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My Africa Today
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21:20
From: My Africa Today
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1.SUZUKI / ESCUDO 2.TOYOTA / COROLLA SEDAN 3.TOYOTA / LANDCRUISER PRADO 4.TOYOTA / RAV4 5.TOYOTA / MARK II 6.ISUZU / BIGHORN 7.TOYOTA / HIACE 8.MITSUBISHI / PAJERO IO 9.HONDA / CR-V 10.LANDROVER / DISCOVERY Customize your mobile with your Complimentary Ringtone!
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0:35
From: My Africa Today
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If you liked our report on the bizarre handwritten lawsuit against Google from a guy worried that his social security number was too similar to Google's name, here's another one for you. Once again, special thanks to Eric Goldman for passing this one on. This time, at least, most of the lawsuit is typed (there are some handwritten parts at the end), though, there are numerous typos. The lawsuit is being filed against both Google and Yahoo by a guy who is apparently being detained by Immigration services in Houston. He claims that both Google and Yahoo stole their names from Tanzanian tribes -- and now they should pay up. Specifically, he claims that Google took its name from the Gogo tribe and Yahoo took its name from the Yao tribe. Conveniently, this guy happens to be a descendant of both tribes. He's merely asking for both companies to pay $10,000 each to every member of both tribes, going back three generations. Simple! While it is true that many companies are using foreign words (Swahili is especially popular) in choosing company and product names (Kijiji, Joomla, Renkoo, Wiki, Tafiti, Jambo, etc.), both Google and Yahoo have pretty well-documented histories of their names, and the names of these Tanzanian tribes clearly have nothing to do with either one. Not that the guy doesn't try: "The court is now been asked to answer a common sense question: Is "Google" much more related, semantically and lexically, with "Gogo" or with "Googol"?" Once again, the chance of this lawsuit getting anywhere is basically nil (even if they had taken their names from the tribes, which they clearly did not), but as Goldman points out to us: "There is, of course, a serious problem here about the courts getting clogged up with lawsuits brought by prisoners/detainees with too much time on their hands and nothing to do but file lawsuits, and companies having to spend money to stomp out these lawsuits." In the meantime, this seems mighty close to life imitating The Onion। Customize your mobile with your Complimentary Ringtone!
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23:43
From: My Africa Today
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With several private companies launching businesses to provide customers with unprecedented access to their genomes' secrets, legislation protecting people from genetic discrimination is more timely than ever. But Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Oklahama) is single-handedly stalling federal legislation to do just that. The Senate passed earlier versions of the bill twice before, but they were blocked from coming up for House floor votes. This year, the House passed it by a bipartisan landslide, but Coburn has held up the legislation in the Senate, saying it could place too much strain on businesses. "We're not really clear on what Coburn wants, because his excuses don't make sense," said the bill's original sponsor, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-New York). "But if this bill got to a floor vote in the Senate, I think it'd pass almost unanimously."  Coburn spokesman John Hart said his boss supports the intent of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, known as GINA. Coburn voted for a nearly identical bill in 2005, but now says the bill's language exposes employers to too much liability. Supporters of the bill see Coburn's new beef as another in a string of inconsequential objections to the legislation.
23andMe, Navigenics and Decode Genetics have recently launched programs to scan individual's genomes and provide access to the information online. Customers will have to spend a for 23andMe's service. In the absence of federal legislation, most states provide some degree of protection against discrimination. Many have gone further, explicitly providing genetic-privacy protections. Alaskan law (.pdf), for example, says DNA samples are an individual's private property. Still, companies offering personal genome scans, as well as biotechs offering genetic diagnostic tests, worry that their businesses will not gain traction without a federal law. Slaughter introduced GINA in the House 12 years ago, but Republican leadership repeatedly blocked a vote, even as it passed the Senate twice. Under this year's new Democratic majority, the House passed GINA, 420-3 (H.R. 493), and it appeared ready to sail through the Senate (S. 358). But Coburn, exercising a prerogative available to all senators, placed it on hold, which requires a supermajority of 60 senators just to bring the bill up for a relatively rare floor debate. An internal memo obtained Thursday from Coburn's office said the senator's make-or-break objection was the possibility that an employer who provides health insurance for its workers could be sued both as an insurer and as an employer. That means employers could be hit for much higher damages than insurers. Representative Slaughter said she'd never heard that particular objection from any company in 12 years of campaigning on behalf of GINA. "But it's pretty creative," she said. Coburn is a physician. He picked up the nickname "Dr. No" from pundit George Will, because of his frequent contrarian positions and use of the hold prerogative. Coburn has consistently opposed bills that enable lawsuits against businesses and his fellow medical doctors. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and trade associations like the National Retail Federation are GINA's main opponents, claiming it would spur frivolous lawsuits. Michael Eastman, executive director of labor policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, applauded the Senator's move to stop the bill. "Coburn has been willing to put his name out there," he said. Customize your mobile with your Complimentary Ringtone!
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21:48
From: My Africa Today
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20:29
From: My Africa Today
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South Africa - nationalanthems.info South Africa
Words by: Enoch Sontonga and Cornelius Jacob Langenhoven
Music by: Enoch Sontonga and Marthinus Lourens de Villiers
Adopted: 1994
At the time that South Africa's multi-racial system of government was adopted, there were two anthems in use among the people, divided by the old racial lines. "N'kosi Sikelel' iAfrica" (God Bless Africa), written and composed by Enoch Mankayi, which also has the same melody and nearly the same words as the anthems of Tanzania and Zambia, (and, formerly, Zimbabwe), was popular with the black population since it was first composed in 1897 for Mankayi's music students. The song was quickly adopted as the "people's anthem" and made the anthem of the African National Congress (ANC), a group that would become the first majority black political party to lead the country. The white South Africans, however, had been using "Die Stem van Suid Afrika" (The Call of South Africa) since the 1920s on an unofficial basis, and was made the state's official anthem in 1957. Even though the latter anthem was seen as too closely tied to the apartheid system by the majority black population, it was decided in the interim to make both anthems the national anthem, "God Bless Africa" was usually played in its entirety followed by the complete "Die Stem".
In 1997, the two anthems were combined, starting with "God Bless Africa" in Xhosa, followed by Sesotho, then a few lines of "Die Stem" in Afrikaans, and finishing the anthem with another few lines from "Die Stem" in English. (The English lines actually do not appear in the official English version of "Die Stem", but are an abridgement of the last few lines of the first verse, with the words slightly altered to reflect South Africa's new freedom.)
Special thanks to: Ermano Geuer for some of this information.
See also: South Africa (1957-1994).
