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tOP STORY
THE INDIAN IDEOLOGY FOR AFRICA OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW
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SPOTLIGHT COUNTRY - lesotho
LESOTHO: THE KINGDOM IN THE SKY »» Profile of The Rt. Hon. The Prime Minister of The Kingdom of Lesotho »» Key Sectors Most Suitable For Investment »» The Land of Heights and Extremes
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Advisory Board
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Infrastructure: Masterpiece Under Construction Power & Energy: A Gift From India To Africa Healthcare: Bringing Back That Smile Women Empowerment: Sustained Action To Bridge Gender Gaps »» Information Technology: The Indian Loin Roaring In Africa »» Science & Technology: Enlightenment, Wisdom & Virtue »» Mining: Reching The Highest Levels
Dr. Joseph Agyepong
Former Ambassador of Burkina Faso to India
Medical Advisor, Heal ‘&’ Bliss Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi
»» »» »» »»
Dr. A.S. Yaruingam
H.E. Mr. Idriss Raoua OUEDRAOGO
Dr. Jagdish C. Sobti
honor roll
»» Celebrating Indian Eminence in Africa
Executive Chairman, Jospong Group, Ghana
Mr. P.M. Heblikar
Former Special Secretary, Govt. of India
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2015
Associate Professor, Department of African Studies, University of Delhi
Dr. Steve Omenga Mainda
Chairman, Insurance Regulatory Authority, Housing Finance Company of Kenya Limited
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In Rendezvous With...
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»» Dr. Sukhdev Kumar, Director General, Hospital International Indo Guineen »» Dr. Nitika Sobti, Senior Gynecologist, Delhi »» Mr. Ramesh Awtaney, Founder & Chairman, ISON Group
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Business bulletin
WHAT’S ON
bon voyage
»» Seychelles is Sexy NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2015
Editor Kanchi Batra CEO Rohit Khattar Regional Editor (Africa) R.C. Dhingra Associate Editor (French) Divya Malhotra Contributing Editor (Burkina Faso) Albert Etsri Apemewoe Contributing Editor (Ghana) Adams Mohammed Mahama Correspondents Ekta Handa(India), Francis L. Sackitey (Ghana), Robert Kibet (Kenya), Kizito Sikuka (Zimbabwe), Aimable Twahirwa (Rwanda), Francois Essomba (Cameroon), Temi Bamgbose(Nigeria) Art Director Krishna Mohan Manager-Corporate Relations Surender Chauhan Business Development Manager (Kenya) Surender Singh Country Manager (Cameroon) Ripu Daman Malik Country Manager (Ghana) Vijay Kumar Marketing Executive Pankaj Batra Marketing Associates Barbara Eugenie (Seychelles), Tribhuwan Pratap Singh, C. Sriram (India) MIS Executive Dinesh Sharma Executive Assistant Saloni Tayal
GUEST COLUMN
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»» “Desi Dar Swagger” »» Learning From The Indian Experience
Sectoral Analysis
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Spiritual Awakening
CREATING PARADISE IN FARMS
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»» Being in The Now
»» »» »» »» »»
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»» Celebration of Music, Culture & Art
Investing in African Farmers The Biggest Employer of Africa Organic Farming Agricultural Growth Corridors Conclusion
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is out to make a strong point to the international community from now when his government will host India's biggest ever diplomatic manifestation at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi Stadium: The 3rd India Africa Forum Summit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his happiness on Follow us on
SPOTLIGHT COUNTRY LESOTHO
LESOTHO
THE KINGDOM IN THE SKY
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The Kingdom of Lesotho is a democratic sovereign and independent country which has an unusual geographical feature of being entirely surrounded by another country, the Republic of South Africa and well linked to each other by air, rail and road. The capital Maseru, is only 600km (6 hours drive) away from South Africa’s busiest harbuor, Durban, 400km (4 hours drive) from Johannesburg city and one hour’s drive from Bloemfontein, a judicial and academic centre in South Africa. The country has a land area of approximately 30 355 km, making it similar in size to Belgium or a little larger than the American state of Maryland in the USA
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and has a population of about 2 million. The name Lesotho translates into “the land of people who speak Sotho.” The Kingdom of Lesotho is one of three remaining monarchies in Africa situated between 28 and 31 degrees south, and between 27 and 30 degrees east, which makes it lie entirely outside the tropics, and is thus a bilharzias and Malaria free destination. Lesotho - a land of heights and extremes is nestled between the Drakensberg and Maloti mountains ranges and makes it the only country in the world with all its land lying at altitudes in excess of 1 500m. Hence it is often referred to as the "Switzerland of Africa", the ”Kingdom in the Sky”
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The mountain, ThabanaNtlenyana is, at 3482m, the highest in Southern Africa, while the highest single drop fall in the Southern Africa Maletsunyane is 192m, having the highest abseiling cliff in the whole world at 204m. The Kingdom is home to the largest and most ambitious civil engineering project in the whole of Africa, the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), which has harnessed and commercialised her upstream surplus water resources - often referred to by Basotho as their "White Gold". Lesotho's literacy rate is at 86 per cent and it is expected to increase substantially following the Government's implementation of the Free Primary Education Programme which came into effect from January 2000. More importantly, English is taught in all schools from pre-school upwards. This facilitates ease of communication in the work place. Besides being a signatory to the Convention of the Settlement of Investment Disputes between states and nationals of other states, Lesotho is also a member of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). Lesotho offers a stable, liberal Follow us on
FEATURE POWER & ENERGY
A GIFT FROM INDIA TO AFRICA
I
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Inviting Africa to the Solar Group of Nations
