africa, if significant asymmetries within the regions' relationships are...

New study says invest in youth.(Vocational training)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... With 1.3bn young people now living in the developing world--the largest youth group in history--a new World Bank report says there has never been a better time to invest in youth. This is because they are healthier and better educated than...

Single fund for Africa, UN proposes.(Aid)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The UN, weary of the way aid and development monies are dissipated through haphazard and badly-managed funding, has proposed that future aid to African countries should be managed by a single, independently managed UN fund. "This will help curb...

World Bank back in the DRC.(Investment)(Democratic Republic of Congo)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... With the resumption of democratic elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) the World Bank is ready to invest in a range of sectors there. "We have a team of 30 people looking at various industrial sectors and the DRC government has...

Corridors to fast track land redistribution.(Agriculture)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Anxious to fast-forward its land redistribution and acquisition programme, the South African government is to develop commercial agricultural corridors al committed to the scheme". The new strategy focuses on the government as "the lead driver...

Voters used their marbles.(in Gambia elections)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... When Gambians went to the polls recently, they used marbles to record their choice of president. In the unique polling system, said to be cost-effective, simple, secure and fast, voters enter a booth and drop a clear glass marble into one of...

Aid going more harm than good?(foreign assistance and World Bank anti-corruption strategy)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Developed country finance ministers have backed a new World Bank anti-corruption strategy, despite the reservations of some Western donors that fear the move could slow lending to needy countries and punish the poor. This is coupled to the...

AB guide to African currencies.(African Business)(Statistical table)
November 1, 2006... AB Guide to African Currencies Country Currency [pounds sterling]STG Algeria (Dinar) 137.62 Angola (New Kwanza) 149.11 Benin (CFA) ...

Tourism--Africa in the right place at the right time.(Uited Nations World Tourism Organisation)(Editorial)
November 1, 2006... For many countries around the world, tourism has now become their most important economic activity. It not only brings in substantial revenue, it underwrites the development of infrastructure, creates jobs, transfers skills and establishes...

Africa's top 100 banks.(Cover story)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... THIS YEAR'S TOP 100 AFRICAN BANKS rankings reveal that the continent is belatedly but determinedly following the global trend towards consolidation. The watchword is big is beautiful. South African banks, which are by far the largest in Africa...

How we ranked Africa's top 100 banks.
November 1, 2006... African Business' ranking for the Top 100 African Banks was based on shareholders' funds (Tier 1 capital) as defined by the Switzerland-based Basel Bank for International Settlements (BIS). The African markets continue to present both...

Africa's top 100 banks.(Statistical table)(Company rankings)
November 1, 2006... Date of CAPITAL ASSETS RANK BANK Results COUNTRY ($M) ($M) 1 Standard Bank Group Dec-05 South Africa 5,305 119,475 [Stanbank] ...

A world-class financial sector in the making.(FOCUS ON NIGERIAN BANKING)
November 1, 2006... The big-bang reform of Nigeria's financial services industry--the first in the nation's history--provides an invaluable example to regulators in other African countries of the benefits of a consolidated banking sector. The slimmed down and very...

Excitement mounts as M & A frenzy prevails.(FOCUS ON NIGERIAN BANKING: COMMENT)(First Bank of Nigeria PLC and Ecobank merger)
November 1, 2006... Africa's banking resurgence is picking up momentum in Nigeria and impacting on the whole region. In June 2004, when Professor Charles Soludo moved from his role as chief economic adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo to become governor of the...

Oceanic, Commerzebank ties open offshore opportunities: one of Nigeria's leading financial houses, Oceanic Bank plc has signed an agreement with Germany's Commerzebank in a bid to develop its offshore business. Jato Thompson reports.(FOCUS ON NIGERIAN BANKING)
November 1, 2006... Oceanic Bank has signed an agreement with Commerzebank, the second largest bank in Germany. The German bank, with over 136 years of consumer and investment banking expertise, will provide technical assistance for product development and...

Recapitalisation will add muscle to Nexim: while the flurry of consolidations and recapitalisations has seized the banking private sector, the public sector has been moving more slowly. But the signs are encouraging. Ben Asante talked to Alhaji Yusuf Ahmed, the managing director of Nexim Bank, one of the most important sources of export credits and guarantees in the country.(FOCUS ON NIGERIAN BANKING)(Interview)
November 1, 2006... Nexim Bank was created in 1991 by an act of government to provide export credit financing, export insurance and guarantees, loan facilities, export information and advisory services. It is owned 50/50 by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and...

