Edose Ohen had an unconventional childhood. By elementary school, he was given a programming book by his father and told to study it, sparking an interest in information technology (IT) and robotics. Entrepreneurship was also in his blood. By the age of 12, Ohen was selling sweets to his classmates to make extra money. By the time Ohen got to college, he started a marketing company to promote events at the school, which progressed to organizing high-end events for his fraternity.
“My father has always been an entrepreneurial man and I believe the lessons he taught me earlier on in my life was my foundations for my entrepreneurial paths. He shifted me towards IT at a very young age, so I always knew I would be in IT. I also always knew I was going to be in oil and gas because I idolized my father and he was an oil and gas man,” says Ohen.
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After graduating at the University of Houston with a degree in management and information systems, Ohen’s prediction came true. His first job combined his IT skills with his passion for the oil and gas industry.
“I graduated in 2009, which was the height of the economic recession in the States, so I sent out my resumes to hundreds of companies and I did not receive any feedback. Finally, there was a mid- to large-sized international oil and gas company, and it just so happened that the hiring manager went to my university and we had some synergies. So I started working as a system administrator and four years later I worked my way up to an IT manager.”
Ohen began to feel like he had reached a glass ceiling. It was time to do something different.
“In 2013, I started my MBA, concentrating on supply chain and operation management. When I was doing my MBA I was watching a show on CNBC called ‘How I Made My Millions’ and it was one of my favorite shows. There was a segment about these guys who opened a gourmet doughnut shop. I was like why would you open a gourmet doughnut shop?”
“I watched them and I was like these guys had a plan. So I said let me go to the top 10 doughnut shops out there and every single one of them had a line outside the door. I looked around and I couldn’t find anybody that did it in my area, so I said why not?” says Ohen.
Ohen got some close family and friends together and raised $300,000 to start his new dream, Glazed The Doughnut Cafe.
“It took about two years to get it off the ground. We had about 2,000 people come to the grand opening and the first six months was a total disaster. We could not keep up with demand and we could not create enough products.”
“I had this perfect staffing plan and perfect projection and it was absolutely terrible. It stabilized after year one and we just recently opened our second location which is also growing,” says Ohen.
The biggest challenge for Ohen was managing his own expectations.
“I was so adamant about my business plan. I had all this predictive analysis saying we anticipate we are going to need flour because we plan on selling so many doughnuts a day and trying to force that to happen. But the thing is, you don’t know, you can’t tell. Somebody can wake up and say I want a doughnut today or not, so just trying to understand that there is a complete difference between what you think can happen and what actually happens was difficult.”
With his doughnut business set up, Ohen was ready for his next move.
“One thing I learned from my father was that he always preached diversification. Mitigation from the effects of the economic cycle was how he survived for so many years and thrived in business,” says Ohen.
That sparked the move into IT infrastructure and services. Ohen set up Alfa Dando, which is the parent company to his internet business. The first brand under that portfolio is Wireless NG.
“We have a company called Wireless NG that we are looking to roll out in Abuja and Benin City. It is focused on information technology solutions, network engineering, procurement, design, wireless communication, and radios,” he says.
For the past three years, Wireless NG has provided communication platforms for the Nigerian Gas Pipeline and Transportation Company and Ohen hopes to create a nationwide network soon.
Ohen is building a diversified empire and, unlike his doughnuts, there doesn’t seem to be any holes in his plan.

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From Gourmet Doughnuts To Grand Deals

At the age of 17, Gorgui N’doye, left home in Senegal to be an engineer in New York, but he ended up selling make-up to actors and opening the first Senegalese-French restaurant in Harlem. These days, in his late forties, the unlikely entrepreneur is back in Africa exporting peanuts to Asia.
In 2001, N’doye, who qualified as an electrical engineer from the City College of New York, worked as a salesperson in a company selling make-up to actors in the Big Apple.
“As I travelled Harlem to work there weren’t good restaurants around. I saw a business opportunity and decided to sell my shares at the company. I had contacts here and there, people know people, I worked with them in the build-up and opening of Patisserie des Ambassades in what we call Little Africa. It has been 16 years of hard work since then,” says N’doye.
“This business was needed; there was a demand for it from the African community. The Federal Government contributed 30 percent into the business.”
Many cast doubt on N’doye’s venture except his wife Ken Alice N’doye, who was a caterer making Senegalese food platters for birthdays and weddings.
“Of course people questioned my judgment but I just focused on my work because I believed it was a good thing. Now they know I am a hardworking person,” he says.
It took N’doye two years to get the restaurant at full steam. It was difficult.
“When we first came here in Frederick Douglass Boulevard, Harlem, in 2001, this area was bad, we were the first African restaurant in a gangster’s paradise,” says Ahmadou Ndiaye Jean, the restaurant’s manager who’s also Senegalese.
“In the seventies, Senegalese were the first Africans to land in downtown Manhattan. Most were taxi drivers; they were almost the only daring ones to move into Harlem, then undermined by drugs and criminality. But the rent was cheap. In the late nineties a new wave of other nationalities joined in. At the end of the decade federal authorities revitalized Harlem by renovating the buildings and strengthening law enforcement. The neighborhood is again dynamic and attractive to the middleclass,” says Ahmadou.
“We started the business with less than 10 people and these days we have about 50 staff, a majority of whom is from Senegal. We are open 20 hours. Basically, we just close to clean up. This place is so busy that we don’t have time to close. This is a Little Africa.”
“If it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger,” says N’doye about his survival in the crime-ridden Harlem.
“South of Harlem has majorly changed over the years. Now we are living in a gentrification that is better than before 2000. It is now called an entrance to Manhattan. After 16 years we have built very diversified customers. We have been blessed,” says N’doye.
In 2005, N’doye was the entrepreneur of year with the Small Business Administration (SBA) in New York.
In 2009, N’doye returned to Senegal where he explores other business opportunities.
“Since I returned back to Senegal I ventured into a different business of exporting peanuts to Asia and South Africa,” says N’doye.
“I learned a lot from the restaurant business, the interactions I had with African customers helped me with other business ideas back home. There’s a lot to explore in Africa,” he says.
So, the life of this former expatriate entrepreneur took a big circle from Senegal and the Big Apple.

A Little African Dream In Gangster’s Paradise

Arun Chadha has done well for himself far from home. He overcame racism, built a company from the ground up and now runs a steel exporter that employs 300 people and turns over billions of rands, in a cutthroat business, in Johannesburg.
It all began in India, 7,559 kilometers from Johannesburg. It was humble fireside teachings from his father, who worked for the government, that led him to a career that took him to Africa 28 years ago.
“The one thing my father gave us was good education. I did my chartered accountancy, took up a job in the Middle East and then moved to Zambia in 1988,” says Chadha.
He was poached by another company and transferred to South Africa as an expatriate. It was here where trouble began.
“I came and took over as the Chief Executive of a British company. I faced a lot of problems because people refused to come and meet me because I am Indian. I used to get phone calls from people threatening me because of the color of my skin or cars following me,” he recalls.
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It was hard but Chadha was harder. It took him just three months to show people skin didn’t matter to him.
“Surprisingly these same white guys became some of my closest friends as soon as they realized that our blood is all red, it’s not the skin that makes the difference, what makes the difference is the approach to things and the important thing is work.”
In 1994 he was transferred to New York. He decided South Africa was a beautiful country and he came back, became a permanent resident and Allied Chemicals and Steel, a general export business, was born.
“I had no problems setting up the company, getting a VAT registration or opening a bank account, none at all. I got all my approvals within three weeks,” he says.
Running his own business wasn’t easy. The first year’s turnover was R9-million ($656,000) but profit was a mere R20,000 ($1,500). This wasn’t enough to sustain the comfortable life he was used to as an expatriate.
“Life as an expatriate is very cushy because your house, car, furniture, children’s education and everything is paid for by the company. All of a sudden when you resign and start your own company, you have to pay for everything yourself,” says Chadha.
Expenses rose. He had to cut back. With his wife, they moved to a small rented flat for R3,500 ($250) where they stayed until the year 2000 when they bought their first home.
“Everything that was earned went back to the company to grow the company. What you see today is from those beginnings. The one [thing] that was there, which was on my side, was education… You might not use your education but it’s a stepping stone towards your next level,” he says.
In 1996 the company focused on its core product, steel. The business grew at a rapid rate. From the year 2000 to 2008, they touched a turnover of over a billion rand ($73 million).
“The problem thought though was always that I am a trader and not manufacturer. Sooner or later, someone will override me or overstep me and I will not be able to compete with them.”
In 2010, Chadha bought a piece of land, near Vereeniging, south of Johannesburg, to build a steel factory.
“That’s when I met Warne Rippon, he used to have a company called Steelrode and we decided to merge the two companies because we were not conflicting with each other. One was exporting into Africa and the other was focused on South Africa,” he says.
It was a long process. It took six months for the merger to be approved.
“From the days of 1994 where it took me 24 hours, it took us six months to get a VAT registration. That’s some of the frustrations new business people are facing now. I do not understand why it takes so long…,” he says.
The merger was finalized on March 1, 2013, giving birth to Allied Steelrode, which employs 300 people. The company has tripled its turnover in the last three years; but not without problems.
As an export company into Africa, it deals with emerging markets, some suffering from a cash crisis and others with unstable politics which weakens the economy.
“In Zimbabwe we are facing problems because the people we export to have the money in the banks but the banks can’t remit the money to us. We now have to accept money in pounds, euros, US dollars, and whatever is available… The devaluation in Zambia has been great. But after the elections are over and [President Edgar] Lungu has come in, it has been fairly stable.”
For Chadha, the biggest problem in Africa is the falling commodity prices.
“We hope the commodity prices start looking up in 2017. We see that oil has gone up, gold prices have gone up and that’s why steel prices are shooting up at the moment. I have a feeling 2017 is going to be a better year than 2016.”
It is optimism, steadfastness and kindness that led him to the top at the end of a 7,559-kilometer journey.

