The negatives of the 1988 anti-apartheid South African film, Mapantsula, lying in a basement for 35 years, have now been restored, to be unveiled at the Berlin International Film Festival next month. FORBES AFRICA speaks to director Oliver Schmitz about the technical process, its enduring relevance and bringing the film back to social memory.



Cut to the 1980s apartheid South Africa and a film released during that time.



Written by Oliver Schmitz and Thomas Mogotlane, Mapantsula debuted originally at the Cannes Film Festival in 1988, amassing worldwide acclaim.



Now, the 35mm negatives of the film have been restored to a 4k resolution by R3store Studios in London.



In 1988, the film-makers had registered it as an apolitical gangster movie in order to get it past the censor board. The apartheid regime’s Directorate of Publications made 17 cuts of 40 seconds before the film was publicized in South Africa.



“I never cut the film. And we were completely against those cuts. I never approved or saw any version of the film in a cut form,” says Schmitz to FORBES AFRICA.



Key cast and crew members agreed to let the film be pirated on VHS, never earning anything on the African release, but the film was pirated and seen endlessly, he explains.



Recently, Schmitz decided that if he didn’t restore the film, it would either disappear or end up as a bad copy on YouTube. He invested his own money with Aaryan Trivedi, his partner at What The Hero Wants (WTHW).



Color correction, picture and sound processing were done at PurpleDOG Post, a post-production house in Canada, and original analogue audio tracks were enhanced and re-mastered. Final adjustments were made at Studio Mitte.



Schmitz spent a lot of time bringing the vibrancy of the color back from the faded film.



“So now with hindsight and a firmer grasp of the technique – and not changing it because it&#8217;s very important that the same film comes to life again – the color is much more intense. So I&#8217;m very happy about that.”



Arguably, the themes of the film remain relevant today; South Africa has a high crime rate, stark economic inequality, a legacy of enduring violence, employer-employee power imbalances in informal work, and police brutality.



Some would contend that poor black people remain second class citizens, and the film’s representation of how structural racism affects both the criminal and law-abiding person remains pertinent.



Out of interest, Schmitz has been asking South Africans of all ages to comment on how the film impacts them.



“What affirms my opinions in a way is that a lot of young South Africans watch the film, and it feels as relevant to them as it did to another generation back then… And publicizing some of that now, I think a lot of those issues are as valid as they were before, and [while] it is about this very specific time in South African history, the socioeconomic conditions – a lot of them are still very much there.”



Regardless of a change of system, he adds that the system the film explored remains in South Africa in many ways.



“We commented on this at the time, about these characters being agents in their own story; it was very important for us that this film is a celebration in a weird way, because it&#8217;s about resilience and about empowerment, and the characters are not an object, or pawn pieces on a chessboard to show how bad things are, in a sense of suffering.”



The main character Panic is an opportunistic, petty criminal who is caught between individual advancement and the social drive to revolt against apartheid’s injustices.



Schmitz says that while he’s not going to go into a justification of criminality, there’s always been an element where crime is a rebellion against a system and structure, and out of need as well.



The subculture of AmaPantsula developed in the 1950s, considered then in some quarters to be well-dressed “gangsters”. That idea has been debated, as the subculture has also been documented as a response to forced removals by the apartheid regime, according to Unlabelled Magazine in a 2019 article on The Evolution of The Pantsula Subculture.



“I think what it was then was very individualistic, and a kind of way of being a rebel. And what it&#8217;s now as a subculture of music and dance is something more communal,” muses Schmitz.



He says you can draw a thread through time in terms of music and style, with present Pantsula culture paying homage to the past, but he believes as a style and dance, it’s morphed into something else.



In terms of the technical process, he says he never would’ve imagined how much work it would be – with a negative in a basement for 35 years, and chemicals in film that are not static through time.



“There’s blotches, there’s streaking, scratching, there&#8217;s dust, there’s fading. The focus, which kind of disappears, it&#8217;s almost like memories fading, and you have to try and get all of it back,” he explains.



Schmitz recalls how Kodak film had pulled out of South Africa because of the sanctions, so the only stock left was a German high-speed stock, which was more light-sensitive but grainier. Pushing the film material resulted in more grain.



The restoration process made him want to cry, and alternately, sometimes he thought the product looked great. Along the way, there were several committed people who helped bring it back to life, he says.



“Maybe there&#8217;s lessons to learn for other films, and maybe for other South African films so that they don&#8217;t disappear. Because we live in a culture where anything that’s pre-digital, unless it’s pulled into the digital age, it will be out of the communal memory, it will stop existing because it&#8217;s not in our current world.”



The newly-restored film is set to be unveiled at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) next month.

Still from Mapantsula (1988) film restored 1

From Memory To Technicolor: South African Apartheid-Era Film To See New Life In Digital Age

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) decided on Thursday to hike electricity prices by 18.65%, taking effect by April 1.



This comes as South Africans face Stage 6 rolling blackouts for the foreseeable future, with most citizens sitting in the dark for more than six hours a day.



Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis took to Twitter to say: “Eskom’s NERSA-approved 18,6% electricity price hike is unfair, unaffordable, and unjust. The City is planning to lessen reliance on Eskom’s increasingly unaffordable electricity by buying power on the open market.”



In the submission to NERSA in September 2022, Eskom wanted South Africans to pay 32% more for electricity in the new financial year.



While the 18.65% tariff hike is less than the 32% requested, Eskom gets another 12.74% hike in April 2024.



The state-owned enterprise is aiming to recover R351 billion ($21 billion) with the tariff hike for 2023/2024, and R381 billion ($22.7 billion) in 2024/2025.



In Eskom’s financial results released last month, the 2021/2022 financial year’s losses were R12.3 billion ($734 million) as opposed to R25 billion ($1.5 billion) the year before, according to BusinessTech. The reduction in loss was reportedly due to higher sales revenue driven by a 15% tariff increase.



“How much of Eskom’s problem is having to be shouldered by customers – rather than finding a broader solution that would deal with things like debt – and not have to give its customers the result of its mismanagement and the financial burden of continuing its system?” says David Fig, a South African political economist and environmental sociologist, to FORBES AFRICA.



Fig goes onto say that the financial problems of Eskom need to be resolved in a different way, as not just the domestic arena has been affected by interrupted power availability, but industry too.



The state-owned enterprise reports that in 2023, the debt is likely to be R20.1 billion ($1.2 billion), without taking into account the price increase.



Fig posits that we are in a global situation where power is becoming more expensive for most people on the planet, as a result of shortages, and the war in Europe disrupting the supply chain. The situation in South Africa, he says, is partly a response to the global rise in energy costs.



Eskom has invested in a range of renewables. A criticism of solar is often that the sun isn’t always shining – but there are ways of capturing, storing and reusing solar.



With all sources of energy, Fig says there are problems of intermittency.



“So, for example, if you invest in more nuclear you also have periods when the reactors have to be stopped for 18 months – periods of fuel change, for example.”



When things go wrong at power stations, he says, this also creates a situation of intermittency. Something he doesn’t think is an excuse.



“I think every technology should be evaluated for a whole range of criteria, including costs, including appropriateness for our developing country, our economy, and not burdening us with huge debt, and the cost of poor decision-making.”



He concludes by saying that at the moment, the costs to the nation of solar and wind are far below all other costs of different energy technology.



“So, we have to consider it, and even if there are some challenges, we have to go ahead with them.”



With small and medium businesses, as well as working class families and those living below the poverty line likely to struggle to keep the lights on and the food from going off this year, we may have to collectively come up with sustainable alternatives – now, rather than later.

Silhouette Skyscrapers Against Orange Sky

18.65% Electricity Tariff Hike In South Africa: What Are The Current Options?

A persistent acne problem led Botswana’s Didintle Moreki to look for indigenous solutions in her backyard, and grow her skincare range into a successful business.



Didintle Moreki’s entrepreneurial story literally took root in her past.



In Botswana’s vast semi-arid shrub, grass and tree landscape, Mowana, Morula and Moringa grow naturally in the wild. The image of her grandmother and mother tending to them – as they knew the plants’ true benefits – and using them for the family is well-etched in her mind.



This is the imagery Moreki has carried forward as the founder of Organic Naturals Skincare, a Botswana-based beauty brand she launched in 2019 using ingredients indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa.



The ingredients are widely available but not many know their health benefits, and that is what 26-year-old Moreki wants to spread as ubiquitously as the plants.



There is also a key staple in her products – the will to work with local businesses to sustain families. The company works with women-led cooperatives who farm and supply or simply collect the plants from the wild.



“I found out about the potency of Morula, and then the potency of Moringa; it is in every single household in Botswana, and I never understood why. It’s [called] the tree of life for a reason. Its properties are your vitamin C and vitamin A,” says Moreki to FORBES AFRICA.



Mowana, high in omega-3 fatty acids with anti-inflammatory properties, is considered a treatment for acne. Marula, often used as a moisturizer, is high on vitamin C that can reduce hyperpigmentation caused by acne.



Once picked, the plants are processed into oils – and they are all chemical-free. The supply chain creates economic opportunities in local economies such as Maun, Botswana’s fifth-largest town.



According to Moreki’s website, three out of five women in Maun are breadwinners for their families, so her work is imperative.



“I was always an early bloomer,” smiles Moreki, who started school at the age of three and entered university to study accounting at the age of 16.



Recalling her early years, Moreki speaks of how she struggled with acne, and used western medicine to little avail and often adverse physical reactions.



“Nobody knows you, but everyone feels the right to talk about your situation,” she explains, remembering the one time someone suggested toothpaste and lemon juice as remedy for a breakout.



While everyone had an unsolicited comment about something she had little control over, Moreki’s confidence dropped. Then, her grandmother introduced her to the virtues of the local plants while she was on a break from university. And her skin improved.



From 2015, the idea was born; a face care range using locally-sourced and easily-available plants, which could in turn, help financially empower families.



“I was intrigued by why Moringa was in every single home, especially in my village, Kanye. When we were young, if you had back pain, or period pains, we would drink these leaves in tea.”



Kanye is a town in the southeast region of Botswana, 83 kilometers from the capital Gaborone, near the border with South Africa.



Marula grows in the south and north of Botswana. At the beginning of the year, it blooms in the south.



Organic Naturals Skincare works with a cooperative, BLG, comprising 1,800 women and men who go out and pick the Morula. They get paid for every bag.



“Before, we would just go out and gather Moringa in the wild. But instead, we have decided that unlike Marula…Moringa can actually be farmed,” says Moreki.



Organic Naturals Skincare faced a number of challenges.



“The first was finding a distribution partner, showing the legitimacy of what we’re doing, gathering the funds for testing, and most importantly ensuring the sustainability of our products on the shelves. So, going into retail was not easy… it required us to build a strong distribution.”



She adds that building the team was also a challenge.



Found in 17 stores across Botswana, Organic Naturals Skincare boasts 12 products including bar soaps, facial toners, clay masks, a facial serum, body butter, body oil and hand sanitizers.



The brand launched another product in October, a Niacinamide serum, which is a form of Vitamin B3 that helps protect cells from pollution and sunlight.



2022 has been significant as Moreki expanded to three more countries – South Africa, Zambia, and Lesotho. It has widened the scope of her work.



“Expansion means a lot of things for us, particularly in the sense that it gives us more local opportunities in terms of employment, and it also gives us the opportunity to accelerate or catalyse support in regards to our suppliers, and lastly, it means more of a footprint, it means vocalizing the power of indigenous plants on the skin and how they help people.”



Moreki is set to expand to other markets disseminating the fact that it’s time the rest of the world understood the benefits of indigenous knowledge systems.

