Forbes Africa 2013 February (e-magazine full)

Full E-magazine Forbes English version (copyright)

w w w z e n i t h b a n k c o m 275mm[h] x 210mm[w], with 5mm bleed all round

FEBRUARY 2013 FORBES AFRICA | 1

VOLUME 3 NUMBER 1 CONTENTS — FEBRUARY 2013

8 | EDITOR’S DESK // Chris Bishop

12 | BRIEF 360°

FORBES FOCUS

28 | ThE TIDE TuRnS

Namibia’s ruling SWAPO (South West Africa People’s Organization) has signaled a break with liberation-era politics by electing the pro-business, trade and industry minister Hage Geingob as their next presidential candidate

BY John GroBler

30 | MAngAung unpACKED

It was a fierce and emotional battle over who would lead Africa’s biggest economy into the future.

There were heated exchanges and cries of corruption

BY VuYo MVokoLIST

35| ThE 20 YOungEST pOwER wOMEn In AFRICA

Here are some of the young African women, who have left their footprints on Africa soil in the last year.

CoMpiled BY Farai Gudan

COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY KElECHi AmAdiOBi-OBi FOR FORBES AFRiCA;

RETOuCHinG BY THE VAnillA RAin CREATiVE

“We did very badly, but that failure was very

useful to me because it taught me a lot about

what not to do.”

paGe 64

FORBES

A world of

To create new opportunities you have to start looking at the world a little differently With shifting economic powers,

developing nations on the rise and socio-political change happening across the globe everyday – South Africa is

looking beyond conventional thinking.

With abundant natural resources, human potential and growth prospects, Africa holds the key to truly global prosperity in the future South Africa is leading the way with modern infrastructure as well as working with financial institutions to help fund development across the continent – unlocking Africa’s potential.

A world of

To create new opportunities you have to start looking at the world a little differently With shifting economic powers,

developing nations on the rise and socio-political change happening across the globe everyday – South Africa is

looking beyond conventional thinking.

With abundant natural resources, human potential and growth prospects, Africa holds the key to truly global prosperity in the future South Africa is leading the way with modern infrastructure as well as working with financial institutions to help fund development across the continent – unlocking Africa’s potential.

6 | FORBES AFRICA FEBRUARY 2013

VOLUME 3 NUMBER 1 CONTENTS — FEBRUARY 2013

ENTREPRENEURS

40| ThE RIOngE PERSOn TO ASk FOR A BRIBE

She stood up to 17 men demanding a bribe and is now reaping the rewards.

by Pete Guest

43 | AdVoice

sirdar south africaRESOURCES SUPPLEMENT

46 | MOzAMBIquE’S STARTlIng TRAnSFORMATIOn

The transformation has been such that Beira port’s marketing manager, Felix Jaime Machado,

does not recognize the city in which he grew up.

by Julie bain

52 | STEEl yOuRSElF FOR ThE wORST OF TIMES

Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita has enough spirit to tackle the tough times in South Africa’s steel sector

but the CEO wishes the country could find its mojo once again.

by Julie bain

59 | AdVoice

eXXaroLIFE

60| nIgERIA’S nIghTIngAlE

Nneka sticks her neck out to sing about corruption, oppression and life in Africa,

while everyone wants to hear about love.

by clair MacdouGall

72| glIdE ThROugh COPEnhAgEn FOR FREE

Copenhagen is one of the greenest capital cities, which makes sightseeing a breeze.

by Kristin PalitzaTECHNOLOGY

78| ThE RETuRn OF ThE TEChnOCRAT

Taiwo Otiti, who runs IBM in West Africa, is back home and sitting pretty at the helm.

by thebe raMMutleINVESTMENT GUIDE

82 |MAkIng MOnEy, MAkIng hISTORy // Tshepo Tshabalala

SPORT

92 | kIllER PASSES And PRESIdEnTIAl POwER In ThE glORy OF ‘96

As the Africa Cup of Nations plays out, FORBES AFRICA looks back on a fairy tale that saw champions born on an

emotional, rainy afternoon in Johannesburg

by chris bishoPTHIS IS AFRICA

96 | MAdE In ChInAFORBES

8 | FORBES AFRICA FebrUArY 2013

be Careful What You

BY CHRIS BISHOP, MANAGING EDITOR

stay, with trade between the two up to

$200 billion in 2012 According to dard Bank, 18% of Africa’s imports came from China, in the first 10 months of 2012

Stan-If you got up this morning and put on your fancy suit and shiny shoes, watched televi-sion, played with your children and their plastic toys, used your cellphone and then sat down at your laptop, you could have spent the entire time touching goods made

in China

On the other side of the coin, China wants: South Af-rica’s platinum, iron ore and rare earth; copper and coal from Zambia; gold from Zim-babwe and oil from Angola

In this resources-themed issue of FORBES AFRICA you will read more of the Chinese hunger for what lies beneath the soil of Africa The state-run companies of China, backed by huge reserves and safe

in the knowledge of pent-up demand back home, are making hay while the sun shines over Africa They come in with a ferocious work ethic, keep to themselves, bring in their own experts and get on with it Ruth-lessness is key to man’s accomplishment, goes another proverb

Trade with China is very popular in this part of the world—it is called “south-south” cooperation, that is, business between the emerging economies of the southern hemisphere without the help or hindrance of the big brothers in Europe and the States In return, the Chinese build

year is here; time to get your breath back after another year of squabbles This conti-nent appears to be riven by squabbles with no end No names, no pack drill but there are perennial squabbles up and down this beautiful continent, over who should run the country, who should make money, who shouldn’t The grounds for these squabbles are,

well, take your pick: cal, ancestry, geographical location, skin color, lan-guage, religion, you name it, people can squabble about

politi-it Finger pointing is a game anyone can play The name calling, the investigations, the accusations—from the north to the south, there seems no end

Just think, while these squabbles are raging a superpower is very quietly and efficiently cleaning up in Africa

Yes folks, if it has evaded you so far, China

is growing in Africa, to borrow from a nese proverb, like bamboo shoots after rain

Chi-In mines, factories and shops across Africa, Chinese entrepreneurs are working at cap-turing business that others either couldn’t see or couldn’t work hard enough to take advantage of Another Chinese proverb:

don’t stand by the water and long for fish;

go home and weave a net In other words, while we are squabbling, the Chinese are fishing

Make no mistake, China is in Africa to

FebrUArY 2013 FORBES AFRICA | 9

Views expressed by commentators in this publication are not necessarily those held by FORBES AFRICA or its members of staff All facts printed

in FORBES AFRICA were confirmed as being correct at the time the magazine went to print.

In the December/January article “They’ve Got Angola Covered”, Robert Lewis’ brother is Andrew, not Greg South Africa’s first online stock broker was Utrade, not Uturn.

With regards to the “Africa’s 40 Richest People” List #1 Aliko Dangote: Dangote Cement is expanding to Myanmar and Iraq, not Pakistan #36 Koos Bekker: Source of wealth should be media, not telecom.

Apologies from the FORBES AFRICA editorial team for any confusion this may have caused.

badly needed infrastructure, for Africa, at lightning speed:

major roads in Kenya, Mozambique’s bright, white, metal,

airport and railways across Nigeria, to name a mere few

Governments, especially despotic ones, love Chinese

investors because they don’t make conditions nor

pontifi-cate to their hosts on human rights When was the last time

you saw a Chinese business type in the newspapers calling

for free elections? More importantly, when did you see

Chinese business types in the newspaper for any reason?

Chinese investors, unlike the colonialists of old, did not

ride into Africa with flags fluttering and drums beating

They come not to rule, control, nor set up post offices and

government departments—merely to work and extract

My point is that the infrastructure and price for this

extraction should be bargained for as hard as the amount

of work the Chinese put in Recently, there has been a lot

of noise made by politicians about keeping the value of

Af-rica’s resources by refining at home rather than exporting raw materials and allowing profits to be made elsewhere.This hardball with the Chinese requires not only clear policy but a united, committed front This can only come about when the squabbling is done Surely, any political or social argument is worth less than the wealth and security that could come from a more fruitful deal with the Chinese, from whom Africa could learn so much about the art of successful money making There are many paths to the top

of the mountain but the view is always the same, says the Chinese proverb

The cost of failure could be high A missed opportunity that could leave Africa short changed yet again It will be too late to lament, maybe, in 30 years’ time when our chil-dren will have children of their own In the words of a final Chinese proverb: Tears cannot put out a fire Think about

it

‘When elephants fight, the grass gets trampled’

is a Swahili proverb that is used to describe positions of power being used without

respect The abuse of dominance is regulated by the Competition Act and the

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dominant and non-dominant businesses on competition law compliance - both in

South Africa and elsewhere in Africa So, if you need legal advice to give your business

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AFRICA IN BRIEF

FORBES

BRIEF

www.youtube.com/forbesafrica www.twitter.com/forbesafrica

Predictable Kenya With UnPredictable elections

kenya takes to the polls on March 4 in the most unpredictable election in its history kenya’s electoral body, independent electoral and boundaries Commission (iebC) will have one week to report results

in the event of a run-off, it will take place within 30 days from the announcement, that is if there are no disputes.

there are two major coalitions: the Jubilee alliance led by Uhuru kenyatta (deputy prime Minister) and Cord led by raila odinga (prime Minister), which makes the outcome difficult to predict.

the Jubilee alliance consists of the United republican party (Urp) of william ruto and tna of

Uhu-ru kenyatta, amongst others both left their government posts as minister of education and minister of finance respectively, due to the ongoing international Criminal Court investigations into their possible involvement in the 2007/8 post-election violence Cord mainly constitutes of orange democratic Movement (odM) led by odinga and Vice president kalonzo Musyoka of the wiper democratic Move- ment (wdM) along with smaller parties other coalitions include the amani Coalition led by deputy prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi and eugene wamalwa (minster of justice) of the new Ford party

due to political anxiety and the history of post-election violence, private sector investment spending

is expected to slow down this will remain short-lived before spending starts picking up again to push the gdp growth towards the overall 5% mark for the year.

rocKy Wins against the odds

Zolani Marali—who Forbes aFriCa called the ‘rocky of africa’ in its november issue—defeated ali Funeka in a wbF light welterweight world title fight held in east london

in november the victory marked the rebirth of the Mdantsane township-born fighter who had previously been written off before alan toweel took him into his gym “he boxed bravely, like a warrior and all judges gave the fight to Zolani,” says toweel.

neWs lines

died: John nkomo, vice president of Zimbabwe died on January 17 at

st anne’s hospital in harare, aged 79.

Mali: government troops recapture key central town of konna, on

January 18, after days of fighting.

shot: somali islamist group al-shabab suspected of killing five and

wounding four in garissa, in eastern kenya, on January 16

deMand: liberia’s jailed former president, Charles taylor, demands

an annual state pension of $25,000.

KicKed oFF: the 2013 afcon tournament kicked off on January 19 in

Johannesburg with south africa versus Cape Verde.

resigned: rio tinto boss, tom albanese, resigned on January 17

amid news that the company will write-down $14 billion in its african

assets, including its Mozambique coking coal operation.

conFession: disgraced tour de France cyclist lance armstrong

admits to oprah winfrey that he used performance enhancing drugs

since the 1990s.

FilM: Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim

Hetherington premiered at the sundance Film Festival on January 20

the documentary is about a british war photographer who was killed,

aged 40, while covering the revolution in libya

16% of Africans use the internet.

Source: Open Data for Africa

FEBRUARY 2013 FORBES AFRICA | 13

360°

Gabon will host peace talks between

the Central African Republic’s

government and the Seleka rebel

coalition, who control a northern

portion of the country The rebel

group has demanded that President

Francois Bozize step down as part of

the agreement and have vowed not to

attack the country’s capital, Bangui.

Makera and Usu, villages in Zamfara state

in Nigeria, saw 10 people hacked and shot

to death Zamfara police suspect gangs

of Fulani herdsmen In the town of Song four people died when a police station burned down The gunmen involved are suspected to be a part of Boko Haram The islamist militant group has not accepted responsibility

The president of SAFA, Kirsten Nematandani, and four other officials, who were allegedly involved in the match-fixing scandal at the end of 2012, have been reinstated This, weeks before South Africa was to host the Africa Cup of Nations Investigations will continue after AFCON “The issue will not be swept under the carpet,” says SAFA spokesperson Dominic Chimhavi.

1time might Fly AgAin

Fastjet have signed an option agreement to buy provisionally liquidated airline 1time The

Tanzania-based, low-cost carrier is looking to expand its business with interests in East Africa,

Ghana, Angola and South Africa 1time shares will cost Fastjet R1 ($0.12) The deal is set to go

through once the liquidation papers arrive in February Fastjet, founded by businessman Sir

Stelios Haji-Ioannou, launched its maiden flights on November 29, from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza

and Kilimanjaro

mAhAmA inAugurAted despite ClAims OF rigging

Following the December 10 elections, John Dramani Mahama was inaugurated as Gha- na’s president at Independence Square in Accra on January 7 Mahama beat New Pa- triotic Party (NPP) opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo by 50,7% to 47,7% Akufo-Addo claimed election results were rigged due to technical glitches during the voting process

He has challenged them in court Members

of the NPP boycotted the inauguration.

mAli link tO AlgeriA hOstAge drAmA

France deployed around 1,700 troops to Mali on ary 11 with the launch of its military offensive, which was reinforced by some 400 troops from Nigeria, Togo, Chad and Benin The West-African country has been under siege from Islamic extremist alliance groups, who have occupied the northern part of the country since last year The ter- rorist alliance is made up of al-Qaeda’s AQIM, splinter group MUJWA and Malian rebel group Ansar Dine French President Francois Hollande has vowed that troops will not leave the former French colony until a stable, democratic government is established

Janu-In apparent retaliation, 40 Al-Qaeda-linked gunmen attacked a BP-Statoil- Sonatrach gas plant at Tigantou- rine, near In Amenas in Algeria, which is Africa’s largest natural gas producer Six hundred and eighty five Algerian workers and 107 foreigners were freed by Algerian forces during a military operation on January 17 Three hundred Algerian and 41 foreign workers—from America, Britain, Norway, France, Romania, Japan, Malaysia and the Philip- pines—were taken hostage The death toll of militants and their captives reached 80 on January 21, with some people still missing

The hostage-takers accused Algeria of refusing Malian refugees They demanded the release of Islamists held

in Algerian prisons and that France withdraws its troops

France has sent in an additional 300 troops into Mali, with the number expected to grow.

tOp 20 BrAnds On

sOCiAl mediA in

AFriCA

Due to an oversight FORBES

AFRICA would like to amend the

Top 20 Brands On Social Media

In Africa list, which was featured

in the December January issue

The number one position should

be held by NTV Kenya, which has

45,522 youTube subscribes and

117,608,388 views NTV Kenya is

a television brand of the Nation

Media Group owned by Aga

Kahn, one of the world's richest

royals The group is the largest

independent media house in East

Africa

3,000

Number of African ethnic groups

Source: Africa: ‘A Biography of the Continent’

are usually based on events or circumstances that define and distinguish each story At times, these relate to the individual’s planned or fortuitous foray into a business

venture; the painstaking process of building

same, a bruising setback or a stroke of fate

that leads to the game-changing break The

interplay of these elements is what makes

each entrepreneur’s story unique, and in the

case of Hakeem Belo-Osagie, the Nigerian

entrepreneur and chairman of the mobile

telecommunications company Etisalat, the

chemistry between these elements is as

vivacious as ever

After more than a decade of running UBA

and overseeing a transformation of its fortunes,

Hakeem, or Keem as he is widely referred

to, shifted his focus to the telecoms industry

Two prior unsuccessful attempts to obtain a

license were followed by a successful third bid

with the Mubadala Company of Abu Dhabi

The new player, Etisalat Nigeria, rolled out its

services six years after the first mobile operator

had launched in the Nigerian market Etisalat

became the fourth operator alongside MTN,

Glo and Airtel

“I had made two attempts to get into the

telecoms industry before The first time was

when we had the first bid for GSM and there I

was a partner to Orascom Four licenses were

given and we were fifth, so we just missed it

AfricA’s UnAssUming giAnt

Hakeem belo-Osagie, veteran entrepreneur worth $400 million, on catching up with Nigeria’s telecom market

leaders and the rise of africa.

By chArles idem And theBe rAmmUtle

With the second attempt, this time working with Orascom again to buy NITEL, we won, but

we were told that our price was too low I thank God that we were rejected because I think that

it would have been very difficult managing NITEL And then the third time, this time I was not working with Orascom, I was working with

a company called Mubadala, which is one of the sovereign wealth funds of Abu Dhabi, and this time we were successful in getting a license and that is the foundation of the company called Etisalat.”

