Black Business News International Edition
Serving the Global African Economic Community
Winter 2013 USD $5.00
20 t h A f r i c a n U n i o n S u m m i t - 20 13 African Union Summit Summary page 6
Contents Africa on the Rise page 16 Mo Ibrahim-Africa Success Story page 32 Kenya’s Konza Technology City page 43 Reviving Air Tanzania page 64 In The Spotlight 68 Trade Calendar 75 Trade Directory 81
Black Business News International Edition -2- Winter 2013
Black Business News
International Edition • Winter 2013
Contents
www.signafrica.net 68 In The Spotlight 75 Trade Events 77 Books to Consider 81 Trade Advertisers
5 The Publisher Says... 6 20th African Union Summit it 13 Walking from Africa to South America 16 Africa on the Rise 20 Africa’s Fastest Growing Cities 62 22 Seeing the End of AIDS 25 Education Section Avenues, The World School Microsoft Renews Committment to Education Connected Learning - New Proposal 32 Mo Ibrahim - Africa Success Story 37 Technology Section ATPS Conference 2012 dotAFRICA World Internet Statisstics - Africa is There Kenya’s Konza Technology City 53 Culture / Lifestyle Section Play Highlights Genocide in Namibia’s History Chess Changed My Life 59 Business Section Student Entrepreneur Ludwick Marishane Azuri, Healthy Food Company from Kenya Air Tanzania Gets Boost Investment
20 Black Business News International Edition -3- Winter 2013
Black Business News International Edition PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Earl “Skipâ€? Cooper, II ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sarah Harris PRODUCTION MANAGER Narishima Osei CONTRIBUTING WRITERS LaSandra Stratton • Dean Jones • Steven Turner GRAPHIC DESIGN Sarah Harris • Phallu Morgan ENTREPRENEUR EDITOR Kim Anthony STORY EDITORS Wanda Flagg â–Ş Jennifer Marie Hamilton PHOTOGRAPHY Ian Foxx â–Ş Sabir • Narishima Osei
The Publisher Says...
CONTENT ADMINISTRATOR LaSandra Stratton LAYOUT/TYPESETTING Lion Communications Copyright Š 2012 by Black Business News International. All Rights Reserved. The posting of stories, commentaries, reports, documents and links (embedded or otherwise) on this site does not in any way, shape or form, implied or otherwise, necessarily express or suggest endorsement or support of any of such posted material or parts therein. ď‚˛ď€ ď‚˛ď€ ď‚˛ď€ ď‚˛ Black Business News •P.O. Box 43159, Los Angeles, CA 90043 USA 323-291-7819 • 323-291-9234 fax • www.bbala.org • mail@bbala.org
About the Black Business News‌
The mission of The Black Business News is to inspire and inform public and private sector industry representatives on the importance of smart small business growth. As a versatile source of socioeconomic development activity, the Black Business News imparts current local, national and international industry trends related to small businesses across the United States of America (USA), detailing greater access to financial capital, management efficiencies, business education, mentors and networks. The goals of the Black Business News include: •
increasing the use of business enterprises owned by USAbased blacks, by advocating for greater access to leading finance lenders and successful business managers. • working to merge resources, values, profits, technology throughout the public and private sectors. • balancing major public and private sector contracting methods with positive outcomes of blackion International Edit own and operated enterprises. owned s w e Black Business N • providing an affirmative influence for emerging entrepreneurs en Contents sharing innovative design and cresh ati cultural content that exposes ative th them to the history of black enterprises and excite them to participr pate in the USA’s future. p • advocating and promoting on behalf of black-owned businessb e by promoting the need for exes panding an economic foundation p that t supports an unfettered and self-sustained urban society with USA job creation and economic whe blacks work, live and operate opportunity, where viable business enterprises enterprises.  Serving the Global
African Economic
Community
Earl “Skip� Cooper, II Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Black Business News
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he Black Business News International welcomes the representation of Africa 2.0 in the USA. Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. is now an active member of the Advisory Board and Ms. Roberta Anan, Chapter Head for North America, is operating from her offices in the City of New York (roberta@ africa2point0.org). The presence of Rev. Jackson (see page 11) on the board of Africa 2.0 and an active chapter in North America are welcome steps toward the realization of the long held goal of closer working relations between Africans and African Americans. We encourage you to take advantage of this new linkage whatever your focus - investment, business, culture, educatiion, or humanitarian. The linkage will only be as effective as we make it. Visit the Africa 2.0 website at www.africa2point0.org to keep abreast of the ongoing activities and programs. Review the Africa 2.0 Manifesto (http://africa2point0. org/web/images/Manifesto.pdf) and find your way to participate.
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Many of the articles in this issue of the Black Business News International match up well with the programs and projects outlined in the Africa 2.0 Manifesto. Hopefully, that indicates that we are all on the right track toward contributing to a successful future. We will try to do our part. Please let us know how we might improve our service to you. 
Black Business News International Edition -5- Winter 2013
African Union Holds 20th Summit www.au.int
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he 20th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Summit holding on the
“Your valuable comments and contributions have no doubt enriched our debate and informed
(AOSTI) to be hosted by the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, the Heads of State endorsed the project. They called on Member States and Development partners to avail the necessary technical and financial support for sustaining the AOSTI and its programmes. The Heads of State also decided to create the Pan-African Intellectual Property Organization (PAIPO). They requested the Commission to convene a meeting of all stakeholders dealing with intellectual property in the implementation of Closing Ceremony of the 20th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Decision by May 2013 Summit. the African Union, 28 January 2013 On the coordination theme: “Pan-Africanism and the decisions that we have adopted of the Committee of African African Renaissance” ended on a myriad of issues. (See complete Heads of State and Government Monday 28 January 2013 at the speech of the AU Chairperson on on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, the AU website: www.au.int ). Ethiopia, with commitment by the The following decisions AU Heads of State and Government were adopted among others: to ensure implementation of On refocusing the the Assembly Decisions and Economic Commission for Declarations arrived at during their Africa (ECA) to support the deliberations. transformation agenda of the In his closing remarks, the African Union, the Heads of newly elected Chairperson of the States urged the SecretaryAfrican Union, Mr. Hailemariam General of the United Nations Dessalegn, Prime Minister of the to provide the required Federal Democratic Republic of support to ECA to enhance Ethiopia, expressed satisfaction its work in accordance with at the active participation of all the Africa’s priorities. Heads of States and Government On the creation of the African and Africa’s preparation for COP in the discussions on various Observatory on Science, 19/CMP 9. issues of interest to the continent. Technology and Innovation see AU 20th Summit on page 7 Black Business News International Edition -6- Winter 2013
AU 20th Summit from page 6
on International Law to examine the proposed establishment of an International Constitutional Court and make recommendations to the 22nd Session of the Assembly of
The Heads of States acknowledged the need for further refine and streamline the coordination mechanism for CAHOSCC. They endorsed the coordination function of CAHOSCC as follows: • Coordination of CAHOSCC rotates for a period of two (2) years for two Conferences of the Parties (COPs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The AUC Chairperson H.E. Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma (UNFCCC); • Country of the host of receives Ambassador Johnnie the Presidency of the Carson, US Assistant Secretary African Ministerial of State for African Affairs, 30 Conference on January 2013 Environment (AMCEN) to serve as the Heads of State and Government of Coordinator at the Summit level the African Union (January 2014) to enhance linkage between the on the said proposal. AMCEN processes to CAHOSCC On the integration of the New in addition to providing the Africa-Asia Strategic Partnership necessary support given the (NAASP) into African Union nature of expectations at this structures and processes. level; and The Assembly requested the • The President of the African Commission to take the necessary Ministerial Conference on steps towards the integration of Environment (AMCEN) to serve the New Africa-Asia Strategic as Coordinator at the Ministerial Partnership (NAASP) into the level; African Union structures and • Chair of the African Group processes. of Negotiators on Climate On the representation of local Change (AGN) experts elected communities in organs of the at the UNFCCC forum serves as African Union. Coordinator at the Experts’ level. The Assembly requested the Commission to submit a On the establishment of an comprehensive report on the “International Constitutional opportunity, feasibility, relevance Court.” The Heads of States requested and implications, including financial the African Union Commission ones, of the proposal at the January
2014 Summit. On the reduction of maternal, newborn and child mortality and morbidity in Africa The Assembly requested that the
Ministers of Health of the African Union examine the progress made regarding the state of maternal, newborn and child health, map out concrete and innovative strategies at a larger scale in order to adequately address the health needs of African women and children and submit a report to the 21st Ordinary Session of the Assembly. It decided to place this item on the agenda of the next Assembly. On the establishment of the African Union Institute for Statistics. The Assembly approved the establishment of the African Union Commission Institute for Statistics that will be based in Tunis, Republic of Tunisia. On the promotion of critical knowledge for the Accelerated
Black Business News International Edition -7- Winter 2013
see AU 20th Summit on page 8
AU 20th Summit from page 7
and Sustainable Development of Africa. The Assembly took note of the proposal of Burkina Faso on the promotion of critical skills for Accelerated and Sustainable Development in Africa. The Heads of States approved the initiative of Burkina Faso.
Africa-post 2015. The Assembly took note of the proposal by the Republic of Guinea relating to the creation of a SouthSouth and Triangular Coalition in support of Africa Post 2015; it approved in principle the creation of a South/South and Triangular Coalition to assist Africa within the framework of its Post 2015 Agenda. On the report of the Committee of Ten on UN Reform.
of the AU Commission: • Dr. Martial De-Paul Ikounga (Republic of Congo). - Human Resources, Science and Technology • Dr. Anthony Mothae Maruping (Lesotho) - Economic Affairs On election of the five members of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union The Assembly appointed the following five (5) Members of the
Signing Ceremony of the Pan African University Host Agreement between African Union Commission and the Government of Cameroon, 28 January 2013 On the hosting of a special followup summit on the Abuja 2001 African Union Summit on HIV/ AIDS, Tuberculosis and other related Infectious Diseases in the third quarter (July/August) of 2013 The Assembly welcomed and endorsed the offer by the Federal Republic of Nigeria to host a Special Follow-Up Summit on the Abuja 2001 African union summit on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other related infectious diseases in the third quarter of 2013. On the South-South and Triangular Coalition in support of
The Assembly reiterated that the Committee of Ten remains seized of this matter until Africa achieves its objectives on the reform of the UN Security Council and requested the Committee to present a report to the Twenty-first Ordinary Session of the Assembly in July 2013. On the election of the Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology and the Commissioner for Economic Affairs of the African Union The Assembly, appointed the following persons as Commissioners
Peace and Security Council for a three (3)-year term as of March 2013: 1. Equatorial Guinea Central Region 2. Uganda Eastern Region 3. Algeria Northern Region 4. Mozambique Southern Region 5. Nigeria Western Region On the election of one judge of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Assembly, appointed Mr. Kimelabalou Aba ( Togo) as Judge of AfCHPR for a year and a half (1½
Black Business News International Edition -8- Winter 2013
see AU 20th Summit on page 9
AU 20th Summit from page 8
year) term. On the election of the eleven members of the Advisory Board on Corruption. The Assembly, appointed the following Members of the Advisory Board on Corruption for a two (2)year term: • Mr. Jacques III Achiaou Cote d’Ivoire
Burundi Mr. Salem Ben-Gharbia Libya Mr. M’pere Diarra Mali Mr. Jean Baptiste Elias Benin Mr. Edward Gamaya Tanzania Mr. Ali Sulaiman Mohamed Ethiopia • Mr. Pierre Nzobabela Republic of Congo • Mrs. Julie Onum-Nwariaku Nigeria • • • • •
On the election of five members of the African Union Commission on International Law. Closing Ceremony of the 20th Ordinary The Assembly, Session of the Assembly of Heads of appointed the following State and Government of the African Members of the Union, 28 January 2013 AUCILfor a five (5)-year term: • Mr. Rafaa Ben Achour Tunisia • Mr. Daniel Makiesse Mwanawanzambi D.R.C • Mr. Boniface Obinna Okere Nigeria • Mrs. Naceesay Salla-Wadda Gambia • Mr. Kholisani Solo Botswana • Dr. Tony Aidoo Ghana • Ms. Akossiwa Ayena Togo On the Declaration of Solidarity • Ms. Angele Barumpozako with Algeria following the terrorist
attack on Gazier site in Amenas, the Assembly condemned with utmost firmness the “cowardly and vicious act of aggression against a member state of the African Union. On the Declaration on Palestine, the Assembly welcomed the United Nations General Assembly’s decision granting the State of Palestine “Observer non-member” status in the UN. It urged the international community to pressure Israel to comply with the United Nations’ resolution and previous agreements signed by with Palestine. It was announced during the closing ceremony of the 20th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union that, the next AU Summit will take place on 19th to 27th May 2013. All the decisions and declarations will be posted on the AU website www.au.int as soon as they are ready. http://summits.au.int/ en/20thsummit/events/ summit-ends-strong-decisionsand-declarations-au-headsstates-crucial-and-topical-
DRC and Mali in the Centre of African Union 20th Summit by Fabian Scherer f.scherer@politicalanalysis.co.za the deal aimed for improving the security of the eastern Congo, where rebels had fought heavily against official forces last year. The rebel group, which calls itself March 23, is alleged to be supported by President Thomas Yayi Boni neighbouring (Benin) criticized his fellow countries Uganda African countries for acting and Rwanda. too slowly. However, shortly before it was due to take place, he African Union started the signing ceremony of the deal a two-day summit on 27 was cancelled. According to January 2013 to discuss reports, presidents of both accused the issues of the continent. As countries held a discreet meeting expected, the focus of the debate on the sidelines of the summit. was on the security threats that Peace talks between Congolese emerged from the crisis spots in officials and representatives of the the Democratic Republic of the rebels, mediated by Uganda, have Congo and in the West African so far shown little progress. country of Mali. In addition to that, Outgoing African Union president the Union elected its new chairman, Yayi Boni praised the commitment Ethiopian President Hailemariam of France in the troubled north of Desalegn, replacing Benin’s Mali. At short notice, the European President Thomas Yayi Boni in the country deployed almost 3 000 one-year post. soldiers in its former colony, The summit was overshadowed after local Islamic extremists had by the collapse of a peace deal for threatened to advance on the the troubled eastern Congo. On country’s capital. Within a few 28 January, a deal was scheduled weeks, the French troops managed for signing by the DRC, Angola, to drive away Islamist fighters, and Burundi, Republic of the Congo, backed by heavy aerial support, South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda recaptured the strategic city of Gao, and Uganda. While details of the which lies in the bottleneck between settlement had not been disclosed, the country’s vast arid north and its
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more densely populated south. Yayi Boni criticized his fellow African countries for acting too slowly. Speaking to other African leaders, he said France’s intervention was something “we should have done a long time ago to defend a member country.” To accelerate and intensify African efforts in the fight against Islamists in Mali, the African Union will raise funds on 29 January, promoting the aim of committing additional troops to the African-led mission in Mali until 1 February 2013. Indeed, African engagement in Mali has failed to meet expectations. Currently, it is mainly France who have been driving away Islamist extremists. With about 2900 soldiers, there are more French troops in the country than the estimated 2700 African forces, even though the Economic Community of West African States, together with Chad, had actually agreed on sending about 5 500 to support Malian troops. The pledging conference for Tuesday is estimated to flow between 420 Million and 1 Billion US$ into the coffers of the African Union. However, for the success of the mission, it is crucial not only to invest in short-term military interventions, but also into the rebuilding of the impoverished countries. Humanitarian problems are foreseeable, as Islamist fighters have reportedly taken away the food reserves of the local population. The African Union must consider how it wants to prevent Islamic extremism from spreading throughout the Saharan region. It should finally establish an overall strategy for endangered countries instead of focusing on extinguishing local fires. www.politicalanalysis. co.za/2013/01/30/drc-and-mali-inthe-centre-of-african-union-summit
Black Business News International Edition -10- Winter 2013
Former American Presidential Candidate Joins the AFRICA 2.0 Advisory Board
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ormer American presidential candidate and United States Special Envoy to Africa
and founder of Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS) Ms. Hadeel Ibrahim, Executive Director of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation Mr. Francis Okomo-Okello, Chairman, Barclays Bank of Kenya Limited Ms. Wendy Luhabe, Chairman, Women Investment Fund Mr. Slim Othmani, CEO of NCARouiba, Chairman of Algeria Business Council Mr. Ali Mufuruki, Chairman & CEO Infotech Investment Group Mr. Ba Hassan, Special Adviser to the General Director of the Office of Chérifien des Phosphates Dr. EleniGabre-Madhin, CEO and founder of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange Mr. Younes Maamar (Morocco),
Managing Partner, eONE Investments LLP In his acceptance letter, Reverend Jackson acknowledged the honour to be invited to the board of Africa 2.0. “This is Africa’s century and I urge Africa 2.0 to seize the moment and make a great continent greater with deserving global respect and leadership.”
About Africa 2.0 Africa 2.0 is a Pan-African Civil Society organization that consists of young and emerging leaders from Africa and the Diaspora who share a collective vision for Africa and a commitment to finding and implementing sustainable solutions that will in turn leapfrog the development of the continent. Visit www.africa2point0.org for more information.
Rev. Jesse L. Jackson
Reverend Jesse L. Jackson is now a member of the Africa 2.0 Advisory Board. Reverend Jackson has been called the “Conscience of the Nation” and “the Great Unifier,” challenging America to be inclusive and to establish just and humane priorities for the benefit of all. He is known for bringing people together on common ground across lines of race, culture, class, gender and belief. A Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest honour bestowed on civilians in the United States), Reverend Jackson will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the already formidable board which is headed by His Excellency Olusegun Obasanjo the former president of Nigeria. The Africa 2.0 Advisory Board members are: Mr. Nkosana Moyo, Founder & Executive Chairman, Mandela Institute for Development Studies (MINDS) Ms. Bineta Diop, Executive Director
Black Business News International Edition -11- Winter 2013
www.zambiausachamber.org
Government gets US$50 million loan from ADB The Zambian Government and the African Development Bank (ADB) have signed a US$50 million loan which will be used to support the ItezhiTezhi hydro power and transmission line project.The loan will be used towards financing the construction and operation of a 120 megawatt hydro plant at Itezhi tezhi dam along the Kafue river. The project will increase the country’s power supply which at the moment stands at 1,000 megawatts. The increase in electricity generation and distribution will assist in reducing the erratic power supply which is currently being experienced in the country. The project is a milestone as it will open Zambia’s first Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the Energy sector. Source: ZANIS New year, new money! The new money has finally been launched heralding a new era in the country’s monetary policy and economic history. The currency redenomination will lead to greater confidence in the currency, simple book-keeping, and accounting records and facilitate easier b u s i n e s s transactions. The launch of the redenominated c u r r e n c y r e a f f i r m s Government’s commitment and desire to put the country on sound economic and sustained growth trajectory. Government took the decision to rebase the Kwacha by knocking out three zeros from the notes as well as reintroducing the use of coins. The redenominated currency series will circulate alongside
the current notes for a period of six months from January 1 to June 30, 2013. The family of rebased currency is made up of six notes and four coins. Source:Zambia Daily Mail Massive Investment Boosts Farming At Chondwe Prisons Chondwe Prison Farms has broadened its food production. The massive investment by the Government and other stakeholders in the area of agriculture at Chondwe prisons has brought about commercialization of prison farms, especially on the Copperbelt. Chondwe Prisons Farm, a hub of fresh agricultural produce in the Copperbelt food basket will soon start competing with other commercial farmers in the region.The open air prison is well-known for farming and has about 400 hectares of land. They grow maize as a major crop and will now broaden into leguminous crop production. Source: Times of Zambia First Quantum plans $275 mln investment in Zambia nickel mine Canadian mining firm First Quantum Minerals plans to invest $275 million in a new nickel mine in Zambia. The Enterprise nickel project is the second of three mines planned by First Quantum in Zambia that are jointly known as Trident. The Enterprise mine would produce an average of 38,000 tonnes of nickel in concentrate per annum with scope to increase to 60,000 tonnes when market conditions allow. The Enterprise development requires a capital investment of $275 million, which lifts the total approved capital estimate for the Trident project to $2 billion. An exploratory drilling last year revealed great potential in the nickel mine. Source: Reuters Chikwanda calls for investment boost Government has asked State-owned companies to raise their investment in capital markets to become globally competitive so that they can effectively contribute to the growth of Zambia’s economy. The concern is that most State-owned enterprises have not been performing to expectation because of their failure to actively participate in the local capital market. Government recently approved a State-owned enterprises policy which will help to provide a strategic outlook and improve the performance of State-owned enterprises. The policy will require State-owned enterprises to enhance their capitalization and give Zambians a chance to own stock through innovative ventures such as listing on the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE) and forging strategic partnerships with the private sector. Source: Zambia Daily Mail
Black Business News International Edition -12- Winter 2013
Out of Eden - A Walk from Africa to South America Pulitzer winning foreign correspondent Paul Salopek is preparing to walk from Africa to South America and document the whole journey. By Justin Ellis
in Patagonia at the southern tip of South America. The route Salopek is following is the one anthropologists believe was the first path humans took out of Africa to populate the rest of the world. He’s calling it the Out of Eden, a narrative trek that will examine the current state of the cultures Salopek visits, while also writing about their history and connection to the greater world. Salopek is a two-time Pulitzer
Paul Salopek and guides
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very reporter has a checklist of things to grab or arrange before heading out on an assignment. Paul Salopek’s is longer. Beyond a laptop and video camera, Salopek’s list includes a satellite phone, a GPS, and arranging for translators, guides,
and camel transport. Also, really good shoes. In January 2013, Salopek will begin a seven-year reporting assignment that will take him 22,000 miles (give or take) on foot, from Africa across Asia and the United States, ultimately ending up
winner who has covered conflict from the Balkans and Somalia to Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2006, he, his interpreter, and his driver were detained for over a month in Sudan after officials charged him with being a spy. In this seven-
Black Business News International Edition -13- Winter 2013
see Out of Eden on page 14
Out of Eden from page 13
year assignment Salopek will have to draw on all of his experience as a foreign correspondent. The assignment is ambitious and unforgivably long-term — by design. To see this assignment through he’ll need precise planning and a tool kit that is as diverse as it is lightweight. So why’s he doing it? “I could go back and work for a newspaper as a foreign correspondent. I loved that,” Salopek told me. “But why
not use those skills I’ve developed for the last 15 years or so on a project of my own? One that may attempt to add a layer of meaning to international news that is missing in our business, because media has become so fragmented.” The plan is to embark from the Great Rift Valley (http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Rift_ Valley_(geographical_concept)) in Ethiopia in January, tracing the horn of Africa into Israel in 2013. In 2014, he’ll head into central Asia, but not
before dealing with one of his bigger obstacles: Iran. If you’re on foot, the best, most direct, route into Asia is through northern Iran on the edges of the Caspian Sea. That, of course, means actually getting through Iran safely. This will be one of the many times diplomatic relations will have a bearing on Salopek’s walk. Not going through Iran would be a big problem in Salopek’s plans — he’d have to head north around the Caspian Sea into Russia, “and that’s an awfully big detour.” Though he’ll be traveling solo for most of the trip, Salopek has a wide
edu/NiemanFoundation.aspx) as our first Visiting Fellow, using the time to work with people at Harvard and MIT to plan his expedition and to investigate new forms of digital storytelling he could use along the way. One of the goals of the Out of Eden project is to make the pace of storytelling match the pace of human walking — which is a way of saying Salopek wants to be deliberate in his writing. “I want to see in the beginning whether going down and taking a more contemplative approach to newsgathering
network of support, from translators and guides in the field, to media partners and sponsors here in the U.S. For the first two years of his journey, Salopek’s work will appear in National Geographic (www.nationalgeographic.com), both in print and online. He’s also receiving support from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting (http://pulitzercenter.org), and he spent time this spring here at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism (http://nieman.harvard.