Screenshot 2023-01-02 at 16.40.53

Business-Savvy In Botswana: From Plants To Profits

<h2 class="has-text-align-center" id="h-wemimo-abbey-co-founder-esusu">Wemimo Abbey Co-Founder, Esusu</h2>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“We like to call ourselves [social] justice capitalists.”</blockquote>



Wemimo Abbey, co-founder of Esusu, a company which reports rent payments to major credit bureaus helping renters establish their credit scores and owners maximize returns, says the company was born out of personal struggles.



Abbey grew up in the slums of Lagos, Nigeria, and was raised by his mother, along with two sisters, after his father passed away when he was just two years old. Despite having less than a secondary school education, his mother ensured he went to one of the best high schools they could find. This took the family from the lush tropical climate of Lagos to the freezing climes of Minnesota in the US.



“During that transition, something important happened. We didn&#8217;t have a credit score. We walked into one of the largest financial institutions to borrow money [and] were turned away. We had to go borrow money from a predatory lender at over 400% interest rate.”



His mother pawned his father’s ring and borrowed money from church members to make payments. This led Abbey and his co-founder, Samir Goel, to start a company premised on the idea that no matter where you come from or the color of your skin, your financial identity shouldn’t ring fence your path in life.



Aside from establishing credit scores, Esusu gives zero-interest rent relief paid directly to landlords when people cannot pay, so people are not evicted.



Abbey says they’re not solving homelessness backwards, adding that they operate on the social aspect of ESG – to give data-driven improved credit scores.



After university, both Abbey and Goel quit their corporate jobs, combining savings and $100,000 in credit card debt to fund the startup. After being rejected by almost 326 potential investors at the time, Abbey says it’s a scrappy story of realizing potential. Today, Esusu covers three million rental units in 50 US states, across real estate asset classes including affordable public housing, luxury student housing, military, and everything in between. They’ve grown from a staff of 20 to 200 in under two years. Not to mention, they’re making an impact despite their youth; Goel is 28, Abbey is 30.



“At Esusu we like to call ourselves [social] justice capitalists. Doing good and doing well isn&#8217;t mutually exclusive,” Goel says. He argues they are in the best position to create solutions for the demographic that not only looks like them but also are going through similar challenges.



They started with a savings model, digitizing age-old collective community savings techniques. However, they soon learned people already knew how to save, so they pivoted their model after realizing most consumers didn’t have access to affordable financing in an emergency.



“It&#8217;s quite obvious that we don&#8217;t look like everyone else in Silicon Valley. But I think beyond that, one of the things we realized is a lot of the people we were talking to lacked proximity to the issues that we were trying to solve,” says Goel. He says that, from their perspective, they’re serving the majority, as there are more people who are credit invisible like immigrants, minorities, and low-income households. Within these brackets, there are more people living paycheck-to-paycheck than those who are not.



Abbey reflects that a mobile phone is a powerful tool for digitizing African economies and unlocking opportunities. “We&#8217;re very excited that on the African continent with the emergence of new technologies, borrowing money doesn&#8217;t have to be a derivative of your father&#8217;s last name anymore.” He adds that it has become more about credit risk and financial profiles. These innovations, he notes, means the world is seeing Africans create solutions for Africans.



“So this is the movement of the African continent from this aid-based, poverty-ridden continent to a new era of innovation, technology, championed by its youth population. We think the movement is just getting started. So, it&#8217;s common business sense [for] the folks in Silicon Valley making these investments on the continent. My opinion – the best is still yet to come.”



Goel says Esusu does not look like other unicorns in the US, as their capitalization table is 75% black and brown women, the management team is 93% people of color, first- or second-generation immigrants and women. The company as a whole is composed of people of color.



Abbey says when they were declared a unicorn, they were immensely grateful. The company tells the story that it’s possible to invest in a minority-owned business and outperform other companies. Overall, Esusu tells a story of the impact and effect capital can have in the lives of many.



Abbey observes that a lot of African countries are young with the oldest around 60 years old, unlike the US which is over 300 years old. “If you look at the rate of growth, it&#8217;s actually accelerating compared to where places like the United States were when they were at this age,” he says.



It’s a renaissance that technology is going to revolutionize the way the continent thinks, and the way other places think about Africa. The narrative is changing from tourism and wildlife to which high-growth startups to invest in.



“We need to do more of the showing and stop telling people. Let the record speak for itself! Relegate the rhetoric, consider there’s something genius and there&#8217;s something special about the folks that come from the continent. And we&#8217;re just getting started. Because we&#8217;re young, we&#8217;re vibrant, we have ideas that can really change the world,” Abbey concludes.

Wemimo_A_Indoors

UNICORNS-Esusu: Digitizing African Economies In A New Era

South African design collective Always Welcome on bringing beautiful local ideas to life.



Garreth van Niekerk and Alan Hayward, co-founders and directors of the South African design store, Always Welcome, are partners in life and business.



Van Niekerk was a design journalist for a decade, while Hayward has a musical background and began an interior design business in soft furnishings five years ago. They realized the two worlds could meet – design and design storytelling.



“We’ve spent so much of our lives working apart that it’s really been a dream since we started dating to work together. So much as it’s a business, it’s our little love project as well,” says van Niekerk to FORBES AFRICA.



During Covid, the design industry was hit hard, and designers needed a way to access new markets. There was so much uncertainty, and the risk was too high for people to start their own retail stores, van Niekerk explains.



A few designers approached them about starting a collective retail store, taking the risk off individual studios, but also allowing them to step away from aspects of the business they didn’t want to do.



“Our rule at Always Welcome is everybody has to be a designer manufacturer, so they have to design and make their own stuff. And so for them, that’s their focus – retail is a whole other beast.”



They came up with a cost-splitting model, starting with eight people, for a store at Hyde Park Corner, a shopping center in an upmarket suburb in Sandton. At that stage, the mall was full of empty shops, so they proposed using collective resources to market the store – and it worked.



While they operated the Hyde Park store, they met a fan of South African design, Maurice van Heerden, the owner of Planetworld, a provider of bespoke home and auto audio solutions. Planetworld wanted to connect their products; home tech, such as smart home automation, speakers, audio and TVs for South African clients.



With this partnership, they moved to Viewing Rooms in Kramerville. With a client base that is very similar, but also dissimilar, they managed to cross-pollinate and bring the two worlds together in 2022, with over 30 designers in-store.



“The power of this collective is that it’s designed for designers, by designers. So the model has been facilitated by designers to make sure that it works for their businesses. That’s why it has been received so well – everybody has a vested interest in making it work.”



Designers can come to one place instead of many and he adds that the industry needs it just as much as the designers do.



“It’s become like its own little world, almost, where you can kind of get a sense of what the temperature is of design.”



The demand from Cape Town became overwhelming – with moving products to the Mother City and managing sales, they knew they had to begin a store there. The search for a suitable spot took months.



By chance they met an entrepreneur and philanthropist who had spent two years restoring a 300-year-old building and provincial heritage site in Cape Town.



The building is founded by Victoria Engelhorn, Tim Harris and Brad Armitage – and the store is one of the Habitus ‘lighthouse’ initiatives intended to restore the inner-city’s social, commercial, creative and integrated work environments to pre-pandemic days.



The Always Welcome Heritage House launched in November in Cape Town, spanning two floors of the building and encompassing 40 of southern Africa’s designers-manufacturers.



The launch has been a marked success.



Van Niekerk says it’s a different vibe to Johannesburg’s Viewing Rooms; an old building with abundant walls, there’s space for a lot more art, and it feels more like a house.



“It’s a completely different customer; people seem to be looking for bigger things, pieces must be bigger, the design must be more outlandish than the things we presented. It’s been interesting…to open up to completely different markets.”



In terms of the foundation of temporary South African design, the big names in the store include Dokter and Missus, Houtlander, and Haldane as a few examples. Van Niekerk says there’s also newer studios that are coming up like MashT Studio – one of the founders’ designs has just been acquired by the Louvre Museum. The Urbanative is another black female designer who is changing the game, he adds.



Always Welcome’s approach is to make sure that the manufacturers have the capacity to supply a 100 chairs if a customer orders it.



“Organizationally, we are too small of a business to be able to facilitate the growth of another company while we’re trying to build our own. So we’ve tried to stay away from development up until now, until we’ve got a partner who can help us do that.”



On November 24, they launched a partnership with the clothing brand H&amp;M.



He says that it’s been great to work with such a big corporate company, and get exposure to a wider audience.



Photographer Trevor Stuurman was putting up his photography prints in their Hyde Park store. In the Viewing Rooms in Kramerville, they worked with him on two listening pods, where he designed textiles and wallpapers, an immersive visual and musical experience of diametrical opposites – one room is warm colors and the other is cool.



Stuurman collaborated with Dokter and Missus on two pieces of furniture, and his first rug with MONN Carpets. It’s evolved from pictures on a wall to working with other designers in the collective – a modus operandi with Always Welcome.



Usually people would be in competition with each other, but in this collective, designers get to share information about manufacturing or work together on ideas to bring them to life.



Big brands are coming to Always Welcome to collaborate – one of them is the American Hardwood Export Council, a state-funded organization. American Hardwood is one of the most sustainable hardwoods in the world, and van Niekerk says when they arrive in South Africa, they are carbon negative.



After they approached Always Welcome, the collective made a project called Future Heirlooms. It involved seven local designers who had never worked with this wood before, giving them an open brief responding to sustainability and heritage. Houtlander manufactured the pieces. With the combination of design, a corporation and curation, seven spectacular pieces were realized, van Niekerk says.



They are setting up partnerships to expand opportunities for designers from across the continent, and for designers in southern Africa to start working with their counterparts across Africa and the diaspora.



When van Niekerk and Hayward have time, they walk their Pomeranians named Hercules and Leonardo down the promenade at sunset. Johannesburg has their hearts though, so you can expect to



see them back in the city of gold soon. But wherever they are, they’ll be getting designers together, highlighting the best of local creations.



Editor’s Note: Updated 30 December 2022-This article has been slightly modified from the original to correct certain factual inaccuracies. We regret the error.

Alan Hayward and Garreth van Niekerk outside Always Welcome Heritage House by Paula Young

South African Entrepreneurs On The Power Of The Designers Collective

Daniel Marfo is managing operations in Africa for Zipline, ensuring that life-saving medical products are sent almost instantly to inaccessible areas using drones. The company has operated 300,000 flights in Ghana and Rwanda over the last five years. Up next: Kenya and Côte d&#8217;Ivoire, also alleviating food insecurity on the continent.



When logistics system Zipline began operations in Africa, it piqued the interest of Daniel Marfo, a Ghanaian pharmacist, because he wanted to use technology to solve healthcare issues in the developing world.



He saw a chance to solve a logistical challenge; with all the roads that need constructing and maintenance in Africa, he knew infrastructure development would take too long, and so he joined Zipline in October 2018.


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It was a long road from the world of pharmaceuticals, but with the same purpose: helping save lives.



As Senior Vice President of Zipline’s operations in Africa, at 35 years old, he is leading the market efforts across the continent, expanding the company’s reach geographically and expanding the use cases for drones.



When Marfo began, he made a point to visit as many rural areas of Ghana before deploying the technology – once having to take a ferry, followed by canoes and a long hike.



“The people, they&#8217;re dependent on whatever means of transportation that exist to be able to access their medications. When we started service, and they received their first supply of medications by drone, it was remarkable, you had just changed their lives,” he says.



He refers to a small village called Gbintri in the north eastern region of Ghana. Anytime it rains, access to roads gets cut off, and the health facility shuts down.



In 2019, it was the first time the health facility didn’t shut down.



A challenge they faced was integrating a new system into an old way of operating; so Zipline created a department called systems integration, which looked at ways to merge drone technology with existing health systems and existing aviation systems.



It’s one of the hardest parts, he says, as they’re asking airspace regulators to allow hundreds of drones to fly every day.