‘People Refused To Come And Meet Me Because  I Am Indian’

Kenya is rallying behind Ambassador Dr Amina Mohamed to be the next Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, and Africa has warmly received her nomination. Elections were set to be held on January 31.
With a stellar diplomatic career of over three decades, Mohamed, a Kenyan, is known as an excellent strategist with proven negotiation and managerial skills, having demonstrated solid leadership in every domestic and international post she has held.
She is the serving Chair of the 10th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference which is the topmost decision-making body of the WTO.
Mohamed rose through the ranks in Kenya’s diplomatic service from legal advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Kenya’s Missions to Geneva and New York, to the highest level of Ambassador/Permanent Representative, Kenya Mission, to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva from 2000 to 2006.
She served as Director, Europe and the Commonwealth and Director Diaspora from 2006 to 2007 and was Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs in 2008.
In July 2011, she joined the UN as Assistant Secretary General and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) based in Nairobi.
In April 2013, she was appointed by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta as Cabinet Secretary (Minister) for Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Kenya.
Weeks before the AU Commission elections, Mohamed spoke to CNBC Africa. Excerpts from the interview:
Q: You’ve had many firsts as a woman in leadership in Africa; just walk us through your journey?
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A: The first time I did something that I guess laid the road-map for whatever else came after was when I was elected to chair the International Organization for Migration Conference which is a council for migration. At that time, Kenya was actually the only African country that was a member of the International Organization for Migration. And when I was approached, I told them that the only reason I would agree to be put up as a candidate for the chairmanship would be if they would open up the organization for Africa, and would be able to attract more countries into the organization.
So we reached an understanding and I chaired it and during my chairmanship, that one year, I brought in a few African countries, and the rest is actually history, because now I think the largest group of countries that are members of the IOM are African countries, and from then on, I think in especially the kind of job that we do as ambassadors, you are called upon to show your commitment to the continent by agreeing to chair different bodies.
And so I was fortunate, I was privileged that the African group in the cities that I served in saw it fit to elect me over and over again, and so it’s something that I enjoyed doing, I was committed to doing and I think the record is not a bad one.
Q: You are now running to be chairperson of the AU Commission, tell us about the drive behind this decision?
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A: Kenya has put up my candidateship for the position of Chairman of the African Union Commission. Why am I running? I think we have a lot of value that we can bring to the table; we are also at a good time in the history of this continent. The first thing that comes to mind is the framework that we have. We have a framework that was agreed on by all African countries that needs a faithful implementer to put in place.
It’s a framework called Agenda 2063, for inclusive growth and sustainable development and it has a number of amazing aspirations for the continent. I think it’s actually time for East Africa because of the track record we have also set as a community, as an East African Community in what we have done.
We created a model for others to emulate and so there’s just a feeling that it was time for us to run for this position and I would be a good candidate for that because again I can bring people together, I have never come across a challenge that cannot be resolved, I look at challenges actually as opportunities. And I believe that we all know what we need as a continent to move us forward. One should look at the leaps we have made.
We are a young continent, we have done amazing things, we – many of us – have come up with new constitutions, constitutions that are based on our own realities, not on realities that come from elsewhere, also we look at our own specificities, our own individualities as countries.
For us as a continent, it’s actually excellent that we have such a young population.
It’s a young population that’s creative and innovative that are drivers of the economy and they are also the future and the present and therefore whatever they do, they know what they would like to put in place, for themselves and for their own children and for posterity I guess.
So we actually are in a situation where we can lead and not follow, because the problem is ours, the challenge is ours and it’s a wonderful opportunity to use, to propel the continent to the greatest possible heights.
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Q: Briefly take us through what an AU Commission led by you will focus on, looking at the challenges Africa is facing…
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A: I think industrialization, without any doubt. It is the only one that has the ability to reduce poverty, create the jobs that we need and to move the continent [forward]. And I think following that, trade, because trade brings us together, which is a unifier if you like.
We need to make sure that our infrastructure, whether it’s land, sea or air, is seamless. It doesn’t take a day, it’s a process but we need to get on with it. We need to remove the obstacles that are low-lying fruit… they can be removed easily.
One of those is allowing the easier movement of people, business people, of capital, services and goods. There is no reason why Kenya should import; and I am using as an example, if we did not have the dairy sector and we needed butter, milk or cheese, there is no reason why we should import that from 10,000 miles away; if we can just go across the border, into the next country and import from our neighbors.
The only reason why that has been difficult is because of the infrastructure deficit that we are faced with and we need to address that and address it quickly.
In this country we have tried to do it, in the region we have tried to do it with the SGR, with the road infrastructure that we have put in place, with the modernization with the port that has been done over the last few years, with the modernization of our airport, so those are the things we need to do across the continent so that our young people can move from one country to another, bring ideas, bring creativity, bring innovation, but also find jobs.
So apart from industrialization, and obviously there you have to address the infrastructure deficit, trade and the need to trade amongst ourselves; the intra-Africa trade is at 13%, and there is no reason for that. It should actually be at least at 30%; we should, eventually have 60% of trade within the continent.
This is where the population is, this is where the fastest growing middle-class is, and obviously with that, you have a consumer market, so this is where most of the trading should actually take place.
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Q: The outgoing AU Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has been very vocal about peace and security. Share with us your vision…
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A: She’s also been very passionate about agriculture, because agriculture has the ability to transform communities and societies very quickly and there’s a need therefore again as a reason of the youth to make agriculture trendy and productive for the youth.
But you know you cannot undertake development unless you actually have a peaceful, stable and predictable environment. You must have peace and security, without it you can’t have growth.
And so it’s been actually a rallying call of Madam Zuma, to silence the guns and we’ve agreed that we would try to do that at least by 2020, if we can’t do it sooner. I believe that if we all came together and are always committed as she is, we should be able to do that before the 2020 deadline.
Africa does not manufacture ammunition except for a few countries. Africa is resolving most of its conflicts and there are very few countries today, of the 54, that are still engulfed in conflict, in fact there are probably less than five that are engulfed in active conflict, and therefore we are at a place where we should be talking about a peaceful Africa, a secure Africa, a growing Africa, a resilient Africa.
So it’s one of the priorities. We actually addressed most of the issues that were connected to decolonization, that peace and security became a big issue and we started addressing it.
I think if we are focused we can actually deal with it, it’s been successful in the majority of countries and of course there will be hiccups, back and forth, but I think a majority of the countries have gone beyond the stage where conflict is a daily affair, so we need to continue working on it and I think we should be able to get it done.
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Q: What’s your vision on
driving governance?
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A: We have a very comprehensive and all-inclusive agenda. And that is also an issue that is in our Agenda 2063; we are more transparent, we are more open. Again, we are a young continent, the youth is very demanding, we are involving more and more people in leadership – apart from the youth, the women that are coming in jobs now.
So I think today Africa is at a better place, in terms of the rule of law, in terms of governance than it has ever been, and I think the only way forward is to keep improving that.
And as I said before, we [Kenya] enacted our constitution in 2010. Immediately after its enactment – I was in Justice, Permanent Secretary there – we got a dozen requests from countries that wanted to come and look at our constitution and see whether there was anything they could borrow from there that would fit their own circumstances. Because at the end of the day, the instrument is only as good as its implementation.
And you will only implement something that you are really comfortable with, and so the whole purpose of coming to study and look at what we are doing is, ‘will this fit into my own circumstance, is it something I can do now, is it something that can be delayed a bit’.
As you know, our own constitution had transitional clauses, what we needed to do now, what we could a little later; some of the provisions could only actually be fully implemented in five years, six years, and 10 years. So we had actually time periods in the constitution for implementation of different provisions.
So I think it’s the same everywhere, but the governance situation on the continent is better than it’s ever been and I know it’s going to continue improving.
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Q: Your bid has been warmly
accepted across a good number of countries, over 25 African countries. What are your expectations as we head towards January 2017?
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A: We are campaigning, I was told by one of our leaders that campaigns are personal, you must ask for a vote and that if you don’t ask for a vote, even your own brother can vote against you, so we are going across the continent asking everybody for their support and trying of course to obviously convince them that we have a good candidate. They have been very receptive, very warmly received, wonderful arrangements put in place for us… we are encouraged by the reception and the support that seems to be coming across as well.
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– Gitonga is a news producer at CNBC Africa and interviewed Mohamed at the CNBC Africa studios in Nairobi in November, Kenya; for the full text of the interview, visit
www.cnbcafrica.com.