South Africa still on top.(survey of top banks)
November 1, 2006... As ever, South African banks continue to dominate our annual survey of Africa's top banks. A quick glance at the table of Top 100 African Banks reveals that the top five banks are all based in South Africa and are a long way ahead of their...

Kenya faces EAC competitors.(bank sector)(East African Community)
November 1, 2006... At present, Kenya appears to be maintaining its domination of the eastern African banking sector. Barclays Bank of Kenya heads the list with capital of $179m, while both Kenya Commercial Bank and Standard Chartered Bank Kenya make the top ten....

Morocco and Egypt vie for supremacy.(survey of bank sector)
November 1, 2006... As last year, Moroccan and Egyptian institutions continue to lead the way among North African banks. There are three banks from each country in the top six, including Attijariwafabank, at the top with capital of $1,199m, and National Bank of...

Nigerian shake-up not yet complete.(survey of bank sector)
November 1, 2006... Nigeria dominates our table of the Top 30 West African banks more completely than the far larger South African banking sector is able to dominate its equivalent survey. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Incredibly, the first 19 places in the...

Limited banking strength.(survey of Central African banking sector)
November 1, 2006... Cameroon and Gabon lead the way in Central African banking. Gabon's BGFI Bank holds top spot with capital of $138m, followed by Cameroon's Societe Generale de Banques with $54m. Four other Cameroonian banks and three more Gabonese financial...

Interest rises in East African oil prospects: until very recently, East Africa's potential as a significant oil producer hardly registered on the exploration scale. But, with oil prices at all-time highs, interest in the sub-region has been mounting. Is this the beginning of something big?(Energy)
November 1, 2006... As far as the international oil industry is concerned, interest in Africa generally revolves around the north and west of the continent. There are significant oil and gas reserves in four out of five North African countries and now the Gulf of...

Uganda's high-fashion fish skin.(Crane Shoes)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... You've heard of high-fashion deerskin, kidskin, alligator skin and even sharkskin, but you haven't arrived unless you're seen sporting fish leather, more particularly Nile perch skin. A Ugandan leather company is inundated with orders after...

Siphon-proof strainer.(Fuel theft prevention)(invention by Mike Swann)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Protection against fuel theft for long-distance truck fleet operators has arrived by way of a simple and inexpensive appliance. The illegal trade in diesel fuel, long known as the currency of Africa, costs fleet operators millions of dollars a...

The language of finance.(Johannesburg Securities Exchange supporting extensible business reporting language )(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... New technology dedicated to upgrading how companies report their performance has been launched in South Africa. Backed by the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE), the system will make corporate accounts faster to prepare, less prone to error...

Africans urged to drink more cocoa.(Marketing)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Cocoa marketeers in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria have embarked upon the promotion of cocoa on a health platform that spells out some new health benefits of the region's famous black bean. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Cocoa as a health...

Memorable sleep.(research by University of Liege )(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Here's something to remember: a good night's sleep boosts your long-term memory. Researchers at the University of Liege in Belgium have found through brain scan analysis that during solid sleep, memories of recent events are shifted from one...

Help your heart--chomp a (dark) chocolate.(research at the University of California)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The evidence is becoming over-whelming--dark chocolate can help lower the risk of heart disease. Scientists at the William Harvey Research Institute in London have confirmed what researchers at the University of California claimed nearly a...

Anti-migraine implant.(Laurence Watkins report)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... A battery-powered implant that targets brain nerves could be the answer for the millions of migraine sufferers worldwide. "It is remarkable technology," says British neurosurgeon Laurence Watkins, reporting "very good results" from a test...

Another reason to eat Latin.(Mediterranean diet for controlling alzheimer's disease)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Mediterranean diets have long been known to fight heart disease and high blood pressure. Now, researchers are finding, they might also be a significant guard against Alzheimer's disease. The eating habits in southern France, Italy and Spain are...