Another challenging aspect has been community integration, as a lot of people in the rural areas have never seen a drone until now. He says the first impression of drones from people was that they were military or spy vehicles.



Marfo now takes dummy drones into the communities and uses community champions to explain the functions of the service.



When they launched the fifth center in Ghana, they were connecting to a health facility. Two elderly gentlemen happened to be sitting under a tree, enjoying the day. A drone swooped in, dropped the package, catching them by surprise, as they together exclaimed that “God had just delivered something from heaven”.



Health staff had to explain that this is the new way they receive medication – and they were still blown away.



When speaking about the potential of drone use in Africa, Marfo mentions that the airspace in Africa isn’t as busy as Europe or America – positing that in the future, Africa could have the most advanced drone network and regulatory systems.



Zipline has operated 300,000 flights in Ghana and Rwanda combined over the last five years. Usually, the flights are round trips of 100 or more kilometers.



They started using it to deliver blood in Rwanda, and realized they could use it for medical products.



When Covid hit, they delivered over a million doses of vaccines in Ghana.



In Ghana, 70,000 malaria test kits and nearly 1.3 million courses of malaria treatment were delivered partnering with Ghana’s Health Service. In five months, 5,000 malaria vaccines were transported to piloted districts by May 2022.



“In Africa, the other use case that resonated deeply with me was food security. If I can make sure that people have access to food and [their] livelihood, I&#8217;m actually fulfilling 50% of our healthcare mission.”



In January 2022, they piloted their agriculture use case, focusing on animal health, delivering semen for artificial insemination in pigs. They extended the use case to delivering animal vaccines.



He adds that they have scaled to sending nutrients for kids two years old and younger in rural areas.



“It&#8217;s just become an amazing way of how drones have morphed from being seen as a spy or a military tech to a recreational tech, and now, it&#8217;s really a life-transforming tech.”



Soon, they will open operations in Kenya, beginning with Kisumu, a port city on Lake Victoria. From there, they can reach 13 counties from one location. They are also moving to Côte d&#8217;Ivoire.



“We are very excited about our planned expansion into the Ivory Coast. It&#8217;s the first French-speaking country that we are entering…It also brings about its own set of challenges, cultural understanding and cultural integration.”



Marfo says if they want to be a truly global company, this is part of the evolution.



In June 2022, they commissioned the first distribution center in Nigeria in Kaduna State. He says the uptake of the service has been good, with medical products, vaccines and blood being distributed.



There’s been a lot of interest in agricultural use cases in Nigeria too, and they are planning to open another facility in Bayelsa State by the first quarter of 2023, as well as Cross River State. There was flooding affecting 33 out of 36 states in Nigeria by October 2022.



“No one prays for natural disasters, but in case it ever comes again, we are in a position to bring at least some relief to people during such a difficult time.”



In Rwanda, from February to November, the company introduced animal health deliveries, which now make up 17%-18% of deliveries.



“Sixty percent of the population in sub-Saharan Africa are farmers, and so, we are making sure that farmers are able to get the vaccines for the animals so that they don&#8217;t lose any of these animals, to be able to get them better semen so that they can get a better breed of animals, which generates more meat, means that we are actually changing the economy of these people&#8217;s lives.”



If the farmers are earning $10 a month from agriculture, he posits they may be earning double with the addition of drone technology. These are the use cases that excite him; technology that is not just saving lives with much-needed blood for transfusions or vaccines, but improving food security and putting more money in the hands of the people who matter, and who are the bulk of the population of the continent.



In Ghana, they also began focusing on poultry vaccines for farmers, specifically for Newcastle disease, in partnership with CowTribe – a Ghana-based for-profit organization focused on supporting livestock farmers via a mobile platform.



“Newcastle&#8217;s disease ravages about 70% of the chicken population, and it&#8217;s really terrible. But over the last few months, we&#8217;ve been able to make sure that farmers within our catchment areas have been able to get all their vaccines and they haven&#8217;t lost animals.”



For some, this is going to be the first time in years that the disease didn&#8217;t affect most of their flock. Marfo says around Christmas, farmers sell a lot of chicken and beef, and this will put more money in their pockets.



By September, Zipline and a leading e-commerce platform Jumia partnered up in Ghana to deliver retail products, with the goal of expanding into the other countries Jumia operates in.



“In increasing access for consumers, we’re also helping the small and medium businesses that use Jumia grow.”



The partnership makes Jumia’s existing logistics system more efficient and sustainable as the electric fleet reduces carbon emissions by 98% compared to delivery by car, according to Marfo.



“I think we are at that point where we did healthcare for five years, we&#8217;ve added on agriculture and even with agriculture we are just scraping the surface.”



When he began at Zipline four years ago, they were delivering a product to a health facility every four minutes. Now, they deliver every two minutes.



He wants to continue working on improving in terms of use cases, volume and scale – and make it so every minute, someone is getting a necessary or life-saving product.

Zipline Aircraft

‘Life-Transforming Tech’: Using Drones To Change Economies In Africa

The pre-owned luxury fashion market is gaining currency in South Africa. We dig out helpful hints for prospective buyers – and resellers – and the trend towards conscientious fashion over conspicuous consumption.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">Customers are able to earn a profit when reselling due to the appreciating value of the items. Zahariev uses the example of the Hermès Birkin, costing $2,000 in 1984 rising to $13,200 in 2022.</blockquote>



It does not take a lot of cash to strut stylishly on the streets of South Africa, the continent’s second biggest economy.



The pantsula style, inspired by the gardener uniforms worn during the Apartheid, are popular, and so also the lavish skhothane-inspired cultural style from Soweto. For the catwalk down the streets of Sandton, Africa’s richest square mile and citadel of consumption, the Chanel handbag or Gucci loafers and sunglasses are always at hand.



Who can tell if they are second-hand? It’s the label that counts. Which is why the pre-owned luxury brands market is big and growing in Africa.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/photo-taken-by-Aidan-Murgatroyd-of-Katie-Pearse-wearing-the-luxury-brand-Mulberry-1-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-57106" width="688" height="459" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/photo-taken-by-Aidan-Murgatroyd-of-Katie-Pearse-wearing-the-luxury-brand-Mulberry-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/photo-taken-by-Aidan-Murgatroyd-of-Katie-Pearse-wearing-the-luxury-brand-Mulberry-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/photo-taken-by-Aidan-Murgatroyd-of-Katie-Pearse-wearing-the-luxury-brand-Mulberry-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/photo-taken-by-Aidan-Murgatroyd-of-Katie-Pearse-wearing-the-luxury-brand-Mulberry-1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/photo-taken-by-Aidan-Murgatroyd-of-Katie-Pearse-wearing-the-luxury-brand-Mulberry-1-2048x1366.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 688px) 100vw, 688px" /><figcaption>Photo taken by Aidan Murgatroyd of Katie Pearse.</figcaption></figure></div>


For example, global management consulting firm McKinsey expects the pre-owned luxury watch market to be worth between $29 billion to $32 billion by 2025, growing annually at 8%-10%, unlike the expected growth of 1%-3% for the market for new watches.



“It really is expected and predicted to continue to quite exponentially grow in the next few years,” says Katie Pearse, founder of My Desert Rose that sells pre-owned luxury items online based in Cape Town, about the sector.



Michael Zahariev, co-founder of Luxity, a luxury reseller based in Cape Town, notes that over the last decade long-term investments in brands like Rolex have outdone real estate, gold, and even the Dow Jones Industrial Average. In a press release, he says the reasons are price stability motivated by supply and demand.



Inflation from 1955 to 2015 averaged 3.7% annually in the United States. A Chanel Medium Classic Flap Bag purchased in 1955 at $220 would be $1,967 according to this metric, reports BagHunter. Now, it is roughly $8,800 plus tax if you want to buy it brand-new.



Different items appreciate in value in differing levels, but the emergence of the pre-owned luxury market signals a shift in the simplicity of reselling high-end goods, a heightened interest, and opportunities for investors.



Size and shine: The start



The best businesses come about as solutions to problems – as is the case with Luxity, founded by Zahariev and Luke Calitz in 2016. A friend of theirs wanted to sell her pre-owned goods, but was struggling due to safety and authenticity concerns with selling online.



The pair was running a digital agency, and thought they could pivot to being a trusted entity that authenticates goods.



“That&#8217;s kind of how we started, it was very small. And we started with her 20 items. So that was our initial stock, and then it just really exploded from there,” says co-founder Zahariev.



They serve all genders now, but began with handbags and shoes oriented towards women, purely as an e-commerce business. Now, it is an omnichannel boutique with multiple stores, and a new store opening on December 1 on the V&amp;A Waterfront in Cape Town.



Pearse of My Desert Rose is a fashion management graduate of the London College of Fashion. While living in the United Kingdom, Pearse found luxury clothes at the ubiquitous second-hand stores there. When she returned to South Africa, she found this form of fashion shopping almost non-existent.



Pearse originally worried that the luxury market would be a small and niche sector, without the possibility of growing a business sustainably – but was quickly proven wrong. She began My Desert Rose as a side-hustle, immediately blown away by the amount of interest it garnered.



“There&#8217;s huge wealth in South Africa, if I&#8217;m honest. I keep getting surprised with how much people are happy to spend in South Africa. As soon as I realized that there was a big market for this, I just ran with it.”


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/LukeMichael1-782x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-57105" width="548" height="718" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/LukeMichael1-782x1024.jpg 782w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/LukeMichael1-229x300.jpg 229w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/LukeMichael1-768x1006.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/LukeMichael1-1173x1536.jpg 1173w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/LukeMichael1-1564x2048.jpg 1564w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/LukeMichael1-scaled.jpg 1954w" sizes="(max-width: 548px) 100vw, 548px" /><figcaption>Michael and Luke</figcaption></figure></div>


Pearse learned how to do product photography, website building, graphic design and everything else required. She has one full-time assistant, and recently hired a product photographer.



“I really believe as an owner of a business or as a manager of any sort, if you can know and understand how to do every job, then you can bring the best people in and teach the right people and expand correctly.”



She believes starting small enabled her to offer what she tentatively poses as the lowest commission in South Africa, 35% or a minimum of R500 ($29) per order.



Buying in when staying at home



The lipstick index is an economic indicator created by Leonard Lauder, Chairman Emeritus of the board of fashion house Estée Lauder, describing the increased sales of cosmetics during the early 2000s recession.



Lauder asserted that increase of cosmetics sales tend to be inversely correlated to economic health. The theory is that people buy ‘less’ expensive items in lieu of bigger purchases in times of economic difficulty. This can be applied to Covid-19 where wealthy people didn’t travel or dine out, and tended to acquire things online.



Pearse says it’s difficult to buy international luxury brands in South Africa new. Brands like Louis Vuitton, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Prada, Versace Collection, Hermès, Burberry, Dolce &amp; Gabbana, and Cartier are found in South Africa, but only in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Covid-19 travel restrictions limited what people could do, she says.



“The cost to fly is still absolutely exorbitant, so I feel people are still not traveling as much as they would. So they&#8217;re not able to go on their yearly holiday to Europe to go and buy Chanel.”



She explains that when luxury items are bought second-hand in South Africa, the value is increased, because the demand increases when people cannot buy brand new.



There’s been a growth in the pre-loved market, with a change in mindset and understanding of what the market actually is, Pearse explains. She had clients approach her with the sentiment that they didn’t know reselling quality items was a possibility.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Rolex-Watch-1024x681.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-57107" width="461" height="306" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Rolex-Watch-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Rolex-Watch-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Rolex-Watch-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Rolex-Watch-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Rolex-Watch-2048x1363.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px" /></figure></div>


“The whole mindset shift happened because people were exposed to it during lockdown.”



She says it creates a circularity, buying an item like a Chanel handbag, then reselling a year later, and buying something else – effectively rotating their closest.



