While watching the CCTV footage of the Westgate attack in a
Nairobi, it is impossible to remain fixated and stare unblinking at the screen. How can we not look away when confronted with images of terrorists casually taking aim at civilian shoppers cowering in supermarket aisles.
It still seems impossible to fathom that the killers struck on a Saturday afternoon. A time for families, when parents pushed strollers and hauled groceries into shopping carts—trolleys that would be used hours later to evacuate the wounded and return the dead.
The sense of disbelief grew by the hour with the knowledge that a business, and most importantly, people we had invested in, had been caught up in the attack.
Swedfund claimed a 14% share in Deacons, a leading Kenyan retailer which owned four outlets in the mall as sub-anchors, including the popular Mr. Price fashion store that dominated the ground floor. More terrifyingly, the employees were barricaded behind steel shutters praying for salvation and texting what they believed would be their final words to loved ones.
In total, 30 of Deacons’ staff were caught up in the attack. Against the odds, all of them survived. Unlike many of the other store managers, our own had simulated an emergency evacuation in their company training. In short, in a time of incredible adversity and terror, they knew what to do in the most unthinkable of circumstances.
The stories of survival among the Deacons’ team led me back to Kenya to meet them in a time of aftermath and painful reflection for the whole of East Africa.
As a former McKinsey consultant, I arrived in Nairobi accompanied by a throng of media focused more on the economic impact than the human toll of the crisis. Yet this went against everything I believe. With my recent international NGO background, I had come to my new role at Swedfund with the hope of contributing to Africa’s economic revival.
Around 600 million new jobs will be needed worldwide in the next 15 years to absorb a burgeoning youthful workforce, mainly in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, according to a recent World Bank report.
The private sector will be the engine for this job creation, accounting for 90% of jobs in the developing world, but governments have a vital role to play by ensuring the right conditions are in place.
In our opinion, if you want to achieve inclusive growth you must not only make solid financial investments based on due diligence but, against traditional forms of investing, also improve working conditions, sustainability and solid corporate governance. The reaction of the staff at Deacons in a time of crisis taught us much about we need to know about this investment in people.
Swedfund’s decision to invest in retail represented a vote of faith for the nation’s middle class, whose emergence in key African countries cannot be overlooked. It is key in driving economic, social and political expectations. By 2025, annual consumption in emerging markets is estimated to rise to $30 trillion.
During my visit, it emerged that Deacons had lost up to 15% of its Kenyan business and lost $2 million in the attack. But this, of course, paled into insignificance when compared to the human toll of the attack.
Encountering the young women who had worked in the Mr. Price store, where as many as 40 shoppers had been saved by the quick thinking of the management, I was both troubled and inspired by their resilience. Some of the store workers texted their husbands and begged them to say goodbye to their young children. Others had persistent and violent nightmares. One told me she struggles each day with her own survival, knowing others who had died.
There is never an appropriate time to talk about investing or re-investing in the wake of an incident like Westgate, but for the Kenyan people it is clear that they want this on the agenda immediately. If incidents like the mall attack deter investors it could harm the country in the long term.
One of our roles is to defend investments in difficult places. In my opinion, there is no greater incentive to invest in job creation and youth by backing local businesses in nations prone to terror attacks.
By investing in economically-sound projects, we can achieve a catalytic effect. We can create jobs and help secure the future of youth and prevent their descent into extremism, like the young men who carried out the Westgate assault.
In Sweden, there are progressive firms like H&amp;M and Ericsson looking towards inclusive growth on the continent but there is a need for more multinationals to invest and create jobs. Africa’s greatest strength could be its young and rapidly growing population.
Framed against this youthfulness, the prerequisites for expansion and development in Africa are better than in many other places on earth. According to a McKinsey report, the continent’s consumer-oriented businesses will grow by $400 billion by 2020. The bottom line? An investment in Africa can also be seen as an investment in youth.
What the Westgate attack teaches us is that enabling youth is key, but we also need to join forces. If we can show the way, we can make sure private business join NGOs in a global partnership to help job creation. We cannot look away from Africa like we can the stills on the CCTV screen.

Seuffert-swedfund-hires-2208

Keep Your Eyes On Kenya

I have two pet peeves—standing in long queues and filling out forms. When I found out that I could still get tickets to see the highly acclaimed Broadway adaptation of The Lion King in London, despite the scarcity of tickets, I was prepared to complete the lengthiest questionnaire and wait in the longest line.
It was worth it. The fine attention to visual artistry, on stage and in costume, combined with the storytelling and delivery was awe-inducing. The well-orchestrated Africanized pop music and rhythmic dance was the cherry on top.
For a few minutes, I was an excited kid again, until my companion, a born and bred Kenyan, expressed her utter disappointment at how much of a South African production it had become, saying the show once had a marked Kenyan influence. After a few minutes of diplomatic debate on the topic, the unusual nature of our conversation dawned on me. Now, I am willing to debate a big blockbuster release at the cinema or Olivia Pope’s latest shocking act, or even the previous night’s match between Arsenal and  Chelsea—not how much of a country’s influence was evident in a Broadway production.
As curiosity and doubt swirled through my mind, I decided to engage fellow Africans on their thoughts on theater. To my surprise, very few were interested. The question was thrown back at me: Is there a place for theater in Africa?
There have been some great productions mushrooming across the continent in the past few years. Fela! on Broadway was a spectacular repertoire of many of Fela Kuti’s captivating songs performed by a great cast. UMOJA, staged across South Africa, was another sublime show. More recently, SARO The Musical, a Broadway-styled and Nigerian-owned stage production signaled the revival of African theater. Clearly, Africa has a role on the global stage.
Traveling around the globe is another African trend. Being Nigerian, I’m privy to the fact that we love to travel far and wide. I dare you to find a spot on the world map that does not have a small Nigerian community present. Even more fascinating, is that Nigerians travel with their culture and some often refuse to assimilate into their new homes. As I attempted a morning jog on a cold London street, I heard the roaring blast of D’banj’s Oliver Twist blaring from an apartment block. To my surprise, it was accompanied by a yell, in pidgin, the informal lingua franca spoken across Nigeria and some West African countries: ‘Dat music dey loud, you wan cause wahala with the neighbours?’ (The music is too loud, are you trying to cause trouble with the neighbors?)
It was welcome comic relief on my lazy run, but I also smiled at how much of a global village the world is becoming. Regardless of where you go, you can always take a piece of home with you.
No one knows this better than the Caribbean community. I have a few friends from the famous islands and one thing is certain: from Barbadians to Jamaicans and Trinidadians; all are wonderfully expressive—both on and off the dance floor.
I was in a store recently, when two Jamaican ladies walked in—one of them saw my shoes and exclaimed, ‘Girl! Those shoes are just very dutty dutty!’ Her friend echoed her thoughts. I walked away with a confused smirk on my face, while inspecting my shoes for some dirt.
A quick consultation with one of my Jamaican friends solved the puzzle.
“They meant that your shoes were really, really nice,” she said laughing.
Whether it is travel, theater or language, one thing is evident—it is a new dawn. A subconscious revolution is taking place and Africans are embracing all that is inherently African. I like that I can get a decent plate of Jollof rice while in New York because someone else brought my food culture with them. I am thrilled that Ankara fabrics are no longer only seen on women in the streets of Lagos and Accra. It is refreshing to know that there is a place for African music beyond the shores of the recording artist’s home and whether it is being said in Nigerian pidgin or Jamaican Patois, a universal language is emerging. So the opening tune to The Lion King, whether it is in Zulu or Swahili, does not matter to me—it’s African.