This chilli is too hot to handle.(Dorset Naga, hot chilli developed by Joy Michaud)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... An amateur horticulturist in Dorset, UK, has developed the world's hottest chilli. Joy Michaud, who runs a chilli pepper business, says her Dorset Naga is so fiery that gloves must be worn when the chilli is opened. A laboratory in the United...

Magical, medical mushrooms.(are the sources of vitamin D)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The humble mushroom is emerging as a valuable health aid. New research funded by the US Food and Drug Administration is finding that mushrooms, briefly exposed to ultraviolet light, are a significant source of vitamin D that helps to keep bones...

Writswatch malaria alert.(from Gervans Trading Company)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Malaria is an insidious disease that rarely announces its infection until the parasites are well and truly established in the bloodstream. Now, thanks to a malaria monitoring device, the presence of malaria parasites can be detected long before...

AIDS treatment strategy shift.(Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The battle against HIV/AIDS is adopting a new strategy that could cut the heavy cost of treatment by antiretroviral drugs and revolutionise treatment at the same time. Currently running in South Africa is an ambitious, world-first trial to...

And AIDS help from the sea.(Carraguard microbicidal developed from seaweed)(acquired immunodeficiency syndrome)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The health and nutrition benefits of seaweed are nothing new. Healers and homeopaths have been using extracts of the marine plant to good effect for millennia. Now the carrageegan variety, growing in several regions around the world, has been...

Clear speech for stutters.(Korbitech VoiceAmp)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Hope for stutterers is coming from radical technology that uses an electronic reproduction of a phenomenon known as 'choral accompaniment', an eventuality that when stutterers talk or sing in unison with fluent speakers, they experience fluent...

Cyril Ramaphosa: tomorrow's man? Although Thabo Mbeki's presidency of South Africa still has two and a half years to run, speculation is growing on who will succeed him in 2009. In the first of a series of articles looking at the various front-runners, Neil Ford profiles Cyril Ramaphosa, probably S Africa's currently most successful businessman.(Profile)
November 1, 2006... With two and a half years of President Thabo Mbeki's second term of office still to run, South Africa is already looking ahead to the likely candidates for the subsequent presidency. While there has been some realignment of opposition political...

The role of ICT in African development: Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have long been recognised as having a key role to play in emerging markets. But what are African countries doing to promote ICT for development and are the benefits being felt? Bianca Wright reports.(SPECIAL REPORT: ICT and African development)(United Nations' Millennium Development Goals )
November 1, 2006... In investigating the possibilities of ICT for development, it is useful first to question the concept of development. Within this context, the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a crucial starting point. The eight MDGs...

Is telecoms liberalisation positive for Africa? Liberalisation has long been touted as the answer to overcoming high telecommunications costs in Africa. But the process is also fraught with false steps and hold-ups, writes Bianca Wright.(SPECIAL REPORT: ICT and African development)
November 1, 2006... Liberalisation is slowly making changes across the continent, but there is still much that needs to be done. According to Magda Engelbrecht, country manager of Nortel Networks South Africa, in spite of being the fastest growing wireless...

OSS could be the answer for Africa: the Open Source (OSS) software system is cheaper and more adaptable than the more widely used proprietary systems. Bianca Wright argues that OSS could be the solution to Africa's increasing need for accessible and affordable ICT.(SPECIAL REPORT: ICT and African development)
November 1, 2006... The Open Source (OSS) versus proprietary software debate has particular relevance in the African context. OSS could offer a partial solution to the growing Digital Divide that is opening between the continent and the rest of the world. With...

The heavy cost of marginalising African intellectuals: the marginalisation of African intellectuals, especially in the sciences, has not only led to Africa's brain but also placed the continent's development in foreign hands. The cost to Africa of this marginalisation has been heavy, argues Dr Hippolyte Fofack and urgently needs to be reversed.(GUEST COLUMN)(Column)
November 1, 2006... Over the years and across many countries, national development strategies have been driven by local scientists and intellectuals. In advanced, and more recently in emerging economies, local scientists, who enjoy the comparative advantage of a...

Euro-African MPs ponder growth: members of Parliament from Europe and the Great Lakes region met in Tanzania recently to work out recommendations for sustainable private sector development. John Kamau reports.(Investment)
November 1, 2006... Over 50 MPs from East Africa and the Great Lakes' region met with European MPs and private sector representatives in Arusha, Tanzania, at a conference organised by AWEPA (European Parliamentarians for Africa), to discuss closer collaboration...