makes the newsgathering more meaningful,” he said. There will be countless topics to write about along the road; Salopek has a preliminary list of story ideas that includes the impact of western food aid on fighting famine, the effect of climate change in areas along the Red Sea, and what the economy of pastoral nomads looks like today. But Salopek is mindful of the fact that plans will inevitably be overtaken
Black Business News International Edition -14- Winter 2013
see Out of Eden on page 15
Out of Eden from page 14
by events, and that the reality of the walk could be completely different from what he has planned. “Here’s the thing: Anything can happen between now and next year, let alone two years from now,” he said. “So I’m trying to maintain my flexibility.”
Inside the Backpack No matter what the road may bring, it’ll be important to have the right gear. Salopek will be a solo traveler for most of the journey, so he’ll need to pull off the one-man band routine many journalists are now familiar with. But given the breadth of his journey, Salopek told me he wanted to have a kit that would open up new kinds of storytelling possibilities. “I’m looking at the walk as a journalist’s laboratory,” he told me. In his backpack, Salopek will carry a MacBook Air, a satellite phone, a Sony HXR-NX7OU for video and stills, a GoPro camera, an audio recorder, and a personal GPS tracking device. The GPS will obviously play a role in keeping him on track, but Salopek said he’s also interested in trying to geocode stories along his path. Locationbased information could play a role in the online component of the project, allowing Salopek and his
media partners to give a deeper sense of place. A story about climate change, for instance, could be enhanced with temperature and geological data. Another idea would be to pull in tweets or updates from other social networks to sample the online conversation in a particular region, Salopek said. “The reason why it excites me is that this project by definition is a global project,” he said. “It goes across borders and languages and cultures. I want people to be able to follow along.” But what will likely make the journey more immersive is the multimedia component. Using his video and audio equipment, Salopek said he wants to create a kind of continuous portrait of the world at this point in time. “I’m calling it a narrative transect (http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transect): Every 100 miles, I’ll methodically take a series of narrative readings that do not vary along the path of the walk,” he said. The plan, as he envisions it, is to stop to take six samples: Ambient sound, photos of the earth and sky, a panorama of his current location, a minute or so of video, and an interview, all in the same method in each location. He sees it as almost a scientific approach, one that can show the changes and similarities in terrain, but also culture and people. And while these transects will make for good multimedia, Salopek said their real value will be as an archive of what the world looked like from 2013 to 2019. “By the end of seven years, I’ll have created an enduring portrait of a storytelling transect around the world at the
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end of the millennium,” he said. At the moment, Salopek is finishing up planning of the logistics for Out of Eden. He’s partnering with Knight Foundation ( w w w. k n i g h t f o u n d a t i o n . o r g / blogs/knightblog/2012/12/6/ slow-journalism-project-mergesancient-voyage-new-media), which is supporting the online component of his trip. He’s looking for additional media partners and working with the Pulitzer Center to create an educational component of the project that can be used in classrooms. He’s been traveling back and forth between Africa doing “reconnaissance” on the route and the conditions on the ground. He’s set up guides and, yes, camel transport where needed. While plotting out the map, he’s also getting his visas in order so cross-border surprises are kept to a minimum. In all, Salopek says he has a pretty good picture of his next two years worth of work. But beyond that, it becomes tough to plan years 3-7. International relations may shift, borders may change. And journalism will likely continue to transform as well; just think of how planning for this sort of a journey would have been different if he’d started seven years ago — before smartphones, social media, and broadband had assumed the role they do now. There are a lot of unknown variables. But Salopek, who calls himself “just another hack,” says he’s ready to start chasing down stories. “I think after all these months of prep, taking a hike in 120-degree heat with camel nomads is very appealing at this point,” he said. Photo courtesy of Linda Lynch. www.niemanlab.org/2012/12/howdo-you-pack-your-bag-for-a-sevenyear-22000-mile-internationalreporting-assignment
Black Business News International Edition -15- Winter 2013
Africa on the Rise By Oliver Bell
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frica represents what we like to call “frontier” markets. To provide some perspective, you can think about global markets in three distinct segments. “Developed” markets like the U.S. and Europe sit at the top—they have
strong regulation, a lot of liquidity, and broad, diversified industries. “Emerging” markets like China and India are a level down from there in terms of development. And “frontier” markets, like most of Africa and the Middle East, are
areas where people haven’t really invested before—they’re nascent markets that have been very illiquid. Historically, you haven’t been able to get much exposure to them, but now they are becoming investable
thanks to greater integrity in the general business environment, a number of infrastructural improvements, and greater stability overall thanks to social, economical
Black Business News International Edition -16- Winter 2013
see Africa on the Rise on page 17
Africa on the Rise from page 16
and political reforms. And because these markets are starting from such a low base, they’re growing very quickly. Right now frontier markets in Africa have between 5-7% GDP growth annually, as opposed to the developed markets, which aren’t growing much at all. In the emerging markets there’s a mix of faster and slower growing economies, but in the aggregate they’re not growing as fast as the frontier markets. What makes Africa so interesting in particular is that there is massive change taking place. This is a region with one billion people, and by 2040 the continent will have the largest population of working-age people on the planet. There is very little debt and a large amount of resources. Recent growth has been broad-based across all sectors, and investment in infrastructure is visibly picking up. Things have changed dramatically, and I believe structurally, which makes this an exciting investment destination.
Opportunity on the Heels of Change Africa is comprised of 54 countries. If you go back to the 1970s, around two-thirds of the countries on the continent were considered to be at war—either with their neighbors or internally. Now, some 30-40 years later, there are probably only three countries in that state, which is quite a big change. Politically, you see dictators being effectively overthrown, and elections taking place, sometimes for the first time. You’re seeing transitions of power, again sometimes for the first time. This year and last year, about half the countries in Africa will have had some form of a democratic election. In the 1970s, that would
have been unheard of. There’s still a long way to go, of course. I recently read a paper by Adam Przeworski and Fernando Limongi called “Modernization: Theories and Facts,” that suggested that once a country reaches $6,000 per capita, its politics become more stable. Also, very few free economies that get to $6,000 per capita revert to a state of political instability. A lot of African countries are currently only $1,000 per capita, but the momentum is positive.
An Emerging Consumer Class The emergence of a “consumer class” in Africa is similar to what we have seen in Asia, however, this is on a very different scale. In Asia, you’re talking about people being able to buy things like cars. In Africa, you’re talking about people moving from, basically, a handto-mouth existence to having $1 a day of discretionary spending power. According to a recent African development bank report, approximately one-third of today’s Africans can now be classified as “middle class”—meaning they have $2 or more a day of discretionary spending power. While that doesn’t sound like much, if you think about a billion people, and add it up, it becomes quite a powerful movement. Furthermore, a recent McKinsey report said that by 2020, more than 50% of African households will earn at least $5,000 a year, and that’s the level at which they typically start spending half their income on items other than food. That’s a big trend. Consumer packaged goods companies like Unilever and Nestlé have already been in Africa a long time. The brewing companies, such as Heineken and Diageo, have major investments in Africa, and in local subsidiaries. These markets are now contributing a great deal of
…by 2040 the (African) cont inent will have the largest popula tion of working-age people on the planet… growth overallll to companies. t those th i Unilever, for instance, sells sachets of shampoo, and Colgate sells “penny packets” of toothpaste—what in a developed market would be given away as a sample. In Africa they sell them, because people p p
…by 2020, more than 50% of African house holds will earn at least $5,000 a year … have one dollar a day to spend. This shows how they’ve learned the market and are adapting to this new consumer.
South Africa: Exposure to Growth
Gaining
There’s another parallel with Asia from an investment perspective. When you look at countries like China or South Korea, one of the best ways to gain exposure to those markets has been indirectly— through companies like German manufacturers and Australian mining companies that are benefiting from growth in those economies. In Africa, we’re looking especially at South Africa, which has woken
Black Business News International Edition -17- Winter 2013
see Africa on the Rise on page 18
Africa on the Rise from page 17
up to the potential of this billion or so people on its doorstep. Instead of investing abroad in places like Australia, Europe, or the U.S., some South African companies are focusing almost entirely on the African continent. In South Africa you have a more mature market, with very well managed and liquid companies. You see situations where, say, 10% of a South African company’s sales might currently be coming from the rest of Africa, but in two or three years they’re aiming for 30%. A lot of them have just reached that inflection point where they’ve figured out how to make profits in Africa—because there are a lot of challenges and obstacles—and now they just need to increase volume or capacity. So South Africa has become a way to get indirect exposure to the whole African growth story.
Nigeria: A Rising Star?
so big: 160 million people. There’s a fairly strong government in place, it’s starting to make reforms, and so I think it has real potential to become like a BRIC—the growth economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China—in 5-10 years time. Of all the African countries, Nigeria is actually the most similar to Brazil in the sense that it’s the big oil play on the continent, it has a lot of people, and it’s getting better and better in terms of who is running its companies. You have many Nigerians who had left for the West
now coming back to the country, because they see opportunity; and that’s changing the leadership situation. If all this continues, then Nigeria becomes a very exciting story.
Making the Most of Resources Africa is obviously rich in commodities: oil, iron ore, copper, platinum, gold. If you consider China’s investment, for instance, one-third of the country’s foreign investment in the last five years has gone into Africa and the Middle East. And if you look at a map of where China has invested, it mirrors almost exactly where the natural resources are. All of the country’s investment in Africa has effectively gone into African natural resources. One interesting development in this area is that African governments are getting wiser. At first they were just grateful for the investment. Now, we see African governments saying; you can have access to a particular commodity, but you also have
Nigeria stands out because it’s
see Africa on the Rise on page 19
UNITING AFRICA AND THE WORLD IN COMMERCE Trade Missions Trade Fairs Trade Seminars 28 E. Jackson Boulevard, Suite 600, Chicago, IL 60604 USA For information contact us: Telephone: 312-987-1892 or E-mail:info@continentalacc.org
www.continentalacc.org Black Business News International Edition -18- Winter 2013
Africa on the Rise from page 18
to build us, say, five schools and a hundred kilometers of roads. So the African governments are getting smarter about letting foreign investors in and getting more in return.
Telecom As a Driver of Growth Right now in Africa there are more people with mobile phones than bank accounts. One of the things we see is that companies are now setting up ways of transferring money or making payments through mobile phones. This has particularly taken off in Kenya. Banking is being created in Africa on the back of the mobile phone.
The take-off of telecoms has come about as handset prices have collapsed, and increased competition has driven tariffs down to an affordable level. Mobile banking is driving usage, and mobile companies stand to make more money as data usage becomes more prevalent through the introduction of cheaper smartphones. We see tariffs for mobile phone usage coming down, and when that happens, we see the exponential usage of voice
functions, with the next leg of that being data. I’ve heard it said recently that Africans consider mobile phones to be the third most important thing in their lives, after their house and food. So it’s worth noting that while smartphones are not big yet in Africa, they will be as prices decrease. So mobile is a very important sector, and it’s driving quite a lot of economic activity.
Structural Challenges Of course, a lot of African countries rank at the bottom of indices like “Ease of Doing Business.” And much of that has to do with simple infrastructure. One example: it takes 20 days for a container to go from the port in Mombasa in Kenya to the capital of Uganda. That’s about 925 kilometers, or 475 miles. In Europe, you can drive 1,000 kilometers in 8 hours. I n Nigeria, to cite another example, every bank b r a n c h needs its own power generator, because there’s no electrical grid. That increases the cost of doing business. If Africa can get over these infrastructural hurdles, then there will be an economic snowball effect. In countries across the continent, they’re talking about pushing through reforms that will help ease doing business and bring costs down, and if they do, that will have a very significant impact.
been one of the best performing regions during the last five years is that it isn’t a crowded trade yet. What I mean is that there is very little “hot money” invested by hedge funds in the African markets at the moment, or by funds investing off their strategic mandate. This means that when there is a reduction in risk appetite in global markets, many of the investors that remain invested in the African markets are not withdrawing their money—those markets are typically not falling as much as the wider emerging or developed markets are, so generally speaking, they are outperforming those markets. Many people and institutions that are invested in Africa do so with the understanding that change is a long-term process on the continent, and much of the money they’ve invested there is invested for the long term. Of course, past performance cannot guarantee future results. Economic management, democracy, and improving institutions and infrastructure will be key in the next decade. We need to see governments controlling inflation and keeping their budgets balanced. We need to see rule of law and peaceful transitions of power. And we desperately need to see investment in power, roads, and railways to continue. There will be challenges and risks in Africa, and we should expect setbacks— there will be winners and losers, but on the whole I’m optimistic that we will see many more winners than in the past. Africa really wasn’t on many people’s radar two years go. But this year, the frontier African markets are up 30% to date. So people are going to start noticing.
Investing For the Long Haul One of the reasons Africa has
Black Business News International Edition -19- Winter 2013
http://individual.troweprice.com/ public/Retail/Planning-%26Research/Connections/Africa/ Africa-on-the-Rise
Which African Cities will see the Most Growth over the next Five Years? by Jaco Maritz, Business Focus
1) Accra, Republic of Ghana
4) Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania
C
ompanies looking to expand into Africa should seriously consider setting up shop in Accra, Lusaka and Luanda. This is if the recently released MasterCard African Cities Growth Index is to be believed. The index, produced on behalf of MasterCard by Prof. George Angelopulo of the University of South Africa, includes 19 sub-Saharan African cities, ranking them according to their economic growth potential between 2012 and 2017. The capitals of Ghana (www. howwemadeitinafrica.com/ category/countries/ghana),
Zambia (www. howwemadeitinafrica. com/category/countries/ zambia) and Angola ( w w w. h o w w e m a d e i t i n a f r i c a . com/category/countries/angola) have been identified as the subSaharan African cities that have the greatest economic growth potential over the next five years. Sudan’s capital Khartoum (www. howwemadeitinafrica.com/ category/countries/sudan) is expected to show the lowest growth of all the cities included in the study. Below are the cities and their ranking:
5) Addis Ababa, Republic of Ethiopia
6) Nairobi, Republic of Kenya
3) Luanda, Republic of Angola
1. Accra (Ghana) 2. Lusaka (Zambia) 3. Luanda (Angola) 4. Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) 5. Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) 6. Nairobi (Kenya) 7. Kampala (Uganda) 8. Johannesburg (South Africa) 9. Kinshasa (DRC) 10. Durban (South Africa) see African Cities Growth on page 21
African Cities Growth from page 20
11. Cape Town (South Africa) 12. Mombasa (Kenya) 13. Lagos (Nigeria) 14. Abuja (Nigeria) 7) Kampala, Republic of Uganda
2) Lusaka, Republic of Zambia
15. Dakar (Senegal) 16. Harare (Zimbabwe) 17. Kano (Nigeria) 18. Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) 19. Khartoum (Sudan) To compile the index, Angelopulo looked at various data related to city-level economic growth. He said that the reasons for the Ghanaian capital Accra’s high ranking is because of its GDP per capita growth in recent years, its projected consumption growth, a strong regulatory environment, and the relative ease of doing business compared to other African cities. South Africa’s economic hub Johannesburg is lower on the list as a result of sluggish growth expectation due to its relative maturity when compared with other
cities on the continent. The United N a t i o n s estimates that Africa’s urban population will triple by 2050, reaching 1.23 billion people. It is expected that by this time 60% of the 8) Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa continent’s population city, rather than the country, level”. will live in urban areas. “Companies that understand “One of Africa’s key economic and social challenges is how its cities the shifting urban marketplaces attract significant inward investment relevant to their businesses and by being globally competitive, build an early presence with serving as magnets for investment sufficient scale are likely to benefit and growth, hot-spots of innovation from being the incumbent with and, most importantly, developing better market access and higher attractive and thriving business margins. Looking at cities rather than countries can be eye-opening. environments,” said Angelopulo. Last year consulting firm Take laundry care products as an McKinsey suggested in a report example. We expect to see more that cities, not countries, should sales growth of these products in drive investment decisions in Africa, São Paulo than in either France noting that “most companies are or Malaysia over the next decade,” still not looking at cities as they noted the report. www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/ calibrate strategy”. The firm found which-african-cities-will-see-thethat “less than one in five executives most-growth-over-the-next-fiveis making location and resource years/23910 decisions at the
9) Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
10) Durban, Republic of South Africa
F
or those of us who were already in medical practice in the late ’80s and early ’90s, the arrival of a completely new and scary disease called AIDS was a shock. AIDS became the modernday plague as to be diagnosed with AIDS then was a sure death sentence. All those AIDS patients during those early days died. Death was brutal, agonizing, and painful. Across the globe, more than 34 million people today still continue to live with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which causes AIDS. And HIV/ AIDS have been responsible for the deaths of an estimated 30 million people worldwide! Indeed, the disease continues to exact an enormous toll: 1.8 million deaths in 2010 alone, without counting the grief and the hardship of countless families and communities, and its deleterious economic effects — as well as the loss of many people in the prime of their productive lives. Despite these daunting statistics, the fight against HIV/AIDs is currently viewed with considerable more optimism than in years past because powerful interventions have been developed, scientifically proven effective, and refined. Says Dr. Anthony S. Fauci of the US NIH National Institute of Infectious Diseases, “If these tools are made more widely available to those who need them, an AIDs-free generation may be possible — that is, today’s children could one day live in a world in which HIV infections and deaths from AIDs are rare.”
OPTIMISM The transformation from hopelessness to pragmatic optimism is, scientifically speaking, nothing short of miraculous. Potent combinations of antiviral medications that brought patients out of their deathbeds and back to life, viral load testing and HIV genotype that helped tailor
The Beginning of the End of AIDS? By Tyrone M. Reyes, M.D.
treatment regimes, screening of the blood supply, aggressive public health campaigns, prevention of maternal-fetal transmission — all these were difficult to imagine only 20 years ago. Foremost among these interventions is combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) which significantly improves the health and longevity of individuals infected with HIV. Since the advent of ART in the mid-1990s, the annual number of deaths due to AIDS has decreased by two-thirds in the United States. Globally, an estimated 700,000 lives were saved in 2010 alone due to the increased availability of ART in low- and middle-income countries.
PREVENTION A recent important breakthrough is the use of ART as prevention for AIDS by reducing the amount of virus in an infected person’s blood and other body fluids such as genital secretions, making it less likely that the virus will be transmitted to others. ART is also highly effective in blocking mother-to-child HIV transmission and it helped prevent more than 350,000 infant infections worldwide from 2005-2010. Still 390,000 infants were infected with HIV in 2010. Clearly, efforts to test, counsel, and provide effective ART regimens to pregnant women with HIV infections must be enhanced. In addition, voluntary medical
male circumcision, a single surgical procedure, offers a highly effective and durable way to protect heterosexual men from HIV infection. In three large-scale studies conducted in Africa, this one-time intervention reduced the risk of a man acquiring HIV during heterosexual intercourse by 50 percent to 60%, an effect that actually increased over time. Stepping up male circumcision in this specific population holds great promise as part of a broader HIVprevention plan, with the potential to prevent millions of infections.