Experts and skeptics predicted a rough ride for the company due to its late entrance into the industry But since its commencement

of commercial operations in October 2008, Etisalat has surprised with its solid growth and achievements The newcomer had two million subscribers in its first year and gained the reputation of being the most innovative telecoms company in Nigeria By 2011, it had

12 million subscribers, despite the intense competition in Nigeria’s telecoms sector

As mobile penetration continues to increase

in Africa’s largest telecoms market—with recent figures showing that the aggregate mobile subscriber base has surpassed 100 million—telecom infrastructure continues to mushroom across the country Etisalat has invested more than $2 billion in building and expanding its network Of the estimated 20,000 cell sites scattered across the country, Etisalat’s infrastructure accounted for around 15% in

february 2013 FORBES AFRICA | 15

16 | FORBES AFRICA february 2013

2011 Belo-Osagie points out that the expansion of the

company’s network will continue

“We had some gaps in our network in the South-South

and South Eastern part of Nigeria and we are now in the

process of filling those gaps, right now we have something

in the range of just over 4,000 base stations We are very

happy with our rollout because we think with this number

of base stations we can cover the whole country However,

our objective over the next few years is to double that

number and get to the range of about 8,000 base stations.”

By October, Etisalat had surpassed its target for the year

of 14 million subscribers

“What we are particularly happy about is our 3G data

offering, which we think is universally accepted as the best

and the fastest in the market As a company, we are going

to continue to pioneer innovative solutions as we seek to

distinguish ourselves from our competitors.”

True to his words, Etisalat is stealing a march on its competitors in the mobile banking race with its recent introduction of an innovative SIM application called ‘Easy Wallet’ The application, which comes pre-loaded on every Etisalat SIM card, encourages the adoption of mobile phone as the preferred means of conducting basic financial transactions Belo-Osagie promises that the coming months will see more such mobile money products

“Well, I think we are very proud of the fact that our partner Etisalat indeed won a prize for having one of the best mobile applications in the world at the recent telecommunications conference In addition to that, we’ve built on the strengths of Mubadala, which is a sovereign wealth fund very much in the area of finance You will notice that many of the Nigerian directors have, at one time

forbes focus — Hakeem belo-osagie

FORBES

“I do think though that with the correct strategy we can become

the number two [telecom] company in Nigeria.”

This is not a tablet

Welcome to the New World.

We’re partnering with organisations and individuals who are as committed to our communities as we are

Every day, we’re developing and launching products and services that make sure that everyone who has a

mobile phone has access to books, e-learning and other innovative educational facilities It doesn’t matter

where you are, everywhere you go, you can learn something new with MTN.

forbes focus — Hakeem belo-osagie

FORBES

18 | FORBES AFRICA february 2013

or another, been involved in banking We felt that it should

only be natural that we be a leader in the area in which

telecoms and banking cross each other.”

Being the resolute operator that he is, Belo-Osagie wants

Etisalat to rise to the second position in the industry

“I do think though that with the correct strategy we can

become the number two [telecom] company in Nigeria We

focus very much on the youth market We focus very much

on the data market and we focus very much on the quality

of services I think we are also helped by the fact that we

have two very financially strong shareholders, Mubadala and

Etisalat, and we have funded our rollout, so the amount of

debt that we have on our books is relatively small I believe

that with the strategy that we have, especially one that has

avoided a lot of changes of management which Airtel has

gone through, and the depth of management we have in

comparison with Glo, I think that we will eventually get to

the second position in the market place.”

He describes the challenge of catching up with the market

leaders as “a management and intellectual challenge,” which

he enjoys With an air of confidence that is almost palpable,

he offers a concise analysis of the industry

“Realistically, I don’t think that any company can beat

MTN in Nigeria because the gap is very large between

MTN and everybody else And while I think that MTN

can improve its quality of service, I think that it has a

strong management; there is a real commitment to Nigeria

from MTN, and they’ve also done a lot in terms of the

development of local staff.”

Belo-Osagie’s childhood fantasies had nothing to do with

running businesses His early ambition was to become a

mathematician Later, while studying at a sixth form college

in Wales, he developed an interest in public service and

went on to study politics, philosophy and economics at

Oxford University He obtained a law degree at Cambridge

University before undertaking the Harvard MBA program

While at Oxford, he obtained work experience as an intern

at the OPEC headquarters in Vienna

His graduation from business school would coincide with

the enactment of a policy by the Nigerian government that

permitted federal ministers and the president’s advisers to

employ aides Through much more than a stroke of luck,

Belo-Osagie was appointed as an aide to the president’s

adviser on petroleum He would go on to hold the position

for six years, despite a coup d’état that led to the arrest and

incarceration of his initial boss Following another coup,

which occurred when he was getting married, he made the

decision to abandon the precarious public sector to pursue

opportunities in the private sector

He set up a consulting firm which advised international

companies that sought to play in Nigeria’s oil industry The

venture was a resounding success and after a few years and

millions of dollars in the bank, his entrepreneurial instinct

sparked the hunger for another venture This led him to

cast his attention to the financial sector and, as fate would have it, the Nigerian government decided to privatize banks established by the British, which were still under government control

Sensing the opportunity, Belo-Osagie cashed in and acquired UBA in a landmark transaction The consequent modernization of the bank, which he spearheaded, led the bank to remarkable achievements The UBA acquisition would become the transaction that cemented his reputation

as an astute and dogged entrepreneur

Before the triumph with UBA, Belo-Osagie tasted his share of failure He set up a financial services company called KMC in the early 1980s

“We did very badly, but that failure was very useful to me because it taught me a lot about what not to do One of the things that I believe is that setbacks are a very vital part of life because setbacks strengthen you You learn lessons from them; you learn to be tough; you learn to be bold Therefore learning the lessons from the failure of KMC, I, with a group

of others, set up First Securities Discount House, which was

a great success.”

Despite his media shyness, Belo-Osagie is well-known

in business circles locally and internationally Indeed, he maintains a good friendship with Daniel Yergin, the Pulitzer Prize winning author and energy analyst under whom he authored a special paper on the state of international oil markets, while at Harvard Business School His calm and unassuming demeanour belies a strong intellect and an uncanny ability to spot lucrative opportunities This is best reflected by his status as one of Africa’s wealthiest men with

an estimated fortune of $400 million, which saw him at number 40 of the ‘Africa’s 40 Richest’ list in December When asked about recent calls urging telecoms companies to list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, he pauses

to gather his thoughts, before explaining meticulously and systematically the role that the telecoms industry will have

to play in fulfilling Nigeria’s aspirations

“One way or another, all of us telecoms are going to have

to accept that we are living in a certain country, that the country has certain communal, social and national interests and we are going to have to adjust to those interests I don’t think that the interest of the company and the interest of Nigeria necessarily have to conflict But I think that there has got to be flexibility on both sides And I don’t think

“We did very badly, but that failure was very useful

to me because it taught me

a lot about what not to do.”

Sankara Nairobi • Woodvale Grove • Westlands

T +254 20 4208000; 2490210/1/2/3 M +254 703 028000 E connect@nairobi.sankara.com W www.sankara.com

Our guests always find business a pleasure Experiences for our guests to

forbes focus — Hakeem belo-osagie

FORBES

20 | FORBES AFRICA february 2013

that the telecoms companies will be

successful if they have an attitude

that is inflexible So for me, sooner

or later the Nigerian companies will

have to list, and I honestly don’t have a

problem with that at all.”

Government and telecoms

companies should be discussing how

the listing process should unfold, with

the question being on the various

policy options for listing, according to

Belo-Osagie

“Should all the companies be

listed? Should it only be companies

that have been in existence for a

certain number of years, or companies

that have reached a certain level of

profitability?” he asks rhetorically

He feels that it will be

counter-productive, were government to

compel the operators to list He

advises that consultation rather than

fiat, should be adopted by government,

so that the healthy atmosphere, which

he believes the Nigerian government,

and to an extent, a lot of African

governments have done good to

create, is sustained

As the conversation switches to the

subject of the future of Nigeria and

Africa, Belo-Osagie points out that he

is cautiously optimistic about Africa’s

future He believes that a lot of the

growth in Nigeria and Africa stems

from the dismantling of many of the

barriers imposed by the over extensive

state investment and participation in

the economy, in African countries In

his opinion, reforms, especially those

in the Nigeria, need to be stimulated

He observes further that governments

have an important policy role that

needs to be refined

“No matter how effective a private sector is, it cannot generate electricity outside a set of policy measures that determine how everything works together.”

Belo-Osagie believes that a crucial factor to the performance of African economies in the next few years

is the extent to which the African public sector is reinvigorated across the continent He notes that, Africa’s success hinges on the paradox that sees governments relinquishing control in terms of administering the economy, while developing and exercising its capacity to articulate and implement policies He expresses his concerns that the pace of the policy strengthening across Africa

is not taking place fast enough

Comparing developments in Africa with Asia, he says: “Whether it is Japan, Singapore or South Korea, you will see the hand of the government that is pushing, that is encouraging, that is putting together the

infrastructure, that is ensuring that a competitive system is established, you will see them in all of those areas You will see them ensuring that things like airports, immigration, state security, all have the tools to do well in their area The success of each of those areas is as important to the running

of an economy, as is simply giving licenses to private companies”

Outside his business ventures, the entrepreneur is a generous philanthropist As one who had the privilege to attend prestigious universities, he is very active in supporting education He is one of the largest donors to the African

Leadership Academy, an advanced level college in South Africa, to which

he has given more than $1 million He announces with pride that the school has named part of the library after him and his wife for their contributions Keem is also in his third term as president of the King’s College Old Boys Association, the college where he attended secondary school in Lagos in the 1960s He also sponsors an annual scholarship, The Hakeem Belo-Osagie Scholarship, at Oxford University

An ardent lover of jazz music and fan of Manchester United, Belo-Osagie takes a broad yet simplistic view of success

“There is a quotation, which was adapted from something that John

F Kennedy said, defining happiness, which I think is a definition of success

as well He said it’s ‘The full use of ones talents, along lines of excellence,

in the life affording one opportunity, and in the direction towards service’

I think that one thing that makes you happy or successful is to know that you are operating at the peak of your abilities The abilities can be in the carpenter who takes great pride

in his craftsmanship, making the great table It can be the great singer, the great mathematician ‘In a life affording you opportunity’, by that

I mean that to be successful there must be the opportunities for you to exploit, and that part of the kind of society we must create is a society in which more and more people have the opportunities to develop those talents And in the African societies that we have today, we are not doing enough of that And then we say, ‘In the direction towards service’, which simply says that the ends, the objectives cannot be solely focused on me, me, me So I like that definition of success or happiness because it says a lot which I think is important.”

For a person who has traveled the world and been actively involved in business for more than three decades,

he clearly knows a thing or two about what success means

“I think that one thing that makes

you happy or successful is to know

that you are operating at the peak

of your abilities.”

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HOW A FRICA’S FINEST ARE SL IPPING AWAY

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HAKEEM BELO-OSAGIE: THE SHY MILLIONAIRE WHO WANTS THE WORLD TO TALK

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call from the other

side of the world

shattered the joy of a

warm african night for

whizz-kid entrepreneur,

Carl bates It led to

pain, retribution and

redemption in a

small-town story of sorrow

by Chris bishop

february 2013 FORBES AFRICA | 23

Friday night in Robertson

in South Africa’s Western Cape Wedding guests drove through the cool breeze of

a warm night on their way back from a cruise

on the river and everyone was merry The piercing sound of a cellphone stopped the joy

in its tracks

“I just knew there was something wrong,”

says Carl Bates

“I always knew I would get a phone call from New Zealand late at night This was at 10:15 on a Friday night I always thought it was going to tell me that one of my grandparents had passed away.”

The voice on the other end of the line told Bates the bad news: his father had suffered

a stroke back home in Wanganui in New Zealand and couldn’t speak or use the right side of his body It was the prelude to a worst day that would tear at the heart of the Bates Family

“I knew what this would mean for me:

wealth destruction, business destruction and family destruction.”

It was a story rooted in rural Wanganui The Bates family was known for its entrepreneurs

in the small town, population 45,000, where the Wanganui River flows into the sea on the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island

Between them they ran a butcher’s shop, a greengrocer’s, a bicycle shop, a florist and a concrete plant

“They were all small businesses I was wondering why have none of these businesses made a whole lot of money? What is stopping them succeed? This whole learning and thinking was going on in my brain,” says Bates

One of the biggest fish in Wanganui was Mike Bates, the father of Carl, who ran a plumbing; property; plant and vehicle hire business

“I was born on March 13, 1983; dad’s business was incorporated on August 15,

1983 I had grown up with the business I had learned about the business and watched it grow; I had watched the trials and tribulations, like when his secretary had stolen his money from him and when builders had gone bankrupt and we had not been paid,” says Bates

“My dad was fun loving, carefree, a little bit unreliable but he was clever He was determined and stubborn and he was a winner People knew who he was; he wasn’t

in everyone’s good books He was fit and went

to the gym and had played international roller hockey for New Zealand He was only 51 when

he suffered the stroke.”

Sadly, for Bates junior, in the years leading

up to the tragedy, he had struggled to talk to his father of the dangers of building a business around one person Ironically, passing on this message to entrepreneurs around the world was the core of his business In his late 20s, Bates built up a R10 million-a-year ($1.16 million) business, Sirdar, which he expanded

to South Africa in 2008 after a chance meeting over breakfast in Hong Kong The business specializes in coaching entrepreneurs through independent non-executive directors assigned

by the company

Bates, who entered Massey University, Palmerston North, aged 16, had a claim to being a wunderkind of Wanganui He studied accountancy and finance, while working full-time at McDonald’s At 17, he was elected chairman in Palmerston North for the Young National Party; at 18, he became a director

of a private hospital in the city; at 20, he was

a director of Arena Manawatu—the largest multi-stadium complex in New Zealand Little in life could have prepared Bates for the ordeal he was to suffer on March 26, 2010,

as he sat in South Africa and agonized over his

my worst day — carl bates

FORBES

24 | FORBES AFRICA february 2013

father’s business

“I was the power of attorney, along with the family

lawyer, while everyone agreed that this decision to

liquidate his business had to be made, I knew dad would

blame me,” says Bates

“On March 26, 2010, I made the single hardest decision

of my life I assigned the resolution that put my dad’s

business into voluntary liquidation It involved 30-odd

staff; some of whom had been with dad for 30 years My

granddad, Ken, a greengrocer and part-time magician,

who has just won a lifetime award at the New Zealand

Magic Convention, had to talk me through signing the bit

of paper He was on the phone from Wanganui coaching

me, though it was late at night What it meant was that 30

years of business had gone It couldn’t have carried on, the

business was all built around my dad and the minute you

took him out, it didn’t work Most small-business people

and he barricaded himself in and got someone to change the locks to stop us getting the building inspector in to do the final inspection We had a cash offer on the table, but couldn’t sell Dad had another mini stroke while he was driving to buy some food While he was in hospital we had

to sell the place, then he didn’t communicate with me for another six months.”

As the Bates family balanced the books and licked its wounds slowly, very slowly, the sun peeped through the clouds over Wanganui

“Out of every hardship comes opportunity I think for

my father it was a release from something that could have killed him Dad’s stroke was the basis for a book I wrote

called The Laws Of Extreme Business Success, I knew dad’s

business had some problems, I wanted to show him the way he could make it a sustainable business Ironically, he had the stroke and his businesses has gone and now I am travelling the world telling business people like him what they can do to create a sustainable business, moving from being a craftsman to being entrepreneurs Now, he spends his time doing what he always wanted, he doesn’t have

to work, he has no financial pressure and spends his time sketching, painting and recovering He is exercising every day and slowly getting movement back He is a case study for Auckland University on stroke recovery.”

Even so, the family feud was not quite over

“I went home to New Zealand in August 2012 When I went to his house he tried to close the door on me and if my grandmother wasn’t there he wouldn’t have let me in Then after two minutes in the house he made us go and then his social worker asked me to come back next day That started

us talking and when I came back to South Africa he started skyping me,” says Bates

“I use this story as an example I talk about my dad and

I think about him all the time.”

Finally, father and son appear on the road to healing the wounds of their worst day

In the cut-and-thrust world of business we’ve all experienced a worst day How did you turn it around? What can we learn from your experience?

letters@forbesafrica.com

What Did I Learn?

“I learned how important it is not to allow the emotions

to make the decisions but at the same time the need to

be empathetic I learned negotiation skills and the need

to be able to fight through even though something is ting you every day You need to take it one step at time, you know what your goal is and you fight through it It made me stronger as a businessman.”

hit-do this My brother worked in the business and he said he

didn’t want to take it over in the middle of the building

depression.”

The signing of the paper was not the beginning of the

end, to borrow words from Winston Churchill, but maybe

the end of the beginning

“The bank jumped all over the problem, they froze

accounts, called in mortgages and what they did to my

dad’s property company was send it under and all the

businesses followed To save the family, my mum and I

took over some R6.5 million ($757,000) of debt on property

assets The value of the assets and the value of the property

left us with negative value We were drained trying to hold

it all together I used to get up at 4am bleary eyed, in South

Africa, to negotiate with the banks and key creditors,” says

Bates

The rift between father and son proved just as

complicated and even more heart rending

“In an instant the hierarchy of our family was turned

upside down I was gutted, I knew dad would hold it

against me, which he did He literally didn’t communicate

with me for six months He can’t talk but he can

communicate.”

Clearing up the financial mess by realizing family assets,

triggered even more pain

“A trespass notice was served on him to get out of the

house in December 2011 while we were still dealing with

tidying up the mess One of the things we had to do was sell

the house he lived in… He decided he didn’t want it sold

“I knew what this would mean for

me: wealth destruction, business

destruction and family destruction.”

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during the party congress,

has been widely seen as

the end of the 50 years of liberation

politics, which former President Sam

Nujoma had dominated A sigh of

relief by the local and international

business community—who feared a

Zimbabwean-like land nationalization

program and a confiscatory tax regime,

had either of his opponents won—was

heard across Namibia

While he still has to face national

and presidential elections in two years’

time, Namibia’s single-party dominant

system is such that only a major

political catastrophe would prevent

Geingob from replacing President

Hifikepunye Pohamba in 2015

Geingob was Namibia’s prime

minister since independence, in

1990, until suddenly being dismissed

by Samuel Nujoma in 2002 He was

banished to the political wilderness for

five years before being re-appointed

as prime minister by Pohamba in a

transitional Cabinet that is notable for

its promotion of technocrats

Government insiders said that

Geingob’s surprisingly easy victory

over the more trenchant elements of

the party, that has ruled Namibia since

independence, would now see the

country adopt a more developmental

economy model This is opposed to its

current ‘mixed economy’ approach,

The Tide Turns

Namibia’s ruling SWaPO (South West africa People’s Organization) has signaled a break with liberation-era politics by electing the pro-business, trade and industry

minister Hage Geingob as their next presidential candidate

whose success, to a large extent, would depend on oil and gas being discovered off the Namibian Atlantic coastline

Geingob’s approach was not at variance with the ruling party’s official policies, his stress on an energy-based economy, which is needed to bring development to rural areas and address massive unemployment of more than 53%, was one that would see the state take on a more assertive role in developing the economy, according to analysts

While the details still are not clear, chances are that Namibia under Geingob will adopt a policy of national

BY John GroBler

“The Namibian government under Geingob is increasingly likely to look towards the other BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries for development partners because of the ongoing crises in the Euro and Dollar areas.”

february 2013 FORBES AFRICA | 29

champions as espoused by the Asian Tigers This will

boost local manufacturing and the development of

so-called ‘energy corridors’ linking Namibia to its land-bound

neighbors such as Botswana, Zambia and those further

afield such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

amongst others

“The Namibian government under Geingob is

increasingly likely to look towards the other BRICS

(Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries

for development partners because of the ongoing crises in

the Euro and Dollar areas,” says Professor Andre du Pisani,

head of the University of Namibia’s Economics department

and a high-level government advisor

The stress, he said, would be more on pragmatic politics

and economic cooperation, rather than the ideological

stance that has characterized much of SWAPO’s

50-year-long history as battler of imperial colonialists

As a stable democracy blessed with good, if not

super-abundant, resources supported by a strong mining industry;

a world-class fisheries sector and good tourism potential—

Namibia has never quite met high expectations because of

a lingering ideological rift between moderates and

hard-line nationalists that often saw executive decisions getting

bogged down in turf battles

Geingob has made much of the fact that while the

country, and its ruling party, has adopted progressive

policies over the past 22 years, where it most often failed

was in implementing those policies His political victory as

a moderate has raised hopes that the economy would now

get out of the blocks and overcome its political inertia

And signs are that this time, this could actually happen

In what amounted to the biggest surprise over the outcome

of the party’s congress, incumbent President Pohamba

announced a sudden major Cabinet reshuffle two days later

that firmly sidelined the hard-line factions without totally

alienating them by re-assigning half of the 24 ministerial

positions in a careful political balancing act

Former regional government and housing minister

Jerry Ekandjo, who is Geingob’s strongest opponent and a

noted party hardliner and Nujoma loyalists, who backed by

the party’s youth league had waged an increasingly nasty

campaign for the presidential nomination, were re-assigned

to the ministry of youth and sports instead

Former justice minister and party secretary-general,

Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, who had hopes of becoming

Namibia’s first female president, was thrown a political

lifeline by being handed the politically powerful home

affairs portfolio This after she switched her support to

Geingob during the congress, rather than supporting

Ekandjo, whose political views she echoes

And to keep everything in the family, Utoni Nujoma,

who first backed Iivula-Ithana but then switched back to

Ekandjo, was handed the justice portfolio

He was replaced by technocrat Netumbo Ndaitwah as foreign affairs minister

Nandi-Pohamba, who had taken over from Nujoma as his preferred candidate in 2004, has always labored under the perception that he was a mere figurehead doing Nujoma’s bidding; this amounted to his greatest political moment in the 50 years he has lived in Nujoma’s shadow: “Going out with a bang,” as he had put it to a political confidante.His open backing of Geingob, which upset the other two candidates no end, has effectively allowed him to bestow his own legacy upon the party by helping to elect the first non-Oshiwambo person to the country’s most powerful office and so bring to an end to Nujoma’s domination of a party he helped found in 1960

Geingob’s victory also saw moderates make a clean sweep of all the top offices in the party hierarchy; putting paid to a mooted plan to have the hard-line Ekandjo take over the presidency for one term in order to prepare the way for Nujoma’s son, Utoni, to have a clean run at the presidency in 2019

In his closing speech to the congress, Pohamba, with uncharacteristic frankness, referred to a “watershed” moment in the party’s history Although he did not say so, the message was clear after Nujoma had called for a female presidential candidate, allegedly to split the pro-Geingob vote and hand victory to Ekandjo, only to see Iivula-Ithana humiliated with a mere 10% of the vote as delegates deserted her in favor of Geingob

All agree that the rising resource nationalism as espoused

by the hard-line factions in the party had now been taken off the table, although questions remained how an even-handed Geingob would be in framing policies as future president, says Graham Hopwood, director of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), a local think-tank

“The question hanging over the Geingob candidacy

is whether he will be able to distance himself from the interests of big business when making executive decisions and crafting policy,” Hopwood noted

On the one hand, Geingob fought off Walmart’s proposed entry into the local market as not being in the interest of Namibia, but then also granted special tax status to French nuclear company Areva, a benefit that other uranium miners did not have, according to Hopwood

This latter aspect is perhaps the most troubling aspect

in an otherwise newly optimistic landscape: Geingob has admitted to receiving a $300,000 consultancy fee from Areva, albeit while still just a party backbencher in 2007 But at least one can now expect that any future political debate over Namibia’s future would be centered on issues, rather than personalities, and that in itself amounted to major political progress, all agreed

30 | FORBES AFRICA february 2013

the battle for the future

governing party of the most powerful

economy on the African continent, South

Africa, was never a case of ‘if’, instead it was

a case of by how big a

margin he would beat his reluctant

challenger, Kgalema Motlanthe

What was a puzzling paradox for

many opinion makers though, was

how Zuma got more than 70% of

the vote when the African National

Congress (ANC) gathered for its

elective conference in Mangaung on

December 16-20

Were those 4,500 voting delegates

so dumb and ignorant? Could they have been bought or

lulled to ignore the stuff that filled newspaper columns,

radio and television programs and social networks? How

on earth did they miss the groundswell of indignation

towards their supposedly highly unpopular and bungling

president? In which South Africa did those delegates

live, that they could not see what the political analysts,

commentators, journalists and opposition politicians saw?

Part of the problem is the fact that the ANC still follows

an archaic system of electing its leaders No ANC leader

gets to openly contest, so that they could tell why they

believe they deserve the top position As a result, s/he who

controls the levers of power during party election time gets

to have an upper hand and, depending on how skillful or

cunning they may or may not be, the ANC leadership race

is always for them to lose This is only a small part of the

problem Those chosen become the country’s leaders by

virtue of the party’s domination of the political landscape

The bigger problem has everything to do with what has

become of the over 51 million people that constitute the

population of South Africa

Greed, self-centeredness and dishonesty have become

only some of the defining characteristics of South

Africans as wealth accumulation, getting plum positions

or ensuring they keep their jobs becomes more important

than anything else In the process they’ve become meek

and timid, in many ways a defeated people, blaming everything and everybody other than themselves for crises they find ourselves in They tend to let their attitudes and emotions, prejudices and prescriptions, stand in the way of

appreciating the best that there is Take the media and political analysts’ reaction to the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as ANC deputy president When it became apparent that the billionaire businessman was to become the ANC’s number two, pages of newspapers and magazines, as well as hours of airtime were dedicated to full-blown ‘analysis’ of what he is going to do.While there’s nothing wrong with someone wishing to communicate their wishes on how the ANC can best utilize Ramaphosa; the most interesting aspect of ‘Cyrilmania’ has been how glibly many have come

to pronounce it, without any due regard to both the history

of his re-emergence and the inner workings of the ANC.Business and the elite media’s warmth to Ramaphosa seems to have everything to do with the fact that he represents that acceptable, affable face of the ANC—the one that fits the stereotypical image of a suave, sophisticated, articulate leader who will not embarrass

He is the welcome opposite to the polygamist country bumpkin they see in Zuma

Almost without questioning, business and rest of the elite seem to think that finally, there’ll be a clever black at ANC headquarters where the party’s top six officials meet every Monday Ramaphosa, the thinking seems to go, will tell Zuma what no one has hitherto had the guts to tell the 70-year-old struggle veteran about such things as inspiring investor confidence or catering to the sophisticated voter.The truth is that not only is Ramaphosa nothing more than a benefactor of Zuma’s generosity, he is also a crowning success of his deft strategy What is forgotten

is that Zuma preferred to keep Motlanthe and that it was only after Motlanthe spurned the effort, choosing to stand against Zuma instead, that Ramaphosa came into the picture

Those chosen become the country’s leaders

by virtue of the party’s domination of the political landscape.

february 2013 FORBES AFRICA | 31

But simply because Ramaphosa

was second choice does not mean

that he cannot achieve the things

that many now think he will be

best-placed to accomplish That’s not to

say that Zuma is now suddenly in a

mood, through Ramaphosa, to pacify

constituencies he considers disdainful

and unreservedly hostile Correctly in

some instances, incorrectly in others,

Zuma’s comments often suggest a firm

belief that most media are hell bent to

destroy or undermine him

What’s habitually forgotten is that

only one man has a final say in the

ANC and that’s its president Given

the way the ANC operates, the more

firmly that person is in charge, as

Zuma is now, the more people like

Ramaphosa will have little option

but to tow the line The only time

Ramaphosa will get reprieve, is if

Zuma decides to anoint him That’s if

Zuma won’t seek a third term as ANC

president

In interviews with both men, Zuma

insisted that he “definitely won’t seek

a third term” He did not wait for me

to point out that after his election

in 2007, he said he would serve only

one term Ramaphosa would not be

drawn into whether he was keen on

the top position For now its “outside

of my wish and imagination,” he told

me When I asked what he thought

about the attitude of business towards

the ANC, he replied: “The business

community has not stepped up to the

plate It has held back”

In five years’ time Ramaphosa will

have the option to challenge Zuma, in

the same way Zuma challenged Mbeki

in 2007 and won, and Motlanthe

challenged Zuma and lost

While post-apartheid ANC

leaders contested positions, often

fiercely; they hardly represented

fundamentally distinct visions of the

ANC and the country

One is tempted to conclude

that ‘Cyrilmania’ is a clumsy, if not

hopelessly inadequate effort, largely

by those who disapprove of Zuma’s rule As history has proven, the problem with that practice is that it almost always guarantees that such

a move won’t be taken seriously, for ANC leaders don’t take kindly to being told by the media

Another problem with ‘the government must do this, must do that’ tendency of South Africans

is that it also serves to hide the inefficiencies of others who have the power and resources that can move the nation forward, like the country’s business and worker leadership

Sick and tired, South Africa’s

stubborn and resilient workers showed up the country’s lack of, not only political, but also business and labor leadership Though rudderless, the workers successfully organized a massive wave of sporadic, unprotected, often violent and suicidal strikes Although the workers lost wages and many lose jobs in the aftermath, they made their point The ultimate loser, though, is the country’s economy

Has organized business and labor taken the responsibility they always demand of government? No

Hopefully South Africans will learn—and that includes the Ramaphosa fan club, which holds influential positions in the media and business—that it takes a lot more to exert real influence in their political economy and to build a nation that will be the envy of the continent Creating heroes and villains is not the answer but a sure way to failure and disappointment

Tempting as it might be for everyone to engage in the sport of exposing every wrong about him and blaming Zuma for all of South Africa’s ills, he is definitely not the root cause and the delegates to the ANC conference knew that Blameless, yes, but he is at best a symbol of what is manifestly wrong with South Africans

to the very test they put their leaders

to Everybody—including business, civil society, labor, opposition politicians, journalists, commentators and analysts—should wake up to the reality that they need to use their energies and the platforms they each have, a little more wisely and creatively There’s nothing wrong with engaging, a lot more rigorously, but also truthfully

THE NUMBERS

PRESIDENT

Jacob Zuma 2,978 Kgalema Motlanthe 991

SECRETARY GENERAL

Gwede Mantashe 3,058

Fikile Mbalula 908

DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL

Jessie Duarte (uncontested)

32 | FORBES AFRICA February 2013

years, Egypt has

undergone a significant

transformation, not

only politically but also

economically The protests in Cairo’s

downtown Tahrir Square, in January

2011, have had a wide-ranging impact

not only on the country’s political

composition, but also on its short- and

medium-term economic performance

While the ups and downs since the

revolution have been palpable, the

downs obviously more so; the

long-term fundamentals of Egypt remain

just as appealing as they were in the

years leading up to former President

Mubarak’s ousting Provided investors

are willing to ride out the immediate

uncertainty, the prospects for growth

are encouraging

In the pre-crisis days of 2007 and

2008, Egypt was racking up GDP

growth in excess of 7% and services

like telecommunications were growing

by double digits annually; tourism

jumped up by as much as 21% in one

year The country’s stock market,

one of the continent’s largest both in

terms of listed firms and capitalization,

attracted significant inflows from

foreign institutional investors, while

the banking sector—leaner and meaner

after several years of consolidation

and robust regulation—saw a drop in

non-performing loans and an increase

in profitability

But the combination of falling global

demand, together with revolutionary

instability, meant that GDP growth

last year fell to 1.8% Growth in 2012

was only slightly better, at 2%, while

forecasts for 2013 are at a solid but

lower-than-needed 3% Foreign Direct

Investment (FDI) fell by more than

$10 billion in 2011 and key sectors, like

tourism, have slumped, contracting

by nearly 6% over the most recent

fiscal year Industrial action has

depressed manufacturing output in labor-intensive sectors even as official unemployment has risen to 12%, not counting the vast ranks of the underemployed

Egypt faces problems that have been exacerbated by the revolution—

including some very pressing term political questions, ranging from the creation of a new constitution

long-to improving institutional trust—but among the more urgent challenges

is the lack of inclusive growth The subsidy debate highlights this most

Egypt Rising

In the face of revolution, egypt stands bloodied but unbowed.

by RobeRt tashima of oxfoRd business gRoup

acutely Government grants and social benefits made up roughly one-third

of total expenditure in the 2011/12 fiscal year, which runs from June

to June, according to the ministry

of finance Reducing the burden is

a priority for President Mohamed Morsi’s new government, yet reforming subsidies carries not only significant political risk but also fails to alleviate the pressure on the most vulnerable portions of the population As a result, steps have been tentative at best The focus has been primarily on energy

COUNTRY PROFILE — EgYPT

FORBES / FOCUS

february 2013 FORBES AFRICA | 33

subsidies and the most recent version

of the 2012/13 budget from May 2012

sought a reduction in fuel subsidies by

some 27%, with consumption-intensive

industries seeing the most significant

increase in costs Food subsidies have

been left untouched

The country is also grappling with

an increasingly hollow labor structure,

which exacerbates income inequality

Figures from Egypt’s Central Agency

for Public Mobilization and Statistics

(CAPMAS) show that unemployment

among university graduates reached

18.9% in 2010 and a similar study

in 2012 revealed that demand for

high- and low-skilled workers is

outstripping that for middle-skilled

employees, dampening social mobility

and constraining opportunities for the

middle class

However, for a short period

there was a steady stream of more

encouraging news, which while not

exactly pointing to a full-fledged

recovery, hinted at a more hopeful

outlook Growth forecasts for 2013

were pegged at 3%, still far lower

than what is needed but nonetheless

comparatively robust Headline

inflation, which reached as high as

18% in the pre-crisis years, dropped

to a far more manageable 5.4% in

August Similarly, yields on a number

of Egyptian bonds had eased to some

of their lowest levels in nearly a year in

September when the country hawked

its first floating-rate bonds Around

roughly the same time, Moody’s

reaffirmed its B2 rating for Egyptian

sovereign bonds, due in part to an

improving political outlook, along

with a more stable external payments

position, stronger macroeconomic

conditions and a restart of

International Monterary Fund (IMF)

negotiations—all of which spelled good

news for the government

By the end of the year, however,

things began to look rocky again, with

the pound dropping precipitously, from

6.05 to the dollar to 6.30 to the dollar

Deficit estimates from the current fiscal year, ending in June, may hit

up to 10% of GDP Combined with continuing political instability in the wake of protests over the constitutional referendum, the spate of worsening indicators is far from encouraging for Egypt’s policymakers

The IMF loan, which could be worth up to $4.8 billion, is particularly important in terms of strengthening investor confidence, which has been hit hard not only by the broader uncertainty but also by regulatory hiccups and governance scandals, particularly in sectors such as real estate and construction However, with one of the most attractive price-earnings ratios in the region, Egypt’s firms remain extremely attractive on

a value basis and the country’s stock market has rebounded by more than 37% in recent months

There is still potential for a turnaround for the country’s economy, but if this momentum is to be sustained

in the years to come, Egypt will need

to better leverage its competitive advantages Crucially, Egypt benefits from both strong export ties and a vast consumer population, which provides firms with access to large domestic and foreign markets In spite of rising subsidies and wages, the country is nonetheless extremely competitive

as a manufacturing destination

Furthermore, significant upstream gas reserves have the ability to provide feedstock not only for Africa’s largest refining sector but also for the rapidly-growing electricity segment, which is racing to keep up with annual demand growth of 7%

It is difficult to understate the impact of Egypt’s 2011 revolution, given the economic ramifications of the massive political changes the country has undergone The past two years have been turbulent but if the country can better exploit its healthy long-term fundamentals, a return to robust growth is virtually assured

MINISTER of foREIgN TRaDE aND

Geographical and

Cultural Sites

ThE NIlE RIvER IS ThE loNgEST RIvER

IN ThE woRlD IT STRETchES acRoSS 6,650 kIloMETERS aND flowS INTo ThE MEDITERRaNEaN SEa ThE SuRRouNDINg vallEy IS hoME To ThE TEMPlES of luxoR aND kaRNak.

ThE PyRaMIDS of gIza, oNE of ThE SEvEN woNDERS of ThE woRlD, aRE locaTED ouTSIDE caIRo ThE laRgEST IS ‘khufu’S PyRaMID’ locaTED NEaRBy IS ThE SPhINx aND ThE quEEN’S PyRaMIDS whERE khufu’S wIvES aND SISTERS wERE BuRIED

Sources: CIA World Factbook, Egypt Tourism Authority.

february 2013 FORBES AFRICA | 35

women In AfrIcA

developing nations She is a graduate of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris and was named a

2012 Young Global Leader by the World Economic forum.

3. Juliana Rotich

Kenya, Co-Founder ushahidi

rotich is co-founder and executive director

of Ushahidi, a nairobi-based tech company that specializes in developing free and open source software that aggregates and curates crisis data on a real-time basis and collates the data into live, interactive maps She was named one of the “Top 100 Women” by the Guardian, “Top 2 Women”

in Technology and “Social Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2011 by the World Economic forum rotich is a technologist and a TED Senior fellow.

4 Patience Mthunzi, PhD

south aFriCa, senior sCientist, Csir

Born in Orlando West, Soweto, Dr Mthunzi

is currently South Africa’s only senior scientist for the Biophotonics research Group within the council for Scientific and Industrial research (cSIr) national

Laser center in biophotonics—a field of study that enables microscopic study of biological molecules, cells and tissue using laser Unable to study biophotonics in South Africa, she became the first South African PhD student at the School of Physics and Astronomy of the University

of St Andrews in Scotland Dr Mthunzi was recently awarded one of the country’s highest orders, the Order of Mapungubwe, for her contribution in the field of biophotonics.

of Accountancy Honors Degree An orphan, chifamba’s mother passed away

in December 2011, days after she sat for her final exams and her father nine years ago when she was only five Despite this and abject poverty (her two brothers were

Leymah Gbowee

1 Leymah Gbowee

liberia, PeaCe and women’s rights

aCtivist

The peace activist was one of three female

recipients who were awarded the 2011

nobel Peace Prize for non-violent struggle

for the safety of women and for women’s

rights to full participation in

peace-building work Gbowee helped organize

and lead the Liberian Mass Action for

Peace, an alliance of christian and

Muslim women, in public protest during

Liberia’s tumultuous times now, through

her organization Women Peace and

Security network Africa, Gbowee trains

and empowers women in Africa to bring

peace to their own countries Gbowee is a

recipient of multiple awards including the

Blue ribbon Peace Award from Harvard

University’s John f Kennedy School,

Gruber Prize for Women’s rights, the John

f Kennedy Profile in courage Award, the

Medal for Justice from new York’s John

Jay college of criminal Justice and the

Women’s enews Leader.

2 Cina Lawson

togo, minister oF Post and

teleCommuniCations

Lawson is currently the minister of post

and telecommunications of Togo Prior to

her appointment, Lawson was a manager

of corporate strategy and business

development at the france Telecom/

Orange Group in new York city and

Alcatel-Lucent in Paris Lawson began

her career in telecommunications at the

World Bank in Washington D.c where

she focused on regulatory reforms for

Here are some of the young african

women, who have left their footprints

on africa soil in the last year.

ComPiled by: Farai Gudan

36 | FORBES AFRICA february 2013

9 Isha Sesay

Sierra Leone, newS anchor &

JournaLiSt, cnn

Sesay reports for African Voices and Inside

Africa, CNN International’s award-winning,

weekly program that covers political, economic, cultural and social trends in Africa

Sesay is also an anchor on CNN International

and a contributor to CNN’s Anderson Cooper

360 and HLN’s nightly news show Evening Express.

10 Rainatou Sow

Guinea, women’S riGht activiSt, Founder & executive director, make every woman count

Originally from the West African country of Guinea, Sow is a human and women’s rights activist and social justice advocate Founded

in December 2010, two months after the declaration of the ‘African Women’s Decade’

by the African Union, Make Every Woman Count is a UK-based non-profit organization that monitors women’s rights in every African country The organization publishes

an annual report as an audit of the status and conditions of women in each African country

Sow was awarded the “Most Inspirational

Woman of the Year” award in 2012 by Women4Africa.

Named a 2012 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, she has been at the forefront of the expansion of the AfricaMagic channels brand across the continent In 2010 she served as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Entertainment.

2011 Sub-Saharan Africa Cartier Laureate She also won the 2010 Bid Network Nature Challenge Award, 2010 SEED Award and the 2009 Enablis Business Award.

a small child, she lived in Harlem during her formative years Today, she is senior editor at ESSENCE.com, one of the leading publications for black women in the States Sangweni is also co-founder of AfriPOP!, an online magazine focusing on contemporary African youth culture, music, fashion and film from an Afropolitan perspective

Sangweni worked as a features editor at

TRACE magazine and as a contributing

writer for O: The Oprah Magazine (South Africa), Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, Arise Magazine, and Time Out New York covering

music, fashion and culture.

Leila Lopes

unable to pay her fees for regular school),

Chifamba home schooled herself and

broke academic records earning a

four-year scholarship of nearly $10,000.

6 Florence Iwegbue

niGeria, attorney & co-Founder,

LiveweLLo

A life-changing event, the diagnosis of her

son with autism gave birth to LiveWello,

a social network targeted at health A

UK-trained attorney, Iwegbue and her

physician husband, a self-taught software

developer, built LiveWello to support their

autistic son’s health while harnessing the

best elements of their African culture:

village life By building a health app, they

were able to collaborate with their son’s

health providers, their health coaches

and the rest of their family back home in

Africa, to collectively manage his health

Now Iwegbue is helping other people

manage their own health with the social

network app.

7 Lisa Opoku

Ghana, chieF operatinG oFFicer,

GoLdman SachS

US-based Black Enterprise magazine

named the Wall Street executive one of its

2012 “40 Rising Stars Under 40 and one

of “75 Most Powerful Women in Business”

for 2010 She is the chief operating officer

for Goldman Sachs’ securities division for

the Asia Pacific region Opoku Busumbru

earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with

high honors in Sociology from the

University of Minnesota in 1993 and a

Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School

in 1996.

8 Leila Lopes

anGoLa, 2012 miSS univerSe

On September 12, 2011, Lopes was

crowned Miss Universe, becoming the first

Angolan woman to win the position and

the fourth African to win the title (Miss

South Africa took the title in 1978, Miss

Namibia won in 1992 and Miss Botswana

in 1999) and the second black African

woman to win following Botswana’s Mpule

Kwelagobe As the reigning Miss Universe,

Lopes used the platform for advocacy for

HIV and AIDS patients worldwide.

The 20 YoungesT Power women In AfrIcA

february 2013 FORBES AFRICA | 37

14.Danai Gurira

Zimbabwe, actress & writer

One of the lead characters on the popular

HBO show, The Walking Dead, based

on the popular American comic book

of the same name, now currently in its

third season, Gurira plays Michonne, a

fearless warrior A graduate of New York

University’s prestigious Tisch School of the

Arts, Gurira has guest starred on Law &

Order: Criminal Intent, Life on Mars, Lie to

Me and had a recurring role on Treme on

HBO Her movie roles include The Visitor,

Restless City and MaGeorge A recipient

of the Obie Award, Outer Critics Circle

Award, and Helen Hayes Award for Best

Lead Actress for an off-Broadway play,

Gurira recently won the 2012 Whiting

Award of $50,000, bestowed annually to

10 rising stars.

15 Eunice Cofie

Ghana, Founder & chieF cosmetic

chemist, nuekie

A former Miss Black Florida USA, Cofie

is the president and chief cosmetic

chemist of Nuekie—an ethnic dermatology

company She was also featured in

Scientific American as “What a Scientist

Looks Like” Cofie was recognized by

the governor of Florida and the Florida

Commission on the Status of Women

with the prestigious Florida Achievement

Award for her commitment to improving

the lives of women and families in her

community Cofie was named by the

Tallahassee Democrat newspaper as one

of the “25 Women You Need to Know in

Tallahassee” and a 2012 Young Global

Leader by the World Economic Forum.

16 Mariéme Jamme

seneGal, social entrepreneur,

technoloGist & ceo, spotone Global

solutions

Senegalese-born Mariéme Jamme is

London-based CEO of SpotOne Global

Solutions, a UK-based company that

helps IT organizations establish a global

footprint in Europe, the Middle East,

Africa and Asia CNN named Jamme

one of the Top 10 African Tech Voices to

follow on Twitter Jamme is also a

co-founder of Africa Gathering, the first global platform where entrepreneurs and experts meet and share ideas about development in Africa A prolific speaker, particularly on Africa, Jamme

is also the organizer of TEDx Accra and Dakar.

17 Jepchumba

kenya, diGital content creator, cultural curator, aFrican diGital art

Jepchumba is the founder and creative director of African Digital Art, a platform for innovation and inspiration which

is dedicated to African digital media

Originally from Kenya, but based in Cape Town, South Africa, Jepchumba travels the world to share her views

on African art and technology at popular conferences including South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas and most recently at TedxEuston in England.

Prime Minister Tony Blair, Archbishop Desmond Tutu Tlhabi is also the producer

of a much-talked about documentary

on the former South African President Thabo Mbeki She is also a columnist for

the Sunday Times newspaper and author

of Endings and Beginnings: A Story of

Healing, a book based on her childhood

experiences The popular host has a new talkshow on Al Jazeera English television channel that will focus on politics, culture, music, health and science.

is a member of the invite-only African Leadership Network which one of the leading organizations of young, dynamic and influential leaders in Africa.

20 Jacqueline Chimhanzi, PhD

Zimbabwe, corporate executive

Dr Jacqueline Chimhanzi is a senior strategist with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), a leading development finance institute on the African continent She is a fellow of the highly competitive pan-African Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Program run by the African Leadership Institute (AfLI) at Oxford University and is also a founding member

of New Faces New Voices, under the patronage of Graça Machel committed

to widening financial access for African women entrepreneurs In 2010, she

appeared on South Africa’s Destiny

magazine’s list: “The Power of 40” and in

2012 was part of a group of “esteemed Africa watchers” invited to submit their views on Africa to the leading journal,

Development, for a special

Africa-focused edition, Africa Strategies for

38 | FORBES AFRICA february 2013

a Giant Of The Courtroom

Who Stood Tall For All

One of africa’s great fighters for human rights and

freedom, who helped save Nelson Mandela from the

noose, has died in Johannesburg, aged 81.

By Chris Bishop

used to introduce Arthur Chaskalson thus

“This is my lawyer… he managed to get me 27 years in prison!”

Chaskalson used to tell the story, against himself, with

a laugh Like the great man himself, the veteran human

rights lawyer was a man of impeccable integrity, who

never took himself too seriously Chaskalson was born in

Johannesburg in 1931 and studied law at the University of

the Witwatersrand from where he graduated in 1954

In court, Chaskalson was a serious man, who quit a

lucrative practice to stand up for the oppressed For the

best part of half a century, he argued for human rights and

freedom

It was a passion forged at the Palace of Justice in Pretoria

in 1964, when Chaskalson was a young member of the team

that defended Mandela in the famous Rivonia Trial It was

the trial where Mandela and a number of his comrades

were accused of sabotage—an offence that carried the death

penalty It was also the trial where world opinion turned in

favor of the accused; overnight, criminals transformed into

the freedom-seeking Benjamin Franklins of Africa

“It was mid-winter and I remember he was wearing

prison clothes with short trousers He was in short trousers

and the idea of putting people into short trousers was

really to humiliate them But it was impossible to humiliate

Mr Mandela, he had this tremendous dignity, which

transcended anything anyone could do to him And from

the very beginning of our very first meeting and discussions

with everybody, it was clear that everybody respected him

and saw him as a leader Whereas he in turn respected them

and insisted on decisions being taken by discussion and

consensus not imposed upon anyone And throughout the trial there was that collegiality and discussion,” Chaskalson told me in 2010

Chaskalson was also in court when Mandela made his world famous speech from the dock, which took more than more six hours, in which he vowed to die for his beliefs

“The court was packed, the people were silent and at the very end when he said that these were ideals for which

he had struggled and hoped to live for, but if needs be he was prepared to die, there was a dramatic silence which we could actually hear the silence, in the court, and feel it And

it was absolutely quiet, not a sound, and then the judge said

Mr Fisher, you can call your next witness.”

The next time Chaskalson saw Mandela across a court room was in 1994 Then President Mandela had made Chaskalson the first president of the highest court in South Africa, the Constitutional Court, and attended the opening ceremony in Johannesburg

Among the first business to be considered by the new court was an application to restore the death penalty—a weapon that had been used ruthlessly by the apartheid government and abandoned by the new government

“He sat next to me on the bench and I remember he started by saying: ‘The last time I was in a court it was to hear whether or not I was going to be sentenced to death.’ That’s how he started his comment but the next day we were going to consider whether or not capital punishment was consistent with the Constitution So it was quite a dramatic, quite a dramatic opening and if he had been executed what would have happened?”

A rhetorical question made possible by brave lawyers, like Arthur Chaskalson, prepared to swim against the dark swirling tide of oppression

obituAry