African Business articles from October 2004

African Business archives from October 2004

Africa's formula for success: ingenuous rather than ingenious?(This Month's Prize Letter)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2004... Your 'Formula for Africa's Rapid Growth' article (African Business Aug/Sept issue) posits a proposal which might be termed ingenuous rather than ingenious. Let me explain! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Western Europe's rapid 19th century...

300th African Business: top of the pile.(This Month's Prize Letter)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2004... Hearty congratulations for achieving your 300th edition--and impressive it is. For anyone working on international issues, your journal should be on the top of the reading pile. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Understanding Africa is crucial,...

Just loved it!(This Month's Prize Letter)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2004... Just wanted to say I loved your 300th anniversary issue. As someone involved in the trade on the other side of the Atlantic, I found the story of African Business indeed an inspiring one--not only for African publishing but publishing full...

Aristide's rescue: subverting pan-African aspirations?(This Month's Prize Letter)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2004... In the 'Business Briefs' section of the Aug/Sept 2004 issue, you carried a item entitled: 'Aristide's R1m joyride'. I consider this a prime example of irresponsible journalism. It betrays an anti pan-Africanist attitude on the part of your...

Prize letter: win a free annual subscription!(This Month's Prize Letter)
October 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...

Trade: S. Africa-Namibia Great Oyster War.(Business Briefs)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Namibia has accused neighbouring South Africa of firing the first shots in what has become "The Great Oyster War". It all began when Pretoria ordered a halt to imports of the succulent crustaceans from Namibia because, say Namibia's oystermen,...

Mining: outlook for Zimbabwe is brighter.(Business Briefs)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Following central bank measures to boost mining earnings and release foreign currency for crucial imports, Zimbabwe's mining industry is on track for recovery. According to Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines chief executive, David Murangari, the...

Gemstones: Angola to join world's top three.(Business Briefs)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Angola says it will be a top three global diamond producer by 2007. Tiago Dias, planning and investment director of state diamond company, Endiama, says output will rise from last year's 6m carats to 10m carats by 2006. The company has launched...

Food security: Africa's people undernourished--report.(Business Briefs)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The International Food Policy Research Institute reports that more than 33% of the population of Africa suffer from malnutrition and 30% of babies are born underweight. The Washington-based bureau says the situation is worsening, noting a 20%...

Capital flight: 70% of Nigeria's private wealth is overseas.(Business Briefs)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... More than $100bn of the private wealth of Nigeria's citizens is kept overseas, making the country the worst case of capital flight in sub-Saharan Africa. This is the conclusion of a study by the United Nations Industrial Development...

Restitution: Nigeria's millions going home.(Business Briefs)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Some $500m decided by Switzerland to be "clearly of criminal origin" is to be transferred from Swiss banks to the Nigerian government. Nigerian finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, applauded the decision. "This is a positive development and...

Resources: republic of Congo halts diamond exports.(Business Briefs)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Congo Brazzaville's mining ministry has confirmed that it has suspended diamond exports in the wake of its exclusion from an international group established to guard against the arms for gems trade. "All export activities have been suspended,"...

Industry: more SADC industrial harmony needed.(Business Briefs)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Uncoordinated interaction between the mining and industrial sectors of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is slowing the growth of the region and is a deterrent to foreign investment. Calling for greater harmonisation in policy,...

Motor sport: F1 pole position for SA?(Business Briefs)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... South Africa wants its Grand Prix back. A consortium headed by former South African diplomat, Dr Denis Worrall, has posted a bid with Formula One management for a South African leg of the 2007-2014 F1 seasons. If consortium leader, Omega...

AB guide to African currencies.(Illustration)
October 1, 2004... AB Guide to African Currencies COUNTRY CURRENCY [pounds sterling] $US EURO STG ALGERIA (Dinar) 129.58 71.97 88.49 ANGOLA ...

Western Union celebrates opening of 200,000th agent location with ceremony in Athens, Greece: global leader in money transfer increasingly serves customers close to home.(Corporate Statement)
October 1, 2004... September 1st, 2004 -- Western Union Financial Services, Inc., together with its subsidiary Orlandi Valuta, announced the opening of its 200,000th global agent location with a ceremony in Athens, Greece. For more than a century, Western Union...

A management revolution is needed.(Editorial)
October 1, 2004... In business, management is everything. Good management can turn even a lemon of a company into a star; poor management can wreck the soundest of firms. Top managers are the highest paid professionals in the world with salary figures often in...

Africa's top banks.(Banking in Africa)
October 1, 2004... Our March 2004 Cover Story, Africa's Top Companies, was such a hit with our readers--including institutions--worldwide that we decided to give a similar treatment to African banks. Although banking in various African countries is fairly...