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1:11
From: My Africa Today
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Tanzania, popular for its wildlife and beaches, expects tourism earnings to exceed $1 billion in 2008 thanks to marketing in North America and Europe. “This year, we are going to embark on an aggressive marketing campaign in our major source markets,” Peter Mwenguo, managing director of the state-run Tanzania Tourist Board, told Reuters on Friday. —-snip—-  Mwenguo said the accommodation problem was being tackled.
“For instance in the Serengeti there are four new areas that are being offered for investment for lodges. Already there is a lodge being constructed,” he said. “I know the Aga Khan Group is due to put up three new properties in the southern part of Tanzania.” The Aga Khan Group has shares in Serena Hotels, which has two hotels and four lodges in mainland Tanzania and one hotel on the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar. Tanzania’s visitors come to enjoy its beaches, scale Africa’s highest mountain Mount Kilimanjaro or watch animal migrations, to and from Kenya, in its renowned Serengeti National Park, in the north of the country. Tourists also have a chance to pursue sport hunting, which Mwenguo said brings an average of $14 million in licence fees. Reuters Africa Customize your mobile with your Complimentary Ringtone!
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21:26
From: My Africa Today
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 Africa is changing and it is not just $11.7bn of Chinese investment in recent years that is making a difference. Nigeria’s banks are bulking up as a result of central bank governor Charles Soludo’s new capital requirements, and are becoming bigger and stronger through multiple mergers and acquisitions. Powered by ScribeFire. Customize your mobile with your Complimentary Ringtone!
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11:38
From: My Africa Today
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10 REASONS WHY THE VOTE SHOULD NOT BE FOR RAILA!!!!!!!! WOULD YOU MAKE PRESIDENT A MAN WHO NAMES HIS SON AFTER A DICTATOR? Raila�s son, Fidel Castrol Odinga, is named after the world�s longest serving dictator. Fidel Castrol (the Cuban head of state) is the communist who turned Cuba into a third world slum. Why should this be a point of concern for Kenyans? Fidel Castrol (the Cuban head of state) is Raila�s role model. Raila is a communist and a dictator at heart. If we make the mistake of giving him the presidency now he will never let go. This guy will be a life president. RAILA IS A TRIBALIST AND PARTICULARLY HATES KIKUYUS PASSIONATELY When someone says something is not about money, it usually is about money, when they say something is not about power, it is about power. Raila is denying -without being accused, at least publicly - that he hates Kikuyus. His earlier comments tell a different story. Remember the comment he made that Uhuru was the only good Kikuyu when they were both in ODM?  Raila tries to defend himself with quips such as �even my son (Fidel) is married to a Kikuyu�. Lets all remember the rumors that were flying around that Raila was actually opposed to the wedding/marriage on tribal grounds! He saw it as a betrayal by his own son. When the young Odinga held his grounds, Raila had no option but to play along to avoid a public spectacle. Raila is accusing the PNU of creating Raila-phobia among the Kikuyu. Raila is creating Kikuyu- phobia among everyone else as did Moi throughout his rule. A SYSTEM IS ACCEPTABLE TO RAILA ONLY WHEN IT FAVORS HIM Let�s go back to Kanu�s infamous Kasarani One. The blatant Injustices were being done to Kamotho, Saitoti and the rest; they were being robbed of their positions in what Kamotho referred to as �uchaguzi wa kupiga makelele�. Since things were going Raila�s way, the great defender of the oppressed did not raise a finger. A few weeks later when the same injustices were to be done to him � Raila � in Kasarani Two, he was running all over the place crying foul. Had he been President Moi�s choice, would he have said anything? A more recent case is when Kalonzo and Raila were both in ODM-Kenya and the party was trying to come up with the best formula to pick its presidential candidate. Kalonzo favored consensus while Raila said delegate were the only way. He made all manner of threats if the delegates system was not going to be used. Then, Raila and Ruto ambushed Kalonzo at Ruto�s house and tried to arm-twist him into agreeing that Raila be president, Kalonzo be VP and so forth. Kalonzo refused, but Raila and Ruto mischievously went ahead and leaked news to the media that Kalonzo had agreed to a �winning formula�. The point is that Raila was ready to agree to the consensus method only if he was going to be the presidential candidate. After Kalonzo�s refusal, Raila was latter insisting on delegates while Kalonzo stuck to consensus. Kalonzo later intelligently posed, �The meeting in Ruto�s home, was that a delegates conference?� Ask yourself this: would there have been �the pentagon� is Raila had not been made the presidential candidate. The only reason why Raila agreed to the nominations at Kasarani was because everything had been agreed upon beforehand. The �Nominations� were just for show. �KIBAKI TOSHA� WAS JUST A STRATEGIC MOVE �Kibaki Tosha� statement was not an act of martyrdom as Raila would like to have us believe. When Raila and the LDP brigade left Kanu, they had two choices: either join forces with the best established opposition outfit at the time, NAK or become politically irrelevant. Why Raila chose to go �Kibaki Tosha� way had nothing to do with his love for Kenya or his love for Kikuyus as he claimed during the launch of his presidential bid in Uhuru Park . It was the most appealing (and may be only) choice he had at the time. Consider this: i) Raila and the LDP team could not have gone it alone � they had tried in �97 before the �Cooperasion� � and failed. ii) The then opposition � NAK perceived Raila as a traitor. The only way he could change this perception was through a seemingly selfless act. iii) Raila wanted to take his revenge on Moi � the only way to do this was to make sure that Moi�s �Project� did not succeed � even if it meant joining forces with the tribe he hated most. An enemy of my enemy is my friend. iv) Raila felt he could extract his pound of flesh from the tired and desperate Mwai Kibaki�s NAK group � as he did through the infamous MOU, which was simply unimplementable. DON�T POINT YOUR DIRTY FINGERS AT MY SPOTS ODM is a story of a corrupt family that brought down the molasses plant among other ills. It is a story of bishops who lie without battling an eyelid. It is about people who brought down parastatals such as the Kenya National Assurance. Now since all the scum is defecting to ODM and ODM has no vetting policy for its civic and parliamentary candidates � how can ODM tell us they are going to make a difference? RAILA SEES CAPTURING THE PRESIDENCY AS AN END UNTO ITSELF If you have ever listened to Raila�s famous football commentaries, the �goal� is usually Raila getting the presidency not what he plans to do for the people of Kenya with the presidency. Raila has been consistent about one thing: his hunger for power. This should not be confused with struggle for the country or for the people of Kenya . Raila has never told us how he plans to use power to better our lives. All Raila is doing now is to make all manner of promises to everyone. Here are some of them: a. Constitution within 6 months b. Make Ruto Executive prime minister within 6 months c. Majimbo d. Free primary and secondary education e. 13% economic growth (he promises double the current growth rate) f. Reduce taxes g. Make Mombasa a free port like Dubai h. Dual carriage way roads throughout Kenya i. Free housing for slum dwellers j. Employment for all k. Eradication of poverty Quite a nice list, isn�t it? But there is no mention about how he is going to achieve these things. Saying that he �knows where the money is going to come from� is not enough. Take the constitution for example. If its making is going to be a people driven, all inclusive process, how can he guarantee that all the interested parties are going to agree on one document within six months? Is he going to ram whatever he