Abuja promises rail revolution: the Nigerian government has published plans for a massive overhaul of the rail sector. The 25-year plan looks good on paper and there is no doubt that the West African country would greatly benefit from improved rail services. Neil Ford reports.(NIGERIA)
November 1, 2006... It has been argued time and time again, on the pages of this magazine as much as anywhere else, that Nigeria is crying out for improved infrastructural facilities. The power, water and transport sectors are all suffering from decades of...

Indian connection gathers new momentum: with the emergence of China and India, Africa's traditional trading patterns and partners are changing. India, with long established cultural connections with South Africa, is becoming an increasingly important trade and investment partner for the African nation. Neil Ford reports.(SOUTH AFRICA)
November 1, 2006... It is often argued that many sub-Saharan countries remain rooted in their colonial era economies and, indeed, trade with the West still generates most of Africa's income. Yet trade with other developing regions of the world has risen markedly...

No power for the people: Kampala's erratic electricity supply has had a significant impact on businesses across the board. From large corporations to small companies, all have had to adapt to lengthy power cuts. Stuart Price reports from the Ugandan capital.(UGANDA)
November 1, 2006... On the day that African Business visited the Paradise Internet cafe along Entebbe Road, business was brisk. Of the six functioning computers allowing users to surf the internet, write word documents or chat online, some machines had three...

A new view of the continent: an African-American perspective.(New News Out of Africa: Uncovering Africa's Renaissance)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... New News out of Africa Uncovering Africa's Renaissance By Charlayne Hunter-Gault [pounds sterling]12.99 Oxford University ISBN 0-19-517747-9 An award-winning African-American journalist, Charlayne Hunter-Gault's book...

Benin.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... Benin By Stuart Butler [pounds sterling]14.99 Bradt Guides ISBN 1-84162-148-X Stuart Butler is an English-born French-based freelance journalist who has spent a great deal of time in Africa. With this guide, you are invited...

Allah is not Obliged.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... Allah is not Obliged By Ahmadou Kourouma [pounds sterling]14.99 William Heinemann ISBN 0-434-00957-1 This is a powerful and affecting novel of Africa's child-soldiers, by French Africa's pre-eminent novelist. It relates the...

Whiteman.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... Whiteman By Tony D'Souza [pounds sterling]10.99 Portobello ISBN1-84627-049-9 This book is an extraordinary debut novel about a maverick American relief worker deep in the West African bush. Although funding for his official...

Heart of Fire.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... Heart of Fire By Senait Mehari [pounds sterling]9.99 Profile ISBN 1861979940 A'child from a suitcase'--that's how Senait Mehari's story begins. An unwanted baby, her mother packs her inside a suitcase, puts the case in the...

African Filmmaking: North and South of the Sahara.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... African Filmmaking North and South of the Sahara By Roy Armes [pounds sterling]50 Edinburgh University Press ISBN 0-7486-2123-7 African Filmmaking: North and South of the Sahara is the first comprehensive study in English...

Wizard of the Crow.(Book review)
November 1, 2006... Wizard of the Crow By Ngugi wa Thiong'o [pounds sterling]18.99 Harvill Secker ISBN 1-846-55034-3 In exile for more than 20 years, Ngugi wa Thiong'o has become one of the most widely read African writers of our time, the power...

Marrakech.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... Marrakech Edited by Barnaby Rogerson & Stephen Lavington [pounds sterling]12.99 Eland ISBN 0-907871-99-2 There has never been a more fashionable or a more instantly exotic destination than Marrakech. It is a dream landscape,...

The Nigerian Banking Services User's Handbook.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... The Nigerian Banking Services User's Handbook By Rose Umoren Global Money Ltd (Nigeria) ISBN 978-067-874-3 Few spheres are as challenging to individuals, institutions and societies as financial services, at the centre of which...

Music from the Roots: Afro-Cuba.(Tumba Francesa la Caridad de Oriente)(Tumba Francesa la Caridad de Oriente)(Sound recording review)
November 1, 2006... Tumba Francesa la Caridad de Oriente Traditional & Experimental Vocals and Drums Soul Jazz Records Cat: SJR CD136 This CD is the first in a series of half a dozen albums cataloguing traditional and experimental Afro-Cuban...