W0A4472

Big Wahala And Dutty Shoes

Arise O Compatriots! Nigeria’s call obey…” – The well-worn opening phrase of the Nigerian national anthem has echoed from school halls and stadiums.
Firm hand against chest, Nigerians, home and abroad, declare a melodic oath when the occasion permits but how many believe in this allegiance they swear by today?
As Nigeria marks its 54th anniversary, I cast my mind back to when this day simply meant another public holiday and a few headlines in the papers.
Colorful parades and rallies fill the streets of Lagos as a carnival of enthusiastic youth and government convoys paint the town green. Speech after speech, march after march, millions of countrymen sharing momentous camaraderie – one all seemed to take pride in, yet understood so little about.
Beyond the festivities – its meaning still eluded me. Yes, we gained partial independence from Britain in 1960, with an official declaration of independence signed in 1963, but what did Nigeria’s independence really mean? When I looked around, there were large infrastructural bottlenecks, a defective educational system, gross unemployment, maladministration in key structures and a catalogue of unkept promises for a brighter Nigeria. What were we really independent of?
Many years away from home and I began to appreciate the wealth of my country; its wealth of talent. I saw Nigerians in the diaspora in high-powered roles, giving back wholeheartedly to societies that have given them a greener pasture, a new home and a chance to blossom. They were contributing to its enrichment and sustainability while a severe brain drain grew at home.
Each visit home was bittersweet. I had to face the reality that situations had merely altered marginally. While I applaud the racing pulse of today’s Nigeria and celebrate the diverse talent and insatiable drive that this country embodies, the enabling environment remains elusive.
In spite of its challenges, Nigeria has taken mammoth strides. The tide turns as entrepreneurial giants emerge from the rubble and bottlenecks, positioning the country at the forefront of investment and more recently overtaking South Africa as the largest economy in Africa. This inspires new debates; is it an ornamental or functional title? While this has been met with mixed reaction, there have also been some valid causes for celebration. We should nod to how far we have come while locking hands with harsh reminders of how much further we still have to go.
Today, it is refreshing to see an army of Nigerians return to the country, propelled by a daring mind shift, fresh ideas and a hunger to contribute to its growth, just as it’s heart-rending to see toddlers tap at my window while driving through the streets of Lagos, begging for some change when they should be in the classroom.
It is worth a toast to see more indigenous companies take the reins in areas that had once only been entrusted in the hands of expatriates, just as it is undeniably evident that more multinationals are investing in Nigeria as a fertile ground for returns.
As I celebrate Nigeria’s independence, I celebrate in the hope of brighter future, investment and empowerment of its youth. A future with a bigger appetite to harness our bountiful natural resources and build infrastructure. I dream of a Nigeria that invests in its human capital, shatters the glass ceiling in the boardrooms and prides itself in unity. A country that respects and guards the fundamental human rights of the girl and boy child and frowns upon ethno-religious crisis. A Nigeria that attracts all back home and rewards their enthusiasm and skill accordingly.
I might be asking for too much but ultimately, I want a Nigeria whose national anthem I can sing believingly.

What Are We Really Independent Of?

They must have sat bewildered as the van drove them out of the city. The Johannesburg skyline petered to bush too quickly. For the six teenagers, and their football hopes, Ghana was a distant memory. The red dusty fields of Thohoyandou, in South Africa’s Limpopo province, a distant uncertainty.
They flew thousands of miles south from Accra on a false promise, at their parents’ expense, to become lost boys of the broken world of African football. They arrived in South Africa thinking they were on their way to the moneyed Premier League grounds of England. But they were not and the agent who promised them this has disappeared along with their parents’ money. The South African coach they’ve been dumped on is trying to find their parents back in Ghana in a bid to send them home. This is the ugly side of the beautiful game in Africa where the youth are being misled through a murky world.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3189" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_5460-1024x683-1-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
It was the weak word of agent Francis Nkrumah that took these youngsters far from home. They heard him on the radio calling for trials in the coastal town of Cape Coast, three hours west of Accra. Out of 50 footballers, only seven made the cut. Skinny and dark in complexion; 15-year-old Richard Sogbadzi-Eddo was one of them. The midfielder says that he merely glimpsed Nkrumah during the trials. Most of the communication between the agent and family was over the phone.
“He was very dark and tall but he only talked to my brother on the phone,” explains Sogbadzi-Eddo.
The footballers, between the ages of 13 and 18, were told they would get a trial in South Africa leading to another with a Premier League club in England. They arrived in Thohoyandou, a small town in northern South Africa, with little idea where they were or what they were supposed to be doing. Nkrumah made big promises, says 17-year-old David Lawson.
“He said it would be a better place to play football and in three months we’ll go to Europe and we’ll probably be rich.”
Each family paid Nkrumah a little under $2,000 for their son’s chance for a brighter future. For all, the money was hard to come by.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3190" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_5537-1024x683-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
“My mother is not a government worker, she’s a trader in the market. So she had to take a loan for the money,” says Sogbadzi-Eddo.
The family lost their father five years ago and his mother has been supporting him and his four brothers with meagre earnings. Nkrumah’s promised them a way out of poverty. Lawson’s mother, a headmistress, borrowed money from her church to pay for her son’s passage.
This is part of the growing trade in young footballers between Africa and Europe that often ends in broken families and shattered dreams. South Africa is becoming a way station within this strange and exploitative system, says Dan McDougall, an investigative journalist, who has covered what he calls the trafficking of West African players to Europe.
McDougall has met many young Ghanaians like Lawson and Sogbadzi-Eddo, lured from home and stranded in Europe. He believes that the nature of the industry encourages many to prey on promising young players from impoverished families in West Africa.
“This is an industry that stinks from top to bottom.”
Agents, like Nkrumah, often run informal football academies across West Africa with hopes of supplying the wealthy clubs of Europe with another Didier Drogba or Michael Essien. In Ghana, players as young as 10 are sent abroad in the hope of securing trials. Others take illegal routes to Europe huddled on boats in search of a better life. The journey is dangerous and often deadly. In 2009, the Nazar, a fishing vessel carrying hundreds of African migrants capsized off Tripoli, killing 300. Fifteen of its passengers were believed to be young players on their way to the pitches
of Europe.
Reaching the shores of Europe doesn’t guarantee a future.
“This is a deadly business, families are being extorted and most of the time these kids don’t have the ability to make it,” insists McDougall.
Unlike the Ghanaians in Limpopo who at least have a roof over their head, many football hopefuls who make it to Europe from West Africa are forced to survive in ghettos and back alleys. Bernard Bass, a young player from Equatorial Guinea, whom McDougall met, made his way to France from Ghana. Living in the Paris ghetto of Clichy-sous-Bois, he was threatened with the police by the club he hoped to try out for, Metz in eastern France, because they didn’t know who he was. He stayed on in France illegally, sleeping on the floor of a friend’s apartment.
Back in Thohoyandou, the youngsters from Ghana have landed on the doorstep of unwitting former English professional footballer, Bally Smart. The former midfielder for Norwich City, who returned to Polokwane – the city of his birth – to set up his dream football academy is now lumbered with six  youths abandoned in South Africa who were merely given his address.
“He didn’t know anything [about Nkrumah]. But he asked us to stay and take the time to learn football. He said everything would be fine,” Sogbadzi-Eddo recalls.
It isn’t fine. Smart is trying to contact their parents back in Ghana and is at a loss. The agent has disappeared and could not be reached by the boys or by FORBES AFRICA. The boy’s visas expire in less than a year and they are running out of time.
“It’s frustrating to have them here because I am footing all the costs. I am just trying to make sure that they’re OK,” says Smart, who has never met Nkrumah.
Despite grim realities in Europe, the Ghanaian boys in Thohoyandou are hopeful.
“In West Africa, there are no chances. It is difficult to make it,” says young Sogbadzi-Eddo, who still has his sights set on Europe. “I am still positive that it will happen.”
This is just one of the problems on Smart’s plate. His dusty pitch has become a microcosm of the problems and divisions in African football. His academy, Polokwane United – where the Ghanaian boys live, learn and play – is facing a five-year suspension allegedly imposed by the Limpopo arm of the South African Schools Football Association (SASFA) which regulates the sport’s academies in the province. The academy has been barred from all competition. Smart insists that the suspension has no basis and that it was delivered unofficially. In early September, he filed an official complaint. FORBES AFRICA obtained a copy.
“It is clear that our strong teams and style of play is a thorn to the soccer politics in the district (Vhembe) and as a result our school has been targeted to be sabotaged (sic) and unfairly sidelined in an unscrupulous and corrupt manner,” Smart wrote in his complaint.
SASFA were unavailable for comment.
The suspension was a kick in the guts for all at Polokwane United – South Africans and Ghanaians alike.
Veteran football journalist, Mark Gleeson, believes that this is endemic in South African football.
“South Africa is notoriously bad for not promoting young football players,” he says.
“We need to understand how a society works as far as football is concerned. The Dutch and the German way of doing things reflects their society. We need to understand how African society works for the development of African football.”
It is not for a lack of money. South Africa has some of the most moneyed leagues on the African continent but these teams depend heavily on patronage. Smart has had no sponsors since he started his football academy two years ago. He’s been running the school from his own pocket unlike the other teams and academies around him which are owned largely by businessmen with political ties.
Smart and his boys have many challenges ahead. But he remains optimistic. One of his protégés is preparing for genuine trials in Britain in late September. As for his Ghanaian wards, although let down by the game they love, they are glad they landed on his doorstep.
“We eat three times daily here. I am happy here, everything will be OK,” says Sogbadzi-Eddo.
Unfortunately, optimism alone is not enough to cover the miles to the trials in Europe.
&nbsp;