likes down our throats in the name of giving us a new constitution? Remember Kenyans are not going to accept any constitution without a referendum. Take the free secondary and primary education. How are we going to pay for the education and reduce taxes at the same time without running to the donors? And if we go to the donors, isn�t that what we are trying to run away from? Let�s be wary about these extravagant promises. Remember: a pessimist is an optimist on his way back from the casino. RAILA WILL MESS UP THE NSE AND THE ECONOMY Raila sees the NSE as a symbol of the Kikuyu dominance of the economy. He would like to bring it down as soon as possible. This is why he labeled it a hub of insider trading and money laundering. His reason of doing this is that he will have enough justification when tearing it apart. ODM is portraying the PNU as a bunch of people who know nothing about constitution making. The PNU is painting the ODM group as a bunch of people who know nothing about the economy. I don�t know much about constitution making, but I know that Raila appears to understand very little about the economy. �Chungwa ni chungu� RAILA�S SUPPORTERS A DANGEROUS BUNCH "My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular." These are the words of Adlai E. Stevenson Jr. Anybody who is not pro Raila is seen as an enemy by Raila�s supporters. Several cases in point are what happened to Tuju, Nasleem and Livondo in different instances in Kisumu and Kibera. Just imagine that happening in the whole country. All the democratic space we have gained over the last few years will go down the drain. Any anti-Raila comment in the radio, on the street or on TV will earn you a proper beating if this man was president. The tragedy here is that Raila has never condemned this behaviour by his supporters which means he condones it,i hate to say he is tribalist!!!. Now imagine such people in positions of power. If you need a preview, remember how Gor Sunguh handled Nicholas Biwott during the Sunguh read committee on Ouko. Sunguh shouted down Biwott and hardly allowed him to say anything. In the end all he managed to do is to make Biwott appear like a modern day saint. I LOVE KENYA Giving the government to this Raila will be the biggest mistake of our lives. We will be throwing away the gains made so far. Raila�s extremism is not good for the Country. With Raila in power, tribalism will be felt in every aspect of our lives starting with the plot or kijiji we live in. The words �our government� will no longer mean what it means now. The bragging has already started with utterances like �the government is going to be ours� being said by members of a certain community. The cartoonist Gado captured the mood perfectly in a recent issue of the Daily Nation. Whatever you do, make sure you vote. Make sure you vote against Raila. Vote for anyone but Raila. Let�s block this communist from ruining our country. The age of dictators in this Kenya is over. Let�s keep it buried. RAILA CANNOT BE TRUSTED We know very well that thousands of Kenya lost their lives in the 1982 attempted coup and that raila was involved somewhat,his toture by moi was called- for,for this reason i mean which sitting president wuldnt want to punish such an act of over throwing the govt. The controversial Armenian brothers Artul margayan were his friends he knew them first introduced them to kibaki's kinsmen. Raila studied i russia ,he is famous even in countries you wuldn't magin like the balkan states,with communist systems of governing a principle that he adores. I would like to know how Raila feels about the following issues. If he became president will he: Assure John Githong�o of his security and give him his job back? Put his portrait on our money? put to bars or pardon all alleged corrupt leaders some of them in Odm like Hon. Ruto? How will be his relationship with u.s.a and u.k? What will be his relationship with Kenyan muslim??he seems to be confused religiously. Some advice for Raila and ODM: "If the attack is going well, it probably means you are walking into an ambush." - Murphy�s Law: "IS THE WORLD PREPARED FOR TWO LOU PRESIDENTS? RAILA .ODINGA AND BARRACK OBAMA?".........Quoted Prof. ALI MAZRUI The writer is a very concerned Kenyan. Sambaza this people. May God bless Kenya and rescue us from the jaws of Raila and ODM. .........AMEN SOURCE: http://www.kenyanlist.wanderi.com/klist-view-listings.php?listings_by=5 Customize your mobile with your Complimentary Ringtone!
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12:45
From: My Africa Today
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On September 16, 2007, Blackwater contractors, during a complex confrontation in downtown Baghdad, shot and killed Iraqis in the crowded Nisour Square. The FBI and State Department are currently investigating the incident, yet it further sheds light upon a growing private sector security force in Iraq and elsewhere, that many fear has not been held accountable to the same degree as have US military officials. Jeremy Scahill has been covering Blackwater for THE NATION and other publications for more than three years. He is a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute, and is the author of BLACKWATER: THE RISE OF THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL MERCENARY ARMY, published by Nation Books. He is also an award-winning investigative journalist and correspondent for DEMOCRACY NOW!.
According to THE NEW YORK TIMES, there are between 160,000 and 180,000 private contractors in Iraq, including about 30,000 armed security forces. Blackwater employees represent about 1000 of these armed contractors. There were only about 9,200 total private contractors during the Persian Gulf War. Few Americans had even heard of Blackwater before March 31, 2004, when four of its contractors were ambushed and brutally killed in Falluja, and days later, a US siege of the region began. It was "what would be one of the most brutal and sustained US operations of the occupation," explains Scahill, who believes the US Military response to the killings sets a dangerous precedent.
Before the September 16, 2007 confrontation, Blackwater employees had been implicated in similar incidents involving questionable force, including in December 2006, when a drunk Blackwater contractor allegedly shot and killed a bodyguard for Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi. The contractor was subsequently fired by Blackwater, yet was sent back in the region with another private firm.  "[State Department] officials said that Blackwater's incident rate was at least twice that recorded by employees of DynCorp International and Triple Canopy, the two other United States-based security firms that have been contracted by the State Department to provide security for diplomats and other senior civilians in Iraq," writes THE NEW YORK TIMES. Still, as Blackwater's founder Eric Prince reminded Congress a few weeks ago, "Blackwater personnel are subject to regular attacks by terrorists and other nefarious forces within Iraq." As the WALL STREET JOURNAL reports, "The company has said it has done 16,000 missions for the State Department since June 2005, using its weapons just 1% of the time." And recently two Blackwater helicopters helped evacuate the Polish Ambassador to Iraq after his convoy was attacked. But questions about accountability still abound: when mistakes are made, to which rule of law should contractors answer, military or US criminal law? Officials in the State and Defense Departments are currently debating this very question. Blackwater's State Department contract expires next May, and according to the AP, officials in the Department intend to "ease out" Blackwater since many share "a mutual feeling that the Sept. 16 shooting deaths mean the company cannot continue in its current role." Yet according to the WALL STREET JOURNAL, even if Blackwater was forced to leave Iraq, they would simply be replaced by another private security firm, since the State Department does not have the personnel available to step in: "'There's just no way our system could handle trying to get hundreds of new people trained and sent to Iraq,' said a State Department official. 'That would be a multiyear process.'" Guest photo by Robin Holland Published on October 19, 2007 Customize your mobile with your Complimentary Ringtone!