‘Our Strength Lies In Coming Together’

The chairman of VBS Mutual is a tall, dark and imposing chartered accountant; on this late summer’s morning he is fed up. Tshifhiwa Matodzi and his shareholders suffered slings and arrows when they opted to loan President Jacob Zuma millions to refund the taxpayer for Nkandla. At the time politicians were baying for the bank&#8217;s blood and media was digging for dirt.
Soon after it was announced that the president paid the money through VBS Mutual in September, a small bank founded in Venda in 1982, in northern South Africa, the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) issued a statement demanding disclosure.
“While both Zuma and VBS Mutual Bank claim a home loan agreement or mortgage does exist between the two parties, there’s no evidence of such a bond registered in the deeds registry, raising the question as to whether a home loan indeed does exist,” says the DA.
It was a deal that the press and opposition in Parliament thought fishy; they thought the loan was funded by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), a retirement fund that has a 25% shareholding in VBS Mutual. Eight months later, Matodzi, suited and booted in a Melrose Arch hotel in northern Johannesburg, was indignant, but composed.
“There were no underhand dealings. They all said go find out if there’s bribery involved. If you do things right, these things fall out. People realized that we are not interested in politics, I have never met the president. They came with their corruption accusations, but they found nothing. There were racism undertones,” says Matodzi.
On December 14, the DA leader Mmusi Maimane’s spokesman, Mabine Seabe, said neither the office of the president or VBS Mutual complied with their demand to see the proof of payment.
“It is in the public interest to ascertain whether a loan exists; what the conditions of the loan are; whether Jacob Zuma has personally signed surety on the loan, and not any of his cronies; and what effect, if any, does this have on the court’s finding that the president must personally pay back the R7.8 million determined by the National Treasury,” says the DA.
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“We cannot provide the DA or anyone with a proof of payment of the President&#8217;s loan or any of our clients&#8217; because of the confidentiality rule and agreement that governs the relationship between the bank and its clients. It is important to note that the National Treasury did make it publicly known and confirmed that the President has honored the said payment through a loan from VBS Mutual Bank. This confirmation was made public to the DA and everyone that the President has paid through a loan from VBS Mutual Bank,” says a response from VBS Mutual.
Matodzi decries controversial stories around the President’s loan, questioning the bank’s funding of rural homes without title deeds. Cynicism emerged on radio stations, in particular Power FM, where the bank was discussed. One online response said: “What are the odds that within a year this little mouse of a bank will have to be bailed out by the PIC because of a cashflow problem due to a certain big lender not honoring his commitments?”
Again Matodzi was indignant.
“It was not the biggest loan, it was not even in our top 50, but it was the biggest profile simply because it’s the president. The bank has the assets of R1.2 billion ($87.5 million), so you may understand that a R7 million ($500,000) is a drop in the ocean. The original name was Venda Building Society, so our main core business was funding homes in traditional Venda where other banks didn’t want to go,” he says.
City Press’ investigative and award-winning journalist, Sipho Masondo, was one of the journalists Matodzi claimed to have written hearsay about VBS Mutual. In one of the articles entitled ‘What is VBS Mutual Bank? Everything you need to know’, the newspaper alleged Matodzi and Robert Madzonga, the Chief Operating Officer, ran the bank with impunity. Masondo said the bank’s board didn’t approve of a R136-million ($9.9-million) loan for the two to buy a 54% stake in Afric Oil but they took the loan anyway. Masondo further alleged Zuma intended to crown the Venda king, a VBS shareholder, around the same time the loan was awarded. But when FORBES AFRICA asked Masondo to reiterate his claims in December, he was uncooperative.
Matodzi denies any wrongdoing.
“Whether it was in Nkandla or Venda, to us it was not a problem. I think it was the lack of education and a political issue that created the talk about the President’s loan. Countries should be built from their rural areas, and that’s what VBS has been doing better than any other bank. As a business we are exploiting the vacuum that has been created by mainstream banks,” says Matodzi.
Matodzi was still in primary school when the bank was formed by the Venda Bantustan government and traditional leaders. He says in the 1980s it was a go-to bank for the local people. It was during those early days he had the epiphany that when he finished university he would help the bank grow.
VBS Mutual became a mutual bank in 1990. Now it is one of three in the country, along with Ithala Development Finance Corporation and Finbond Mutual Bank.
VBS Mutual, which has only four branches in South Africa, including the headquarters in Johannesburg, was in the red until 2013 when Dyambeu Investments acquired a majority stake. Dyambeu partners, including Matodzi, property magnate David Mabilu, telecoms businessman Maanda Phalanndwa, and the Venda King Toni Mphephu Ramabulana, own 26% of the shares.
Matodzi, who served as an IT auditor at various South African banks while doing articles at KPMG, says one of the pillars of their turnaround strategy was the repositioning of the bank as a small- and medium-enterprise (SME) bank. In a year, more than R450 million ($32.8 million) was advanced to SMEs. He claimed 99% repayment from rural clients.
It may be a small bank but it will be remembered for lending always to the big man.

Bank On Us  Mr President

Africa’s Billionaires

Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said, “I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of rights.”
This sentiment might not be far off for 2010 Tutu Fellow, Zimbabwe-born Jacqueline Chimhanzi.
She did her PhD in Strategic Marketing at the Cardiff Business School in the United Kingdom, and now, added on her work portfolio, Chimhanzi has recently been appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the African Leadership Institute (AFLI), after being on the institute’s board of directors for six years.
“Every day feels like I am waking up to my calling,” says Chimhanzi, describing what it’s been like settling in her job.
Formerly the Senior Strategist at Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), Chimhanzi was recognized by FORBES as one of the 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa, who are shaping the narrative for the continent’s growth, in 2012.
It was when she was part of the Tutu Fellowship Program that her career started to focus more on Africa and she decided to play a role in making the continent a better place.
“The program helps you notice the difference you can make,” she says.
Making a difference became her mandate wherever she worked after the fellowship. The budding photographer worked as Lead: Africa Desk at Deloitte South Africa.
“I raised my hand with the Africa Desk venture and part of [any] career progression, especially for women, is to raise your hand in any given opportunity,” she says.
Part of her vision is to see the infrastructure gap on the continent closed and Africans investing in Africa, especially in women, who she says benefit the least when it comes to business and funding opportunities.
To see this materialize, Chimhanzi, with the support of Graça Machel, founded New Faces New Voices in 2010. It is a pan-African platform which focuses on expanding the role and influence of women in the financial sector.
Chimhanzi says some of the challenges unsettling investors are policies in various African countries and the slow pace of implementing concepts.
“We need an app that connects funders and projects because there is an information asymmetry in the market gap in our continent. Another challenge in the rest of the continent is that capital markets are very shallow, most banks lend in the short-term and interest rates are very high,” she says.
However, it is not all doom and gloom. Chimhanzi is optimistic about young Africans making their mark on the continent. She says leaders need to “draw on the talents and experiences from the youth in order to co-create solutions”.
Chimhanzi also wishes to see Africa transform into the self-sustainable continent she believes it can be.
With someone like Chimhanzi steering the wheel, Africa has a bright future.