“During the initial stages of the pandemic, for instance, production ground to a halt which meant that there were even fewer watches on the market, thereby increasing their allure. Now, with the Russia-Ukraine crisis affecting the prices and availability of precious metals used in the creation of these timepieces, this is pushing their value up even further. That said, investment is a long-term game so whatever is happening now shouldn’t be a concern,” shares Zahariev in a press release.



Zahariev aptly notes that there are changes during the stages of the pandemic. In summary he says a lot of wealthy people were not as affected as other people. With refunded holidays, unable to go to restaurants and have luxury experiences, and an excess cash flow, they began to shop online.



“So that drove a lot of them naturally to pre-owned luxury, because it was the only luxury they could get, because with regular luxury you can&#8217;t really shop online,” he explains.



He notes that because of the pandemic, people were also open to new ideas.



“And I think even people who wouldn&#8217;t typically do luxury goods, they didn&#8217;t really sway that way – they’re like, ‘well, this is all I can do’. So they started also going into luxury goods.”



This strengthened the market, he says, and with pandemic restrictions lifted, luxury brands, along with the pre-loved sector, now continue to grow.



Trends and hidden gems



What sells the most on Luxity? Louis Vuitton, a staple luxury brand in South Africa, according to Zahariev. Gucci follows closely, with both brands making up a third of searches on their website. He says Chanel is also loved in South Africa.



“So I think part of the reason that brand holds its value really highly is because there&#8217;s so much demand for it but zero supply, so people are willing to pay just to get access to it on the second-hand market.”



The most notable item Luxity sold in terms of price was a Birkin bag by Hermès, sold in eight minutes for R280,000 ($16,000).



While personally Zahariev gravitates towards Gucci for its fun, millennial vibe, he has some pointers for potential investment items. Rather than go for the expensive bags above R100,000 ($5,700), he suggests pieces that are cheaper and more accessible, and in terms of value – grow much faster.



Five years ago, a Louis Vuitton favorite bought for around R10,000 ($570) will sell for double that price now. And using a payment plan, over three months, the item becomes even more accessible, Zahariev explains. When customers want to resell, they will get their money back – even after the fees charged by Luxity.



Customers are able to earn a profit when reselling due to the appreciating value of the items. Zahariev uses the example of the Hermès Birkin, costing $2,000 in 1984 rising to $13,200 in 2022.



“So I think that there are a lot of hidden gems, and the things to look out for in terms of that are bags that are very popular and possibly discontinued,” Zahariev muses.



Pearse echoes Zahariev in that Louis Vuitton is a favorite. Sometimes, she’ll list a trendy Louis Vuitton handbag and it’ll sell in under three hours. Hermès scarves do relatively well, as well as Gucci belts and accessories, and Chanel. Dolce &amp; Gabbana is also gaining traction, she adds.



Pearse is personally a fan of Yves Saint Laurent, and her favorite shoe brand is Monolo Blahnik. She loves it when vintage items come through, as an insight into previous trends.



“My fashion and style is quite classic. So, definitely love the unique Chanel. I was very excited when we received the Hermès Constance bag, because those are out of production.”



It’s rare to get your hands on one, she says, especially in South Africa. They still retain their value, regardless of their condition, because they are discontinued.



The most expensive single item My Desert Rose has sold yet is a Dolce &amp; Gabbana bag, at R17,000 ($980). They’ve also had baskets of multiple goods, sold for upwards of R28,000 ($1,600).



Conspicuous consumption or circular economy?



The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen critiques what he terms “conspicuous consumption” where someone buys luxuries to show off their social status, something Veblen associates with consumerism, an impediment to economic progress.



As working class people feel marginalized, Veblen says they attempt to improve their social standing by how many products they can buy, often overpriced. This is the theory of trickle-down fashion, where he argues that fashion starts with the leisure class.



Conspicuous consumption has a number of qualities, namely excessive quantity, quality, and then scarcity of the garment as well as possession of the most up-to-date clothing.



Zahariev says that the status quo cannot be changed without having the buy-in from people who buy into the status quo.



“So, this is a way to kind of bridge the gap between sustainability and consumerism, to show people that, ‘hey, you can do things a bit differently, and they make you feel just as good’. And slowly people will change their behavior.”



He uses the example of recycling – people didn’t change overnight into splitting all their waste into different bins – and in this case, selling pre-owned luxury is just the first step. By rebranding pre-owned into something that wealthy people will actually buy, that is beginning to make a difference he says, with that one item not going into a landfill.



He adds that rebranding pre-owned luxury removes the stigma for not just the wealthy, but everyone else, so they can also buy items.



Pearse says that any business, whether it’s fast or slow fashion, is going to have an environmentally detrimental effect. From the beginning, she knew the business would be branded as sustainable circular fashion; reducing environmental impacts by extending their life span and reducing their water use as a result, and stopping items from ending up in landfills.



She says companies promote the selling of pre-loved goods as environmentally beneficial, but it doesn’t negate that it’s a business which has environmental consequences, when everything is shipped and therefore does contribute to carbon emissions.



The first initiative for My Desert Rose is partnering with a Cape Town-based NGO, Spekboom for Climate, planting spekboom for every purchase. Many businesses plant a tree, but Pearse wanted to do something different, and start in her back garden. Spekbom has a higher rate of absorption of carbon than the average tree, and is water-wise. The NGO works with local communities, planting in underserved communities to green the areas.



Another initiative they do annually with the soup kitchen ‘Ladles of Love’ in Cape Town is a pop-up Street Store, where unhoused people can enjoy the dignity of ‘shopping’ for clean, well-kept clothes free of charge, with volunteer ‘sales assistants’ to help people choose. They then get a hot meal on their way out. Pearse got the idea after clients wanted to sell high-end but not luxury clothes, and rather than just donate them, she wanted to go the extra mile.



Some argue fashion trickles down from the wealthy, but in South Africa, there’s a mix of imported styles and fashion established from the working class, trickling up.



Something young South Africans amply have – across price brackets – is style.

Gucci-Bag1

Beg, Borrow Or Style: Boom In Africa’s Pre-Owned Luxury Fashion Market

Seven years ago, FORBES AFRICA interviewed Letty Ngobeni on her rise to successful entrepreneurship despite her disadvantaged background. Now, she is running not one, but multiple businesses that survived the onslaught of Covid-19.



This is a story of how South Africa has had its share of survivors and thrivers during the pandemic.



Take the case of Letty Ngobeni, from a small village called Nkuri in South Africa’s Limpopo province. As a child, her family was unable to afford school fees or uniforms, and she would often go to bed hungry.



It’s irony that she went on to become a teacher for 19 years. And thereafter, an entrepreneur.



Her maintenance company, Integrico, has catered to big clients in the country such as City Power, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, and MTN.



Not only that, after running a successful catering business, Mndhavazi Caterers, she now runs OBC Vosloorus, a butchery and grocery store in Midrand, Johannesburg, marking her expansion into retail.



She has even opened up a guesthouse in the West Rand of Johannesburg called RNB Boutique Guesthouse. And there’s more to come.



“We are also adding a culinary school, which is called RNB culinary school, accredited by SETA. So we are fully fledged to operate a school, which we plan to open next year. So, we have been expanding in terms of our scope,” Ngobeni says to FORBES AFRICA.



A differentiating factor with the school is that they don’t only train the chefs, but employ them after, absorbing them into the corporate canteens.



Currently, they have 18 corporate canteens.



“I think what I&#8217;ve learned during the past six years, and especially during the time of Covid is that it is important to balance your finances. I went for training, an incubation program with Property Point, where they have taught us the importance of cash flow. You need to have cash flow at least for a period of six months, just to cater for unforeseen expenses.”



“I know people say ‘use other people&#8217;s money to make money,’ but I beg to differ. I don&#8217;t like using other people&#8217;s money to make money. Because when Covid hit, and you are owing the bank, or any other company that financed you, then how are you going to pay that back? Instead, the interest rates keep on piling, you end up owing a lot, and then you are unable to pay back the money that you owe.”



Ngobeni says when Covid-19 came, they didn’t owe anyone anything, a saving grace during the pandemic.



She says while her husband and her were “extremely sick” with Covid, they had to rely on and trust their managers, who were given an opportunity to showcase what they were capable of and managed to impress Ngobeni.



“I have learned to appreciate the value of life. And I have also learned that material things are just vanity.”



She says that she has realized that no matter how much money you have, money cannot buy life.



When Ngobeni’s husband was first ill with Covid, she took him to the hospital, but there were no beds available in the ICU. They had to wait, and the doctor asked her what she wanted to do.



She asked them to get a bed for her husband. Around midnight, she pretended to be strong so they would allow her to drive home, despite her breathing issues.



Before leaving the hospital, however, she asked her son to bring her laptop to the hospital, and contacted their financial advisor. She could not speak because of the state of her lungs, so she sent WhatsApp messages, asking the financial advisor to make changes to their finances to allow their children access to their funds.



When Ngobeni woke up the next morning, around 6AM, she was surprised and thankful to be alive. Her husband spent two weeks in hospital, but also pulled through.



She says another thing she has learned through Covid-19 is that a life of tenders is not a sustainable way of doing business. As the MTN canteens had closed during the hard lockdown, there would have been no other sustainable form of income. Luckily, their retail business kept them afloat.



“People always need to eat,” she explains.



Rolling black outs, or ‘load shedding’, as it’s known in South Africa, has affected Ngobeni’s retail store. They had to buy a generator, and the price of diesel has increased, which has affected their profits.



“Load shedding is especially killing small businesses. I think that it does affect big businesses, but not at the scale at which it affects medium enterprises, like us.”



During the pandemic, as people lost jobs, she also increased her Corporate Social Investment efforts, buying sanitary pads and soccer kits for schools and supplying food every month to places they thought were in need.



“We can afford to share with other people who had nothing during that time, a practice that we are still continuing even now. Because for me, personally, when I give, I derive a certain joy that I cannot explain, so giving has become part of me.”



And the most important thing she realized running businesses?



“If you don&#8217;t have a team, it&#8217;s nothing. The most important and critical assets are your people, your employees, your team.”

Screenshot 2022-12-13 at 20.59.50

The Joys Of Profit And Purpose For This South African Entrepreneur

Covering five of South Africa’s nine provinces, FORBES AFRICA looks at some gorgeous getaways as the year wraps up and it’s time to hit the road.



If you’re looking for forest trails, waterfalls and rock pools, sand dunes by the sea, mountains and majestic views, long plains and starlit nights, or elephants and giraffe, South Africa has every kind of vista you can visit. Here’s a list of a few choice getaways – ranging from cheap to chic.



<h2>KwaZulu-Natal</h2>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Sasi-Bush-Lodge-KwaZulu-Natal-by-Rogan-Kerr-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-57079" width="620" height="413" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Sasi-Bush-Lodge-KwaZulu-Natal-by-Rogan-Kerr-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Sasi-Bush-Lodge-KwaZulu-Natal-by-Rogan-Kerr-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Sasi-Bush-Lodge-KwaZulu-Natal-by-Rogan-Kerr-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Sasi-Bush-Lodge-KwaZulu-Natal-by-Rogan-Kerr-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Sasi-Bush-Lodge-KwaZulu-Natal-by-Rogan-Kerr-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" /><figcaption>Photo by Rogan Kerr</figcaption></figure></div>


In the Northern Drakensburg sits Sasi Bush Lodge; with luxury tents, hikes, massages, bush breakfasts and more. Just 3.5 hours from O R Tambo Airport in Johannesburg and three hours from King Shaka Airport in Durban, this destination holiday provides an inexpensive experience than a stay at the Kruger National Park, starting from R2,000 ($117) per night for adults. Sasi Bush Lodge has also tried to re-wild the lands and remove the alien vegetation in the area.