TREATMENT Research studies done in communities in which ART is widely available suggest that scaling up antiretroviral therapy for HIV-infected individuals can substantially reduce the incidence of HIV infection. Thus, it is imperative to strive for universal access to ART, both to benefit individuals with HIV infection and to reduce the risk of their sexual partners becoming infected. Long-acting antiretroviral medications, delivered monthly or even less frequently, are in development and may improve adherence. Topical gels containing antiretroviral drugs also have shown promise as HIV prevention tools to be applied to the vagina
Black Business News International Edition -22- Winter 2013
see End of AIDS on page 23
End of AIDS
Despite the considerable success of ART in reducing the number of from page 22 the virus and improve the patient’s health, it has not been possible to before sexual intercourse to block cure an individual of HIV infection the acquisition of HIV. As with — that is, to induce permanent oral preexposure prophylaxis, the remission in the absence of effectiveness of these drugs will in therapy. Over the past three years, large part depend on adherence an accelerated research effort has been undertaken to elucidate tthe exact m mechanisms o of HIV p persistence a and to d e v e l o p iinterventions to eliminate or p permanently suppress recalcitrant H I V 33.4 million people live with HIV worldwide reservoirs. T The effects of a cure would substan substantially benefit to the regimen, which may be facilitated by new technologies the individual, obviating the need such as antiretroviral drug-infused for lifelong daily therapy. In addition, vaginal rings designed for monthly society would benefit because of the reduction in treatment costs and use. Each of these treatment and rates of HIV transmission. prevention strategies has a strong evidence base, and with further refinement, they could have an extraordinary effect on decreasing the trajectory of the HIV pandemic. As the global community works to increase global coverage of proven interventions, researchers are maintaining focus on two key scientific challenges that remain: the development of a vaccine and a cure. A safe, effective and durably protective vaccine would be a big boost to HIV prevention efforts, in the same way that vaccines for other important diseases such as smallpox, polio and measles have greatly reduced or eliminated the burden of those infections. The prospect of an HIV cure, however, remains challenging.
THE END OF AIDS? The availability of combination antiretroviral therapy for prevention and treatment, advances in preexposure prophylaxis with oral or mucosally-delivered medications to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV infection, promoting the practice of circumcision in this group, services for pregnant HIV-infected women, condom provision, and other proven prevention tools suggest that controlling and ultimately ending the global HIV/AIDs pandemic is possible. Achieving this goal, however, will require implementing a multifaceted global effort to expand testing, treatment and prevention programs, as well as meeting the scientific challenges of developing an HIV
vaccine and possibly, even a cure. With collective and resolute action now and a steadfast commitment for years to come, an AIDs-free generation is indeed within reach. There is still a long way to go, of course. No one is underestimating the immensity of the challenges that remain in developing countries like ours wherein the incidence of AIDs appears to be increasing rather than decreasing. But to even contemplate, however tentatively, the possible end of AIDS is something that many scientists and physicians never imagined was possible in their lifetimes. Indeed, today, HIV-AIDs has become a chronic disease that, if treated properly, can be held at bay in a newly infected young adult for decades, if the patient adheres to a rigid daily regimen. AIDS patients in the hospital are far rarer to see now than before. They are more likely to be admitted for a stomach ulcer or a heart attack than for an HIV-related illness. The overriding majority receive their medical care in outpatient settings, like everyone else who is living with a disease rather than dying of a disease. AIDS has settled down like hypertension and diabetes as one of those chronic conditions that patients deal with over the course of a lifetime. Michel Sidibe, executive director of the UN AIDS Agency, said that “the opportunity to end AIDS will ‘evaporate’ if government does not show greater political will and increase investments to make gains available to millions more people … All that can stop us now is indecision and lack of courage.” So, does it seem like it is really the end of AIDS? Certainly not. But it does look like more and more, that it could be the beginning of the end! www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?arti cleId=867109&publicationSubCate goryId=80
Black Business News International Edition -23- Winter 2013
Avenues
The World School A Global Vision Schools are historically rooted in the villages, towns and cities in which they are situated. Almost all are single-city, single-country institutions. They teach about matters beyond their boundaries, but they do not operate in any meaningful
way outside them. Over time, some have evolved to serve “national communities.” Leading examples include England’s Eton, India’s Doon School, America’s Exeter and China’s Shanghai High. While these “national” schools teach about the larger world and include students from diverse locations, their operations still largely exist in one country and on a single campus. If “local” schools are the first step in the evolution of schooling and “national” schools are the sec-
ond step, the decades ahead are likely to bring the third step: global schools. Thirty years from now there will likely be a number of such organizations. Avenues plans to be the best of this new breed of educational institution—hence its subtitle: The World School.
What is a global or world school? Begin by thinking Avenues Beijing, Avenues London, Avenues São Paulo, Avenues Mumbai. Think of Avenues as one international school with 20 or more campuses. It will not be a collection of 20 different schools all pursuing different educational strategies, but rather one highly-integrated “learning community,” connected and supported by a common vision, a shared curriculum, collective pro-
fessional development of its faculty, the wonders of modern technology and a highly-talented headquarters team located here in New York City.
Why is this important to parents and children? Every school brochure will say
that today’s great schools must prepare students for global life. If the 20th century were dominated by American leadership, the 21st century will be, as one Chinese leader said, “a kitchen with many chefs.” Modern students must have more than a passing understanding of other cultures, speak other languages fluently and appreciate other histories. A global school with faculty and campuses in all the world’s largest cultures will have a huge (and, to-
Black Business News International Edition -25- Winter 2013
see The World School on page 26
The World School from page 25
day, virtually unique) advantage in achieving these new educational requirements. Existing in and working with another culture is the best way to learn about it. Imagine that the chair of Avenues’ Spanish language studies is located
studying at campuses in Buenos Aires, Paris, Delhi and Cairo. Imagine that in Upper School that student deepens his grasp of the Mandarin he has been studying since prekindergarten by spending a full semester at Avenues’ campus in Beijing. That amounts to 12-15 months on five different continents before graduation from Upper School. Admissions offices of top colleges and
overseas working at another Avenues campus. Such exposure ensures that each Avenues campus is both infused with faculty from abroad and faculty who have worked abroad. Imagine that a career opportunity requires a family to move from New York to Hong Kong or London for two to four years in order to gain important international experience. Rather than going through the trauma of finding a new school, the children would be automatically admitted to Avenues in the new city—as well as back at Avenues New York upon return. No need to “miss a beat” because the educational design is completely consistent from campus to campus. These are just four aspects of how Avenues: The World School is going to serve students and families in important new ways. This dream begins in Chelsea in fall 2012 and will continue to grow in the decades ahead.
FUTURE AVENUES CITIES
at the Avenues campus in Madrid. She helps to recruit Spanish teachers for Avenues schools all over the world; selects the best Spanish courseware; conducts professional development/training programs for Spanish teachers; and runs the immersion programs in Madrid in which many Avenues students from around the world will participate. Imagine that a student in Middle and Upper School spends (during a portion of several summers) a number of six- to eight-week periods
universities appreciate high school students who have real international experience (versus tourism with an educational label, typically in Western Europe). Although Avenues will not require such foreign study, the hundreds of parents and students with whom Avenues’ leaders have spoken have consistently seen great potential value in such a program. Imagine that Avenues encourages all teachers to spend a year
Once its flagship campus in New York City is completed, over the next decade or so Avenues plans to build campuses in 20 or more of the world’s leading cities. Avenues expects to be in all or most of the following: Africa - Johannesburg China - Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing Europe - London, Paris, Moscow, Madrid, Milan, Frankfurt India - Delhi, Mumbai Latin and Central America - São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Mexico City Middle East - Abu Dhabi, Doha Pacific Rim - Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Sydney United States - New York, Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco
Black Business News International Edition -26- Winter 2013
www.avenues.org
Ethiopian Children Teach Themselves using only Tablet Computers By Sarah Korones
I
n an effort to educate the world’s children using today’s technology, the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organization (http:// one.laptop.org) has embarked on a bold experiment in two Ethiopian villages. The non-profit group simply dropped off some Motorola Xoom tablet computers with the children and left them to their own, well, devices. The goal was to see if the children, most of whom had no previous exposure whatsoever to the written word, could teach themselves how to read only by playing around with the tablet and its preloaded educational apps and games. The results of the non-profit’s experiment were more than encouraging, OLPC’s founder, Nicholas Negroponte told audience mem-
bers at MIT Technology Review’s EmTech conference. “I thought the kids would play with the boxes. Within four minutes, one kid not only opened the box, found the on-off switch…powered it up,” he said. “Within five days, they were using 47 apps per child, per day. Within two weeks, they were singing ABC songs in the village, and within five months, they had hacked Android.” The kids had even customized their tablet desktops so that each one’s looked different, actively working around OLPC software set up to prevent them from doing so. “The fact they worked around it was clearly the kind of creativity, the kind of inquiry, the kind of discovery that we think is essential to learning,” Ed McNierney, OLPC’s chief tech-
SOURCE: Giv en Tablets but No Teach ers, Ethiopian Ch ildren Teach Them selves [MIT Technology Review] (www.technolo gyreview. com/news/50 6466/giventablets-but-no -teachersethiopian-chil dren-teachthemselves) nology officer said. While the group considers their early results promising, Negroponte says they’ll need more time and further experiments to know whether or not children can actually learn this way. www.smartplanet.com/blog/ bulletin/ethiopian-kids-teachthemselves-using-only-tabletcomputers/4611?tag=nl.e660&s_ cid=e660
Black Business News International Edition -27- Winter 2013
Image: One Laptop Per Child
Microsoft Renews Commitment to Education, including Africa
tive to partner with educators and governments to advance student success through digital inclusion and innovative teaching practices. Partners in Learning is a key program within Microsoft YouthSpark (www.microsoft.com/about/ corporatecitizenship/en-us/youthspark), a companywide initiative to create opportunities for 300 million
M
icrosoft recently held its annual Partners in Learning Global Forum with a reaffirmation of its commitment to education with a USD 250 million, five-year renewal of Partners in Learning (PiL), bringing Microsoft’s total investment in the program to USD 750 million over fifteen years. Microsoft aims to grow the PiL community to 20 million of the 75 million teachers worldwide by 2018 with the renewal and to continue preparing students for the changing global workforce. Microsoft plans to expand PiL beyond the 119 countries that currently participate with a continued emphasis on driving community, developing networks and allowing educators to share innovations and learn from each other. “We see a significant opportunity to invest in the economy of tomorrow by working with educators today to teach 21st century skills,” said Laura Ipsen, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Worldwide Public Sector. “Studies have proven the significant impact a good teacher has on a student’s ability to gain employment and increase their incomes, which has a real impact on poverty and economic growth. Our focus on PiL is the cornerstone of Microsoft’s commitment to empower youth, spark innovation in the classroom and improve learning outcomes globally.” “A strong education rooted in the skills and technology tools needed
South African Charli Wiggill’s exhibit at the Partners in Learning summit (image: Charlie Fripp) to enter the rapidly changing global workforce can lay a foundation for improving global economic outcomes,” said DG Godelieve van den Brande, of the European Commission of Education and Culture. Microsoft’s commitment to education centres on providing training, resources and building community to support the teaching of 21st century skills to prepare today’s youth for the competitive global workforce. Research shows a strong connection between education and economic growth, and Partners in Learning is Microsoft’s global initia-
youth around the world, by connecting them with greater opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship. Through the PiL program, Microsoft has trained more than 11 million teachers and reached over 200 million students since 2003. “Transformation in educational practice is one of the most difficult things for schools and educators to achieve,” said Jeff Davis, Executive Principal, Varsity College, Queensland, Australia. “Everyone talks of 21st century
Black Business News International Edition -28- Winter 2013
see Microsoft in Africa on page 29
Microsoft in Africa
a measurable impact, and from page 28 some of the most innovalearning, but few have bridged the tive ideas we gap from theory into true innovative have seen practice where students are actually have come using the technologies available on from Afria daily basis and pedagogy shifts to ca,” Lauren a new domain. Microsoft’s Partners W o o d m a n , in Learning program stands apart. Microsoft’s General Manager for Not only does this program sup- Worldwide Education and Govport schools and educators in mak- ernment Programs confirmed. ing great leaps in bridging both the A number of African projects have technical and pedagogical gaps, won various prizes at previous but the PiL program brings together Partners In Learning events and a those who have made this trans- signficant amount are expected to formation leap and builds in them be strong contenders this year’s further capacity to become world conference. leaders. Without the support of PiL, In order to win a prize, individuals the innovation, collaboration and have to prove that their use of techachievement levels at this school nology is sustainable and will benwould not have been realised as efit communities through education – and Africa is not short on ideas. “We have seen both ends of the spectrum in Africa. We started to do a lot of work with the British Counsel in Africa, and it has been hugely impactful. It is partnerships like those that will help to have impact in the Microsoft YouthSpark Imagine Cup contestants. Register local communities. your team for Imagine Cup 2013 at www.imaginecup.com/ In Africa we have to IC13/Competition/Innovation re-think how we do things, but digital they are now. We thank Microsoft hubs that combine in-school trainfor their support and belief in our ing is already available.” school.” Woodman said that just one of the many things that Microsoft is Africa Oriented Programs In terms of Africa, Microsoft has doing in Africa is to provide local already hosted a global forum in language support for their various Cape Town, which covered a num- PC programmes that are available ber of local schools within various throughout the continent – such as programmes. “The opportunities in MS Word and Excel. Microsoft recently released a Africa are huge. With all the work we Swahili language pack for Word, are doing in Africa, there are huge and more are sure to follow. opportunities for technology to have
“By having local language programs, it allows us to create a localised experience, and we have done so with dozens of languages in Africa. In that sense we have done tremendous work in Africa, which means that a student doesn’t have to learn French or English to use our products and apps. When you have a localised language pack, the user interface is easier to access for local users.” Part of their motivation for providing local language support was that users should not have to struggle with the menus or commands, while making the user interface easy while reflexing the local culture – Microsoft has even released some development tools in local languages so that programmers can create software in their chosen language. Those, and the Partners in Learning programmes are strong indicators that we are moving the right direction. While we have been doing this for many years (this is the eighth Partners In Learning summit) Microsoft is on the cusp of truly seeing the impact we have had.” As Woodman pointed out, change does not happen overnight. “It takes years for change to be measured. There are lots of things that effect student outcomes, but we have identified things that we need to tackle – and have to examine if we are making investments in the right places.” www.itnewsafrica.com/2012/11/ microsoft-renews-commitment-toeducation-including-africa
Black Business News International Edition -29- Winter 2013
Research: Education Could Use More ‘Connected Learning‛ By Dian Schaffhauser
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he possibilities inherent in digital learning won’t in and of themselves flatten the global playing field for students, according to new research, unless we first give attention to the idea of creating “connected learning environments.” These are learning environments in which everyone can participate, learning happens by doing, cultivation of interests is paramount, and everything is interconnected. What gets in the way is a down economy with a struggling labor market, a growing gap in access to educational opportunities based on how much a family is able to spend on its children for “out-ofschool enrichment activities,” and the impact that a rapidly evolving and highly commercialized media separated from academic purpose is having on young people.
A group of American and British researchers have put together a report that advocates for a design for learning that is “peer supported,” “interest-powered,” and “academically oriented.” The point is to help young people link personal interests, often pursued online, to aca-
demic and career endeavors and civic engagement with the help of friends and “caring” adults. “Connected Learning: An Agenda for Research and Design,” (http:// dmlhub.net/sites/ default/files/ConnectedLearning_report.pdf) published by the Connected Learning Research Network (http://clrn.dmlhub.net), is designed to give educators, policy makers, parents, and others a framework for rethinking how education might be molded to connect individual interests with academic and work achievement in order to help young people overcome adversity and attain the kind of recognition that can make a difference in their lives. Among the recommendations offered by the report’s authors: “Close the gap between the no-frills learning that too often happens in-school and the interactive, hands-on learning that usually takes place out of school. Take advantage of the Internet’s ability to help youth develop knowledge, expertise, skills and important new literacies. [And] use digital
technology to combat the increasing reality of the haves and havenots in education.”
The stakes are high, suggested Mimi Ito, chair of the Research Network and a professor in residence at the University of California, Irvine. “Without a proactive educational reform agenda that begins with questions of equity, leverages both in-school and out-of-school learning, and embraces the opportunities new media offers for learning, we risk a growth in educational alienation among our most vulnerable populations.” Although new media offers “tremendous potential” for advancing learning, she added, “Right now, it’s only the most activated and wellsupported learners who are using connected learning to boost their learning and opportunity.” What does connected learning look like? As an example, the report offers the story of “Clarissa,” a 17-year-old who grew up in a “work-
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see Connected Learning on page 31
Connected Learning from page 30
ing class” suburb of San Francisco. Along with a couple of friends, she was heavily involved in an online role playing Web site, Faraway Lands, where she spent a lot of time developing lengthy written descrip-
tions of characters, including their history and location. “It’s something I can do in my spare time, be creative and write and not have to be graded,” because, “you know how in school you’re creative, but you’re doing it for a grade so it doesn’t really count?” Clarissa told her researcher. Encouraged by peers on the site, the teenager converted some of the results of her writing into a screenplay for a school assignment and then used samples from her work as part of college applications. She ended up being accepted to two private colleges, one in Boston and the other in Orange,
CA. Other examples profile: • A self-employed Web comics artist who found his passion online and taught himself how to create his own comics through a variety of online tutorials, reporting that he learned “few of his current skills in the formal educational context”; • A Manhattan public school that dedicates two weeks at the end of each trimester to putting student teams in charge of learning activities, which may include building Rube Goldberg machines, writing and performing short plays, putting on outdoor games, and building sculptures from recycled materials; and • A sixth grade fan of online video game Minecraft, who was encouraged by teachers to help set up a school Minecraft club and do creative writing in class about it. In most of the profiles, the young people have cobbled together a learning environment that combines their online interests with peer feedback and academic activities. The report’s authors state that the design of connected learning environments follows three principles: They’re production-centered with access to digital tools for produc-
ing and creating content in a myriad of ways; they have a “shared purpose,” that brings together people of all ages and cultures around “common goals and interests”; and they’re “openly networked,” using online platforms and digital tools to make learning resources available to everybody. “Connected learning is about progress and it’s about something everyone in education agrees is urgent and important--the unprecedented opportunity we’re seeing to rethink an approach to education where all young people can realize their learning potential and their right to thrive,” said Connie Yowell, director of education at the MacArthur Foundation (www.macfound. org), which supports the Research Network. “In today’s networked world that is so rich in social connection, we have been handed the ability to suddenly be able to make hands-on, real-world, inquiry-based learning far more accessible. It’s not a question of how we can achieve this--we have that in our sights now--it’s a question of will.” http://campustechnology.com/ articles/2013/01/17/researcheducation-could-use-moreconnected-learning.aspx?=CTCC
A f r i c a n L i b e r a t i o n D a y, M a y 2 5 , 2 0 1 3 M a n d e l a D a y, J u l y 1 8 , 2 0 1 3 Wo r l d A i d s D a y, December 1 , 2013 A U D e c a d e o f t h e A f r i c a n Wo m a n 2010-2020 Decade of the African Diaspora 2010-2020
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First Person: Mo Ibrahim “I Built Celtel when no Investor Believed Africa was a Lucrative Place for Telecoms” Mo Ibrahim is the chairman of Satya Capital and of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which focuses on the governance of African countries.
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s a native of Sudan who has spent most of my adult life in the West, I’ve always been aware of how ignorant Westerners can be about Africa. But every so often someone says something that manages to surprise me. One such conversation took place in 1998. I was running MSI, a software and consulting company in the UK, and I regularly worked with the world’s biggest telecom companies. To me it was obvious that huge opportunities existed for those companies to develop mobile communications in Africa. One day I pulled aside a senior telecom executive and urged him to apply for a licence in Uganda, which was seeking assistance. He said, “Mo, I thought you were smarter than that! You want me to go to my board and say I want
to start a business in a country run by this crazy guy Idi Amin?” I was stunned. I said, “Idi Amin left Uganda years ago!”