Jack-023

A New Voice  For A New Africa

They are new, blue and as powerful as eight Ferraris; these are the 232 train engines to be built by Rolls-Royce’s MTU South Africa (MTU SA) ready to roll out of Cape Town in South Africa and onto Africa’s railways.
“There are 7.2 billion people in the world, just in Africa, in 2010, we had estimates of 1 billion. By 2040, it will be double. By 2030, we will already need 50% more energy, 40% more water and 30% more food. How will you transport all that? We’re going to see mega cities especially in Asia and Africa. We need power and we need fuel efficiency and this is where rail comes in.”
So says Andrea Nono, CEO of MTU SA, at their refurbished offices in Montague Gardens, Cape Town. Here, MTU SA forked out R50 million ($3.53 million) to upgrade their factory to lay the foundation for expansion into Africa; their next big target.
“The message is simple and clear. We are changing Africa and hope to make a positive difference. It is a big moment for local manufacturing in South Africa. Let’s not forget the successes and the success stories. It is huge that an international company has been localized.”
It means MTU SA can now assemble, test and paint engines destined for anything from warships to mine trucks. The 232 engines are destined for Durban and run at a powerful 3,300kW and weigh 9.7 tonnes. This makes them lighter and cheaper than the Ferraris, jokes Nono.
<div id="attachment_32116" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32116" class="wp-image-32116 size-large" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/MTU_JC-8-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/MTU_JC-8.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/MTU_JC-8-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/MTU_JC-8-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/MTU_JC-8-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Andrea Nono and a completed engine</div>
The engines come straight out of a £1.2billion investment into research and development made by Rolls-Royce in 2015, a business worth £76.4 billion.
One of those working on the engines is Pamela Tebogo Maphanga, a technician at MTU SA.
Maphanga, remarkably, grew up in Zebediela, a small rural area in Limpopo, without any electricity at all.
“I was very young. The fact that you could switch on a stove, it was something so amazing. There was no electricity, so we used to go into the field, get wood, make fire and then cook and cook. I had to fetch water because there were no taps,” she says.
“Everyone at my house, my mom, my aunties they are all nurses. I said no I wasn’t going to be a nurse. It has to stop somewhere.”
The 30-year-old Maphanga, started here as an apprentice and worked her way up. She is now an electrical technician as well as dyno tester, responsible for testing the fleet.
“It makes a huge noise when the engine is running. No one is allowed to go in.”
Maphanga also knows too well South Africa’s overburdened train system having had to take them while studying at college in Pretoria.
“The fun of running for a train, that excitement, always when you go home you run for the train going back after college you have to run for the train. I know them very well. The trucks [transporting goods that should be on trains] mess up our roads, they are too heavy for them.”
In 10 years’ time, Maphanga sees herself as a manager and wants to make a change.
“We need more women. I’ve proved that it can be done. April is going to be my fifth year being at MTU. There’s been a couple of challenges, that I’ve overcome. But I am here now and proud to be part of this male-dominated workplace. I am showing them how to do it. Especially since now I am a technician. I’ve grown, I used to be this shy little girl, now I’ve grown up and even have my own small project that I am working on,” says Maphanga.
These days, Maphanga doesn’t even notice the smell of diesel and grease on her overalls, even though the people she comes across when walking home from work do.
“It gets so normal it’s part of the daily bread. There are women and men stopping me on the side of the street asking where I work. They ask me how did I get here. They’ve got their own daughters who want to go to college and get here. To be like me.
“When I [started], everything was hard. Everything was too big for me, everything was too difficult for me, but I fought and fought. I asked questions when I didn’t understand and I learned.”
On this day, Maphanga’s story leaves as large an impression as the massive white engine, still to be painted in the fashion forward MTU blue, she stands behind. Like Maphanga, the boss Nono, also started working as an apprentice.
“I’ve been in this industry for almost 20 years. I grew up in it. For me personally, it’s great to actually have the impact as CEO having the liberty and pushing the diversity agenda even more in the business. The means also giving women the chance to shine in this industry even more,” says Nono.
MTU SA estimates there are 120,000 industrial engines in Africa alone, leaving plenty of work for the factory once the rail engines are complete.
Two women whose lives have changed thanks to engines that are more powerful than Ferraris and will certainly carry more goods than can fit into their boots.