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12:01
From: My Africa Today
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Seventy per cent of adults and 80 percent of children with HIV/AIDS live in Africa. The total number of Africans living with HIV or AIDS has reached 25.3 million, and during the year 2000 alone, 2.4 million Africans died of HIV-related causes. Here are some of the faces behind the statistics.  Villagers in Masogo, Kenya attend a funeral for a suspected AIDS victim.  Family and friends pay their respects to a dead relative in Masogo, Kenya, an area with an exceptionally high AIDS rates.  A suspected AIDS patient rests in bed at her home in Masogo, in western Kenya. Many of the villagers are HIV-infected but few acknowledge it because of the stigma of AIDS.  A religious healer in Lagos, Nigeria talks to women infected by HIV. Without access to medical treatment, many Africans put their faith in spiritual cures.  A prostitute stands outside her home in Nairobi, Kenya. She is one of a small group of prostitutes at the center of AIDS research because they fail to become infected by HIV despite repeated exposure.  Family members visit a patient at the main hospital in Kinshasa, Congo. Almost half the patients in this ward have AIDS.  A girl holds her baby sister at the edge of a sugarcane field near Hlabisa in South Africa's Kwazulu-Natal province, one of the world's worst AIDS hotspots. AIDS has left many children here without parents.  A sick woman sits at home with her son at a housing project in Kinshasa, Congo for people affected by AIDS.  A man with terminal AIDS-related tuberculosis sits on his hospital bed in Gulu, northern Uganda. Customize your mobile with your Complimentary Ringtone!
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9:18
From: My Africa Today
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 In the past decade, the art of cartoons and comics has really taken off in Tanzania. At present there are dozens of cartoonists, some of whom are well known throughout the country. From the 1960's on, a number of artists prepared the way, and their names are cited by today's artists as essential influences (also see the excellent history of cartoons in Tanzania at the Worldcomics website). Cartoon (right): If you register for voting, don't forget to vote for me! If you do, I will make sure it will rain every day.
- We are tired of those false promises!
(Christian Gregory, in Uhuru of 14 August 1980)Among the early cartoon characters was Chakubanga, drawn by Christian Gregory for Uhuru newspaper from 1967 on. Stylistically, the cartoons of Philip Ndunguru made a big impact. The characters he created, such as Madenge, Komredi Kipepe and Lodi Lofa, live on in today's humour comic magazines. When he passed away in 1986, other artists were needed to draw in Ndunguru's style. That's where Ibra Radi Washokera came up, and after him John Kaduma.  Initially, Sani controlled the market of humour mags but when Kaduma switched to Bongo magazine, competition intensified. In the mid 90's, Kaduma moved again to Tabasamu. By the time he died, all the comic magazines had come to prefer the new Tanzanian style of drawing. Other popular cartoon artists that emerged in the 80's and 90's include Gayo, whose Kingo cartoon strip became quite popular throughout East Africa. Cartoon (left): This is the ninth day that I haven't drunk, it seems like I am no longer an alcoholic.
- Without a doubt you were simply broke all the time! I know this...
(Christian Gregory, in Uhuru of 5 May 1980) THE AGE OF POLITICAL CARTOONS Ours is to caricature people, politicians especially. But this doesn't mean that government officers should come after us with big sticks. Nor should newspapers editors manipulate us- Kenyan cartoonist Maddo (Paul Kelemba) In the late 90's, the comic magazines and newspapers publishing cartoons got fresh company from the cartoon weeklies of Sanifu, Risasi and others styled on the same ideas. They were instant hits and created a new outlet for the expressions of more openly political cartoonists such as Masoud Kipanya, Kijasti and Fred Halla. Their views didn't go unnoticed: both their audience and the subjects of their cartoons agreed that cartoons present a powerful message. Masoud explains how the opportunities for cartoonists changed: "Let me say 5, 6, 7 years back we used to have a lot of cartoon publications. We started with Sanifu, after that a lot of newspapers came up. At Business Times we had Sanifu but it was published nearly every day. And by then a lot of artists had a place to show their skills, to air our views. By then we were doing political cartoons. The government took us as these people are just playing, you see. But then the impact started to be seen. Because cartoonists became the voice of the poor people. We predicted things, spoke to the politicians, we told them things, we made them understand what is happening, what they were supposed to do as politicians, as leaders. For the past 10 years I have seen the impact, I got feedback from the people saying that Massoud you are doing great, at least we see you are talking on our behalf. People seem to understand, the politicians sometimes also change, whenever they look at these artworks they feel ashamed to be drawn. So some say: we are not gonna [cause] any problems, because otherwise I will be punished in the newspapers. So I think the impact has been there and I think it will always be there. As cartoons became more popular, some cartoonists were faced with restricted artistic freedom. Mickey recalls: "I used to work with Business Times and Majira newspaper in the past and I used to freelance as a cartoonist. Professionally I was not an artist, but out of interest, when Sanifu was first published inside Majira newspaper - it used to be published once a week on Sunday. In the first four issues I used to take part in the publication. We were quite free to express ourselves. But these days we are too limited. And this is because the truth is always powerful. Even if someone has got maybe economical or political power, but the truth is more power[ful] than that. So you find that cartoonists are taken as people who are threatening those people who are abusing power. And when it comes to justice they say that all people are equal before justice there is fairness. But there are some people who are above the law." The cartoonists who have gathered in PACT have good hope that the internet will help them to freely discuss matters that can't be discussed in the Tanzanian papers. As Masoud puts it: "There are so many things that are taking place in the world right now, in Tanzania and the world. I'd like to talk about these things, Nathan, Mickey and Fred as well and the rest of the cartoonists. To me at least I have a space though I am being censored. But some of these people don't have a place where they can express for the benefit of society." Partly based on interviews with Fred Halla, April 2003, and with Masoud Kipanya and Mickey, February 2002 Customize your mobile with your Complimentary Ringtone!