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t is unimaginable to prosper in today's economy without access to energy. But for an assessed 1.3 billion people, mostly in the developing world, electric power is still out of reach. Even among those with energy access, many still face erratic service and regular blackouts. The power sector in sub-Saharan Africa offers an exclusive mixture of transformative potential and fascinating investment opportunity. The insufficiency of electricity supply is a fact of life in nearly
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every sub-Saharan country. The high penetration of generators, though, validates that African businesses and consumers are ready to pay for electricity. This creates opportunities across the entire power-sector value chain in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly as growth rates in other regions deteriorate. Not surprisingly, we are beginning to see substantial momentum in power across the continent. Governments are becoming more sophisticated and
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progressively opening up to privatesector and foreign investment. Enormous gas discoveries in East Africa between 2010 and 2012 have fascinated investment and increased fuel-supply options for power generation. India Africa energy relation is not a buyer-seller relation but a partnership for development. A noteworthy percentage of Indian development aid is going towards projects in the energy sector. Over 23 percent (or approximately US$ 2.3 billion) of the total Lines of Credit (LOCs) India committed between 2004 and 2013, and over 35 percent (or approximately INR 33 billion) of the total grants and loans India committed between 2006 and 2013 were towards projects in the energy sector. In Africa, Indian LOCs have facilitated the construction of
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FEATURE MINING
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RECHING THE HIGHEST LEVELS
India is just as investment-hungry as China, indicating interest in Africa's mining resources, as well as the continent's flourishing trade and consumer sectors. In the mining sector, India has established itself very well. Indian mining companies have also been increasing their occurrence in Africa’s mining industry, and future prospects appear positive with the sector opening up across Sub-Saharan Africa. 60
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frica, which produces more than 60 metal and mineral products, has a huge prospective with respect to mineral reserves exploration and production. The continent hosts about 30% of the world’s total mineral reserves and even a higher portion of deposits of diamonds, vanadium, manganese, platinum, cobalt and gold. Investors are in quest of extension to the new markets particularly in the developing world, which presents a new investment frontier for leading mining firms. In this context, the African mining industry is offering supreme opportunities for both local and international investors. Regardless of the momentous amounts of mineral resources held by the continent, Africa’s production signifies only about 8% of the global mineral production. Most of this production is exported in raw form. Thus, in order to unlock its mining potential, Africa should overcome the difficulties that obstruct the development of the industry. Revenues generated from mining can help African economies reinforce their comparative advantage and achieve greater economic diversification. In Africa, infrastructure building is vital for the sustained growth of the mining sector. Reports by leading global advisories propose that African governments are at present incompetent to meet demand for key infrastructure including rail, ports and energy projects. In response, private participation and investment is being actively fortified and sought after. Many countries in Africa have recently introduced or are working on new mining laws that seek to encourage investment. These are Follow us on
SPORTS SPECIAL
HONOURING THE
NATIONAL HEROES
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Devoted to those two who fought for peace
ahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela stand as two of history’s most respected people, two leaders who moulded the individual histories of India and South Africa. So it appeared right when the BCCI and Cricket South Africa publicized that all future bilateral contests between the two countries would be called the Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela series. It was a great decision when Indian and South African cricket bosses decided to honour national heroes Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela instead of any renowned player. It’s important to note that India and South Africa have a rich history of political struggle for freedom. Both the countries decided to link the game with the main protagonists of the freedom movement. Commemorating
Mahatama Gandhi's 146th birth anniversary, the BCCI launched a specially-minted toss coin with the images of the Father of the Nation and Nelson Mandela for the India-South Africa cricket series. "The toss coin in gold features an impression of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela as 'Heads' and the Freedom Series as 'Tails'," the BCCI said in a statement. The Trophy to be awarded to the winning Cricket Team under the Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela series was named ‘Freedom Trophy’. BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya, said: "The struggle for freedom has been the common thread between our countries. Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela liberated our nations with non-violence and nonco-operation as their weapons
which have inspired the world, to adopt and achieve their goals in a peaceful manner. We dedicate this trophy to Mahatma and Madiba, the guiding souls of our nations." CSA president Chris Nenzani, said "The revered names of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela leave us with a huge responsibility to live up to the legacies they have left us. Above all else they stood for doing the right thing and persevered at great personal cost to achieve freedom for their country regardless of how long it took them. CSA Chief Executive, Haroon Lorgat, said: "As cricket loving people we must fight hard to win on the field of play but never forget to do battle in the spirit of these two great men. Naming
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