MTU_JC-1

The Smell Of Diesel,  Grease And Success

When does a country become synonymous with its community?
Just visit Rwanda on the last Saturday of any month, and you will see it here, in this hilly East African country, where the masses – from ministers to farmers, shopkeepers to entrepreneurs – rub shoulders to become one harmonious, homogeneous entity, laying roads, digging the earth, planting trees, and cleaning gutters and drains, holding broom, shovel and spade.
The only thing that counts is the richness of the earth, the fresh mountain air and a united mission to keep the streets green and immaculately clean as a contribution to nation-building and improving the living conditions of the country’s 11.5 million citizens.
It’s on one such Saturday that FORBES WOMAN AFRICA is invited to travel upcountry to Rwanda’s verdant Rulindo district, past Kigali’s bustling traffic and up the winding roads when the city’s modest skyscrapers appear no match for the country’s magnificent hills.
It’s the day the country observes Umuganda, a home-grown initiative that requires people from all walks of life, villagers and city-folk, to congregate for community work, once a month, from 7AM to 11AM.
Today, most of the action is in this northern province, where schoolgirls in blinding yellow and pink uniforms, rural women in colorful African dresses, and men in gum boots, form neat lines to take their turn planting saplings in the fertile earth.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-32082 size-large" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/DSC_4279-684x1024.jpg" alt="" width="684" height="1024" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC_4279.jpg 684w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC_4279-300x449.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC_4279-600x898.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC_4279-200x300.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 684px) 100vw, 684px" />
Today, they are also awaiting a special visitor, who will dig the earth with them, under the hot mid-morning sun.
The earth is an apt way to introduce Imbuto Foundation – the word ‘Imbuto’ meaning ‘seed’ or ‘fruit’ in Kinyarwanda, Rwanda’s local language. And the special guest is none other than the President of this foundation, Jeannette Kagame, also the nation’s much-loved First Lady, wife to the country’s dynamic President Paul Kagame.
There is collective silence and adulation when she arrives, wearing denim pants and shirt and a yellow cap, getting to work right away with the shovel. A stone’s throw away, in a classroom, young girls aged 10 to 12 are seated in a circle on straw mats, ready to welcome her.
They call this ‘the circle of friendship’, and around them are their mentors, young women themselves, aged 18 to 25.
Today is also the launch of the third year of Imbuto Foundation’s successful 12+ program in the area.
The program, in line with the national plan under the Ministry of Health, has achieved significant milestones, reaching 52,000 girls nationally over the last two years.
The girls are taught about savings, discipline and confidence, in tandem with Imbuto’s motto to ‘engage, educate and empower’. The 10- to 12-year-olds are also taught about sexual health, ground-breaking by itself, as sex is still a taboo topic in the communities, and the girls are equipped with the knowledge about their bodies early, before they transition to adolescence.
In the classroom, the girls pass around a ‘speaking ball’ to each other, taking turns to voice their opinions in Kinyarwanda. They speak with supreme confidence – unfaltering even in the presence of the First Lady – drawing their hands on the charts in front of them, promising to never break their circle of friendship. Her Excellency listens to them keenly, before they pass the ball to her, and she politely introduces herself.
Her next stop is further down the dirt road, for a community gathering after Umuganda, where she is expected to speak to the thousands gathered on the hills, patiently waiting under cheerful umbrellas for a glimpse of their First Lady.
Greeted with music, ribbons and flowers, there is rapturous applause from the crowd when she arrives. The cool country breeze complements the convivial mood. The district mayor speaks about how the previous phases of the 12+ program have influenced the girls to open bank accounts, start kitchen gardens, and importantly, stay in school.
A 10-year-old girl, Amina Merci Dieu, steps up to the podium to speak about how she built a vegetable garden, sold the vegetables she planted and persuaded her parents to open a savings account. She speaks without fear, walking up to hug the First Lady when she is done.
I am seated next to Assumpta Ingabire, Director General in charge of Local Government Inspection, who was formerly with Imbuto.
“Our First Lady is such an inspiring role model. You can share your problems with her and she always sees things in a positive way,” she says, smiling.
Such memories and milestones are significant as Imbuto celebrates its 15th year in 2016.
“Imbuto does not work in a vacuum, it works in line with national priorities, working with communities. Without our communities, things would have taken forever [to rebuild],” says Sandrine Umutoni, Acting Director General of Imbuto Foundation.
It’s a pertinent point, as the country has had to reconcile and persevere to rebuild itself after the horrific genocide against the Tutsi that killed a million of its people in 1994. The only way it could turn around was by involving its communities.
Imbuto was initially launched as PACFA (Protection And Care of Families against HIV/AIDS) working to help families and genocide survivors with AIDS. It changed its name to Imbuto at the end of 2007 incorporating a holistic model for individual development, focusing mainly on educational projects.
One of Imbuto’s flagship programs is a girls’ education campaign called Best Performing Girls (BPG).
“The girls who graduate from high school get training in IT, and also get laptops, which the First Lady hands out every year in March,” says Umutoni.
“They call her ‘mother’,” she adds. “In Kinyarwanda, when they call a person that, it means the person has accompanied you through difficult challenges, guiding you, counseling you, and providing support at specific moments in your life.”
Imbuto also organizes a Youth Forum Series every year. In addition, the foundation works with 22 cooperatives across 13 districts, introducing women to income-generating vocations. With the money, they pay for school fees and medical insurance and enter new entrepreneurial activities.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-32083 size-large" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/DSC_4402-1024x684.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="684" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC_4402.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC_4402-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC_4402-600x401.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC_4402-768x513.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
The week that FORBES WOMAN AFRICA is in Kigali to follow the First Lady’s activities, is when the King of Morocco is also visiting, to sign an MoU with Rwanda on specific health and education projects. The Princess of Jordan, Sarah Zeid, is also visiting this week.
In between her packed schedule, the First Lady also attends a meeting with members of the 20-year-old Unity Club that she heads. The club brings together current and former members of cabinet and their spouses to promote unity and reconciliation in Rwanda. They also honor the country’s ‘torch-bearers’ every year in November, for outstanding social service.
The meeting with the Unity Club members, which I am also invited to attend, is at Imbuto’s temporary office in the President’s office complex in Kacyiru. Their office on the same grounds is being renovated. The complex is in a stunning manicured setting with frangipani trees, hibiscus flowers, ferns and foliage.
The First Lady is dressed in a smart beige and black suit and sits at the head of the mahogany table in the meeting room. She listens patiently and intently, speaking softly in Kinyarwanda as the ladies consult the files in front of them. She offers solutions and better approaches for some of the issues raised. It’s an in-depth discussion that goes on for over two hours, the seriousness interspersed at times with jokes by the First Lady – she clearly has an effortless sense of humor.
One of the ladies at the meeting is Radegonde Ndejuru, the First Lady’s advisor, who has been with Imbuto for 10 years now.
“We have a family spirit at Imbuto. Her Excellency is always so respectful. Her text messages to everyone starts with ‘good morning’ or ‘good evening’. We put passion in everything we do as that is the way she does it. She also has a phenomenal memory and shows great attention to detail&#8230; I always ask her: ‘do you sleep enough?’ She is here in the morning, reads a lot and what I admire is she always follows through projects,” says Ndejuru.
In March 2016, at the 5th Kigali International Conference Declaration General Assembly in Algeria, the First Lady was presented an award along with United Nations’ Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in recognition of their contribution to women’s empowerment and their fight against gender-based violence.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-32084 size-large" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/DSC_4533-684x1024.jpg" alt="" width="684" height="1024" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC_4533.jpg 684w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC_4533-300x449.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC_4533-600x898.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC_4533-200x300.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 684px) 100vw, 684px" />
Rwanda is a global model for gender equality. The World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2016 ranks Rwanda fifth globally for closing the gender gap in various spheres. The country has the highest representation (64%) of women in Parliament.
As part of gender mainstreaming, there is a Gender Monitoring Bureau in every institution in Rwanda, as the country works towards achieving a middle income status by 2020.
The First Lady works with a team of young, spirited, hard-working women, who exemplify the qualities of their leader. It is clear they have a great admiration for her work.
Before we settle for the interview, Mrs Kagame, as she is also called, begins by asking how I am, with a disarming smile. And that aptly sets the tone for the rest of the conversation. It’s easy to see how this mother of four has won the hearts of Rwandans.

DSC_2230

A Day In The Life Of A First Lady

Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane took over as South Africa’s new Public Protector on October 14, the day her predecessor Thuli Madonsela famously ended her seven-year term.
Although Mkhwebane describes her first day in office as one of her best, she says she was thrown in the deep end when she had to present the State of Capture report compiled by Madonsela.
We visit Mkhwebane on a rainy day in Pretoria in the office of the Public Protector, where, on the wall now is a framed photograph of Mkhwebane, alongside South African President Jacob Zuma and his deputy, Cyril Ramaphosa.
She appears wearing a charming smile and a red dress with a leopard print blazer.
Mkhwebane grew up in Kwaggafontein, a dusty village in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa, born to a farmworker who was an unskilled laborer for Sasol; her mother was a housewife.
When only 17, Mkhwebane became a mother, and had to go in and out of court to seek child support from her then boyfriend.
She had initially wanted to become a social worker, but the courtroom visits actually influenced her to study law.
“It exposed me to another element of assisting, at first I wanted to work in court and be a judge. Having my first child at a young age encouraged me to be educated,” says Mkhwebane.
After obtaining a degree in law from the University of the North, she followed it up with a Diploma in Corporate Law and Higher Diploma in Tax Law from Rand Afrikaans University. She has worked as a Director of the Country Information and Cooperation Management Unit for the Department of Home Affairs.
Today, as the new Public Protector, she is in the media glare. She has big shoes to fill.
“We had Pastor At Boshoff of the Christian Revival Church welcome the staff, so for me that was the highlight. It was like homecoming because I had worked for the office before and [was] meeting old colleagues,” says Mkhwebane, who in 1999 had worked at the Public Protector’s office as a Senior Investigator and Acting Provincial Representative.
Just before taking over, Mkhwebane says she only met Madonsela for a brief 20 minutes, although, she wishes she had more time with her because she had to present the State of Capture report in Parliament the following week.
“I dealt with it, because I never prepared that report but I owned it. It’s one of the performances which the former Public Protector has achieved.  She was excellent in that and whatever was in the annual report I had to present it as my own,” she says.
One of the most high-profile cases in recent history was Madonsela’s investigation of Zuma’s estimated R246-million (approx. $17.3 million as per current exchange rate)public spending on the security upgrades of his home in Nkandla in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province.
“I met her only once on her last day, I was supposed to receive the handover report unfortunately she had slept in the office busy preparing it and in the morning when I arrived, she wasn’t here so I only met with the CEO and other senior managers,” she says.
“I’ve got nothing against her; she’s got nothing against me. When we met, I thanked her and told her that I will take over from her and [take] the office to greater heights.”
Mkhwebane’s appointment came with its share of controversy when the Democratic Alliance (DA) claimed she was a spy for Zuma. Mkhwebane denies this.
“I’ve never had an interaction with President Zuma besides meeting him when he visited China for a state visit; I was responsible for communication when we were arranging the local media for interviews, that’s when we were in the same room but not even interacting. The DA is making a frivolous allegation that I’m a spy and they are not bringing any proof after I indicated several times that they need to disclose their sources who are lying to them.” Despite the unsubstantiated claims, she is pressing on with her work, tackling criticism head on.
“It sometimes builds you as a person. I’m not one to act out of that and be emotional and angry. I analyze what I’m criticized for and what I can learn from it. And you won’t satisfy every person,” she says.
The first thing she noticed after assuming office was staff morale was an issue.
“There are people who haven’t signed their performance agreements for the past two years and some have taken the institution to the CCMA, what do you call that?” says Mkhwebane.
The next seven years in office, she hopes to empower ordinary people to stand up for what is right and hold leaders to account.
Madonsela will be remembered for her fight against corruption. Time will tell if Mkhwebane will live up to the admiration many hold for the Public Protector’s office.

