Africa News blog
African business, politics and lifestyle
100 years and going strong; But has the ANC-led government done enough for its people?
By Isaac Esipisu
Although the role of political parties in Africa has changed dramatically since the sweeping reintroduction of multi-party politics in the early 1990s, Africa’s political parties remain deficient in many ways, particularly their organizational capacity, programmatic profiles and inner-party democracy.
The third wave of democratization that hit the shores of Africa 20 years ago has undoubtedly produced mixed results as regards to the democratic quality of the over 48 countries south of the Sahara. However, one finding can hardly be denied: the role of political parties has evidently changed dramatically.
Notwithstanding few exceptions such as Eritrea , Swaziland and Somalia , in almost all sub-Saharan countries, governments legally allow multi-party politics. This is in stark contrast to the single-party regimes and military oligarchies that prevailed before 1990.
After years of marginalization during autocratic rule, many African political parties have regained their key role in democratic politics by mediating between politics and society. Multi-partyism paved the way for genuine parliamentary opposition and the strengthening of parliaments in decision-making. However, several shortcomings still remain: many African political parties suffer from low organizational capacity and a lack of internal democracy.
Dominated by individual leaders, often times lifelong chairpersons and “Big Men”, youth and women remain marginalized within party structures.
Was South Africa right to deny Dalai Lama a visa?
By Isaac Esipisu
Given that China is South Africa’s biggest trading partner and given the close relationship between Beijing and the ruling African National Congress, it didn’t come as a huge surprise that South Africa was in no hurry to issue a visa to the Dalai Lama.
Tibet’s spiritual leader will end up missing the 80th birthday party of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a fellow Nobel peace prize winner. He said his application for a visa had not come through on time despite having been made to Pretoria several weeks earlier. (Although South Africa’s government said a visa hadn’t actually been denied, the Dalai Lama’s office said it appeared to find the prospect inconvenient). Desmond Tutu said the government’s action was a national disgrace and warned the President and ruling party that one day he will start praying for the defeat of the ANC government.
It’s the second time the Dalai Lama has been unable to honour an invitation to South Africa by Tutu after failing to make it to a meeting in 2010.
South Africa will certainly win more plaudits in Beijing, which last week agreed to $2.5 billion in investment projects with during a visit by South African Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe.
But pro-Tibet activists say South Africa is undermining its credentials as a country of freedom and democracy, established after the end of white minority rule a generation ago.
This is the same China and South Africa that are quick to criticize Israel as Arpathied. Now they are refusing the Da La mai, visa into South Africa. You know the funny thing about a country’s foreign policy? It is all about hypocrisy. Today Russia says free Palestine, tomorrow they lay a stranglehold on Chechnya. Today, Britain says, ‘Free Syria’. Tomorrow they turn a blind eye on Bahrain. It is all politics, no sincerity, just hypocrisy.
Banking on Africa
Mining companies are looking more cautiously at South Africa after a brouhaha over shady deals. Media and diplomats are nervous of measures they fear could curtail press freedom. South Africans in general are wondering how much damage an ongoing public sector strike will do and whether it is a sign of worse labour unrest to come.
But global banking giant HSBC certainly seems to be taking a positive long term view of Africa’s biggest economy with its talks to buy up to 70 percent of South Africa’s Nedbank in a deal that could be worth more than $8 billion.
HSBC wouldn’t only be getting a strong presence in South Africa, though.
It would be getting a solid foothold on a continent set to be among the world’s fastest growing in the years to come and where it is coming from behind against well-established emerging market rivals Standard Chartered and South Africa’s own Standard Bank.
Particularly important for HSBC would be helping its Asian customers do business in Africa. Although Nedbank does not by itself have the presence across Africa that some of its rivals do, it has an alliance with West Africa-based lender Ecobank spanning the continent.
It’s hard to tell to what extent a bid for Nedbank is a bet on South Africa and how much on the rest of Africa – South Africa’s top businesses are finding it increasingly important to be strong in the rest of the continent in any case. What can be in no doubt is the intensity of the looming competition among local and global banks across Africa.
I am a South African living in Bahrain, I bank with the HSBC in Bahrain. Well let me tell you they are nothing like the HSBC in the UK ( I used to bank with them when I lived in the UK). The service I receive in Bahrain is shocking, the worst bank I have ever banked with. Lets hope that their service will be better in South Africa
from Photographers Blog:
No turning back as Africa’s hour arrives
The 2010 World Cup has been a memorable and momentous occasion not only for me, but for South Africa, the African continent and the rest of the world.
It has indeed been incredible. It has been a unifying factor, with people beginning to appreciate the importance of their national symbols such as flags.
As a photographer for an institution such as Reuters, one can say that I have been privileged to be a part of this historic occasion. It was indeed a privilege to be among hordes of international media covering the event. I was here during the Confederations Cup, but the feeling of covering the World Cup is enormous - it is part of history.
This has changed the perception of those who doubted that South Africa, or Africa as a whole, could stage such a magnificent tournament. Everywhere, people have been consumed by the World Cup. Cars have been decorated with flags, houses and shops - many with the South African flag.