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13:00
From: My Africa Today
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Fear of bio-theft at centre of the storm By JOHN MBARIA Special Correspondent As KWS exudes confidence over the deal, critics have asked it to tread with caution, particularly because it does not have the capacity to catalogue the extent and nature of the country’s biological resources that might be of industrial value and will be banking on Novozymes to supply such knowhow. They point to the numerous instances of Kenya’s biological wealth having been stolen from the country’s nature reserves even with KWS personnel on the beat there. One example was when industrially important microbes (or extremophiles) were stolen from Kenya’s Lake Bogoria and other Rift Valley lakes in 1992 and ended up being patented by a California-based company, Genencor International. This newspaper carried the story of how the microbes were used in manufacture of industrial enzymes that were then used to give blue jeans a trendy, faded “stonewashed” look, while others were used by a US multiproduct giant, Procter & Gamble, in the manufacture of one of its Tide detergents. Last year, a 42-page document released by a US-based non-profit organisation, Edmonds Institute, reported that the microbes are now owned by Genencor, for which they have generated $3.4 billion in annual sales. It further said the actual collection of the microbes from the Kenyan lakes was made in 1992 by an unnamed British researcher and later patented by Genencor. According to the report, the Kenya government did not get a cent even after filing a suit against the company in US courts in September 2004 for compensation. But KWS Director Dr Julius Kipnge’tich told The EastAfrican that they are still negotiating with Genencor. “Negotiations are still going on,” he said, adding that if the negotiations failed to yield results, KWS would explore other options including taking “legal measures.” Invariably, after developing industrial products from natural materials sourced from Kenya and other African countries, global biotech giants have been reluctant to share the billions with these countries even after being exposed. This has been a highly contentious issue related to the development and commercialisation of biological resources (bioprospecting) throughout Africa. The Edmonds Institute’s report also detailed how one of the biggest drug manufacturers in Europe, Bayer of Germany, acquired a strain of bacteria from the Ruiru Dam in Central Kenya, and ended up developing a drug that is able to inhibit the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream of diabetic patients. The report said that although the drug had generated over $300 million by the end of 2004, Kenyans got nothing. With all this history of sharp dealing, observers are now wondering why KWS failed to wait for proper legal and policy guidelines to be put in place before signing the MoU. The EastAfrican has learnt that the Science and Technology Ministry has been spearheading the drafting of a policy and a Bill to regulate how organisations like KWS enter into agreements with international biotech companies. The policy will apparently offer a “radical” way of tackling past and ongoing bio-robbery in Kenya and detail guidelines on how to enter such agreements. When implemented, the law will also make it possible for Kenyans to take public bodies to court if they believe that the latter have played a role in the spiriting away of local knowledge and technology or have aided bio-theft. But Dr Kipng’etich says the MoU with Novozymes was guided by the Kenya Access and Benefit Sharing Regulations issued by the National Environment Management Authority last year. He also says the deal adhered to the provisions of the Wildlife Act (Cap 376) and is also “in line with the Convention on Biological Diversity, which Kenya ratified in 1992.” Customize your mobile with your Complimentary Ringtone!
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7:29
From: My Africa Today
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7:09
From: My Africa Today
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Stephen Saad – Aspen Phamacare Holdings Limited  Stephen Saad has reason to be proud. In little longer than seven years he has made Aspen Pharmacare, Africa’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturer. Stephen’s greatest achievements in the healthcare sector relate to his pioneering ability in combating HIV/AIDS. Stephen has secured voluntary licenses from multinational pharmaceutical giants for the manufacture of desperately needed antiretroviral (ARV) medicines. Aspen is one of only three pharmaceutical companies worldwide to be selected by the Clinton Foundation as capable of manufacturing antiretroviral (ARV) medicines at the stipulated quality and price. In addition to this, Aspen’s manufacturing facilities have recently been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as being suitable for the manufacture of generic anti-retrovirals to meet the needs of President Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The President’s organisation has pledged $15bn to assist developing countries as they address the crisis of HIV/AIDS over the next five years. Aspen presently has a market capitalisation in excess of R5 billion and is Africa’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturer and the continent’s largest manufacturer of generic pharmaceutical products.
Koos Bekker – M-Net  Koos Bekker is the visionary who dreamt up M-Net. In 1985 M-Net was one of the first two pay television ventures to be created anywhere outside of the United States. M-Net broke even in 1988 and the group has since grown into one of the most successful pay television operations worldwide. Koos overcame some initial mistakes and several hurdles to make it work. From this base he then led the launch of Supersport, MultiChoice across Africa, MIH internationally, M-Web, Irdeto in Holland, the creation of the cellphone operator MTN, the drive into China with the conception of SportsCN and the buy-in into Tencent (QQ), as well as the recent setting up of Entriq, a broadband technology provider in San Diego. All these companies fall under what is today known as MIH Holdings, which operates pay television and Internet subscriber platforms in Africa, China, Thailand, Greece and Cyprus. They constitute some 80% of the total value of the Naspers group, the biggest media group in Africa by far, which Koos now heads up.
Glenn van Heerden – Avis Southern Africa Limited  Glenn van Heerden not only embodies the cheery personality of the Avis brand in South Africa, but is also a pioneer of car rental and fleet services in our country. Avis Southern Africa, one of the leading Car Rental Agencies on the continent, was founded some 37 years ago in Bloemfontein by 25-year-old Glenn and a colleague named Noel de Villiers. With a fleet of only three cars and R20 000 worth of loan capital, they started a business that is today a household name. Avis is now spread out in most of southern Africa including Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Avis Southern Africa’s operations also span countries like Norway and Sweden, and it ranks as the largest licensee outside the USA in the worldwide Avis group. It runs a rental fleet of some 20 000 cars, and its leasing arm has more than 60 000 vehicles under management. In 2003, during a period marked by delistings from the JSE, Barloworld acquired Avis, worth R2,2bn. Van Heerden, who was CEO and later chairman of Avis, is now a non-executive director of Barloworld Motors.
Pam Golding – Pam Golding Properties  Pam Golding regards her availability and her vast network, built up over 45 years of personal contact, as her most valuable attribute in business. After having worked for Syfrets for five years, Pam started her business on her own with no capital in the midst of economic uncertainty. At that time the political situation in South Africa was driving foreign investment out of the country and the property market was deemed to be a very high-risk investment for both buyers and sellers. Founded in 1976, Pam Golding Properties has grown from being a single woman “out-of-my-garage”-property business, to a leading South African organisation employing over 1 800 people. Today Pam Golding Properties is South Africa’s premier property group, boasting a turnover of R9,7bn in residential sales in 2004. Providing the international investment community with credible South African business infrastructure, Pam Golding Properties currently has operations in 3 European countries as well as franchises in several Southern African countries.