Celtel reports 'exceptional' growth: year-on-year, Celtel has doubled its African mobile customers--and seen revenues grow by nearly half. Silvio Gikandi reports.(Telecommunications)(Celtel Uganda)
October 1, 2004... Celtel International, the leading pan-African mobile communications group, with over four million customers in 13 countries, reported exceptionally strong growth in the six months to June 30, 2004 (H1). A substantial development of the business...

World trade--a tiny step forward: the WTO's latest round of talks in Geneva has shifted the process a little further, but the reality remains that Africa continues to suffer from unfair terms of trade. What will it take to ensure a level playing field for all?(View from the City)
October 1, 2004... A major hurdle to Africa's growth in trade has been the protectionist agricultural policies in the 'quad' regions of the European Union, US, Canada and Japan. In 2002, these four power blocs accounted for 46.5% of the world's merchandise...

The African connection: this November, Barack Obama, who traces his paternal roots to Kenya, will stand for election as a US Senator on the Democratic Party ticket. A win for him will create history in a number of ways.(Dateline USA)
October 1, 2004... He has been called the 'new face of American politics', 'a rising star in the Democratic Party' and an 'optimistic voice for minorities'; and he is all of that. He is also the son of a member of Kenya's Luo tribe and as such, Illinois State...

How should Africa deal with the $40 barrel?(An African Business Special Report)
October 1, 2004... There are many in the oil and gas industry who believe that the current price of crude, at around $40 per barrel, is here to stay. What are the implications for African exporters and net oil importers? We focus on this aspect of the industry in...

Namibia's Kudu gets go-ahead: work on developing Namibia's Kudu gas field will begin next year following a deal between Tullow Oil and Namibian oil and power corporations. This could be the beginning of a new era for gas usage in southern Africa.(An African Business Special Report)(National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia)(NamPower)
October 1, 2004... After years of wrangling and indecision, work is finally set to begin on Namibia's Kudu gas project. Uncertainty over the size of the reserves and over plans to market the gas has held up development of the field, which was originally...

Surfing safety: shocking news for sharks.(Products & Processes)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Surfers will enjoy added protection from shark attack when surfboards fitted with an electronic shark repellent go on sale early next year. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Australian innovation emits an electronic field that surrounds the...

Education: teaching the smart way.(Products & Processes)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The once ubiquitous blackboard is taking a back seat as the white Smart Board makes inroads into classrooms, presentation and training spaces, changing for good the way knowledge is transferred in places of learning. Ideal for remote and...

Crime prevention: township genius invents a better 'mousetrap'.(Products & Processes)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Unoxhaka is Zulu for 'mousetrap' and is something completely new in the never-ending struggle against vehicle crime in South Africa. Conceived and created in the Durban township of Kwamashu by a 45-year-old, self-employed arc welder, Nkosinathi...

Legislation: beating the speed trap.(Products & Processes)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The South African government is taking grave exception to an imported product that helps drivers beat speed cameras by obscuring car number-plates. The spray, invisible when applied to registration plates, reflects speed camera flashes and...

Technology: when eyes become passports.(Products & Processes)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... In a technology breakthrough that could see an end to those interminable immigration queues at country points of entry, a pilot scheme will soon begin in biometric identification. The system recognises visitors by their eyes. Britain's...

Life science: red wine's secret for a longer life.(Products & Processes)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The news is good for worms and flies, and might also be so for humans if results of new studies into red wine are as good as their early indications. Resveratrol, an ingredient of red wine, also activated by reduced food intake, was found to...

Law enforcement: stun-effect rubber bullets.(Products & Processes)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The latest addition in a growing arsenal of non-lethal weapons to combat the scourge of violent crime is ShockRound. It is being developed in the US for law enforcement officers, the military and border patrol, and anti-terrorism personnel. ...

Softs enjoy demand surge: currently, supply and demand fundamentals for agricultural commodities are broadly favourable to farmers in the developing world. Moin Siddiqi forecasts how world markets for Africa's agricultural commodities might move over the coming months.(Commodities)
October 1, 2004... With the exception of coffee, the prices commanded by Africa's cash crops--such as cocoa, tea, sugar and groundnuts--have all risen on world markets, albeit modestly, over the past year. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] They have been...

Ghana Airways to get a new life? When the entire board of Ghana Airways was sacked and the airline brought under direct government control, few industry observers were surprised. The writing had been on the wall for a long time. What happens now, asks Neil Ford.(Aviation)
October 1, 2004... The Ghanaian government's decision to take full control of Ghana Airways marks yet another setback for the African airline industry. A number of African, mainly state-owned airlines, have ceased trading in recent years, as governments have felt...

Maasai demand return of ancestral lands: Kenya's world famous Maasai people are demanding back their ancestral lands, signed away by an illiterate chief to the British a hundred years ago. They now argue that the lease has expired and the land should come back to them. The government does not agree. A major stand-off is in the offing. Otieno Aluoka reports from Nairobi.(Kenya)(related article: THE MAASAI--A BRIEF HISTORY)
October 1, 2004... Last August, Kenyan police used teargas and even live bullets to break-up demonstrations by Maasai tribesmen demanding the return of land they lost to British settlers a century ago. This followed the expiry of a so-called treaty that the...