I really enjoyed it as well, it was an amazing experience. Memories of my first world cup date back to world cup USA in 1994. I might have seen world cups before television as a kid but USA was the first one I understood. Especially Roberto Baggio’s pony tail. I had never thought I would experience in South Africa, it was always a far fetched dream. Then SA got to host it this year(unbelievable story). The pitches were as green as the ones you see on crisp champions league night at Santiago BernabΓ©u, Camp Nou and the Emirates staduim(dream pitches). But it all happened in Africa, same players that grace dream pitches graced SA pitches, and the stadiums were unbelievable. I am glad we did not try and build stadiums similar Germany stadims, we forged our own path.
Will bandages mend broken ties in the DRC?
The relations between First Quantum and the Democratic Republic of Congo have gone from bad to worse in recent months, after the country expropriated the miner’s $765 million Kolwezi copper tailings project in September.
A recent court ruling in the DRC has also cast a cloud over the future of the company’s Frontier and Lonshi mines, located in the south of the country. The widely covered dispute has led the DRC to accuse First Quantum of running a smear campaign against the country, the feud nearly foiled the DRC’s efforts to secure a $8 billion debt relief deal from the World Bank.
But in a rare conciliatory gesture First Quantum said it is responding to an aid request from the DRC, after a fuel tanker explosion killed at least 230 people and left nearly 200 injured in the Central African country. The company said it has obtained two tonnes of bandages, creams, painkillers and antibiotics from South Africa and is in the process of transporting the medical supplies to the DRC.
First Quantum, which expects the shipment to reach the DRC on July 8, said it plans to coordinate its efforts with the United Nations mission in the region. Can an airplane full of bandages help fix a multi-million dollar international dispute? Only time will tell.
Interesting how much interference goes on in the supposedly “free market”. Governments protect banks when they bring themselves to the edge of collapse. Banks and monetary funds protect corporations against sovereign states.
Why not just let the markets decide who is right?
If DRC has truly mistreated FQ, then other companies will be reluctant to risk investing into mining operations in the DRC, and eventually they will have to learn the hard way.
Free market my foot, constant intervention is how the world economy is run.
Searching for it — not quite feeling it — in Polokwane
The soccer fan fest sounded like a wild party with the vuvuzela horns booming through the empty streets of Polokwane town, one of the smallest of 10 venues for the first World Cup on African soil.
Everyone must be there, we thought as there was little happening on a Saturday night in the northern South African town centre.
But on closer inspection the soccer fan fest — loud as it was — was also pretty deserted. Soccer fever had yet to reach Polokwane.
A sleepy town of just 500,000 people, it was hard to imagine Polokwane, which means place of safety, would host its first World Cup soccer match in less than 24 hours. In Johannesburg or Cape Town you could definitely “feel it”. Here we weren’t so sure.
Driving through the town’s eerily deserted streets searching for a restaurant where we could eat and watch the soccer, we discovered that was not an easy find. Even the local Nandos restaurant on the main street shut by 8 p.m.
It was also hard to imagine what long-term benefit the town would see from being a host city. While for the four matches to be played in Polokwane the few hotels on offer for tourists were full, otherwise there were plenty of rooms at the inn.
No team was staying there which would bring with it the adoring fans or news-hungry media and the associated business. Those playing were flown in for pre-match training, again the day of the match and ferried back straight after.
New Africa about much more than football
The first World Cup in Africa also highlights a dramatic change driven by forces more powerful than football.
While the competition may help change Africa’s image in the minds of any outsiders still fixated on cliches of bloodshed and famine, those in the know long ago spotted Africa’s emergence from no-go zone to frontier market and are seeing the returns.
If you had put $1,000 in Nigerian or Kenyan stock markets at the start of the year, you would have made a profit of around $150. If you had done the same with the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 index, you would be nursing a loss.
Global fund trackers EPFR reported a 40th consecutive week of inflows to African equity funds this week. India’s Bharti Airtel completed a $9 billion purchase of Zain’s African operations in another vote of confidence in the continent.
“It’s not to denigrate the World Cup for a moment, but it’s not what defines Africa in 2010. What should really be defining Africa is Zain buying Bharti’s assets,” said African affairs commentator Joel Kibazo.
“I think there is still a false image of Africa even in South Africa, never mind the rest of the world, about the rest of the continent. The fact is, it has really been getting ahead and there are more people with money to spend.”
Half of the world’s 10 fastest growing countries will be in Africa in 2011 according to the International Monetary Fund.
this blog is cool.there have been an economic revolution going on in africa,even when the westerner media has been portraying africa in a bad light( which the world cup will have a long way to redress),now world recession has expose the west and upcoming economies like china,brazil,india etc is determining the shift and they are taking led in investment deals in african pumping billion of dollar not in aid.you see new refirneries,railways,schools,hospital etc croping up into what the westerner called bottomless pit.Chinese will go but this infrastructure will stay.