Dempsey Naidoo – PD Naidoo & Associates  Dempsey Naidoo left South Africa in 1976 under trying circumstances and won a United Nations scholarship to complete his engineering degree in the UK. On his return to South Africa in 1981, Dempsey worked for mining giant Anglo American where he was invited to join Anglo’s prestigious Executive Training Scheme. It was during this time that Dempsey realised that he needed to make a contribution to black technical advancement. With the help of his wife Jackie, and the support of businesspeople in Lenasia, Naidoo established a part-time community organisation. The role of the organisation was to comment on technical issues in black townships and to serve as a forum for black technical people to get together and share their dreams and aspirations. The business people supported the organisation by giving it engineering work in the area. This resulted in Dempsey leaving the security of a flourishing career at Anglo American to start PD Naidoo & Associates and all money generated by the company in those early days was reinvested in order to grow the business. Today PD Naidoo & Associates, a consulting engineering firm, employs over 300 people, has 11 offices in South Africa and offices in Mozambique, Mauritius, Botswana and Angola.
Raymond Ackerman – Pick 'n Pay  “Building a successful business is 90% guts and 10% capital”. This is the firm belief of Raymond Ackerman, founder and Executive Chairman of what is today the most successful retail supermarket chain in South Africa, Pick ‘n Pay. In 1967, Raymond left an established retailing firm in Cape Town and started a retail corporation with the purchase of four small shops. Under his leadership, Pick ‘n Pay grew rapidly and in the 1970s branched into the hypermarkets that offered South Africans one-stop shopping. Pick ‘n Pay is now one of South Africa’s pre-eminent FMCG retailers, consisting of over 450 stores including 121 supermarkets and 14 hypermarkets. Operations are in food, clothing, and general merchandise sectors as well as financial services. The company operates throughout South Africa, southern Africa and Australia.
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6:44
From: My Africa Today
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We’ve all heard of M-Net; most of us grew up watching K-TV, then came Carte Blanche, the Sunday night movie and satellite TV. But what about the man behind it all? Koos Bekker went to the US in the 1980s to do an MBA and wrote his thesis on pay television. Then he came back to South Africa and, with the help of Naspers and a few other media companies, started M-Net. In 1997, Bekker became the CEO of Naspers which then owned most of the initial M-Net company (Electronic Media Network). Since then, he’s grown the group into a multinational, multi-channel (DStv) media house that has operations in China and South America, and is Africa’s largest media company. Naspers also owns pretty much all the Afrikaans daily newspapers in the country (Beeld, Rapport, Die Burger), some English ones (Daily Sun), almost every magazine (from FHM to Huisgenoot) and the “24” brands (News 24, etc). Oh, and they own 30% of cellphone messaging service MXit. He is not your average entrepreneur. For one thing, he is currently on sabbatical – not something CEO’s usually do when the company is roaring ahead. But as he explained to us late last year: at the age of 54, he has already been the CEO of a JSE-listed company for 16 years. He is also unafraid to admit that he has faults, “People often get stale in their later quarters. You know, many presidents of the US, for example, had a poorer second term than a first term. I think you start believing your own wisdom and you lose your daring. So I’d like to refresh myself. But also there are many interesting things in media, and what tickled me particularly are Korea, Japan and the West Coast of the States, where young people are inventing new technologies. So I’d like to spend some time there.” It is this sort of understanding of self and the desire to constantly innovate that comes through in his discussion of entrepreneurship. Asked, if he defined himself as an entrepreneur, he told Tycoon “I think entrepreneurs are not very good at explaining themselves I think what makes them entrepreneurs is something that maybe you don’t even yourself recognise it could be a defect, for example, Bill Clinton’s father was a drunk; sometimes a defect creates a need to compensate by showing the world.” He adds that probably the worst environment in which to nurture an entrepreneur is in a happy, well-balanced family “Where do you develop your will power or your skill in getting out of trouble if you have no challenges? You have to be tossed challenges regularly and in fighting those challenges you learn how to control your self and then you learn how to run a company,” he says. In order to be successful though, you need to learn how to take the punches and keep on coming. “You have the loneliness of the king, you might have a team of people around you, but if things go really bad, they all look at you and if you panic the business goes down the drain,” he says, adding, “Quite often entrepreneurs don’t care very much what the world thinks but they have one thing in common and that is the ability to take knocks and keep smiling.” But sometimes the punches can be useful, “If we have a success all we learn from it is how smart we are and we carry on doing the same thing the next morning and we don’t learn anything but, if we mess up, we can learn some very valuable lessons.” - Geoff Candy Customize your mobile with your Complimentary Ringtone!
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7:08
From: My Africa Today
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Jacqueline Novogratz is pioneering new ways of tackling poverty. In her view, traditional charity rarely delivers lasting results. Her solution, outlined here through a series of revealing personal stories, is "patient capital": support for "bottom of the pyramid" businesses which the commercial market alone couldn't provide. The result: sustainable jobs, goods, services -- and dignity -- for the world's poorest. Customize your mobile with your Complimentary Ringtone!
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6:35
From: My Africa Today
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This grab-you-by-the-throat speech by Ghanaian economist George Ayittey unleashes an almost breathtaking torrent of controlled anger toward corrupt leaders and the complacency that allows them to thrive. These "Hippos" (lazy, slow, ornery) have ruined postcolonial Africa, he says. Why, then, does he remain optimistic? Because of the young, agile "Cheetah Generation," a "new breed of Africans" taking their futures into their own hands. Customize your mobile with your Complimentary Ringtone!
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20:55
From: My Africa Today
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17:30
From: My Africa Today
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When Yang Jie left home at 18, he was doing what people from China’s hardscrabble Fujian Province have done for generations: emigrating in search of a better living overseas. What set him apart was his destination. Instead of the traditional adopted homelands like the US and Europe, where Fujian people have settled by the hundreds of thousands, he chose this small, landlocked country in southern Africa. “Before I left China,” said Yang, now 25, “I thought Africa was all one big desert.” So he figured that ice cream would be in high demand, and with money pooled from relatives and friends, he created his own factory at the edge of Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital. The climate is in fact subtropical, but that has not stopped his ice cream company from becoming the country’s biggest.  Stories like this have become legion across Africa in the past five years or so, as hundreds of thousands of Chinese have discovered the continent. The Xinhua News Agency recently estimated that at least 7,50,000 Chinese were working or living for extended periods on the continent, a reflection of deepening economic ties between China and Africa.