Avian flu batters ostrich industry: thousands of South African ostriches have been destroyed in the wake of an avian flu outbreak. A one billion rand industry has ground to a halt as all exports of ostrich meat have been suspended. Tom Nevin explains the economic consequences.(South Africa)(related article: Avian flu--what it is)
October 1, 2004... The economy of the Eastern Cape, South Africa's poorest province, will take a R500m hit if an avian flu initiated ban on exports of ostrich products extends to the end of the year. More greatly at stake is a R1bn-plus ostrich industry centred...

Mutharika sweeps out the old: Malawi's new head of state, President Bingu wa Mutharika, has confounded critics by quickly establishing himself as his own man with a clear agenda for the country's future. Analysis by Neil Ford.(Malawi)
October 1, 2004... When President Bingu wa Mutharika took up the reins of power in May, many feared that he would be a mere puppet of former president Bakili Muluzi. The latter had been frustrated in his efforts to seek an unconstitutional third term of office...

Migrant labour underpins industry: Mauritius' booming textiles industry is having to depend more and more heavily on imported labour, mostly from India and China. Nasseem Ackbarally reports from Port Louis.(Mauritius)
October 1, 2004... Foreign workers in Mauritius now number some 22,000, among whom 10,850 are Chinese, 7,310 are Indians and 720 are from Madagascar. These are the men and women who make machines work in the textile industry in Mauritius. Without them, many...

Economy being hammered into shape: there are plenty of signs that the authorities in Morocco are pushing ahead with a raft of projects aimed at reducing the country's chronic unemployment. James Badcock has the details.(Morocco)
October 1, 2004... Since last year's horrific terrorist attacks in Casablanca, there has been a notable increase in the amount of soul-searching by Morocco's political elite as to how the problems of widespread poverty and deprivation in the kingdom can be...

A sea of troubles: robbing the poor to feed the rich.(Books)(Book Review)
October 1, 2004... THE END OF THE LINE HOW OVERFISHING IS CHANGING THE WORLD AND WHAT WE EAT By Charles Clover [pounds sterling]14.99 Ebury Press ISBN 0-0918-9780-7 In the introduction to this remarkable book, Charles Clover asks the reader...

Management and Change in Africa: A Cross Cultural Perspective.(Books)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
October 1, 2004... MANAGEMENT AND CHANGE IN AFRICA A CROSS CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE By Terence Jackson [pounds sterling]23.99 Routledge ISBN 9-780415-312042 While there is a thirst for management knowledge and education throughout Africa, there...

The Birth of Plenty: How the Prosperity of the Modern World Was Created.(Books)(Book Review)
October 1, 2004... THE BIRTH OF PLENTY HOW THE PROSPERITY OF THE MODERN WORLD WAS CREATED. William J Bernstein [pounds sterling]19.99 McGraw Hill ISBN 0-07-142192-0 The Birth of Plenty suggests--and supports with groundbreaking...

What I Tell You Three Times Is True.(Books)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
October 1, 2004... WHAT I TELL YOU THREE TIMES IS TRUE By Ian Parker [pounds sterling]14.99 Librario ISBN 1-904440-38-X In this wide-ranging narrative, which is part historical, part investigative, and largely biographical, Ian Parker examines...

High Tide: News from a Warming World.(Books)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
October 1, 2004... HIGH TIDE NEWS FROM A WARMING WORLD By Mark Lynas [pounds sterling]16.99 Flamingo ISBN 0-00-713939-X A glacier disappears high in the Peruvian Andes. Floodwaters surge across the English countryside. Ten thousand Pacific...

The Life and Death of Smallpox.(Books)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
October 1, 2004... THE LIFE AND DEATH OF SMALLPOX By Ian & Jennifer Glynn [pounds sterling]17.99 Profile ISBN 1-86197-608-9 No other disease has had such a long, dramatic and terrible history as smallpox. It is the first, and so far the only,...

Why Globalisation Works: The Case for the Global Market Economy.(Books)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
October 1, 2004... WHY GLOBALISATION WORKS THE CASE FOR THE GLOBAL MARKET ECONOMY By Martin Wolf [pounds sterling]19.99 Yale University ISBN 0-300-10252-6 The debate on globalisation has reached such a passionate level of intensity that it...

Malagasy maestro: the prince of valiha.(Music)(Randrianrisoa, Germain)(Biography)
October 1, 2004... VOLONTANY RAJERY Label Bleu Cat: LBLC2592 Germain Randrianrisoa, known throughout Madagascar as Rajery, has overcome an extraordinary disability to become one of the country's foremost musicians--he lost all the fingers of...