Emzemvelo accommodation covers an incredible range of scenery, from the Big Five to the stunning mountains of the Drakensburg. If you get the Golden Rhino card at R250 ($15) per person, there’s discounts out of season and free entry at Emzemvelo Parks. One of the many options with accommodation include a two-bedroom mountain view chalet at Giant’s Castle, breakfast included, for R1,400 ($82), during peak season. Another great spot is Hluhluwe, replete with the Big Five, at R1,750 ($102) for a two-bedroom chalet. Campsites like Cobham go for R85 ($5) during peak season, while Garden Castle camping goes for the same.



<h2>Western Cape</h2>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Africamps-view-in-Cederberg-by-Rogan-Kerr-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-57074" width="672" height="448" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Africamps-view-in-Cederberg-by-Rogan-Kerr-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Africamps-view-in-Cederberg-by-Rogan-Kerr-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Africamps-view-in-Cederberg-by-Rogan-Kerr-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Africamps-view-in-Cederberg-by-Rogan-Kerr-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Africamps-view-in-Cederberg-by-Rogan-Kerr-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px" /><figcaption>Photo by Rogan Kerr</figcaption></figure></div>


In Cederberg, Western Cape, there’s de Pakhuys, a camping, glamping or chalet style accommodation, nestled in a valley, with a rocky terrain to go bouldering on or hiking, a waterfall walk and stunning stars over fields of flowers. The Africamps&#8217; custom-designed glamping tents go for R977 ($57) per person sharing, complete with a private wood-fired hot tub and bathroom with luxurious rain shower, among other facilities.



Also in Cederberg, Western Cape, is the Gecko Creek Wilderness Lodge, a self-catering private nature reserve that borders the Cederberg Reserve, and a short distance away is the Olifants River. It offers twin cabins and tents overlooking the valley full of Fynbos and wildflowers, and a salt water swimming pool. Activities include waterfall walks, hiking to caves and treks such as the Wolfberg Cracks and Wolfberg Arch, Maltese Cross and Sneeuberg. There’s also Leopard’s Rock with indigenous San Rock Paintings, and the famous Elephant Rock formation, bouldering, horse-riding, wine-tasting nearby, and canoeing – if you have your own canoe. Self-camping is between R150-R190 ($8-$11) per person a night, safari tents sleeping two are R250-R290 ($15-$17), cabins are R450-R490 ($26-$29) per person per night, and cottages are R1,250-R1,500 ($75-$87) per person per night. None of them have electricity, as manager Shivani Ghai says, “It’s more about the rugged outdoors and the stars without any light pollution.” They do have WiFi. They’re already quite booked up for December and January, so email to inquire about available days.



<h2>Eastern Cape</h2>



Hogsback in the Amatola Mountains is perfect for hikes through moss-covered forests and views of mist in the morning in valleys below. Named after the rocky ridge that resembles a hog’s back, it offers many places to stay – quintessentially, The Edge, replete with cottages perched on a cliff overlooking a valley or Airbnbs in the forest. The latter can cost less than R1,000 ($58), with pet-friendly or family friendly options available. Mountain and waterfall hikes abound, with a tiny village of chocolate shops and places to eat.



In Morgan’s Bay is In The Green Backpackers, a pet-friendly and eco-friendly accommodation, one kilometer away from the beach and lagoon, surrounded by greenery. The whole house is built out of recycled material, with a vegetable patch, and various walls made out of cob, a natural building material made from subsoil, water, fibrous organic material like straw, and sometimes lime. In the



Green Backpackers is a small establishment, but a personal one, says Corlia Perry, the manager. The outside double room with a view costs R450 ($26) per night, the inside double room goes for R350 ($20) a night, and the safari tent with two single beds is R300 ($17.5) a night, with a five-person dorm room at R150 ($9) per person. There’s also a tree house, made of tin, for the real adventure seekers, which sleeps three people at R250 ($15) a night.



“We bought the property next to us and have started planting fruit trees. This is obviously a long-term project. The idea is to always have some sort of food source available. We have planted avocado trees and macadamia trees, paw paw trees, banana trees, plum and naartjie, plus coffee plants. Also lemon and grapefruit,” concludes Perry.



<h2>Gauteng</h2>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Screenshot-2022-12-13-at-15.15.31-1024x564.png" alt="" class="wp-image-57082" width="669" height="368" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Screenshot-2022-12-13-at-15.15.31-1024x564.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Screenshot-2022-12-13-at-15.15.31-300x165.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Screenshot-2022-12-13-at-15.15.31-768x423.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Screenshot-2022-12-13-at-15.15.31-1536x846.png 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Screenshot-2022-12-13-at-15.15.31.png 1576w" sizes="(max-width: 669px) 100vw, 669px" /><figcaption>Photo by Woodland Gardens Lodge</figcaption></figure></div>


Woodland Gardens Lodge in Magaliesburg, an hour outside of central Johannesburg, is a pet-friendly self-catering accommodation of chalets, a pool, a shared bonfire, as well as a charming garden also containing goats, pigs and many dogs, along with a little forest. Nearby, there’s hikes into the mountains, resplendent rock pools and hot air ballooning. Ibis Garden Cottage has an enclosed outside bath, with a view of the stars. Chalets range in size – perfect for romantic getaways or family trips, with braai areas and water features. Some are fenced for peace of mind with dogs. They have mid-week specials, and normal rates range from R445 ($26) per person to R830 ($48).



<h2 id="h-free-state">Free State</h2>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GettyImages-170486697.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-57083" width="680" height="451" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GettyImages-170486697.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GettyImages-170486697-300x199.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GettyImages-170486697-768x510.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><figcaption>(Photo by: Majority World/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>


The quaint town of Clarens in the Free State, just 20kms from the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, is surrounded by red sandstone mountains, dotted with orange and red fauna and flora. A rocky yet lively landscape, it has a vibrant town of small shops and 27 restaurants. If you’re looking to get out of the city but still see the New Year in with some dancing, Clarens has the perfect mix. New years’ see the streets turn into a lively mix of eating and dancing outside.



Clarens Eddies Bed &amp; Breakfast has a two-sleeper room for R590 ($34), a four-sleeper room for R864 ($51), and a six-sleeper for R1864 ($109), with breakfast not included in the base rate. They offer free guided mountain walks every day. Around Clarens, there is horse-riding, white river rafting, hot air ballons, day visits to Lesotho with 10 different programs, a cherry picking festival in November, and a steam train ride through the cherry orchards. Through the conservancy, there are 15 different hiking and cycling trails, where you can rent a bicycle. With all the recent rain, the mountain streams have turned this usually dry vista into a “Niagara falls”, says owner of Eddies, Dawn Trevelyan.

Overview of Sasi Bush Lodge in KwaZulu-Natal, by Rogan Kerr

Planning A Holiday? Cheap To Chic Getaways In South Africa

On December 6, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), a non-profit German organization with operations in South Africa, launched the Lindiwe Mabuza Space, a new conference facility, in the country.



The launch commemorated a year since the passing of Lindiwe Mabuza, the distinguished South African diplomat who died at the age of 83. An anti-apartheid activist, Mabuza went on to become a member of the first democratically-elected parliament of South Africa. She was also an academic, journalist and poet.



In attendance at the launch was Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, South Africa’s Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, also a former anti-apartheid activist.



As part of the program, group exercises were held where people posed answers to important problems of the day.



“We must be the change we want to see,” added Dlamini-Zuma to the discussion. When the group spoke of greater youth participation, she emphasized that women should be included.



Sebastian Sperling, resident director of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Johannesburg, spoke to FORBES AFRICA about how the new facility would be used.



“It’s a space for progressives to meet, develop ideas, engage on ideas, experiment, and talk to each other again – as we have felt today. And lastly, build alliances, overcome our divisions, especially in the progressive camps,” says Sperling.



The organization is a global network, and while they are working with South African partners, a big element of their work is creating links internationally, “because we need to organize across borders,” he says.



FES is advancing socio-political and economic development in the spirit of social democracy, through civic education, research, and international cooperation.

SAMSUNG CSC

Commemorating A South African Struggle Icon

When will the lights come back? South Africa experienced 2,409 cumulative hours of power cuts by November this year, forcing many small businesses to use generators, or eventually close. 



LOAD SHEDDING, UNSURPRISINGLY, IS THE 2022 South African ‘word of the year’ announced by the Pan South African Language Board in collaboration with Focal Points, a media research company.



Load shedding, a term for rolling blackouts, has been a regular feature of South African life since 2015, and the latest statutory assessment of the power system showed that South Africa’s embattled state-owned utility, Eskom, will be unable to meet the electricity needs of the country for the next five years.



South Africa has experienced 2,409 cumulative hours of load shedding by November, according to data from 



EskomSePush, a load shedding app in the country. September broke the record for scheduled outages in a month, amounting to 570 hours.



In the Melville and Westdene suburbs of Johannesburg, the hustle and bustle of the city is a permanent soundscape. But in the background, another sound reigns supreme – the throaty roar of generators. It’s ubiquitous in the secondary business districts of Johannesburg, where electricity cuts are constant, and water delivery is spotty.



“It’s affected everything,” rues Rui Miranda, owner of Old Charlie’s Tobacconist. “People feel lost when there’s no power.” At the time that he spoke to FORBES AFRICA, Vodacom services were down, with his MTN-based speed point on two bars of service.



“If the towers are down, it’s another problem,” he says. He can’t order using EFTs during load shedding. Cell tower service differs, with the majority of towers using battery or generator back- up power. When the back-up goes offline, so too does connectivity.



Roland Gregorio, a franchise owner of an electronic store, Matrix Warehouse Melville, says it costs R300 ($17) a day to put petrol in the generator. “There’s no choice, we just have to use it,” Gregorio says. “Without it, we don’t have lights, we can’t operate the computers, we just have no option but to have it.”



He questions why Eskom as a key point is insecure, as it affects everyone, and thinks State Owned Enterprise money should be put primarily into the electricity provider.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/3The-Barbers-Chop-Shop-Melville-keeps-the-lights-on-with-a-generator-and-carries-20l-of-water-in-multiple-containers-to-keep-up-with-water-cuts-1-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-57014" width="714" height="476" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/3The-Barbers-Chop-Shop-Melville-keeps-the-lights-on-with-a-generator-and-carries-20l-of-water-in-multiple-containers-to-keep-up-with-water-cuts-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/3The-Barbers-Chop-Shop-Melville-keeps-the-lights-on-with-a-generator-and-carries-20l-of-water-in-multiple-containers-to-keep-up-with-water-cuts-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/3The-Barbers-Chop-Shop-Melville-keeps-the-lights-on-with-a-generator-and-carries-20l-of-water-in-multiple-containers-to-keep-up-with-water-cuts-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/3The-Barbers-Chop-Shop-Melville-keeps-the-lights-on-with-a-generator-and-carries-20l-of-water-in-multiple-containers-to-keep-up-with-water-cuts-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/3The-Barbers-Chop-Shop-Melville-keeps-the-lights-on-with-a-generator-and-carries-20l-of-water-in-multiple-containers-to-keep-up-with-water-cuts-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 714px) 100vw, 714px" /><figcaption>The-Barbers-Chop Shop Melville-keeps the lights on with a generator.</figcaption></figure></div>


Eskom has said it will start buying power from private producers to boost the national grid. Additionally, it has reportedly signed lease agreements for the use of land parcels with four independent power producer investors, worth R40 billion ($2.3 billion) in investments, contributing at least 2,000MW to the national electricity grid. The plan is to lift licencing requirements for private power producers and to allow solar-powered homes to sell excess electricity back to Eskom.



Sam Matthys, a barber from The Barbers Chop Shop Melville, a small business that opened in September in a chic and colorful suburb in Johannesburg, says they also spend about R300 ($17) a day on running the generator.