The Bewildered Chasing A Broken Dream

There are millions of children playing football around the world, but only a fraction will ever make it to the professional ranks.
Ability is an obvious factor, you either have the talent or you don’t, but while technique and tactical awareness can be taught to a certain extent, there are a whole range of other issues that come into play.
One of the keys in developing players for the modern professional game is to get them into structured academies at the earliest possible age.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3181" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_7702-1024x683-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
In Europe and South America, it is common for youngsters to be linked to academies by the time they are at the age of seven or eight. The reason for this is simple, it is the best age to start teaching them the fundamentals of the game and set them on the correct path to a professional career.
In Africa there are millions of children playing the game; a handful of them are attached to clubs while the rest play at schools or on the streets.
The lack of structured coaching at a young age prevents them from taking the step up from street football. The few lucky individuals that attract interest from professional clubs are held back because they have already picked up bad habits that are difficult to dislodge.
A 17-year-old should have the basics of the game ingrained in them. They should not need to be taught how to pass, cross and shoot. Today, the sad reality is that a lot of players do not have these skills due to a lack of coaching in their formative years.
I look across the leagues of Africa and I see professional players who struggle with the basics.
The academies at Barcelona and Ajax Amsterdam are renowned for producing some of the world’s most talented stars. When one of their players reaches the age of 17, he has probably spent 10 years in the academy and will be more technically advanced than players from Africa. He will also know exactly what his role is in the side and where to position himself at any given moment in the game.
This is often the biggest criticism of players from Africa who move to Europe. Yes, they are skillful and have good physical attributes, but they lack the feel for the game that can only come with years of consistent and methodical coaching.
It is a huge challenge for our continent, not just to open academies to harness young talent, but to do it in the right way with expert coaching.
Those academies do exist in Africa, but they are few and far between and until we can get that right our players will always be at a disadvantage, relying solely on raw ability.
Some of the most successful players from our continent in the last two decades, such as Samuel Eto’o, Yaya Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor, were teenagers when they went to Europe and had the privilege of training at top academies. Had they only been spotted later in life, it’s doubtful they would have had anywhere near the success they have enjoyed.
Beyond the honing of skills at an early age, there are other factors that determine success.
Attitude is a major one. Players need the hunger to become a professional player and must be willing to put in hard work. Another factor is professionalism. There are hundreds of cases of footballers from all over the world – this is not only an African issue – who have looked world-class as teenagers but failed to live up to the promise because of factors outside of the game.
Think back to when you were 18. You probably felt invincible and perhaps even a little rebellious. For every player that manages to get past that phase of their life with dedication, there are others who fall by the wayside.
These days, we have players who are multi-millionaires by the age of 21, with more friends than they have ever had in their lives and lots of time on their hands to spend that money.
The temptations are huge and perhaps more so for African players who come from impoverished backgrounds and now have more money than they could ever dream of.
Today, clubs and agents provide much more support, in terms of counseling and financial guidance, but the player has to be a willing participant.
Africa has ability in abundance but the power to successfully harness it is very much a work in progress. It is why, to my mind, there are not a lot more African players in the top five leagues in Europe. The demands of the modern game are moving away from the purely physical attributes, which presents a problem for us.
Where is the next Eto’o, Didier Drogba or Michael Essien going to coming from? There aren’t any obvious superstars emerging from the continent. We have good young players floating around, but no great ones. They are not competing on an even keel with players from Europe and South America.
Our great challenge for the decades to come is to give them that opportunity and raise the standard of the development work we do so that the trickle of top players from Africa becomes a flood.

Where Are The  Messis Of  Africa

Two years ago, Lesego Motshegwa’s sunny Johannesburg Saturday afternoon turned into a nightmare. As she drove into her house, two armed men approached her, hit her on the head with a gun and fired at her family. They ran as the hijack failed by a whisker. Unfortunately, this is just one of many stories in South Africa, one of the hijacking capitals of the world.
According to Crime Stats SA, there were 9,988 reported hijackings in 2013. The figure has declined gradually since 2009’s record of 14,915, but this year it’s likely to get worse when the country’s crime figures are released in September.
“There has been an increase of about 5.4% in the last financial year. Unfortunately, we believe the upward trend we have seen in the last year will continue,” says Johan Burger, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies.
His ominous outlook is being played out on the streets of Gauteng – South Africa’s economic hub and the car capital of Africa.
“Almost half of all the hijackings in South Africa take place in Gauteng.”
The cost of hijacking runs deep.
“In any country that has high levels of crime, it has an impact on the performance of the economy because people are not free to move around, not free to contract, not free to allocate their resources in the economy and inevitably the economy suffers,” says Chief Economist at Efficient Group, Dawie Roodt.
“Additionally, certain crimes like hijacking and murder get a lot of publicity. South Africa is known for its high level of crime and high level of car hijackings as well. The image is that South Africa is not a very friendly place to do business.”
Roodt admits that it is difficult to calculate the cost.
“We do not know what business we are losing out on. We do not know how much money we are losing by way of lost investments. We also do not know what the real cost is to the allocation of resources in the country. We can get information on the number of hijackings we’ve had, but that’s only a fraction of the total cost. The total cost is much more than the hijackings only.”
As an unintended consequence, hijacking provides business for some entrepreneurs. In South Africa there is a boom in vehicle tracking companies and driving safety schools.
DataDot Technology is one of the companies making money. It installs up to 10,000 microdots on your car, each with a unique code. Removing them from a stolen vehicle is virtually impossible.
“We attack the business side of organized crime. The vehicles can’t have their identity changed,” says Derek Menday, the Sales Director at DataDot Technology.
The company claims it has a 52% recovery rate for stolen cars.
Companies such as Altech Netstar and Cartrack provide a range of products and services from entry level to advanced tracking. Installing them can cost up to five times more than the microdots, in addition to the monthly subscription fees.
As with most products, prices are determined by effectiveness. Though it is more expensive, Cartrack has a recovery rate of 94%.
There is also business in preventing these crimes from happening.
Your Driving School is a business in Johannesburg that runs anti-hijacking courses. The owner, Franci Human, and instructor, Nicky Peacock, are both hijacking victims. To Peacock’s disappointment, the majority of her clients are companies, rather than individuals.
“People always think it won’t happen to them,” says Peacock.
But the figures suggest it could happen to you in the next year.

A Sickening blow that’s coming your way

It was a sombre and belated ceremony. On August 19, after years of negotiations, South Africa welcomed home the remains of Nat Nakasa nearly half a century after he died after falling from a hotel window in New York. Nakasa was reburied on September 13 in Heroes’ Acre in Chesterville, Durban. The gravesite is a few kilometers from where Nakasa grew up.
<div id="attachment_3146" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3146" class="size-medium wp-image-3146" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/453858634-300x217.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="217" />CHESTERVILLE, SOUTH AFRICA- AUGUST 19: Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa, SA National Editors’ Forum executive director Mathatha Tsedu and Kwa Zulu Natal MEC for health Sibongiseni Dhlomo on August 19, 2014 at King Shaka International Airport in Durban, South Africa. The men attended a small ceremony at the airport to welcome back home well known late journalist, Nat Nakasa whose remains were brought back from the USA to be reburied in Chesterville Durban. (Photo by Gallo Images / The Times / Tebogo Letsie)</div>
In October 1964, the 27-year-old Nakasa enrolled at Harvard University to study journalism. It meant he left South Africa forever as his government denied him a temporary visa. Nakasa was the second African to receive the Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University. The other was his colleague Lewis Nkosi. Nakasa’s death in exile remains a mystery.
At the time, Harvard University made a statement saying Nakasa committed suicide because he was homesick and depressed as the United States (US) government refused to extend his stay. But there was speculation that Nakasa, who was believed to have been watched by intelligence services, could have been pushed from the high hotel window.
Although Nakasa had no political allegiance, the apartheid government feared that he worked for the banned revolutionary organizations of Nelson Mandela and Robert Sobukwe.
“As I have never been active in politics except as a journalist, I expect no difficulty in obtaining a passport,” Nakasa wrote to the Nieman Foundation.
“If I shall leave this country and decide not to come back, it will be because of a desire to avoid perishing in my own bitterness – a bitterness born of being reduced to a second-class citizen,” Nakasa wrote in a column before he left South Africa.
Former journalist and academic, Professor Keorapetse Kgositsile, knew Nakasa well. Kgositsile, who was in exile with Nakasa in the US, first met him in the early 1960s when he worked for the left-wing publication The New Age and Nakasa for Drum magazine in Johannesburg.
“The general assumption is that Nat committed suicide. But I am not convinced that he did. As I have said before, I have no evidence to argue that he didn’t but also there’s no concrete evidence that he did. And knowing him, and the general African attitude towards suicide, especially our generation, it would be very strange because I don’t know of any South African who committed suicide around that time. I find the issue of suicide very problematic… It was misguiding that Nakasa wanted to return to South Africa during apartheid. He understood clearly he would not be allowed back. Those who said he wanted to return were undermining his intelligence,”
says Kgositsile.
“I respected Nat because he didn’t have any complications. He was what he was. He was humble, almost reserved, quietly spoken, honest and frank. He was almost withdrawn. When you met Nat, the man was not different from Nat the writer. He wrote what he believed and lived.”
South African musicians living in New York, Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela, and photographer Peter Magubane raised money to bury Nakasa at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, near where the assassinated Malcom X had been laid to rest few months earlier. At the time of his death, Nakasa was working on Makeba’s biography.
Nearly 30 years later, Nakasa’s plight stirred journalists back home. In 1993, an article by an Afrikaans newspaper journalist, Dana Snyman, pressured Harvard University to put a modest headstone on his grave. Five years later, the South African National Editors’ Forum inaugurated the Nat Nakasa Award for brave journalists.
In 2012, Kgositsile joined a South African delegation, including Siphiwo Mahala, the Deputy Director in the Department of Arts and Culture, and Vusi Shongwe, a KwaZulu-Natal provincial representative, to negotiate the return of Nakasa’s remains from New York. It took two years and went to the Supreme Court.
It was a sad end to what could have been a hopeful story for African journalism. A reminder of this hope is a picture of a young African in the front row of a Harvard scholars’ group, dressed in a tweed jacket buttoned over a thin striped tie. The context makes it even more intriguing. In 1964, America was a staid and conservative place. It was a time when many black people lived in fear of being lynched. A year before the country elected a Catholic, John F. Kennedy, for the first time in nearly 200 years of democracy.
Nakasa, the second of three children, was born in Lusikisiki in the Pondoland region of the Eastern Cape. Poverty forced Nakasa to leave school, without qualification, in 1954. His family moved to Durban where he cut his teeth working for the Ilanga Lase Natal newspaper, in both Zulu and English.
Johannesburg beckoned; Nakasa joined The Post and later Drum magazine and freelanced for international publications. He became part of the iconic Drum team: Henry Nxumalo, Casey Motsitsi, Can Themba and Lewis Nkosi.
Nakasa also became the first black columnist on The Rand Daily Mail,
a white liberal newspaper
in Johannesburg.
As Drum magazine struggled against growing press restrictions, Nakasa met John Thompson, an American who led the Fairfield Foundation, an organization supporting international cultural endeavors, at one of the mixed-race parties that Nakasa frequented. Thompson convinced Nakasa to found the first black-owned literary journal, The Classic, in 1963. Later, Thompson encouraged Nakasa to enrol at Harvard.
In another world, Nakasa would have returned to Africa as an erudite professor to enrich and train his fellow journalists; sadly, he didn’t.

