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	<title>Mashada Blogs &#187; Afromusing &#187; Africa popping up in Trend Watch</title>
	<link>http://www.mashada.com/blogs/</link>
	<description>Mashada Blogs &#187; Afromusing &#187; Africa popping up in Trend Watch</description>
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		<title>Afromusing: Africa popping up in Trend Watch</title>
		<link>http://afromusing.com/2009/03/13/africa-popping-up-in-trend-watch/</link>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:27:45 -0400</pubDate>
		<guid>http://afromusing.com/2009/03/13/africa-popping-up-in-trend-watch/</guid>
	    				<author>AfroMusing</author>		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<p>Now this is positively surprising, though not to many Africa-watchers&#8230;<br />
<a href="http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1884779_1884782_1884769,00.html">Africa is hot for business now</a>, and its popping up in Time Mag&#8217;s trend watch. Great to see that ideas espoused at <a href="http://www.ted.com/index.php/themes/africa_the_next_chapter.html">TEDGlobal Arusha 2007</a> are reaching the &#8216;center&#8217; from the fringes. </p>
<blockquote><p>It&#8217;s great to see Time magazine present some trends that are not obvious, well-worn, are already over. They take a chance in this list of &#8216;<a href="http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1884779,00.html">10 Ideas Changing The World Right Now.</a>&#8216; The line up includes not your usual suspects. With any list like this, there is no telling which are likely, but they are at least plausible. Two extra points for a positive African scenario. The ten trends are featured in the pic below; details at the link.</p>
<p>
<img src="http://kk.org/ct2/Picture%2038.jpg" alt="Picture 38" />
</p>
<p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~a/YQCAz2BG3NWAcv4eAGgVHjdGB78/a"><img alt="" src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~a/YQCAz2BG3NWAcv4eAGgVHjdGB78/i" /></a></p>

<a href="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/kklifestream?a=X5sr1zlk4D4:Mh97JDZO18g:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img alt="" src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/kklifestream?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" /></a>

<p><img alt="" src="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/kklifestream/~4/X5sr1zlk4D4" />&#8221;</p>
</p></blockquote>
<p>(Via <a href="http://kk.org/kk/">KK Lifestream</a>.)</p>
<p>In the back of my mind I couldn&#8217;t help but wonder&#8230;what of the global economic crisis? Wouldn&#8217;t that put a dent in this positive outlook? Oz has a great run down of how the <a href="http://www.mootbox.com/?p=1349">global crisis affects Africa</a>.</p>
<p>Blurb:</p>
<blockquote><p>1. A slump in external demand affects exports and remittances.<br />
2. A slump in external demand lowers commodity prices. Oil producing nations such as Nigeria are particularly vulnerable.<br />
3. Lack of credit is stifling capital inflows and trade finance in the more advanced markets – such as Nigeria, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.<br />
4 The region is not immune to financial problems of its own. Credit has ballooned in many countries. Banks’ loan books are often concentrated in commodity-related industries.<br />
5. Some retail investors borrowed heavily to punt on local stock markets.</p></blockquote>
<p>You can also follow <a href="http://twitter.com/osize">OZ on twitter.</a></p>
<p><a href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=Africa+popping+up+in+Trend+Watch <a href="http://is.gd/1jOJy"">[is.gd]</a> title="Post to Twitter"><img src="http://afromusing.com/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/icons/tt-twitter-big2.png" alt="Post to Twitter" /></a></p> ]]></content:encoded>
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