My Beauty Best Teacher

The Guardian writes about the recent Kenyan elections:

This election promised so much, not only to Kenya but to Africa as a whole. It would have been the first time that a Kenyan president would have lost through the ballot box, and the first time an incumbent would have been voted out of office. It would have been, in the best sense of the word, a revolution. Many of the old guard who had dominated politics since independence were swept out of office by a younger generation of politicians who owed their popularity to votes rather than tribal loyality or patronage. Instead. Kenya appeared last night to be stepping back several decades. Deprived of power in the way that his late father - the Luo nationalist hero Oginga Odinga - was, Raila Odinga darkly predicted a stormy future for a nation that could once again split on tribal lines.

Túndé Adégbölá writes in Ictupdate:

Because research efforts in the field of speech recognition began with English, a non-tone language, most attention is given to the recognition of consonants and vowels. At Alt-i, however, we found that if tones are accurately recognized they can suggest the vowels that bear them and the consonants that they accompany. Interestingly, tones are a lot easier to recognize than vowels and consonants.Such features are common among many African tone languages. It is likely that tools and techniques can be developed and shared for other languages, including Asian tone languages too. We are aware of the pressing needs of many other African languages and we are approaching the development of this product in such a way that will make it relatively easy to adapt to other African tone languages in the near future.

Deutsche Bank Research reports:

On September 27 this year the eyes of the international capital markets were drawn to Ghana: on that day Ghana became the first sub-Saharan country after the Republic of South Africa to issue a dollar-denominated, ten-year government bond and in so doing experienced huge demand. This important test of the international appetite for African bonds thus proved extremely positive and cleared the way for future bond issues by other promising candidates like Gabon, Kenya and Zambia...The local-currency bond market is only just starting to emerge. Nurturing its growth is, however, very high on the list of government priorities, which is also shown by the increasing liberalisation of access for foreign investors. Since December of last year foreign investors have been able to invest in capital market instruments with a maturity of at least three years. An alternative option is investing in bonds issued by the African Development Bank which are denominated in Ghanaian cedis.

Directed by Yorgos Avgeropoulos, "DELTA - Oil's Dirty Business" "...portrays the image of "development", the way giant multinational petroleum companies would define it. Petroleum leaks in the River destroy flora and fauna, poison the food chain and consequently wipe out the 27 million indigenous people of the area - the Ijaws, the Ogoni and the Itsekiris. The inhabitants dare to ask the self-evident, they demand an end to it. As a response they are massively and brutally attacked by special forces of the army and the police, which are armed by the oil companies. The camera meets at the river militia of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta-MEND- and presents to the world for the first time shattering images of their speed boat patrols and of their heavy weaponry..."

Estelle Shirbon of Yahoo news reports :

In the minds of its creators, the Tinapa resort in southeastern Nigeria will rival Dubai or London as a shopping and trading paradise for rich and enterprising Nigerians.In reality, about $340 million has been spent since 2005 but 80,000 square meters of pristine retail space lie empty, the silence broken only by the footsteps of a few security guards...

"Customs have been preventing us from selling. They say we have to pay duty. That's why no one else has opened. Meanwhile our rent is running but our patience is running thin," said a member of staff, who did not wish to be named.This is ominous. Customs are one of the most corrupt institutions in Nigeria, the finance minister said last month, and have a powerful vested interest against duty free trade.

Business Daily reported that:

Creating a strong Africa domiciled investment banking industry is an essential factor to ensure capital market rewards stay in Africa. The bond market is seen growing as more countries acquire sovereign credit ratings and float debt instruments.Eighteen countries across the continent have got a sovereign issuer rating from at least one International Credit Ratings Agency.In the equities markets, increasing local private and institutional participation and new issues have improved liquidity significantly, says Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the executive chairman of Databank Financial Services.

The PSD Blog reports on a Bill Easterly paper (pdf) that questions those who set the MDG goals in the first place,he concludes that.

It seems undesirable to exaggerate the “Africa as failure” image, which in turn exaggerates the role of “the West as Savior” for Africa (as the MDG campaign has often played out in practice). It is demoralizing to have goals for Africa that only be attained with progress that is nearly without historical precedent from other regions or in Africa itself. Africa has enough problems without international organizations and campaigners downplaying African progress when it happens.

The Africa Monitor reports:

After being privatized to a share company, the National Cement Factory(of Ethiopia) has doubled production and works are underway to open another plant, according to the company's representative.Found inefficient and bankrupt, the 70 year old company was put under the management of the Mugher Cement Factory, before its 80 percent share was finally sold out to the East Africa Group in February 2006, as per the country's privatization policy.The Governmental maintains ownership of the remaining 20 per-cent.

