Tar85 by The Africa Report

OP22 C Morocco blazes a green path

Nigeria Yabacon Valley searches for unicorns

w w w.t he a f r ic a r ep or t .c om

South Africa Companies go intercontinental

N ° 8 5 • N O V E M B E R 2 016

Elections on the edge Is populism leading us down a dangerous path?

INTERNATIONAL EDITION

Algeria 550 DA • Belgium €5.90 • Canada CA$ 7.95 • DR Congo US$ 9 • Denmark 60 DK • Ethiopia 90 Birr • France €5.90 • Germany €5.90 • Ghana GH¢ 10 • Italy €5.90 • Kenya KES 410 • Morocco 40 DH • Netherlands €5.90 • Nigeria 800 NGN • Norway NK 70 • Portugal €5.90 • Rwanda RWF 6,000 • Sierra Leone LE 15,000 • South Africa R40 (tax incl.) • Spain €5.90 • Sweden SEK 70 • Switzerland 9.90 FS • Tanzania TZS 10,000 • Tunisia 5.4 DT • Uganda UGX 10,000 • UK £4.50 • United States US$ 6.95 • Zambia 40 ZMW • Zimbabwe US$ 4 • CFA Countries 3,500 F CFA • Euro Zone €5.90

GROUPE JEUNE AFRIQUE

MORONI

Fly to the Paradise archipelago as of November 2016

www.ethiopianairlines.com

COP22 Morocco blazes a green path

Nigeria Yabacon Valley searches for unicorns

w w w.t he a f r i c a re p o r t . c om

CONTENTS

South Africa Companies go intercontinental

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THE AFRICA REPORT # 85 - NOVEMBER 2016

Elections on the edge Is populism leading us down a dangerous path?

INTERNATIONAL EDITION

GROUPE JEUNE AFRIQUE

BUSINESS

06 EDITORIAL Thuli’s triumph 08 LETTERS

60 MOROCCO Winds of change The North African kingdom is balancing Islamists with a managed democracy, and squaring state with market

10 THE QUESTION

BRIEFING 12 SIGNPOSTS 16 INTERNATIONAL

66 SOUTH AFRICA No country for rich men

18 PEOPLE 20 CALENDAR

FRONTLINE

70 LEADERS Patrick Pouyanné, chief executive of Total

22 ELECTIONS ON THE EDGE The trouble with democracy As electoral politics fail to address deepening inequalities voters look for a third way.

COVER CREDITS: PHOTOMONTAGE ISABEL ESPANOL: FOTOLIA; S.LOEB/AFP; J.TALLIS/AFP; G.GUERCIA/AFP; T.HILL/FILMMAGIC/GETTY; GETTY

30 OPINION Denis Galava

POLITICS

42 ZAMBIA Generation game

81 AIRTEL NIGERIA Interview, CEO Segun Ogunsanya

ART & LIFE 82 DRUG NATION Northern Nigeria grapples with an epidemic From high-rollers to the poorest, no one is spared

86 BOOKS Farafina keeps readers waiting for the release of Under the Udala Trees

44 KENYA Raila gets to work 44 LIBYA A win-win situation

87 TECHNOLOGY BlackRhinoVR, 360º virtual reality pioneers from Nairobi

45 ANANSI

COUNTRY FOCUS 47 DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO An uncertain future Transfer time in Kinshasa THE AFRICA REPORT

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DOSSIER TELECOMS 74 Yaba’s tech renaissance Part deliberate orchestration, part entrepreneur-driven mayhem, Yaba is slowly becoming a byword for tech success in Nigeria

80 LIQUID TELECOM Interview, CTO Ben Roberts

37 SAO TOMÉ E PRINCIPE Interview with Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada

40 MALAWI Thirsty for power, hungry for food

73 HANNIBAL

78 GOOGLE VS FACEBOOK The battle for Africa’s internet

32 ETHIOPIA Too little, too late? Popular protests in the Oromia and Ahmara regions threaten to spiral into ethnic violence

38 ZIMBABWE Interview with Joice Mujuru, former VP and president of Zimbabwe People First

72 FINANCE Blockchain gains momentum

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88 TRAVEL Where to hit in Port Elizabeth 89 LIFESTYLE Ghanaian rapper M.anifest 90 DAY IN THE LIFE Choreographer Tarik Bouarrara

www.liquidtelecom.com

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EDITORIAL

THE AFRICA REPORT A Groupe Jeune Afrique publication

BY PATRICK SMITH

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CHA I R M A N A ND F O UND E R BÉCHIR BEN YAHMED

Thuli’s triumph

he courage of Thuli Madonsela, South Africa’s public protector for the past seven years, offers a powerful antidote to concerns about the weakening of democracy in Africa and beyond. In an era of growing authoritarianism and corruption, Madonsela held to account some of the most powerful political and corporate interests in her country. Although her investigations offended and threatened those interests, she worked with a zenlike calm. That came in useful on her last day in office on 14 October. Outside the gates of the building there was a rowdy gathering of well-paid demonstrators shouting abuse at her and blowing vuvuzelas. Inside, Madonsela’s legal advisers were dealing with the latest broadside from President Jacob Zuma, whose office had issued an injunction blocking publication of her valedictory report: a detailed investigation into allegations that Zuma’s business allies, the Gupta family, had exerted improper influence on senior government officials. The Guptas deny all wrongdoing. The most compelling sections of Madonsela’s report are said to be the detailed accounts of how Zuma decided last December to replace Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister with the inexperienced Des van Rooyen, spooking the markets. That panic stopped only when senior African National Congress (ANC) officials pressured Zuma to sack Van Rooyen and appoint Pravin Gordhan. That twist of history has strengthened Madonsela’s position. Not only is Gordhan continuing with those efforts to fight improper corporate influence on the government, he now has a

P UB L I S HE R DANIELLE BEN YAHMED publisher@theafricareport.com E X E CUT I VE P UB L I S HE R JÉRÔME MILLAN

strong constituency of top officials such as deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa and ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe offering him public support. Anti-corruption campaigners should draw some important lessons from Madonsela’s work. Not only did she refuse to back down under heavy official and informal pressure, but she used the strengths of South Africa’s indeThe need pendent institutions to practical effect. for judicial Madonsela’s report reform on how Zuma used must be one state funds to upgrade his private Nkandla of the key homestead was batlessons from ted around in parliament, with Zuma’s Madonsela’s inner circle contemptenure tuously dismissing it. That all changed when it was referred to the Constitutional Court, which applauded the professionalism of the investigation and ruled against Zuma. He has now paid money back to the government. Other legendary anti-corruption officials in Africa – such as Kenya’s John Githongo, Sierra Leone’s Abdul Tejan-Cole and Nigeria’s Nuhu Ribadu – had to leave their countries in a hurry with their investigations unfinished, partly because they lacked the backing of an independent judiciary. The need for judicial reform must be one of the key lessons from Madonsela’s tenure. Before taking up her new post at Stellenbosch University in 2018, perhaps Madonsela could be prevailed on to lead a pan-African initiative to shore up the efforts of anti-corruption commissions across the continent. ●

edit editorial@theafricareport.com THE AFRICA REPORT

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M A R K E T I NG & D E VE L O P M E NT ALISON KINGSLEY‑HALL E D I T O R I N CHI E F PATRICK SMITH M A NA G I NG E D I T O R NICHOLAS NORBROOK editorial@theafricareport.com A S S O CI AT E E D I T O R MARSHALL VAN VALEN B US I NE S S E D I T O R MARK ANDERSON E D I T O R I A L A S S I S TA NT OHENEBA AMA NTI OSEI R E G I O NA L E D I T O R S CRYSTAL ORDERSON (SOUTHERN AFRICA) BILLIE ADWOA MCTERNAN (GHANA) S UB - E D I T O R ALISON CULLIFORD P R O O F R E A D I NG KATHLEEN GRAY A RT DI R E CT O R MARC TRENSON DESIGN VALÉRIE OLIVIER (LEAD DESIGNER) SYDONIE GHAYEB CHRISTOPHE CHAUVIN (INFOGRAPHICS) R E S E A R CH SYLVIE FOURNIER P HO T O G R A P HY PIERANGÉLIQUE SCHOULER SALES SANDRA DROUET Tel: (33) 1 44 30 18 07 – Fax: (33) 1 45 20 09 67 sales@theafricareport.com CONTACT FOR SUBSCRIPTION: Webscribe Ltd Unit 8 The Old Silk Mill Brook Street, Tring Hertfordshire HP23 5EF United Kingdom Tel: + 44 (0) 1442 820580 Fax: + 44 (0) 1442 827912 Email: subs@webscribe.co.uk ExpressMag 8275 Avenue Marco Polo Montréal, QC H1E 7K1, Canada T : +1 514 355 3333 1 year subscription (10 issues): All destinations: €39 ‑ $60 ‑ £35 TO ORDER ONLINE: www.theafricareportstore.com D I F CO M INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING AND COMMUNICATION AGENCY 57‑BIS, RUE D’AUTEUIL 75016 PARIS ‑ FRANCE Tel: (33) 1 44 30 19‑60 – Fax: (33) 1 44 30 18 34 advertising@theafricareport.com A D VE RT I S I NG D I R E CT O R NATHALIE GUILLERY WITH JEANNY CHABON, SÉBASTIEN BLACHE R E G I O NA L M A NA G E R S IBIJOKE FABORODE PASCALE LALLEMAND CÉCILE LOUEDEC PRINTER: SIEP 77 ‑ FRANCE N° DE COMMISSION PARITAIRE : 0720 I 86885 Dépôt légal à parution / ISSN 1950‑4810 THE AFRICA REPORT is published by GROUPE JEUNE AFRIQUE

LETTERS For all your comments, suggestions and queries, please write to: The Editor, The Africa Report, 57bis Rue d’Auteuil - Paris 75016 - France. or editorial@theafricareport.com

MILLENNIALS AND TECH IN AFRICA, A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD

A GHANA

The NPP A-team

w w w.t h eafri car ep or t. c om

South Africa The money wars

Youth The Millennial ultimatum

N ° 8 4 • OC T O B E R 2 0 16

n Accra, youth in tech are partaking in tech competitions and developing very impressive applications that make life easier in this bustling city [‘Millennials: The connected generation’, TAR84 Oct 2016]. This is the positive wind of change that technology has brought to us. But Nigeria How to survive there are worrisome trends that need attention. cheap oil Online prostitution has become commonplace. With the help of a smartphone and internet service, hookups are so easy. Credit-card fraud is also prevalent. Would we be more content if our youth engaged more in politics or civil society organisations to ensure that they are taking charge of their future rather than making cheap and quick money? Maybe, but man must survive so I do not blame them much. We all owe it to ourselves to ensure that our fellow millennials become more productive using the resources at our disposal. No need to wait. We must take charge now. Selasi Attipoe, public servant, Ghana 14-PAGE SPECIAL

A guide for governments, companies and banks who want to avoid the drop

INTERNATIONAL EDITION

GROUPE JEUNE AFRIQUE

Algeria 550 DA • Belgium €5.90 • Canada CA$ 7.95 • DR Congo US$ 9 • Denmark 60 DK • Ethiopia 90 Birr • Finland €5.90 • France €5.90 • Germany €5.90 • Ghana GH¢ 10 • Italy €5.90 • Kenya KES 410 • Morocco 40 DH • Netherlands €5.90 • Nigeria 800 NGN • Norway NK 70 • Portugal €5.90 • Rwanda RWF 6,000 • Sierra Leone LE 15,000 • South Africa R40 (tax incl.) • Spain €5.90 • Sweden SEK 70 • Switzerland 9.90 FS • Tanzania TZS 10,000 • Tunisia 5.4 DT • Uganda UGX 10,000 • UK £4.50 • United States US$ 6.95 • Zambia 40 ZMW • Zimbabwe US$ 4 • CFA Countries 3,500 F CFA • Euro Zone €5.90

A PAN-AFRICAN PASSPORT FOR ALL Will the pan-African Passport ever be a reality for its citizens? [‘The Question’, TAR84 Sept. 2016] I heard it had already been launched but is being used by a limited number of people. If this is the case, then it is already a reality. What remains is to ensure access is increased to everyone in every nation in Africa. If your question is about whether it will get beyond this initial phase and become operational by 2020, I would say yes, this is possible. A phased approach could be used to ensure countries come on board when they are ready.

MAURITIUS MUST ACKNOWLEDGE AND ENCOURAGE TRUE DIVERSITY

If President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim is truly concerned with issues of diversity and inclusion within Mauritian society [‘Mauritius Country Focus’, TAR82-83, July/August 2016], then she must put forth policies to rapidly advance Mauritians of African descent from their historical second- or third-class status to become equal in the nation’s governance with people from Indian, French and Chinese backgrounds. For if “meritocracy is the only way,” Kofi Amekudzi as Dr Gurib-Fakim states, then

Mauritius’s African populations need the complete support of government to be accelerated from day labourers and fringe-economy workers to globalbusiness franchise owners and players.

K. Felix Mjumbe Berkeley CA, US

TRADE CORRIDORS MEAN RISING DEBT LEVELS Your article [‘Passages to growth’, TAR82-83 July/August 2016] is very impressive on the subject of trade corridors to boost Africa’s economic development. Infrastructure investment for a reliable inland road and railway network is paramount to serve the destinations of landlocked countries for transport of their various goods efficiently with a free-flow passage. But now financing these new developments is raising new concerns. It is causing an appetite for unsustainable borrowing both locally and internationally. This is a drawback because it is giving rise to a general outlook of rising domestic and external debt. With falling revenues in tourism, oil, mineral and other export earnings many countries in Africa are feeling the heat of scarcity of foreign exchange e.g. Nigeria, Egypt. This is now raising questions of the ability of many countries to sustain these debts. This could create a reverse trend where countries slash development expenditure as the cash crunch bites.

Kokil K. Shah Mombasa, Kenya

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ADVERTISERS’ INDEX ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES p 2; LIQUID TELECOM p 4-5; DAIMLER MERCEDES p 7; REP. OF DJIBOUTI p 9; AFRICA CEO FORUM p 11; BARCLAYS p 14-15; SAP / DANGOTE p 17; TAR SUBS. MONTS NIMBA p 21; CENTRAL EUR. UNIV. - SPP p 29; EKO HOTELS & SUITES p 43; CHANNELS TV p 46; SIRE AVANTAGE CEO p 49; CONGO AIRWAYS p 50-51; BCDC p 55; OLAM p 57; MONTS NIMBA p 58; MINING INDABA p 59; TUNISIA 2020 p 63; YESHI BERNABE p 65; DDP OUTDOOR p 69; INFORMA AFRICA COM p 69; TAR DIGITAL p 77; ABAX CORP. SERVICES p 79; MIX TELEMATICS p 81; CNN p 91; QATAR NATIONAL BANK p 92 THE AFRICA REPORT

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At the crossroads of Africa, the Arab world and Asia

The future is growing

An environment conducive to innovation Diversiﬁed economy Busy and reliable banking system Regional transport and telecommunications hub

DIFCOM © : V. FOURNIER /JA - DR

Modern infrastructure

DJIBOUTI SERVING INVESTORS

THE QUESTION To respond to this month’s Question, visit www.theafricareport.com. You can also find The Africa Report on Facebook and on Twitter @theafricareport. Comments, suggestions and queries can also be sent to: The Editor, The Africa Report, 57bis Rue d’Auteuil, Paris 75016, France or editorial@theafricareport.com

As President Obama comes to the end of his tenure, critics claim that as the first African-American US President, his record on the continent is disappointing and has fallen short of the successes of his predecessors.

Did Africa expect too much from Obama?

Yes KEFA M. OTISO President, Kenya Scholars & Studies Association, US

Obama is a Kenyan American, not an American Kenyan. As such, like all other American presidents before him, Obama’s first priority has been to promote and protect US diplomatic, economic and security interests around the globe. Consider, for instance, how US interests have shaped Obama’s foreign trips in his eight years in office. While he has made five trips to Germany, Mexico and the United Kingdom, he has only visited Africa four times. Why? Because America has far more crucial ties with these three countries than with Africa. In 2015, for instance, bilateral US-Germany trade was worth $173 billion while that between the US and all sub-Saharan African countries was valued at only $37 billion. Nevertheless, Obama has visited Africa more than many other sitting US presidents to promote American interests such as the need to counter fast-rising Chinese influence in Africa. Simultaneously, he has supported Africa by building on Bill Clinton and George Bush’s initiatives and by launching his own Power Africa and Young African Leaders Initiative despite stiff opposition from the Republican-controlled US Congress. But beyond the question of what Obama has or has not done for Africa is the more critical need for the continent to stand up for its own interests. ●

No FRANCIS NESBITT Associate Professor of Africana Studies, San Diego State University, US

Africans and Africans abroad expected a fair shake, not a handout. Of course Africans celebrated Obama’s election. People danced in the streets! Kenya declared 20 January 2009 a public holiday so wananchi [the people] could celebrate the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States. Obama became both the sign and the signifier of the progress that Africans and people of African descent have made across the world. Celebrating the symbol and his achievements, however, does not mean that we expected a handout. African intellectuals were clearheaded when it came to their expectations. Scholars such as Achille Mbembe and Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja agreed that Obama would be obligated to reify the interests of the US. They also argued that an Obama presidency could provide access to the highest levels of policy-making in the US. Unfortunately, we were deeply disappointed with the Obama administration’s adoption of George Bush’s national security approach that focused on terrorism and counter-terrorism. Obama talked of transforming the relationship between Africa and the US during the US-Africa Summit in 2014, but his Security Governance Initiative proposed combining economic and military policies to create a secure environment for US investors. In the final analysis, Obama failed to break out of the mould of both Republican and Democratic foreign-policy perspectives since World War II. ●

YOUR VIEWS:

Why do we expect Obama to do what our so-called leaders should be doing? Obama is an American and his loyalty is to the US; our leaders on the other hand are loyal only to their own selfish interests. Wizzy Zvoushe I think the expectations were way too high just because of the colour of his skin. It’s a shame, as it could have worked out better than only the oil deal with Ghana. Ron de Bruijn Expecting someone with too much on his plate to elevate us when our own leaders can’t is too much to ask. Ludvonsi Ronz Ginindza No! It’s reasonable that Africans at home and abroad should expect something from a US president of African descent. @AllenCDawson Africa expected from Obama what Obama promised but failed to deliver – support for justice, good governance, press freedom. @BilisumaKegna The expectation was overwhelming, forgetting that the POTUS is legally bound by the US Supreme Court and its Constitution on foreign policies. @SirAllingtone

THE AFRICA REPORT

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5th

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CO-HOST

ORGANIZERS

BRIEFING

SOUTH SUDAN Fighting between government and rebel troops forced more people from their homes in October.

SIGNPOSTS

SOUTH AFRICA Police used rubber bullets

and stun grenades against students at Wits University as the #FeesMustFall protests escalated.

NIGERIA On 13 October, vice-president Yemi

Osinbajo (left) met some of the 21 kidnapped girls from Chibok who were released by Boko Haram.

In conjunction with GeoPoll, The Africa Report asked 118 South Africans the question: Do you support the #FeesMustFall protests? HALDEN KROG/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES

69.5% Yes 30.5% No

GeoPoll is the world’s largest mobile surveying platform and sample provider in Africa, enabling companies and organisations to gather quick, accurate and in-depth insights. To conduct your own mobile survey using GeoPoll’s easy-to-use platform visit Research.GeoPoll.com.

MIGRATION BATTERED BY THE SEA Immigrant arrivals in Europe by sea 520,000 1 Jan.30 Sept. 2015

SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATION ON MIGRATION

314,003 1 Jan.9 Oct. 2016

The number of migrants making the voyage to Europe across the Mediterranean has dropped this year, but more people are dying on the journey. This raises questions about Europe’s response to higher migrant inflows.

Immigrant deaths at sea 2,926 1 Jan.30 Sept. 2015

3,611 1 Jan.9 Oct. 2016

SOUTH AFRICA

Gordhan in the crosshairs

nce he has negotiated a tricky 26 October mid-term budget for the ailing S of the BRICS grouping, South Africa’s finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, will make his way on 2 November to court, accused of fiddling a pension for a colleague. For his part, Gordhan has flagged up deals said to be opaque by President Jacob Zuma’s allies in the Gupta family. With Gordhan’s legal troubles, Zuma may be trying to land a punch on his finance minister, but the effect on the rand – negative, again – is not just a concern of rich bankers and the mortgage-holding middle classes. South Africa buys maize on the international markets. As the

currency falls, the price of food goes up. The poorest will be hardest hit. The African National Congress (ANC) was once the party of the dispossessed. Can it survive Zuma’s style of governance? Some see the party splitting down the middle. Heavyweights like vice-president Cyril Ramaphosa have finally come out into the open, backing Gordhan. The top council of the ANC – its six most powerful members – is neatly divided. The Congress of South African Trade Unions, which is one of the three groups in the governing alliance, is already fraying at the seams. Expect fireworks in the months ahead, as Zuma sails into his final year in charge. THE AFRICA REPORT

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BRIEFING

SOMALIA Girls play the beautiful game

at Howlwadaag Primary School in the southern region of the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

RWANDA On 12 October, technicians flew

test flights for a new fleet of drones that are going to be used to deliver medical supplies.

GHANA Early October meant it was Fashion Week in Accra, with local models and designers on the catwalk.

ALBERT GONZALEZ FARRAN/AFP; SIPHIWE SIBEKO/REUTERS; SUNDAY AGHAEZE/AP/SIPA; MOHAMED ABDIWAHAB/AFP; STEPHANIE AGLIETTI/AFP; STEFAN HEUNIS/AFP

“We have 49% of voices who

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn explains some of the root causes of the ongoing protests that have shaken the counttry.

RWANDA KIGALI LOOKS WEST While relations between Kigali and Paris remain strained over the 1994 genocide, President Paul Kagame is stepping up contacts with Francophone presidents from Conakry to Brazzaville.

Tangiers MEDays, November 2015

Chad

N’Djamena Inauguration of Idriss Déby P. Talon Itno, August Benin in Kigali 2016 August 2016 Cotonou

** January 2017

Djibouti Inauguration of Ismaïl Omar Guelleh and a state visit, March and May 2016

DR Congo

J. Kabila in Rubavu, August 2016

Libya’s population 6m In late September, United Nations envoy Martin Kobler called for a continued arms embargo on Libya and for more support for the struggling unity government.

NIGERIA DOLLAR LOSSES FOR DANGOTE

Congo

D. S. Nguesso in Kigali, December 2015

SOURCE: RESEARCH

Bilateral visits Visits from head of state and government Travel by President Paul Kagame * October 2016

Mali

Abidjan*

26m

Launch of RwandAir routes

M. Keïta Prime minister in Kigali, October 2015 Dakar Senegal Next Einstein Conakry** Guinea Forum, State visit, March 2016 April 2016

Weapons in Libya

RWANDA

$4.4bn

The amount of money businessman Aliko Dangote lost between January and September, mostly through the depreciation of Nigeria’s currency SOURCE: BLOOMBERG’S BILLIONAIRES INDEX

SOURCE: UN

Morocco

BRUNO LEVY FOR TAR

are not represented in the parliament, even though they have voted for the opposition,, because of the electoral system”

LIBYA AWASH IN ARMS

BRIEFING

INTERNATIONAL 1

2 4

3 1

COLOMBIA

53,894

Difference in the number of ‘no’ and ‘yes’ votes in the 2 October referendum on a peace deal with the FARC rebels. The deal was rejected by voters, who argued it was too lenient. This didn’t stop President Juan Manuel Santos from winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

UNITED STATES

Everybody loses

LONDON NEWS PICTURES/ZUMA/REA

In October, each new day seemed to bring a new low in politics in the United States. After a leaked video in which Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump bragged about sexually assaulting women, he then said he would jail his opponent, Hillary Clinton, if he were president. After Trump held a press conference with women who said that they were sexually abused by Clinton’s husband, several women came out to say that Trump had groped them. With animus towards both Trump and Clinton so high, it risks contributing to the further alienation of voters from mainstream politics.

EUROPE

Hard to fathom

British prime minister Theresa May has announced that the country will activate the Lisbon Treaty’s Article 50 by March 2017. The article starts a two-year clock on breakup negotiations with the European Union (EU). There remains a lack of clarity, however, about what this will look like in practice. May told the Conservative Party conference on 2 October that she would be negotiating a ‘hard Brexit’, which would take the country out of the single market in order to limit the free movement of people. The pound took the news badly. France’s President François Hollande said that Europe should make Britain pay for its betrayal. But the situations of Hollande and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel highlight tough questions about the direction in which many European countries are heading. Hollande is doing poorly in the polls ahead of the 2017 elections and is worried about the possible political comeback of rightwing candidate and former President Nicolas Sarkozy. In Germany, after opening the doors to immigrants fleeing Syria, Merkel’s Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands has continued to lose ground to the Eurosceptic and anti-immigration Alternative für Deutschland.