The Native Of Nowhere Is Home

Joyce Banda is wearing a cheerful fuchsia-pink chitenge (Malawian dress), but looks tired.
We meet her in a Johannesburg hotel, where she has been staying on the return leg of her six-week trip – the longest she has been away from Africa – to the United States (US).
“The last few weeks have been hectic,” says Banda, Malawi’s former president and Africa’s second female head of state.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3133" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_0321-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
In the US, she had been rubbing shoulders with Hillary Clinton and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, garnering support for the Joyce Banda Foundation, which she has been running on behalf of women and children in Malawi for the last 16 years. In Johannesburg, she also met with Graça Machel, wife of the late Nelson Mandela, to discuss a maternal and child health program.
Back home, it was an equally hectic few months. In a year Malawi is celebrating 50 years of independence, the international press scrutinized it over a high-level graft scandal and chaotic elections.
Banda left Malawi a month after her country’s closely-contested – and controversial – May elections, which saw her and her People’s Party lose to Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Banda was president of the tiny aid-dependent southern African country – among the world’s poorest – for a brief two years, following the death in office of her predecessor Bingu wa Mutharika, the brother of the new president.
“I came into office at a very difficult time. The economy had almost collapsed, but in 24 months, I was able to turn [it] around,” says Banda.
Banda says Malawi’s economy grew from 1.8% in 2012 to 6.2% in 2014. She started well, winning accolades from the West for her economic reform plan and austerity measures, including the IMF-backed devaluation of the kwacha.
“What gives me pride is I left Malawi a better place than when I found it. When I came… we didn’t have fuel for a day, companies were scaling down… I had to work very quickly… By the time I was leaving statehouse, we had a harvest of 3.9 million metric tons. Companies were operating at 85%. We had a forex cover of three-and-a-half months [from a week]… We had fuel for 15 days at any given time… The one thing I wasn’t aware of when I came into office is there was so much corruption, and that corruption affects the gains you make.”
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3134" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_0331-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
Banda claims she started the fight against corruption, revamping Malawi’s financial management system, which she says led to 68 arrests and 30 frozen accounts.
The corruption scandal, or Cashgate, saw senior government officials in Banda’s administration charged with misallocating funds. According to Baker Tilly, the British auditors hired by Banda with financial support from the British government, the state was defrauded of about $32 million, almost 1% of Malawi’s annual GDP, between April and September 2013.
But Banda says the financial system was abused by previous governments, dating back to 2001. She knew bringing it to light was not going to be easy.
“I was warned by colleagues across the continent it’s not easy to fight corruption… because you are fighting very powerful people who are benefitting from that kind of money, and if you are not careful, you will get smeared on, be fought through and through, dragged to the ground…,” says Banda.
“I decided to go back to 2010 and 2011, as I saw the benefit of us finding the truth, [as] that is the only way to move forward. The audit reports together with the K6 billion ($15 million) stolen while I was in office, and the K92 billion ($232 million) [from her predecessor’s time] are before parliament now. The good news is that the current president has also decided to go ahead with the fight against corruption,” says Banda.
The May elections brought more grief.
In the aftermath of the polls, which she alleged were rigged, there was a point when she says she had to take responsibility, call for a recount, step aside from contesting, and concede defeat.
“People have asked me, why did you not contest, why did you concede, when the Electoral Commission had also announced there was rigging? I felt it was important for me to allow peace to prevail. I have always said Malawians come first, this was an opportunity for me to demonstrate that. Malawians must have a leader of their choice, but Malawians should also not shed blood. There is life after statehouse and so much more I can do. So I chose to concede, and have no regrets.”
The buzz in Malawi now is what’s next for Banda? Will she return to politics or philanthropy?
Banda says she will continue championing women’s rights not just in Malawi but across Africa, and since her arrival in Malawi, has been involved with projects through her foundation.
Questions abound about her political future.
“There is a sense of deja vu, with the forex situation worsening by the day, and the kwacha weakening against the dollar and other major trading currencies, many fear that a repeat of fuel shortages that characterized the DPP government may come again. That coupled with the failure to meet some campaign promises may push Joyce Banda’s popularity up,” says Mabvuto Banda, a Malawi-based journalist.
There has also been speculation she might be charged for Cashgate.
“Interestingly, the Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale [in August] lauded Joyce Banda for laying the foundation for the fight against Cashgate but he was quick to say more still needs to be done to effect more arrests. He also warned there will be no sacred cows, a statement that may have fueled speculation JB will not be left out,” says the reporter.
“Joyce Banda has a lot of powerful friends outside Malawi but it’s very difficult for me to see how she could be indicted when clearly many would interpret the indictment as trying to victimize her.”
“When you are innocent, when you are fighting for the people, prosecution does not matter,” Banda had said in Johannesburg, days before her return home.
“If I write a book about my life, it will be volumes and volumes. I want to write one book that [tells] any African woman reading it that [you] can be at the lowest in [your] life and bounce back. In my life, I have been down four times. Every woman who reads my book will know that when you fall, you get up, and run again.”

‘Malawians Should  Not Shed Blood’

The ruling Frelimo party, which has run Mozambique since 1975, is likely to struggle to hang on to its overwhelming majority, according to sources in Maputo, against opposition parties Renamo and Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM). There is also a strong chance that Renamo, the former rebel forces long in Frelimo’s shadow, will drop to third place in the voting.
“I think this election could be tight and Frelimo is unlikely to win a two thirds majority,” says a senior advisor to the government, who wished to remain anonymous.
“Unless there is a miracle, I think Renamo will drop to third place behind MDM. People in this country do not want war and they were not happy with the semi-civil war that Renamo tried to start last year.”
The man who will take the reins of Mozambique is Filipe Nyussi, the anointed successor of President Armando Guebuza, who was nominated by the ruling part in March. He is the son of former guerrilla fighters and is also expected to carry on the free market of the Guebuza years. Nyussi has little experience in business, but is known for his efficiency in running CFM, the state-owned railways and ports.
Political analysts in South Africa agree the elections will run smoothly and victory is certain for the ruling party.
“Mozambicans are willing to participate in the democratic elections, there’s no place for the rebels. When Nyussi gave a public lecture at UNISA (in Pretoria) he came across as somebody who could take the growing country’s economy to another level. He definitely stands head and shoulders above the rest,” says Shadrack Gutto, UNISA professor and political analyst.
In the first week of September, Renamo leader, Afonso Dhlakama, returned to Maputo for talks with president Guebuza. This was their first meeting after Dhlakama went into hiding at the end of 2013 after a political dispute.
“I am afraid that if Renamo doesn’t change leadership they will definitely fail in these elections. I think it is frustrations, I have seen the party doing desperate things such as going back to the bush. But they have recently committed to put the arms down and go to the polls. On the other hand, Frelimo has been holding regular elections. No doubt, Nyussi is the party choice and there’s confidence that he will grow the economy,” says Tawana Kupe, a professor at Wits University in Johannesburg.
Dhlakama, who has run in every presidential race since 1994, saw his support wane to 16% in 2009 polls.
The World Bank forecasts the Mozambican economy will grow by 8.1% this year and up to 8.6% in 2015.
In August, president Guebuza launched the 175MW gas plant at Ressano Garcia. It was a joint venture between Electricidade de Mocambique (EDM) and Sasol, a South African energy company with a 49% stake.
“Mozambique is set to become a global top ten gas player in the near future, if all the exploration and proven reserve results are taken into account… From an investment perspective, there have already been interests both from countries in the East as well as South Africa as off takers to products,” says Johan Muller, an energy analyst at Frost &amp; Sullivan.
A peaceful election could help usher in a new era of prosperity in what was once one of the poorest countries in the world.

Old Foes To Take A Beating

Independence celebrations in Nigeria have traditionally been marked by the Head of State urging citizens to be thankful for how far the country has come and promising new beginnings.
Now, it is also a stark reminder of lingering trouble: terrorism. The last few national celebrations have taken place in the confines of the presidential residence, instead of the traditional Eagle Square, after a bomb blast during the 2010 celebrations killed several people.
<div id="attachment_3124" style="width: 195px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3124" class="size-medium wp-image-3124" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/153160755-185x300.jpg" alt="" width="185" height="300" />Nigeria&#8217;s President Goodluck Jonathan arrives to attend the ceremony marking the country&#8217;s 52nd anniversary of independence from Britain, on October 1, 2012 in Abuja. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL WOLE</div>
This year, there will be even more reason for the day to be subdued. The Nigeria that will be celebrating its 54th anniversary will be smaller than the one that turned 50. The militant group Boko Haram, in brazen defiance of the government’s resolve to subdue it, now takes pride in seizing portions of Nigerian territory.
The insurgency shaved half a percentage point off the GDP this year, says Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. In addition, the threat of the Ebola virus, which has swept through West Africa since April, has alarmed investors. From an economic point of view there is much cause for worry.
Nigeria has a history of navigating through choppy waters. A decade ago, militants in the Niger Delta were busy stoking frustrations and amassing weaponry, which they would use to cripple the oil industry that is the country&#8217;s mainstay. The force majeures that followed, combined with the global economic meltdown, left the country in a precarious position.
The country that gained its independence on October 1, 1960 – one of 18 African countries that would break free from the colonial grip that year – was a hopeful one. From the day it dawned on Nigerians, three years earlier, that that the much smaller Ghana had beaten Nigeria to freedom, enthusiasm had swelled in the then federal capital Lagos.
“This is a wonderful day, and it is all the more wonderful because we have awaited it with increasing impatience, compelled to watch one country after another overtaking us on the road when we had so nearly reached our goal,” said Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa in his Independence Day speech.
“I promise you, we shall not fail for want of determination. And we come to this task better-equipped than many.”
Barely six years later, it was all over. The republic crumbled, partly under the weight of corruption that critics say has grown worse. They claim corruption is depriving Nigerians – more than half of whom live below the poverty line – of the benefits of hundreds of billions of dollars in oil revenue.
While the road to independence may have been, in Balewa&#8217;s words, without bitterness nor bloodshed, the road since has been rocky. So, like several other African countries, bloodshed has defined much of Nigeria’s post-independence history. From a succession of coups to a bloody civil war, that claimed more than one million lives, and ethno-religious crises.
Added to that is the copious number of deaths from needless causes that Nigerians have long got used to: infants dying from easily treatable diseases, car crashes, petroleum pipeline spills and adulterated drugs.
Amid the gloom, however, Nigeria has never been better placed than it is now to pull off a long-awaited economic miracle. The last decade has been marked by solid growth – averaging in excess of 6%, and placing Nigeria among the fastest growing economies in the world. In April, it emerged, after a long overdue reassessment, that Nigeria, not South Africa, is Africa’s largest economy.
<div id="attachment_3126" style="width: 244px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3126" class="size-medium wp-image-3126" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/104408801-234x300.jpg" alt="" width="234" height="300" />The Duchess of KENT Katharine WORSLEY presiding over Nigeria&#8217;s independence ceremonies on October 1st, 1960. Le 1er octobre 1960, la duchesse de KENT Katharine WORSLEY préside les cérémonies d&#8217;indépendance du Nigéria.</div>
Investor confidence is strong in spite of the country’s challenges. The confidence is fed largely by a large youthful population. A large diaspora also remits around 4% of GDP annually.
A regime of relative macroeconomic stability, dating back more than a decade, also contributes to the confidence. A debt relief package obtained in 2006 freed the country from crippling interest payments, and, with a sovereign wealth fund launched in 2011, signposted the country’s intent to be taken seriously by the international community.
The biggest challenge facing the managers of the economy has been – and will continue to be – converting that abstract progress into a visible lift in the fortunes of millions of citizens.

A Gloomy And  Stark Reminder

The Ebola virus is spreading across Africa, taking fear with it.
“They say Ebola has no cure. The unknown has arrived. Nobody knows how to deal with this Ebola, not even the government!” John-Thomas Mensah, an Accra-based taxi driver tells FORBES AFRICA in the Ghanaian capital.
The Ebola scourge has spawned new social rules, with people being told they are not allowed to hug or shake hands. New superstitions have arisen, with some believing that drinking or bathing with salty water and eating the West African plant, bitter kola, will treat the disease. Some businesses are cashing in on the rush for disinfectants, soaps and hand sanitizers.
In August, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the West Africa Ebola outbreak a public health emergency. It triggered global alarm as countries stepped up precautions and testing. It is the largest Ebola outbreak to date and began in Guinea in March. Liberia has been the worst hit, with 70% of the casualties. Ebola has infected nearly 2,500 and claimed 1,427 lives, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Nigeria recorded 5 deaths as at the end of August.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3117" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/shutterstock_152407592-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
Beyond medicine, the epidemic has dampened business and left the informal economy, that fuels West Africa’s cross-border commerce, in a coma. Millions of West Africans are traveling traders and workers who crisscross the region’s porous borders for their daily bread.
Nigeria, which accounts for around 168 million of West Africa’s 260 million people, has not shut its borders, but almost every other country in the region has stopped border traffic, all in a bid to restrict the spread of Ebola.
Airlines discontinued flights to and from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and neighboring countries. Freight rates to West Africa are expected to rise as ship owners avoiding the region are choosing to berth at alternative ports. In mid-August, a Chinese-flagged ship heading out of Sierra Leone to Cape Verde had its crew quarantined in Sao Vicente.
The Ebola scare has also reared its ugly head in South Africa. The most worrying was a patient in August who displayed low risk symptoms and was admitted to the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital as a precaution. Luckily, the patient tested negative for Ebola at the special diseases ward at the hospital.
&#8220;The patient is in isolation and there is no need for the general public to panic. He will not be put in contact with another patient. He is in isolation, in a special ward that deals with hemorrhagic fever,&#8221; says Joe Maila, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health.
Eleven hospitals across South Africa were issued with protective gear in preparation for any possible outbreak, says Maila.
East Africa is also taking precautions.
The health sector there is poorly funded and all member states agree that they need to coordinate efforts to keep Ebola at bay. Little of this is evident on the ground.
Uganda has suffered from Ebola in the past and claims it is well prepared. Together with Rwanda and Burundi, Uganda borders the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has confirmed strains of the virus.
The region is on high alert and any slight indication of the virus in these countries may lead to the type of isolation experienced in West Africa. Business, including East Africa’s fledging oil and gas sector, will be hit hard.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-3118" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/454132450-300x205.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="205" />
WHO classified Kenya as a high-risk area because of the number of flights from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to the infected countries. Kenya Airways, the third largest carrier on the continent, is feeling the pinch after suspending some of its flights to West Africa. RwandAir and Ethiopian Airways are yet to follow suit but promise stringent surveillance.
Help has come from far and near. The United States’ (US) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has about 60 disease detectives and other health experts in the region. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has reportedly committed $14.5 million. The Wellcome Trust and Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID) have also announced a joint $10.8-million emergency research fund.
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, through his Dangote Foundation, has given $3.2 million to the Ebola Emergency Operation Centre in Lagos, where the nation’s first case of Ebola was diagnosed in Liberian-American national Patrick Sawyer who died in a Lagos hospital four days after arriving from Liberia.
Despite these measures, and assurances by the WHO and local authorities, sections of the international community continue to fear that Ebola could spread across the vast African continent. With multinationals placing travel restrictions to West Africa, trips to Africa are either being postponed or canceled. The tourism sector in East and Southern Africa has been the hardest hit.
Ebola is not going away in a hurry.

Our Worst Nightmare

It’s a hard life for farmers who have lived for generations in the Karoo, South Africa’s vast expanse of nothing. Every day, they fight cutting winds and soaring temperatures in bone-dry valleys to nurture their stock. To the visitor, the Karoo is a barren place between Cape Town and Johannesburg. Here the communities are small, Twitter is scarce and there are more goats than people. Soon there could be more rumbling trucks than goats.
This is all because of a mining method called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. It’s been hailed a savior of the United States (US) economy, during the 2008 recession, making it one of the largest producers of natural gas in the world. It is now on its way to South Africa, because the government and oil and gas companies believe, beneath the Karoo, lies an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas; enough to fuel the country’s economy for up to 20-30 years. It could also bring $100 billion and thousands of jobs.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3113" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_2288-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
For some, like Harry Memese, who grew up in the small town of Graaff Reinet, in the heart of the Karoo, the sound of thousands of trucks full of gas grinding along the highways could be music to his ears.
“I have worked as a petrol cashier for eight years, there is no job other than that in Graaff Reinet. The people are suffering. There are 30 youths here where I live, and only two of them are working in my street. Fracking is going to help the people get jobs. If you look around our townships, like here in Graaff Reinet, and the rest of the Eastern Cape, people are not working. Fracking is supposed to bring in 300,000 more jobs. At least there is something that people can earn earn,” says the 33-year-old.
Grey hair, from a life harder than the land he grew up in, makes Memese look older than he is. His life is a struggle and the $420-a-month he earns is barely enough to feed his wife, children and younger brother. The promise of fracking could mean a new lease of life for his family. He dreams of seeing his 19-year-old brother Ayanda one day qualifying as an electrical engineer on a fracking well.
No one really knows how much shale gas is in the Karoo. When estimates emerged in 2010, Econometrix, South Africa’s largest independent macro-economic consulting firm, believed there was 485 tcf, enough to make South Africa the fifth largest producer in the world.
But these days the figure has been downsized. Another task team set by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), in September 2012, spearheaded by the Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (PetroSA), believes there is a mere 30 tcf.
No matter the figure, companies want to explore. Shell, the largest bidder in the Karoo, wants to frack 90,000 square kilometers &#8211; the size of Sierra Leone.
“It’s a potential resource. It certainly can be a big player. Scientists initially thought it was 485 tcf but the latest from the same people is 370 tcf. If you listen to petroleum companies, it could be fractions of that. To put things into scale, PetroSA has been running on 1 tcf for their gas to liquid plant in Mossel Bay. The challenging thing for South Africa is the environmental impact and the regulations,” says Chris Bredenhann, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ oil and gas advisory leader in Africa.
Bredenhann thinks natural gas may have captured investor interest, but Africa has its challenges. In his company’s 2014 Africa oil and gas review, companies operating in Africa face fraud, corruption, theft, poor infrastructure and a lack of skills. Investors are also concerned about regulatory uncertainty.
“Some key players have delayed or canceled projects until further clarity can be sought in their respective jurisdictions as they cannot move forward with doubts given the long-term nature of the needed investments,” says Bredenhann.
According to the report, Africa has proven natural gas reserves of 502 tcf, with 90% of the continent’s annual production of 6.5 tcf coming from Nigeria, Libya, Algeria and Egypt. China has an estimated 1,115 tcf, the largest supply of shale gas. With African countries like Mozambique looking to exploit reserves, the competition for sales and investment is tough.
“There is also the fact there is tight international competition. Asia, who is the main consumer of gas, is being fed by the United States and the likes of Australia who managed to set up their operations far faster than expected. It means companies operating out of Tanzania and Mozambique, who have met various delays in operations, will lose out as the price decreases in a competitive market,” says Bredenhann.
Falling prices could spell disaster for the up-and-coming countries looking to sell their surplus gas.
“The sentiment of Africa being open is applicable to South Africa. Total, Chevron and Shell have made investments offshore. If you had this conversation five years ago this would have been a different conversation,” says Bredenhann.
The only certainty for those who want to frack, is that they have a fight on their hands.
<h3>Rallying The Cheques</h3>
In a year, the fighting fund for farmers in the Karoo has swollen. 
A sure sign that the gloves are off.
Like his fellow 3,000 farmers, Dickie Ogilvie won’t let fracking vie without a fight. Ogilvie gave up teaching to help his wife, Colleen, take over her brother’s farm, Doorndraai, 100 kilometers south west of Graaff Reinet. His fears have led him to pledge R3 for every hectare on his 14,000 hectare farm to fight fracking in court. Most farmers across the Karoo are as trenchant as him.
“Some guys have given a lump sum payment. Most of the other moneys are per hectare basis, the pledge varies from R1 a hectare to R10 ($1), depending how strongly a farmer feels.  There is a lot of money to fight this if it goes to litigation process. Farmers have realized now how serious this can be,” says Ogilvie.
“Our resolution from the Aberdeen district is dire. I don’t believe they understand that if something goes wrong the Karoo is finished. You cannot rectify the water contamination, once it’s been contaminated it’s over, we will have to move off. It’s not only farms; the towns rely on underground water. My small little family can make a plan, but we are talking about whole communities in towns. It’s a huge problem, no answers are given, there is so much uncertainty.”
The fierce litigation between big business and the Karoo’s landowners has been brewing since 2009, when fracking explorations were stopped to allow for regulations. Landowners locked horns with government over the lack of consultation and what they call flawed laws and uninformed environmental assessments.
Their lobbying has seen some results, says Derek Light, the small-town lawyer from Graaff Reinet. The small offices he works in have been consumed by fracking for three years. Light even took a cell phone when he went for hip surgery so he wouldn’t miss anything. He represents hundreds of landowners, including millionaire Johann Rupert, the second richest man in Africa, who lives around the corner.
In September, four years after the first applications were submitted, baseline water testing began. The study, researched by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and financed by the Eastern Cape provincial government, looks at the Karoo’s underground water system.
“Baseline testing is not done overnight, it’s a long process that takes two to three years. The timing of it has been poor, and it is something the oil companies should have done in their environmental management plan process, which they failed to do. It’s now being done by the taxpayer. The government should have had this information at their disposal when they first made their decisions on the whole process,” says Light.
He adds that the government jumped the gun. Drafts, issued in 2013, were flawed and focused on regulating fracking while forgetting about the mining operations around it, says Light.
“Drilling in South Africa is not regulated at all. Shell and other companies feed off the fact that there are few documented cases of contamination from the actual fracking process. Because the wealth of contamination comes from the other process, you can’t divorce the one from the other.”
Another loud and stringent voice against fracking is that of Jonathan Deal, CEO of Treasure Karoo Action Group (TKAG). Strangely enough, he didn’t know about fracking until he read a news article in 2011 when Rupert was speaking out against it.
“I began to investigate and attended the Shell public meetings. It was very clear to me that Shell was trying to control the meetings. There was a very specific aim in those meetings and it wasn’t to tell the truth as far as I was concerned,” says Deal.
From his 40,000-hectare Eco-farm near Montagu, in the Karoo, Deal has been calling on the Presidency, the Public Protector and gas companies to revise their actions before fracking takes place. He’s not alone; Julius Kleynhans, the Head of Environmental Affairs at the NGO AfriForum, has declared it will back TKAG financially should it go
to court.
“It is the balance of convenience. If companies and the state have invested enormous amounts of money and the public sits and watches what happens and wait for everything to be built and then goes and complains. It’s very difficult for a court to literally throw its investments away.”
“If something goes wrong with a fracking well ten years later and those chemicals migrate 30 kilometers away, even if a farmer ends up with polluted water, what chance has he got of proving that it was from that well&#8230; if people get sick from air and water pollution, like what is being happening in the United States, who is going to pay for it? The state is; the people who pay tax. Not the companies that have shut down their operations when they have moved on somewhere else,” says Deal.
It’s not just a Karoo problem, says Deal.
“If fracking starts in this country and the gas reserves are there. We will see the technology of fracking march across this country just like it did in the United States. Geologically speaking the Karoo basin is where the gas bearing shale is thought to reside, and that extends into Gauteng and parts of Mpumalanga. In fact it extends out of the northern borders of South Africa.”
Despite plans to halt explorations until proper research is completed, the government remains adamant it will go ahead and be a game changer.
“New regulations should be released in September, but we don’t yet know what they contain. All of this has happened without consultation. It seems what will happen are inadequate regulations will be passed, with inadequate consultation. We are then faced with serious decisions where we go from there. If the regulations are unlawful, that may have to be challenged in the Constitutional Court. It seems, from the ministers announcements, hot off the heels of the new regulations will be the issuing of licenses which seems to indicate government has already taken a decision on those, which should not be granted because they don’t comply with the new laws,” says Light.
The impact of exploration could be catastrophic, says Deal, especially since companies refuse to disclose the chemical composition of the additives. Chemical additives make up 1% of the 20 million liters used for a well. On one pad there can be 32 wells.
“With exploration, the same risks are there, they have to frack to see if it’s there. Don’t come to this country and look for secrecy privileges. Don’t come and try hide behind commercial interests to hide the mix of chemicals, this is not America,” says Deal.
“The minute these licenses are issued, these corporates are going to carry on with what they want to do anyway. It’s going to be challenged. People are well aware of it. The minute those licenses are issued, they will be challenged,” says Ogilvie.
Landowners seem to be putting their money where their mouth is. One wonders what people across Africa, who don’t have money will do.
<h3>What’s The Problem?</h3>
Independent geologist, Wlady Altermann, believes fracking fears are full of hot air.
Imagine a rock with thousands of pockets. Then imagine you have to drill, thousands of times, to release the gas from these pockets. This is what the Karoo looks like underground and the amount of drilling needed could make fracking costly, says Wlady Altermann, a geologist at the University of Pretoria.
“All the knowledge of these compartments and the distribution of pockets are very poor. [The Karoo] would require a very good geophysical investigation. After that, the drill hole positions need to be drilled to investigate the properties of the rock, the stability of the composition and the wealth of the gas. Only after that, can a decision be made as to the wealth of the shale gas,” says Altermann.
The German- born professor knows a thing or two about rocks. Apart from studying them since he was a child, Altermann spent years studying rocks from Mars. Space travel was out of the question so Altermann flew across the globe and has been studying mineral deposits in South Africa since the 1980s.
Altermann, now the Kumba-Exxaro Chair in Geodynamics of Ore Deposits at the university, believes that fracking is harmless if it’s done properly.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3111" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_2680-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />
“The misconceptions are basically based on poor information. It comes from the direct comparison with the United States, which I think is not comparable. Secondly, it comes from the perceptions that the surface and the shallow subsurface have something to do with shale gas deposits. Shale gas deposits are much deeper.”
“The fracking itself is such a tiny part of the entire process. It’s not the dangerous part of the process. The dangerous part of the process is the later methods of production. Fracking itself, I think, it’s the wrong discussion,” says Altermann.
Water contamination by drilling through the Karoo’s aquifers, 300 meters below the surface, is also unlikely says Altermann, because the distance between the underground water and the shale gas is far.
“The shale in the United States is at much shallower levels. Between 1,000-1,500 meters. The deeper you go, the less the risk of contamination. The pressure in the ceiling holds the gas better. The chance to contaminate groundwater through that type of production is so low; you really must act like an idiot to do this. It’s not impossible but if it’s done properly, there’s no problem,” he says.
The fracking process has made significant technological steps since it began 70 years ago, says Altermann. Wells can be spaced further apart because drilling horizontally can stretch for 5 kilometers. Ten years ago, that same reach was a kilometer.
The risk lies with the waste after fracking. Companies in the US have been guilty of reusing this water to save costs, instead of disposing of it.
“This is what causes most of the problems. In other countries, it is forbidden, there are environmental laws. That should be avoided in South Africa as well, controlled in a way that you can be sure nothing happens,”
says Altermann.
Natural gas is a greener fossil fuel than coal, says Altermann.
“South Africa’s energy demand is expected to increase by 60% up to 2050. Coal cannot supply it; if coal supplied it we would sit in darkness and not see our beautiful sunsets under the African sun. At today’s state of technology, the best way to mitigate climate change and CO2 emissions, the cheapest thing technically is to switch from coal to gas combustion. It reduces CO2 emissions by 50%. It’s a much more effective way of producing energy,”
says Altermann.
“People talk about fracking and groundwater; no one realizes that actually in many areas where groundwater is scarce, where there is not enough water to supply the population, fracking is used to extract groundwater. They frack the rocks, the aquifer, without chemicals with just water and sand and crack the rocks, so that water can flow out the cracks easier. It is used by many countries especially in sub-Saharan Africa.”
According to the professor, fracking could change the face of South Africa and not cause too much worry.
<h3>Last Gasp For Eden</h3>
It’s a small corner of the Karoo: a corridor of private land that stretches 300,000 hectares from the Camdeboo National Park, in Graaff Reinet, east to the Mountain Zebra National Park. It took 66 farmers over three years to buy into this project that promises a Garden of Eden teeming with wildlife. It could become known as the last piece of untouched land in the Karoo if fracking begins.
“The first meeting in Graaff Reinet was a little tense. I think a lot of the landowners thought we were going to attempt a big land purchase and buy out hundreds of thousands of hectares. Also, I think they were a bit worried that we were going to tell them what they had to do on their own land. Once this was clarified, there was little problem,” says Matthew Norval, the Director of the Conservation Programme at the Wilderness Foundation.
The corridor project is the brainchild of Norval, in collaboration with South Africa National Parks (SANParks). He wants to create a reserve for future generations.
“The farmers in this area have looked after the land for many generations, some of them are third and fourth generation. The reason you can build a natural corridor in that region is because the land has been so well looked after and is still in good condition and there is a strong affinity from the farmers who own that land,” says Norval.
The application is with the Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3110" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_2600-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
“Fracking raised its head at almost the same time we started working in that area. There is no doubt that it influenced the way we worked and the way some of the landowners decided how to collaborate with us. I think fracking hit a lot of the landowners, sort of right between the eyes. They suddenly realized that properties that had been in their families for generations were now under threat. It was possible their land would get damaged and their children or their children’s children wouldn’t be able to make a livelihood from farming. You have to bear in mind its prime natural rangeland grazing for sheep and cattle,” says Norval.
“I think it would be near impossible to rehabilitate the Karoo after fracking. In some areas, to a layman it may look like gravel plain. Somebody that doesn’t understand the intricacies of that ecosystem might just assume you can level it and there you go. But it’s not like that.”
“This is our last gasp. Never mind rhino, we’re losing lion; we’re losing pangolin by the ton. When it comes to land, the opportunity to build corridors and create landscapes that are going to have some relevance in the future, this is our last chance. ”
Over to the minister.

I Want A  Fracking Future

Last month, Glasgow bid farewell to the Commonwealth Games, but the debate about the importance of the organization will continue long after the athletes have left.
The relevance of the Commonwealth has been widely questioned in recent times. Some claim that the majority of its states are not very interested in the association and it has become virtually unknown among their people.
Others believe that the Commonwealth is needed more today than it was in its heyday of fighting for an end to racism in Southern Africa, the independence of Zimbabwe under majority rule, the freeing of Nelson Mandela and the ending of apartheid.
The Commonwealth, made up of 2.2 billion citizens from 53 independent nations spanning six continents, has divided opinion for most of its existence. But after celebrating its 65th anniversary this year, how relevant is the organization that is often described as an extension of colonialism?
At the moment there is disinterest and discontent within the organization itself. Formerly known as the British Commonwealth, it was originally seen as a way of uniting former British Empire colonies.
The Commonwealth is a network of networks; decisions made within it have the scope to resonate globally. That is the considerable soft power that the Commonwealth has when used purposefully. But is that the case today?
It should be noted that its present member states, including Britain, chose to be part of the Commonwealth, and to remain part of it. Two of these member states &#8211; South Africa and Pakistan &#8211; were withdrawn from the association by their governments at the time, but were subsequently brought back.
Two other countries have since been withdrawn &#8211; Zimbabwe and The Gambia. In the case of Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe’s government violated Commonwealth values regarding democracy. When the Commonwealth sought to suspend Zimbabwe from membership, Mugabe withdrew his country from the association.
Last year, The Gambian President Yahya Jammeh withdrew his country because he no longer wished to associate with Britain. He also claims the Commonwealth represents an extension of colonialism.
Many African commentators believe that the sole purpose of the body was to promote white interests and that continues to be the case today.
They also argue that the exits of countries were more likely in response to criticism faced from other member states on their human rights record. The Commonwealth is often criticized for being too lenient.
In 2011, a group made up of prominent figures from across the Commonwealth suggested that widespread homophobia needed to be tackled, particularly in countries where it interferes with HIV/Aids programs. But current statistics suggest little has changed. Of the 53 Commonwealth nations, 42 have anti-homosexuality legislation, with punishment varying from fines to the death penalty.
Controversies and politics aside, some argue that there is a human aspect to the Commonwealth.
A section of the organization commonly referred to as the people’s Commonwealth, which comprises of independent, professional, philanthropic and sporting bodies, works to help improve the lives of people in the organization’s countries.
Every two years, leaders meet at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to discuss issues affecting each country and the organization as a whole.
It is believed that by allowing equal representation for all states, the Commonwealth gives smaller nations an international platform they wouldn’t otherwise have and creates a forum for ideas that often do not get onto the mainstream agenda.
Only time will tell how long it lasts.

The Commonwealth, Why?

The tradition of 40 years of arts brought an economic boost to the Eastern Cape, the poorest province of South Africa.
The National Arts Festival in Grahamstown saw its best ever ticket sales of more than $650,000. The local economy received nearly $31.6 million.
“The biggest growth this year came from sales on the main program, attributable largely to an expanded program aimed to commemorate the festival’s 40th birthday, and from attendance at a greatly increased number of free performances and activities aimed at the broader Grahamstown community,” says Tony Lankester, the festival’s CEO.
The two-week event in July saw artists from 40 countries stage over 2,500 performances.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3068" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_0317-300x179.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="179" />
The festival created short-term jobs for local people. In 2011, Grahamstown was among the poorest places in South Africa, with an unemployment rate of more than 70%.
Lankester says organizers received nearly 1,500 job applications for the 470 posts at the festival. Most jobs were for technicians, cashiers, cleaners and theater ushers. A majority of those that were employed survive with casual jobs for the rest of the year.
“Other festivals around the world have strong volunteer pools. We have taken a position that we don’t want volunteers. It would be immoral in Grahamstown to ask people to work for free. This is their livelihood. This is the important part of our budget and what we do. That’s the direct employment and the biggest beneficiaries of an event like this are the hospitality industry, petrol stations and restaurants.”
Lankester says organizers feel pressure to create more jobs.
“Because we appear to be this massive rich entity, we punch above our weight in many respects. People expect us to do more,” he says.
In February, festival organizers launched a Creative City project that ran all year round, to stimulate grassroots art projects around Grahamstown.
“One can always argue we should do more, but as an NGO ourselves, there’s a limit to what we can achieve in just two weeks,” he says.
“Planning for 2015 is already underway with the proposals currently open. Between now and then, we have the inaugural Cape Town Fringe in September 25 to October 5, which will give us another opportunity to showcase some of the best performances South Africa has to offer,” says Lankester.
Anyone who saw the dance performance Cargo: Precious and Nile and the theater production Ubu and the Truth Commission will agree with this.
<h4>From Nasty Kingdom To The Welcome Mat</h4>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3071" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_0719-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />
The Grahamstown National Arts Festival has transformed itself from being a Rhodes University’s small Shakespeare festival to Africa’s largest, and arguably the world’s second largest, celebration of the arts.
“In the early stages of the festival, Grahamstown people resented outsiders, they were really nasty and they didn’t want their kingdom to be invaded. It didn’t matter what color you were. But the festival organizers said to artists, ‘even if you are banned in Cape Town, wherever, you can come to Grahamstown,’” says Adrienne Sichel, a veteran arts critic.
This year the 11-day festival had 225,538 attendees.
Nomhle Nkonyeni, a legendary Eastern Cape performing artist, was one of the first black actors to be invited to the festival in 1985. The festival honored her with the Standing Ovation award in 2013.
Nkonyeni has retired as a performer and returned home to Port Elizabeth to lend a hand in community theater.
“I am grateful for the growth of the Grahamstown festival. We are coming a long way. But we are still struggling as the community-based theater and the R20,000 government grant cannot take you anywhere. How do you stage a production on that?” she says.
Nkonyeni urged grassroots artists not to give up, citing her experience with director Athol Fugard in the 1960s. While she was humbled at being recognized last year, she is proud that her career started in community theater.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Ladies And Gentlemen…  A $31-Million Festival

Laduma Ngxokolo found business where many saw tragic headlines. Circumcision has long been a controversial business in South Africa where young initiates sometimes may never return from the rigorous stay in the hills and return alive.
Ngxokolo saw business in the celebration of the return of the young men. Having been to the hills himself, he knew that boys gave away their clothes before the mountains and were given new clothes on their return.
Hailing from the small kingdom of Pondoland, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province, Ngxokolo conceptualized MaXhosa – a business weaving the designs of the Xhosa culture into knitwear, using locally sourced textiles like mohair.
The Xhosa initiates are given new clothes, usually formal wear bought by their parents, which they have to wear for six months after their return from the mountains. Ngxokolo says many of these initiates do not like the clothes their parents buy for them finding them too westernized.
The cardigans are thickly knit with various patterns of triangles, stripes and zig-zags using dusty reds, oranges, yellows and blues, woven into brown wool. His inspiration stems from Xhosa beadwork patterns and the delicate tones of the Xhosa color palette. He started by only making jerseys and cardigans for men, but has now ventured into women’s wear, knitting skirts and dresses.
“This is why I decided to focus on knitwear, because the parents often go buy premium products for their sons,” says Ngxokolo.
By designing Xhosa-inspired knitwear, he would capture it in a way to preserve this heritage.
But his journey of becoming an entrepreneur was learned at his mother’s knees.
In his teenage years, it was inevitable that Ngxokolo’s mother Lindelwa, a knitwear designer in Port Elizabeth, would teach him how to knit using a hand-machine. Ngxokolo enjoyed doing craftwork and beadwork with his mother which influenced his designs. When he was 17 years old, his mother died, leaving Ngxokolo and three siblings to fend for themselves. It was a sad moment in his life, but his mother’s influence inspired him to turn a hobby into a business.
After finishing high school, Ngxokolo studied textile design and technology at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in the Eastern Cape. This was the turning point in his life. His flair for knitwear earned him a bursary from the Port Elizabeth-based Cape Wools SA as well as Mohair South Africa.
In 2010, Ngxokolo established his brand – MaXhosa. He also found inspiration exploring astonishing traditional beadwork, craft, patterns, symbolism and colors he found at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum in Port Elizabeth. This inspiration was incorporated into his modern knitwear range.
He entered his thesis, ‘Finding Innovative Designs For Xhosa Initiates To Wear’ into the South African leg of The Society of Dyers and Colourists competition which he won and went on to win the international leg of the competition. This prize resulted in Ngxokolo speaking at Design Indaba, one of the biggest conferences of its kind in Cape Town which is attended by many people from across the continent. The media coverage from the Indaba helped publicize MaXhosa.
“At the time, I wasn’t exposed to business and I didn’t have many customers,” he says.
A promoter forwarded Ngxokolo’s contact details to a magazine where he was given the opportunity to showcase at the Vauxhall Emerging Designers Scout which coincided with London Fashion Week in September the same year.
From here, he was given $14,000 seed capital to learn about business and which helped his business to hire five women from his community to work for him. Because his products were produced in Cape Town, Ngxokolo made the move to Vuya Fashions, a factory just outside the city, where his garments are made. The raw materials are sourced from Port Elizabeth.
Since then, Ngxokolo has showcased at numerous fashion weeks, including his first stand-alone show at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Joburg, and even had his own pop-up store in London.
This has propelled his brand to be known all over the world, from the streets of Cape Town to Paris.
“When I see people wearing my designs I feel overwhelmed,” he says.
Today, Ngxokolo says he focuses his time on creating custom-made designs ranging from cardigans, jerseys, dresses, skirts and throws that can sell at prices up to $500. Although he doesn’t have his own store, numerous retailers like Merchants on Long in Cape Town, and some from Namibia, England, France and Holland loved his products so much that they decided to stock the items in their shops.
In the future, he hopes to establish his own studio where his entire team would sit in one room and also keep his relationship with the manufacturers. Ngxokolo also wants to open up MaXhosa stores in fashion capitals across the world and also move into lifestyle designing like couches, and using mohair for rugs.
When he launched a collection in Paris called ‘My Heritage, My Inheritance’ in 2013, he says it was blessed because he dedicated it to his mother.
“My late mother’s dream as a knitwear designer in the eighties was to travel to Paris to see high-end fashion. Unfortunately circumstances denied her the opportunity to make her dream a reality. Twelve years after her passing, I had the privilege of being invited by the Labo Ethnik Fashion Week in Paris to showcase my knitwear collection,” he says.
One challenge that gives him pins and needles is that the demand in South Africa is quite small because the thick woolly mohair garments are not suitable for Africa’s warm weather.
“But for Europe and overseas it makes business sense,” he says.
“In future, I hope to sell more in Europe as the weather dictates, summer designs would be much thinner.”
For now, he sets his eyes on a master’s degree in textiles at Central Saint Martins in London. And this is how Ngxokolo will knit his way to the bank.

Category: Sometime in Africa

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

More from Sometime in Africa

Keep Your Eyes On Kenya

Big Wahala And Dutty Shoes

What Are We Really Independent Of?

The Bewildered Chasing A Broken Dream

Where Are The Messis Of Africa

A Sickening blow that’s coming your way

The Native Of Nowhere Is Home

‘Malawians Should Not Shed Blood’

Old Foes To Take A Beating

A Gloomy And Stark Reminder

Our Worst Nightmare

I Want A Fracking Future

The Commonwealth, Why?

Ladies And Gentlemen… A $31-Million Festival

The Jersey That Says You Are A Man