Even when Yang arrived here in 2001, he said, he could go weeks without encountering another traveller from his homeland. But as surely as his investments in the country have prospered, he said, an increasingly large community of Chinese migrants has taken root, and now runs everything from small factories to health care clinics and trading companies. Today, in many of the countries where the new Chinese emigrants have settled, like Chad, Chinese-owned pharmacies, massage parlours and restaurants serving a variety of regional Chinese cuisines can be found; the Western presence, once dominant, has steadily dwindled, and essentially consists nowadays of relief experts working international agencies or oil workers, living behind high walls in heavily guarded enclaves. At first, this new Chinese exodus was driven largely by word of mouth, as pioneers like Yang relayed news back home of abundant opportunities in a part of the world where many economies lie undeveloped or in ruins. Conditions like these often deter Western investors, but for many Chinese entrepreneurs, Africa’s emerging economies are inviting precisely because they seem small and accessible. Competition is often weak or nonexistent, and for African customers, the low price of many Chinese goods and services make them more affordable than their Western counterparts. You Xianwen sold his pipe-laying business in Chengdu, in southwest China, this year to move to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, to join a startup company with a Chinese partner he had met only online. His new business, ABC Bioenergy, builds devices that generate combustible gas from ordinary refuse, providing what You said would be an affordable alternative source of energy in a country where electricity supplies are erratic and prices high. This Chinese activity reflects an intense appetite for African oil and mineral resources needed to fuel China’s manufacturing sector, but big Chinese companies have quickly become formidable competitors in other sectors as well, particularly for big-ticket public works contracts. China is building major new railroad lines in Nigeria and Angola, large dams in Sudan, airports in several countries and new roads, it seems, almost everywhere. Africans view the influx of Chinese with a mix of anticipation and dread. Business leaders in Chad, a central African nation with deepening oil ties to China, are bracing for what they suspect will be an army of Chinese workers and investors. “We expect a large influx of at least 40,000 Chinese in the coming years,” said Renaud Dinguemnaial, director of Chad’s Chamber of Commerce. “This massive arrival could be a plus for the economy, but we are also worried. When they arrive, will they bring their own workers, stay in their own houses, send all their money home?” In Zambia, where anti-Chinese sentiment has been building for several years, merchants at the central market in Lusaka, the capital, said that if Chinese people wanted to come to Africa, they should come as investors, building factories, not as petty traders who compete for already scarce customers for bottom-dollar items like flip-flops and T-shirts. “The Chinese claim to come here as investors, but they are trading just like us,” said Dorothy Mainga, who sells knockoff Puma sneakers and Harley Davidson T-shirts in the Kamwala Market in Lusaka. “They are selling the same things we are selling at cheap prices. We pay duty and tax, but they use their connections to avoid paying tax.” Although Chinese oil workers have been kidnapped in Nigeria and killed in Ethiopia, the growing Chinese presence around the continent has produced few serious incidents. Misunderstandings are common, however, and resentments inevitably arise. Africans in many countries complain that Chinese workers occupy jobs that locals are either qualified for or could be easily trained to do. “We are happy to have the Chinese here,” said Dennis Phiri, 21, a Malawian university student who is studying to become an engineer. “The problem with the Chinese companies is that they reserve all the good jobs for their own people. Africans are only hired in menial roles.” Another frequent criticism is that the Chinese are clannish, sticking among themselves day and night. Customize your mobile with your Complimentary Ringtone!
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11:24
From: My Africa Today
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Mwanza AB, Tanzania, early 1980s; Contrary to what is usually reported, Tanzania never purchased any J-7Is from China. Instead, the Jeshi La Wananchi La Tanzania (Tanzanian People's Defence Force Air Wing, TPDF/AW) was given 14 MiG-21MFs and two MiG-21Us by the USSR in 1974. Many of these were lost in different accidents due to the poor training, and two were said to have been lost when their pilots defected. Nevertheless, the few surviving examples took part in the war against Uganda, in 1978-1979, when they saw much action, even if one was shot down in a case of fratricide fire (it was lost to SA-7s fired by Tanzanian troops). The Tanzanian Army captured seven MiG-21MFs and one MiG-21U trainer from the Ugandan Air Force, as well as a considerable amount of spare parts. All of these were flown out to Mwanza AB, to enter service with the TPDF/AW. In 1998, Tanzania purchased four additional MiG-21MFs from the Ukraine, but these were reportedly in a very poor shape, and not used very often. Meanwhile, in 1980, an order for 10 F-7Bs and two TF-7s was issued to China, and in 1997 also two F-7Ns were purchased from Iran, together with four ex-Iraqi Air Force transports of an unknown type. Today, no Russian-supplied MiG-21s remain in service with the TPDF/AW, and only three or four F-7s remain operational.  The TPDF/AW MiG-21MFs are now confirmed to have carried serials - in black or green - underneath the cockpit, but no details about these are known.  | | Tanzania, place and time unknown; exactly how many MiG-15UTI (or, according to other sources, FT-2s) Tanzania acquired, or when, remains unknown. Supposedly, by the early 1990s two remained intact, even if it is unknown if even these were operational. The markings and serials shown here were applied according to instructions from a decal sheets of the Ukrainian company Kanga, and the Canadian Hobbycraft. The exact details about their placement remain unconfirmed. |  | | Daresalam IAP, 2004: seen at Daresalam IAP in 2004, preparing for celebrations of Tanzanian People's Defence Forces' 40th Aniversary, this F-6A is one of two that arrived from Mwanza together with three F-5s. It wears a disruptive camouflage pattern in sand, brown and green on upper sides, and light blue underneath. All the planes appeared in imacualte condition, considering they are in service since almost 30 years. No national markings or serials were apparent on either of F-6As. |
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5:50
From: My Africa Today
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The Greenville Sheriff's Office said that they arrested a man at an Upstate motel who was setting up a deal commonly referred to as a Nigerian money scam.Sheriff's investigators said that they were tipped off to the potential scam by a doctor from Texas who said he had been e-mailed a request to help an African businessman get into the United States. The doctor sent approximately $27,000 to Kenneth Ojua, who lives in an apartment on White Horse Road. The doctor said Ojua had told him he would $2 million in return for his investment.Investigators said that they set up a meeting between the doctor and Ojua at the Holiday Inn on Augusta Road. The doctor was to give Ojua additional money. // Set DC ad position if(typeof dcadposition == 'undefined')dcadposition = 1; else dcadposition++; if (typeof segQS == 'undefined')segQS=''; if (typeof adid == 'undefined')adid='false'; // Add code to define sluser true|false var SiteLifeUser = (typeof myCookies != 'undefined' && getCookie('HD') != '')?'true':'false'; document.write(""); if ((!document.images && navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Mozilla/2.") >= 0) || navigator.userAgent.indexOf("WebTV")>= 0) { document.write(""); document.write(" "); }
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Deputies arrested Ojua when he arrived at the motel. He is being held without bond.Sheriff's investigators said evidence in Ojua's apartment led them to believe that there are others who have been victimized.Anyone who has had contact with Ojua is asked to call the Greenville Sheriff's Office at 864-467-5300. Customize your mobile with your Complimentary Ringtone!
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7:05
From: My Africa Today
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As part of my research on the African brand, I interviewed a Nigerian Hollywood public relations professional recently. Though his clientèle doesn’t consist purely of Africans, being a Hollywood connector he frequently encounters Africans with a bit of money looking to use his services for something or another. As we talked, the topic of money came up and the gentleman expounded on the different groups of Africans with money and their attitudes towards wealth. What I found interesting was how the Nigerian connector classified the groups: hustlers, who will do anything for a buck, and dignitaries, whose source of wealth is questionable. In his experience these were the two types of people who make up the affluent African class. Of course I found his tales of the affluent African a little disheartening, but it brought to light the issue of options for African wealth. We all know that the continent is rich with resources, however the access to those resources and who benefits from it’s potential revenue is another story. The Wall Street Journal’s Informed Reader points to the recent release of Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini’s 2007 World Wealth Report which reveals: Globally, the HNWI (High Net Worth Individuals) population grew by 8.3% in 2006, to a total of 9.5 million individuals. HNWI population gains were particularly strong last year in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, advancing by 12.5%, 11.9% and 10.2%, respectively, and outpacing more developed nations. These gains came amid these emerging markets’ attempts to solidify their infrastructures and become more developed economies. While this means there is more African representation in Robert Frank’s Richistan, many of us in lower to not-even-close Richistan, are beginning to ask even more questions about what role Africans play in the scramble for Africa’s resources. A BIG question raised in the conversation about African billionaires on Forbes’ list was, where are those billionaires getting their money? The wealth report hints that, China has been an active player in Africa, investing heavily in various sectors and showing particular interest in mining. Taken together, these factors bolstered the continent’s HNWI population, helping it grow by 12.5 percent in 2006 and increasing its wealth by 14 per cent. While this seems like a good answer, I’m not sure many Africans will buy it. But I don’t want to be labeled a “player hater” so I will point you to this statement by the Informed Reader: So when it comes to business and markets, the firms that cater to the top of the high end will continue to do the best in the coming years. Think megayachts instead of yachts, beachfront estates instead of McMansions, and Bentleys and Maybachs instead of Mercedes and BMWs. Paul Redfern adds, “The report says much of the income is spent on luxury items, art collections, jewelery and charitable causes.” Maybe this growing area will give enterprising Africans such as my Hollywood connector friend a green card to Richistan. As another hustler friend of mine said, “Don’t hate, participate” - legitimately of course. Customize your mobile with your Complimentary Ringtone!
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7:01
From: My Africa Today
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| BusinessWeek’s recent article on rising outsourcing destinations highlights what many African entrepreneurs have proposed for years. Outsourcing to parts of Africa can be a win-win situation. The BusineesWeek article refers to consultancy A.T. Kearney’s 2007 list of the 50 most desirable outsourcing destinations worldwide. For the list countries were ranked by a) financial attractiveness, based on such measures as compensation and infrastructure costs; b) a so-called people score, measuring a nation’s people skills, availability of language and educational skills, and the size and quality of the IT industry; and c) their economic/political environment, infrastructure quality, cultural exposure, and IP security. While India remains the top outsourcing destination many African countries are learning from their  example. (Note: Scores are in parentheses.)
Rank - Country (overall - financial - people - environment)
#13 - Egypt (5.6 - 3.2 - 1.1 - 1.3)
#25 - Mauritius (5.4 - 2.8 - 1.0 - 1.6)
#26 - Tunisia (5.4 - 3.0 - 0.9 - 1.5)
#27 - Ghana (5.5 - 3.3 - 0.9 - 1.3)
#31 - South Africa (5.3 - 2.5 - 1.2 - 1.6)
#36 - Morocco (5.1 - 2.9 - 0.9 - 1.3)
#39 - Senegal (5.1 - 3.2 - 0.8 - 1.1)
Other factors which add to a countries’ attractiveness are language and education skills and the reliability of a nation’s telecommunications infrastructure. But the the key underlying factor for many African countries’ successful bid for new business is the lack of infrastructure. While the African digerati are continuously ramping up their skills and making themselves available for business they continuously run into infrastructural limitations. But who is to blame? Is it the governments who are overrun with bureaucracy? or the people themselves, who often do not hold their leaders accountable?
"Offshoring upstarts are making so many inroads, in fact, that by 2012, they’ll significantly dilute India’s dominance, says consultancy Gartner (IT). The consulting firm says that by 2010 about 30% of Fortune 500 enterprises will outsource to three or more countries, from less than 10% today. “So many governments have realized what an opportunity this is and there’s a lot of effort being spent in promoting their countries to the market,” says Johan Gott, manager of A.T. Kearney’s Global Services Location Index.
…Kenya, for instance, is trying to become a destination for business process and IT outsourcing. The Kenyan government has worked in recent years to liberalize its telecom sector, which has lured more operators and helped drive telecom services prices down by 70% in a short time, according to the World Bank. Yet the country relies on satellite connections to link to the rest of the world. That makes it costly for outsourcers to do business." |
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6:33
From: My Africa Today
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“Pluto” wins 2006 Name of the Year In its meeting in Anaheim, California, on January 5, 2007, members of the American Name Society voted “Pluto” as the Name of the Year for 2006. The runner-up for Name of the Year was “Macaca”, which received only one vote less than “Pluto.” The second runner-up was “Flickr”. The final vote was taken among the five nominees “Blue Dog Democrats,” “Flickr,” “Macaca,” “Pluto,” and “Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt,” which had been chosen from twelve original nominees by a committee. All twelve original nominees, along with the rationales for their nominations, were: Ahmadinejad -- The President of Iran became a prominent character for the United States in 2005-2006. He is repeatedly being denounced for developing his country's nuclear facilities. His religious affiliation with the Shiites in Iraq affects the United States involvement in Iraq. He has repeatedly made public statements for attention by the people of the United States. His eligibility for nomination for Name of the Year is reinforced by his potential future importance, either as a constructive or destructive leader of a nation of special importance in the Middle East. | |