“We have to keep an eye on the generator because of the area we are in,” Matthys says.



“It’s possible people can try and steal the generator. There’s no security in the area. That’s why you’ll always find us here, in front of the shop.”



He says it’s hard to focus or keep a cool head with the noise pollution caused by the generators.



Karim, a cashier at a convenience store, Melville Cash and Carry, agrees it is expensive to run a generator, at R250/R300 ($14-$17) a day, and he can’t sell airtime during black outs.



“Customers are struggling, and can’t hear anything when they come inside,” he adds.



David Brimson, the owner of Evermore Photography, runs his studio in Weltevredenpark, Roodepoort, Johannesburg. The area was nicknamed ‘Weltevreden Dark’, after rolling black outs caused the JG Strydom switching substation to burn down in March, leading to loss of power for three days.



Brimson shoots his images tethered to his computer so clients can immediately see the pictures.



The computer uses too much power for an uninterrupted power source (UPS) or inverter.



“Then there is the added stress of power spikes when electricity is turned back on. I have already replaced my entire PC even though I run surge protectors. I can cope with all of that, but it’s the depression that sinks in during the load shedding and the fact that we don’t get any real answers as to when this issue will be solved,” Brimson laments.



Rand Water, the South African water utility, implemented Stage 2 water restrictions in August, lifting them in November.



It attributed water shortages to an unexpected power outage at a purification plant, as well as to a decline in reservoir storage from 52% to 38%.



In November, Rand Water reported reservoirs were at 60%. The Department of Water and Sanitation says dams in Gauteng are at 96.3% capacity; R326 million ($19 million) water infrastructure upgrades will commence in 2023.



FORBES AFRICA also spoke to the co-owners of the popular Hell’s Kitchen restaurant and bar in Melville, Jonathan Kirby and Rachel Steen-Stenersen. Hell’s Kitchen has been fortunate to receive borehole water for flushing toilets. They have to purchase water for cleaning at R200 ($11) daily, as well as ice, costing R400 ($22) a day. The ice machine has broken due to intermittent power, with ice costing R800 ($44) a day on weekends.



Power surges have broken lights and equipment such as speakers, Steen-Stenersen explains, adding to costs. Like everyone else, their generator too costs around R250 ($14)tobefilledup.



Steen-Stenersen says they bought string lights for the establishment’s exterior three times in 2022, costing R3,400 ($190) each time. She believes that in the dead of the night when the power goes off, the lights are stolen.



Kirby says the sustainability of business is a tricky question; if you have a big enough generator, everything can be powered, and customers work out quickly which places are fully-functional, leading to more business.



When the power goes, Hell’s Kitchen resumes core functions in three minutes. Cooking at the restaurant is wood-fired, but if the extractor fan is not on, the chef has to move operations outside which can impede service delivery if it has to be done three times a day.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1Rui-Miranda-sits-in-Old-Charlies-Tobacconist-with-the-power-off-1-1-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-57016" width="660" height="440" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1Rui-Miranda-sits-in-Old-Charlies-Tobacconist-with-the-power-off-1-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1Rui-Miranda-sits-in-Old-Charlies-Tobacconist-with-the-power-off-1-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1Rui-Miranda-sits-in-Old-Charlies-Tobacconist-with-the-power-off-1-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1Rui-Miranda-sits-in-Old-Charlies-Tobacconist-with-the-power-off-1-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1Rui-Miranda-sits-in-Old-Charlies-Tobacconist-with-the-power-off-1-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px" /><figcaption>Rui Miranda sits in Old Charlies Tobacconist with the power off</figcaption></figure></div>


Steen-Stenerson says that luckily, the locals are understanding of the patchy electricity and water situation. “Where our frustration comes is we never know whether this is going to be our future, so do we invest money into creating systems, or getting a bigger generator, or getting a Jojo tank that is running our water?” she questions. “We need to know whether this is how we’re living the rest of our days, or is this just temporary, and we don’t get much clarification on that – which would also just help us plan money-wise.”



The overall happiness of South Africans dropped significantly when Eskom announced heightened Stage 6 rolling blackouts, according to data released by the University of Johannesburg. The Gross National Happiness Index recorded that the happiness of South Africans dropped below the average of 6.85 to 6.44 when Eskom introduced Stage 6 load shedding in September. Will the darkness lift?

A Country At Its Watt’s End: The Effect Of South Africa’s Power Woes On Small Business

Significant outcomes from the United Nations Climate Conference of the Parties (COP27), held in Egypt from November 6-18, included a historic Loss and Damage Fund, the initiation of the adaptation agenda to build resilience for four billion vulnerable people by 2030, as well as the approval for nations to trade audited carbon credits.



African nations announced a carbon market partnership, and under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, countries can work together to raise money for decarbonization and adaptation projects, through trading carbon credits.



The Loss and Damage Fund, put forward at COP27 by developing nations and activists in the Global South, would be designed to compensate developing countries for the losses they have faced and inevitably will face as a consequence of climate change.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="461" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Mana-Omar-walks-with-pastoral-women-in-Kenya-protesting-for-climate-change-awareness-and-mitigation-efforts-1024x461.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-56984" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Mana-Omar-walks-with-pastoral-women-in-Kenya-protesting-for-climate-change-awareness-and-mitigation-efforts-1024x461.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Mana-Omar-walks-with-pastoral-women-in-Kenya-protesting-for-climate-change-awareness-and-mitigation-efforts-300x135.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Mana-Omar-walks-with-pastoral-women-in-Kenya-protesting-for-climate-change-awareness-and-mitigation-efforts-768x346.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Mana-Omar-walks-with-pastoral-women-in-Kenya-protesting-for-climate-change-awareness-and-mitigation-efforts-1536x692.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Mana-Omar-walks-with-pastoral-women-in-Kenya-protesting-for-climate-change-awareness-and-mitigation-efforts-2048x922.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Mana Omar walks with pastoral women in Kenya, protesting for climate change awareness and mitigation efforts.</figcaption></figure></div>


Africa will surely need a fund of this kind.



Seven of the 10 most vulnerable countries to climate change are on the continent, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB). And young Africans are thankfully rising to the challenge of mitigating the crisis.



Take the example of Nyombi Morris, a 24-year-old Ugandan who started Earth Volunteers, a non-profit involved in planting trees and conducting climate change awareness campaigns in schools.



Morris was given a chance to enter the COP27 talks, representing his country, Uganda, in compiling the United Nations’ framework report conclusions.



“We cannot continue on this path, unless we are to perish,” Morris said to FORBES AFRICA in an interview earlier in the year.



He started planting trees as a child, when flooding hit Uganda&#8217;s eastern Butaleja District, displacing his family and many others.



His non-profit, Earth Volunteers, has planted 48,000 trees since the project’s inception. In September, they planted another 3,000 trees.



He says to become climate resilient, sustainable projects need to be the focus; and compensation has to be given, along with debt forgiveness.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Nyombi-Morris-handing-out-food-to-residents-affected-by-the-drought-in-Karamoja-Uganda.-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-56986" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Nyombi-Morris-handing-out-food-to-residents-affected-by-the-drought-in-Karamoja-Uganda.-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Nyombi-Morris-handing-out-food-to-residents-affected-by-the-drought-in-Karamoja-Uganda.-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Nyombi-Morris-handing-out-food-to-residents-affected-by-the-drought-in-Karamoja-Uganda.-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Nyombi-Morris-handing-out-food-to-residents-affected-by-the-drought-in-Karamoja-Uganda.-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Nyombi-Morris-handing-out-food-to-residents-affected-by-the-drought-in-Karamoja-Uganda.-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Nyombi Morris handing out food to residents affected by the drought in Karamoja, Uganda.</figcaption></figure></div>


“We cannot achieve this just by saying we are going to do this for Africa. And that remains in words, no, we need implementation to be approved. But we also need the support. Africa will be resilient, it can sustain itself, if we stop exploiting the land, if we stop investing in fossil fuel subsidies.”



Research commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme estimates that the cost of adapting to climate change across Africa could reach $50 billion a year by 2050, if the global temperature increase is kept within 2°C above pre industrial levels.



According to the AfDB, Africa will need investments of over $3 trillion in mitigation and adaptation by 2030 in order to implement its NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions).



Mana Omar is yet another young African passionate about finding solutions.



A certified impact analyst and founder of a non-profit, Spring of the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SASAL) based in the Kajiado County of Kenya, she is 27 years old, working in her community, using a motorcycle to access difficult terrain and remote areas.



SASAL works with pastoral communities to improve climate resiliency and primarily with women, as they believe women are disproportionately affected. They do awareness and advocacy training, as well as land restoration projects with agroforestry.



“Africa is only responsible for about 4% of emissions. [Yet] Africa is the worst hit with the climate crisis, moving down to [the] indigenous communities that are at the frontline of the climate crisis, contributing very minimally to it,” Omar says. “So my view about climate justice is we need reparations, and we need climate finance.”



Moses Mulindwa, a United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Land Hero from Uganda, says it’s not an easy job as a young environmentalist in the Global South. CYE Believe Network, a non-profit that he is a co-founder of, tries to come up with solutions that elevate the financial and social status of communities.



Cutting down trees is often a part of people’s livelihoods, so they try to create alternatives. The solutions have been clean cooking stoves, workshops where people can learn to earn a living while protecting the environment, as well as training young people in policy formation. They also produce building materials from plastic waste as a mode of creating employment.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="768" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Nyombi-Morris-with-residents-of-Karamoja-during-an-intense-drought-in-Uganda.-1024x768.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-56987" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Nyombi-Morris-with-residents-of-Karamoja-during-an-intense-drought-in-Uganda.-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Nyombi-Morris-with-residents-of-Karamoja-during-an-intense-drought-in-Uganda.-300x225.jpeg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Nyombi-Morris-with-residents-of-Karamoja-during-an-intense-drought-in-Uganda.-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Nyombi-Morris-with-residents-of-Karamoja-during-an-intense-drought-in-Uganda.-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Nyombi-Morris-with-residents-of-Karamoja-during-an-intense-drought-in-Uganda.-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Nyombi Morris with residents of Karamoja, during an intense drought in Uganda.</figcaption></figure></div>


One of the biggest projects for CYE Believe Network is ‘Greening Mama Africa’ where they educate and empower people about smart agriculture such as agro-forestry and agro-ecology. When they plant trees, they provide vegetable seedlings as an incentive to ensure people maintain the trees. They are also fundraising for water resiliency in the Gulu region of Uganda, where there is rapid desertification.



“There is a conversation that has to be had, about climate finance, because these are the countries that have contributed the least to the climate crisis, and are facing the wrath of it,” says Mulindwa to FORBES AFRICA.



In order to achieve climate resiliency, he says investing in technology and education is important. While climate policies have been good, there needs to be better implementation, and renewable infrastructure created.



“The Global North has to wake up to the call,” Mulindwa asserts.

Mana Omar, founder of SASAL, with Kenyan pastoralists

COP27: Perspectives From African Youth Working Tirelessly For Climate Mitigation

“By 2050, this number is expected to double, making young people (15-34) more than two-thirds of the continent&#8217;s population. This has produced a great deal of moral panic, but very little in terms of reimagining what is required to ensure young people are included in the decision-making processes for their futures.”



The United Nations (UN) says that on November 15 2022, the world’s population will reach 8 billion, a milestone in human development.



It adds: “While it took the global population 12 years to grow from 7 to 8 billion, it will take approximately 15 years — until 2037 — for it to reach 9 billion, a sign that the overall growth rate of the global population is slowing.”



Kathleen Mogelgaard, President and CEO of the Population Institute, says that the world’s population will level off at around 10.4 billion in the 2080s.



In a video on the website of Population Institute, she says this is equivalent to about “250 New York Citys”.