AV_00061869

‘Criticism Sometimes Builds You As A Person’

My last day in office as Public Protector in South Africa was difficult. That Friday, October 14, it was difficult for me to focus on any feeling because we had not slept the night before. My focus was on finishing the editing of the [State of Capture] report in the morning.
And then rushing home to freshen up and then get back on time to meet the new Public Protector and take her through some of the things with the team. That would be our first meeting and we would schedule more when I am out of the office.
Nonetheless, that Friday was like a fast-forwarded movie, everything was fast, and every minute just disappeared.
Unwisely, we also had arranged a media briefing for that day, which just made it very complicated. Because I often found myself in a fast-paced situation that day, having little time, I had no time to reflect how blessed I had been. I think that is something I did on Saturday after the 14th when I just reflected.
Firstly, to be given this opportunity to be the Public Protector and secondly, to work with people who shared the same vision, and worked with me understanding the purpose of the office while defining our purposes as individuals within that.
That really was the focus of my reflection, the role became very, very distant, but at the end of it really it seemed to me that most of the things that had happened were extraordinary, things that I am really thankful to be a part of.
I really think that it was such a remarkable journey with remarkable people. Members of our team who were working with limited resources but keeping their eyes on the ball, and people in government who, besides all the noise, the majority of them really just focused on doing it right.
Late at night [Friday], when everyone else was gone, there was a team of staff members that volunteered to come and clear the office, fitting things in boxes, which was really kind of them and it wasn’t just those that had been working closely with me in the public office.
It was really a touching moment.
Over time, I have been totally surprised by the reaction of people because you and I know that we all just [were] required to do our job. The attention and accolades sometimes confuse me, though it’s something I am obviously grateful for because when you are doing a job, you [are] worrying that ‘let me not do it wrong, let me not drop the ball’, and of course I noticed that there were balls that we dropped.
Especially when it came to doing work in a timely manner because we had to catch this ball and catch that one and in every multi-tasking, some balls were dropped. But the generosity of the people, in focusing on only the good that we did, has been amazing.
I am just like any other person doing my work with a team of people. The difference between me and the team is the title, I have been given the title of Public Protector and the team was working as hard.
There was nothing special about me, other than the fact that I had a title and in terms of brains and commitment, the men and women I worked with were equally talented colleagues and worked hard.
I am not remarkable beyond other females, I am just blessed in that people seem to focus on the good I do.
Thinking of South Africa after my term is that it’s such a beautiful and  remarkable country, there is so much to do in this country.
It has come this far, but today is better than yesterday and tomorrow is certainly going to be better than today. Chin up and focus on the dream, the dream that’s been captured in the Constitution.
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– As told to Thandi Xaba

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‘That Friday Was Like  A Fast-Forwarded Movie’

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Kenya is rallying behind Ambassador Dr Amina Mohamed to be the next Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, and Africa has warmly received her nomination. Elections are set to be held in January.
With a stellar diplomatic career of over three decades, Mohamed, a Kenyan, is known as an excellent strategist with proven negotiation and managerial skills, having demonstrated solid leadership in every domestic and international post she has held.
She is the serving Chair of the 10th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference which is the topmost decision-making body of the WTO.
Mohamed rose through the ranks in Kenya’s diplomatic service from legal advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Kenya’s Missions to Geneva and New York, to the highest level of Ambassador/Permanent Representative, Kenya Mission, to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva from 2000 to 2006.
She served as Director, Europe and the Commonwealth and Director Diaspora from 2006 to 2007 and was Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs in 2008.
In July 2011, she joined the UN as Assistant Secretary General and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) based in Nairobi.
In April 2013, she was appointed by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta as Cabinet Secretary (Minister) for Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Kenya.
Weeks before the AU Commission elections, Mohamed spoke to CNBC Africa. Excerpts from the interview:
Q: You’ve had many firsts as a woman in leadership in Africa; just walk us through your journey?
A: The first time I did something that I guess laid the road-map for whatever else came after was when I was elected to chair the International Organization for Migration Conference which is a council for migration. At that time, Kenya was actually the only African country that was a member of the International Organization for Migration. And when I was approached, I told them that the only reason I would agree to be put up as a candidate for the chairmanship would be if they would open up the organization for Africa, and would be able to attract more countries into the organization.
So we reached an understanding and I chaired it and during my chairmanship, that one year, I brought in a few African countries, and the rest is actually history, because now I think the largest group of countries that are members of the IOM are African countries, and from then on, I think in especially the kind of job that we do as ambassadors, you are called upon to show your commitment to the continent by agreeing to chair different bodies.
And so I was fortunate, I was privileged that the African group in the cities that I served in saw it fit to elect me over and over again, and so it’s something that I enjoyed doing, I was committed to doing and I think the record is not a bad one.
<div id="attachment_32061" style="width: 692px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32061" class="wp-image-32061 size-large" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/041©Thomsonphotography-Amina-WTO.jpg" alt="" width="682" height="1024" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/041©Thomsonphotography-Amina-WTO.jpg 682w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/041©Thomsonphotography-Amina-WTO-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/041©Thomsonphotography-Amina-WTO-600x901.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/041©Thomsonphotography-Amina-WTO-200x300.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 682px) 100vw, 682px" />Dr Amina Mohamed</div>
<h3>Q: You are now running to be chairperson of the AU Commission, tell us about the drive behind this decision?</h3>
A: Kenya has put up my candidateship for the position of Chairman of the African Union Commission. Why am I running? I think we have a lot of value that we can bring to the table; we are also at a good time in the history of this continent. The first thing that comes to mind is the framework that we have. We have a framework that was agreed on by all African countries that needs a faithful implementer to put in place.
It’s a framework called Agenda 2063, for inclusive growth and sustainable development and it has a number of amazing aspirations for the continent. I think it’s actually time for East Africa because of the track record we have also set as a community, as an East African Community in what we have done.
We created a model for others to emulate and so there’s just a feeling that it was time for us to run for this position and I would be a good candidate for that because again I can bring people together, I have never come across a challenge that cannot be resolved, I look at challenges actually as opportunities. And I believe that we all know what we need as a continent to move us forward. One should look at the leaps we have made.
We are a young continent, we have done amazing things, we – many of us – have come up with new constitutions, constitutions that are based on our own realities, not on realities that come from elsewhere, also we look at our own specificities, our own individualities as countries.
For us as a continent, it’s actually excellent that we have such a young population.
It’s a young population that’s creative and innovative that are drivers of the economy and they are also the future and the present and therefore whatever they do, they know what they would like to put in place, for themselves and for their own children and for posterity I guess.
So we actually are in a situation where we can lead and not follow, because the problem is ours, the challenge is ours and it’s a wonderful opportunity to use, to propel the continent to the greatest possible heights.
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<h3>Q: Briefly take us through what an AU Commission led by you will focus on, looking at the challenges Africa is facing…</h3>
A: I think industrialization, without any doubt. It is the only one that has the ability to reduce poverty, create the jobs that we need and to move the continent [forward]. And I think following that, trade, because trade brings us together, which is a unifier if you like.
We need to make sure that our infrastructure, whether it’s land, sea or air, is seamless. It doesn’t take a day, it’s a process but we need to get on with it. We need to remove the obstacles that are low-lying fruit… they can be removed easily.
One of those is allowing the easier movement of people, business people, of capital, services and goods. There is no reason why Kenya should import; and I am using as an example, if we did not have the dairy sector and we needed butter, milk or cheese, there is no reason why we should import that from 10,000 miles away; if we can just go across the border, into the next country and import from our neighbors.
The only reason why that has been difficult is because of the infrastructure deficit that we are faced with and we need to address that and address it quickly.
In this country we have tried to do it, in the region we have tried to do it with the SGR, with the road infrastructure that we have put in place, with the modernization with the port that has been done over the last few years, with the modernization of our airport, so those are the things we need to do across the continent so that our young people can move from one country to another, bring ideas, bring creativity, bring innovation, but also find jobs.
So apart from industrialization, and obviously there you have to address the infrastructure deficit, trade and the need to trade amongst ourselves; the intra-Africa trade is at 13%, and there is no reason for that. It should actually be at least at 30%; we should, eventually have 60% of trade within the continent.
This is where the population is, this is where the fastest growing middle-class is, and obviously with that, you have a consumer market, so this is where most of the trading should actually take place.
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<h3>Q: The outgoing AU Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has been very vocal about peace and security. Share with us your vision…</h3>
A: She’s also been very passionate about agriculture, because agriculture has the ability to transform communities and societies very quickly and there’s a need therefore again as a reason of the youth to make agriculture trendy and productive for the youth.
But you know you cannot undertake development unless you actually have a peaceful, stable and predictable environment. You must have peace and security, without it you can’t have growth.
And so it’s been actually a rallying call of Madam Zuma, to silence the guns and we’ve agreed that we would try to do that at least by 2020, if we can’t do it sooner. I believe that if we all came together and are always committed as she is, we should be able to do that before the 2020 deadline.
Africa does not manufacture ammunition except for a few countries. Africa is resolving most of its conflicts and there are very few countries today, of the 54, that are still engulfed in conflict, in fact there are probably less than five that are engulfed in active conflict, and therefore we are at a place where we should be talking about a peaceful Africa, a secure Africa, a growing Africa, a resilient Africa.
So it’s one of the priorities. We actually addressed most of the issues that were connected to decolonization, that peace and security became a big issue and we started addressing it.
I think if we are focused we can actually deal with it, it’s been successful in the majority of countries and of course there will be hiccups, back and forth, but I think a majority of the countries have gone beyond the stage where conflict is a daily affair, so we need to continue working on it and I think we should be able to get it done.
&nbsp;
<h3>Q: What’s your vision on driving governance?</h3>
A: We have a very comprehensive and all-inclusive agenda. And that is also an issue that is in our Agenda 2063; we are more transparent, we are more open. Again, we are a young continent, the youth is very demanding, we are involving more and more people in leadership – apart from the youth, the women that are coming in jobs now.
So I think today Africa is at a better place, in terms of the rule of law, in terms of governance than it has ever been, and I think the only way forward is to keep improving that.
And as I said before, we [Kenya] enacted our constitution in 2010. Immediately after its enactment – I was in Justice, Permanent Secretary there – we got a dozen requests from countries that wanted to come and look at our constitution and see whether there was anything they could borrow from there that would fit their own circumstances. Because at the end of the day, the instrument is only as good as its implementation.
And you will only implement something that you are really comfortable with, and so the whole purpose of coming to study and look at what we are doing is, ‘will this fit into my own circumstance, is it something I can do now, is it something that can be delayed a bit’.
As you know, our own constitution had transitional clauses, what we needed to do now, what we could a little later; some of the provisions could only actually be fully implemented in five years, six years, and 10 years. So we had actually time periods in the constitution for implementation of different provisions.
So I think it’s the same everywhere, but the governance situation on the continent is better than it’s ever been and I know it’s going to continue improving.
&nbsp;
<h3>Q: Your bid has been warmly</h3>
accepted across a good number of countries, over 25 African countries. What are your expectations as we head towards January 2017?
A: We are campaigning, I was told by one of our leaders that campaigns are personal, you must ask for a vote and that if you don’t ask for a vote, even your own brother can vote against you, so we are going across the continent asking everybody for their support and trying of course to obviously convince them that we have a good candidate. They have been very receptive, very warmly received, wonderful arrangements put in place for us… we are encouraged by the reception and the support that seems to be coming across as well.
&nbsp;
– Gitonga is a news producer at CNBC Africa and interviewed Mohamed at the CNBC Africa studios in Nairobi, Kenya; for the full text of the interview, visit
www.cnbcafrica.com.