No expert I didn’t consider myself an expert at sizing up business opportunities. I’d spent my adult life first as an academic, then as the Technical Director for British Telecom’s early foray into cellular communications, and ultimately running my own consulting company. But even I could see that developing mobile communications in sub-Saharan Africa was an opportunity too big to pass up. Africa had no fixed-line phone networks, so mobile phones would face no competition. To me it was obvious that cellphones would be a huge success. My clients refused to see it that
way: Africa was too risky. So I decided I had to do it. I had no experience building this kind of company on my own. I knew I’d face hurdles Celtel started out in 1998 with just five employees. Although the consulting firm provided our initial investment, I spent a significant amount of time raising capital: $16 million in the first year, to acquire licences and begin building infrastructure, and ultimately more than $415 million during our first five years. The first challenge was to establish our credibility. We had to convince the regulators and telecom ministries that we could deliver. Fortunately, we had virtually no competitors, and I had managed
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see Mo Ibrahim on page 33
Mo Ibrahim to recruit an experienced board, which included Salim Ahmed Salim, a former Prime Minister of Tanzania. One reason major telecom players were afraid of Africa was its reputation for corruption. So we insisted on accepting only licences we had won in an open bidding process. We focused first on a handful of countries that had inexpensive or
up operations offered unique challenges. Doing business in a place like the Democratic Republic of Congo was a nightmare because it had no good roads — and sometimes not even bad roads. There were political challenges. In Sierra Leone we were in a region at war. We had to make it clear that we were a neutral company with no allegiances. When the capital fell to rebels, we had to pull our staff members out of the country. They returned later with UK members of the UN peacekeeping mission, whom we provided with
free network licences available, including Uganda, Malawi, the two Congos, Gabon and Sierra Leone. At first Celtel was a sideline for MSI. But it quickly became apparent that the challenge of building such an ambitious operation was enough to merit my focused attention. So in 2000, I sold MSI to Marconi for more than $900 million, and put all my energy into building a cellular communications company that would defy the naysayers about Africa. Each country where we set
phones and service. Because both sides in the war needed to communicate, no one sabotaged our towers. We always had great relationships with local communities. Because we didn’t deal in bribes, we looked for other ways to help the impoverished areas in which we were setting up operations. We built schools and clinics where we could. We looked after our local employees. We instituted management training and technical training – providing people who’d been denied an education
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with completely new skills.
Finding the money By 2004, we had 5.2 million managed customers and operations in 13 countries, with revenue of $614 million and a $147 million net profit. Celtel was a strong, rapidly growing business. But raising money may have been my biggest challenge. Financial institutions simply didn’t see Africa the way they saw India and other emerging market economies. Around that time we sought a loan. The banks required us to offer the assets of the whole company as security — to obtain just a few million dollars at draconian rates and terms. We eventually accepted the terms because we needed the loan, but clearly we had to find a better long-term source of capital. We decided to do an initial public offering on a reputable stock exchange, such as London’s. When word got out, we received unsolicited offers to buy the whole company. We sold Celtel for $3.4 billion to the Kuwait-based Mobile Telecommunications Company (now Zain). At the time of the sale, Celtel was operating in 13 African countries under licences that covered more than a third of the continent’s population. We’d invested more than $750 million in Africa and helped to bring the benefits of mobile communications to millions of its people. Every now and then I think, “Wow, it was wonderful, and now it’s over.” But I’m ok with that.
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www.moibrahimfoundation.org
Mo Ibrahim Foundation Awards: Archbishop Tutu Wins $1m for ‘Speaking Truth’ Anti-apartheid hero is awarded cash prize for being strong “voice for justice and freedom”.
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he London-based Mo Ibrahim Foundation announced the one-off award, saying Tutu “is and has throughout his life been one of Africa’s great voices for justice, freedom, democracy and responsible, responsive government”. A Nobel peace laureate, Tutu was an anti-apartheid leader during
the most desperate years of the struggle against racist rule and has continued to be outspoken on world events. He has been particularly critical of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and China’s treatment of Tibetans. The foundation, founded by Sudanese-born Mo Ibrahim, also gives an annual $5m prize for good
governance in Africa, awarded to a former head of state. Recent recipients of the award include former presidents Festus Mogae (Republic of Botswana), Joachim Chissano (Republic of Mozambique) and Pedro Verona (Republic of Cape Verde).
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www.aljazeera.com/category/ person/mo-ibrahim
Solution Through a single relationship and low-cost integration, FiftyOne helps merchants sell to and engage with more than 1.5 billion online consumers around the world. The FiftyOne Global Ecommerce solution is the only third-party-managed service that extends a retailer’s ecommerce platform globally without adding infrastructure or introducing change to their existing business operations. By effectively snapping international lenses on a retailer’s website, FiftyOne allows international shoppers to interact with a merchant’s brand while enjoying the same online experience enjoyed by U.S. consumers. From optimizing and localizing your website for international shoppers, to handling every single aspect of the cross-border import and logistics challenge – our end-to-end solution enables you to transact effortlessly across borders in every corner of the globe. Your international shoppers get a first-class customer experience and can buy with the same confidence and certainty they would if your retail operation was just across town. As the most comprehensive global ecommerce offering available in the marketplace, FiftyOne is the partner of choice for many of the leading U.S. retail brands.
Expore the FiftyOne Solution: www.fiftyone.com
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African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS) Conference 2012 frican leaders and scholars from 29 countries from Africa, Australia, Europe, United States of America, India and Africans in the Diaspora gathered in Addis Ababa from November 19 to 22 to deliberate on emerging paradigms,
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transformative reforms in its Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) knowledge structures, institutions and governance structures, Agricultural and resources systems research and policy, intra-Africa cooperation,
technologies and innovations for sustainable development in a post Rio+20 world. Organized every year by ATPS (www.atpsnet.org) in collaboration with its partners, the conference was hosted at the new Africa Union Commission under the theme “Emerging Paradigms, Technologies and Innovations for Sustainable Development: Global Imperatives and African realities”. The conference and workshops reflected on a post-Rio+20 futures for Africa. The optimism that the Rio+20 conference outcomes was expected to deliver greater global commitment to sustainable development and encourage countries of the global north to step up development assistance to African countries was well placed. To make good use of the global commitments to sustainable development in Africa, African countries will need strategic
knowledge circulation and networks and development pathways that enhance transitions towards wealth creation for inclusive green growth and development on the continent. “Without aggressive policies and commitment to build endogenous capacities on the continent, Africa will remain a knowledge consumer not a knowledge producer in the third industrial revolution,” said Prof. Kevin Urama, the Executive Director of the ATPS. Though Africa’s scientific capacities and Gross Domestic Products (GDP) growth have improved during the past decade, technological and innovation capacities remain low and the requisite institutional and governance infrastructures are only just emerging. “Whereas there are pockets of success in application of STI including the mobile telephony and telecommunications, among other fields, which significantly contributed
to the sustained economic growth in the continent during the past decade, the continent generally lags behind her peers in skills and competencies required to fully reap the benefits afforded by STI for its development,” he said. ATPS further maintains that Africa cannot afford to remain recluse of the emerging global realities and social, economic and environmental challenges,neither should she remain a global consumer of knowledge, technologies and innovations in the new global economy. “There is need for Africa to
build home-grown technologies and innovations for sustainable development on the continent,” said Prof. Shaukat Abdulrazak the Chair of the ATPS Board and Chief Executive Officer/Secretary of the Kenya’s National Council for Science and Technology. Africa’s growth if not driven by a diversified production structure essentially in manufacturing that would deliver quality jobs and raise incomes, would remain trepid, fragile and susceptible to negative shocks. “Unfortunately, Africa’s initial attempts were not very successful. Rather than re-strategize, Africa and those advising Africa abandoned this strategy completely in spite of its being responsible for the basic industrial structure that currently exist,” said Prof. Osita Ogbu, the director of the Institute for Development Studies based at the University of Nigeria.
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www.facebook.com/atpsnet
On the Implementation of the dotAFRICA (.AFRICA) Top Level Domain (TLD)
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he African Union Conference (AUC) wishes to provide the following clarity to all stakeholders in Africa and internationally: 1. In view of the needs expressed by the African community at large, and in order to fast track the launch and operation of the dotAFRICA (.AFRICA) TLD, the Extraordinary Session of the African Union Conference of Ministers in charge of Communications and Information Technologies (CITMC) held in Johannesburg
acknowledged the benefits of the dotAFRICA (.AFRICA) domain name to Africa and called for: “Establishment of dot Africa as a continental Top-Level Domain for use by organizations, businesses and individuals with guidance from African Internet agencies.” 2. Following the endorsement of the outcomes of the above extraordinary conference by the Heads of States and Governments Summit in January 2010, the Ministers of the African Union in charge of Communication
and Information Technologies who met at the Third Ordinary Session of the African Union Conference in Abuja (The Abuja Declaration), requested the AUC to: “Set up the structure and modalities for the Implementation of the dotAFRICA project.” 3. In fulfilling its mandate from African governments the AUC has, in accordance with an open and transparent Request for Proposal (RFP) process, officially endorsed UniForum SA t/a the ZA Central Registry (ZACR) to apply for and launch the dotAFRICA (.AFRICA) TLD.
THE OFFICIALLY ENDORSED APPLICATION: 4. The UniForum/ZACR, in accordance with the procedures and standards prescribed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers see dotAFRICA on page 39
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dotAFRICA from page 38
(ICANN), has officially lodged an application for the delegation of the dotAFRICA (.AFRICA) geographic Top Level Domain, under reference number: 1-1243-89583. This application constitutes the official AUC endorsed application for the dotAFRICA (.AFRICA) Top Level
Domain. Further details of this official application is available at: http:// gtldresult.icann.org/applicationresult/applicationstatus/ applicationdetails/1184 5. The application submitted by the UniForum/ZACR, meets or exceeds, the minimum evaluation criteria set by ICANN and will result in the successful delegation of the dotAFRICA (.AFRICA) geographic TLD (gTLD). 6. Furthermore, UniForum/ ZACR’s application, as endorsed by the AUC, is correctly designated as a geographic application in accordance with the criteria and processes outlined by ICANN in the Applicant Guidebook. In particular: Africa (and therefore .Africa) is a clearly designated geographic area as defined in the UNESCO “Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings” list. Therefore the designation of the official dotAFRICA (.AFRICA) TLD
string application, as a geographic . dotAFRICA (.AFRICA) Foundation name, is technically and procedurally is set up to ensure that dotAFRICA correct. The “geographic evaluation (.AFRICA) is run in a manner that process” that this application is supports the development of the subject to provides sufficient checks African domain name community. information about the and balances for the protection More of interests and rights of African Steercom and about the progress governments and the Pan-African of the AUC endorsed dotAFRICA (.AFRICA) project is available at community. 7. The AUC endorsed dotAFRICA http://africainonespace.org. 10. To emphasize their (.AFRICA) application has been, and continues to commitment to the AUC-endorsed be, a collaborative Pan- .Africa application, at least 39 African African initiative involving governments have submitted letters African governments, of support to the UniForum/ZACR ICT stakeholders and the .Africa application. 11. Details about the AUC’s broader African community. In this regard the stated officially endorsed application, mission and objective of the including the .Africa Steercom, can AUC’s officially endorsed be found at: a. www.AfricaInOneSpace.Org application is enshrined in b. Twitter @africandomain the answers to question c.www.facebook.com/ 18 of the Application, and reads as follows: “To establish a africandomain d.www.youtube.com/user/ world class domain name registry operation for the dotAfrica Top Africandomain?feature=watch Level Domain (TLD) by ising engaging and utilising nowAfrican technology, knowhow and funding; for the ans; benefit and pride of Africans; can in partnership with African Statistics in dicate that CT governments and other ICT of the more tha stakeholder groups”. n 1000 ICAN Nere 8. In addition, to adhere accredited R e g istrars only to the spirit of inclusivity of 5 (five) are b rs, African ICT stakeholders, ased in Afric a. nd community and The growth an d d e v elopment R governments, the ZACR of a com g has set up a Steering petitive an d competent R m) Committee (Steercom) e g is tr a r market C, comprising of the AUC, in Africa will directly bene p African country code Top fit African ccT Level Domains (ccTLDs),, L D s , promote African ICANN-enterprise de velopment an accredited registrars, d increase th ICT regulators, UNECA e accessibil ity and civil society. to basic Inte r n et resources 9. The Steercom is and infrastr responsible for driving ucture to th e the ICANN application public. process, and for ensuring that a suitable
THE DEVELO PMENT OF AFRICAN RE GISTRARS
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Domain Names
World Internet Stats: Websites, Email, Social Media, and More by Lenna Garibian
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n 2012, roughly 2.4 billion people worldwide used the Web, recording some 2.7 billion Facebook likes and 175 million tweets per day, according to a report by Pingdom (http://royal.pingdom. com/2013/01/16/internet-2012-innumbers), which compiled a year of data on the Internet, email, and social media. Some key worldwide findings for 2012: • 144 billion emails were sent per day during the year, of which 68.8% were spam. • 43% of the top 1 million websites were hosted in the US. • 48% of the top 100 blogs were published via WordPress. • The market share of GoDaddy. com, the biggest domain name registrar in the world was 32.4%. • 4 billion hours of video was viewed via YouTube each month. • 7 PBs (petabytes, or 10 to the 15th power) of photo content was added to Facebook every month.
Below, additional finding form Pingdom’s report, based on data from a wide range of sources, including Internet World Stats, StatCounter, Verisign, Facebook, and Twitter.
Internet Users by Region As of June 30, 2012, Asia accounted for the plurality (44.8%) of the world’s Internet population; Europe followed with 21.6% and North America with 11.4%.
The populations of Internet users across the world (amounting to 2.4 billion users) were as follows: • Asia: 1.1 billion Internet users • Europe: 519 million • North America: 274 million • Latin America / Caribbean: 255 million • Africa: 167 million • Middle East: 90 million • Oceania/Australia: 24.3 million
Below, are stats on Web domains as of December 2012, from Verisign: • Number of domain name registrations across all top-level domains: 246 million • Number of country code toplevel domain name registrations: 104.9 million • Number of .com domain names: 100 million • Number of .net domain names: 14.1 million • Number of .org domain names: 9.7 million • Number of .info domain names: 6.7 million • Number of .biz domain names: 2.2 million
Websites The report also compiled website
C h i n a had 565 million Internet users— more than any other country in the world. China’s Internet penetration (among its total population) w a s roughly 42% in mid2012.
W o r l d Internet Penetration The penetration of Internet users among a population tells a slightly different story than user counts. North America had the highest Internet penetration as of June, at 78.6%, followed by Oceana/ Australia (67.6%) and Europe (63.2%).
stats from various data providers: • Total number of websites as of December: 634 million • Number of websites added in 2012: 52 million • Share of the top 1 million websites hosted in the US: 43% • Share of the top 100 blogs powered by WordPress: 48% see World Internet Stats on page 41
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World Internet Stats from page 40
• Share of the top 10,000 websites served by open source software: 75% • Total number of Tumblr blogs: 87.8 million • Total number of Wordpress
blogs: 60.7 million
Email Email findings for the full year of 2012 were provided by the Radicati Group (www.radicati.com/wp/wpcontent/uploads/2012/10/EmailMarket-2012-2016-ExecutiveSummary.pdf), a tech market research firm: • Number of email users worldwide: 2.2 billion • Total email traffic per day worldwide: 144 billion messages • Number of email clients worldwide: 4.3 billion Other email stats, from various
sources: • Number of active Gmail users globally, making it the leading email provider worldwide: 425 million. • Usage share of iOS, the most popular email client: 35.6%
Social Media The report also compiled user
stats and engagement metrics for Facebook and Twitter in 2012, from various sources. Facebook stats: • Number of monthly posts by Facebook Pages in Brazil, making it the most active country on Facebook: 85,962 • Number of monthly active users on Facebook, surpassed in October: 1 billion • Percentage of Facebook users who are woman: 47% • Average age of a Facebook user: 40.5 • Number of likes posted on Facebook every day: 2.7 billion
• Share of the top 10,000 websites integrated with Facebook: 24.3% Twitter stats: • Monthly active users on Twitter, surpassed in December: 200 million • Average number of tweets sent every day during 2012: 175 million • Average age of a Twitter user: 37.3 • Average number of total tweets per user: 307 • Average number of followers per Twitter user: 51 • Number of heads of state with a Twtter account: 123 • Number of retweets of Barack Obama’s tweet:”Four more years,” the most retweets ever: 819,000+ • Number of tweets during the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics: 9.66 million Other social media stats: • Number of members on LinkedIn (as of September): 187 million • Average age of a LinkedIn user: 44.2 • Number of monthly active users on Google+: 135 million • How many times per day the +1 button on Google+ is used: 5 billion Read the full post for other data on Web browsers, search, mobile technology, video, and image content. www.marketingprofs.com/ charts/2013/10002/world-internetstats-websites-email-social-mediaand-more#ixzz2JwfxptJI
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The World’s Cheapest Tablet,
Improved! By Betwa Sharma for SmartPlanet
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n 2012, SmartPlanet reported on a series of inexpensive tablets from India especially the $41 one called Aakash, which was launched by the Indian government. Datawind Inc., a Montrealbased tech company, made the tablet in response to the Indian government’s challenge to create the world’s cheapest tablet. Aakash received bad reviews. Critics said it had poor battery life, an unresponsive screen, absence of useful apps, less storage space and a slow processor. In November 2012, Datawind relaunched its tablet as Aakash 2. The improved tablet is powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich run on 1 GHz processor and 512 MB RAM with 4 GB internal storage and 32 GB microSD support. Its basic features include 7-inch capacitative touch screen, battery life of three hours, 0.3 megapixel front camera and WiFi connectivity. The Indian government will buy about 100,000 units from Datawind for Rs. 2263 ($41) and make it available to students for Rs.1130 ($20). The commercial version of the tablet can be bought online for Rs. 4499 ($81) This time, it was launched not only in India but also unveiled at the United Nations. “India is a critical player on security issues … but you are also a leader on development and technology,” U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
said at the unveiling in November. “Indeed, India is a superpower on the information superhighway.” “We need to do more to help all children and young people make the most of the opportunities provided by information and communications technology – especially all those who are still unconnected from the digital revolution,” he added. SmartPlanet spoke with tech expert Prasanto Roy, editorial adviser at CyberMedia India, on what’s new with the tablet and will it work better. SP: What’s the Indian government’s objective in launching this low cost tablet? PR: To provide a technology platform for education to India’s students, starting with college students. To ultimately provide a tablet computer for every student in India, an estimated 220 million number, in the coming years. This period has been variously quoted as five years, six to seven years, and seven to eight years. SP: The big question - how is Aakash 2 different from the first Aakash? PR: It’s a completely overhauled product. Smaller, slimmer, lighter, smarter design and manufacture, over four-hour battery, much faster processor, twice the memory and flash storage, Android 4.0 instead of Android 2.2/2.3, full access to Google Market…the Android Market app store. SP: Is Aakash 2 only to be
distributed by the government. Has this started? Or can anyone buy it? PR: Yes. Aakash 2 is only distributed by the government. It will only go to specified engineering colleges to start with. What we can buy is the commercial version, the UbiSlate 7Ci. SP: Is the commercial version available in the market? How can one buy it? PR: Yes, the UbiSlate 7Ci is available online at ubislate.com. You can buy with a prepaid order and expect to receive the product in a week or two. SP: What do you make of the United Nations endorsing Aakash 2? PR: This is very significant and very rare. The endorsement has brought the global spotlight onto the Aakash, with a great deal of interest by other member-countries, who are watching the India experiment closely. Datawind can expect a great many orders, beyond the millions it already has, if it can fix its persistent product supply issues. For many countries, this would be the second attempt at a low-cost information device for students, after the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) laptop.
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www.smartplanet.com/blog/ global-observer/the-worldscheapest-tablet-improved-andreviewed/8612?tag=nl.e662&s_ cid=e662 Photo - Datawind website
Kenya’s Konza Technology City Launched By Gabriella Mulligan
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enya’s President Mwai Kibaki launched the Konza Technology City (www. konzacity.co.ke) in a groundbreaking ceremony on January 23, 2013. With the launch event completed, the first phase of construction works can begin on site of Africa’s silicon savannah, including infrastructural development of roads, power and water sources, and a sewage treatment plant; while the laying of foundations for buildings to be located in the city can commence. “Some of the investors who have expressed interest in the project and are expected to begin works on the ground include, local hospitals, international and local universities both public and private, innovation centres,” revealed Gwantai Kirimi of the Ministry of Information and Communications at an investors
meeting recently. To date, 18 local and international companies have committed to launching operations at the Konza site – located near Machakos to the southeast of Nairobi, the full list to be revealed soon. The government has put in place a number of incentives intended to attract investors to the largescale technology centrum – which is set to cost up to 850 billion Kenyan Shillings ($9.7 billion) to complete, including creating a special economic zone providing tax exemptions. The ground-breaking event has seen substantial delays, originally having been planned for April of last year; but was postponed due
project and the registration of the project’s Development Authority was protracted – giving rise to popular doubts as to the viability of the whole project. “We are excited to finally launch this development, though it has come later than we initially expected. This will remove doubts among sceptics who thought Konza was a white elephant. Watch this space in the next five years,” commented Bitange Ndemo, Information and Communications Permanent Secretary, reports Business Daily. View a Konza City Plan video at: www.biztechafrica.com/videos/
to the need to re-plan areas of the konza-city-plan/56 for an indepth park’s layout. Delays were also overview of the project. felt as the legal approval of the www.ventures-africa.com/2013/01/
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kenyas-konza-technology-citylaunched
African Risk Capacity (ARC), new Agency of the African Union
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he African Risk Capacity, ARC, is a Specialized Agency of the African Union designed to improve current responses to drought food security emergencies and to build capacity within AU member states to manage drought risks. As an African-owned, continental index-based weather risk insurance pool and early response mechanism, ARC offers an African solution to one of the continent’s most pressing challenges. By bringing together the concepts of insurance and contingency planning, ARC aims to create a new way of managing weather risk by transferring the burden away from African governments, and their vulnerable populations who depend on government assistance, to international financial markets that can handle the risk much better. The Africa RiskView (ARV) software serves as the technical engine for ARC, and will estimate and trigger quick-disbursing funds to help African countries hit by severe drought implement effective and timely responses to assist those affected. ARV will allow decision makers to monitor and analyze drought-related food security risk before and during an agricultural season, as well as define ARC participation criteria in terms of the size and frequency of ARC payouts. To learn more about the ARV software go to www. africanriskcapacity.org/africa-risk-
view/introduction. As currently structured, the international system for responding to natural disasters is neither as timely nor equitable as it could be. Funding is secured on a largely ad hoc basis after disaster strikes. Only then can relief be mobilized toward the people who need it most. In the meantime, lives are lost, assets are depleted, and development gains suffer major setbacks, forcing more people into chronic destitution and food insecurity in the world’s least economically developed countries. By linking contingency funding to effective response plans, ARC will help African governments reduce negative impacts of droughts on the lives and livelihoods of the vulnerable, while decreasing reliance on external aid. Since 1990, there have been 132 recorded droughts in sub-Saharan Africa, including the most recent events seen in the Horn of Africa, but
because droughts do not happen in the same year in all parts of the continent, pan-African solidarity in the creation of a disaster risk pool like ARC is financially effective. Pooling risk across the continent could save countries up to 50% in costs related to emergency contingency funds making ARC an attractive financing mechanism in support of African food security. ARC is currently being designed to cover risks related to severe droughts, though coverage for other risks, such as flood, is planned for the future. The ARC design phase is managed by the United Nations World Food Programme on behalf of the African Union. Ms. Ertharin Cousin is Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (www.wfp.org/about/ corporate-information/executivedirector/biography).
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www.africanriskcapacity.org
In Doha, Developing Nations Demand Help to Fight Climate Change By Betwa Sharma
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t the United Nations climate change talks in Doha, Qatar, developing countries demanded that the developed world raise money from 2013 to 2015 to help them combat the consequences of climate change through 2020. The annual U.N. talks from Nov 26 to Dec 8, attended by 194 nations, ended with no such pledge. Instead, the discussion on “mid-term� finance was pushed to next year.
A handful of European nations made individual commitments. United Kingdom and Germany, for instance, announced climate finance assistance of over $2 billion each. But activists noted that individual pledges outside the U.N. process were not a substitute for a collective agreement. Climate change funds presently fall into two categories. Fast-start finance comprises of $30 billion from 2010 and 2012. Developed countries say that they exceeded
this target by almost $3 million. Developing countries, however, accuse developed countries of rebranding official development aid as climate money. Under long-term finance, developed countries have agreed to raise $100 billion annually to be used after 2020. At Doha, developing countries expressed concern about the gap in funds from 2013 to 2020 since faststart finance ends this year. They
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see Climate Change on page 46
Climate Change from page 45
asked rich countries for a “midterm” pledge of $60 billion for this period to be raised by 2015. The talks in Doha, however, ended without a road-map to raise money. Jonathan Pershing, a senior negotiator from the United States, only said that finance after 2012 “will not fall off a cliff.” Developing countries want this money to cope with climate changeinduced problems like droughts, floods, pest attacks as well as extreme weather events that cause massive displacement of people and loss of property. Tim Gore, a climate finance expert from the United Kingdombased Oxfam, warned of a “looming climate fiscal cliff.” The developed world’s reluctance to adopt a mid-term funding plan is seen as a combination of budgetary constraints and lack of political will. Analysts also point out that negotiators from developing countries don’t have a bargaining chip that could compel developed countries into giving them money. During the climate talks, developing countries also asked developed countries to show higher ambition in their carbon dioxide emission cuts. The climate talks ended with a low carbon reduction commitments. Only a handful of countries and the European Union, representing 15 percent of the world’s emissions, signed up to a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, the only legally binding treaty on climate change. They set an overall target of reducing carbon emissions by 18 percent from 1990 levels by 2020. Developed countries like Russia, Japan, Canada and New Zealand, which believe that emerging economies like China
and India should also reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, have not taken emission cuts under the Kyoto Protocol. The United States, not a party to the treaty, has not increased its current ambition level of reducing its carbon dioxide emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levelsapproximately four percent from 1990 levels. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel, a scientific body, has noted that emissions cuts of 25 to 40 percent from 1990 levels are needed to limit the global average temperature rise to two degrees Celsius. The decision in Doha includes a provision for developed countries to increase their emission-reduction targets by 2014 to match these higher estimates. Global warming is being linked to the increasing intensity of extreme weather events around the world – most lately Hurricane Sandy in the United States that left over 100 people dead in the northeast region and caused damages of $ 50 billion. During the talks in Doha, Philippines was hit by Typhoon Bopha, which has killed more than 700 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. “We refuse to make this a way of life,” said Nadarev “Yeb” Sano, the Philippines head of delegation said at the conference while emotionally appealing for action. Negotiators also agreed to begin work on a new climate agreement from next year. The drafting of this treaty, which will apply to all countries, is to be completed by 2015 and adopted by 2020. Obligations under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol only applied to developed countries. Financial needs of poor nations give developed countries leverage in the talks. Some observers see the delay in giving money as a
tactic by developed countries to secure more commitments from developing countries for the new climate treaty being drafted over the next three years. In view of the China and India’s growth trajectories, questions are often raised at climate conferences about whether large emerging economies need aid from developed countries. Both countries did not take money from the fast-start fund of $30 billion. Still, India’s economic progress is not clubbed together with China’s growth.“India is a different country with millions of people living in desperate poverty,” said Gore from Oxfam. “It needs international assistance for low carbon development and adaptation.” Speaking at the conference, United Nations chief Ban Kimoon placed the financial burden of climate change on developed nations. “Developed countries must give their clear indications that scaled-up climate financing will flow after 2012, and that it will be commensurate to the goal of mobilizing $100 billion dollars a year by 2020 from public and private funding,” he said. www.smartplanet.com/blog/globalobserver/in-doha-developingnations-demand-help-to-fightclimate-change/8367?tag=nl. e660&s_cid=e660
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High-voltage DC transmission lines carry electricity from China’s massive Three Gorges dam, the largest power plant in the world. Advocates of HVDC think it has an even greater role to play in bringing renewable energy to the grid. Photograph by Zheng Jiayu, Xinhua Press/Corbis
Breakthrough Could Carry Solar, Wind Power Long Distances By Laura Shin
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lthough carbon emissions are mucking up the climate, switching over to renewable energy isn’t that easy. For one, many places that are good for making renewable energy — windy plains or sunny deserts — aren’t necessarily near big cities, where the energy is needed. And what happens when you try to transport energy hundreds of miles from the energy source to the big city? It loses some of its power. At least today’s dominant form of power, alternating current (AC), does. But Thomas Edison championed direct current (DC), and it looks like he might be vindicated. Up till now, DC was not used on large power grids because of the energy it loses when carried over long distances and for fear it would be prone to catastrophic breakdowns. But a new type
of power, high-voltage DC, or HVDC, could carry power long distances with minimal loss — and a new device called a hybrid HVDC breaker would help prevent those huge breakdowns. Developed by Swiss power technology company ABB, the breaker has only been tested in the lab, but ABB claims the hybrid HVDC breaker (www. abb-conversations.com/2012/11/abbachieves-another-milestone-in-electricalengineering) will make possible
“the grid of the future,” which National Geographic News (http:// news.nationalgeographic.com/news/ energy/2012/12/121206-high-voltagedc-breakthrough) describes as “a
massive, super-efficient network for distributing electricity that would interconnect not just nations but multiple continents.”
Hybrid HVDC Breaker The thing about HVDC, or any direct current for that matter, is that, unlike AC, it’s always on. That makes it much trickier to regulate. “When you have a large grid and you have a lightning strike at one location, you need to be able to disconnect that section quickly and isolate the problem, or else bad things can happen to the rest of the grid,” such as a catastrophic blackout, ABB chief technology officer Prith Banerjee told National Geographic News. “But if you can
disconnect quickly, the rest of the grid can go on working while you fix the problem.” This new breaker can redirect and shut down a current using a series of both mechanical and electronic circuit-breaking devices. And it can do that with surges equivalent to what a one gigawatt power plant (big enough to serve one million U.S. homes) might generate — all in less time than the blink of an eye.
What the grid could look like The amount of energy that renewables can now provide is a fraction of what we need because the place where the energy is generated is so far from where the energy is needed. But Narain Hingorani, a fellow with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers who researches powertransmission, says that hybrid HVDC breakers could help us capitalize on renewable energy. “HVDC cables could be laid along the ocean floor to transmit electricity from floating wind farms that are dozens of miles offshore, far out of sight of coastal residents. HVDC lines equipped with hybrid breakers also would be much cheaper to bury than AC, because they require less insulation”.
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www.smartplanet.com/blog/bulletin/ breakthrough-could-carry-solar-windpower-long-distances/7755?tag=nl. e660&s_cid=e660
New U.S. Embassy Buildings to Open in Cotonou, Benin and Mbabane, Swaziland Both sites to open in 2015
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THE U.S. DE PARTMENT OF STATE (DOS), Burea u of Oversea s Buildings Operations (O BO) is reques ting submissions to pre-qualify firms for Professional A rchitect and E ngineering Services for B uilding Contro l Systems (BCS); Buildin g Automation Systems (BAS, Electric al Power Mon itoring Systems (PM S) and Mecha nical/ Electrical Life Safety System s (MELS) world/wide fo r OBO DOS D iplomatic Facilities. www.state.g ov/obo
he Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) announces the $109 million design/build contract, awarded through best value determination, for the new U.S. Embassy in Mbabane, Swaziland to B.L. Harbert, International LLC of Birmingham, Alabama. The multi-building complex, located in the Ezulwini Township, will include a new chancery support facilities, and access controls. The project is scheduled for completion in June 2015. The concept design architect is Karn Charuhas Chapman & Twohey (KCCT) of Washington, D.C. and the architect of record is Page Southerland Page of Arlington, Virginia. The new facility is pursuing certification in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®), and will include numerous sustainable features, including photovoltaics, lightemitting diode (LED) lighting, rainwater harvesting, wastewater reuse for irrigation, and solar hot water heating.
Cotonou, Benin to B.L. Harbert International, LLC of Birmingham, Alabama. The multi-building complex, located in downtown Cotonou, will consist of a new office building, utility building, support annex, and warehouse. The project, scheduled for completion in July 2015, will provide a stateof-the-art workspace for over 170 embassy employees. The concept design architect is Yost, Grube, Hall of Portland, Oregon and the architect of record is Page Southerland Page of Arlington, Virginia. The new facility will incorporate numerous sustainable features, most notably a veiling sunshade that provides enhanced mitigation against solar heat gain. The facility also features a photovoltaic array, occupancy sensors, low-flow water fixtures, solar thermal hot water, rainwater collection, daylight harvesting, and reuse of waste water effluent for irrigation.
Cotonou, Benin
Other Africa Building Projects
The Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) announces the $126 million design/build contract, awarded through best value determination, for the new U.S. Embassy in
The OBO has building programs in progress in Africa including sites in Abuja, Nigeria; Bujumbura, Burudi; Dakar, Senegal; Djibouti, Djibouti; Libreville, Gabon; and Monrovia, Liberia.
OBO P Program Since 1999, Department’s Construction has completed
as part of the Capital Security Program, OBO 95 new diplomatic
Djibouti, Djibouti
facilities and has an additional 39 projects in design or construction. OBO’s mission is to provide safe, secure and functional facilities that represent the U.S. Government to the host nation and support our staff in the achievement of U.S. foreign policy objectives. These facilities should represent American values and the best in American architecture, engineering, technology, sustainability, art, culture, and construction execution. For more information, please visit www.state.gov/obo, or contact Christine Foushee at FousheeCT@ state.gov or (703) 875-4131.
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www.state.gov/obo
Floating Pods to Provide Relief in Urban Slums By Sarah Korones
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lthough e v e r y nation is likely to be affected by a warming planet, it’s the world’s poor that will suffer the most from climate change. Particularly susceptible to rising sea levels are those who live in wet slums, or poor, densely populated areas of a city located near the water. To counter the challenges that those living in these areas face everyday, one architectural studio has come up with a solution: floating city pods. Waterstudio. NL, the world’s leader in floating architecture, has designed m o v e a b l e floating urban structures to provide spaces for food, shelter and sanitation in city slums. Called City Apps, the buoyant pods are designed to satisfy specific urban needs and to fill gaps in the city’s infrastructure. Since the Apps will be moveable, they can be transferred from city to city depending on need.
“City Apps are envisioned as products instead of projects which makes them reusable as they can be easily moved elsewhere once they are not needed,” the firm states on its website. “In this approach, City Apps are leased out to the local community.” The undertaking recently won
the 2012 Architecture & Sea Level Rise Award and the studio is planning to use the prize money to build its first set of Apps in Korail Wet Slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh. www.smartplanet.com/blog/ bulletin/floating-pods-to-providerelief-in-urban-slums/6499?tag=nl. e660&s_cid=e660
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Helping Overseas Attendees Come to the U.S.
How the U.S. is easing entry woes for international visitors by Lisa A. Grimaldi
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rom 2001 through 2010, the United States’ share of longhaul global travelers fell from 17% to 12%, according to the Washington, DC-based U.S. Travel Association. The loss of 78 million potential visitors is not only shocking but far-reaching. “The failure of the United States to simply keep pace with the growth in international long-haul travel cost our economy an estimated $509 billion in total spending and 441,000 American jobs that could have been created or sustained during that time,” says U.S. Travel president and CEO Roger Dow. In addition, he notes, the country forfeited about $32 billion in direct tax receipts. Even more distressing: The downturn occurred at a time when there was a huge upswing in the number -- 46 million -- of worldwide travelers, and the relatively weak U.S. dollar made America a travel bargain. Industry leaders have no difficulty pinpointing reasons for this “lost decade.” They cite the stringent visa policies put into place after 9/11, which greatly increased applicant scrutiny and, ultimately, wait times to up to 150 days; curtailed the country’s visa-waiver agreements with other nations; and fueled perceptions of nightmare lines at airports and gruff treatment by customs, TSA and airport workers. The good news: Over the past two years, U.S. Travel and the
federal government have focused on affecting a sea change in these agencies and crippling policies to recapture, and even surpass, America’s traditional share of these lucrative international visitors, including b u s i n e s s t r a v e l e r s and meeting attendees. “If we want to increase our international visitors by 5% a year through 2021, a goal laid out by President Obama, we have to continue to improve the experience,” stresses Dow. Following is an update on the key concerns for incoming travelers, and what is being done to ease their path.
Speeding Up the Visa Process Visa hassles are the most pressing problem planners and industry leaders cite for losses of international visitors. According to a study by the Dallas-based Center for Exhibition Industry Research, visa issues precluded 116,000 international participants (78,400
attendees and 37,900 exhibitors) from attending U.S. exhibitions in 2010 alone. According to Roger Dow, energy giant Shell stopped holding global senior management meetings in the U.S. altogether because the company’s brief lead times often prevented executives from getting visas in a timely fashion. The dollar loss is particularly significant, as participants from afar tend to spend liberally. Data from a 2011 Oxford Economics research study found that international buyers and attendees spend an average of $13,600 each in the U.S., and spending by international
exhibitors averages $36,100. “There must be more effective ways to ensure that global buyers and sellers have more convenient opportunities to participate in U.S.based exhibitions,” says David DuBois, CMP, who took the reins as president and CEO of the Dallasbased International Association of Exhibitions and Events last
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see International Visitors on page 51
International Visitors from page 50
month. In fact, progress is being made. While wait times for visas for citizens from some countries have been as high as six months, the time it takes to process the documents has been greatly reduced in the past two years, due to changes enacted by the U.S. State Department, which include, according to Dow, “an increase in embassy and consulate hours, more personnel to devote to applications and even more locations where people can apply for visas.” Per a progress report released by the White House this past September, 88% of applicants worldwide now are interviewed within three weeks of submitting their paperwork. And in key markets like China, interview wait times (which take place after initial applications are processed) are being kept down to an average of five days, even though visa demand in China has increased by 37% this year over 2011. Meanwhile, a pilot program that allows consular officers to waive in-person interviews for certain nonimmigrant visa-renewal applicants is now in operation in 52 processing posts in 28 countries. As a result, interviews have been waived for more than 120,000 low-risk visa applicants, including meeting attendees and exhibitors. Another priority for the White House, the State Department and the travel industry is expanding the official Visa Waiver Program, which now enables nationals of 37 participating countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of up to 90 days without obtaining a visa. The most recent country admitted
to the program is Taiwan, effective this month. According to projections by U.S. Travel, the waived visa requirements will result in an estimated 346,000 Taiwanese travelers to the U.S. in 2013, up by 55,500 over 2011 figures, and they will spend some $1.3 billion while here, an increase of $213 million over 2011. Brazil is next up to be considered for the loosened requirements. Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Arlington, VAbased Consumer E l e c t r o n i c Association, which owns and produces the Consumer Electronics Show, is among those who have lobbied the Obama administration on the benefits of adding the South American nation to the visafree ranks. CES, the largest annual international technology show, typically attracts 150,000 participants from 150 countries. “At the 2012 International CES, exhibitors benefitted from business discussions with more than 800 Brazilian executives who traveled to Las Vegas, despite having to wait an average 100 days to schedule an interview and obtain a U.S. travel visa,” notes Shapiro. “Imagine how many more Brazilian business leaders would come to trade events in America if these restrictions were removed.”
Improving the Entry Experience
U.S. complain about the less-thanfriendly welcome they experience at their point of entry. Following 9/11, U.S. Customs officers “found themselves exercising what I’d call protectionism and saw international visitors only as a potential threat to the country, as opposed to visitors who decide to spend their good money in the States,” says Mathias Posch, president of Vancouver, British Columbiabased International Conference Services, a professional congress organizer. “Horror stories of people being turned away and sent back home, or being subject to hours of interrogation, made the rounds and did a huge disservice to the U.S. meetings industry,” he adds. To reverse the crippling effects of long waits and inconsistent and
Too often, foreign visitors to the
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see International Visitors on page 52
International Visitors from page 51
often overreaching security policies that characterize the post-9/11 era, U.S. Travel organized a “blue ribbon” aviation security panel, which released its recommendations to Congress in March 2011. Among them: • Give the TSA authority over an entire checkpoint area, from the beginning of the security lines to after a traveler exits the screening area, to avoid confusion between the airport’s and TSA’s realms of authority within the facility. • Encourage fewer carry-on bags to shorten checkpoint wait times by requiring airlines to allow passengers one checked bag as part of their base airfare and standardize existing rules covering the quantity and size of items that can be carried onto an airplane. • Reduce duplicate TSA screenings for international arrivals connecting to another U.S. airport. • Expand trusted traveler programs, such as the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol’s Global Entry program, to qualified international passengers. Recently action had been taken on several of these recommendations. Pilot Global Entry programs have been launched in Germany and the United Kingdom, and a bill was introduced last year by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) calling for airlines to allow passengers one checked bag at no additional cost.
Extending a Local Welcome Mat Some state and city travel organizations have taken matters
Easing Visitor Entry to the USA While government agencies try to iron out the wrinkles in the entry experience, meeting planners themselves have been taking steps to help overseas participants cross the Rubicon in smoother fashion. • Share information (location, dates) about upcoming events as soon as possible, so participants can start the visa process right away. Some delegates, particularly those attending research meetings, might also need time to apply for approval and/or funding from their employers. • Include sample visa applications on the event website. • When necessary, provide attendees with paperwork, such as letters of invitation to attend the conference, in the requested format, whether written, e-mailed or as a downloadable file. • Encourage members of local professional or association networks to mentor first-time attendees and shepherd them through the daunting visa process. • When speakers are coming from nations with tricky visa policies, be sure to have a backup plan, such as another speaker or even a video link in case a key presenter is not approved in time. Courtesy Associates, www.courtesyassociates.com
to a local grassroots level. Among them is the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau. In order to boost visitors from China, who spend more money than any other long-haul visitors to the state, the HVCB works with private local travel firms to expedite the complicated visa process. “We have lost incentive business to Australia in the past because they have a visa waiver program with China,” notes Michael Murray, the bureau’s vice president of sales and marketing. “When our visa waiver with South Korea went through in 2010, there was an increase in meetings and incentives; now that market is doing great.” A similar effort has boosted Houston’s attractiveness to international conferences, says Jorge Franz, vice president of international group sales and tourism for the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau. The city is the only U.S. member of
the Best Cities Global Alliance, sharing leads with eight other municipalities around the world that satisfy specific criteria as ideal host destinations for major international conferences. As part of the effort to join that elite group, Houston focused on improving the level of service incoming travelers receive at customs and immigration, whose agents “are the first faces a foreigner sees when they enter the country,” notes Franz. In 2004 and 2005, the CVB worked closely with airport officials to arrange for hospitality and customer service training for customs and immigration personnel. “Airport officials have come to understand and appreciate what we do for each other,” says Franz. “Today they have a better appreciation for the importance of being hospitable.” www.meetings-conventions.com/ articles_ektid51436.aspx
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New Play Renews Interest in Historic Genocide in Namibia
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laywright Jackie Sibblies Drury collides the personal and political, the humorous and harrowing, in this exhilaratingly irreverent play directed by Eric Ting. Entitled “We are Proud to Present a Presentation about the Herero of Namibia, formerly known as Southwest Afrika, from the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915” the play, as described by Ms. Drury, is kind of about art and artists by intertwining two major themes: genocide and art. At the center of it is a question of legacy: what do we try to leave behind, what do we actually leave behind, and how do we deal with being left. It’s also about the toll pathologies that are common in artists (depression, Jackie Sibblies Drury
narcissism, addiction, etc.) and the people who love the artist. It’s also about photography, both as a form and as an omnipresent condition of contemporary life. The genocide story is brought to life by an ensemble of American actors who come together to make a play about the little-known first genocide of the 20th century. As the group wrestles with this remote story, their exploration hits much closer to home than anyone ever expected. The play was performed in New York, NY during November and December 2012. For information on the play contact: SOHORep, 401 Broadway Suite 300, New York, NY, (212) 941-8632, sohorep@ sohorep.org. To purchase the text of the play visit: https://web.ovationtix. com/trs/store/2822/pr/54516.
“Herero Massacre: General’s Descendants Apologize…” August 10, 2007 Source: Der Spiegel he family of a German colonial-era commander who ordered a massacre of Namibia’s Herero tribe in 1904 has travelled to Namibia to apologize for what historians call Germany’s first genocide. Some 65,000 Hereros were killed, but their descendants have scant hope of compensation. Eleven descendents of General
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Lothar von Trotha, the German commander whose forces massacred the Herero tribe in 1904, have travelled to the former German colony of Namibia to express their shame and sorrow for his actions. They attended a ceremony in the town of Omaruru, some 250 kilometers west of the Namibian capital Windhoek, on Sunday to mark the anniversary of the 1904 campaign by the troops of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Some 65,000 Herero and 10,000 members of the Nama tribe were killed in the campaign following a revolt against German rule. Historians have referred to the campaign as Germany’s first act of genocide, almost four decades before the Holocaust. “We are ashamed of the terrible events that took place in Namibia a century ago,” said Thilo von Trotha, 67, the spokesman for the family members. About a dozen Namibian police officers stood by to protect
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see Historic Genocide Recalled on page 54
Play Recalls Historic Genocide from page 53
the delegation after the leader of the Herero, Kuaima Riruako, had warned that their lives might be in danger. The ceremony passed off peacefully, however.
‘Streams of Blood’ The Hereros started a revolt on Jan. 12, 1904, killing 123 German traders, settlers and soldiers in protest at being expelled from their land, recruited into forced labour and compelled to give up their culture and tradition. The German Reich quickly sent reinforcements under a new commander, Prussian General Lothar von Trotha, who was bent on annihilation. Trotha had a reputation for brutality and intransigence and his appointment as head of the German Schutztruppe, the Protection Force in what was then referred to as German Southwest Africa, was opposed unsuccessfully by a number of fellow commanders. “I wipe out rebellious tribes with streams of blood and streams of money,” he said shortly after arriving. He issued a proclamation to the Herero people dated Oct. 2, 1904, that effectively amounted to a extermination order. In the letter, he offered 1,000 marks to anyone who delivered a Herero captain to German forces, and 5,000 marks for Herero leader Samuel Maherero. If the people did not comply, he warned he would banish them from the country. “Within the German border every Herero with or without a rifle, with or without cattle will be shot, I won’t take any more women and children, I will drive them back to their people or order them to be shot,” he wrote. “These are my words to the Her-
ero people.” The proclamation was signed “The great general of the mighty German Kaiser.” The uprising culminated in a battle won by the well-trained and well-equipped Germans who had machine guns of the kind that would wreak havoc on World War I battlefields 10 years later. Thousands of Hereros were driven into the vast Omaheke Desert which the Germans sealed off. Thousands died of thirst and starvation, the rest were sent to concentration camps. Germany was a latecomer in 19th century colonialism, playing catch-up with Britain and France. It rapidly became the third-largest colonial power, ruling territories in Africa, China and the Pacific five times the size of the fatherland. It lost all its colonies after World War I. Control over Namibia passed on to South Africa until the country gained its independence in 1990. While Germany has provided sig-
nificant amounts of aid to Namibia over the years, it has stopped short of making a formal apology, to avoid exposing itself to billions of dollars in compensation claims from Herero descendents. The Herero People’s Reparations Corporation filed claims with a US court in 2001 for $2 billion in compensation from the German government and several companies, but its legal action was unsuccessful, partly because international conventions against genocide weren’t agreed until decades later. The massacre happened too long ago for a civil lawsuit to be dealt with in a German court. http://sohorep.org/we-are-proudto-present http://sohorep.org/herero-massacre-generals-descendants-apologize-for-germanys-first-genocide
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Chess Changed My Life By MAX DELANY them disciplined.” Since the early days of playing in the open with makeshift boards and pieces made from bottle tops, Katende’s chess club has come a long way. Despite limited resources, the club’s 63 members - some as young as four - cram onto benches in a rented room that serves as a clubhouse. Although battered, there are now enough boards to go around. Lying on his stomach in a grubby red football shirt, Michael Talemwa, 11, fingers a pawn as he tries to block an attack from his opponent. Like many of the children crowding around the chess boards, Talemwa had few opportunities before he found out about the chess club. “I used to be home alone with nothing to do until a friend came along and said we should come and play chess,” Talemwa says. “I didn’t know anything about it and told him I couldn’t play but he convinced me.” Now, after playing for two years and watching the meteoric rise of club members like Phiona Mutesi, Talemwa says he dreams of emulating their success. “I feel so happy when I hear one of our friends has achieved such a great level and I hope that I too can make it that far.”
16 year old Phiona Mutesi (c) plays at a chess hall in Kampala, Uganda on January 17, 2013. AFP
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itting in a dimly lit room in the run-down Kampala suburb of Katwe, Phiona Mutesi stares fixedly at the chessboard in front of her as she ponders the next move in her improbable journey. “Chess has changed my life,” Mutesi says, shifting the thickframed glasses perched on her nose. “Before I didn’t have hope but now I have hope-- I can become a doctor and a grandmaster.” Once forced to live rough after her father died when she was a toddler, Mutesi has risen from the streets to play in international tournaments from Sudan to Siberia. At just 16 years old, she is the first female Ugandan to reach the level of candidate master and the country’s reigning under-20 champion-- and now film studio Disney has bought the option to turn her story into a movie. Despite her success, Mutesi never set out to play chess. At nine, she began following her older brother to a nascent chess club - not to play the game but for the free cup of porridge that was on offer. “I then asked myself ‘what is this game chess?’ and started to play,” she says. Soon her talent shone through and she began beating all-comers, often older boys and
girls, as she rose steadily to the Ugandan Youth Team and the chance to compete in chess’s most prestigious tournament-- the biennial Olympiad. “I never expected to be where I am now.” The man who introduced Phiona and other children in Katwe’s slums - to chess is her coach Robert Katende. A former footballer, in 2003 Katende swapped balls for boards when he hit on the unusual idea of teaching street kids chess even if none of the children had ever heard of the game. “I was looking for a platform to reach out to the kids, so I got my old chessboard and came with it down to the slums,” says 30-yearold Katende. Typically taught only in Uganda’s more elite private schools, Katende says that chess caught on quickly. For impoverished slum children struggling daily for food and shelter, he says, the game can teach some useful life lessons and give them a sense of much needed selfconfidence. “It’s not just a game, it’s a way of transforming lives,” Katende says. “You face challenges and you have to think of the best move — for children who might have become petty thieves or criminals it makes
www.africareview.com/progress/ Chess-changed-my-life//1502374/1687286/-/30en9n/-/ index.html
Black Business News International Edition -55- Winter 2013
Africa: Books New & Notable AfricaFocus Bulletin Dec 20, 2012 (121220)
the Kenya Emergency. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2012. http://www.africafocus.org/ books/isbn.php?1107656249 Bond, Patrick. The Politics of Climate Justice: Paralysis Above, Movement Below. Durban, South Africa: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2012.
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his annual books issue contains 22 books that have come to my attention that seemed to me to be of particular interest. It’s hardly a systematic selection, and I’ve only read a couple of them so far. But they cover a wide range of topics, and I think most AfricaFocus readers will find at least of a few ot them well worth their time. Read the details by visiting www.africafocus.org/ docs12/book1212.php.
Jason Brownlee. Democracy Prevention: The Politics of the U.S.Egyptian Alliance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. http://www.africafocus.org/books/ isbn.php?1107677866 Neil Carrier and Gernot Klantschnig. Africa and the War on Drugs. London: Zed Books, 2012. http://www.africafocus.org/books/ isbn.php?1848139667 Claremont Chung, ed. Walter A.
AfricaFocus Bulletin is edited by William Minter. Featured Recommendation Lefanu, Sarah. S is for Samora: A Lexical Biography of Samora Machel and the Mozambican Dream. New York: Columbia University Press, 2012. http://www.africafocus.org/ books/isbn.php?0231703368 New and Notable
Abiodun Alao. Mugabe and the Politics of Security in Zimbabwe. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2012. http:// www.africafocus.org/books/isbn. php?077354044X Peter Alexander, Thapelo Lekgowa, Botsang Mmope, Luke Sinwell, and Bongani Xezwi. Marikana. Johannesburg, South Africa: Jacana Media, 2012. http://tinyurl.com/ crlyvcr Dorina A. Bekoe, ed. Voting in Fear: Electoral Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa. Washington, DC: U.S. Institute of Peace, 2012. http://www. africafocus.org/books/ isbn.php?1601271360 Huw Bennett. Fighting the Mau Mau. The British Army and Counter-Insurgency in
Rodney: A Promise of Revolution. New York: Monthly Review Press, 2012. http://www.africafocus.org/ books/isbn.php?1583673288 Farah, Nuruddin. Crossbones. New York: Penguin Books. http:// www.africafocus.org/books/isbn. php?0143122533 Joseph Hanlon, Jeannette Manjengwa, and Teresa Smart, eds. Zimbabwe Takes Back Its Land. Sterling, VA: Kumarian Press, 2012. http://www.africafocus.org/ books/isbn.php?1565495209 Harper, Mary. Getting Somalia Wrong: Faith and War in a Shattered
Black Business News International Edition -56- Winter 2013
see Africa: Books on page 57
Africa: Books from page 56
State. London: Zed Books, 2012. http://www.africafocus.org/books/
Drawings and Creative Writing Inspired by the Cultural and Architectural Heritage of Dar Es Salaam. Dar es Salaam: Mkuku na Nyota, 2011. http://tinyurl.com/ c47tu6b Guy Martin. African Political Thought. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. http://www. africafocus.org/books/isbn. php?1403966346 Elizabeth Schmidt. Foreign Intervention in Africa: From the Cold War to the War on Terror. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. http://www.africafocus. org/books/isbn.php?0521709032 Joseph E. Stiglitz. The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future. New York: W. W. Norton, 2012. http://www.africafocus.org/books/ isbn.php?0393088693
http://www.africafocus.org/books/ isbn.php?1412847508
Totten,
by
Carl Watts. Rhodesia’s Unilateral
Attrition: The Nuba Mountains of Sudan. Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2012.
Declaration of Independence: An International History. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. http:// www.africafocus.org/books/isbn. php?1403979073
Samuel.
Genocide
isbn.php?1842779338 Lindsey Hilsum, Sandstorm: Libya in the Time of Revolution. New York: Penguin, 2012. http:// www.africafocus.org/books/isbn. php?159420506X Honwana, Alcinda. The Time of Youth: Work, Social Change and Politics in Africa. Sterling, VA: Kumarian press, 2012. http:// www.africafocus.org/books/isbn. php?1565494725
Donna Katzin. With These Hands. New York: Mignon Publications, 2011. Order through http://www. sharedinterest.org
Keable, Ken, ed. London Recruits: The Secret War Against Apartheid. London: Merlin Press, 2012. http:// www.africafocus.org/books/isbn. php?0850366550
Mary Ndlovu. Against the Odds: A History of Zimbabwe Project. Harare, Zimbabwe: Weaver Press, 2012. http://www.africafocus.org/ books/isbn.php?1779221681
Lapsley, Michael and Stephen Karakashian. Redeeming the Past: My Journey from Freedom Fighter to Healer. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2012. http://www.africafocus.org/ books/isbn.php?1570759928
Abebe Zegeye. Mulatu Astatke: The Making of Ethio Jazz. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2012. http:// www.africaworldpressbooks.com/ servlet/Detail?no=1011
Sarah Markes, Hafiz Juma, and Karen Moon. Street Level: Black Business News International Edition -57- Winter 2013
www.africafocus.org/docs12/ book1212.php
DOS is Addressing a Longtime Problem: Landmines
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ver the past 18 months the government of Burma has taken initial but critical steps toward reforming its political system, improving the lives of its people, and rejoining the international community. To promote this process, as well as dialogue and cooperation across Burmese society, the U.S. government is actively engaged in new initiatives, including an effort to shore up tenuous ceasefires between the government and armed ethnic groups while addressing another long-time problem:: landmines. Last year, the e Department’s Bureau of Political-Military ry Affairs launched ed the first-ever U.S.-funded U S f d d humanitarian mine action project. The program helps educate villagers about the risk of landmines and provides assistance to survivors in Kachin State. To build on this work, a team from the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO), led by Deputy Assistant Secretary Jerry White, visited Burma in October. Jerry cofounded the Landmine Survivors Network and shared in the 1997 Nobel Prize for Peace, awarded to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. During their visit, the CSO team spoke with some of the nearly 3,000 citizens who have been injured by
landmines since 1999. They heard that more than 3,200 Burmese are known to have died from landmine injuries, though local advocates say the true figure is probably much higher. Jerry quickly developed a rapport with a number of the victims, in part because he lost part of his right leg to a landmine in the Middle East years ago. One amputee, who now makes prosthetics at modest clinic, told a m Jerry: “My dream is Jerr get rid of mines to g and help people get legs to walk on.” leg In this digital age, we sometimes forget the value for of face-to-face contact. Jerry was co the th highest-ranking U.S. official to visit U some parts of s Burma in many B years, and the y people there took notice. In one state, representatives from three t t t t armed groups came together to meet with the delegation and presented a joint statement on their concerns. We believe that good, and unexpected, things can happen when diplomats are able to visit outof-the-way places. A successful landmine campaign has the potential to pay a significant peace dividend. As a Karenni National Progressive Party official in Loikaw said, “The desire is for all groups to come together and talk to figure this out. We see landmine action as a real indicator that the ceasefire can work for peace.” Jerry White with fellow landmine survivors
The mine-action initiative we are helping launch integrates minerisk education, the mapping and marking of minefields, survivor assistance, and eventually the clearance of minefields. While we are excited about the prospects, we understand how deep the divisions are in many parts of this already enchanting land. Fortunately, there is a sense of momentum, as indicated by the historic trip to Burma by President Obama and Secretary Clinton. We feel that the time is right to redouble our efforts to prevent landmine injuries and assist the survivors. The United States is the largest financial supporter of conventional weapons destruction. Since 1993, the Department of State (DOS) has partnered with the Department of Defense, USAID’s Leahy War Victims Fund, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to deliver over $2 billion to more than 90 countries, including Burma. To learn more about U.S. government humanitarian mineaction efforts, read To Walk the Earth in Safety (www.state.gov/t/ pm/rls/rpt/walkearth/2012/index. htm) or visit http://www.state.gov/t/ pm/wra. The U.S. is pursuing this goal alongside Norway, Denmark, the European Union, and others. We will keep you informed of our progress, and we welcome your ideas on how we might increase our chances of success. You can write us at CSOpublic@state.gov. We also encourage you to forward our news to people you think would like to join this conversation. Best, Ambassador Rick Barton Assistant Secretary for Conflict and Stabilization Operations.
Black Business News International Edition -58- Winter 2013
www.state.gov
Interview with Award-Winning Social Student Entrepreneur Ludwick Marishane by Lisa A. Grimaldi
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n 2011, 21 year-old Ludwick Marishane of Cape Town, South Africa was named the 2011 Global Student Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2011 GSEA (Global Student Entrepreneur Awards), beating out 1,600 other student nominees from 42 countries. Ludwick won the title for his product Drybath, the only non-water based bath substitute lotion for the whole body. I had the opportunity to ask this student entrepreneur some questions about his winning product
and company, which gives some great insights into his mindset, persistence and innovative spirit. CR: What is DryBath and what problem does it solve? LM: DryBath is the world’s first and only bath-substituting skin gel...you apply it to your skin, then you don’t need to bathe. I invented it to benefit people from the poorest communities in the world, and also for people in the developed world. For people without water, DryBath provides empowerment as an affordable
tool to achieve lifesaving personal hygiene without having to be dependent on stagnant community water infrastructure development. For wealthier communities, it offers a convenient way to save time and decrease their unhealthy practice of unnecessary daily bathing (which is proven to cause continuous drying of the skin), while achieving adequate personal hygiene. In both situations, precious water is saved, which can be put to better use.
Black Business News International Edition -59- Winter 2013
see DryBath on page 60
DryBath CR: How did the idea for DryBath come about? LM: The idea came to me in the 11th grade in 2007. It was a cold winter’s day; I was sunbathing with some friends of mine, when one of my best friends had to go bathe. After we nagged him to hit the shower, he eventually said, “why
Malatji and the eldest of 2 sons to Lovemore Marishane. My dad achieved financial freedom and has been able to provide me with great schooling and the ethic of always pushing myself to do more; while my mom is lives on the economic margin of society and has provided me with the emotional development necessary to seek improvement for the poor community I spent half my life growing up in. My dad ignited my entrepreneurial
participate in the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards? LM: I heard about the competition in 2009 during my first year of university, I entered and lost the South African regional. In 2010, I entered again and made it to the global finals; and in 2011 I gave it one last shot, and I’m glad to have brought it to African soil. CR: How much prize money did you win and what will you be using those funds for?
doesn’t someone invent something you can just put on your skin and avoid the need to bathe?” A light bulb went on as I realized that I would be willing to pay money out of my pocket to buy such a product. Bear in mind that we were in the middle of the rural Limpopo province, with almost non-existent resources. I went home that day and used my web-enabled basic cellphone to research if such a product existed. My research showed that the product didn’t seem to exist, and there was a huge market of 2.5 billion people in the world without proper access to water who were in dire need of such a product (that number doesn’t include the billion more like my friend, who were lazy to bathe). Coming from a poor background myself, I felt compelled to create the product. It took 6 months and endless time on Google & Wikipedia to do it. CR: Tell us a bit about your background. LM: I am the only child of Stanford
passion in my first year of high school, and my love of science allowed me to indulge my curiosities of coming up with inventions for different opportunities I saw. In 9th grade, I formulated my own biodiesel fuel, invented a healthy cigarette; and in 10th grade I authored a mobile dictionary and attempted to publish a nationwide security magazine. CR: What is the pricing of the product and how many units have you sold to date? LM: We’re selling DryBath sachets to corporates at around USD1.5 per sachet (1 sachet contains 25ml and replaces one bathe). For each sachet that corporates purchase, we provide a free sachet to our charity partners for distribution through their humanitarian work. We sell DryBath sachets on the retail market in poor communities for USD 0.50 each, with an aim of lowering this price in half when we reach economies of scale. We have sold 162,000 sachets to date. CR: How did you decide to
LM: I won USD 10,000 in cash, and more in in-kind prizes. I will be using the funds to finance my global marketing endeavor to secure contracts with armies, airlines (to put DryBath on long-distance flights), hotel groups (to save water), and to other travel industry services. These corporate markets will increase economies of scale to make the product cheaper on the retail market and allow DryBath to be a cheap commodity product democratically consumed by both poor & rich. It will save lives, time, and water. CR: Why do you think you won? LM: Mine was more than just a business & a product...it was a story about the journey of one kid who is in pursuit of changing the world and has committed 4 years to it thus far. CR: What do you think are the most important factors that will make DryBath a success? LM: Great marketing, and sharing the common global dream of the impact that DryBath hopes to
from page 59
Black Business News International Edition -60- Winter 2013
see DryBath on page 61
DryBath from page 60
achieve with society. CR: What words of advice would you give to other student entrepreneurs? LM: Find what you love doing, and exert all your effort on pursuing it. Do as much as you can on your own, and always ask for help when you need it. Embrace failure, because you will
only ever experience it if you give up, not if you try & fail to succeed. I plan to use the title of Best Student entrepreneur in the World to start the world’s first entrepreneurship league, and to roll this out globally over the next 5 years. I am dedicating my life to enabling the world’s youth to follow their dreams, and I urge other entrepreneurs to do the same...by first following their dreams! ------------------For more information on the
Global Student Entrepreneurship Awards visit http://www.gsea.org. For more information on DryBath and Ludwick Marishane, visit http:// www.headboy.org/. Article and information sources: www.huffingtonpost.com/ carol-roth/social-studententrepreneur_b_1222586. html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ ref=false www.ted.com/talks/ludwick_ marishane_a_bath_without_water. html
Ethiopian Community Development Council 19th Annual National Conference Thursday May 16 -Friday March 17, 2013
Protection, Resettlement, and Integration: Trends and Challenges in Serving African Refugees and Immigrants Sheraton Pentagon City, 900 South Orme Street, Arlington, VA 22204 Register: //ecdcus.org/Registration-1.asp Information: //ecdcus.org/Conference-theme13.htm
Black Business News International Edition -61- Winter 2013
Interview:
Kenyan Food Company Riding Healthy Living Wave BY Regina Ekiru
Tei Mukunya, Managing Director One of the biggest hurdles Africa’s smallholder farmers face is getting their products from the farm to the market. Azuri Health Limited, a Kenyan enterprise that manufactures and distributes healthy foods, is helping Kenya’s rural farmers get market access for their cereals and fruits. The firm has partnered with over 600 farmers to bring a range of products to the Kenyan and Sudanese markets and is now planning to begin exporting to the US. How we made it in Africa’s Regina Ekiru spoke to Tei Mukunya, managing director of Azuri Health.
What was the driving force behind the inception of Azuri Health? I used to work under a programme to help farmers in value addition. During this time I came face to face with the challenges smallholder farmers experience while trying to access markets for their produce. For instance, a women group in Murang’a was struggling to put its porridge flour product in the market despite huge donor investments in
research, product development and capacity building. Having developed an interest in helping farmers have easy access to the market for their produce, I made an attempt to get the group’s products in retail outlets. My first attempt failed due to disruptions in production. In 2005, I made a second attempt and managed to gain shelf space for the products.
What products do you currently have under your portfolio? At the time we started the only product we had was the porridge flour. We, however, realised that one product wouldn’t cut it for us. So we began working with a women’s group in Busia and rolled out our sweet potato flour brand. We have since unveiled new products and repackaged our old brands. The Azuri Health range today includes Azuri Nutriporridge flour, which is our flagship product, Azuri Sweet Potato Flour, Azuri Kahurura Powder (made from a plant in the
pumpkin family), sweet potato cookies, and a range of dried fruits such as mangoes and pineapples. These products sell not only in Kenya but also in Sudan. We make an annual turnover of Ksh.12 million (US$143,000). Healthy living is the new craze. Lifestyle diseases are spreading fast, fuelling demand for healthy living options. This is a market which if well explored can yield huge returns. Penetrating the market is no joke due to the competition. We do not enjoy uniqueness. To beat the rest we have to evolve quickly and introduce new unique products.
Describe Azuri Health’s relationship with the farmer groups? We work with several farmer groups across the country, the majority of which are made up of women. We have 600 farmers in our network. We have trained the farmers on food processing and
Black Business News International Edition -62- Winter 2013
see Azuri Health on page 63
Azuri Health from page 62
packaging. They, therefore, carry out the processing of the products while we handle the marketing, distribution and sales. To ensure
consistency in production and supply we recently set up a Ksh.2 million ($24 million) processing plant in Nairobi. In the past the farmer groups faced some challenges, which affected production and processing. We therefore set up our own processing plant to avoid such interruptions in supply. In addition we also offer advisory services and support to the farmers. Most of these women groups would have collapsed but they are today a success because they have access to the market. We have managed to bring their products to the shelves of retail stores.
Tell us more about the challenges you faced when starting the business Inadequate financing has been a major hurdle. To ensure large supply volumes we need a lot of funds. Whereas having our products on sale at major retail outlets in the
country is a milestone, sustaining this calls for hard work and proper organisation. In the early stages we were kicked out of a local retail chain because our supply was erratic. We cannot afford to make such mistakes now. We are available in almost all supermarkets and therefore have to ensure we sustain the supply. We also have to invest extensively in marketing our products because of growing competition in the sector.
Any lessons you have learnt in entrepreneurship? Resilience. When I quit my job
to go into business I had to tighten my budget until I hit rock bottom. It has taught me to be tough. No matter what challenge I face, I look at the positive aspects knowing that things will get better.
What does the future hold for Azuri Health?
We want to set up a bigger automated processing facility so as to increase our volumes and efficiently sustain supply. We would also like to extend our reach to the regional market. We do have plans to begin exporting to the United States soon. ď‚ł www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/ kenyan-food-company-ridinghealthy-living-wave/9714 www.azurihealth.webs.com www.facebook.com/pages/AzuriHealth/255524526765 www.freshplaza.com/news_detail. asp?id=101714#SlideFrame_1
Black Business News International Edition -63- Winter 2013
Air Tanzania To Receive $100m Investment From Omani Consortium
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he Chairman of Al Hayat Development and Investment Company, Sheikh SalimAl Harthy, has revealed that the Omani consortium will soon inject a Sh 160 billion ($100 million) into Tanzania’s national carrier, Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL). “We (Omani Consortium) intend to sign an agreement with Air Tanzania to invest $100 million dollars and lead a consortium of other investors that we have close relations with,” Sheikh Harthy said in a statement. The funds are intended to revive the ailing airline. While a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed between the two partners in the near future; Sheikh Harthy revealed that the plan is to build an airline training centre, good offices for the ATCL, buy planes and engage in other development activities which
they plan to start within six to ten months this year. The Omani Consortium noted that Tanzania is the home to some of the World’s most attractive tourist destinations. It affirmed that in recent years there has been an increase in the number of Omani visitors travelling to Tanzania and this has been catalyzed by the resumption of direct flights to Tanzania by Oman Air. “This has been a building factor in consolidating trade and cultural ties between the two countries.” “Tanzania, the largest of the East African nations with geography as varied as in its spectacular, also holds out promising prospects for investment in its tourism sector,” it noted. Meanwhile, ATCL Acting Chief Executive Officer, Captain Milton Lazaro, described the development as good news that is likely to see the airline “stand on its feet once
again.” He revealed that Tanzanian president, Jakaya Kikwete has already outlined the areas that need investment and with such money, they were ready to expand the company. Lazaro posited that the MoU would elaborate the extent of investment and in which areas the money would go. “That is an amount of money which can change the company. We believe with this, we will be back on our feet,” he said. President Kikwete had visited Oman last October following an invitation of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos where they exchanged views on how to strengthen further bilateral co-operation in business, education, culture and many other areas. www.ventures-africa.com/2013/01/ atcl-to-receive-100m-investmentfrom-omani-consortium
Black Business News International Edition -64- Winter 2013
RESOURCES FOR GOING GLOBAL Event: Watch Videos on some of the National Export Initiative Priority Markets Watch videos on these markets to discover why they are important and to learn about a few of the many sectors where U.S. companies are competitive. 58 percent of U.S. exporters export to only one market, mainly Canada. Many small and midsized companies that work with the U.S. Commercial Service have found new customers in dozens of markets. Among the best prospect markets for U.S. companies are Vietnam, India, Indonesia, China, Taiwan and Thailand. From these short videos, you’ll learn why these markets are important. You’ll also learn about a few of the many sectors where U.S. companies are competitive. Importantly, you’ll also meet the top U.S. commercial diplomats in these markets who, along with their staff of local market and industry experts, will help you evaluate, enter and succeed. Please visit http://export.gov/nei/eg_main_033266.asp Activity: Commercial News USA Offers Free Korean Translation Commercial News USA, the official export promotion magazine of the U.S. Department of Commerce, offers exporters an inexpensive way to promote their products and services in 178 countries worldwide. Now, you can take advantage of a special offer: Buy two ads and get the third ad for free (Based on one-time rates. This does not include the Showcase section). Reserve your space in the next issue today. For more information, call 1-800-581-8533, x 822, or visit www.thinkglobal.us, or e-mail advertise@thinkglobal.us. Marketing: Sell Your Products Worldwide in the USA Product Showcase Commercial News USA, the official export promotion magazine of the U.S. Department of Commerce, offers exporters an affordable way to promote their products and services in 178 countries worldwide. Now, you can advertise in the USA Product Showcase section of the magazine for just $499. Commercial News USA reaches more than a quarter million buyers worldwide. Reserve your space in the next issue today. For information, call 1-800-581-8533, x 822, online to www.thinkglobal.us/499, or send e-mail to advertise@ thinkglobal.us. Marketing: Promote Your Company on the New Commercial News USA Website The newly redesigned Commercial News USA website makes it easier for buyers around the world to find American companies with products and services ready for immediate export and for U.S. exporters connect with buyers worldwide. Commercial News USA features hundreds of products and services from U.S. exporters. Participants in the current is-
sue of the magazine are featured in a rotating carousel at the top of the page. Now, international buyers can search the site by company name or industry category. There also is a search box at the top of the page that enables searching by keyword. The site currently attracts 23,000 international buyers per month. Advertisers in the print magazine are included for free on the website. For more information and/ or to review the current issue of the magazine, please visit www.thinkglobal.us. AccessAmerica – Reach Chinese Investors and Clients “AccessAmerica” is our online Chinese-language directory of U.S. firms that provide customized services to C h i n e s e investors and firms that want to do business in the U.S. The “AccessAmerica” Service Provider directory gives U.S.-based companies and economic development agencies access and exposure to Chinese clients who seek U.S. expertise in global logistics, trade finance, HR, site selection, tax, insurance, legal and regulatory issues, marketing, and other support related to investing in the U.S. AccessAmerica is promoted extensively throughout China, featured on the U.S. Embassy Chinese webpage and featured at all Invest in America programs here and in China. Your listing will include company information, company logo, and contact details, all translated into Chinese, for a one-year subscription fee of $400. Learn more: http://www.buyusa.gov/china/en/access_america. html. For more information, please contact julie.carducci@ trade.gov. ᏊᏊᏊᏊᏊ The U.S. Commercial Service - Your Global Business Partner. With offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration uses its global Network and international resources to connect U.S companies with international buyers worldwide. If you have any questions about these initiatives, please contact your local U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist. To find the trade specialist nearest you please visit www. buyusa.gov/home/us.html or contact Bobby Hines at bobby.hines@trade.gov.
Black Business News International Edition -65- Winter 2013
China’s Mega-Container Ships Rule the Commercial Sea Lanes
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he Emma Maersk, part of a Danish shipping line, is one of three ships presently in service, with another two ships commissioned to be completed in 2012. Built in China at a cost of US $145,000,000+, the ship transports goods across the Pacific Ocean in just 5 days with a cruise speed of 31 knots. These ships were commissioned by Wal-Mart to get all their goods from China to the USA. The ships can hold an incredible 15,000 containers with a net cargo weight of 123,200 tons. It has a 207 foot deck beam. The vessel is 1,302 ft. in length and 207 ft. wide. The full crew is just 13 people on a ship longer than a US Aircraft Carrier (which has a crew of 5,000. With its 207’ beam it is too big to fit through the Panama or Suez
Canals. It is strictly transpacific. The goods arrive 4 days before the typical container ship (18-20 knots) on a China-to-California run. 91% of Wal-Mart products are Made in China so this behemoth is hugely competitive even when carrying perishable goods. The ship was built in five sections. The sections were floated together and then welded. Silicone painting applied to the ship bottom reduces water resistance and saves 317,000 gallons of diesel fuel per year. The command bridge is higher than a 10-story building and has 11 cargo crane rigs that can operate simultaneously unloading the entire ship in less than two hours. All of these containers are shipped back to China, empty. www.maerskfleet.com/#vessels/ Maersk_Line/Ebba_Maersk
Ship length is 1,302 ft. (longer than a US Aircraft Carrier) 11 cargo crane rigs that can load and unload simultaneously
In the Spotlight
different continents to Africa. By celebrating this event, all countries in the world agree that African states deserve their independence, rights, and welfare. For most countries in Africa, Africa Day symbolizes the moment when African people gain a much better life than before. http://sgholiday.com/ calendar/africa-day http://twitter.yfrog.com/ user/AfricaDay2013/ photos www.africaday.info/ about.html
African Liberation Day (Africa Day)
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he establishment of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) which became the beginning of Africa Day itself was caused by poor history of African countries. The history of many African countries was full of inhumane stories about slavery, rape, colonialism, and slaughters. For centuries, people in Africa struggled from the cruelty of people from the other continents who despised the African people only because of the color of their skin. The OAU was quite successful in promoting the unity of African states as well as in opposing all kinds of colonialism in Africa because some countries in Africa have not reached a full independence yet. Considering the successful of OAU, people in Africa celebrate the date of the OAU establishment every year, later known as the Africa Day.
Tradition of Africa Day As a matter of fact, Africa Day is not only celebrated in the African countries but also in the Asian, European and American countries such as Kazakhstan, Ireland, Belgia, and New York. The festival usually takes place around May 25 for about 3 until 7 days. During the festival, many kinds of attractions including bazaar, traditional African performances, models showing African traditional clothes, and some kinds of speeches concerning the situation in the African states are organized. The celebration of Africa Day in many countries around the world shows the respect and acknowledgment from the other countries in the
Pan African Global Trade and Investment Conference
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he gathering of the 3rd Annual Pan African Trade & Investment Conference, held at Cal State University Dominguez Hills in October 2012, has produced a program prosposed to effectively propel the African Diasporan community forward during the remainder of the “The Decade of the Diaspora: 2010-2020.” As a result of the issues and recommendations discussed in the previous two Africa-USA International Chamber of Commerce and Industry annual conference plenary sessions and business roundtable discussions we are proposing the establishment of a Pan African Global Trade and Investment Association. Collaborating member organizations will support the development of the following essential programs during subsequent conference years to address the immediate problems that must be resolved to improve the ability of small business owners to participate in trade and commerce between the U.S.A., the African Diaspora and the African Continent. 1. Pan African International Trade Education & Training Program – The small business owners and students attending the conference have appreciated the opportunity to learn the essential components of international trade and commerce. However additional in depth training is needed to build their capacity to participate in the international marketplace. The conference has determined that the best method to address this problem is to establish a community and see In The Spotlight on page 69
Black Business News International Edition -68- Winter 2013
In The Spotlight from page 68
university based education and training program in international trade and commerce for individuals and small business owners. The curriculum and faculty will include the topics and presenters featured during the conference. Community based programs will involve the development of business seminars in collaboration with local chambers of commerce and small business associations to include the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, the Carson Black Chamber of Commerce and Recycling Black Dollars. We have also begun negotiations to establish the first phase of a university based program at California State University Dominguez Hills College of Extended and International Education. It will initially be offered in Phase I as a certificated program providing continuing education in international trade and commerce for small business owners, trade professionals and individuals. We will subsequently initiate the development of a Phase II four year program offering a Bachelor’s Degree in International Trade and Commerce. 2. 6th Region African Diaspora Economic Community Development Program – As a result of the information presented during the conference a the Pan African Trae and Invesment Association will support the 6th Region Diaspora Caucus (SRDC) current efforts to establish the African Diaspora as a regional economic trading bloc that will develop coordinated trade, commerce and humanitarian assistance programs as a unified and integrated regional market 3. African Business & Cultural Tourism Program – As a result of the conference the coordinators have been asked to plan business and culture tours to Africa. Each tour will be planned to maximize bilateral business opportunities in predetermined industry sectors for each business participant and develop cultural relationships through student exchange programs and needed humanitarian assistance. Each participant will receive training in each countries business culture and opportunities before they depart. Follow up support will also be provided to assist in developing
and consummating trade and service agreement opportunities provided by each trade mission. 4. Regional Pan Africa Global Trade Conferences - The primary mission of our International Pan African Trade & Investment Conference series is to establish economic development and cultural exchange programs that promote and facilitate international strategies for bilateral trade, investment, and cultural exchange between the U.S.A., the African Diaspora and the African continent. Conferences can also be developed to collaborate with local public and private sector businesses, investors and NGO’s in predetermined regional markets and industry sectors in Africa and the Pan African Diaspora. Targeted industry sectors can include agriculture, oil and in gas, manufacturing, health g ccare, education, banking, telecommunications, tourism, ttransportation, and energy production. a We have currently been W asked to develop regional a cconferences in the U.S., Central and South America, C Africa, Europe, Canada and A tthe Caribbean. 5. The following related education, training and e business programs will also b be developed: a) A Conference on Africa’s Central Banks and the Development of the African Continent at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in collaboration with the UCLA Anderson School of Business, the UCLA Political Science Department, the African Studies Centers at UCLA and California State University Dominguez Hills, and the California African America Political and Economic Institute. b) An Annual Seminar on Investment Banking for Infrastructure and Industrial Technology Development for African and US Investors, educators and business professionals. to create a forum whereby banks and financial institutions are identified and encouraged to invest in the emerging economies of Africa. c) International Trade Exhibits, Workshops & Business Meetings for companies and individuals involved and/or interested in viable bilateral international trade with pre-identified potential business partners and financiers from Africa, the African Diaspora and
Black Business News International Edition -69- Winter 2013
see In The Spotlight on page 70
www.usps.com/ship/express-mail.htm
www.lensafrik.com In The Spotlight from page 69
the U.S. d) An Ecumenical Community Development Workshop for faith based organizations interested in learning how to create conflict resolution programs and harness investment financing to build local economies and support humanitarian activities in African and the African Diaspora. e) A functioning Web-Site and Broad Band Network designed to provide current information about Pan
African trade opportunities and business, workforce and infrastructure development programs and funding opportunities on a daily basis. f) Seminars to discuss current valuable information about the African Growth & Opportunities Act (AGOA) for African and American investors and recommend changes prior to renewal. Review the full report of the conference at http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/ file/1106889124169-37/3rd+Annual+Pan+African+ Conference+Report+2.pdf. To participate in the new association visit the Africa-USA International Chamber of Commerce and Industry website at www.africa-usa. org. 
Black Business News International Edition -70- Winter 2013
One Africa: Tell the US Government that North Africa is Africa Too!
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oin with and support the United Africa Organization’s campaign to petition the U.S. Department of State to include the whole African continent under its Bureau of African Affairs.
Why? The State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, led by Assistant Secretary Johnnie Carson, currently excludes Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Western Sahara from its agenda. Instead, the aforementioned countries are grouped with the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, together with Iran, Iraq, Israel and others. This artificial distinction between North Africa and the rest of Africa
negatively impacts US foreign policy relations throughout the entire continent of Africa. We unequivocally reject the argument that North African countries are outside the scope of African affairs. North Africa is geographically and historically part of the African continent, and all fifty-three (53) independent African states, including North African countries, are represented in the African Union (AU). It would be far more productive for the State Department to engage with the entire continent of Africa, including North Africa, under its Bureau of African Affairs. We are one Africa, from the
Cape to Cairo, indivisible and bound together! Therefore, no square inch of African land should be excluded from African affairs.
Sign The Petition!!! Go to www.change.org/petitions/ one-africa-tell-us-state-departmentthat-north-africa-is-part-of-africa and sign the online petition to support this important proposition. Next tell everyone you know to sign.
Black Business News International Edition -71- Winter 2013
www.uniteafricans.org
Returning to Africa? African Repatriation is an invaluable online resource for any African national who is thinking about returning to Africa. Our industry articles and specialist editorials provide the latest sector information. Why not find out for yourself and become a part of our growing community today?
www.africanrepatriation.com
Career Opportunities in Africa Search and apply online for the latest vacancies in Africa with African Talent. We provide candidates and employers with the tools and resources needed in today’s competitive job market. For employers, we offer numerous options to feature your jobs in Africa and for candidates, reviewing the most recent job vacancies in Africa is a fast, easy process. Uploading your CV is simple and takes just a few moments.
www.africantalent.com
List Your Business or Project on Afribiz for FREE! Afribiz.info (www.afribiz.info) serves as the online portal for Afribiz which focuses on catalyzing and growing trade, information, business, technology and innovation, and capital flows between Africa and other global markets, both developed and emerging. Afribiz.info offers information, intelligence, research, media and broadcasting, services, and is the gateway to the Afribiz business ecosystem situated in Africa and around the globe. Afribiz is opening its business and project directory to those who would like a place to share information on a business or project. Right now, you can list a business or project for free for 2 years. (There is normally a $100 fee). Note: You must register on the Afribiz site, which is also free. Listing must include a website address for the specific business or project and a business email address not general email addresses like gmail.com or yahoo.com.
International Edition
International Edit
ion
Black Business News
Serving the Globa l African Economic Community
Black Business News
Go to www.bbala.org Menu Selection: Black Business News to view current and past issues.
Fall 2008 USD$5.00
Contents Corporate Givin
g: EOY charita opportunities in health, education, ble ing, and more. housTourism: Investm
ent in Africa’s tourism industry is active, all across the contin vital and is evident ent.