Population growth has significant implications for society, she explains; we’ll need more of everything, with population growth placing stress on food security, infrastructure, housing, freshwater availability, the environment, as well as transportation and governance.



Dr Nkechi Owoo, a health and demographic economist and lecturer at the Department of Economics at the University of Ghana, says to FORBES AFRICA that there are existing concerns about the global supply chain processes taking a toll on the environment, and with rising populations and increasing demands for materials, the goal of environmental sustainability may become more challenging to accomplish.



“Food losses, more common in developing countries, also represent waste of environmental resources since ultimately food that is produced is not consumed. Post-harvest losses are a noted challenge in already food insecure parts of sub-Saharan Africa, suggesting the need for better storage and preservation of food through agro-processing, for instance,” explains Owoo.



She says local food sourcing is also important, and while the goal may be increased food production, reduction in food loss is also reduction in food insecurity, and mitigates greenhouse gas emissions.



Mogelgaard adds in the video that worldwide, the population growth rate is slowing down, but there are places where rapid growth continues, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Egypt, Pakistan, India, and the Philippines.



She adds that areas with rapid population growth overlap with areas that are experiencing gender inequity. Mogelgaard links this to a lack of reproductive autonomy, which is the ability to determine when, whether and with whom to become a parent, to have access and means to actualize those options, she explains.



“Hundreds of millions of women and girls around the world lack reproductive autonomy. As a result, it is estimated that almost one half of pregnancies worldwide are unintended,” says Mogelgaard.



Owoo says reproductive autonomy is not the sole preserve of women in Africa, where husbands, mothers-in-law and other community members sometimes have a say.



She says reproductive autonomy cannot be pursued in isolation from other factors such as poverty, predominantly agrarian economic structures, cultural norms and the absence of social security, lack of laws and sanctions for intimate partner violence.



Owoo says in order for reproductive autonomy to be effective, it must go hand in hand with a larger education and sensitization of forces beyond the woman herself – and that underlying structural and cultural factors cannot be ignored.



In Ghana, she says the female labor participation rate is one of the highest on the continent, specifying that they are hard-working and enterprising, but often engaged in the informal, low-productivity sector. She explains that the reason for this is the flexibility that these positions offer, so they can still fulfil domestic and childcare work.



“It is not unheard of for a woman to quit her formal sector job – and move into the informal sector – once she gives birth. This is a worrying situation as it has implications for her earnings, the household&#8217;s welfare, and overall contribution to national growth.”



Women need more support with the provision of basic technologies like access to public taps, modern cooking stoves, as well as affordable childcare, child-friendly workplaces, extended maternity leave, and concretely quantifying the contributions they make to households and the nation, she stipulates.



Owoo also says that African women need more laws that criminalize intimate partner violence, rather than relegating it to a “personal issue”.



The 8 billion milestone serves as an important wake-up call to understand how human population interacts with the global systems that sustain the planet, Mogelgaard explains. She says it gives us an opportunity to understand how people are living, what they need, and how we can work collectively for a flourishing future.



“The largest generation in human history is coming of age right now. The decisions these young people make and the opportunities, services and rights they can claim will play an enormous role in shaping our future beyond 8 billion.”



Dr Nosipho Mngomezulu, a lecturer in anthropology at the University of the Witswatersrand in Johannesburg, says Africa is a continent governed by gerontocracies, while the youth population continues to grow. She says scholarship in this area has been focused on the “youth bulge” where almost 60% of the population in 2019 was under 25.



“By 2050, this number is expected to double, making young people (15-34) more than two-thirds of the continent&#8217;s population. This has produced a great deal of moral panic, but very little in terms of reimagining what is required to ensure young people are included in the decision-making processes for their futures,” Mngomezulu says to FORBES AFRICA.



Owoo says youth unemployment is a major issue worldwide, described as “generation jobless”. She says one reason is the absence of technical training relevant to industry, and another is the lack of structural transformation of countries’ economies.



“A major advantage of a youthful population is the access to available labor supply to increase productive activities. However, without the skills and resources that the youth need to engage in the labor market, and without opportunities for gainful employment, these benefits will not be attained,” Owoo outlines.



Without employment, there is likely a greater exploitation of the environment for personal survival, an increase in criminal activity and vices, and civil instability, Owoo says.



Mngomezulu, who finds population research deeply fascinating, explains that ‘generation’ is exceedingly complex on the continent, replete with moral panic and cultural axioms about the status of young people in relation to elders. She says the ‘youth bulge’ needs to be taken more seriously by policy-makers, creating contexts where young people are closely engaged in democratic political processes.



“We have seen the rise of youth-led movements across the continent, a trend I think will continue as the climate and economic crises exacerbate. We urgently need to be building political and social cultures that take young people seriously as more than consumers and hapless recipients of aid, but rather pay more attention to young people as agents, as political actors who will not only shape the future of the continent, but are already reshaping this future in the present,” Mngomezulu concludes.

Prague

World Population Set To Hit 8 Billion On November 15: What Does It Mean For Africa

The 12th annual Desmond Tutu International Peace Lecture took place in Cape Town, on October 7, the Archbishop’s birthday. Amina J Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), spoke at the in-person event, themed ‘A Vision for Hope and Healing’. Key in establishing the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), she has worked as Special Advisor to the former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and was formerly Nigeria’s Minister of Environment. She elaborated that while more people are in poverty, denied basic rights, with the climate crisis crossing all borders, social cohesion fraying, inequalities, increasing xenophobia, nationalism and hate speech, it doesn’t have to be this way. The planet has irreplaceable resources and renewable energy, she said, and we’ve never been so connected by technology, living as long, or with as many women in positions of power. More in this interview with FORBES AFRICA:



Q: You spoke a bit about the fourth industrial revolution at the lecture, and you also spoke about decolonizing hundreds of years of education meant for other people. What do you imagine that to look like?



A: I think it starts first of all for from where we create access to education, and the curriculum that we put in place for it. And we talk about the scientific basis that we find we must have in early childcare. I think early childcare is not in a classroom, but very much in Africa today, it needs to start with adult literacy and mothers because as African women, and in our cultures – our children are with us until they’re three, attached at the hip, if you would.



So I think that we need to find creative ways of bringing education into the home, and not taking kids to institutions at that early age. So early childhood education, for me, is one transformation that happens together with a mother [for] that bonding in the community, where we say that Africa is brought up by a village and not by a couple of people. So, really bringing that community learning into early child care.



Then, building on that, the primary and secondary education that we need. One that really looks at that intrinsic value of education to a person, a person&#8217;s identity from their cultures, their religion, the good practices – so we don&#8217;t throw the baby out with the bathwater – we&#8217;re always referring to harmful cultural practices, and we never look at it from the positive side. And that we move on from things that we did not know were so harmful because they were so cultural, or so male-vested. And we need to move on. But there are some good things there.



And then really, to begin to build the foundational skills of literacy and numeracy, by putting the digital in front so that we&#8217;re not waiting until ‘oh, Africa is ready, or Africa has the resources right at the beginning’. Our ambition is for each child, as a global citizen, and not just an African citizen, but to bring that whole technology and learning into an environment. What I&#8217;m trying to say is that as we learn to have pride and independence of one&#8217;s being, how that contributes from the inside out. So you&#8217;re not just looking at capacities and skills to connect to the outside world without understanding anything about who you are, and the part that you play in your own ecosystem.



I do this because I was part of an education system that did this, although I have to say that we had a broader education. But as years have gone on, that curriculum has become loaded. It has lost its core. And I think people are struggling with who they are, and who they are is such a contradiction to people who want us to join this global family. And I think that we are richer for it if we identify with what we really are. The question of diversity for me is far deeper than the narrow, silo approach that we are seeing on diversity now.



The diversity piece has lost its meaning, because we&#8217;ve sort of pigeonholed different parts of our society that are different, and will choose to live differently. And what we need to see is healthy respect, and that these are the threads of our human fabric. And as such, each thread matters, each thread makes the fabric stronger, not weaker. So the less threads we have, that we leave behind, the weaker that fabric. And I think if you say that to people, then they see themselves in the fabric. It&#8217;s not you against us. And that&#8217;s what really draws me to the Arch [Desmond Tutu]. Because I think he really taught us how to respect what&#8217;s behind our skin. It&#8217;s us, it&#8217;s human beings. And as you&#8217;re born, you&#8217;re incredibly free of everything, and depending where you land, is what shapes you.



Q: You spoke about this at the lecture with your vision for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in light of all of the global and local conflicts. You termed it the ‘world in crisis’, how do you think Africa can move forward?



A: I think essentially, we&#8217;ve got to have a few conversations with ourselves. And there has to be a huge amount of courage that what you&#8217;re doing is shaping the future. I mean, concretely, shaping that future for your people with what you know is the right thing. And this is our leaders, and I&#8217;m saying leaders at different levels, because the leaders that we point to and look to as inspirations and heroes, they&#8217;re all gone now. And I don&#8217;t know who we point to, to replace them. Because today, we&#8217;re so critical of the person, we&#8217;re so judgmental of the person, and we miss the message that that person carries.



I think people like the Arch and Madiba [Nelson Mandela] always recognized their failings. And so people didn&#8217;t have a chance to throw any stones at them. What came out was ‘okay, I&#8217;m not perfect, I&#8217;m not God, but these are the things that I believe in, these are the things that I will fight for’. So as human beings, what we look to is what they stood for. And I&#8217;m not sure today that we give so much grace to leaders. And I think that we have to think and listen to what the leader is saying and doing, rather than judge what&#8217;s in the closet. Everybody&#8217;s got a closet, and some worse than others. But if that person takes a good message that does no harm, that brings people together, that forwards Africa, we need to find that community.



We have a responsibility as followers to get behind them to do the right thing. So conversation, really serious conversation. Whether it happens in the African Union [AU], and I have to tell you that in the AU, when leaders try to get together to have a closed-door meeting, the international community wants to be in on it. Even I, as an African, say to people, ‘oo, I&#8217;m the United Nations’. That&#8217;s their conversation they need to have. I can have a private one as well, as a brother or sister conversation to them. But in this piece here, give them space, because every one of them has baggage, and that baggage is colonial. And many of them are tied to it inextricably, and it&#8217;s hard.



So what common ground can they come together on to move us forward? And I think that the fact that we&#8217;re seeing no solidarity with Africa right now has actually empowered a conversation. I think the United Nations has been helpful for a sanguine Economic Commission for Africa that did a lot of work with the Minister of Finance. So they were able to take the issues in an international arena and argue them, and it&#8217;s quite difficult for our people to do that because essentially, they&#8217;re in their own bubble, fighting the day-to-day challenges of broken democracies and an incredibly different set of difficult situations, conflict, etc.



Q: At the lecture, you were also speaking about the need for self-determination; what does Africa need to do for that?



A: I think we&#8217;ve been told what to do and what&#8217;s good for us. And we have to come back and determine what is good for us. That&#8217;s why I said for education, it&#8217;s really important we think about that. And we think about what skills are going to put a kid, from when they get into school for 15 years, to the workplace? Is it the skills of tomorrow?



Then you hear what&#8217;s going on in South Africa with AI, and you&#8217;re thinking, ‘okay, what is the transition going to look like? How do we build that capacity? How do we look at the financial architecture, which was really built for another era, and not for our development – [what about] access courses or even profiting from the natural resources that we have, so that we can build?’ And so it&#8217;s going to be complex, because we are many, and our issues are very complex.



We need to think, ‘what is the low hanging fruit for a politician that is bound by a four or five-year cycle of democracy and elective office, to one that is longer?’ Longer term means you need institutional memory; that means that the services the institutions need to be able to carry us through these different cycles of elections.