Let me make some thing clear that the era of colonalism is gone and most african countires are independent that is to say no more open slavery and looting of africa resources,no wonder french and america and the so called eropeans rooting to partner in area of needs for africa ie in nigeria french will assist to build a nuclear energy plant,USA is asissting as well,now they are coming out open not to allow chinese enthrone themselve as true friends of africa.Nigeria is even considering yaun because of depreciating state of dollar and euro.
It is time that africa can not be neglected again and even if the so call anti africa movement like a friend of africa said in last olympic in canada i mean Sepp blatter,continue in they quest, Africa will keep looking east and they will still see africa grow to the envy of them.repent now or be doom.thank you.
Power cut dampens township’s World Cup mood
The excitement is here in the townships too. We have our flags, our caps, our second hand sport shirts. All that is missing are the games.
Our electricity was cut off just a few days ago in what looks as though it was a crackdown on irregular power connections by the power company Eskom. No light. No television.
The only way to get electricity now would be to run a cable from the nearby brick houses, but that’s not an option if you don’t have the money to be able to buy the wire as well as someone who will let you take from their supply.
A few lucky people still have the right connections. Their shacks will be full of neighbours coming to watch the games.
We still hope Eskom will recognise us one day and give us our own electricity so we don’t have to tap from elsewhere. Until then we will just have to cram into other people’s houses.
Eskom is trying to avoid a huge strike over wages and has raised rates on paying customers over twenty percent increases for the next three years. Free power may not be an option because someone has to pay wage increases. What South Africa needs is job creation for that twenty five percent unemployed and solve this problem.
South Africa overshadowed by growth of the rest
South Africa’s place as the sole economic giant in Africa is set to decline in coming decades as its growth is outstripped by countries to the north that have emerged as some of the fastest growing in the world.
As part of a package of Reuters reports on Frontier Markets, my colleague Ed Cropley takes a look at the importance for South Africa’s future of positioning itself as a springboard to the rest of the continent.
Although South Africa has been one of the best long term investments in the world over the past century, the next century looks less promising.
South Africa accounted for nearly 40 percent of all economic output in the sub-Saharan region in 2000, according to International Monetary Fund figures.
That share will drop to 28 percent this year, in part because South Africa’s economy was caught in the global recession. It will shrink further as countries such as Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda notch up growth of 7 percent or more compared to the 2.3 percent expansion forecast for South Africa in 2010.
Some South African companies are leaping on the opportunities – MTN, Standard Bank and Shoprite are obvious examples – but others may be slower to catch on.
“South African companies need to wake up. A lot of opportunities are already being stolen from under our noses, and not just by the Chinese — it’s the Indians, the Brazilians, the Russians, the Canadians, Australians,” said Duncan Bonnett, of consultancy Whitehouse and Associates.
Nigeria is truly the commerce house of Africa. Like mentioned in the article, South African companies are doing well in Nigeria. Personally, I believe Shoprite is doing great and adding great value in terms of quality service. But for MTN Nigeria, yes they are making money but the quality of the service they are rendering to Nigerians is nothing to write home about after a decade of operations in Nigeria. Read more here: http://evergoodproductions.com/mtn-niger ia.html
World Cup Bonus for Workers
Soccer City in Johannesburg will be home to the opening and the final of the FIFA World Cup this year. On Monday, the men and women who helped build the stadium were given letters that assured them of two free tickets to the opening match.
120 000 tickets will be distributed to construction, community workers and children as part of a FIFA initiative to make sure that regular South Africans, who would normally not have the opportunity to go watch a World Cup match, can see their soccer heroes in the flesh.
Father of three, Zola Mdinmgi, said he will be taking his wife to the opening game on the 11th of June. “She knows too much about soccer. I’m too excited. It will be a big event for South Africa. It will also be nice to be here with my partner,” he said.
Thoziswa Maliwa shared the same sentiment and said she will be taking her boyfriend to the opening.” I’m so happy. Welcome to Soccer City.”
Organising Committee CEO Dr Danny Jordaan described the structure as, “not just a stadium, but a monument of this country.”
What do you think of the new upgraded Soccer City? Is it a monument to the country? Will South Africa turn heads come June 11th?
Just about the only thing FIFA has got right of late.
Many so called African democracies use the term democracy relatively. In SA,eg. the ANC is an absolute power unto themselves and give little credence to minority or other views. Furthermore, rampant corruption, nepotism, croneyism, squandering and theft of state resources are chronic and inherent in the party machinery. Like many so called African democracies, they are propped into power by ensuring a group of party loyals are well greased. These people are put into key positions and become authorities unto themselves. They become big daddies to the group that they bring in to ensure that their life spans in the cushy jobs are prolonged. Needless to say that sooner or later the wheels of administration come off.
Furthermore the ANC strives after prestigious positions like permanent seats in the UN Security council and chairs of various other bodies, but they are incapable of service delivery of their own people, and filling the potholes in the roads which their own inefficiency has created. They may be proud to boast about a 100 existence, but the results on the ground of their so called achievements are yet to be seen.