Feature Articles: “Strategies For Cons Engagement with tructisve the African Diaspora ” “Diaspora Enga gement: Remittances & Beyond” Investment ProƤ le: Moyo District of the Repub lic of Uganda
Professional Direc tory Charitable Inves
tments
Rev. Leon R. Perry , III in Ghana with
see Corporate Giving recently orpaned twins page 21
Black Business News International Edition -72- Winter 2013
The UN reports that at the Kobe refugee camp in Ethiopia, an average of 10 children under the age of five has died every day. Twenty years ago, I witnessed firsthand the devastation of another famine in Somalia. Two decades later, International Medical Corps has built vast networks of staff and partners on the ground, who as you read this, are responding to this crisis. Our efforts are working – but so many more vulnerable people need to be reached. With our partners, Wings of Help, Lufthansa, and International Relief Teams, we airlifted 90 tons of medicine, food, and humanitarian supplies to East Africa, where we are distributing them to the families and children who need it most. We’re in the camps, providing care and nutrition to refugees and we’re expanding our existing op-
SOMALIA CRISIS
erations outside of the camps to reach drought-affected communities. We know we can count on your support because you’ve already shown how much you care – please, give today and help us relieve their suffering. You can make a difference It’s time to act. Visit our website at http://internationalmedicalcorps. org. Your donation today can save lives and relieve their suffering.
community mobilization, nutrition screening, micronutrient supplementation, and vaccination and medical referrals •Delivered nutrition supplies, including ready-to-use foods and nutrition equipment such as height boards and weighing scales, to local health centers •Trained 20 community health workers, 12 community nutrition workers, and 12 health care providers
What We Are Doing
ETHIOPIA •Screened more than 5,000 children and mothers at the Kobe refugee camp. •Constructed 136 latrines, with an additional 200 planned •Preparing feeding program for mothers and children between 6 months and 5 years-old in two additional camps
SOMALIA •Screened 5,761 children for malnutrition at International Medical Corpssupported sites •Trained Ministry of Health staff on
KENYA •Deepening current operations in Garissa, the Rift Valley, Isiolo, and Tana River – drought affected communities outside of the camps
Thank you, Stephen Tomlin, Vice President, Program Policy and Planning International Medical Corps
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) agency is seeking US$144,954,431 in funds for emergency relief in the host countries of Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya, which are themselves hard hit by the drought. Many refugees walk for weeks to reach aid in neighboring countries. Some do not survive the harsh journey; the weakest children die along the way as their mothers watch helplessly. Those refugees who make it to Kenya or Ethiopia’s camps arrive exhausted, dehydrated and severely malnourished. Child deaths are alarmingly high. The refugees urgently need medical aid and high-protein, high-energy food. They also need clean water, shelter and basic services in the camps. Please visit www. unhcr.org. and donate today. Black Business News International Edition -73- Winter 2013
gency phase behind us and turning completely towards sustainable human development while never, of course, overlooking those in urgent need of aid. Maison Shalom is unique because of the holistic approach of all its activities. It monitors the children it helps even after their reintegration into the community, to ensure that everything’s going well. Its activities include all areas of integrated and sustainable development : health, education, culture, justice and income-generation. The focus is on agricultural and pastoral activities, the livelihood of over 90% of the population.
Restoring Children’s Dignity Since its inception by Marguerite Barankitse in 1993, Maison Shalom (House of Peace) has done all in its power to restore dignity to war or AIDS orphans, street children, young children and babies in prison (infants with their mothers), and the children of poverty-stricken parents. Since first taking charge of 25 war orphans in 1993, Maison Shalom has come to the aid of more than 20,000 orphans and other needy children. As peace returns to Burundi, Maison Shalom has gradually changed its ap-
Involving the Socioeconomic, Political and Religious Players proach. We no longer wait for children in need to come to us: we go to them.
A Community Approach Our almost 18 years of experience working with vulnerable children have taught us that the best way to help them efficiently and sustainably is to develop the community in which they live. In addition to children, other categories of people – mothers with nursing difficulties caused by malnutrition and poor sick people – turn to Maison Shalom for assistance. The root of the problem is obviously the extreme poverty of the families. We have therefore adopted a community approach. We go to the families and help them develop to the point of selfsufficiency.
Towards Sustainable Human Development We have moved on, leaving the emer-
Maison Shalom works in all Burundi’s provinces and in its neighbouring countries (Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo). In addition to our day-to-day work, it is our duty to call on all those involved in socio-economic, political and religious life to make an effort to restore dignity to our brothers and sisters in Burundi and to put a smile back on their faces: we want to set a living example of integrated development.
We’re Convinced With our unshakeable belief in the success of our mission, our determination and the friendship of our partners and friends who hold us dear and support us, we are convinced that our dream to see every Burundian lead a decent life will come true.
Make A Donation www.maisonshalom.org/en/19/donation
Black Business News International Edition -74- Winter 2013
International Trade Calendar Health Care in Africa 2013 The Patient Perspective
February 19-20, 2013 Cape Town, South Africa
H
ealthcare in Africa will once again gather 180+ influential healthcare stakeholders from government, providers, suppliers and patient groups to explore the key issues around healthcare systems in the continent. Our 2013 summit will focus on identifying healthcare solutions designed to meet the needs of
patients – rather than the needs of doctors, governments, companies or donors. Patient-centric approaches are starting to become mainstream in developed healthcare markets, where they are coming to be seen as the best way to make good healthcare available to everyone at a manageable cost. Could the same be true in Africa or is taking the patient perspective an unaffordable luxury for most countries? Send information
and participation inquiries to: africa@economist.com and visit the announcement site at http:// cemea.economistconferences. com/event/healthcare-africa?utm_ source=Economist&utm_ medium=Banner&utm_ campaign=ECONBAN.
Trade Mission to Egypt & Kuwait March 10-14, 2013
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he U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service is organizing a Trade Mission to explore opportunities in the energy, renewable energy, infrastructure and safety and security technology sectors in Cairo, Egypt and Kuwait City, Kuwait. The mission will help participating firms gain market insights, make industry contacts, solidify business strategies, and advance specific projects, with the goal of increasing U.S. exports to Egypt and Kuwait. The mission will include one-on-one business appointments with pre-screened potential buyers, agents, distributors and joint venture partners; meeting with national and regional government officials; and networking events. Participating in an official U.S. industry delegation, rather than traveling to Egypt and Kuwait on their own, will enhance the companies’ ability to secure meetings in these countries. Egypt is strategically located
at the gateway of trade for Africa and the Middle East. It is a prime location for the transit of goods, as well as a key destination for American companies seeking to do business in the region. Kuwait is situated in the north western corner of the Arabian Peninsula, a strategic position in this vital region. The economy is dominated by the oil industry and government sector, and the country has benefited from the sharp rise of oil prices in recent years. If you have any questions regarding the Egypt and Kuwait trade mission, please contact Anne Novak at 202-482-8178 or Anne. Novak@trade.gov or Salahuddin Tauhidi at 202-482-1322 or Salahuddin.Tauhidi@trade.gov. To apply for this mission, please download and complete the mission application provided in this site and send via email to Anne.Novak@ trade.gov. The application deadline is December 14, 2012. http://export.gov/trademissions/ egyptkuwait
Nigeria Summit 2013 March 19-20, 2013 see Trade Calendar on page 76
Black Business News International Edition -75- Winter 2013
International Trade Calendar Eko Expo Centre, Lagos “Enabling and Implementing Change”
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igeria has a young and growing population, a wide range of natural resources and a government full of internationally renowned reformers – yet life for the average Nigerian is not improving. There’s no shortage of visions that see Nigeria transformed into a dynamic, competitive economy where entrepreneurialism and innovation thrives. But the real need is for action – at all levels Bringing together 180+ international business leaders, investors, policymakers and influential commentators, our flagship Nigeria Summit will focus on what is being done to execute the vision. Speakers who have confirmed for this year’s high-level summit include: • H.E. Goodluck Jonathan, President, Federal Republic of Nigeria • Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Nigeria • Xan Smiley, Middle East and Africa Editor, The Economist • Karel de Gucht, European Commissioner for Trade • Valentine Sendanyoye Rugwabiza, Deputy DirectorGeneral, World Trade Organization • Tidjane Thiam, Chief Executive Officer, Prudential UK plc To register for this conference visit http://iebms.eurofinance.com/ iebms/logon/log_p1_logon.aspx?o c=80&cc=LOG&AppSessionID=fbo
fgkfhkej7einfcm&eventid=5072.
Africa Urban Infrastructure Summit April 22-23, 2013 Cape Town International Convention Centre South Africa
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he Africa Urban Infrastructure and Real Estate Summit will seek to bridge the information gap and create a platform to develop
the market for African urban infrastructure and real estate investment. The aim of the summit is to bring together national and local government officials, urban planners, designers, developers, facility managers and potential investors to share ideas, develop business opportunities and discuss current projects, case-studies, lessons learned, future challenges and new opportunities. In order to fully benefit from the advantages of rapid urbanisation, governments need to address these challenges by formulating efficient, affordable and environmentally sustainable urban plans. African cities require the expansion of housing capacity through the development of low-cost residential properties, as well as commercial
buildings. Governments need to invest in better infrastructure, energy and healthcare facilities, ICT services, water management and sanitation. Meanwhile, “smart” and “green” solutions are helping to re-shape the way cities are conceived, through the use of the latest technology and energy systems. To meet Africa’s infrastructure gap, $93bn of annual investment is needed, while governments currently spend only $45bn. Investments driven by urbanisation will grow much faster across the continent, thus creating scope for exceptional growth in infrastructure projects, real estate, and other subsectors. This potential is still largely unknown to international investors and its profitable opportunities are yet to be tapped into. Register and participate in the Africa urban Infrastructure Summit to: • Network with national and local government officials, urban planners, designers, developers, facility managers and potential investors • Discover the opportunities behind key industries: “smart and green” solutions; renewable energy; construction; ICT; water management; sanitation; healthcare • Update your knowledge on the latest projects and opportunities • Hear first-hand about casestudies and success stories in this market. Download the event brochure at: www.ic-events.net/africa_ urbaninfrastructure/resources/ realestatesummit_event%20 brochure.pdf.
Black Business News International Edition -76- Winter 2013
Books to Consider...
normalize processes. • Encourage a free trade in which the emphasis is put on the quality of trade rather than the value, and profits are created out of mass exchange rather than exorbitant unit prices.
Object-Oriented Development in Africa By Musaba D. Chailunga
T
raditional theories of development continue to come up short in Africa, and it’s time to explore different models to achieve success. Author Musaba D. Chailunga, a Zambian living in Canada, calls upon his expertise as a software developer to seek better solutions to Africa’s problems. He says Africans must do the following: • Capitalize and/or formalize transactions to legally document existing infrastructure and
• Recognize there are no random events. • Every player at every level in a given community has to recognize that actions matter, and everything is connected. Object-Oriented Development in Africa leaves us no time to wish, little time to hope, and all the time to create and build. It is an unconventional model of development for rural communities, but the basis for it is not new, and for Africa it might just work. The book is available in hard cover, softcover and e-book formats. http://bookstore. iuniverse.com www.amazon.com
American Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AmChams)
www.uschamber.com/international Black Business News International Edition -77- Winter 2013
Books for Africa Donate a Desk to Students in Malawi
B
ooks For Africa (www.booksforafrica.org) has a simple mis-
sion. We collect, s o r t , s h i p , and distribute books to children in Africa. Our goal: to end the book famine in Africa. Since 1988, BFA has shipped over 24 million high-quality text and library books to children and adults in 45 African countries. Millions more are needed. It costs $9,800 to send a sea container to most major sea ports of books and computers to Africa. Your donation will enable Books For Africa to send even more books to children in Africa who are hungry to read, hungry to learn.
E
very day, millions of children throughout Africa struggle to learn while sitting on the floor or on the ground outdoors. Giving them a desk, where they can write and concentrate, is a great step towards creating an educational system that attracts, and keeps, eager young students. Support the U.S. Fund for UNICEF (www.unicefusa.org) and MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” in an ambitious campaign called K.I.N.D.: Kids in Need of Desks to provide 46,000 desks for 172 schools in UNICEF Malawi’s Schools for Africa network. By making a tax-deductible dona-
tion to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, you can pick one or more students up off the ground and help pave their way to a better education and brighter future. A gift of: • $24 can pick one student off the floor; • $48 will buy a desk and bench for two students; • $720 will furnish an entire class of 30. The program is a component of the UNICEF Schools for Africa campaign which aims to accelerate access to quality basic education for children, with a special focus on girls, orphans and vulnerable children.
ASSIST THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH SUDAN Sudan Sunrise Help Build Schools in the South Sundan www.sudansunrise.org
S
outh Sudan is the most underdeveloped region of the world today. 85% of the population in South Sudan is illiterate. Only about 7% of teachers in the south have any professional training, and it is not uncommon to visit a school where the teachers themselves have not been educated beyond fourth grade. Some 1.5 million children who should be in school are not, due to lack of schools. The majority of schools that do exist consist of a chalkboard under a tree. Read about the camapign and contribute to the program to build over 41 schools at www.sudansunrise.org.
Southern Sudan Literacy Project (SSLP) Build a Primary School • www.thehopealliance.org/?q=node/77
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he Southern Sudan Literacy Project (SSLP) is designed to build a Primary school in Dongchak Payam, Duk County, Southern Sudan. Solomon Awan, who was one of the “Lost Boys from Sudan,” now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. He desires to help the village he is from, Duk Padiet. Villagers are just now returning after so many years of war and genocide. During the Spring of 2008, Solomon traveled back to his home village where he was reunited with his mother and sister. He met with the village community and agreed that the education of their children is the most critical need. We hope to finish building the school before the 2011 rainy season. To further this goal, SSLP has partnered with Hope Alliance, allowing our donors the benefit of a tax deduction. Please help SSLP accomplish this worthwhile project: send donations to The Hope Alliance (www.thehopealliance.org) For further information please contact: solomonawan@ yahoo.com. Black Business News International Edition -79- Winter 2013
This is an official warning from the African Union, an intergovernmental and continental organization with its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
I
t has come to our attention that an organization calling itself the AFRICAN UNION CHAMBER OF COMMERCE is using the name AFRICAN UNION (AU) AND THE AFRICAN UNION LOGO AND WEBSITE and claiming to be part of or an institution of the African Union. The said organization has been alleged to have solicited money from the wider public in order to render certain services or to provide access to identified goods or services. We would like to warn people worldwide that the AFRICAN UNION has no connection whatsoever with the so called African Union Chamber of Commerce. The said organization is not part of or an institution of the African Union and is not recognized by the African Union. The use of the name, logo and website of the African Union by the said organization is not authorized by the African Union and is therefore illegal. The African Union disassociates itself from any misrepresentations, statements or communication in whatever form and manner made by this organization purporting to be an agent of or part of the African Union. The African Union will not accept any liability in respect of any representation or misrepresentation, communication, transaction, losses or damages incurred by any member of the public arising from any act of commission or omission or utterance perpetrated by the so called African Union Chamber of Commerce. The AU as the copyright holder will take appropriate action against the said organization.
Strategic Objectives African Union Commission 1. Reduce conflicts to achieve continental security and stability; 2. Achieve the necessary continental security and stability as a prerequisite for Africa’s development and integration; 3. Promote sustainable economic development; 4. Promote sustainable social and human development; 5. Formulate frameworks for developing and sharing Africa’s Statistics, and Research & Development capacities; 6. Enhance continental integration; 7. Build and foster continental and global cooperation; 8. Promote good governance, democracy and human rights; 9. Strengthen the Africa-wide humanitarian response and action; 10. Promote Inter-African solidarity; 11. Promote African Cultural Renaissance and the protection of Africa’s cultural heritage; 12. Promote the active participation and contribution of all segments of the African society in Africa’s development and integration; 13. Promote the ratification and entry into force of all outstanding legal instruments adopted by the Assembly of the Union; 14. Promote gender equality; 15. Strengthen the capacity and enhance the operational efficiency and effectiveness of the African Union Commission; 16. Promote synergies, linkages and good working relations with all Africa Union Organs; 17. Promote effective cooperation and collaboration with Member States and the Regional Economic Communities; 18. Promote strategic partnerships for leveraging sustainable sources of funding and comparative advantages.
www.african-union.org
Black Business News International Edition -80- Winter 2013
Trade Advertisers Wedgywall™ Modelar Panel and Exhibit System Rentals •Durable double-sided, seamless panels •Sets up in seconds •No visible hardware •Manufactured in the USA
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The KARIDERM products for hair care, body care and facial care are made from certified organic shea butter, offering all the benefits of this African green treasure. Rich in nutritious fatty acids and regenerating vitamins, KARIDERM’s shea butter nourishes and balances the skin, giving a superior level of protection, revitalization and hydration. Available in Canada and Africa. Order directly from www.kariderm.com
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CARADORE.COM the FREE, SAFE & EASY way to buy - sell cars online in Africa www.caradore.com
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Kasamore International Calling Card Low Rates for International Calls & Domestic Calls No Contract • No Fees Quaranteed High Quality Sound
www.kasamore.com 1-866-507-7144 http://angola.org/newsletter/Imbondeiro.pdf Black Business News International Edition -81- Winter 2013
The
Congolese Community of Southern California
invites all of us to take part in the campaign to End the Violence, End the Genocide, End the Rape, End the Exploitation taking place in the Democratice Republic of the Congo Now!. Watch the video record of the recent public protest held in Los Angeles, California. Then become a supportor and an activist for freedom - contact is
Watch & Support the Africa Channel! Time Warner Don’t have the Africa Channel in your area? Call Time Warner at: 1-888-8922253 and ask that the Africa Channel be broadcast to your area. For information on the Africa Channel visit www.theafricachannel.com or send an e-mail inquiry to info@theafricachannel.com.
congolesecommunity@ gmail.com www.cneworld.tv/live Black Business News International Edition -82- Winter 2013
Making it easy to Buy Black. Supporting Black job creation. Decreasing the wealth gap. Yeah, we do all that! www.ujamaadeals.com The Ujamaa Difference for Black-owned Businesses
Buy Black! Daily discounts from Black-owned companies Support cooperative economics and job creation It’s simple. Black unemployment is at least 2x the national level (the official estimate is about 16.7%, but the real rate is closer to 30%). Black-owned businesses are 85% more likely to hire Black employees than non-Black-owned businesses. So the most efficient use of our consumer dollars to increase Black employment and decrease the wealth gap is to support Black-owned businesses. Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.
Apply now to run a deal and have your business promoted by Ujamaa Deals
To learn about daily deals
Ethiopian Airlines Now in the Star Alliance
www.ethiopianairlines.com
Black Business News International Edition -83- Winter 2013
Online Videos Offer Businesses the Basics of Exporting A new series of 12 online videos offer exporters another tool in learning about the technical aspects of exporting and dealing with the intricacies of trade rules and paperwork. In these videos, viewers see Trade Information Center (TIC) trade specialists, explaining how to fill out a NAFTA Certificate of Origin. The presenters in the videos all do customer-facing work for their Department of Commerce agencies and, thus, are intimately familiar with the subject matter of each video. The 12 export training videos are available on the Web at www.census.gov/foreign-trade/aes/ exporttraining/videos. Each video runs about three or four minutes and can be viewed online or downloaded for off-line viewing. For additional sources of export counseling, contact the Trade Information Center at 1-800-USA-TRAD(E) (1-800-872-8723); www. export.gov.
T
he Africa F i l m
A c a d e m y in its quest to enhance c a p a c i t y in different aspects of film making and promote the growth of the motion picture industry is set to train over 1000 youths across Africa via Film-In-ABox, a practical, hands on training school established to equip aspiring and emerging film makers with requisite skills needed to succeed in the film industry.
The first in the series of Film-In-A-Box trainings scheduled across the continent was held on the 25th26th of February in Lagos, Nigeria. The workshop with the theme SO YOU WANT TO ACT? ran master classes led by notable resource persons and industry leaders which included multiple award winners and two-time AMAA winners, Joke Silva and Kunle Afolayan. Other resource persons included Mildred Okwo, Sonny Mcdon among others. The training modules covered Basic Legal Knowledge for Actors, Acting, Script Interpretation, Image Management, Make-Up among others. Debbin, a renowned industry photographer, coordinated a photo shoot for all participants. The workshops according to Ms. Peace AnyiamOsigwe offer a basic foundational knowledge for any young man and woman interested in pursuing an educational or professional career in acting. For information on future workshops contact Tolani@ ama-awards.com, Ken@ama-awards.com or call 07092641859, 07092634884. 
Black Business News International Edition -84- Winter 2013
You can make deposits directly into your Imbongi Capital Account either via Electronic Funds Transfer or via a Cash Deposit into our third party payment processing account or at any vendor displaying the Imbongi Capital logo. Unfortunately no cheque deposits will be accepted. Debit orders can be established against this account provided that the service provider who raises the Debit Order does so via Capital Computer Bureau (Pty) Ltd. Stop orders can be set-up and managed on this account using your mobile phone application. Third party payments (including to other banks) can be made using Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) from your Mobile phone or the Internet bank facility provided by Imbongi Capital. Your Salary may be deposited directly via EFT into your Imbongi Capital account.
World Trade Centre 1st Floor Office Suites Crystal Towers Rialto Road Century City 7441
Money can be withdrawn from ATM’s (using any bank’s ATM) with your Imbongi Capital card. Debit Card purchases can be made at all vendors displaying the Maestro MasterCard Logo (these are in store purchases at POS (Point of Sales terminals).
Imbongi Capital reception: +27 21 551 7170 Imbongi Capital fax: 086 562 86 36
Pay any vendor that display the Imbongi Capital logo, using your mobile application. A text chat facility, to communicate with friends, family and other users of Imbongi Capital. The ability to purchase Airtime, Electricity and several other value add services directly from your Imbongi Capital accoun
www.imbongi.co.za Information about Imbongi Capital : info@imbongi.co.za
Black Business News International Edition -85- Winter 2013
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