Andrew Tanzer writes in Kiplinger:

Stock exchanges in Africa and the Middle East, only recently opened to foreign investors, are under-researched and under-discovered (Alderson says that on average only one analyst covers a stock). That creates stock inefficiencies and fine opportunities for shrewd investors. The correlation with the U.S. stock market is a remarkably low 10% at a time when most international markets have been moving closely in sync with the U.S.

Franklin Cudjoe writes in African Liberty:

Even old Socialist or even Communist States are fast embracing reforms and doing the obvious, instituting property rights and freedom of trade. Some are making the mistake, however, of adopting mercantilism, thinking that using the state’s power to gain access to resources abroad through bribes will command global respect. Africa is one place they are casting their glance.
Africa ought to position itself in time for the next biggest hunt for its resources. The onslaught however is on, and aggressively led by China with many offers. We seem to be buckling under the good old magical hand of foreign aid again.

Joshua Wanyama writes in the Cheetah Index:

When a continent as rich as Africa sells its natural resources to the rest of the world. I call that a basic economic market. When African economies and companies start keeping these resources at home and produce world quality products, then they have added value and ensured better prices for their commodities...Until Africa increases the value for its natural resources consistently, the continent keeps fueling outside economies while playing second fiddle to world markets.

Lazarus Amayo makes a case for increased intra-continental trade:

He said there is need to expand trade links within the African region through product diversification and establishment of joint ventures...African nations need to improve its trade with other nations through cooperation agreements“There is need for African continent that trades with itself and rely on overseas countries to buy our products when our neighboring countries can do the same,”

Reuben Abati writes in Nigeria Village Square:

Those who have always suspected that South Africa, a much better organized country in spite of its many problems, would soon succumb to the African disease under black leadership and go the way of Zimbabwe, Nigeria etc can now look back on the ANC party elections and express fresh anxieties. The Mandela veil has been lifted.For years, with the symbolism of Mandela's charisma and stature, the ANC looked like a party of good men. But the ANC today, is different. It is no longer a liberation movement that is shaped by high ideals; it is like other political parties in Africa, a party of ambitious men and women who are desperate for power and position and who would do anything, anything at all, to achieve their goals. South Africa is beginning to deal with the consequences of its post-apartheid reality. Black South African politicians are about to destroy the beauty of their nation's landscape. The signs are ominous.

Africaincorp reports on the surging Malian tourism business:

The tourism story in Mali is experiencing a tremendous growth, from 98,000 visitors in 2006 , the number of unique visitor went to 250,000 unique visitors during the last season.The Malian revenue Authority reports earnings of about 126 million

The Economist reports:

Whoever wins, what matters next is that the result should be accepted by the loser and Kenyans should be seen to endorse the principle of peaceful competition. Most of Africa has left behind the era of the one-party state, but its people have yet to be fully persuaded that multi-party politics need not be chaotic. South Africa's ruling party seems unhappy to have submitted itself to an internal contest that has humiliated President Mbeki, who himself seems loth to badger neighbouring Zimbabwe's dictatorial Robert Mugabe into holding fair elections. But if a country as complex and poor as Kenya can hold genuine elections without civil strife, then any country in Africa can. This is its chance to set an example.

Dan J Ncayiyana writes in the BMJ:

The needs of the poor are immediate and cry out for direct and urgent intervention now. International aid genuinely earmarked for eradicating poverty must be taken out of the hands of the politicians and bureaucracies of both donor countries and recipient countries. Such funds should be controlled by independent and accountable agencies, which have knowledge of the existing needs and have direct access to those in need. Aid must be contingent upon the accountability of those who administer it, feedback from those who benefit from it, and measurable or otherwise verifiable outcomes.

Ryan Shen Hoover writing in the the Cheetah Index states:

It’s great to see such confidence in Africa’s capital markets. It will encourage additional companies to go public and ultimately improve African exchanges’ liquidity. But it makes uncovering a “screaming buy” each month much more difficult. Instead of “40% off everything in the store,” value investing in Africa is now more akin to rummaging through the clearance section.
Still, retail investors can thrive in such an environment. They’re able to pick up deals that the big guys can’t touch. Large institutions find it difficult to invest in opportunities like Fan Milk because of the lack of liquidity, and great companies like SAB&T Ubuntu are too small for them to buy without moving the market. Moreover, most of Africa’s IPOs and secondary offerings tend to favor small-time investors. Like scooping up “Midnight Madness” deals, investing in African stocks isn’t convenient, but it can be rewarding and fun.

Finance Asia reports:

The overall African economy is expected to grow at 6.2% in 2007, compared with 5.5% in 2006. Countries such as Ghana, Botswana, Uganda, Zambia, Mozambique, Namibia and Nigeria are showing gross domestic product growth rates that are three- to four-times faster than those of the developed economies in the Euro zone. The Ghana Stock Exchange is one of the world’s best performing stock markets, while Botswana boasts one of the highest per capita government savings rates in the world

The FT reports:

The International Finance Corporation, the private-sector arm of the World Bank, is to co-ordinate a $1bn package of debt and equity funding designed to strengthen health across Africa by supporting the private sector.
The move follows the findings of a study commissioned from McKinsey highlighting the size and fast growth of private healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa and the potential it has to improve tackle ill-health among the poor while generating profits.

A report from the Boston Consulting Group states:

Never before have so many potential competitors and customers arisen so quickly on a global scale. Moreover, the challengers have completely different approaches to competition, taking advantage of their bases in emerging markets. Many established industry leaders are frankly unprepared for these new types of competitors

Chandran Nair writes in the FT about the need for Asians (ditto Africans) to speak up robustly on matters that directly impact them:

As globalisation changes the world, having a worldview of Asia that is essentially shaped by western outlooks and prejudices is not just narrow-minded, it is also potentially highly dangerous. It is a view that sees economic advances by Asian countries as threats and Asian business practices as inferior. We saw this with Japan in the 1980s. We are seeing it again today with China and India.
Such an outlook alienates Asian leaders, encouraging them to take nationalist positions in response. What is needed is the emergence of a confident body of Asian intellectual leaders. Not ones who speak on behalf of Asia as a whole – that leads to the kind of “Asian values” nonsense that we heard far too much about in the 1990s.

I’m tired of the Bono’s and Sach’s of this world articulating my views as an African. It’s one of the reasons I’m very quick to respond to media requests for interviews, profiles, etc. (I really could be a media slut) - I think it’s important for Africans to get our views out there

“Will No One Let Africa Speak for Itself?

Merrill Advisor's Stan Luxenburg reports:

The market capitalization of listed sub-Saharan companies has climbed from 89% of GDP in 2000 to 137% in 2005, according to the World Bank. That suggests
a sharp rise in the valuation of African equities...While every major company on the Chinese and Indian exchanges may be followed by as many as 30 analysts, an African stock does wellto catch the attention of five. But equities in more popular Chinese and Indian markets are also much pricier than African shares. “If you look at price/earnings ratios or price/sales ratios, the other emerging markets are an awful lot more expensive than stocks in Africa,” says Merrill Lynch’s Rasco.

At Poptech! Kwame Anthony Appiah talks about myths of Western culture and civilization:

Lugard Ehimatie Aimiuwu makes suggestions on how to turn Benin-City's heritage into a tourist attraction:

Benin has, in its extensive military moats and mounds, described in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest earthworks in the world ( in the pre-mechanical era), a major tourism potential. Yet, a new creation Tinapa, is much better known not only abroad but also at home. It will most certainly become tomorrow’s money spinner because of purposeful management. Action: (a) rehabilitate the moats; (b) canvass for and secure UNESCO World Heritage Classification; (c) create and promote an annual tourist-attracting international event. Build pathways and driveways along the works and have Great Benin Moat Marathon, Great Benin Trek and perhaps African Grand Prix. There are so many possibilities; (d) also exploit the domestic potential by networking them into new canal system to help de-flooding and promote inland transportation.

Drake Bennett writes in the Boston Globe about the anxiety related to the diversionary Aid conversation:

Africa analysts say that they have a broader concern: that the all-consuming discussion of aid has obscured - and perhaps even impeded - the recent positive developments on the continent. According to development economists, multinational corporations routinely overestimate the risks of doing business in Africa. Investment is the fuel of a free- market economy, and yet fear may be depriving many African countries of opportunities.

Africa's diaspora has been quicker to spot the opportunities. For years, economists have credited the remittances that African expatriates send home as a major source of income for African countries. Now, analysts say, the more open political and economic climate has meant that expats are increasingly providing more valuable resources: their brainpower and enthusiasm.

The Cheetah Index carries an article from The Standard Times Press News on Sierra Leone's recovering mining industry:

The ease of artisanal diamond mining has meant significant cash flow into the economy even during the worst war years, but sadly it also fed the rebellion. It is now helping to speed the recovery, finance imports, and generate needed employment. Yet it also draws labour power away from agriculture and into a highly speculative activity which holds the promise of wealth for a few and continued poverty for the majority. One cannot discuss trade and poverty in Sierra Leone without understanding the mineral sector.

The Economist writes:

The Europeans are increasingly worried that they are losing both trade and clout on a continent that they used to regard as their own backyard. Over the past five years Europe has watched with a mixture of shock and awe as resource-hungry China has swept across a grateful continent, taking oil and minerals in exchange for anything the Africans want, be it money now, money later, ports or roads...All this has left Africa's leaders in the novel position of being able to pick their friends rather than being dictated to by others, be they white development economists or the IMF. And they are enjoying every minute of it.

Europe, used to privileged access to African markets and politics, has been left floundering by the new competition. Europeans complain that China damages Africa by not linking its loans and investments to improvements in government and human rights, as the worthy Europeans do. But Africans are dismissive: as one official says, “Europe is jealous. They say we have gotten a new colonial master, but our old one wasn't so good.”

Jeremy of NaijaBlog writes:

Underneath all the bluster of Nigerian super-confidence and pride, there remains an internalised racial inferiority complex - an identity crisis lurks and circulates. The sub-conscious pattern logic is: nothing good comes from here. Everything good comes from overseas, and must therefore be white.

Suleman H. Okech writes in the African Executive:

In Africa, Universities have the highest concentration of highly trained human resource capacity that should spearhead research, innovate, develop and transfer technologies. This potential has not been adequately exploited due to a number of factors… industrial investment in the country is spearheaded by international companies who are dependent on their parent companies’ research in the developed countries. Secondly, universities in Africa tend to work in isolation. Thirdly, there is lack of proper policies that encourage local research and participation of the universities in national development. Finally, low funding. High-level research is costly, and governments are reluctant to funds research.

In the NYTimes Lydia Polgreen reports on a countervailing view of 'Vulture Funds':

Organizations that fight corruption argue that those investors are exposing in court the corrupt networks of government officials, providing a much-needed check on mineral-rich states. Beyond that, anticorruption campaigners, like the groups Global Witness and the Publish What You Pay Coalition, contend that when nations win debt relief without becoming more accountable, they will simply repeat old mistakes and end up deep in debt once again.
“If it were not for these vulture funds, we would not know any facts about the way our country’s wealth is being taken away,” said Brice Mackosso, a campaigner for greater transparency in the Congo Republic’s government. “We don’t agree with their ultimate aims, but they are the only ones capable of exposing the truth.”

The prizewinning Celina Cossa is the founder of "The General Union of Agricultural Cooperatives which now consists of 10,000 small-hold farmers organized in over 200 cooperatives.Activities have expanded to cover financial services, construction, industrial and agricultural production." In 1998 she stated:

We engaged the struggle through the most vulnerable sector of the society - women and children that comprise the majority of the population. It is for the emancipation and dignity of women and for the secure future of our children that we develop our work in the General Union of Cooperatives of Maputo.
Whereas a woman's technical capacity grows through training and literacy, it is through production that she recognizes her role in the transformation of society. She is no more a passive component but a participatory component of the community, opening the way to social stability based on mutual respect and personal achievement, human dignity and self reliance.

Mariana van Zeller reports from Lagos,Nigeria. The worlds fastest growing Mega-City:

via Africaincorp

Richard Gnodde writes in the FT:

For the past five years we have seen a strong period of global growth and wealth creation driven by the opening of new markets, financial innovation, favourable credit conditions and disciplined corporate management. Perhaps more striking has been the breadth of this growth – across geographies, asset classes and industries. We have one global economy, but it is increasingly powered by multiple engines, with multiple sources of demand and liquidity.
The new flows go beyond the increased investment in emerging markets to include investments from those markets into mature economies, and cross-border investments between emerging economies. Since 1990, cross-border capital flows have grown more than 10 per cent annually. Over that period, capital inflows to emerging markets have grown twice as fast as inflows to developed countries. Investment flowing to developing countries now accounts for nearly half of world total FDI inflows, compared with only 20 per cent in 1990. Even excluding China, the share doubled to 32 per cent.

Roben Farzad writes in Businessweek:

In many ways, Africa's economic situation seems hopeless. While $625 billion in foreign aid has poured in since 1960, there has been no rise in the region's per capita gross domestic product, notes William R. Easterly, economics professor at New York University. What's more, from 1976 to 2000, Africa's share of global trade dropped to 1%, from an already negligible 3%. The U.N.'s scale of human development, which considers health, education, and economic well-being, ranks 34 African nations among the world's 40 lowest. Thus far, foreign aid hasn't made a dent.
Greed, however, might. Thanks to the global commodities boom of the past few years, sub-Saharan Africa's economies, after decades of stagnation, are expanding by an average of 6% annually—twice the U.S. pace. And like bees to honey, investors are swarming into the region in search of the enormous returns that ultra-early-stage investments can bring. Blue Financial, for example, has already netted its early private equity backers a ninefold gain thanks to the 385% rise in its stock since its October, 2006, initial public offering in Johannesburg. Emerging Capital Partners has bought all or part of 42 African companies this decade and cashed out of 18, with gains on their investments averaging 300%. "The money we can make is matchless," says Emerging Capital Partners CEO Thomas R. Gibian, a former Goldman Sachs (GS) banker.