CHINA

“Hitler

massacred three million Jews. Now, there are three million drug addicts. I’d be happy to slaughter them ”

Inscrutable Xi

Rumours are swirling in Beijing that President Xi Jinping, who has marke ed himself as a strong leader through an anti-corruption drive and holding sway over the military, may not follow the Communist party’s plans for a smooth transition. He should be thinking about his successor, but voic ces in the party say he could try to shirk tradition and go for a third term in offic ce. All eyes are on the 2017 party congress to see if he plans on retiring or ha as something else in mind. For now, he is keeping his cards close to his che est.

THE PHILIPPINES

BULLIT MARQUEZ/AP/SIPA

Presidentt Rodrigo Duterte has made e his extremely hardline stand on the fight against drugs a policy priority p since he came to power in June.

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SAP brings digital transformation to African cities – it’s all about provision, protection and prosperity Many forward-thinking cities around the world, including several across the African continent, are taking advantage of technology to become citizen centric. The public services sector has traditionally been viewed as conservative and bureaucratic in comparison to other sectors but transformation is rapidly taking place in many cities. There is no doubt that cities that are embracing mega technology trends such as Cloud, mobility and big data will thrive even more. The SAP S4/HANA technology is designed specifically with today’s Digital Economy to help cities become smarter. The solution covers all business processes and meets all the digital environment requirements for successful future cities. The resulting innovation enables cities to take data from embedded devices, analyze it into information in real-time and leverage the information across the entire value chain to drive meaningful business

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BRIEFING

PEOPLE

SPOTLIGHT

Akinwunmi Ambode After a difficult start, Lagos’s workman-like governor has grown into a role that many initially saw as beyond him. Nonetheless, he faces serious challenges in the buzzing megacity ALONG INNERCITY STREETS, damaged roads and deep potholes force patience on otherwise exuberant Lagosian motorists. But, 18 months into his term, governor Akinwunmi Ambode has made Lagos’s road infrastructure a personal crusade. This year, he says, more than 114 road projects have been completed across Lagos. “In the next three weeks, we shall commence the process of bid invitation for the construction of

an additional 114 roads,” he thundered at a town hall meeting on 11 October. Ambode is trying to build support from the ground up. Tope AjayiSalami, a small-business owner based near Iyana Ipaja New Road, complains that works there were uncompleted for years. He recounts: “Last September, Ambode came to the site, followed up for a few days and it made a big difference. You could see the contractors felt he meant business.”

Yet if Ambode’s stature has grown, it is from a low base. He lives under the shadow of Babatunde Fashola, who gained cult-like popularity after governing Lagos for eight years. Fashola was credited with building on the infrastructure successes of his predecessor, Bola Tinubu, the wealthy national chairman of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC). Both Fashola and Ambode owe their governorship candidacies to Tinubu’s iron grip in the south-west. Ambode, who had left the civil service to found financial consultancy Brandsmiths, was not a public figure before Tinubu tapped him up. And Tinubu’s underlying influence in Lagos State affairs is reflected in a number of Ambode’s appointments. These include Tinubu’s nephew Deji Tinubu and sister-in-law Lola Akande. Ambode initially ran into difficulty when trying to implement a flurry LAGOS’S LEDGER MAN 14 June 1963 Born in Epe, Lagos State 1984 Graduates in Accounting from the University of Lagos 1988-2006 Various financial roles in local government. 2006-2012 Accountant general for Lagos State. 2012 Retires from the civil service and starts Brandsmiths Consulting

29 May 2015 Elected Governor of Lagos State

“No country in the world can

“Zuma must go.

The UN Economic Commission on Africa chief Carlos Lopes offered some parting thoughts on the CFA zone before stepping down from his post in October.

AngloGold Ashanti chairman Sipho Pityana used a mining conference in October to call for Zuma’s resignation.

afford to have a static monetary policy for more than 30 years ”

We must seize the moment and save South Africa ” THE AFRICA REPORT

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PRETTY YENDE The South African opera singer is taking to one of the world’s biggest stages to play Juliette in a production of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette at New York’s Metropolitan Opera (‘the Met’) next March.

The AfDB will rally strongly around Nigeria to overcome its recession ” During a visit home in September, AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina promised $1bn of support for the ailing oil exporter. •

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BEYONCÉ Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie slapped down the US singer’s take on feminism after allowing Beyoncé to quote her in a song. The author said she resented people expecting her to be “grateful” to Beyoncé.

HASSAN ABDELKHALEK Morocco’s former ambassador to Jordan has taken on the tough job of ambassador to Algeria at a time that Rabat is looking to rejoin the African Union and counter Algeria’s opposition to its position on Western Sahara.

“Nigeria is too big to fail.

THE AFRICA REPORT

MAIXENT ACCROMBESSI After fraught elections in August, President Ali Bongo Ondimba sacked his seemingly allpowerful cabinet director, who is originally from Benin and was the subject of much criticism from the opposition.

VINCENT FOURNIER/JA

Emmanuel Akinwotu in Lagos

AHMADOU BAKAYOKO The young head of the Ivorian TV station RTI has landed his own Bollywood coup. He is working with Mumbai’s Zee Entertainment to film the first Ivorian soap opera, called In the Midst of a Dream.

of reforms. Changes to the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) provoked resistance from the notoriously testy organisation, with some officials opting out of work – causing even greater traffic jams. Ambode has persisted, and some of his efforts are paying off. Lagos’s motley yellow buses known as Danfos often crowd bus stops and obstruct lanes. The state is now creating slip lanes to help the flow of traffic. Dipo Banjoko, a 28-year-old commuter, says: “The potholes are still bad everywhere, but you can see that the lay-bys have had an impact.” Lagos State government has spent N4.8bn on law enforcement vehicles, helicopters and equipment, and that has purportedly led to a sharp decrease in crime. The statistics Ambode cites – in typical triumphant style – require caution. He claimed in January that crime had fallen 65% on the previous year and then said in August that it has dropped a further 70%, which some see as blindingly optimistic. Eno-Abasi Sunday, a journalist in Lagos, tells The Africa Report what he sees: “Well, you definitely cannot say that crime has become low in Lagos because things are very challenging at the moment.” Whilst there is support for the anti-crime push, there are also concerns about heavy-handed demolitions of ‘illegal’ shops and houses, especially in affluent areas such as Lekki and Ikoyi. A campaign against begging in the streets has led to disturbing accusations by civil society groups about unconstitutional detainments. With gleaming megaprojects like Eko Atlantic City rising up out of the ocean, Lagosians might be wondering whether everyone is invited to the party. ●

JONATHAN MOYO The higher education minister and ally of Grace Mugabe in the struggle to replace President Mugabe is now the subject of an anti-corruption investigation over deals at the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund.

Bad times

BRIEFING

CALENDAR

INTERMODAL AFRICA 17-18 November MOMBASA | KENYA Kenya Ports Authority hosts the annual container ports and terminals gathering. transportevents.com

FADEL SENNA/AFP

COP22 7-18 November MARRAKECH | MOROCCO After the historic Paris climate talks in November 2015, the medieval city of Marrakech will play host to the next edition, aimed towards a green global economy. The choice of Morocco for the COP22 comes as little surprise. The Kingdom is the first North African country to commit to generating 42% of its energy from renewables by 2020 and to decreasing its greenhouse gas emissions by 32% by 2030 (see page 60). The country is also home to the Ouarzazate Solar Power Station, which will be become the world’s largest solar plant when it is completed in 2018 and will provide electricity for 1.1 million people. This year’s event will complement the Paris meeting and both governments have agreed to work together to make it a success. cop22-morocco.com

FILM AFRICA 28 Oct. – 6 Nov. LONDON | UK The opening film at this year’s event is Kalushi, based on the life of anti-apartheid activist Solomon Mahlangu. filmafrica.org.uk

FORUM BRAZILAFRICA 3-4 November IGUACA FALLS | BRAZIL forumbrazilafrica.com

AFRICA CAREERS FORUM 8-9 November GLOBAL Online job fair organised by Paris-based publisher Groupe Jeune Afrique. africacareersforum.com

WATER AFRICA & WEST AFRICA BUILDING & CONSTRUCTION 8-10 November ABUJA | NIGERIA ace-events.com NTH

EURAFRIC FORUM 8-10 November

FILDA – INTERNATIONAL FAIR OF LUANDA 15-20 November LUANDA | ANGOLA Multi-sector trade show including consumer goods, agricultural machinery, food, textiles, school supplies and spare parts. fil-angola.co.ao

LYON | FRANCE Annual water and energy forum aiming to promote EU/African parterships. eurafric.org

EU-NIGERIA BUSINESS FORUM 10-11 November LAGOS | NIGERIA eunbf.eu

AFRICACOM 14-18 November CAPE TOWN | SOUTH AFRICA africa.comworldseries.com

AFRICA INDUSTRIALISATION DAY 20 November unido.org

AFRAA SUMMIT 20-22 November VICTORIA FALLS | ZIMBABWE General assembly of the African Airlines Association. aga48.afraa.org

TANZANIA INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR 25-27 November DAR ES SALAAM | TANZANIA growexh.com

FRANCOPHONIE SUMMIT 26-27 November ANTANANARIVO | MADAGASCAR francophonie.org

ECONOMIC IDEAS FESTIVAL 17-18 November ACCRA | GHANA The second edition of the The Young Professional Economists Network’s flagship event looks at ‘Engineering an African-led growth: your Africa, our continent’. ypenetwork.org/eif

GAMBIA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 1 December GHANA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 7 December

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FRONTLINE

Ellections

edge

Grievances are mounting as economic inequities and corruption worsen. But after a spate of bad elections this year, people are losing faith in the political elite’s ability to fix the problems. In this vacuum, a new wave of grassroots and activist politics is spreading By Patrick Smith

orcorrup pt,brutalanddespotic politiciaans around the world, 2016 is a year to celebrate – a year of im mpunity. And into that cruciblee has rushed a herd of politicians rehearrsing their nationalist and populist bomb bast. For everyone else, it marks a failure o of politics, particularly electoral politics, tto address deepening inequalities and h harsher oppression. Leaders who havve sent their air forces to bomb the peoplle of Aleppo and Darfur, or their armiees to shoot protesters in the streets, face no sanction and little more than distantt cries of international protest. And the companies and banks that finance these atrocities for their political clients esccape serious penalties. THE AFRICA REPORT

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For many, this global failure of politics has reached its nadir in the United States presidential election. How did Donald Trump, reality television star and property magnate, become the Republican candidate with a chance of victory? In fact, the economic grievances exploited so disingenuously by Trump in the US are mirrored in Africa. Trickledown economics has failed in both the US and Africa. However, Trump’s proposed remedies – more tax cuts for wealthy citizens and corporations – would make matters still worse. Injecting both a sense of humour and proportion into the US political angst, Mo Ibrahim, the Sudanese telecoms billionaire and philanthropist, told a

meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations on 17 October: “May I suggest an African solution? […] Give President Obama a third term!” Some diplomatic laughter rippled around the room. Earlier in the discussion, Ibrahim had combined optimism about Africa’s economic future – “within 30 years, the continent will have a bigger labour force than either China or India […] and more valuable resources on land and offshore than either” – with stern warnings about trends in governance and security. Research by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation shows a very mixed picture over the past decade. The Ibrahim Index of African Governance records improvements in 37 of Africa’s 54 countries in overall governance, such as rule of law, human rights, economic opportunity and human development. But in 33 countries, corruption and bureaucracy have worsened. And two-thirds of African countries have seen a deterioration in freedom of expression over the past decade, according to the index. At the heart of this is a political problem, Ibrahim told the Council on For-

PHOTOMONTAGE ISABEL ESPANOL: FOTOLIA; S.LOEB/AFP; J.TALLIS/AFP; G.GUERCIA/AFP; T.HILL/FILMMAGIC/GETTY; GETTY

on n the

FRONTLINE | ELECTIONS ON THE EDGE

eign Relations. “How many bad elections have we seen in Africa this year? And no one says anything.” He singled out presidents’ penchant for changing constitutions to get more time in power. On the clashes in Burundi over President Pierre Nkurunziza’s unilateral insistence that he is entitled to a third term, Ibrahim said he was disappointed by the African Union’s response. It has backed down from plans for tough action and instead sent Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, himself in power for three decades, to negotiate with Nkurunziza. Election violence this year spread to Gabon, where the national assembly was burned down after allegations of rigging, and Zambia, where pre-election tensions exploded into street fighting and the government closed down independent media houses. HARSH CRACKDOWNS

Patricia Scotland, the new secretary general of the Commonwealth, appointed Ibrahim Gambari, a former foreign minister of Nigeria, to work with Zambia’s electoral commission to broker dialogue between the rival parties. As electoral and other tensions rise, there could be a shortage of effective mediators, according to the US Institute of Peace’s president, Nancy Lindborg. More pre-emptive actions are needed, she argues: “Elections are becoming a flashpoint for violence that undermines political legitimacy and eco-

“How many bad elections have we seen in Africa this year? And no one says anything.”

oral politics in Uganda. “I don’t have illusions that any elections organised by Museveni will announce a different result [than his victory],” he said in London before returning to Kampala in late September. “But elections are a form of mobilisation […] to put pressure on the government by refusing to recognise the results.” As in many countries, the elections in Uganda were closer than before. It is getting harder to detect rigging, according to Nic Cheeseman, professor of African Politics at Oxford University. “Of course, we know the constituencies where there was 100% turnout and 100% of the votes went to Museveni in his heartlands. But the question is how to prove fraud conclusively.” Few were surprised by Museveni’s victory. Given his party’s use of state funds and control of the electoral process, the security forces’ intimidation of opposition candidates and mobilisation of its youth supporters, a win for Museveni seemed almost inevitable. Tougher economic conditions have complicated elections, according to Josephine Ojiambo, deputy secretary general of the Commonwealth. “There is less public funding available for electoral commissions to deliver elections to the quality standards and critical timelines that could be achieved,” Ojiambo tells The Africa Report. “On the other hand, there are large amounts of unregulated campaign funds, which is leading to some elections being tilted unfairly to thosewiththedeepestwallets.Commonwealth election observers are increasingly concerned about money in politics and also the misuse of state resources to favour a governing political party.”

nomic development.” Rights organisations across the continent are reporting harsh crackdowns by security officials as electoral contests get closer. This year’s elections in Ghana (see page 26) are a particularly important sign, adds Lindborg. “Ghana had this great reputation […] good on investment, governance and elections too.” What happens in a tight election in December could to point to trends elsewhere. President Museveni’s re-election in February this year triggered protests in the capital and in the north and east. Under house arrest at the time, long-time opposition leader Kizza Besigye told The Africa Report: “It is a strange election victory for Mr. Museveni when no one comes out to celebrate the so-called win and instead all you see on the streets are armoured cars, tanks and soldiers.” Six months later, Besigye was in London, having been allowed out of Uganda although he faces treason charges for organising a parallel presidential inauguration to reinforce his argument that Museveni rigged the election. Besigye says he sees the limitations of elect-

Communications blackouts Morocco Feb. to March 2016 Economic protectionism

Algeria 19 to 23 June 2016 Baccalauréat exams

Tunisia Before 2011 Ben Ali regime

(WhatsApp,Viber, Skype, FaceTime calls)

Electoral period Social or political protests Others Internet SMS Social networks

(Since then, social networks have not been totally restored)

NEW TRICKS

2013 Protests against the president

Equatorial Guinea May 2013

Gabon 28 Aug. to 3 Sept. 2016

Chad 10 & 11 April 2016

Sudan 11 May 2016

Mali 17 Aug. 2016 Niger 22 & 23 Jan. 2015 Protests against French magazine Charlie Hebdo

Egypt End Jan. 2011 Revolution

Ethiopia Mid-July 2016 University exams Rep. of Congo 20 & 21 Mar. 2016

Uganda 11 May 2016

DRC 20 to 22 Jan. 2016 Zambia (in three provinces) 16 Aug. 2016

Burundi April 2015 (and regularly since then) Protests

SOURCE: JA RESEARCH

Organisations such as the European Union, or the US-based National Democratic Institute, are chary of rejecting official results, unless the evidence of fraud is irrefutable. Instead, tortuous formulations such as ‘Overall, the elections reflect the will of the people’, emerge in election-monitoring reports. For experienced observers such as Cheeseman, that view is contentious. “Butisanelectionthatisstolenby100,000 votes better than one that is stolen by a million votes?” he asks. He says elections are getting closer because opposition parties are using new tricks to counter government dominance and, in some cases, technology helps to defeat fraud.

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MOSES MWAPE/AP/SIPA

Opposition parties risk putting too much faith in technology, he adds. “To work well, it needs a vibrant civil society to use the equipment to monitor and record the voting and the counts, and a well-organised opposition with reliable election agents.” In Lagos, Tunji Lardner, director of WANGONeT, wants Nigeria to make the next technical leap. “We should digitise the entire process. Biometric voting? Why not?,” argues Lardner. “[Biometric] card-reader technology was pioneered in Africa, like mobile money.” Lardner is working with other civic activists, lawyers and state officials on a radical reform of Nigeria’s electoral commission. One of their concerns is to stop a new ruling party entrenching itself in power, even if it gained power after a credible election. Officials in President Muhammadu Buhari’s government claim that judges and police have been complicit in undermining the commission’s independence and received inducements from politicians to do so. Those claims led to several raids by the Department of State Services on judges in the early hours of 9 October, which have provoked a furious row. Lardner says the raids were linked to claims that certain judges were blocking the prosecution of former high-level politicians, such as national security adviser Colonel Sambo Dasuki, and electoral officials who are accused of receiving money to rig elections in the Niger Delta last year. “Corruption THE AFRICA REPORT

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is not an aberration in the system, it is the system,” Lardner explains. Yao Graham, director of Third World Network-Africa in Accra, agrees with the need for a cultural change but sees electoral politics at the root of the problem. “Ourpartieslackorganisationalstructures […]. You have the leaders, the business backers and the foot soldiers, or the mass members. But there are no procedures to discipline party members or officials.” POLITICS GET PERSONAL

“Are our elections really about political pluralism,” asks Graham, “or are they a contest between political elites or factions of the elite? No party is holding the political elite to account.” Those weaknesses in party structures, according to Graham, are repeated in parliament, which instead of holding the executive to account is suborned by it. “Ruling and opposition parties share in the patronage,” he explains. Added to this, Graham argues, there is a growing trivialisation and personalisation of politics. That is undercutting attempts to debate policy and strategic direction. For example, neither of Ghana’s two

“Are our elections really about political pluralism, or are they a contest between political elites?”

In Zambia, supporters of Edgar Lungu celebrate his re-election in a vote the opposition denounced as rigged

main parties have proposed solutions to the crisis at the Obuasi gold mine, where industrial production has been disrupted and more than 18,000 illegal miners are working. Suchcrisesarelikelytopromptpolitical movements outside of the party system, says Graham. A new wave of grassroots and activist politics is already making its mark across Africa, according to Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, executive director of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development. Gyimah-Boadi points to the courage of South Africa’s public protector, Thuli Madonsela, who investigated President Jacob Zuma’s spending of public funds on his homestead. Coalitions of activists have pushed back government efforts to remove or extend presidential term limits in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal and Zambia. In Burkina Faso, an alliance between activists and soldiers drove long-standing President Blaise Compaoré from power in 2014. Gyimah-Boadi, who is also a director of the Afrobarometer survey, writes that his organisation’s research points to growing popular support for more democratic and accountable institutions. This is not often shared by political elites in Africa and beyond. After a succession of clashes and widespread fraud, agitation for political change and better elections could be entering a critical phase. ●

FRONTLINE | ELECTIONS ON THE EDGE

REPORTAGE PICTURES BY FRANCIS KOKOROKO

Fear and laughter on the Ghana campaign trail The Africa Report goes on tour to meet some of the country’s voters in the swing states of Western and Central regions ahead of December’s national elections

t may be that the results in what many see as Ghana’s closest ever election on 7 December could come down to a choice between sugary, fizzy drinks. On our tour through the battleground regions, we stopped off at a lively café in Cape Coast where customers joke with the shopkeeper. “Give me Akufo-Addo,” says one woman as she points towards the fridge. “What about Bawumia?” came the reply. “Don’t you want Bawumia?” They laugh as the shopkeeper pulls out the shortest of the soft drink bottles and hands it to the thirsty customer. Nana Akufo-Addo,theopposition’sdetermined presidential candidate, and his cerebral running mate, Mahamudu Bawumia, are zooming around the country in the last few vital weeks of the campaign. Akufo-Addo is considerably shorter than his opponent, President John Mahama. But the joking over soft drinks seems to support the view that many Ghanaians are sceptical of both parties and their candidates. The country is in its deepest

economic trouble for 20 years, but the politicians’ remedies fail to convince. Less than two months from voting day on 7 December, neither party has caught the popular imagination. Cape Coast is the capital of Central Region, a swing region in recent elections. As the whitewashed slave forts and warehouses show, Cape Coast was a base for the early European traders. Today, it is one of the country’s more prosperous and ethnically mixed areas, sitting between Accra and Takoradi, the centre of the growing oil and gas industry. ‘WE DON’T SEE ANY CHANGES’

On a day off, a group of fishermen gather at the foot of the imposing Cape Coast castle to talk about the election. Most have decided not to vote, unimpressed by what the parties are offering – either Akufo-Addo’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) or Mahama’s National Democratic Congress (NDC). “We need a harbour here. We need security,” says Papa Annan. “The politi-

cians come here, they talk, we vote for them and we don’t see any changes. We wantsomeonewhowillrepresentus,fight for us, not come with money for votes.” Papa Amissah, a 47-year-old fisherman turned taxi driver, explains: “We are all from this community, regardless of the political party […]. We’re just looking at the best person to do the job […]. It’s about your achievements.” Sitting at a beachside bar, Peter Simon Gyekye, regional coordinator and secretary for his Cape Coast North constituency, tells us how he moved from being a supporter of NPP to a campaigning member of the NDC. “These [NPP] guys, they are good at making noise, phantom promises.” Unconvinced of the NPP’s developmental efforts, Gyekye formed a teacher’s group and joined the NDC campaign for the presidency. His man won in a closely fought race in 2012. “We’ve [been] listening to comments from the ground and the feelings of the people. For me, my concern is to deliver my constituency,” says Gyekye. THE AFRICA REPORT

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Clockwise from far left: Door-to-door campaigning by the NPP in Cape Coast; PPP volunteers George Baah [L] and Abdul Hakeem Fynn; Papa Amissah, 47, talks to TAR journalists about expectations for the upcoming elections; smiles and slogans on an NPP campaign vehicle

looking at the value of the money and the way it felt then compared to how it feels now. In the hotel business, business is dry.” Nsiah’s company Macaw also produces concrete pipes and cement. Like manufacturers across the country, it has been badly hit by dumsor (power cuts). Macaw had to lay off workers. “They [the parties] have to convince us of what they are going to do,” says Nsiah. He raises the issue of a tourism levy and high tariffs for water and electricity, which have pushed up business costs. Stephane ‘Abbas’ Miezan, head of the regional chamber of commerce, warns about the gap between words and deeds. Political campaigners switch between trying to win over hard-pressed constituents to patronising business leaders. FICKLE MESSAGES

And what are these comments and feelings? “Infrastructure, water, electricity, schools, roads, clinics, markets. If issues are not handled well, it can become an electoral issue in the hands of the political opponent.” Delivering is expensive. Parliamentarians and rival candidates pay school fees and medical bills for some people in their constituencies. They assiduously attend marriages and funerals, giving wads of cedis to the happy couples and grieving families. Organising rallies is costly, according to ‘Staga’, the NPP’s deputy secretary for

Who won what in 2012 NDC National Democratic Party John Mahama NPP National Patriotic Party Nana AkufoAddo SOURCE: JA RESEARCH

UPPER WEST

UPPER EAST

66%

NORTHERN

58%

BRONG-AHAFO

47%

VOLTA 85%

ASHANTI

71%

EASTERN

57%

WESTERN

54%

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CENTRAL GREATER 52% ACCRA

58%

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Cape Coast North: “Recently, we [the constituency organisation] had our campaign launch and the cost [includes] the T-shirts, transportation.” Added to that are crates of party banners, flags and caps that have to be trucked in. “They budgeted close to, say, 15,000 ($3,800),” concludes Staga. That adds up to many millions when multiplied across the country’s 275 parliamentary constituencies and 29,000 polling stations. As the sun goes down, the NPP’s Staga is pumped up for a round of door-todoor canvassing. About a dozen of the faithful bolster Staga’s efforts, praising Akufo-AddoandrubbishingtheMahama government’s record. Although the area has supported the NDC strongly, Staga argues that he can convince people. “We have to get those floating voters […] [they] will decide who wins the election.” Some 80km to the west is Takoradi, which saw a brief boom after 2010 when companies set up service industries and hotels for the engineers and technicians working in the oil industry. Over iced tea and sandwiches at a café owned by a couple from the Netherlands, Kofi Nsiah, who runs a construction company, talks about the downturn. “If I’m voting, I’m

“I’m told of a story that somebody’s campaign encouraged people to stow away to Europe,” laments Miezan. “But if the same person met me, he would tell me we are going to improve electricity, the road network, technology and information and communication technologies because he knows that those things are important to me.” A few kilometres out of Takoradi is Apremdo. Here people of the Ahanta ethnic group live under the traditional leadership of Chief Nana Agya Kwamena XI. The chief tells The Africa Report that his community is dissatisfied. The chief is waiting for parliamentary contenders to pay a courtesy call. “When they are in need, I can assure you they will come. But after that, you will not see them again.” Outside in the compound, people are still more forthright, talking about a parliamentary candidate trying to woo voters by giving away cups of rice and cooking oil. The outgoing NPP member of parliament has not fulfilled his promises, a young man says. “This guy has been minister before, but just look at this place,” he says as he points to the narrow, unpaved and potholed walkways. “What has been done?” Miezan is more hopeful.“We’ve moved ahead in 20 years of democracy. People are beginning to accept that our politics should be more on issues,” he says. “But the kind of people that we are, we say one thing and we do differently.” Fixing that will take much more information and education for the voters, he concludes. ● Billie Adwoa McTernan in Cape Coast and Takoradi

FRONTLINE | ELECTIONS ON THE EDGE

The best elections money can buy It may be harder to rig an economy than a vote, but that doesn’t stop some politicians from trying. Ghana’s finance minister Seth Terkper and others talk to The Africa Report about bailouts and the ballot box

unched behind his state-of-theart computer and surrounded by sheaves of bank reports, Ghana’s finance minister Seth Terkper could be the new master of election economics. A slight, softly-spoken figure, he is distrusted by the bruisers in his own party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Yet if the NDC wins the elections in December amid the worst economic downturn for two decades, it will have Terkper to thank. Terkper’s artful financial manoeuvres have kept Ghana’s engine turning despite a disastrous backdrop: crashing oil, gold and cocoa revenues, together with ballooning debt and interest rates. A former economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Terkper has played the system. In the 1980s, politicians accused the IMF of forcing unpalatable policies on governments and triggering coups. But over the past three years, Ghana has used the institution to win a vital bailout. “The IMF is valuable,” Terkper tells The Africa Report. “It is the only buffer for developing countries […] so we don’t dismiss the IMF lightly. We go through tough times, and we learn.” Ghana’s NDC was courting electoral disaster this year: real gross domestic product growth tumbled to 4.5% last year from 15% in 2011. Yet the elections on 7 December are set to be really close between President John Mahama’s NDC and challenger Nana Akufo-Addo’s New Patriotic Party. The Terkper method was to use the IMF’s conditions – tighter fiscal and monetary policies – as lever-

Seth Terkper’s experience at the IMF informs his artful performance as Ghana’s finance minister

age with the markets. Ghana opened negotiations with the IMF in August 2014 after the cedi fell by a third against the US dollar. After announcing that, Terkper’s team went to the markets to issue a $1bn eurobond in September. By then, the negotiations between Ghana and the IMF were stalling. As the crisis in Ghana’s electricity sector worsened, government officials negotiated several emergency power deals whose value for money was questioned. They included orders for power barges from Turkey in April 2014 and gas turbines from Dubai in February 2015. BORROWING AND BUILDING

Poor rains, deteriorating state finances and lower export earnings pushed Ghana back into negotiations with the IMF. In April2015,thegovernmentcutadealfora $918mcreditoverthreeyears.Thatmeant another endorsement from the IMF. Despite growing political criticism, the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private sector affiliate, offered guarantees in July 2015 on an $8bn oil and gas production deal with Italy’s Eni that was widely criticised as poor value for Ghana. The help allowed Ghana to continue borrowing – to build

The Terkper method was to use the IMF’s conditions as leverage with the markets

MANDEL NGAN/AFP

roads, power stations and water plants, all the things that governments normally need to win elections. Ghana is now littered with building sites. Voters are being asked to look at the prospects and forget present hardships such as soaring electricity, fuel and water prices. It may just work. At least, Terkper is confident: “We don’t want to be complacent, but I think the economy will become more manageable from next year […], which is why I don’t want the opposition to get the benefit.” The final trick was to get the IMF to issue a statement of approval to the government before the elections. After much agonising, the IMF offered a lukewarm assessment in October: “Programme implementation remains broadly satisfactory, but the economic outlook remains difficult.” Whatever doubts IMF officials had about Ghana’s economic management, they were unlikely to suspend the programmethreemonthsbeforeanelection. “That would have been politically impossible,” according to a senior diplomat in Accra, who says the IMF has presided over the build-up of unsustainable debt. Politicians in Southern Africa are trying a variation on the Ghana method. In Mozambique and Zambia, the ruling parties went on their spending sprees first, won elections and are now trying to cut deals with the IMF. In Zimbabwe, the ruling party wants to get an IMF bailout before elections planned for 2018. After a year of free spending and borrowing to win the 11 August election with 50.3% of the vote, Zambia’s PresTHE AFRICA REPORT

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ident Edgar Lungu faces a blistering hangover. The IMF wants stringent fiscal and monetary policies and swingeing cuts in subsidies, which will hit Lungu’s supporters in the Copperbelt. They may well have led to his defeat had he imposed them before the election. Mozambique’s Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Frelimo) government announced in April, after months of prevarication, that it had concealed from the IMF some $2bn of secret security loans. Opposition politicians insist that some of the cash went into Frelimo’s election coffers. THE PEOPLE PAY THE PRICE

Although most of the deals were organised by allies of former President Armando Guebuza, his successor Filipe Nyusi, elected in 2015, has had to deal with the economically devastating fallout. In August, Nyusi appointed a former IMF official, Rogerio Zandamela, as central bank governor and organised a trip to Washington to see US secretary of state John Kerry and Christine Lagarde, the IMF’s managing director.

Mozambique’s debt deception – in which it hid $2bn of loans – still rankles with the IMF Mozambique’s debt deception still rankles with the IMF. “The debt issue didn’t really hoodwink the IMF. It hoodwinked the people of Mozambique, so it’s not about us,” the IMF’s Africa director Abebe Aemro Selassie told a press conference in Washington on 8 October. “We can only work with the data that’s provided to us, so transparency in public policy-making is first and foremost important for the people.” That gets to the heart of election economics, according to Tendai Biti, a former finance minister of Zimbabwe. “It’s much harder to rig an economy than rig an election […] but the people pay the price both ways.” The lack of transparency and accountability in the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic

Front government, he says, should stop serious negotiations with the IMF. Instead, Biti wants a national transitional authority to lead negotiations and make the necessary economic and political reforms before elections. The determination of Biti and other oppositionists to demand accountability in negotiations for new money with the IMF or other sources could make Zimbabwe a test case. Cash is skewing both policy and electoral outcomes, according to the Copenhagen-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). It reports that political competition globally is being undermined by corrupt contracts, the abuse of state funds, the nefarious influence of drug money and alliances between wealthy donors and politicians. After much breezy enthusiasm for biometric voter registration and other high-tech electoral gadgetry, money looks like being the next – and even an more problematic – focus for electoral reformers. ● Patrick Smith in Accra

The School of Public Policy at CEU in Budapest, Hungary awards the George Soros Visiting Chair or the George Soros Visiting Practitioner Chair to scholars and/or practitioners who have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement or have a distinguished record of participation in the professional, journalistic, political, or civic world of public policy. In 2015-16, Mutayyam al O'ran, Stephen Chan, Anders Fange, Karin Landgren, and Yasmin Sooka were appointed to this prestigious position. We are accepting nominations and applications until January 15, 2017. Find out more at spp.ceu.edu/gs-chair.

Mutayyam al O'ran Government Advisor, Jordan

Stephen Chan Anders Fange Karin Landgren Yasmin Sooka Professor of Founder, Swedish Former Executive Director, Politics & Committee for Under-Secretary Foundation for International Afghanistan General, Human Rights in Relations, SOAS United Nations South Africa

FRONTLINE | ELECTIONS ON THE EDGE

D Denis Galava ormer editor, Daily Nation, Kenya Fo

Trumped-up bigot undercuts America’s global posturing

he election that pits Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump is not only dirty, it is perverse and pregnant with uncanny irony. Opinion is divided on what it means for Africa – A warlike Clinton government? A racist Trump regime? – but there is a consensus that it has exposed the rotten underbelly of American society. Like Britons who voted Brexit largely because of prejudice against the ‘other’, Americans too are mainstreaming hate and prejudice as an ideology of power. And they are callously ethnic, perhaps even more so than us. Just listen to the rhetoric. It’s “pitchforks and torches time”, according to conservative Milwaukee sheriff David Clarke, who previously called the #BlackLivesMatter crowd “the enemy”. But there’s a positive side to this upheaval. America may be awakening to itself. People can see its endemic corrosion. At the very least, having some self-awareness is better than not having any. Each time I have woken up to watch the presidential debates, I have been disappointed. Not because of Trump – he is mad. His mental illness has been left untreated. His diehard supporters will maintain their support to the end. I am disappointed because of this idea that it is the poor and disadvantaged who have backed Trump’s message. It is as if he is only picking up the angry, impoverished vote and that this somehow validates his ideas through the sanctity of poverty. This is nonsense. You know that actually on average his supporters are fairly well-off, especially compared with those of failed Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. Lower in educational attainment perhaps… but well-off. So these economic arguments are for the birds. It’s about values. As Trump battles his many hungers like a rhino in riot gear, I am tempted to send the Republican grandees a copy of Ahmadou Kourouma’s satirical novel Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote. This is the story of Koyaga, the president of fictional Gulf Coast in West Africa, who through violence, treachery and sorcery destroys his country and starts to believe in his own infallibility. A mas-

ter of the absurd and a slave of the occult, Koyaga rides wave upon wave of crisis and crushes real and imagined enemies by pulling off the most macabre of stunts, including chopping off the genitals of opponents and stuffing them into their mouths, ostensibly to ward off evil spirits. Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote would be a great read for Republicans, not least because Koyaga epitomises the leadership deficit that’s the bane of the world today. His ideology is also not unlike Trump’s. I am disappointed in Hillary because there are some things that she does not seem to get, and

If democracy were a poison, many are excited to see America swallow it publicly perhaps she never will. So that’s too bad. She has the benevolence of the patroniser, but better some kind of benevolence than none at all. On social media, many see the election circus as an inevitable consequence of too much reality TV and celebrity-worship. That the owner of the Miss Universe beauty pageant and the star of The Apprentice TV show should be a candidate to run the country speaks to this. Now politics has joined the realm of virtual reality, and there’s little room for introspection in America. Winter in America, as Gil Scott-Heron might have said, has not given way to a springtime of tolerance and understanding. Then there are the conspiracy theorists: Hillary staged the Republican nomination to ensure that she would be up against an unbelievably empty white man. Or, Trump is a paid Democrat plant. Or, the Elders of Zion have scripted everything to ensure Israeli dominance continues. Still, up here in the cheap seats, many are excited about the death of American exceptionalism. Hear me out. A deranged clown is a heartbeat away from the presidency. Doesn’t this undercut the other America, the one that has been lecturing the world about probity and competence in public office for decades? THE AFRICA REPORT

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In the run-up to the 2013 elections in Kenya, when two of the candidates were facing charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, America told Kenyans that choices have consequences. Then enter Trump, and the irony of it all is too obvious. What consequences will the United States have to pay? What consequences will all of us have to pay should Trump get elected? Scandal maketh a man and woman, does it not? There was a time when voters would desert a candidate on a whiff of scandal – not any more. Hillary’s and Trump’s ratings are surging, seemingly fuelled by a sea of scandal. What does this say about American society? The fact that it is only when Trump actually admitted on tape to being a sexual predator that Republican allies deserted him doesn’t speak to some Damascene conversion.

Indeed, if democracy is intrinsically supposed to give us the best man or woman for the job, what do democracy-promoters in Africa and Asia say when it privileges the scums of politics? If democracy were a poison, many are excited to see America swallow its hemlock concoction publicly. There is only one winner: Trump. Whether he beats Hillary or not, he has redefined the American political handbook. A victory would not only put him in good company alongside Vladimir Putin, Rodrigo Duterte, Yahya Jammeh, Robert Mugabe and Kim Jong-un but would also debunk the ideology of order that has shaped the world since the Second World War. On the other hand, a defeat would still leave his indelible populist imprint on mainstream politics. Rumours continue to circle that Trump is looking to launch a new television station to lock in the millions of loyal supporters he now has. The most likely partner for such a project is alt-right media supremo Stephen Bannon, chief executive of Breitbart News, a website that panders to the white supremacist corner of the US electorate, and also of Trump’s presidential campaign. But that is beside the point. Beyond tilting at windmills, the political paralysis in America is relevant because one of the issues, if not THE issue here, is this problem of white supremacy. Some politely call it ‘Western hegemony’, but maybe it translates to the same thing. As one observer told me: “Currently, we have to remake ourselves into their image in order to be successful. That is what ‘development’ means. That is what ‘education’ means. What is happening in America is a result of the shift in demographics. Such that the ‘other’ can now assert itself and question ‘whiteness’ as the default.” Trump may be a misogynist, but he’s no accident. We should all be interested in the outcome. ●

POLITICS

Ethiopia Too little, too Popular movements have shaken the Oromia and Ahmara regions of Ethiopia over recent months. The government says it will free up political opposition, but the moment for such reforms may already have passed By Honoré Banda in Addis Ababa

he factories in Sebeta, Burayu and Meki are symbols of everything that the Ethiopian dream has been reaching towards: the establishment of fast-growing manufacturing businesses and proof that the statebacked drive towards growth is working and that all the sacrifices have been worth it. Protesters torched them after the tragic

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Before the violence: Demonstrators at the Irreecha religious festival in Bishoftu on 2 October

ethnic federalism after the Derg – a bloodthirsty military regime – was chased out of Addis Ababa in 1991. Over the past decade, Ethiopia has been held up as an example of a ‘developmental authoritarian’ state, one that builds roads and schools but limits political expression and competition. Ethno-linguistic groups are recognised under the constitution and form the basis for the country’s regions. In addition to the federal structure, the government is highly centralised and strongly entwined with the ruling party. The EPRDF itself is a coalition of parties that identify themselves with the country’s major ethnic groups.

late? death of several dozen people on 2 October in a stampede in Bishoftu town in the restive Oromia Region. After the spasm of violence, burned-out vehicles lined roads stretching from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa to nearby Oromia towns. The intensity of the attacks was so severe that security forces were unable to save most of the factories. Police resorted to telling owners and manTHE AFRICA REPORT

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agers to deal with the situation as they were overstretched and the roads were blocked by protesters. Speaking off the record, many Ethiopians said they have never seen violence like this since the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) government came to power in 1991. So what is happening to the Ethiopian dream? It was built on the bedrock of

TIKSA NEGERI/REUTERS

REPRESSION

Now the constituent parts of Ethiopia appear to be pulling in different directions. Partly this is because of the everyday heavy-handed repression dealt out by the state. Scuffles between local security officers and students in Ginchi town in Oromia kicked off this year of political violence. According to Merera Gudina, leader of the Oromo People’s Congress, an opposition political party, fights began in November 2015 after students protested a plan by local officials to give an open space that was used by the youth to play football to investors. The current unrest is also due to the fact that a sizeable proportion of Ethiopians do not believe they are part of that dream. The November 2015 protest quickly turned into a region-wide movement fighting against the government’s new city plan for Addis Ababa, which protesters believed would incorporate adjacent Oromo lands into the city and displace thousands of farmers. In particular, there is a common complaint among the larger Amharic and Oromo populations that the Tigray ethnic group has a disproportionate amount of power and resources – and that it defends this power with its members’ control of the security services. “The government’s repressive nature is the main cause for the latest protests,” Merera tells The Africa Report. “For me, this is an expression of the youth’s frustration with the government.” Almost a year later, and after hundreds of people were killed across Oromia Region, Ethiopia declared a state of emer-

POLITICS

Farms, a Dutch company, says it lost gency on 9 October of this year – the first all its investments in the region when time since the EPRDF came to power in rioters stormed its premises and set 1991 that there has been such an emerthem on fire in early September. gency. It is due to remain in place for at least six months and makes it illegal to Many local businesses, from small post on Facebook or watch certain TV shops to big hotels, have also closed channels operated by diaspora groups. down in the Amhara and Oromia regions as part of a stay-at-home campaign, The government has the habit of imposing its will rather than responding or out of fear of reprisals if they do not to popular demands. In Amhara Reparticipate. There are also reports of boycotts on beer and other consumer gion, which is in the north and northwest of Ethiopia, peaceful protests that products manufactured by companies very quickly turned violent began in August of this year The government’s use of force over an area called Wolqayt, to respond to grievances is which borders Tigray Region. The clashes were the main cause of escalation triggered by a call from some Amhara leaders to reclaim conthat are believed to have ties with the trol of Wolqayt, which had been transgovernment. After the killing of dozens in a stampede in Oromia on 2 October, ferred to Tigray Region two decades ago. The protesters set up what is now vehicles owned by Nigerian businesscalled the Wolqayt Committee, which man Aliko Dangote were set alight. An angry group also ransacked a Dutchaims to oversee the return of the area to Amhara Region. However, members of owned juice factory in Oromia Region. the committee were arrested and thrown Jemal Bedri, a resident of Bahir Dar in in jail when they went to Addis Ababa Amhara Region, says the government’s to submit official letters to the federal tactic of using force instead of respondgovernment, local reports suggest. And ing to the public’s grievances is the main cause for the escalation of tension in when the government sent special forces troops to the area to arrest others, residthe Amhara and Oromia regions. “They should know by now that using force ents of the city confronted them. That led to the death of more than a dozen elite to quell opposing views is an old fashtroops, according to government reports. ioned method,” Jemal says. He adds that protesters in his area of Amhara Region FLOWER FARMS TORCHED did not have complex organisational systems, and this has helped the govBoth local and foreign businesses have ernment to repress them. “There is no been the focus of these unprecedented upheavals. Since 2 October 2015, dozens central command. That has made it easy of factories and businesses have been for the security forces to clamp down on set alight in Oromia Region and on the the protests here,” he explains. outskirts of Addis Ababa. Anti-governThe Oromo people are the largest group in the country, by some acment demonstrators in Amhara Region counts accounting for up to 40 miltorched several flower farms. Esmeralda

Police take away the wounded after peaceful protests against the purported killing of thirty Ethiopians by IS in Libya turned violent in April 2015

lion of Ethiopia’s more than 94 million people. However, Oromo leaders have complained for generations about marginalisation and oppression under various regimes, which were mainly led by people from the Amhara and Tigrayan ethnic groups. Most of the top leaders in the military and civilian administrations are members of the Tigrayan elite, while the ceremonial post of Ethiopian president belongs to Mulatu Teshome, an ethnic Oromo. Tigrayans make up about 6% of the population and are spread across the country.

25 years of resistance and repression

2005

The EPRDF grabs power from the Derg regime and launches a multi-ethnic federation.

1995

A new constitution sets up a highly centralised state under the EPRDF.

2014

The 2005 contested elections were the last time the country’s opposition produced strong results at the polls. Since then, oppositionists have been quite limited in what they have been allowed to do.

LEA LISA WESTERHOFF/AFP

1991

ALEXANDER JOE/AFP

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Protests in the Ambo and Tokeekutayu areas of Oromia Region. An unknown number of students from Ambo and Madda Walabu universities, who led the protests, were killed by Ethiopian security forces.

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POLITICS

The Tigrayans owe their position to the leading role the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front played in removing the Derg. Former prime minister Meles Zenawi is believed to have been anxious to avoid accusations of overbearing Tigrayan influence by bringing in a southerner to replace him as premier. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn was previously president of Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region – itself a product of historic Amharic colonisation. While Hailemariam is organising reshuffles

and sackings in response to the unrest in the Amhara and Oromia regions, he is attempting to avoid the suspicion amongst opposition groups that he is under pressure from the Tigrayan elite. After the Oromo protests began in November 2015, the nature of the unrest changed quickly from a student-led demonstration against a city plan to a mass rally calling for a change in government. The government has struggled to develop an effective narrative about the protests and to respond to them. On 10 October, government spokesman

Getachew Reda blamed forces in Egypt and Eritrea for fomenting the unrest. In the meantime, the regime’s response has been brutal. Rights groups and opposition parties say they have documented the killing of hundreds and the detention of thousands of people since November. “Previously, there was a tendency among the security forces to arrest people en masse and then put them in jail,” Mulatu Gemechu of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) party tells The Africa Report. “Now they have shifted to carrying out extra-judicial killings in broad daylight. The government is also trying to start an ethnic war among the population and secure a political gain. I don’t know what they are thinking, but what we are witnessing here is a dangerous development.” WHAT OROMIA WANTS

According to Mulatu, the only solution to the current unrest in the Oromia and Amhara regions is the setting up of an interim or transitional government. That is not something the EPRDF is likely to embrace. He stresses that the government’s recent move to replace some high-level officials from Oromia Region was not what the people are demanding: “What we need is the withdrawal of the security forces from villages and towns across Oromia. We also want to have the power to administer ourselves. That’s what we are calling for. We don’t have a personal grudge against the Prime Minster or other high-ranking officials.” The government is pledging to carry out reforms and has started on some already. It sacked city officials across Oromia and Addis Ababa. However, a big surprise came when the ● ● ●

Protests and violence in Ethiopia, Ethiopia 2016

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9/10/16

2015

The government declared an unprecedented state of emergency to deal with the Amhara and Oromia protests.

November protests in Ginchi about the expansion of Addis Ababa. THE AFRICA REPORT

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Violence against civilians by security forces

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● ● ● administration got rid of the president and deputy president of Oromia on 21 September and replaced them with people considered to be technocrats. These sorts of changes are expected to continue in other regions as well, especially in areas that experienced protests. In addition, government spokesman Getachew told reporters on 10 October that there will be a cabinet reshuffle in the coming two to three weeks. Prime Minister Hailemariam dismissed housing and urban development minister Mekuria Haile in early September and removed many officials in Addis Ababa’s road construction sector from their positions.

MAKING SPACE FOR OPPOSITION

More importantly, on the same day, President Mulatu Teshome also declared that Ethiopia will adopt a new electoral law that will help opposition parties get seats in the federal parliament, a move that was unthinkable a year ago. Premier Hailemariam also made public statements in October about how the country’s electoral laws are marginalising large swathes of the population.

Prime Minister Hailemariam responded to protests with administrative reshuffles and talk of electoral reform

Ifthegovernmentfollowsthrough,there to hold rallies, and many of them report could be a new resurgence for the longthat killings and intimidation make weakened opposition. There was a hotly politics a high-risk proposition for the contested general election in 2005 after opposition. The Blue Party regularly the government opened up some politsays that it is being forced to restrict ical space. Opposition parties managed its activities across the country, and it to secure 32% of the vote, but the ruling has yet to make political ammunition out of the recent protests. party got 59% and formed a government. Opposition groups boycotted the legislature, and subAnti-government protests sequent violence led to the are degenerating into ethnic deaths of some 200 people. Most of the opposition violence in some areas parties have disintegrated since then and some of them have joined There are strong networks of oppositionists online, thanks in part to the the armed resistance against the government, like the former opposition figure government’s strong-arm tactics against political opponents on the ground. Berhanu Nega. Berhanu is a co-founder of Ginbot 7, a group that the government The OFC’s Mulatu argues that the dysfunctional political system has creaccusedofplottingacoupin2009.Amidst ated serious problems: “It is now out continued repression of opposition activof their [the government’s] and our ity, the EPRDF and its allies took all of the hands. They effectively disabled our 547 seats in the house of representatives activities, and they now [fall] prey to in 2015’s national elections. online activists.” He says that most of It increasingly looks like the next moves for opposition groups will be the ongoing protests are led by online activists based outside of the country. based on what the government chooses to do next. Most parties are not allowed There are already signs that the antigovernment protests are degenerating into ethnic violence in some areas. Hundreds of Tigrayans have reportedly been forced out of Amhara Region, and there are cases where some ethnic Gurages, Wolayitas and Tigrayans were forced out after their properties were burned in the Southern regional state. Biniam Asgedom, an ethnic Tigrayan marketing manager, explains how fears about the current violence have hit home: “My mother lives in Adama town in Oromia, and she owns a house there. But she is considering selling it and leaving the town before the situation gets out of hand for her. She is scared that ethnic violence might erupt one day. She told me she is scared.” At the inaugural The Africa Report DebateinAccralastNovember,Ethiopia’s foreign minister Tedros Adhanom championed the development side of the ‘democracy versus development’ debate, but sought to bridge the divide by stressing that both are essential. He said: “We believe that both democracy and development are desirable goals.” Such a commitment is now being put to its sternest test. The EPRDF government faces stark choices in its next moves towardswideningdemocraticparticipation and responding to the demands of the thousands of people out in the streets calling for change. ● BRUNO LEVY FOR TAR

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INTERVIEW

Patrice Trovoada

We cannot be the Panama of the Gulf of Guinea

In looking for ways to develop the country’s economy after a long-promised oil boom didn’t happen, São Tomé’ prime minister is adamant that opaque financial services will not play a part

t’s not easy being a small country in the middle of a commodities downturn, and São Tomé e Principe is smaller than most. The country’s economic output will barely scrape past $350m this year. And yet a reformist drive under different governments has pushed the island nation forwards despite, or perhaps because of, a lack of oil cash. São Tomé was ranked 11th in the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s latest governance index. PrimeministerPatriceTrovoada argues that São Tomé can make its way despite the oil slump that has hit the Gulf of Guinea. “There’s always opportunity when there is crisis,” he says, pointing to the oil servicing companies who are now seeking refuge. “Years before, if you finished a job in a country, you moved to another one. But they are all in crisis, so […] there is opportunity for a country like us to say: ‘Okay, come store your equipment. Refurbish your equipment. Keep it here. [There will be] no tax or low tax, then when the price comes back in the next two yearsyou can take yourequipment back and restart the job.’” This will not help the country’s immediate cashflow problems. THE AFRICA REPORT

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Prime Minister, São Tomé e Príncipe

Various African countries help São Tomé to pay its bills, but this “direct help to the budget is almost dry,” says Trovoada. This has forced his government into a greater reliance on the European Union and multilateral lenders like the World Bank. The government is trying to improve tax collection. “You see, one of the reforms we are doing now is that we are bringing scanners for containers at the port and the airport,” says Troavada. “We will make life easier for the good importers, and we will make life tougher for smugglers.” The governments of Nigeria and São Tomé manage a Joint Development Zone for oil projects, but there have not been any major discoveries and Trovoada says it appears to “have benefited certain Nigerian individuals more

“This guy comes to show me how I build a private business, a liberal economy? Wrong!”

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than São Tomé.” He is wary of the potential negative impacts that oil money could have on the country, despite its potential transformative effects. “It is not which sector finances the economy but which sector finances the politics, and this is where you have to be very strict on it,” he explains. Tourism is one area where the country is trying to diversify. With three planes a week coming through Ghana, São Tomé is building a destination for tour-

ists from the subregion. “People are stressed, and they want just to come and spend the weekend in São Tomé. And this is working well. We will probably have 3,000 people coming from Ghana in 2016,” adds Troavada. SIFTING ADVICE

Financeisanotherpotentialsource of diversification, but Troavada says the country’s future cannot be as an opaque offshore hub. “We cannot be the Panama of the Gulf of Guinea. If you are an African country, all the crooks of the world could come and say: ‘Okay, let’s dump whatever here.’” Partofthedifficulty innavigating these choices is the quality of advice that a small country receives. First, you have to deal with World Bank and International Monetary Fund advisers. “You look at the CV. They come from the public sector, then to the World Bank. And this guy has to show me how I build a private business, a liberal economy? Wrong!”, laughs Trovoada. “Then you say let me go to people who are more familiar with business. Probably you take a good lawyer and have to fly to New York. And this guy will help you to be a crook, and that’s his role. It is no good.Thenwhatisleft?McKinsey’s [consultants], but how can I pay McKinsey? McKinsey will charge me $16m, $18m or $20m, and I cannot afford that,” he laments. “At the end of the day, you need to find the rare pearl.” ● Interview by Nicholas Norbrook

POLITICS

INTERVIEW

Joice Mujuru

President, Zimbabwe People First

We don’t want to look like we’ll cause a coup Former ruling-party baron Joice Mujuru is leading a new opposition party that is seeking to work with others to get key concessions before elections in 2018

liberation war hero with the ambition to leadZimbabwe’sopposition, Comrade Joice Mujuru is a leadingcontenderinthestruggleto drive 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe and his party from power. As the economy heads for another crash in the coming months, Zimbabweans are taking to the streets to demand political change. Confronting the ruling Zimbabwe African National UnionPatriotic Front (ZANU-PF), now riven into quarrelling factions, opposition parties have a new confidence. Some want to compel the government to cede power to a national transitional authority to carry out reforms before national elections due in 2018. Mujuru, who was pushed out of ZANU-PF by rivals in 2015, is a new star in the opposition, alongside long-standing members Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube. In August, she walked hand-in-hand with Tsvangirai in an opposition march through the streets of Gweru. Although Mujuru brings liberation-fighter and street credibility to the opposition, her three decades of service to the ruling party and Mugabe make her suspect in the eyes of many activists. But that

samehistorycouldpersuadevoters to switch allegiance – as she did – from ZANU-PF to the opposition. Much will depend on the unity and credibility of the opposition, and the extent to which it can get political reforms and fairer elections. In Europe in October to meet members of the diaspora, Mujuru talked to The Africa Report about her political values and strategy.

“Our people are usually peaceful people. That’s what has made Zimbabwe” TAR: The country faces an economic meltdown, and the government is trying to borrow from the International Monetary Fund. Do you support that? JOICE MUJURU: One thing that is worrying the Zimbabweans, not just us in the opposition, is how honest and how transparent will they [ZANU-PF] be as government once they are given those billions of dollars? Will they use them for the intended purpose or will they divert them to their own liking? That’s the biggest question. We had a diamond boom, we have gold in our country and industries are still doing business. So where is the money going? And he [President Robert Mugabe]

said: “I don’t know where the $15bn [in diamond sales] went.” We would be okay on our own, why would we need international monies? We would have paid the debt without anyone coming to our aid. The crisis is deepening. Can the people of Zimbabwe hang on until 2018? The government’s response is a crackdown. That’s what he [Mugabe] knows best. For sure, he will come after the opposition parties. This is not to say the opposition parties cannot come together, starting from discussing the situation in which an election can be held. Opposition parties have already come together to produce a document, which has been presented to government, saying which areas should be worked out before elections are called. THE AFRICA REPORT

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BUSH WAR TO BALLOT BOX 15 April 1955 Born in Mt. Darwin, north-eastern Zimbabwe 1972-1980 Fought in Mugabe’s ZANLA forces, rising to the rank of commissar 1977 Married PF military leader, Solomon Mujuru 1980-2004 Minister in the independence government 2004-2014 Vice-president of Zimbabwe

CHATHAM HOUSE

2011 Solomon Mujuru dies in a fire at their farm

A lot of people are asking for how long can we remain in this situation. Can we really survive until 2018? We don’t want to look like we are going to cause a coup. We want to follow the constitutional way of doing things. ZANUPF is no longer a government that you can rely upon. We have spoken about how the economy has been run down. It’s un-Zimbabwean to see people […] demonstrating against government. It’s un-Zimbabwean? Oh, yeah, because our people are usually peaceful people [...] and to push them onto the streets to start denigrating their leader […]. People want peace. That’s what has made Zimbabwe. You were near the top of ZANUPF for over 30 years. What made you change? THE AFRICA REPORT

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You should be able to give each other a chance, understand that you can hold different views, tolerate each other, work together and agree to disagree but still move on. Beating and killing – that’s not right. And I’ve been complaining about that – even when I was in ZANU-PF. Being a freedom fighter, we treasured good relationships with the masses, the very same masses that we fought for. You need to educate them so that they understand your policies, your principles. And discuss differences. I am different from ZANUPF because I tolerate. You have said you don’t have a problem with vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa. Does he have a problem with you? I’m sure his problem is male ego. When he came to join this struggle [in Zimbabwe] in 1978,

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10 Dec. 2014 Accused of plotting against Mugabe, replaced as vice-president by Emmerson Mnangagwa 3 April 2015 Expelled from ZANU-PF 1 March 2016 Founds Zimbabwe People First

I was already a member of the [ZANU] central committee and national executive. But he wants to bring in what he was in the 1960s, which never had an impact because he was arrested before he could do anything and jailed by Ian Smith. And his parents came and demanded [his release because] he was underage and he was Zambian. He went to Zambia, he went into hiding and carried on with his education. Some of our commanders approached him when he was at the University of Zambia […] and he refused. But he is unelectable simply because during Gukurahundi [mass killings in Matabeleland] he was the right-hand man of Mugabe in this Fifth Brigade, which was not part of the army. Does your party have nationalist credibility? We never fought a colour, we never fought for a region. We fought for the independence of everybody who calls Zimbabwe home. And that’s why Mugabe can’t really find a strong point to denigrate Zimbabwe People First. We have decided first of all to commit ourselves, build the party on our own. Yes, we have whites amongst us, but they are part of us. What do you think of Morgan Tsvangirai as an opposition leader? Can you work with him? As People First, we respect Tsvangirai. He helped us because our fear and our respect [for Mugabe] really damaged us. We could not be bold the way Tsvangirai was, but I respect him for that. We know the strengths and weaknesses of each party. Tsvangirai’s strength resonates with you outsiders, not with Zimbabweans. [...] But with [our strength], they have now seen that it’s Zimbabwean. The war veterans understand what was missing in Tsvangirai’s outfit. [… We are] now mappingoutwhichareasandwhat we can start working on together. So the confidence is there but we are now saying let’s move on and give each other trust, and this trust has to be built slowly but surely. ● Interview by Patrick Smith

PLANET OBSERVER/UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGES

MARK OLALDE

MALAWI

Thirsty for power, hungry for food

Malawi’s government is faced with a dilemma: how to find the balance between using Lake Malawi’s water to drive turbines and to irrigate the land

aced with the challenges of providing food and electricity, the Malawian government is searching for ways to bring both to villages like Chikhawo, just outside the capital city. “The water comes from God,” Chief Chikhawo explains as a battery-powered radio buzzes in the corner and the village’s children crowd the doorway, eager to eavesdrop on the elderly chief’s business. “It’s rainwater,” Chikhawo clarifies, laughing. His community – which shares his family’s name – lacks electricity, the subsid-

ised fertiliser popular elsewhere in the country, and reliable access to water. The government has launched a massive roll-out of irrigation infrastructure meant to combat food shortages. However, this plan threatens the country’s fragile electricity supply by drawing potentially unsustainable volumes of water from the Shire River, which generates nearly all the country’s electricity. Lake Malawi, which feeds the Shire River and is shared with Tanzania andMozambique, is already struggling to provide enough water and power for Malawi.

Henrie Njoloma, director of the Green Belt Initiative (GBI), a parastatal created to implement the country’s irrigation plan, explains its goals: “As far as we are concerned, all arable land that is close to the water is irrigable […]. It can be turned into the Green Belt irrigated land, and that land – if we take stock – is around 1 m hectares.” Malawi’s department of irrigation has plans to supply 408,000ha – more than 4% of the country’s land area – with water. About 104,000ha already receive water from existing schemes. Many Malawians, from consultants to bartenders, agree with Njoloma that tapping into the lake is the quickest way to alleviate poverty. “If we can have irrigation, we can get time to get the crops three times per year,” Chief Chikhawo says. The GBI is developing the Shire Valley Irrigation Project (SVIP), which will convert 42,500ha of largely seasonal floodplains south of Lake Malawi into perennially irrigated farmland. According to Malawi’s 2015 National Irrigation Master Plan, the SVIP might even increase the amount of electricity available. The Illovo sugar plant is the country’s largest consumer of electricity, as it pumps water to its nearly 30,000ha of cane fields. With gravity-fed irrigation projects under construction, much of this electricity could stay on the grid. THE GREEDY SUN

However,notallstakeholdersseeaggressive irrigation as the answer to Malawi’s woes. The Shire River handles all Lake Malawi’s outflow, and three hydropower plants on the river produce more than 97%ofthecountry’selectricity.Acombination of environmental factors and overuse of the lake threatens water levels and, as a result, power supply. Lake Malawi THE AFRICA REPORT

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in the control room. The US government’s Millennium Challenge Account is providing $350.7m to upgrade Nkula, clear upstream weeds and silt, and improve transmission networks. Communities across Malawi face the same obstacles to development as Chikhawo village, and people are calling for a solution that provides both electricity and irrigation. Much of Malawi’s population uses firewood and charcoal for cooking and heat, and increased access to electricity could halt this reliance.

Far left: Lake Malawi covers about a third of the country; the Shire River flows out of its southern end Left: Nkula B power station intake on the Shire River Below: The Illovo sugar plant is Malawi’s largest consumer of electricity; it uses it to pump water

MARK OLALDE

VICIOUS CYCLE

does not have a strong buffer of rivers and streams, and only 17% of its annual water loss comes from outflow with evaporation accounting for the remaining 83%. Tom Johnson, the founder of the Large Lakes Observatory at the University of Minnesota Duluth in the United States, explains: “This lake is poised to drop dramatically just naturally, due to climate variability alone.” Southern Africa has experienced a major drought that began in 2015. Electricity was severely rationed when the Shire slowed to a trickle in similar circumstances in 1997. Last December saw the lake at its lowest level since 1997, and 2016 is trending toward even lower levels. “Any major irrigation programme on top of that would be reducing the amount of water that flows into the lake. [That] would just increase the likelihood of the next drop in lake level below [river] outlet elevation,” Johnson says. Steven Kayira is the manager of the 124MW THE AFRICA REPORT

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Nkula power station, and he says Nkula ran at 60%-65% capacity last year as a result of the river’s low flow. Most irrigation schemes are built close to the lake or river, where they can rely on gravity instead of electric pumps to move water. Agriculture on riverbanks encourages siltation and the growth of weeds like elephant grass, both of which harmturbinesandblockcoolingsystems. “Those who farm alongside the river banks are also applying fertiliser, and that creates nutrients for the elephant grass to grow,” Kayira says. “This farming along the Shire River promotes erosion of the riverbanks, thereby increasing siltation.” According to him, cleaning organic detritus blocking Nkula’s intakes costs about $125,000 annually. Nkula was commissioned in 1966. Today ceiling and floor tiles are missing, water drips from constant leaks and a piece of paper with “NOT TO BE OPERATED” scrawled in pen covers dials

Malawi loses 2.8% of its forest annually on average, leading to erosion that silts the waterways the government plans to use for irrigation. “The blackouts have increased demand for charcoal, which in turn is resulting in exacerbating environmental degradation in the Shire River basin. It’s a vicious cycle,” energy ministry spokesmanJosephKalowekamoexplains. Department of irrigation director Geoffrey Mamba tells The Africa Report that a deteriorating environment slows progress on new irrigation projects: “[Malawi’s rivers] are not as strong as they used to be. There are lots of things we are supposed to do in terms of catchment conservation and protection. If we can’t, then one million hectares [of irrigated land] is far-fetched.” Even if Malawi can manage its natural resources, large-scale irrigation may strain the country’s fiscal resources. According to GBI director Njoloma, each hectare of irrigation costs about $9,000. Thatmeansthegovernmentneedsanadditional $2.7bn to reach its current goal. The irrigation programmes are more likely to benefit big business than smallholders. “Where we’re going has more to do with the commercialised agriculture, not subsistence,” the irrigation department’s Mamba says. President Peter Mutharika officially opened a 6,000ha sugar cane estate in August. The roughly $125m project is the product of a public-private partnership spearheaded by the GBI. About 15km from Lake Malawi near the town of Salima, plots on the estate are split among about 250 smallholder farmers, 100 medium-sized operations and one large producer. Njoloma hopes to attract more investors and open new sites. “If [the Salima project] succeeds, then it unlocks a lot of potential in terms of funding sources,” Njoloma concludes. ● Mark Olalde in Lilongwe

POLITICS

ANALYSIS Girls’ empowerment is a cause close to Tasila Lungu’s (centre) heart

FACEBOOK

ZAMBIA

Generation game

troublemakers, Tasila’s handlers have been careful to portray her as humble, down-to-earth and full of humility. She has been campaigning, doing charity work and fundraising to build up her image among the grassroots population. In March, she was baptised in the Catholic Church at St IgnaPresidential daughter Tasila Lungu tius in Lusaka – a parish whose priests, like Father Charles has launched her own political career Chilinda, openly pray for ruling party officials. Although she does not enjoy the best relationship with her stepmother, Tasila often assumes the role of the first lady when Esther is t has become something of a trend for children of Zambian presidents to launch themselves into politics, and Edgar not around. She is seen at her father’s side at major national Lungu’s daughter Tasila is no exception. She is following events, including the high-profile National Day of Prayer. in the footsteps of Mulenga Sata, son of the late president Tasila did not announce her intentions without ruffling Michael Sata, who served as minister for Lusaka Province some feathers within the governing Patriotic Front (PF). In March, she said: “The amount of garbage I have seen [in then lost the Kabwata constituency election in August. That same month, Lungu became a city councillor for the NkoNkoloma Ward] is deplorable. I don’t think any human being deserves to live in such conditions. We need to find ways of loma Ward in the Chawama area of Lusaka – a constituency her father represented as a member of parliament. clearing the garbage.” That sent her team into a panic, as the The 33-year-old US-educated politician is the best-known comment was interpreted as an attack on her father. She has of Lungu’s six children. She is a volunteer child counsellor since stopped giving impromptu interviews to journalists. In addition to taking on the sanitation problem, Tasila and a philanthropist. Her father describes her as “resolute”. has said that she will use her position to push for female A big obstacle that she now faces is fighting off the claims of favouritism and benefiting from the family connection. empowerment programmes. Her stance on gender equality Seeing her new political role, those who cannot access soon put Tasila in conflict with the PF once again. Lungu through established channels want to use Tasila’s Immediately after winning the ward election, she announced her candidature for the position of Lusaka deputy closeness to her father to get his attention. Tasila left Zambia with her mother for the US at the age mayor, but the PF had already chosen Christopher Shakafuswa of 12 and returned after her father’s victory in the January as its candidate. Tasila argued that gender-balancing prin2015 by-election, in which he was chosen to carry out the ciples meant that since the mayor is a man, he should be deputised by a woman. That began a war remainder of the late Michael Sata’s term as of words, with PF secretary general Davies president. In August 2016 Egdar Lungu won a full term as president in a tight race and Mwila threatening to discipline any members who did not respect party decisions. his opponent, Hakainde Hichilema, was arShowing that his daughter would not rested in October on sedition charges due to President Lungu’s his protests about the handling of the vote. receive preferential treatment in this inpercentage of the vote While some of the sons of Zambia’s former stance, President Lungu convened a meetin the 11 August polls ing at State House on 24 September ● ● ● presidents have reputations as high-flyers and

50.35%

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Plot 1415 Adetokunbo Ademola Street, PMB 12724 Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria, Tel: +23412772700-5 (ext,6124) +23414606100 -29 Fax +234 1 2704071 sales@ekohotels.com, reservation@ekohotels.com banquet@ekohotels, www.ekohotels.com

POLITICS

and told both Shakafuswa and Tasila to drop out of the race in order to preserve party unity. Tasila is set to continue with her outreach programme of mentoring children and is due to roll out a shoe donation programme across the country. Though she has only just stepped onto the political ladder, Tasila clearly aims to take her career to the highest level: “I want to be like him [father] Christopher Mwambazi in Lusaka one day,” she says. ● ●●●

Odinga has supporters, but he needs political allies

KENYA

Raila gets to work The long-standing presidential candidate is looking for new allies

enya’s election campaign is heating up, and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who is widely expected to run on the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) ticket, is doing his best to challenge President Uhuru Kenyatta. The governing Jubilee Party, headed by Kenyatta and deputy president William Ruto, is in pole position to win next August’s general election. The economy has been growing steadily, and the opposition has been unable to land many blows on issues such as corruption or weak delivery of public services. Odinga is now scouring the country in search of new strategic allies to improve on his score of 43% in the 2012 elections. He held rallies in 20 towns across the country over the past month, according to Dennis Onyango, Odinga’s spokesman. “We are counting on all parties that are out of the Jubilee orbit: the Kenya African National Union, National Rainbow Coalition, National Rainbow Coalition–Kenya, Chama Cha Mashinani, among others,” Onyango adds. At the top of Odinga’s list of politicians to poach is Musalia Mudavadi, leader of the Amani National Congress. Mudavadi, who ran for president in the 2013 elections, winning 4% of the vote, has said he will run again on his own party’s ticket, but he is being courted by Odinga and Kenyatta. He is seen as a gatekeeper to Kenya’s western areas, which are likely to play a crucial role in next year’s polls. “The one option Raila has left is to bring in people like Mudavadi,” says Nic Cheeseman, a professor in African polit-

BEN CURTIS/AP/SIPA

ics at Oxford University. “He needs to broaden his alliance to recreate the magic of the Orange Democratic Movement in 2007, when he had these critical and original leaders and he presented himself as a first amongst equals.” But it is unclear whether Odinga has the blessing of CORD co-principals Moses Wetang’ula and Kalonzo Musyoka. Odinga has also been courting Gideon Moi, a senator for Baringo County and the son of former president Daniel arap Moi. The power of Moi’s family name is a strong draw for the country’s Kalenjin ethnic group, a growing number of whom say they do not support the leadership of deputy president Ruto. Odinga is also trying to convince Isaac Ruto (no relation to William), the governor of Bomet County and a member of Chama cha Mashinani, to join his coalition. “We are talking to [Moi and Ruto], and they are receptive,” says Onyango. Meanwhile, Kenyatta and Ruto are trying to flesh out their campaign strategy. After the International Criminal Court threw out both of their cases, which accused the two men of crimes against humanity in the aftermath of the 2007 election, the Jubilee flag-bearers have been searching for a national issue upon which to focus their campaign. In recent weeks, Kenyatta has adopted a defensive tone. He hosted a governance and accountability summit at State House on 18 October. In a televised address, he defended his record on corruption, saying that under his watch the budget of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has increased. He also said that he had sacked ministers and officials because they had been implicated by corruption investigations. After the conference, presidential spokesman Manoah Esipisu tweeted: “President [Kenyatta] has played his role in fighting corruption [and] cautioned politicians against using the issue for political gain.” That is not likely to stop Odinga from pointing to the inflated cost of a Chinese-backed rail line or opacity in the management of public funds. ● Mark Anderson in Nairobi

LIBYA

A win-win situation Battlefield victories by rival governments raise the political stakes

wo of the major forces in Libya’s slow-burning conflict are celebrating major victories, but these advances could lead them into further conflict. In mid-October, with the help of US air strikes, forces loyal to Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and the Misrata brigades were sweeping the last Islamic State rebels from their base in Sirte. At the same time, General Khalifa Haftar’s star was on the rise after his Libya National Army fighters took control of oil export terminals from Ibrahim Jadhran in mid-September. Sarraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA), which has the backing of Western countries, is facing a cash crunch and a crisis of legitimacy because it does not include powerful leader Haftar. On 17 October, troops, largely from the nearby city of Misrata, were conducting some last district-by-district sweeps of Sirte. The more than six months of fighting for control of the city left heavy casualties: more than 530 people were killed THE AFRICA REPORT

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and 2,500 injured in the Tripoli-based GNA’s Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous (Solid Foundation) campaign. The GNA had its own plans for the country’s oil export infrastructure. It had signed a cooperation deal in June with Jadhran, whose forces of several thousand men controlled the sites of Ras Lanuf, Sidra, Zuetina and Brega since 2013. Haftar and his troops stormed the sites on 11 and 12 September, giving him control of the infrastructure that accounts for about 80% of the country’s oil exports. Jadhran’s men refused to put up resistance, following their orders from the tribal elders of the eastern region of Cyrenaica, which is home to the House of Representatives, the Tobruk-based rival government to the GNA. Haftar said that he would hand over the terminals to the Tripoli-based National Oil Company, and a first oil tanker arrived on 21 September at Ras Lanuf to transport 776,000 barrels of oil to Italy. The revenue from that deal was said to go directly into the central bank, thus helping to fight the liquidity crunch and improve Haftar’s image among the pop-

ulation. But such an arrangement may not last very long due to opposing interests: Tripoli wants strong centralised control, while forces in Cyrenaica have pushed for more autonomy. “[Haftar’s strategy] was a master stroke, one that embarrasses the international community,” explains a diplomatic source who requested anonymity. Haftar had struggled to defeat Islamist groups in Benghazi for more than two years, and his September offensive puts him back at the centre of discussions about Libya’s future. After previously sidelining the general, Sarraj said in late September that Haftar would have to be part of any government of national unity: “We have no other choice but dialogue and reconciliation.” The country has been without a cabinet since August, but with both the GNA and Haftar bolstered by recent victories, talks on a new government could be fraught as each coalition contemplates whether to push for additional battlefield advances. Haftar has expressed an interest in running the country and so far has rejected the GNA’s overtures. ● Mathieu Galtier and Honoré Banda

ANANSI Hillary’s biggest fan WHEN BILL CLINTON travelled to Morocco last year to speak at a gala hosted by King Mohammed VI, he gushed with gratitude for the monarch’s “longstanding friendship Washington, as to my family”. Even more helpful to the Clintons is Office viewed from Africa Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP), THE BRUISING ELECTION a state-owned mining company. CAMPAIGN in the US has OCP has donated an estimated highlighted the candidates’ $6m to the Clinton Foundation thoughts about and connections over the years. Hillary Clinton to Africa. Africa’s Twitterati did has returned the favour, not disappoint when Donald Trump deeming Morocco “a vital hub for claimed that the US elections were economic and cultural exchange” sure to be rigged. Trump urged and largely overlooking the his supporters to guard polling fertiliser company’s troubled stations against fraud. Hours after history in Western Sahara. Trump’s comments, the hashtag #Nov8AfricanEdition was trending Mr. Manafort goes across the continent. Elnathan to Washington John, a Nigerian satirist, tweeted: “African presidents meeting to WHILE REPUBLICAN consider the option of boots on the CANDIDATE Donald Trump puts ground in the event of violence America first, his allies also from Trump supporters.” Nnamdi have Africa ties. However, Paul Anekwe-Chive, a Nigerian Manafort, Trump’s former security analyst, joined in: campaign chairman, is unlikely “Trump supporters have invaded to help in winning friends the electoral office in Maine, in Angola. He was hired in 1986 carting away ballot materials.” to lobby the US government into THE AFRICA REPORT

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supporting the União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (UNITA) rebels. Manafort helped Jonas Savimbi, UNITA’s leader, secure a meeting with then US President Ronald Reagan and Senate whip Bob Dole. UNITA ultimately got what it wanted soon after meeting Reagan: Congress approved $42m in support to the group over the next six years.

Buhari’s gal pals TRUMP IS NOT the only one making derogatory comments about women. Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari will need more practice around female politicians ahead of Hillary’s seemingly inevitable victory. During a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 14 October, Buhari was asked about his wife’s criticism of his leadership. He replied: “I don’t know which party my wife belongs to, but she belongs to my kitchen, and my living room and the other room.” That quip drew sharp condemnation, with people denouncing Buhari as an old misogynist. ●

COUNTRY FOCUS

EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP

Democratic Republic of Congo

Supporters in their tens of thousands rallied in favour of President Kabila in July

An uncertain future Tensions that had been rising as the end of President Kabila’s final term drew close exploded after the government failed to announce elections on 19 September. Now Kabila and a small group from the opposition are trying to manage the transition but other oppositionists are putting up a fight By Honoré Banda and William Clowes in Kinshasa

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ines are being drawn in the succession to replace President Joseph Kabila, whose second and final mandate was due to end on 19 December, but has now been delayed. Before 7am on 19 September – the day the government failed to announce that elections would be held this year – the Kinshasa air swirled with skinny plumes of smoke: black and grey from burning tyres and cars, bright and colourful from teargas canisters. By lunchtime, blue-uniformed policemen, underpaid and undertrained, had been re- ● ● ●

COUNTRY FOCUS | DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

CAMEROON

SOUTH SUDAN

CAR Kisangani

CON GO REP.

GABON

KINSHASA

Atlantic Ocean 400 km

Goma

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

UGANDA RWANDA BURUNDI TANZANIA

Lubumbashi

ANGOLA

ZAMBIA

THE DRC IN NUMBERS

URBAN POPULATION (% of total)

42%1

LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH

59.12

INFANT MORTALITY (per 1,000 births)

74.52

FDI, INFLOWS (current US$)

$1.67bn3

GDP (current US$)

$35.24bn1 6.9%1

GDP GROWTH (annual %) INDUSTRY, VALUE ADDED (% of GDP)

33.2%1

INTERNET USERS (per 100 people)

3.81

MOBILE CELLULAR SUBSCRIPTIONS (per 100 people)

531

SOURCES: WORLD BANK 2014&20151, AFDB 20152, UNCTAD 20153

77.27 million1

POPULATION

MINERAL EXPORTS 14

DRC’s share of mineral exports to total exports (billions of US$)

12 10

Mineral exports Other exports

8 6 4 2 0 2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

FDI INFLOWS Foreign direct investment inﬂows, 2002-14 (millions of US$) 2,000 1,800 1,600 1,400 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 200 0 2002 04 06 08 10 12 14

SOURCE: CENTRAL BANK OF CONGO AND IMF STAFF ESTIMATES

● ● ● inforced by khaki-clad soldiers clasping automatic rifles and sealing off swathes of the city. About 50 people – both protesters and police – were killed on 19 and 20 September. On one side of the struggle for the country’s political future is President Kabila and his allies. They want him to stay in power: some for as long as possible, and others until he can be sure that he will be replaced by a successor of his choosing. The constitutional court ruled earlier this year that Kabila must remain in office until a new president is ready to be sworn in. The electoral authorities say it will take at least 504 days to organise a vote. Kabila himself has not said much about his plans. However, the government organised a political dialogue in September to plot a way forward for the period before and after 19 December. A non-exhaustive coalition of opposition parties took part in the talks, which reached an accord on 17 Octoarity with the victims of the September. They agreed that new elections ber violence. Tshisekedi and his allies should be held in April 2018, and that planned to organise a new round of a government of national unity should protests on 19 October and to ramp up pressure until the supposed endpoint be established by 7 November, with an oppositionist who had taken part in of Kabila’s final term on 19 December. the talks as prime minister. The most popular leader to participate in the REFERENDUM FEARS dialogue was Vital Kamerhe. Members of Le Rassemblement suggested that during the delays ahead Juvenal Munubo, who is a member of of the vote, Kabila might try to hold a parliament in Kamerhe’s Union pour la Nation Congolaise, says the party is not referendum on whether the two-term being naïve: “Even if we are honouring presidential limit should be removed. an accord, even if we are in a coalition Barnabé Kikaya Karubi, Kabila’s chief government, we must be careful. We diplomatic adviser, tells The Africa Reneed to always keep alert. Why? Beport: “The President has never said that cause the powers that be have proved he will seek a third mandate. Never.” on several occasions that they did not However, oppositionists point out that intend to hand over power.” Kabila should not benefit from his own On the other side of the political mistakes, as the government had since divide is a large opposition umbrella 2011 to prepare for the 2016 vote. grouping called Le Rassemblement, The DRC’s international partners are which is led by the likes of former taking an increasingly adversarial posKatanga governor Moïse Katumbi and ition with the government. The United long-time oppositionist States has imposed targeted sanctions on ofEtienne Tshisekedi. They ficials involved in the refused to take part in the September violence and talks after several conditions that they insisted the European Union folupon were not met, inlowed suit on 17 October. cluding the freeing of Kikaya says the measures political prisoners and are counterproductive: Number of days the the replacement of the “Sanctions don’t accomCommission Electorale plish anything. If anyAfrican Union’s mediator, Nationale Indépendante thing, they just serve to Edem Kodjo. The influensays it will take widen the gap between tial Catholic Church susto organise national elections pended its participation two friendly nations beSOURCE: CENI in the dialogue in solidcause you paint yourself

504

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COUNTRY FOCUS

EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP

Others, like this young supporter, have put their hope in veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi

as […] I wouldn’t say an enemy […] but a very strong adversary to the country. When the US sanctions some of our army generals, then it loses its bargaining power as a superpower in the world.” Dismissing Kamerhe as a lightweight and a sell-out, the oppositionists of Le Rassemblement are preparing themselves for a showdown with the authorities. Félix Tshisekedi, son of veteran politician Etienne and the Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social’s deputy secretary general in charge of political, legal, diplomatic and communication matters, tells The Africa Report that

the government is not to be trusted: “Kabila, who clearly doesn’t want to leave power, absolutely does not want the opposition to organise itself […]. We have all been threatened. I myself heard that I was placed on the blacklist [of people] to be arrested. I am waiting for them. I’m not afraid.” He offers a chilling warning to the government: If there is a not a dialogue that includes Le Rassemblement and Kabila shows no signs of stepping down on 19 December, “there will be chaos. Chaos because the people are determined to make Kabila leave, to en-

sure the constitution is respected […]. We are going to ask the people to take charge.” He and his allies point to the constitution’s Article 64, which makes it legal for people to act if someone is a threat to the constitutional order. WIDENING THE STRUGGLE

Kinshasa has been the locus of the struggle between opposition parties and the security forces thus far, but opposition leaders are mobilising in the country’s other major cities, including Lubumbashi, Kisangani, Goma, Bukavu and Mbuji-Mayi, in a bid to ensure that when 20 December comes, the government will be unable to concentrate its security forces in any one place, thereby weakening its capacity. Well aware of the opposition’s strategy, the security forces, and particularly the intelligence agency Agence Nationale des Renseignements, are arresting and detaining without charge hundreds, if not thousands, of people they suspect of activism against the regime. All this is taking place in a country with the largest United Nations (UN) deployment in the world, with some 20,000 troops. A prolonged and bloody confrontation between the government’s security forces and opposition activists under its watch would constitute a monumental failure for the mission and the UN. In the meantime, the atmosphere in Kinshasa remains electric, as the population waits to see if a resolution will come from the streets or the conference hall. ●

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20,000 18,000

172,195

16,000

passengers

carried on A320 from October 2015 to September 2016

14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0

Oct.

Nov. Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May

June July

5,000 4,000

16,391

3,000

passengers

2,000 1,000 0

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

carried on Q400 from June to September 2016

Aug. Sept.

GWENN DUBOURTHOUMIEU

Gécamines staff are owed huge wage arrears

MINING

No birthday cake for Gécamines The state-owned mining company is heavily in debt and its management is again pitching a revitalisation plan that has failed to impress investors

écamines celebrated its 50th birthday this year, but no one is throwing a party: the troubled company’s strategic direction is as uncertain as ever. The chairman of the state-owned Générale des Carrières et des Mines, Albert Yuma Mulimbi, argues that a capital injection from banks and the sacking of employees to cut costs will revamp the company’s operations (see interview). But political uncertainty about when President Joseph Kabila’s tenure will end makes it unlikely that the government will now do what it has been unable or unwilling to do before to turn the company around. Few people believe that the company will undergo a renaissance. An executive from a foreign mining company says: “In Lubumbashi, everyone knows that the Gécamines of a bygone era will not be coming back. The company no longer attracts the best Congolese talent. The social benefits that it provided to its employees will not be brought back and it owes huge salary arrears. Its reputation for bad governance will be hard to shake off, especially the role of politics in its management.”

Few people now believe the production targets Yuma announced in September – 75,000tn in 2017 and 100,000tn in 2018 – are realistic. This is due in part to the poor state of Gécamines’ infrastructure. The executive says that Yuma’s revitalIn its 1980s heyday Gécamines produced isation programme is mostly wishful nearly 500,000tn of copper per year. thinking. A previous plan, launched Yuma can at least congratulate himself in 2011, never got off the ground. The on keeping the company from bankgoal of the previous attempt was to ruptcy. Gécamines was in dire straits strengthen Gécamines’ hand in its newhen he took over as chairman of the gotiations with foreign partners over board in 2010. He ended some unfavourable joint ventures and set up new exploration and mining, while paying ones with firms from China. One of the off debts of $1.7bn. Five years later, and debt levels are about the biggest such deals was for same. This is largely due the Deziwa and Ecaille C to the fact that the govdeposits,whichGécamines ernment promised help took back in 2013. It signed of $800m, money which a new deal with China Nonferrous Metals Comwas never delivered. The pany (CNMC) last June. company has not started its announced exploraThere is so much work tion programme of new to be done to revitalise Price of a tonne of deposits, which were supGécamines, improve efficopper in December posed to prepare the comciency and strengthen its 2010, a month after pany’s future. finances. Those tasks are Albert Yuma took not made any easier by over at Gécamines UNREAL TARGETS the low price of copper. Gécamines’ production A tonne is now selling levels have hit rock botfor $4,807, compared tom. It is due to produce to $8,500 in 2012. The Price of a tonne of big international min25,000tn of copper in 2016, copper in October 2016 less than half of its proing companies, like Swiss firm Glencore at duction the previous year. SOURCE: LONDON METAL EXCHANGE

$9,660 $4,807

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DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO | COUNTRY FOCUS

the DRC’s Kamoto copper and cobalt mine, are scaling back their activities and production levels. In the meantime, Yuma and his allies are looking for a resolution to the conflict that pits it against United Statesbased mining giant Freeport-McMoRan. Freeport holds a majority stake in the DRC’s most productive copper mine, Tenke Fungurume, and it wants to sell it after racking up huge losses last year. It produced about 200,000tn, generated revenue of $1.4bn and resulted in a financial loss of $513m in 2015. STAKES ARE HIGH

Gécamines holds a 20% stake in Tenke Fungurume and does not intend to allow a stake to be sold without its approval. Freeport announced its intention to sell its 56% stake in Tenke to China Molybdenum for $2.7bn in May. The deal has still not gone through, in part because of Gécamines’ opposition. Jacques Kamenga, Gécamines’ interim managing director, told Reuters news agency on 7 September that his company had launched a counter-offer for Freeport’s stake. Other Chinese and North American firms have expressed an interest, showing signs that they would be willing to come up with about $3bn despite the copper downturn. At Tenke, like at the 30-odd other Katanga Province mines in which Gécamines has a stake, it will be tough for partners to accept a bigger stake for the state-owned firm. Gécamines would like to take up larger stakes and become the operator of mines instead of just being a minority owner that collects dividends. Yuma holds out its deal with CNMC at Deziwa and Ecaille C as a model: “It calls for the gradual withdrawal of the Chinese partner and a greater share of the equity for Gécamines from the revenue generated from its shares. In about 10 years, the company will inherit a deposit producing 200,000tn per year and will be its 100% owner.” There are many critics of Congolese joint ventures with Chinese firms amongst Gécamines employees, labour unions, civil society groups and political parties. Among the many problems cited are that Chinese companies do not invest in local processing facilities and that they have poor social and environmental practices. Another element is key to turning Gécamines around, and that is its depoliticisation. Since 2010, it has had THE AFRICA REPORT

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the status of a commercial enterprise rather than a parastatal. However, interim managing director Kamenga is a senior official of the Parti Lumumbiste Unifié, a party that supports President Joseph Kabila. He has been in the post since 2014, when Ahmed Kalej Nkand was sacked for his poor management of the company. Voices in the sector say that Kamenga should be replaced by someone with the technical expertise who could act as a counterpoint to powerful chairman Yuma. That the latter has been in conflict with political decision-makers has hurt Gécamines’ development and the dis-

bursement of state funds. Yuma’s main political enemy is prime minister Augustin Matata Ponyo, who is critical of governance at Gécamines. Matata Ponyo has restricted influence over Gécamines due to Yuma’s close relationship with Kabila. In a tense political environment and with mining remaining a key economic sector, it seems highly unlikely that the depoliticisation of the company will happen soon, or that senior officials – either those close to the ruling party or the opposition – will agree on the strategy to follow. ● Christophe Le Bec for Jeune Afrique

INTERVIEW

Albert Yuma Mulimbi

Chairman, Gécamines

We have a production plan TAR: What is your view of the economy, with the government again having revised its growth predictions downward? In the DRC, the growth rate was revised to 4.3% […]. The activities of the members of the Fédération des Entreprises du Congo dropped by 25-30%. This difficult situation is tied to the fall in prices of natural resources, but also the lack of a real economic policy to address the worries of the business community. Political uncertainty is harmful for business. [Politicians] should quickly seek to cool down the conflict. That said, the debate about the date for the elections is not my business. What are your plans for turning around Gécamines? We are launching a production plan. First

we are going to bring staff levels down to 7,000 people. We are spending $9m each month on salaries, which is basically equal to our turnover! We are also going to close down all of our loss-making subsidiaries. For the development plan, we are going to invest $714m. By 2020, our activities should be earning us $220m. Banks are also going to be helping us with an additional $200m. And, finally, we are in discussion with partners, particularly about zinc reserves, which should bring us in $300m. In 2010, we inherited a bankrupt company. The state pledged to take on the company’s debts but did not follow through. And the banks that were going to help us were unable to get state guarantees. But we carved out a future by getting back

the assets that we are exploiting today. We did some very good work. What is Gécamines’ position on the sale of the Tenke Fungurume deposit? The sale of the Tenke Fungurume mine [in which the state holds a 20% stake] was announced without informing us or the government. They cannot trample on our rights. This major word-class asset is likely to interest any investor, including Gécamines. It would be easy for us to finance this purchase if our rights are not respected. And for those who doubt our intentions, I remind you that I am not the kind of person to float ideas without knowing where I am going. ● Interview by Frédéric Maury and Jean-Pierre Boris for Jeune Afrique and Radio France Internationale

COUNTRY FOCUS | DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

INFRASTRUCTURE

A region in search of roads

The DRC and the wider Central Africa region have huge infrastructure deficits that are only slowly being addressed

MEN AT WORK: Central Africa’s infrastructure push CHAD

or brave entrepreneurs wishing to sell their wares to their neighbours in the Central Africa region, things are rarely easy. The town of KyéOssi, some 280km south of Yaoundé, is a milestone for Cameroonian traders heading south into Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Every day, hundreds of lorries converge to brave the border run. The failure to grease the right palm can lead to precious hours lost in negotiations, “especially [problematic] if you have perishable goods in the back,” says Roger, a trucker from Cameroon. Beyond human frailties, Central Africa also faces some of the toughest logistical challenges. Regular deluges weaken road surfaces. Persistent vegetation reclaims cleared spaces. A lack of finance stalls and stunts infrastructure projects. Political will and funding to push for the construction of ports, power stations and railways is often lacking. Fridolin Kasweshi, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) infrastructure minister, claims $1bn is needed per year just in road building and maintenance – of which only a fraction is available. The DRC is certainly well-placed to change the face of the region. October is supposed to be the month when the fate of the Inga III hydroelectric dam project is decided, with two consortia facing off, according to Bruno Kapandji, the official in charge of the project. One is led by China’s Three Gorges Corporation, the other bid driven by Spanish group ACS. But, say analysts, you should not expect any movement on the dam with the fate of the elections scheduled for the end of December still unclear. Other DRC infrastructure projects on the transformative but tentative list are a deepwater port at Banana in Kongo Central Province and the rehabilitation of the Boma-Muanda road. ● Georges Dougeli and Nicholas Norbrook

CAR

In the six CEM MAC countries and DRC, 23 projects with budgetss over $50m are underway*

CAMEROON EQUAT. GUINEA GABON

REP. CONGO DRC

mbined cost of the projects Com

36 billion dollars

Who own ns them?

Who is ﬁnancing them?

Public-privatte partnerships ps (PPP)

International ﬁnancial institutions

Others 18% China 4%

26%

Private sector

52%

African ﬁnancial institutions

13%

Public sector 70%

Governments 13%

Who is building them? Others 31%

In which sectors? Water & sanitation

Governments

35%

Energy 19% (against 35% in 2013)

Housing 4%

Local private sector

Mines 4%

African ﬁnancial institutions

SOURCE: DELOITTE AFRICA CONSTRUCTION TRENDS REPORT 2016

China 26%

Transport 65% (against 18% in 2013)

Social development

* 2015 data

Main projects in the DRC Inga III hydropower project (phase 1)

Energy

$12bn

Multi-modal Transport project

Transport

$180m

Pro-routes project

Transport

$137m

A multitude of road-building and maintenance programmes have been signed over the past few years in the DRC, part of the infrastructure push of Prime Minister Matata Ponyo. Key among the priorities has been the re-opening of the Kinshasa, Bandundu, Equateur and Kasaï Occidental roads, to link these potential economic powerhouse provinces to the capital. THE AFRICA REPORT

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VIRGINIE LEFOUR/BELGA/AFP

JASON BROWN/JMP/SHUTTER/SIPA

JOHN BOMPENGO FOR JA

PEOPLE TO WATCH

It’s transfer time in Kinshasa In the boardroom, on the pitch, and in the corridors of power, team strategies are being drawn up. Come December one thing is sure: it’s going to be a tense match

ithout a shift of seismic proportions, President Joseph Kabila will not be leaving power on 19 December, the end of his supposedly final term. The resulting standoff between the ruling party and Le Rassemblement, a large coalition led by oppositionist Etienne Tshisekedi, is becoming angrier and deadlier. Félix Tshisekedi (1), Etienne’s son, returned to Kinshasa with his father in July after a hiatus in Belgium and has assumed a prominent role in antiKabila agitation. His octogenarian dad is slowing down, limited to ceremonial appearances and short speeches to fire up his adoring militants. Félix has taken operational control of the Tshisekedi political brand, which remains potent in the west and centre of the country. Politicians often leave the dangerous activism to their supporters, but nobody can accuse Martin Fayulu of that. The former ExxonMobil executive is a member of Le Rassemblement and came to national attention for his role in organising demonstrations in January 2015 that forced parliament to backtrack on an unpopular electoral law. He has since paid the price. This year, Fayulu has been arrested by the government’s spy agency, targeted by the tax authorities and denied access

to his home town. During September’s protests, he was hospitalised with a serious head wound when struck by a tear gas canister fired by the police. Kabila’s enforcers are busy, none more so than General Ilunga Kampete, the commander of the Garde Républicaine. The presidential bodyguard was heavily involved in the lethal repression of protesters on 19 and 20 September, and reports say that it was a group of Garde Républicaine troops that besieged the headquarters of three opposition parties – including Tshisekedi’s – with rocket launchers and fire bombs. SANCTIONS AND A BOYCOTT

General John Numbi was removed as chief of the national police in 2010 after being linked to the murder of a human-rights activist. But many suspect that he has remained an influential adviser to Kabila. Washington certainly thinks so. On 28 September, the United States added Numbi to its sanctions list forthreateningtomurderlawmakerswho refused to vote for Kabila’s candidates in gubernatorial elections in March 2016. Vital Kamerhe is vying for a third way. A one-time Kabila confidant, Kamerhe has led an opposition delegation – excluding Le Rassemblement, which boycotted it – into a dialogue with the gov-

ernment. An agreement has been struck, with the participants planning to form a government of national unity to manage the transition, and it is an open secret that Kamerhe has his eyes on the prime minister’s office. The date of the election has been set for April 2018, and Kamerheis waiting to see if his gamble pays off. With the political uncertainty compoundedbyadeterioratingeconomy,one shard of light in the gloom is ProCredit Bank. It is one of the few local banks to show an interest in improving low financial inclusion rates and serving small businesses. Kenya’s Equity Bank became ProCredit’s majority shareholder in 2015; its aggressive expansion programme is being overseen by 39-year-old chief executive Celestin Mukeba Muntuabu (2). The Congolese national football side provided a bright point in an otherwise troubled year. In February, Les Léopards won the African Nations Championship and sent the country into a brief delirium. Unlike the Africa Cup of Nations, the tournament only features footballers who play in their own country’s league, which meant star winger Yannick Bolasie (3) was absent. In August, British Premier LeagueteamEvertonpaid£25m($30.9m) for Bolasie, making him the DRC’s most expensive footballer ever. ● William Clowes in Kinshasa

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BUSINESS

The DRC has been slow to foster an environment where startups and small businesses can flourish. Tribeca’s Gerard is calling for the creation of a fund to finance small and medium-sized enCompany executives and startup founders got terprises (SMEs). He asked the DRC’s together in Kinshasa in September to talk about 500,000 richest citizens to fund the initiative. “If they decide to give $10,000 the needs of the Congolese business community each for the creation of this fund, it could finance 10,000 SMEs,” he explains. iththeeconomyshakenbythe specific financial institutions. Few execdrop in prices for minerals, utives expect to see the effects of those The forum provided a chance for startthe business community is policies anytime soon, if indeed they up founders to meet potential funders. are implemented. scrambling to adapt. Banks are becomToto Madradu was in attendance to proing more conservative, but the governNicole Sulu, who has been running the mote lemeilleur.cd, his price comparison ment is promising reforms to improve Sultani Hotel – the site of the business site. On the spot, the Gertler Foundation meeting – since 2012, also stressed the the business climate. With the business – the charity founded by Israeli businessslowdown in the headlines, the twoman Dan Gertler – promidea of business responsCredit growth (%) ised Madrabu $2,000. That year-old Sultani Makutano Forum is one ibility. Arguing that words to the private sector Gertler’s name has come of the few occasions for entrepreneurs to alone will not improve the get together and address their concerns. business climate, she said: up in a case of opaque pay22.7% There were close to 300 business leadments to African officials “Africa and the Democratic 20.1% Republic of Congo need reveals some of the comers at the meeting on 16-17 September. Those in attendance argue that enentrepreneurs more than plexities of sourcing fundthey need slogans.” trepreneurs need to find solutions to ing in the DRC. the economic malaise – and fast. Luc Startups are getting NETWORKING Gerard, a Congolese entrepreneur and off the ground, however. the founder of Latin America-focused The two-day meeting inSandrine Mubenga’s SMIN Tribeca Asset Management, says that cluded workshops organPower Group is involved in ised with the Fédération businessmenhavetoaccepttheirshareof wind and solar power pro2014 2015 des Entreprises du Congo. blame for the downturn. He argues they jects. Stéphane Ugeux and SOURCE: CONGOLESE GOVERNMENT Their topics ranged from should say a “big mea culpa” because Sinouhe Monteiro Nunes AND INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND they have played a role in the “grand are co-founders of Ewala, finance to education, start economic disaster” in the country. ups and the development of a stronger which works in the field of diaspora finThe government launched a proance. With a bit of luck and some hard class of business leaders. Networking was gramme of 28 new economic measures a key part of the event, and several Conwork, those business founders could be golese banks – including Banque Comin January. While a promised reduction on the other side of the table when a new in state spending could hurt business, merciale du Congo, Rawbank, Ecobank, round of startups show up for the forum Sofibanque, Standard Bank, ProCredit the 28 initiatives include help for small next year. ● Trésor Kibangula in Kinshasa businesses and the creation of sectorBank and FBN Bank – took part. for Jeune Afrique and Honoré Banda

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BUSINESS

MOROCCO

Winds of change

COMPANIES & MARKETS

A remarkable political balancing act has allowed Morocco to keep competing structural forces in play rather than in conflict. In business too, the government is keen to ensure its interests and those of the business community are in harmony By Celeste Hicks in Casablanca and Nicholas Norbrook

“

PAUL LANGROCK/ZENIT-LAIF-REA

Morocco is at the vanguard of pushing international financial institutions to invest in green power projects

he people want a second term!” chanted a partisan crowd. Overcome with emotion, Morocco’s prime minister, Abdelilah Benkirane, wiped his eyes during a political rally for his Parti de la Justice et du Développement (PJD) in Taroudant, ahead of the 7 October legislative polls. Times change, even in North Africa, which was for many decades the home of stay-put authoritarian regimes. The PJD, an Islamist party, won power comfortably and uncontroversially for a second term in office, beating out the palace-backed Parti Authenticité et Modernité by 125 seats to 102. Even a few years ago, this would have been unthinkable. It is not just in squaring political Islam with a democracy that the country is setting the pace in the region. Of its peers on the continent’s northern rim, only Morocco has managed to conjugate a statedriven command economy with a vibrant private sector. Even while underwriting new industrial sectors like renewable energy, the government has pushed through prudential reforms to help balance the budget. Morocco’s democracy is a managed one, with the prerogatives of the monarchy, represented by King Mohammed VI, influencing the political scene. The PJD-led government broughtthedeficitdownfrom7.2% of gross domestic product (GDP)

in 2011 to around 3% today. This was done while the economy averagedgrowthofaround4% – several points higher than its neighbours. One measure that helped cut government spending was the removal of fuel subsidies. Long considered an important part of promoting social stability, in 2011 they were costing the state Dh41.4bn ($4.2bn) annually, equivalent to around 5% of GDP. In 2014, Benkirane’s government finally took the plunge. But far from creating riots on the streets as many had feared, the removal of subsidies passed with barely a flicker of recognition. Once prices were fully liberalised at the end of November 2015, fuel prices at the pump actually fell. LUCK AND JUDGEMENT

EconomicanalystZouhairAitBenhamou explains the government’s choice: “The government had the most incredible good luck in the timing of this move, with the world oil price crashing to lows of $40 a barrel in 2014 […]. The PJD has suggested that it was a brave move to remove subsidies, but in fact they had no choice. They couldn’t afford to keep doing it.” There was also some luck in inheriting a fully fledged industrial policy that had already lured Renault to build cars in Tangiers. Morocco’s minister of trade and industry, Moulay Hafid Elalamy, says that local content provisions have not stifled investment: “We

BUSINESS | COMPANIES & MARKETS

have made them produce 60% of the car locally, rising to 80%, which meansthattheengine blockwill be made in Morocco – no mean feat.” Thecountry'scombinationofgood infrastructure, free-trade zones, tax holidays and an increasingly dense ecosystem of secondary and tertiary parts manufacturers in northern Morocco, has prompted Peugeot to start work on a $630m factory in Kenitra that will produce 200,000 cars a year for export to Africa and the Middle East. Morocco’s predictable policy framework, as boring as it might sound to politicians hungry for plaudits, is in part responsible for such deals. That framework has worked in aeronautical engineering, too. Boeing is the latest to join the crowd, announcing on 27 September it would be sourcing $1bn in parts from companies based in Morocco. At a stroke, that would double the country’s current aeronautical exports. And Boeing is not alone in looking to Morocco. In 2013,BombardierAerospacebroke ground on a $200m investment in the Casablanca Aeronautics Park. Morocco’s export capacity has been greatly helped by the expanding Tanger-Med port on the Mediterranean coast. Currently handling some 3m twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year, the port is undergoing an expansion to have the capacity to deal with some 8m TEUs per year. And beyond the manufacturing sector, Morocco’s service sector is expanding,particularlyinthehightech sector. One example of this is Casablanca Technopark, another state and private-sector collaboration, where many innovative companies are hatched with the help of a startup incubator. TECH SUCCESSES

Omar Balafrej, who heads the Technopark until he takes up his new job as a member of parliament in the next legislature, points to the successes he has seen emerge from the institution over the past few years. They include M2t, a mobile-money processing platform that has spread its wings into Tunisia and sub-Saharan Africa, and ValuePass, now the

Morocco’s improving trade balance (% of GDP)

Oil imports Exports

Non-oil imports Trade balance (RHS)

-5

-10

SOURCE: MOROCCAN GOVERNMENT AND IMF

-15

-20

-30

-20

-40

-50

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

country’s leading SAP software integrator. “And the difference between us and the free zones in the north is that 85% of our companies here are focused on the local market,” says Balafrej. Nevertheless, other traditionally important sectors have fared less well. As the wider North African region suffers from negative publicity following terrorist attacks at Tunisian tourist hotspots, Morocco has seen a drop in the number of tourist arrivals – at least 5% down for the first half of 2016 compared with the previous year. Some hotels in tourist spots such as Ouarzazate have reported they are regularly only filling about 20% of available beds. At the same time, sluggish growth in Europe following the 2008 financial crash has had a heavy impact on spending by

-25

Moroccans living abroad, particularly on property, which has historically been seen as a safe investment. Several of the country’s biggest real estate developers, including Addoha and Alliances, have been brought to their knees by debt crises in recent years. This points to a serious flaw in Morocco’s plans. For all the will to build up national champions, like Japan and South Korea did to drive their economies, the government has not always had the discipline to force companies into productive modes. “It’s the danger of the ‘cement economy’,” says Balafrej, who points to the fact that Moroccan banks prefer to lend to fast-money sectors like real estate rather than value-creating sectors like manufacturing. GREEN VISION

Other sectors have their own problems. Morocco’s sole oil refinery, SAMIR in Mohammedia, has been closed since August 2015 due to a debt crisis. This has left Morocco, whichhasnohydrocarbonproduction of its own, reliant on imports from the world market. But energy may yet be harvested from the skies, not pumped up from the ground. As Morocco gears up to host the COP22 global climate-change talks in Marrakech this November, the country has begun a renewed offensive to secure special climate funds to help develop renewable energy and climate-change mitigation and adaptation programmes. Over several years, many international financial institutions (IFIs) have built up a solid relationship with the Moroccan government. Through a number of high-profile projects such as the Noor solar complex at Ouarzazate, it has set its sights on emerging as a leader in developing green technologies. Mafalda Duarte, head of the $8.3bn World Bank-based Climate Investment Funds (CIF), says the country is moving in a good direction: “Morocco is serious and has laid out its vision.” Morocco’s King Mohammed VI recently announced a target of providing 52% of the country’s ● ● ●

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“Perhaps a better challenge for IFIs is to find ways to invest in the projects that no one else wants to do,” says the Morocco country director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Laurent Chabrier. “We can save so many emissions through better treatment of waste. But who wants to invest in that?” EL NINO’S EFFECTS

FADEL SENNA/AFP

energy needs from renewable sources by 2030. “Our role is not just to provide concessionary finance but also to de-risk the establishment of these new technologies in developing countries,” the king explained. In the case of solar, funding from development banks has been crucial because the Noor project involves concentrated solar power (CSP) technology, which is less popular than other technologies. Rather than the more widely used photovoltaic (PV) panels, the Noor I plant in Morocco’s desert is an enormous park of mirrors, which reflect the sun’s rays to heat liquid running through pipes; this in turn powers turbines. ●●●

FALLING PRICES

In 2012, there was just 1.9GW of CSP capacity installed globally, mostly in South Africa, the United States and Spain. Noor I has added 160MW to that capacity. In comparison, there is now an estimated 227GW of PV generating capacity globally. Funding for phases one, two and three of Noor came from a variety of sources, including the Moroccan government, the European Investment Bank and the African Development Bank. The CIF also supported it to the tune of $435m. “This money is designed to help

scale up the technology so that costs will fall,” says Duarte. “This might not necessarily happen if left to the market.” And to a certain extent, it has worked. The cost per KWh in the long-term power purchase agreement for Noor I fell almost 25% from an expected $0.24 to almost $0.17/KWh. For the subsequent phases, the price was locked in at $0.16. However, CSP is yet to prove that it can catch up with the success of PV, which has seen prices fall to an impressive $0.03/KWh in a recent project announced in Dubai. Even wind power has seen dramatic falls, the Nareva/Enel Green Power 850MW wind park across three sites in Morocco will deliver electricity at $0.03/KWh. An industry insider explains the risks of the government’s strategy: “ThecostsofCSParecomingdown but just not fast enough compared toothertechnologies[…]. Itmaybe cheaper than expected, but those costs will ultimately be passed on to the Moroccan consumers.” As Morocco moves towards COP22, it is trying to get more out of its partnerships with IFIs. There has been a bias towards high-profile infrastructure development, with less interest in less ‘sexy’ areas such as financing adaptation projects to guard against the impact of climate change.

In the past decade Salé, a dormitory town of Rabat, has been transformed from bidonville to boomtown

4,000 MW Morocco’s targeted electricity production from wind and solar projects by 2020

SOURCE: MOROCCAN GOVERNMENT

And perhaps nowhere is this need to focus on the smaller scale more vividly illustrated than in agriculture. In the 2016-2017 growing season, Morocco has received around 42% less rain than average, with this drop attributed to El Niño and climate change. With around 85% of Morocco’s agricultural land primarily rain-fed, farmers faced a catastrophic planting season. The harvest is expected to show a 70% fall on the previous year. Against this vulnerability, agriculture minister Aziz Akhannouch has launched a new initiative known as Adaptation of African Agriculture. He hopes to get it adopted as a key component of any agreement signed at COP22 in November. The project is aimed at improving soil and water management in order to increase output and absorb carbon dioxide. While the involvement of IFIs is clearly welcomed in Morocco, the country’s banks are also keen to play the middleman role in delivering these small-scale solutions. “With COP22 on the horizon, there’s a lot of money floating around for these ideas at the moment” says Tariq Sijilmassi, the head of Crédit Agricole Maroc, a bank that has a large number of rural farmers as customers. “The challenge is to transform these pledges into workable solutions for farmers. They know what they need,andpolicieswritteninoffices in Washington are not always the answer,” Sijilmassi explains. If Rabat can continue to play its role brokering deals between state and market – and between Islam and democracy – perhaps encouraging global finance to take a farmer’s-eye view will be the next conjuring trick driving change in North Africa. ●

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BUSINESS | COMPANIES & MARKETS

SOUTH AFRICA

No country for rich men

In the face of bleak economic prospects at home and elsewhere on the continent, South African companies are splashing their cash further afield

rom transport to retail and from media to mining, South African companies arerampingupinvestmentoutside the African continent in search of new opportunities. An economic recession, the rand’s weakness against the US dollar, high unemployment and the country’s rising cost of living have all contributed to companies deciding that now is the right time to gain footholds in foreign markets. Over the past few years, a small number of South African companies have set up bases in Australia, Brazil, China and several European countries. “Companies want diversification due to the macroeconomic volatility, and people are looking for safety and security, hence the diversification of their portfolios,” says Ronak Gopaldas, head of country risk at Rand Merchant Bank. MONEY IN THE BANK

The dreams of business expansion are fuelled by the piles of cash that several South African companies are sitting on. Data from the country’s reserve bank shows that the country’s non-financial privatecompaniescollectivelyheld R725bn ($52bn) in bank deposits at the end of March. “There is a lot of money sitting around in companies’ balance sheets,” says Sasha Naryshkine, co-founder of Vestact, a South African asset management company. “There are no opportunities, and local growth is really low.” Businesses looking to expand abroad would do well to emulate the success of Naspers, which is Africa’s biggest media outfit and

was part of an earlier wave of international expansion. In May, the company had a market value of $69.7bn due in part to its lucrative 2001 investment in Tencent, one of China’s most-used search engines. The group owns a range of internet and e-commerce businesses around the world. It also controls DStv and SuperSport parent company MultiChoice, in addition to several local newspapers and magazines that are part of the Media24 stable. A new wave of international activity is underway for South African corporates. South African retail and furniture group Steinhoff has been one of the most active companies outside the continent over the past year. Its high-profile purchase of British retailer Poundland let European companies know that South Africans are serious about expanding outside of Africa. Steinhoff, which is valued at $23bn, already owns Britain-based outlets Bensons for Beds and Harveys Furniture. In September, Christoffel Wiese, South Africa’s second-richest man, buoyed expectations that more acquisitions could come. Wiese, who is the largest shareholder in both Steinhoff and ShopRite, Africa’s largest food retailer, said it would be a “natural development” for the two companies to merge. That merger would create a company with a market capitalisation of nearly $35bn. South Africa’s retailers have been more aggressive than other industries in their overseas expansion, in large part because international brands like H&M and Zara have been squeezing

MTN Irancell is a joint venture between the South African telecom company and the Iranian government

their profits at home. After Woolworths purchased Australian retailer David Jones in August 2014 for $2bn it established itself as one of the largest retailers in the southern hemisphere. The strategy seemed to pay off – in February of this year, Woolworths announced a 17.1% increase in annual revenue to $2.5bn. However, by July the company was announcing it would close 30 of its supermarkets in Australia and New Zealand. This has not stopped the group from spending $60m on Australian men’s fashion brand Politix, which it plans to roll out in the David Jones stores. LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

Ralph Buddle, director of strategy and business development at Woolworths, explains the company’s strategy: “For the time being, the focus is on sub-Saharan Africa and Australasia, where we have local knowledge and managementexpertise.Recentacquisitions have been made in Australia, where we identified opportunities to leverage our skills and knowTHE AFRICA REPORT

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BUSINESS

bribery allegations in 2013 linked to its activities in Iran. The company’s chief competitor in the market, Turkish telecoms operator Turkcell, was unsuccessful in its $4.2bn lawsuit, which nonetheless hurt MTN’s reputation. Under pressure to diversify, South African energy and chemicals company Sasol, which is the country’s biggest taxpayer, is trying to ramp up petrochemical production. The company said in June that construction delays and lower production forecasts at its ethane project in the US state of Louisiana would raise costs by as much as 26% to $11bn. This comes at a difficult time for the company. In September, it posted a 55% drop in net profit for the year to $915m. The company is also exploring for gas in Australia and Canada.

Big South African companies spread their global reach

Formed a joint venture with the Iranian government in 2005.

P Purchased h dM Mattress Firm for $2.4bn in August. Sasol’s $11bn ethane cracker is under construction in Louisiana.

Acquired the David Jones store chain in 2014 for $2.2bn.

ledge and build upon scale across the southern hemisphere.” Last year, the Foschini Group, a South African retailer, acquired British outlet Phase Eight, which has a large footprint in Europe, Asia, the US and the Middle East. The group also added a further 108 new stores in these markets. “Internationally, Phase Eight has THE AFRICA REPORT

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Bought a 41% stake in Chinese internet group Tencent in 2001.

got a significant roll-out opportunity, and it can get close to 900 outlets over a five-year period,” the group’s chief financial officer Anthony Thunstrom told reporters in May, announcing a 17.6% rise in headline earnings. But not all South African companies have had easy expansions. Telecom group MTN was hit with

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SOURCE: COMPANY INFORMATION

B Bought ht retailer t il Poundland for $815m in July.

Bought some of GSK’s assets in 2009, including a production facility in Bad Oldesloe.

HEALTH BENEFITS

South Africa’s strict regulatory environment has prompted healthcare companies to search for new opportunities abroad. In September, Aspen Pharmacare struck a deal with GlaxoSmithKline to buy itsportfolioofanaestheticdrugsfor $370m. After the purchase, Aspen’s chief executive, Stephen Saad, told reporters that he would shift the focus of his company overseas. “Worldwide, our biggest sales force is now in China,” he said. The hospital group Mediclinic has been successful in its expansion. It has about 100 clinics and hospitals, 10,000 beds and 35,000 employees spread across South Africa, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Switzerland and the UK. The company identified growth territories and sought out new markets through its acquisition of a UAE company in 2006. “Health is an emotive issue,” says Vestact’s Naryshkine. “People will go where there is good care.” One of Mediclinic’scompetitors, Life Healthcare, opted to head to Poland and India for its growth. It made the move to India by purchasing a stake in a local company in 2011, and pursued the same strategy in Poland in 2015. Another healthcare company, Ascendis Health, announced in May that it would buy Cyprus-

BUSINESS | COMPANIES & MARKETS

based pharmaceuticals company Remedica for $289m, and Scitec International,anenergy-drinkproducer, for $188m. “These two businesses in Europe are the perfect platform to [build] our brands internationally and once [they’re] established, we can add on stronger acquisitions and extract stronger value,” says Karsten Wellner, chief executiveofficer (CEO)ofAscendis Health. The other benefit of having European operations is a hedge against the rand, which has lost almost half of its value over the past four years against the US dollar. With the May deals, approximately half of Ascendis’s sales are due to be generated by foreign operations, with its products sold in 144 countries. Wellner says the companyremainscommittedtoits domestic market, but it is always looking for new African expansions, especially in Nigeria, with its growing middle class. Again, the international strategy is paying dividends, with Ascendis announcing a revenue increase of 39% to R3.9bn in the first half of 2016. The combination of flagging mining activity in South Africa, together with skills gleaned from decades of experience mining at depths unheard of in other parts of the world, prompted many mining companies to embark on expansions into foreign markets over the past decade. Anglo American has been hit by low commodities prices and is in the midst of the largest divestment programme in its 100-year history, selling off assets in Australia and Brazil and shifting its focus from coal and iron ore to copper, diamonds, gas and platinum. The company is still in the market for strategic deals, however. In September, it announced it would buy a stake in Greyrock Energy, a US-based gas-to-liquids firm. GOOD DEALS IN EUROPE

Master Drilling previously focused on African markets, but altered its approach this year through the acquisition of Swedish drilling company Bergteamet. “We did this [primarily] to get access to Scandinavia and Europe,” says Master Drilling CEO Danie Pretorius.

A ‘Woolies’ in Sydney, Australia: the group’s acquisition of David Jones and Politix proved more savvy than supermarket expansion

HUGH PETERSWALD/PACIFIC PRESS/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES

In September, South African fast food group Famous Brands announced a $140m deal to buy Gourmet Burger Kitchen, a British chain. It said it saved nearly a fifth on the price because of the British vote to leave the European Union, which shook confidence in the pound. While economic activity in Africa is slowing, Rand Merchant Bank’s Gopaldas is still bullish on Africa’s growth prospects and argues the continent is an attractive destination due to the expanding middle class and infrastructure deficit. He says that despite the challenges, South African companies should stay the course and try to understand local markets better. “The direction of the wind has changed with the commodity slump, but […] the crisis is an opportunity to make reforms,” Gopaldas tells The Africa Report. Over the next year South African companies are most likely to be active in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, where

233%

Ascendis’s foreign revenue more than tripled in the year to June 2016, following its European acquisitions SOURCE : ACENDIS

regulatory frameworks are similar to what they are used to at home, according to Thea Fourie, a senior economist at research firm IHS Economics. “Commercial relations with the United Kingdom are also very strong and in a postBrexit environment, the UK could make some effort to secure these relations,” she adds. South African companies will enjoy more opportunities from growing relationships with Brazil, Russia, India and China, Fourie says. “[South Africa’s] services sector is most likely to benefit the most – that being retail, financial services. South Africa’s manufacturing, particularly motor vehicles, could also possibly broaden its export markets.” With lessons from their recent international investments in hand, new ideas and innovations are likely to be part of South African companies’ activities at home and across the continent in the years to come. ● Crystal Orderson in Cape Town and Mark Anderson

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BUSINESS | LEADERS

INTERVIEW

Patrick Pouyanné

Chief executive, Total

Total is number one in Africa

French oil major Total is the highest earner on the continent in the energy sector. The company is taking a long view on the oil price, and also looking to gas and renewables to power its growth

t has been almost two years since Patrick Pouyanné took over the reins of Total, following the unexpected death of his predecessor Christophe de Margerie in a Moscow plane crash on 20 October 2014. Pouyanné’s appointment to the top job came in a particularly difficult market environment. His flagship projects are to make Total’s management more international, to prepare the company for a less oil-dependent future and to cut costs. TAR: You obviously disagree with your rival Claudio Descalzi, chief executive of Eni, who recently claimed to have the largest petroleum company in Africa. PATRICK POUYANNÉ : Objectively speaking, Total is number one. We are going to celebrate 90 years in Africa, and the continent represents 30% of our activities. So it goes without saying

BRUNO LEVY FOR JA

that it’s a key region for us. Total can legitimately say that it is the largest oil major in Africa and the second multinational on the continent in terms of turnover behind Glencore. Total has recently shown big ambitions for the gas sector, but across the continent you have few projects in this sector. That’s true. Proportionally, we have fewer gas projects in Africa compared to other con-

What Africa means to Total Geographical presence by sector

Exploration-production

680,000 barrels per day* meaning

30%

of Total world production

countries

* 2015 SOURCE: TOTAL

tinents. Nevertheless, we’ve been working with Nigeria for a long time on our OML 58 gas fields for liquefied natural gas export and local power generation […]. We’re looking at different gas development models, such as in Morocco and in Côte d’Ivoire. For this to happen, we have to set up networks going from the gas field to the electrical generation plant all the way up to the distribution system. This model is difficult to develop across the continent due to a lack of creditworthy customers and a relatively low level of consumption. So Africa does form an integral part of your strategy to reorient Total towards gas, electricity and renewable energy? Total is and remains first and foremost a major oil player […]. Having said that, we have to think about the future. Our new gas, renewables and power de-

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LEADERS | BUSINESS

What is your analysis of the current price environment? I don’t have a crystal ball, but I think that prices will remain relatively low for another two years, possibly around $50 or $60. But from now until 2019 or 2020, there will be a lack of projects, so demand will fall and we will see prices go up again. What is Total’s strategy in such a context? Development costs for projects are closely linked to the movement in crude oil prices. In two years, these costs have dropped about 30%. And unlike smaller oil companies, Total has the financial means to launch new projects that will start production in 2020 or later […]. Certain countries like Angola have relaxed their fiscal policies to allow us to continue to invest in spite of the current conditions. What are your main projects in Africa? It is more difficult today to find giant fields such as Girassol, which have 700m-800m barrels of crude oil reserves. We are interested in the development of marginal fields that are close to our facilities, especially in Angola, Nigeria and the Republic of Congo. These can be developed faster due to the existing infrastructure. And there are also huge projects, such as the one we are evaluating in Uganda, which is shallow and on land and has a low production cost. THE AFRICA REPORT

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In this particular case, the difficulty mainly lies in the transport infrastructure because we are far from the coast. But here, too, we expect a drop in pipeline costs as a result of the crisis. In Nigeria, how has the industry changed since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power? Key measures have been taken on the trading of oil products. Now our traders deal directly with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation without having to work through intermediaries. This enables us to comply with the strict rules to combat corruption and to track our trading operations, but the main issue is security. Even if this barely affects our projects, oil bunkering in the Niger Delta through the piercing of pipelines leads to dozens of deaths. We’ve also noticed that the situation has worsened over the past months with the emergence of the Niger Delta Avengers rebel movement. This is worrying because we can only work in a country if our health, safety and environment policies are respected.

A TOTAL MAN 24 June 1963 Born in France 1983 Graduated from Ecole Polytechnique 1993 Technical adviser to France’s prime minister 1997 Joined Total as chief administrative officer in Angola 2012 Named president of Total’s refining and chemical division

Interview by Christophe Le Bec for Jeune Afrique

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Joseph Chiedu Ugbo On 31 August, Chiedu Ugbo became managing director of Nigeria’s Niger Delta Power Holding Company after holding the role in an acting capacity. Ugbo, who has a legal background, oversees the NDPHC’s 10 National Integrated Power Projects.

2014 CEO of Total

“Africa is an interesting playing field not only in gas but in solar” Your relations with Algeria have been strained due to a contractual clause you are invoking to avoid taxation that you consider too high. The media has sensationalised this topic too much. First of all, we have no intention to make public our decision to resort to arbitration following a fiscal dispute between Total, Spanish energy company Repsol and our Algerian partners. It’s a legal dispute like any other, there is nothing unusual about it. We have a clause that guarantees us fiscal stability, and Anadarko, an American competitor, received a favourable decision after invoking the clause. ●

APPOINTMENTS

Abebe Aemro Selassie Ethiopia’s Abeba started as director of the International Monetary Fund’s African department on 19 September. He was previously the department’s assistant director and has worked for the IMF in countries including Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa.

Samuel Samo Gudo On 1 September, Samo Gudo became the first Mozambican to be president of the Mozal aluminium smelter near Maputo. He started at the Australian-owned facility as head of the maintenance department in 1999 and has worked his way up.

partment launched in September will spearhead our energy transition. Africa is an interesting playing field not only in gas but also in solar. Access to a decentralised energy supply is an interesting path to explore on a continent where 500 million inhabitants do not have access to electricity. We just inaugurated a new solar park of more than 80MW in South Africa which can power a city of 75,000 inhabitants. It’s a very interesting example that we plan to repeat, for example in Ethiopia, Zambia and in northern Nigeria.

BUSINESS | FINANCE

In the simplest terms, blockchain is a digital ledger that goes on forever

DAN PAGE/THE I SPOT

BANKING

Blockchain is gaining momentum Financial institutions are looking for ways to use the accounting system behind the virtual currency bitcoin to reduce the cost of banking transactions

frican banks are beginning to see the potential of blockchain, an innovative system of shared and decentralised databases that got its start with the digital currency bitcoin. Proponents point out that the lack of a centralised ledger for transactions allows for greater transparency and lower costs in all sorts of trades and other activities. South Africa’s third-biggest bank by assets, Barclays Africa Group, announced in July that it joined R3, a New York-based coalition of 45 firms developing blockchain for use in the global financial system. African banks are new to the blockchain space, which has already had some support from the world’s biggest banks. In August, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Santander and BNY Mellon announced they would partner with

Clearmatics, a blockchain developer, to launch a new digital currency aimed at central banks. Blockchain backers say the system can drastically reduce transaction costs, and each year banks and other institutions spend as much as $80bn on conducting trades, according to research by Oliver Wyman, a financial consulting firm. If blockchain is to take off anywhere in Africa, it is likely that Kenya or South Africa will be first, although there are many regulatory and other hurdles in the way. Several bitcoin exchanges are active on the continent, including Singapore-based BitX – which operates in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa – and South Africa’s ice³x. According to LocalBitcoins. com, traders exchanged more than KSh7.5m ($74,000) in bitcoin in Kenya in the last week

$65bn$80bn

Estimated cost to the finance industry of clearing and settling financial trades per year

SOURCE: OLIVER WYMAN

of September. BitPesa, a Kenyabased remittance firm, conducts transfers using the digital currency in four African countries. Many in Kenya’s vibrant tech scene, which is home to mobile money and other fintech innovations, are excited about the technology. “Bitcoin can allow the transfer of funds nearly instantaneously and costs less than traditional means,” Josiah Mugambi, executive director of Nairobi’s iHub, told the UK newspaper The Guardian. In Africa, blockchain innovations could also be used in other domains. “There is huge potential beyond the financial sector, like in other sectors that could benefit from streamlining of supplychain processes such as agriculture and energy,” John Karanja, the founder of BitHub Africa – a consultancy that works on projects related to bitcoin and blockchain – tells The Africa Report. Many of South Africa’s financial technologists are also interested in blockchain. “There are many possible uses for blockchain technology in a variety of industries. We have only seen the tip of the iceberg,” says Nerushka Bowan, a senior associate at legal firm Norton Rose Fulbright in Johannesburg. “It is encouraging to see the financial services sector, including banks in Africa, leading the way in developing prototypes and possible financial uses,” Bowan adds. “It is likely to be the first industry with widespread adoption of blockchain technology.” TESTING GROUND

The sheer scale of technological innovation taking place across the continent is cause for optimism. “Look at other e-money concepts on the continent, such as M-Pesa in Kenya. If there is a place for e-money to thrive, it will be on this continent,” says Bowan. Part of the reason African banks are a fertile testing ground for new financial technology is that they have a relatively low cus-

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HANNIBAL tomer base and smaller assets, according to Brett King, cofounder of US-based banking app Moven. “The opportunity is to produce new constructs that sort of bring together unique opportunities and competencies – things like the blockchain and mobile-money movement on the phone, and mesh networking. It’s a matter of using Africa’s unique potential right now to come up with things that defy Western logic in many terms or just don’t fit that classical model,” he says. DOLLAR REPLACEMENT

Volatile local currencies could make innovations like bitcoin seem attractive to some African central bankers. “Instead of US dollars, perhaps in the future we will see the rise of an African cryptocurrency which will have a higher value and stability than local currencies, is widely accessible and possibly not subject to forex regulations,” Bowan says. “Bitcoin itself has seen massive growth in value since its inception as adoption and trust has risen.” The absence of a central authority regulating bitcoin has been a major stumbling block for the technology. In early October, Kenya’s central bank governor Patrick Njoroge told reporters: “You’d be out of your mind to allow bitcoin.” There are few signs that huge barriers preventing blockchain from taking off across the continent will be removed any time soon. Most concerning is a lack of security, says BitHub Africa’s Karanja: “It will be very difficult to secure [blockchain platforms] from both internal and external threats – mainly hack attacks.” Much more testing and development are needed before African central banks will use blockchain for financial transactions, according to Karanja. “Banks could streamline their credit-scoring processes using blockchain technology to make lending more efficient by providing more transparency to borrowers and regulators,” he explains. ● Mark Anderson

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Feasting on Barclays THE GREAT CARVE UP of Barclays’ African holdings continues, with Morocco’s leading bank, Attijariwafa, buying Barclays Egypt in early October. A figure was not announced for the deal, with analysts estimating that it had a price tag of around $400m. It is a novel step for the Morocco-based lender, which has felt more at ease expanding into Francophone West and Central Africa. Meanwhile, former Barclays boss Bob Diamond has seen his dreams to buy a major stake in Barclays Africa Group shattered now that the US-based Carlyle Group has withdrawn from a consortium put together for that purpose. Instead, South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation looks set to up its own Barclays Africa stake.

Debt-induced famine DIAMOND WILL NO DOUBT draw consolation from the fact that his bank, Atlas Mara, did not to invest in Moza Banco: Mozambique’s fourth-largest bank went into administration on 30 September. The regulator spoke of a liquidity crunch, with the rest of the banking system being “healthy”. Followers of the public debt implosion in Mozambique will also have spotted another minister in the ejector seat. Energy minister Pedro Couto was blasted into the stratosphere on 29 September, a month before a deadline to seal a deal for Eni’s gas projects worth tens of billions of dollars. With the time it will take to get the gas fields going, the government is not expecting a large and rapid cash injection.

Lions on the prowl BUT DON’T WORRY about problems like that, the big cats are not yet dead, according to McKinsey & Co – the consultancy behind the ‘African Lions on the Move’ report of 2010. Those were happier times for the continent, when commodity prices were high and concerns over softening Chinese growth were far away. The new report – The Lion King 2, if you prefer – is still bullish on Africa’s fundamentals, which include “a young and growing population, the world’s fastest urbanisation rate and accelerating technological change”. If that’s not enough to make you pop open your cheque book, then what is?

Groundhogs have their day FROM WORKS OF FACT, to works of fiction. Nigeria’s 2016 budget was announced with huge fanfare and the promise of a new way of doing business. No longer was recurrent spending on civil servants going to dominate. Capital spending on roads and power would take pride of place, all predicated on a Keynesian-style government stimulus. This turned into fiction because as 2016 limps to a close, not half as much has been disbursed as was promised by the big-state enthusiasts in Abuja. This is partly due to a collapse in the value of the naira and various firefighting duties. The next act in the drama is due soon: Nigeria’s 2017 budget is being announced with huge fanfare by President Muhammadu Buhari as a new way of doing business. ●

DOSSIER TELECOMS

Yaba’s

tech revolution

When Facebook-founder Mark Zuckerberg visited Lagos’s burgeoning tech and startup hub it confirmed what Nigerians already knew: Yabacon Valley is the future. The Africa Report feels the full force of acceleration By Eromo Egbejule in Yaba

o the uninitiated, the young men and women eating lunch from noon onwards at the White House – a teeming restaurant in the Yaba area of Lagos – are simply chattering about boring work routines. Step closer, and you will hear the high-tech jargon more often heard 12,500km away in the San Francisco Bay area. Many of these people are the interns and junior staff of the establishments powering a revolution in Africa’s second-largest economy.

There are

startups in Co-Creation Hub Nigeria’s current Next Economy Accelerator programme SOURCE: CO-CREATION HUB NIGERIA

Nearby Cafe Neo hosts those higher up in the hierarchy. Most of its patrons work in the young startups that have congregated in the area now designated as Yabacon Valley (after Silicon Valley) or Yaba Right (a nod to a psychiatric hospital that has been nicknamed Yaba Left). While low oil prices sink the naira, the country is counting on other sectors to diversify the commodity-dependent economy. Yaba’s tech scene is in its early days, but the results are already promising. Big names

Yetunde Sanni works on a project at talent accelerator Andela’s Lagos campus

like Konga, an online retailer, arrived in 2013, while Africa Internet Group transferred six of its companies to Yaba in 2014. In the late 1990s, Bosun Tijani was recruiting European developers for tech businesses owned by returnees in Jos and Abuja. More than a decade later, he teamed up with partner Femi Longe to create Co-Creation Hub (CC Hub) Nigeria, the country’s first technology hub and incubation space, in Yaba in 2011.

MOHINI UFELI

NO-BRAINER

With investment and support in cash and kind from organisations such as the Indigo Trust, Omidyar Network, MainOne Cable Company and the Lagos State government, it soon gained momentum and proceeded to install a fibre-optic-powered information superhighway. “This is where you have all the ingredients for innovation,” says Tijani. Like Silicon Valley, the area is home to half a dozen tertiary institutions, including the University of Lagos and Nigeria’s finest art and design school, the Yaba College of Technology. “Yaba isn’t as expensive as [Victoria] Island. You can easily get to the airport. It’s a no-brainer,” he explains. In 2011, former banker Seun Onigbinde co-founded BudgIT, a fiscal transparency project, on the third floor of CC Hub’s six-storey building in Yaba. As one of the first early-stage startups to benefit from CC Hub’s incubation drive in 2011, it received $5,000 of its $90,000 seed funding from billionaire businessman Tony Elumelu. Onigbinde explains the role CC Hub played in the company’s early days: “I met my co-founder at the hackathon [it] organised. A lot of organisations in the early stage struggle with infrastructural costs, but CC Hub shared spaces with a heavy discount, making it possible to focus on delivering impact.” BudgIT has since blossomed into an intercontinental force to reckon with.

DOSSIER | TELECOMS

cluster but still intermingle with those from Yabacon Valley. There is a running joke in some circles that anytime two ‘repats’ – as Nigerians who return to the country are called – meet, a startup is born. Tayo Oviosu is of their number. In 2008, the Silicon Valley alumnus returned to Nigeria with a mission to eliminate the need for people to carry around huge amounts of cash. The result was Paga, described as Nigeria’s answer to PayPal. In August 2015, it announced it had attracted more than five million users. CO-CREATION HUB

Early success and cheap bandwidth attracted other Nigerian startups, showing the cluster effect at work. A rich network of businessescanattractforeigninvestors, too. Last June, Andela – a Nigerianfounded talent accelerator for programmers that has campuses in Lagos, Nairobi and New York – received $24m in investment from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg put his mouth where he had already put his money two months later, when he visited Nigeria, including Yabacon Valley, and met with President Muhammadu Buhari. “Mark’s visit is a much-needed recognition and a sign that the nationisonapathtobecomingacontributor to technology advancement,” says Tijani, who took the Facebook chief on a tour around Yaba. Top brass from the Silicon Valley-based Y Combinator, often referred to as the world’s most powerful startup incubator, also visited the cluster in September. PROBLEM-SOLVING

For Shola Adekoya, chief executive of Konga, the visits are a long-overdue endorsementfor whatthe tech industry in Nigeria has been pushing quietly in the background. “My hope [is] that as a nation we begin to pay particular attention to the importance and potency of technology,” he tells The Africa Report.

AsinmostofLagos,nearlyeveryone in Yaba is in a hurry. The area’s soundtrack is a non-stop orchestra of drivers honking, shrill cries of frenzied bus conductors and calls for prayers blazing from speakers. From the rooftop of CC Hub, the colonial architecture of Yaba arches above the chaos below. To one side is the 11.8km stretch of the majestic Third Mainland Bridge. On the other is Herbert Macaulay Road, where fibre-optic cables are buried. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the very challenge of Lagos traffic has driven the diversity of products and services that these techies are responsible for. “Problems are the reason why we exist,” explains CC Hub’s Tijani. “We’ve seen people come with just an ordinary idea and watched them build a proper organisation that can make money out of it.” From a smartphone, you can upload business card designs to Printivo’s website and await delivery in three working days. Or you can set up an online shop on 500Shops.com using Paga, the mobile-money service provider. You can also have the waste in the trash can picked up by WeCyclers and get paid for it. A number of startups including Iroko – the biggest digital retailer of Nollywood worldwide – and Paystack, an alternative e-payments company, have offices outside the

Coders learn from the pros at CC Hub’s CodeCamp, an immersive four-week course that ends in an internship

Number of users for mobilepayments platform Paga as of November 2015 SOURCE: PAGA

GLAD TO BE BACK

Oviosu explains the reasons for his return: “One of the things that got me excited to come back to Nigeria from the States was the opportunity to be part of the economic redevelopment of Nigeria. One of my friends told me that Nigeria felt like India and China 15 years ago.” But while Beijing and Delhi attract serious money, Yabacon Valley has a way to go. Many startup founders spend about half their time looking for funding, says Eghosa Omoigui, chief executive of EchoVC Partners, a Lagosbased venture capital fund. “It is a remarkable achievement that our entrepreneurs have gotten this far even with that constraint.” Alongside EchoVC, the Lagos Angel Network is a major investor in local startups. Some chief executives have, like Oviosu, also turnedintoangelinvestors.Printivo co-founder Oluyomi Ojo and two others began the business with their own funds before finding a local investor. “We bootstrapped Printivo for several months before going on to raise a sizeable seed funding,” he says. Within Yaba, a common belief is that the cluster will soon make its mark on the global scene. “It’s a great time to be involved [in Yaba], and I will like to see rapid growth in this area,” says Konga’s Adekoya. But for now, Yaba is not counting its chickens but is looking for mythical beasts. “Yaba will be the home of unicorns!” says Onigbinde, a reference to the one-in-amillion tech company that breaks the $1bn valuation mark. ●

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14 - 18 November 2016 CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa https://tmt.knect365.com/africacom +99+/5,-(57 #africacom +$0"*1 '&9&*57.2 8(' 3 6&)"1 !05,4 *57#509).&0"&. +99+/5,-(57

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL EMPOWERMENT THROUGH DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY JUST LIKE THE INDUSTRIES WE CHAMPION, AFRICACOM IS EVOLVING. ?8B@ ;<B !4=; 5, &B4@= )B*8B )#@7B" $6#=B6& ):;< #9@ $#''9%:;& ;# 39:6" ;<B 3:>>B=; 4%" 3B=; ;B$< B8B%; :% 0A@:$4+ /#) :;*= ;:'B ;# 9! ;<B 4%;B+ 1B =BB 4% B($:;:%> #!!#@;9%:;& ;# B6B84;B 0A@:$4.#' ;# 3B$#'B 4 !#)B@A96 8B<:$6B A#@ ":>:;46 ;@4%=A#@'4;:#%- B$#%#':$ "B8B6#!'B%; 4%" =#$:46 B'!#)B@'B%;+

DOSSIER | TELECOMS

INFRASTRUCTURE

Google and Facebook do battle for Africa’s web

frica’s internet users are benefiting from the fact that two of the world’s biggest tech companies are using their considerable means to compete over Africa’s internet users. Facebook’s Internet.org initiative, launched in 2013, is in the pole position, controlling access to the web through its Free Basics platform. This has stung search giant Google to fight back and get more Africans on the open web, or risk losing its role as the internet’s main search tool. Both powerhouses have grasped the huge potential the continent’s 1.2 billion audience presents for increased advertising revenue and growth in new users. Using old and new technologies, the giants are playing it out undersea, on land and in the skies to secure a piece of the African connectivity pie. Facebook opened its first African office in South Africa in 2015 and has a substantial footprint on continent. According to 2015 statistics released by the social network, 60% of all internet users in Africa were active Facebook users. To champion his cause of getting the world online, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg launched the Free Basics app in September 2015 to provide internet access to the two-thirds of the world lacking it. The Free Basics app gives users free access to a limited number of websites, Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp and Facebook itself without charging data costs. Facebook and mobile network operators carefully select country-specific sites to cover

entertainment, health, news, social media and sports, leaving users with less need for Google. The Free Basics platform only works through mobile carriers, which is a faster means for Facebook to reach the masses. In November last year, Facebook announced its biggest African collaboration yet – with Airtel Africa – to launch Free Basics in 17 countries. So far, the app is available in 11 Airtel markets including Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda and Nigeria. In Ghana, the partnership has created “tremendous growth in terms of customer intake, with more than 200% growth,” according to Airtel Ghana’s data business director, Jean Claude Domilongo Bope. Free Basics is now available in 21 African countries out of a total 47 countries worldwide. The charitable nature of the project has been questioned, as mobile operators – and not Facebook – are left to cover the data costs. The app has also stirred controversy in India, where regulators banned it in February 2016 for violating net neutrality. BUILDING LINKS

Nevertheless, the threat is real, and to challenge Facebook’s popularity across the region Google has focused its energy on improving the continent’s much-needed infrastructure. Last-mile connectivity – the connection that extends networks into homes and businesses – remains a challenge, and this is where Google is stepping in. Through its Project Link initiative, the search giant is building links between undersea cables and internet service pro-

FOR TAR

Facebook’s efforts to control the access of African internet users has sparked an infrastructure arms race between the internet giants

ADRIA FRUITOS

60%

More than half of Africa’s internet users are on Facebook SOURCE: FACEBOOK

viders (ISPs) and mobile networks. Launched in 2013, the project aims to build wholesale fibre-optic networks. These are then leased to ISPs and mobile operators, who can in turn provide customers with faster, more reliable and cheaper internet access. Google chose Kampala as the first African city for the project, building more than 800km of fibre across the city. Roke Telkom, the first wireless access provider to join the Project Link partnership in Uganda, has rolled out more than 110 Wi-Fi hotspots around central Kampala, providing unlimited Wi-Fi connections within malls, restaurants and public places for the city’s three million residents. The service prides itself on affordability and charges USh1,000 ($0.29) and USh18,000 for a daily and monthly subscription, respectively. After piloting the project in Uganda, Google began work in Ghana in June 2015 to build 1,200km of fibre networks in three cities. In the field of fibre network construction, Google faces competition from the likes of Liquid Telecom (see page 80) and Chinese telecom firms. The battle of the giants is also being played out in the skies using new technologies. In 2014, Facebook took it up another level

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when it announced plans to use drones, satellites and lasers to connect everyone in the developing world to the internet. The company is pouring money into satellite internet access but has had a few bumps along the way. In September 2016, a SpaceX rocket carrying the $200m Amos6 satellite leased to Facebook by French satellite operator Eutelsat exploded ahead of its launch, destroying their joint efforts to deliver satellite broadband internet to remote parts of sub-Saharan Africa. In 2013 Google had launched Project Loon, which aims to use high-altitude helium balloons to provide high-speed internet to areas where connectivity is scarce. STAR WARS

In July this year, Facebook completed a successful test flight of a solar-powered drone named Aquila, while Google has carried out test flights of the balloons and claims to have flown over 17m kilometres of test flights to date since the project began. These ambitious projects have garnered both praise and scepticism, as neither of the two companies has provided much information on how or when they plan on bringing these prototypes into use. “Thisraceisconductedinablack box because nobody really knows how close to being real any of those technologies are,” argues Russell Southwood, an analyst at telecoms consultancy Balancing Act. “Until the horse comes off the track, we have no way of knowing whether any of these solutions are realistic, both in terms of cost or in terms of operating in Africa,” he says. He suggests focusing on much cheaper business models “rather than getting over-excited about something that may come in probably two years and more realistically in three to five years”. Some successful projects that are already working include Ushahidi’s portable BRCK router, which provides internet access to rural areas in Africa, and Kenya’s Mawingu Networks, which has set up solar-powered hotspots in places without grid power. ● Oheneba Ama Nti-Osei

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DOSSIER | TELECOMS

INTERVIEW

Ben Roberts

Chief technology officer, Liquid Telecom

We want to become Africa’s first choice for connectivity The fibre-optic network operator is growing through acquisitions and focusing on secondary cities in a push to be a sub-Saharan African telecoms leader

n June, Liquid Telecom, which is majority owned by Zimbabwean businessman Strive Masiyiwa’s Econet Global, became the proud owner of Africa’s largest fibre-optic network. The company’s reach more than doubled from 20,000km to 43,000km after it bought South Africa’s Neotel in partnership with Royal Bafokeng Holdings in a deal worth $420m. TAR: What is Liquid Telecom’s focus now? BEN ROBERTS: We’re doing more and more fibre. We’re refocusing, and we have built a very good network in the principal places that we need to connect up. We’re still doing a lot on attracting new customers, but the product strategy is really around adding on value, it’s adding on applications. We’re looking at things like voice and the cloud. The cloud is very big in the business community. Using the assets we have and then getting our customers to get access to software as a service and entertainment – like video on demand – is a priority. So it’s a bit of a transformation for us.

Who do you see as Liquid Telecom’s biggest competitors? There’s no one doing quite what we are doing, but there are some companies running small-scale pan-African networks. Really our big competitors are local country networks that are in the same space, so that’s either the incumbent fixed telecom companies or some of the mobile networks. Liquid Telecom doubled its network when it bought Neotel. What comes next? We doubled our fibre-optic network, doubled our turnover, doubled our people – it’s a big thing. The business transformation actually takes longer than the technology side. With technology you buy this, put it in, train some

“I want to be working more with local innovators [to find solutions that work in Africa]” guys and they’ll deploy it for you. Whereas when you’ve acquired a company used to working in a certain way – in a stand-alone way, not as part of a global network – changing that can be different. I want to be working more with local innovators. We get some solutions coming out of Silicon Valley and you put them in Africa and then they just don’t work. We are looking at expanding in West Africa. We have to think about it. I can’t tell you I’ve got any plan, but you have to think Nigeria, you have to think Ghana.

What’s your shopping list for cities that you’d like to expand to? We’re focusing on metro networks in secondary cities right now. We’re looking at places like Arusha, Kisumu, Bulawayo and Goma. I’d love to be in Addis Ababa obviously, but that’s a telecoms monopoly. We see huge potential in those places. I am personally interested in rural development and rural connectivity, and we are keen to work with entrepreneurs and provide technology that’s going to enable rural internet service providers. Are you planning to expand into entertainment? We started video-on-demand products and then our shareholder Econet got into much bigger things with Kwesé TV. They’ve launched free-to-air channels. They are launching satellite. They’ve made some vague announcements about launching other products. What kind of company would you like to see Liquid Telecom become in 15-20 years’ time? We want to become Africa’s first choice for connectivity. You saw the fibre networks that were set up in Europe and North America 15 years ago, we want to be one of those for Africa. To get there, we need to change the way we do business a bit and be more of a technology partner, not just the connectivity partner, to our customers. ● Interview by Mark Anderson

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Onome Amawhe in Lagos

Track drivers and vehicles 24/7 Manage driver behaviour Reduce maintenance costs Save on fuel

More than just tracking

IBRAHIM

Ogunsanya says there are many ways to keep costs low: “There are things we can do to make data a lot more affordable. A quick example is the creation of a single-fibre routing infrastructure where all of the operators would have to plug in. If this is provided, data prices would reduce considerably.” Having joined Airtel Nigeria in 2012, Ogunsanya has seen the rise of data-use first hand. Revenues from voice are falling and it is increasingly part of data packages with apps such as Skype and WhatsApp. “The full entrenchment of 4G will greatly drive this”, he says. One of the big contributors to the rise in data usage is locally generated content. Ogunsanya argues that Nigeria has “done very well, especially with the exponential growth of the music industry over the last few years”. While data storage is a growth industry in the country, Ogunsanya is reticent to talk about where Airtel keeps its own data. “We are in compliance with all the regulations on data storage. We do what is required. And if the law says we should keep our data storage in Nigeria, we’ll certainly do so,” he concludes. ● U TIAMIY

any Nigerians say that mobile phones are burning a hole in their budgets. So why is talk not cheap enough in Nigeria? “Prices in Nigeria, when compared with other African countries, are not particularlyhigh.Butyoucannotcompare them to prices in Europe, Asia or America because the input costs are quite different,” says Airtel Nigeria chief executive Segun Ogunsanya,who has workedas a banker and a Coca-Cola executive. “There are no issues of power and security in those countries, hence data prices are much lower.” Ogunsanya adds that if Nigeria is worried about higher phone charges, implementing the proposed 9% communication service tax presented to the National Assembly in August “may be one tax too many for the numerous customers who really want to use communications services to improve their lot in life”.

Reduce accidents

The Airtel Nigeria boss talks to The Africa Report about the high costs of mobile phone usage and the rise in data consumption

Manage speed

We can make data a lot more affordable

www.mixtelematics.com

Chief executive, Airtel Nigeria

Winning fleet management solution

Segun Ogunsanya

Your fleet, our technology

INTERVIEW

ART & LIFE

SOCIETY

Drug nation In Nigeria’s drug addiction epidemic the north of the country is the hardest hit. From high-rollers on cocaine to the poor sniffing sewage-soaked rags, The Africa Report shines a spotlight on the dealers, the users and those who are trying new ways to offer a solution By Eromo Egbejule in Abuja

wice a week and sometimes on public holidays, 27-year old Isa Abdullahi*, the son of a former senator, takes a break from his nearautomated work schedule as an accountant in Abuja to buy a few wraps of cocaine on a well-lit street in Wuse 2, an upscale commercial district. The young dealers, familiar with his burgundy 2012 Toyota Camry and his bald head popping out of the window, hurry to him when the car pulls up around 8pm and hand him two wraps. Each costs N30,000 ($120), an amount slightly less than the monthly salary he pays his elderly driver.

Further north, in Kano, State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje is addressing the state chapter of the Police Officers’ Wives’ Association. Drug use has become more prevalent among women than men, he says, revealing that a list of 100 housewives who are “seriously addicted” to drugs has been compiled for rehabilitation. A 2014 report by the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) puts Kano ahead of the other 35 states and Abuja, in terms of drug convictions. For its 2012 National Baseline Youth Survey report, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) surveyed 46,836 young people

with criminal convictions; 75.5% were male and the remaining 24.5% were female. Among the 32 different crimes committed, marijuana (Indian hemp) smoking had the highest figure, representing 15.7% of the convictions. The survey also put Kano top of the country in terms of the number of drug abusers – 37% of the population. DEALERS’ DEN

“There are hundreds of drug points all over Kano where cheap drugs are sold and drug users come together just to get high with each other,” says Fakhriyyah Hashim, a property developer in the city THE AFRICA REPORT

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Nigeria is the eighth largest consumer of marijuana in the world – who would ever guess it’s illegal?

who discovered drug dealers inhabited a site she was considering investing in. The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration & Control (NAFDAC) classifies drugs as stimulants, hallucinogens, narcotics, tranquillisers, sedatives and miscellaneous, which includes solvents and other mixes. All have the ability to permanently harm users, says Adeshola Adebayo, an Abuja-based doctor: “These things are drug-specific. The most dangerous effects of opioids like codeine [cough syrup] are respiratory depression and possible death.” Addicts often visit pharmacies and threaten staff on duty to sell the free drugs THE AFRICA REPORT

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provided by government. This effectively reduces the dosage available to patients who genuinely need them. Their actions are aided by weak laws controlling the kind of drugs people can buy from pharmacies and other medical outlets – with or without subscription. However, in 2012 the federal government placed a restriction on the sale of codeine syrup to people without a doctor’s prescription. When Mustapha Alli*, son of an influential civil servant and a university professor, needed money to buy coke during his undergraduate days at the University of Abuja, he decided to raise funds by selling his Toyota SUV. Sensing

his desperation, one of his classmates bargained with him and bought the SUV for N250,000 (approximately $1,000) – almost one-eighth of the price his parents had bought it for. “Trust me, people who do drugs offer the best deals when they desperately need money,” says the buyer, who asked not to be named. “His current car was also bought by his dad. He told me the only reason he can’t sell it is because it wasn’t bought in his name.” For those in Abuja, the drugs of choice are heroin, methamphetamine (crystal meth), cocaine, Rohypnol (also known as the ‘date rape pill’) and Viagra (‘the

AKINTUNDE AKINLEYE/REUTERS

blue pill’). “Meth, heroin and coke are the costly ones,” says the SUV’s new owner. It’s really not hard to get when you know someone who uses regularly, and they are sold all over Abuja.” On the ground, local police seem to turn a blind eye to drug-dealing. In the Wuse 2 district of Abuja, The Africa Report observed a team of policemen engaged in idle chatter after a heavy dinner and a few bottles of beer opposite H-Medix Plaza, while drug-dealers sold their wares unimpeded. In Maitama, one of the highbrow districts in the capital, there is a drive-by joint in an uncompleted building. Wuse 2 and Garki have regular spots where transactions occur in the open. In Kano and other parts of the core North, people stoop even lower in their quest for a high. Youths sniff Premium Motor Spirit or rubber patchwork solutions stolen from roadside vulcaniser shops, or even stand over pit latrines to inhale the ammonia stench. Tashan Yarabawa, a bus station in the city, is notorious for its easy availability of drugs: after soaking filthy rags in sewage – or lizard dung or other sources of ammonia – young boys walk the nearby streets with the rags curled around one of their fists, stopping intermittently to inhale. Ibrahim Maigari, a Kaduna-based lawyer and community leader who runs DetoxNation, a non-profit organisation that aims to inform and empower young people against the danger of drugs, reels off a list of makeshift highs: “Sniffing toilet is old-school now,” he says. “They are mixing malt drinks with Knorr seasoning cube. I hear it is as strong as a big bottle of Guinness. [And] sniffing exhaust pipes of generators. The craziest I have heard is cobwebs in water. You know those toxic-looking greenish webs? They sweep it off and drench it in a bowl of water so the toxins gets into the water and they drink it off. It’s free and simple to mix.” IN BOKO HARAM’S WAKE

Noneedtosearchfartoexplainthehigher rates of drug use in the north. Drug use often accompanies poverty and despair, and the Boko Haram insurgency in the north-eastern part of the country has left both in spades. By 2011 a National Bureau of Statistics report stated as many as two-thirds of the Kano population were out of work, and the population is undereducated. Dr. Adebayo says that 15%-25% of Internally Displaced Persons are hooked on various substances.

Diazepam pills (right) seized by the NDLEA in Kano (below). Far right: Kano street- gang members get high any way they can

GLENNA GORDON

ART & LIFE

GLENNA GORDON

The trafficking trail 1945 Nigerian soldiers who fought in Burma in WW2 return with seeds of Cannabis sativa. 1980s Cannabis and cocaine are funnelled through Nigeria on their way to Europe from South America. 1984-1986 Buhari’s ‘Decree 20’ brings in the death penalty for drug traffickers, then is repealed. 1990s Nigeria begins producing its own cannabis. Psychotropic drugs added to the trafficking list. 1999 16,000kg of cannabis and 15.6kg of cocaine are seized, rising to 272,000kg of cannabis and 54kg of cocaine the following year. In 2010, the NDLEA seizes 450,400kg kg of cocaine. 2007 Nigeria is fourth in the world for cannabis seizures after the US, Mexico and Bolivia.

However, the situation is more complex than this, and religious and cultural beliefs also play a part. For instance, young Muslim men looking to avoid the stigma attached to drinking alcohol may tinker around with other ways to forget their troubles or lose their inhibitions. Journalist Jamila Fagge says the region lacks a guidance culture for young people facing depression and peer pressure: “There’s an inherent culture in the north that you can’t share your feelings [because] it’s not cool. Unfortunately, northern Nigeria culture does not embrace going to the mosque for counselling, so people are left to solve their own problems.” Maigari agrees and says the problem starts at home: “Most parents look the other way and blame a neighbour’s son instead of looking inward. Some do not spend enough time with their kids to know their worries. Regarding the women, some are victims of arranged marriages, divorce or emotional violence. The easy way out for a normal Hausa or Fulani female who is probably Muslim is to start taking antidepressants THE AFRICA REPORT

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ART & LIFE

addict. “Most of [the patients] are in for a three-month rehabilitation programme and we typically have between 10-18 patients at one time,” Magaji says. “We normally have more males than females, and typically patients are in their early to mid-twenties with a few exceptions.” But even for those who manage to get treatment, the long-term success rate is low. “We realised early that rehabilitation has failed”, says DetoxNation’s Maigari. “Seven out of 10 [users] relapse after rehabilitation. They always have a way of going back to drugs.”

NIGEL DICKINSON

A NEW APPROACH

to take her mind off the problems, and next thing, she is fully addicted. Then self-denial sets in and everyone ignores or hides her until something worse happens. It is a society so hypocritical and so detached from its values.” State rehabilitation programmes are few and far between. Property developer Hashim recounts how one of her distant relatives moved to Kano from Jigawa state. His family had fallen on hard times after his father died from cancer, so he had sought solace in drugs. “When the THE AFRICA REPORT

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Kano state governor started a rehabilitation programme he was enrolled there, but then it became corrupted so only children of the rich and powerful get in there. Before you knew it, those it was meant for were back on the streets because it became expensive.” In a climate where government has failed, citizens are now stepping into the breach. Fatima Magaji works as one of the resident psychologists at a private rehabilitation centre that was set up last year in Abuja by the parent of a former

“We have to accept thatit is a problem before anything concrete can be achieved”, Maigari insists. “At Detox Nation, we have decided to do something simple and effective but very different from rehabilitation. Why wait until a child is addicted before spending time and resources to rehabilitate?” Without any funding whatsoever from government, the group relies on donations from members and help from volunteers to host seminars in secondary schools across Kaduna and develop informative tools for parents and teachers. It also provides regular training on prevention and detoxification for guidance and counselling officers in schools. Last year, DetoxNation began recording drug abuse cases to get statistics for analysis, in collaboration with teachers in private schools. For government-owned schools, red-tape bureaucracy remains a challenge in reaching out to the unreached, to widen the network of youths who are drug-free. Journalist Fagge speaks for many in saying that the governments in each of the states in the North need to implement a strong law against drug trafficking, and also monitor agencies like the NDLEA: “Many people complain that NDLEA and police seize the drugs only to turn around and sell it black-market style. A war against drug abuse needs to take place similar to the [ongoing] war against corruption. And families need to keep an eye on their kids to protect them.” But for privileged kids like Abdullahi who can afford their expensive habit the temptation to use their connections to have any such legislation expunged may be too much to resist – one of his drinking buddies is an NDLEA official. ● *Names have been changed.

ART & LIFE

EXHIBITIONS

AFRICAN PORTRAITS Until 4 Nov. LONDON | UK Photographic portraits from Malick Sidibé to Omar Victor Diop via Aida Muluneh (above). hackelbury.co.uk

KENYA ART FAIR 10-13 Nov.

KEVIN KOZICKI/GETTY IMGES

AIDA MULUNEH

Books Of love and war

NAIROBI | KENYA Third edition of this East African art event at Nairobi’s Sarit Centre. facebook.com/kenyaartfair

Farafina Books is keeping readers in suspense as they await a powerful new novel exploring same-sex love against a backdrop of the Biafran War

MÔGÔ DYNASTY Until 19 Nov.

ABIDJAN | CÔTE D’IVOIRE Aboudia returns to Abidjan with phantom figures and a vast fresco. cecilefakhoury.com

TRANSPOSITIONS Until 20 Nov. LONDON | UK Emo de Medeiros mixes traditional Beninese crafts and technology. 50golborne-artdesign.com

AFRICANS IN AMERICA 17 Nov. – 17 Jan. JO’BURG | SOUTH AFRICA Goodman Gallery and the Johannesburg Art Gallery join forces with the Black Portraiture[s] III conference, held for the first time in Africa. goodman-gallery.com

hinelo Okparanta’s new novel, Under the Udala Trees, opens with a bombing raid during Nigeria’s Biafran War. For Okparanta, whose mother grew up during the war, it represents, she says, an attempt to push back against Nigerians’ aversion to discussing the conflict. A similar silence characterises the country’s treatment of the subject matter at the novel’s heart: alternative sexuality, and the struggle of its heroine, Ijeoma, to to be honest and open about her identity as a lesbian. While some other Nigerian writers have dealt with same-sex relationships in passing, Okparanta

– who won the 2016 Lambda literary award for lesbian fiction – hopes to give Nigeria’s marginalised LGBTQ citizens a more powerful voice and a place in the nation’s history. The coming months should provide an indication of how this voice might be received in Nigeria. The Nigerian house Farafina Books plans to publish Under the Udala Trees in Nigeria before the end of the year. The book was released in the United States, where Okparanta lives (she is Professor of English and Creative Writing at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania), in September 2015 and gathered critical acclaim to add

BOOK REVIEW

Arrogant comme un français en Afrique

colonies, known as Françafrique. Glaser explains, demonstrates and highlights how France – too blinded by its history with Africa and too nostalgic of its golden era – didn’t see Africa change.

Antoine Glaser Fayard (in French)

The renowned French journalist’s latest work – which translates as ‘As arrogant as a Frenchman in Africa’ – centres,

like most of his previous works, on the deeply rooted and complex relationship between France and its former THE AFRICA REPORT

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ART & LIFE

Robbie Corey-Boulet in Abidjan

His approach may seem a bit too one-sided, his pen slightly too sarcastic, but the message is less a wake-up call and more a general critique of a country too much in denial about the changing dynamics THE AFRICA REPORT

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on the continent to maintain the status it has developed to survive. Looking at the social and racial tensions that have shaken – and are shaking – France, one can hardly disagree with Glaser’s analysis. N° 85

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Technology It’s as real as you want it to be In Nairobi, BlackRhino VR is leading the charge in content production using 360º virtual reality

BLACKRHINO VR

to the prizes she has received for her short stories. It is the first time one of Okparanta’s books will be published in her home country. The publication comes amid continued fallout from Nigeria’s Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, enacted under President Goodluck Jonathan in January 2014. The law, which banned public displays of affection by same-sex couples as well as all “gay clubs and organisations”, triggered what Amnesty International referred to as a “homophobic witch-hunt”. In this context, it would be tempting to read Ijeoma’s story, and her battles against homophobia, as a bleak literary rendering of an even bleaker reality. The Buhari government has made no moves to repeal the law. Yet Under the Udala Trees is more complex, and ultimately more hopeful. The book follows Ijeoma from her first same-sex romance through the collapse of her unhappy marriage to a man, all while coping with a mother bent on turning her straight via prayer and Bible verses. Over 328 pages, the reader gets to know a woman who, albeit slowly, and with many false starts, manages to assert her identity and make a life for herself. It is this kind of narrative that, in Okparanta’s view, can get lost sometimes amid seemingly endless accounts in the press and online of attacks and asylum bids. “I was trying to say in the novel that we here at home [in Nigeria] can essentially have our own paradise,” she says. “When the struggle is done, home is where we want to be. Home is where peace comes from.” This sentiment is poignantly expressed by the novel’s character Ndidi, who tells Ijeoma of “a town where love is allowed to be love, between men and women, and men and men, and women and women, just as between Yoruba and Igbo and Hausa and Fulani”. Pressed to name the town, Ndidi changes her response each time. Finally, she says: “You see, this place will be all of Nigeria.” ●

A 360º safari experience shot for Rhino Watch Lodge

ou’ve stepped out of a Land done: “This means that composition Rover and are moving tois very important because the idea in VR is to subtly direct the viewers’ wards a short gate. The skies are a massive blue expanse and the attention within the 360˚ world.” glaring sun causes you to squint. To recoup the considerable startYou hear the crunching of gravel up costs BlackRhino stayed afloat by as a car reverses behind you. You’re workinginthecorporate world.Early past the entrance now and into what adopters included Safaricom, British looks like a lobby. When a smiling, American Tobacco, Shell, and luxury smartly dressed woman offers you a travelclients.Theywerealsocontracchilled glass of juice you reach for it ted by American VR company RYOT and grab the empty air in a 2nd floor to shoot the historic burning of $172 million worth of ivory by the Kenya office space thousands of kilometres away from that paradise… Wildlife Service in May. This illusion was crafted by Black“Some people who sit in positions of decision-making have no idea Rhino VR, a Kenyan-based company specialising in 360˚ virtual reality what VR is and its immense poten(VR) films. Friends Brian Afande and “We spend a lot of time Michael Ilako credit sensitising people on [VR] divine intervention and its life-changing benefits” and speculation as their inspiration for tial in society,” Afande points out. starting the business – speculation “We spend a lot of time sensitising such as Facebook acquiring VR company Oculus Rift for $2bn. people on the technology and its 360˚ VR video involves using life-changing benefits.” computer technology to simulate And the best is yet to come, according to Afande: “We haven’t a three-dimensional world where delved into the work that we are objects appear life-size. The technology tracks the user’s motions so really passionate about, which is that each scene reflects the change to bring social change in Kenya and in perspective. Ilako explains that Africa.” He adds, “It’s all about taking it can be unpleasant to the point a calculated risk into the future.” ● of causing motion sickness if badly Wanjeri Gakuru in Nairobi

LIFESTYLE

TRAVEL PORT ELIZABETH

2 3 1

Stepping into the spotlight

Port Elizabeth

Nestled in the Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth boasts one of the most expansive, stunning and lesser-known coastlines in South Africa

E,theWindyCity,Ibhayi(isiXhosa for ‘the bay’) are some of the names locals call it. After being in the shadows of other cities like Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town, Port Elizabeth is now carving out a space that showcases its cultural diversity, beauty and rich history. A symbol of that history is marked with the Nelson Mandela Voting Line metal cut-out sculpture, showing Mandela leading the people of the rainbow nation to vote in the historic election in 1994.

to the city’s political history and its role in the anti-apartheid movement. A mustsee here are the ‘memory boxes’ that contain the life stories of anti-apartheid heroes like Mandela and Govan Mbeki.

For history

Tel: +27 41 585 5514

Borrowing its name from the rusty corrugated-iron shacks of the shanty townthatsurroundsit,theinternationally acclaimed Red Location Museum (1), also known as The People’s Museum, sits just outside PE in the New Brighton township. After a three-year controversial closure the space has now reopened with the promise to continue to pay homage

MOMA

Tel: +27 41 408 8400

For shopping

The newly refurbished Feather Market (2), a historical monument next to the Town Hall, is good place to buy colourful and intricate creations made from Xhosa beads. Head down Govan Mbeki Avenue for more local arts and crafts.

For live music

With its Victorian architecture, the Opera House on Whites Road showcases local theatre and performances. But it’s on weekends that it comes alive with Jazz’Afro Sundays featuring exciting line-ups of talented musicians. Tel: +27 41 586 2256

For drinks

For a more casual affair head over to a shebeen, where kwaito and house music is what’s favoured. Here you can buy beers and meat at a fraction of the price of the more upmarket bars and you’re bound to have an interesting conversation about Xhosa culture. There are several local shebeens at the township of KwaZakele, at the main roundabout in the township.

For food

On Stanley Street you can get your fill of fine dining, amazing Portuguese cuisine, delicious sweets and several local craft beers. Soho Molecular Lounge and Salt have the latest cocktails with the perfect spot to watch the sunset. Good lunch options are Deli Street Cafe for delicious bread and deli salads and Vovo Telo (3), which doubles as an office away from home, with coffee and Wi-Fi. portelizabethrestaurants.co.za vovotelo.co.za

Crystal Orderson in Port Elizabeth THE AFRICA REPORT

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BEHIND THE SCENES

TWITTER TRENDS #ONLYINATAXI

M.anifest

South African tweeters joke at the trials and tribulations of taking a trip in a minibus taxi.

The Ghanaian rapper snatches a moment from promoting his album Nowhere Cool to reveal how he chills while nurturing his mind

Ntshuxeko Ndhlovu @BlackkCellence

#OnlyInATaxi paid with R100, When you look in the mirror you see the driver looking at you like

What are you listening to at the moment?

Been listening to Wretch 32’s Growing Over Life album. Brymo’s Merchants, Dealers, & Slaves is still in rotation. Also listening to various songs from DJ Shimza, Anderson Paak, Worlasi and ‘Nas Album Done’ on DJ Khaled’s album Major Key.

Where are you hanging out?

At radio and television stations mostly, promoting Nowhere Cool. I’ll make some time to hangout in Sandbox, a beach lounge bar in Accra, sometime soon.

What are you reading?

Queen of Darkie-ness @MeAndMrStones

Recently read Lesley Nneka Arimah’s short story ‘What it means when a man falls from the sky’. It’s a riveting piece. There’s an enchanting idea in there about grief and mathematics that tickled my mind. Chimamanda Adichie’s ‘The Arrangements’ I enjoyed as well.

#OnlyInATaxi Where your lack of Maths skills can prevent 15 ppl from reaching their destination.

Which famous deceased people would you like to host at a party?

millennial monster @ThatsSoRowan

#OnlyInATaxi would people give you the side-eye for talking English.

Kwame Nkrumah, Maya Angelou, Bob Marley, Harriet Tubman, Richard Pryor, 2Pac, Yaa Asantewaa, Oscar Wilde. Let me just be a fly on the wall for that conversation.

Nkanyiso Radebe @_nkanyisoR

#OnlyInATaxi you become an accountant without a qualification Khaleesi hStill_Khaleesi

What are you and your friends discussing around the dinner table?

#OnlyInATaxi do you hear all the driver’s relationship troubles Nyameka Tshangela @JustMeka_

Me: Where will I ever use maths in real life?? Teacher: #OnlyInATaxi

#OnlyInATaxi where there’s limited space you’ll find guys with their legs spread open... IT’S NOT THAT BIG, please THE AFRICA REPORT

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EMMANUEL BOBBIE

Moratwe @Moratwe_

Art, the African condition, politics, innovation, dreams and the merits of palm wine and whisky. ● Interview by Billie Adwoa McTernan

DAY IN THE LIFE EXTRAORDINARY STORIES OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

LOUIZA AMMI FOR TAR

Dance for freedom For choreographer Tarik Bouarrara dance is an ethereal experience that has seen him through dark days

y mother is from Algiers and my father from Ghardaïa, a small town on the edge of the Sahara where I grew up. My first memory of performing was in a choir at primary school. I liked the feeling of being on stage. At high school we were asked to prepare a performance for the fête de savoir. I said: “Why don’t we do a sketch?” We wrote it quickly, had one rehearsal and performed the next day. People were bent over laughing and we were immediately invited back. We started creating more sketches for various other festivities. It was great. But then we had a problem with the families of the girls. Ghardaïa being a small conservative town, the brothers didn’t like the idea of their sister being on stage, so we had to play their parts ourselves. Later I found out this was quite thespian à la Shakespeare! After school I moved to Algiers and worked in computers. I didn’t enjoy it and was financially ripped off. So at 25 I quit. My morale was at a very low point. Inspired by the book The Alchemist [by Paulo Coelho], I thought: “I’ve been doing what my parents want. I want to do what I want.” So I went back to Algiers to stay with my grandmother and applied for ISMAS [Institut Supérieur des Métiers des Arts du Spectacle]. When I was accepted I

was ecstatic. I’ll never forget my first dance class. The teacher arrived, fat, short and sniffling with a cold. My dreams were crushed. But when she began to dance with an incredible lightness and grace, I was blown away. She ignited my flame for dance. Every evening I would return to the studio to rehearse. The next four years were an unforgettable adventure. We became family. I graduated and began my professional career. Dancing for choreographer Nacera Belaza was a revelation. I discovered the philosophic side of dance, the movement of the soul. It was like going into another world then taking that magic back out to offer as energy to the world. On a break after a show I was invited to visit a friend in Brussels. I accepted as I had a French visa that included Europe. But when I landed, the authorities wrongly thought I was illegal and put me in a detention centre. Having grown up in the Sahara, I soon started to suffocate. They transferred me to another centre for sans papiers. There was a drug-dealer from Morocco, an asylum seeker from Tunisia who had arrived via Palestine, loads of Chinese, Africans. I remember stepping into the inner courtyard and for the first time getting a gasp of fresh air. I closed my eyes and my body began dancing. It was like a freedom. I danced in all directions, I needed corporeal relief. I felt my spirit lighten and fly higher and higher. When I opened my eyes the other detainees had gathered around me in a circle, applauding. I happily flew back to Algiers. I’ve since performed in Brussels and also Paris, Marseille and throughout Algeria. Today I really appreciate the freedom and opening of spirit that I have thanks to acting and dancing. ● Interview by Ruby Boukabou THE AFRICA REPORT

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go there

when America makes the choice