US-ECONOMY-IMF-WORLDBANK

‘Our Strength Lies In Coming Together

Fadumo Dayib has led a remarkable life. She mourned the loss of siblings, fled her country, was deported, and then became just another number among the many refugees in Europe. Despite these obstacles, Dayib went on to get a Master’s degree at Harvard and work for the United Nations. Having already achieved more than expected, Dayib is looking to beat even slimmer odds by running to be Somalia’s president.
Somalia is one of the world’s most dangerous places; it’s even worse if you’re a woman.
The strife began in the 1980s when opposition regimes started an uprising against Somalia’s dictatorial president, Siad Barre. Although Barre is dead, the conflict never ceased. Terrorist groups, such as Al Shabaab, have emerged and piracy around the horn of Africa is rampant.
Dayib is one of millions who have had to flee the conflict. The 43-year-old was born in Kenya where her mother moved to after losing 11 children to treatable illnesses. But the family’s stay in Kenya was short-lived as the country began forceful deportations in 1989.
Her mother sold all her possessions for Dayib and her two siblings to seek asylum in Finland. After only learning to fully read and write at the age of 14, Dayib proceeded to get two Master’s degrees in public health and nursing. She later got another Master’s from Harvard in public administration.
Dayib has worked for prestigious institutions, including the United Nations. Not content, she walked away from the safety and relative comfort of Finland to the gunshots and grenade attacks of Somalia.
“It is because I love Somalia. I have lived in the diaspora since 1990, but I knew my roots were in Somalia. I moved to Finland as a refugee and I was sure that one day I would go back to Somalia. To me, being a refugee didn’t mean I should never go back to my homeland,” she says.
She returned home to be a part of the change she hoped to see.
“I watched from the sidelines as the country lost it, women died unnecessarily, children died of treatable diseases, elders were neglected, among other injustices. I thought that I did not need to do this but it was my moral obligation and civic duty.”
Since announcing her intention to run, Dayib has received death threats.
“If we all give up, what will become of our country? I am compelled to choose between death and life, if need be, so that at least we can have a peaceful country,” she says.
“I would like to go home, over 1.2 million Somalis would like to go home from the diaspora, there are one million people who are internally displaced and they all want a dignified existence in their own country. I believe if one dies fighting for something they believe in, that’s the most dignified death,” she says.
She does not see herself as a politician.
“I am a layperson who feels that the time has come for us to take power and responsibility from politicians because they are not doing what they set out to do. Rather than sit and complain, I am of the opinion that we need to take charge,” says Dayib.
In Somalia, many believe that women hold no place in leadership. From the onset, political pundits have shrugged her off, saying the odds are stacked against her.
Her humility and grace means she doesn’t take offence to this. As others campaigned against her, Dayib knew she had already won.
“My ultimate goal is to instigate social change by challenging the current status quo. In a country, continent and society like mine, where a woman’s space is mostly considered to be in a private place, at home, my candidacy inspires a lot of women, young girls as well as the youth. I am a catalyst; my aim is to open doors for my children and their children for social change,” she says.
In that regard, whatever happens at the poll, she has already won.

4QYu1Buq

The Woman Changing The Status Quo

Away from a baying crowd of women with weaves, Hugh Masekela swaggers into a television studio on Fox Street in Johannesburg for a talk show. Earlier that day, he was on a talk radio station fielding questions on his disdain for synthetic hair and the popularity of weaves among African women. His remarks, and his refusal to pose with fans with synthetic hair, attracted the ire of women across South Africa.
“If he’s okay with weaved women paying money to come see his concerts then he should afford those fans the privilege of taking pictures with him,” SABC radio personality KG Moeketsi posted on Facebook.
“This thing is tired and unnecessary. We already deal with way too much misogyny, being belittled by men we love, and workplace discrimination, to not be afforded the right to wear our hair the way we want to. Mind you, I’ve never worn a weave in my life, but the right to choose your hairstyle has never been parallel to your taste in music.”
But Masekela is having none of it.
“It’s not about weaves,” says Masekela. “It’s not about weaves at all. You know, it’s about other people’s hair. Like some people wear synthetic, and some even use horsetail hair. But it’s not even about that.”
“Africans and Europeans have had a long historical issue about African hair. When we first encountered Europeans, they laughed at our hair because it was hard. And, historically we’ve been given an inferiority complex, not only about who we are but about our noses being flat, our lips being big, our asses being big, and things like that.”
“And of course we were defeated, you know, in trying to defend Africa. We were enslaved, then we were urbanized, then we were also ‘religionized’. So we’re very far from who we really are originally.”
“We are the only society that imitates other cultures. I mean we wear their clothes and everything. But the saddest part is how far we have come with trying to not look like ourselves.”
“Religion and urbanization have made Africans really believe that their own heritage is barbaric, savage, primitive, backwards, uncivilized and all those words. Psychologically, over the centuries we’ve been conditioned to think that our heritage is not good, that it’s inferior.”
The weave and what it represents is part of a much bigger picture, he says.
“Hair is one of the areas in which we’ve been put down,” he says. “But then we became exploited because apart from the issues of heritage we are the biggest hair market in the world. We spend tens of billions of dollars a year buying other people’s hair. And from a heritage and traditional perspective, that is sort of macabre.”
“So I don’t mind people wearing what they wanna wear, as long as I don’t have to take pictures with them. That’s all. It’s much more than me being an eccentric old man. There’s a whole history to it.”
“But it’s absurd when Africans fall over their feet to get their hands on blonde wigs. I mean I look at Umhlanga (the reed dance)… Half of those kids are wearing blonde wigs and weaves, and they don’t go with traditional clothes. You know, it’s the same as going skiing barefoot. It’s that absurd. But then they also put it on the children. A lot of them put it on their children. If you look at the little school children in this country, almost all of them have had their hair tampered with – their hair, in way or another, has been tampered with.
“If you saw the movie Hotel Rwanda, which was made here, you can see that they tried to wash all the kids’ hair so they look like Rwandans. And all the kids’ hair was ginger from refusing to be washed and it was still standing up by the time they were shooting. It passed over everybody’s head… people didn’t seem to notice.”
Bra Hugh, as the legendary trumpeter is affectionately known, is even disappointed by his own family.
“I was at a wedding just outside Polokwane in South Africa,” he says. “There were Venda relatives of mine and most of them were in traditional Tshivenda garb, but almost all the women were wearing weaves and wigs. One niece of mine had a red, black and yellow wig, a really shiny piece, and she had a matching one on her daughter who was three years old.”
“What that says to me is that, psychologically we have really been messed with. We are buying people’s hair but they are not buying any of our s***, except maybe a little art and craft… You know, it’s a sad joke.”
Back at the TV studio, Masekela moves on to sign autographs and I watch closely as my plus one asks Bra Hugh for a picture. Like many others in the room, my companion is sporting braids that are reinforced with synthetic hair. Masekela politely signs her book before posing with her for pictures.
Perhaps he didn’t feel like splitting hairs that day.

It’s A Sad Joke And Bra Hugh Isn’t Laughing

He dreams big yet it all started in a small corner. It was in a corner of the dusty streets of Mafikeng in the North West province of South Africa where he first drew a crowd, in school theater, at the age of six.
He’s broken barriers, filled the 20,000-capacity Dome, in 2015, and this year, he’s pushed it further by attracting around 36,000 fans to Orlando Stadium in Soweto – most football teams fail to do this. He’s proved that nothing you put your mind to do is impossible.
This is Refiloe Maele Phoolo, known as Cassper Nyovest to the world. Rapping is his game.
He steps out of a minibus with his entourage, they stop for a selfie, and I’ve noticed how spruce his style is: a bandana, a R500,000 ($37,000) watch, gold neck chain and all-white outfit. A closer look at Cassper reveals puffy eyes; he is exhausted from back-to-back performances.
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Cassper is best known for his hit song, Doc Shebeleza, and his ponytail that he cut off not long ago.
“It kind of made me look like a gimmick; there are certain things that hold you back. When you are animated it makes it too difficult to grow up. It was time to take it off because I am more mature now,” he says.
“I wouldn’t want to be this version of myself forever, I want to get better.”
All of this didn’t come easy.
The 26-year-old was born into a family of teachers, where education was important, yet he doesn’t have a qualification beyond school. He dropped out of school in grade 10, at the age of 16. His parents didn’t approve.
“It was a very emotional part of my life, and theirs as well because they are passionate about education. I sat them down and said look I’m not saying I wanna quit school and sit at the corners and smoke weed and drink my life away. I want to work, on my dream and my purpose,” he says.
Luckily they understood.
“I understand that school is very important, I wouldn’t say that school wasn’t for me but it’s just that my path was a little bit different from the normal life and what my parents thought I would do.”
He had a plan up his sleeve and went to the big city of Johannesburg for music.
“I was signed to a label called Impact Sound under Thabiso Tsotetsi; he didn’t wanna be associated with a child who dropped out of school so he watched from a distance. That’s when HHP, a fellow artist, saw me and we did a song Wamo Tseba Mtho,” says Cassper.
After two years of struggle in Johannesburg, he moved back home.
“My grandmother gave me a mattress because I didn’t have anywhere to sleep and it took a very long time for anything to happen.”
“Nobody cares who you are, people function by the monopoly of those who know each other, pull each other up, it’s not even about talents, it’s about connections and who you know,” says Cassper.
He used his sister’s last R100 ($7.50), meant for a transport fare, to buy himself a return ticket to Johannesburg.
Things started to turn around. Cassper started his career with Childhood Gangsters, a group he started with his friends. When it disbanded, he went to launch his solo career and produced the hits Gusheshe, Malome and Mama I Made It. He also shared stages with international artists Kid Cudi, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Wizkid and Wiz Khalifa.
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The rapper also started his own record label, Family Tree, the same year he released his debut album, Tsholofelo – a taste of sweet success followed by a string of awards.
“Artists get only eight percent of their record sales, [it’s the] industry standard, and 50 percent of their show money. I didn’t want that, I wanted 100 percent of everything,” he says.
His favorite line: “God is good all the time and all the time God is good.”
It hasn’t always been good for Cassper who was involved in a public fight with fellow South African artist Kiernan Jordan Forbes, known as AKA, which led to both artists recording diss tracks about each other. Much to the public’s surprise, after Cassper’s show at Orlando Stadium, a picture went viral on social media of the two artists congratulating each other.
“Kiernan and I have been cool for a while now. We didn’t even know what we were fighting for and it didn’t make sense anymore. We were just talking how the fight was pathetic and it was over and we had to move on. We couldn’t believe how far we had made it in our careers. Every time we see each other we greet, so that picture for me wasn’t like the moment everybody made it out to be.”
“Kids really look up to us and they would do anything and everything that we do. If I’m always in the paper for doing some dumb stuff, what am I teaching them?” he says.
A few months ago, Cassper was accused by his idol, Kanye West, of stealing his floating stage idea. The rapper denies this.
“I did that stage last year at the Dome before Kanye did his show. How could I possibly have stolen his idea? I just think that it’s great that my idol knows my name and we’ll have something to talk about the day we meet. For me, it was a compliment no matter how it came out.”
Cassper has been through a lot of bad publicity in his career; he says negativity is a thing of the past.
“I can’t deal with fights. I just become a person I’m not,” he says.
Cassper says getting to the top is the easy part; staying there is harder.
“The hardest part is maintaining the same spot. In South Africa, people move on very quickly and they forget and what you have done in your career doesn’t matter in South Africa.”
His worst fear is to be forgotten.
“I don’t ever want to get to a place where nobody knows who I am, where I’m not celebrated  and people don’t love me as much as they do right now, I don’t ever wanna get to that place.”
Even though Cassper fell short of filling up the 40,000-seat stadium by just a few thousand it did not dampen his sense of accomplishment and musical bravery. In 2017, he’s looking to fill up the 94,000-seat FNB stadium.
“At the Dome I lost R3 million ($220,000) but the concept was not to make money but to shift culture. The value was not in money but an investment… I want to get to a point where an artist can walk away with R8 million ($600,000) a show.”
“South African hip-hop is the biggest music. We are African hip-hop,” says Cassper.
Love him or hate him, what is clear is that Cassper has shaken up the music industry.
“Maybe I should start acting broke now coz my success turned the game into a cold heart”. These are the lyrics from his popular hit Malome.
“Me and my dad never have one-on-ones anymore” are lyrics directed at his father who separated with his mother, at the same time when his 19-year-old brother died in an accident.
“When my brother passed away, it was a sad time for my family and it was also the first time someone from my immediate family died. Then my parents separated so, at the age of 15, I had to grow up and be a man of the house,” says Cassper.
According to Cassper, South African artists are far from famous.
“The only guy who’s actually gaining traction is Black Coffee; he has a following that’s growing all over the world. But when I travel the world I perform for mostly South Africans. I just had my first show in Germany, for Germans, who liked my music. Before that we’d create our own shows.”
“As much as we’re making it look like we’re flourishing out there, in the US, we are very far. But we’re fighting and I think our time will come.”
He is too humble to offer any estimation of how much he has banked this year.
“When I started to make money I mentioned it too much to my fans and then I became the guy with a lot of money. I’ve learned that it creates a wall between me and my crowd because they don’t see me as one of their own anymore. It’s a big mistake that I made at a very early stage in my career,” he says.
“I’ve also lost too much but it happens to a lot of us who don’t know what to do with money. I posted everything I did and everything I bought.”
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According to reports, the rapper makes R120,000 ($9,000) a show, excluding accommodation, flight and his entourage.
One of his challenges is getting his music played on radio; he asked his 685,000 followers on Twitter to help him get his new song Abashwe played.
“Please help me push it. I still don’t understand why I don’t get radio airplay so I need my fans to request Abashwe. Hope that will help.”
He’s got this far without radio; imagine where he’ll get to if his songs are on the airwaves.

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