The policy somersaults that we are feeling right now, I guess they feel them in the United Kingdom, they feel them in countries in Europe now that are going so far right from being so far left. So, it’s important, and then I think that, the more we educate people, the better constituencies we have for engaging. You can&#8217;t engage with one person, one vote, when there is quite frankly, a lack of education as to understanding why the vote, and what&#8217;s my vote worth? Is it $5? Or is it educational reform, and health services, and things that are my rights, that&#8217;s what my vote is. So it&#8217;s a little bit of a journey, as you know, the long road to freedom – the road is still being tracked.



Q: Is there anything else you&#8217;d like to anecdotally share on the issues you spoke about either in the lecture or about achieving the SDGs?



A: There are so many. Climate for me is the biggest challenge that we have, and opportunity. So when a farmer says to me that this is not about a flood, or temperatures, it&#8217;s about ‘I wake up in the morning



and my crop is gone because of a dust storm, and that dust storm has come because of drought, and my farm is gone, my livelihood is gone’. And then the livelihoods of all these Maasai women and men that I met, their livelihoods, their cattle have died. You see the carcasses on the road. And we don&#8217;t want to talk about that much. But that&#8217;s assets that have just been taken away. And so when Kenya is dealing with that, they&#8217;re saying, ‘okay, right now, the private sector is coming in, and we&#8217;re asking them to put a fund together, so they buy the cattle before they die’. So there are resources for that community, for the hard times, and they can replenish stock. Then we have put things together that will help us to build back with a level of resilience.



Those are real stories. They are real situations that have to sometimes find their way into the media, into the headlines. Not so much the misery of it, but the way that we can prevent it and then link that to the 1.5 degrees. I think there&#8217;s a disconnect between science, the 1.5 degrees and the reality on the ground. We need to link it, we need to say a third of Pakistan is underwater, because we&#8217;ve just had floods that are melting glaciers, and we can tie that to China, and it&#8217;s industrial pollution. We can do all this. So how do you tell the story?



I listened to an elder just three days ago, and his eyesight had gone. And all he said was ‘we&#8217;re very grateful for what you&#8217;ve been able to give us here, but there&#8217;s a lot of people you can&#8217;t see that haven&#8217;t been able to get to this’. And the first thing he said was women and people with disabilities. And it just made me think, ‘wow, this person right now is not talking about can we have more for me and my tribe’, which is what generally gets into a story, he’s been very specific about the people that are being left behind, that we don&#8217;t see.



I think he&#8217;s given me fodder for my advocacy. Because when I go back into those sterile rooms, that somehow craft language that I don&#8217;t understand, and many people don&#8217;t understand, we can break it down. And this is where I think the partnership with the media is so important. This is a new partnership that we need to have.

Batet Receives Un Deputy Secretary-general, Amina J. Mohammed

‘What We Need To See Is Healthy Respect, And These Are The Threads Of Our Human Fabric’: Amina J Mohammed On Diversity, SDGs, Climate Change and Africa Moving Forward

AS THE YOUNG CREATOR OF GRAPHIC NOVELS, ZIMBABWEAN ARTIST BILL MASUKU IS BREAKING RULES AND BARRIERS. WITH LITTLE ELSE BUT HARD WORK AND A SUPPORTIVE MOTHER, HE NOW HAS PRODUCTIONS GOING WITH NETFLIX AND DISNEY.



AS A YOUNG BOY FROM HARARE, THE BUSTLING capital of Zimbabwe, Bill Masuku always loved to draw. which his teachers accepted as part of his identity.



Home, however, was a different story. His father would tear up his drawings.



“I lost some really good ideas. In the end, I learned to draw really fast,” says Masuku in an interview with FORBES AFRICA. His ability to draw came in handy a decade later, when he had to do storyboarding, an art that requires a skeleton of an idea and quick turnaround.



Masuku still drew in high school but began focusing on his textbooks in order to get into university. At Rhodes University in Makhanda in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, he studied for a bachelor’s degree in commerce, majoring in Management and Information Systems. In his first year, he took on six subjects, as opposed to the usual four.



After cracking a joke in one of his classes, a classmate suggested he checkout NatCaf, a comedy troupe popular at the university.



He did, and got in.



Little did Masuku know that this would be the start of a career in the creative industry. He began performing for NatCaf regularly, and was getting recognized.



“They don’t know Bill, they know the performer. There is a separation between those two things. And around this time, I was getting my confidence back. And so I started drawing more and more. I think I’d gotten into the habit of just not drawing as much because it had been instilled in me that if I draw, these things will be destroyed, burned, torn up, or thrown in my face. I got my confidence back after doing performance comedy,” says Masuku.



Critical to this development was when Masuku started dating too, as relationships introduced him to feminism, intersectionality and Frantz Fanon. It made him look at justice with fresh eyes.



“Maybe just a black man in spandex does not work. And I thought, ‘let me rework this idea’. But I also had my whole university career, so I needed to rework it very slowly and be very intentional about my writing, because it was much deeper than just punishing criminals. In that time, I realized crime is a symptom of bigger structural problems.”



Shortly after that, Masuku left university after being in hospital for a month, struggling with mental health. He went home to Zimbabwe.



“I don’t have a degree to my name, I don’t have money to my name. All I have are these ideas that feel like ripples.”


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The more he sat on them, the more the ideas started speaking to him; he knew he had to jot them down as quickly as possible. He hadn’t felt like that since he was a kid.



The lack of access to proper digital infrastructure on his return to Zimbabwe could have deterred him, but he did not allow it to. Creating more opportunities for artists like himself in his country, he kept the art alive and contacted other talent in the local market.



Finally, in 2016, Enigma Comix Africa was born.



“Enigma Comix had a bumpy start looking for partners and investors in Zimbabwe. I was totally unknown, added to the fact that my art wasn’t at the community standard. Eventually, it became a branch off my brother’s company in South Africa.”



Masuku says the biggest challenge in creating his company was and still is distribution. With only a handful of comic book stores in southern Africa, it has been difficult to create a sustainable supply chain outside of the convention circuit. He adds that the advent of digital comics and websites that host creators has been a massive boon for getting content into new hands, “though the stats show that the largest consumers digitally are in the US and parts of Europe”.



“One of the biggest rewards I believe is that my Enigma Comix Africa books serve as a portfolio and proof of concept to open dialogues about access, literacy, and creative ownership in Africa.”



Unfortunately, the local Comic Con Africa offices said his art was not “good enough and to stick with writing”. It was the first devastating blow to his ego. He took the taxi home, trying not to internalize the rejection. The very same day, despite the negative feedback, he started sketching the first cover for Razor-Man – one of the best things he’d drawn at the time.



So on after drawing the cover, he was invited to a local Comic Con. He didn’t have merchandise, posters or a full comic to sell, but he wanted to do it. He asked his mother for help. She gave him $100.



“That was the sum total of my investment [for] diving into my art career. It was a lot of money. For me, it was the most money I had thrown at something I was passionate about.”



Unfortunately, $100 was not enough, but he made a plan to cut corners, like reducing the number of comics to print, in order to be at the event.



From that event, Masuku knew graphic novels would take years of persistence and consistency. Superman didn’t become popular overnight. He took a day job in 2017 to get consistent income.



“You leave the house in the morning, you get home in the evening, and you’re exhausted. There’s no way. You just get home, shower, eat, sleep, wake up the next day. There’s no time to be creative. And you can be creative, but you’re hungry. You can’t be creative, there are no lights on. There’s a lot of those small socio-economic factors that you don’t consider when you’re not producing.”



Masuku got back into comics full-time in 2018. He made Captain South Africa a woman. There was a lot of pushback and debate, to the point that he took the new posters off his table at an event.



“Surely, there must be more than black male superheroes, you know. I want to see progress now, like America took so long to get to where it is comic-wise. We can circumvent, we can skip all those steps. We are diversifying. People did not want to hear that at all.”



At the same time, his uncle was keeping an eye on his work, and gave him a digital drawing pad. Masuku had to make the decision between digital and traditional drawing in time for the FanCon Comic Con Cape Town event in 2018. His drawing pen wouldn’t stabilize. He says looking back at that work is like looking at a “cursed grimoire”, but it reminds him how far he has come.



He describes the first big Comic Con event in Cape Town as a “mist” of people, surprised by how many geeks there were, but the second event he went to was a “fog” of people, dense and overwhelming.



At the first event, he did live drawing, where people attentively watched him.



Masuku knew that he wasn’t the first African comic creator, but that moment reminded him that he was breaking barriers.



Parents would come to his table, not necessarily to buy, but to show their children how he was drawing and ask his advice. And Masuku gave the advice he would have wanted when he was a child.



He was invited to Comic Con Africa as a guest in 2019. Seated next to international titans of industry from Marvel and DC, he tried not to let imposter syndrome overcome him.



Then, the pandemic hit. Masuku says for freelancers who work from home, the world got smaller.



He ended up going to more events online. He began getting more business.



“I’m so used to self-managing, so used to a high self-discipline. If I don’t work, that’s a wrap. I don’t have a manager standing over me, checking my work, I have to be my own quality control. I have to be my mailman. I have to be my secretary. I have to be a jack of all trades,” he explains. “And that jack of all trades, because I was making my own comics for a long time, meant that I could slide into wherever you want. Want me to write something, draw something? That’s cool. You want my advice on marketing? Here you go.”



Masuku received an opportunity with the British Council to create a story about the circular economy. Though it was amazing to receive bigger jobs, the pressure on him to deliver increased, especially when faced with infrastructure problems such as Zimbabwe’s notorious power cuts.



One of the power cuts fried his laptop and drawing tablet cable.



Kugali Media, a visual story-telling brand using comics, graphic novels, augmented reality (AR) and animation in, contacted him asking him to work full-time at the end of 2020. This was another big break for Masuku. One of the projects he worked on was Nani, a fantasy graphic novel inspired by African mythology, which raised $58,235 with KickStarter to fund the project. Kugali Media has worked with big names like Disney, specifically on Iwaju, an animated original series.



“I was still young, and am still young now. But I was at the grassroots of this journey. Now, there are sapling trees. I’m getting to the point where I’m going to bear fruits, but people are starting to look at the flowers blooming.”



At Kugali, he got to shape comics as they happened. Being “a jack of all trades” paid off in the end, because they asked him to become an assistant editor.



The Nommo Award-nominated comic artist’s books include Razor-Man, Captain South Africa, Nani and Kokou. He has contributed to anthologies such as Kugali Anthology Vol 1,Comexposed’s Comic Up Vol 1, A Womb with a Heart That Beats All Over The World (Poetry), Sublime: $5 at the Door, and After the Fall: A Post- Apocalyptic Anthology.



“Whether it’s a local studio or international studio, people are starting to take notice of Africa as a creative resource. People have told stories about Japan, the Japanese tell really good Japanese stories. The Koreans are taking over with their K-pop, dramas, and even web comics,” he explains.



“But Africa is still this big myth. And for a company to say, ‘okay, here’s this country, let’s tell its history or its culture or its mysticism, very specifically not blending into anything else’, that is this huge opportunity. That’s one that has been waiting to happen. Let’s put the creativity in African hands if you want to tell an African story. Let Africans tell that story.”



At the end of 2021, Masuku discovered that Netflix was sponsoring story artists. Through power-cuts and the demands of a full-time job, he applied. He realized after the deadline that he hadn’t attached a file – through either power-cuts or refreshing a page. He panicked, but they still accepted his application in the end.



He went through an intensive storyboarding workshop with Triggerfish Animation in two parts. Masuku ended up getting the job with Netflix, and is still in production.



This year, he’s going to Comic Con Africa as a guest, and working on a new graphic novel with Kugali Media. In April, he lectured at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa on the topic of Afromanga.Masuku is only 29. With his brand of African stories, this may only be the beginning, for him and the continent.

Author: Lillian Roberts

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA