This writer witnessed the alluring and ceremonial mukudji dance of the Punu women in a remote Gabon village, originally performed by men dressed as women.



Early this year while near Tchibanga, the de facto capital of the Punu people of Gabon which straddles the border with the Republic of Congo, I got word that there was going to be a small mukudji ceremony in a local village. As a contributor to this magazine, a ceremony that celebrates the female ancestors of a tribe was certainly a special one to witness and report.



So I hastened from my forest abode pillion-riding on a barely functioning motorcycle to reach the village of Loango, where the elders there have still maintained their traditions. To understand the significance of the mukudji dance, I had my NGO colleague and motorcyclist Antonio Anoro translate the answers to my questions to the village chief Jean-Louis Nzamba.



Much of the description is also available through a quick online search, that the Punu are matrilineal and trace their lines of descent through the women of the community. The female ancestors are honored with okuyi ‘white masks’ that harness their power.



There is little doubt in me that Africa is still the last frontier for ancient cultures. Despite rapid modernization, I have been fortunate to visit communities in many parts of West Africa where the effects of Islam and Christianity have had little effect on cultural practices that are both ancient and a record of human development. Having collected West African art for nearly four decades, I never seem to tire looking at their amazing forms. This passion has taken me this past decade into many parts of West Africa including frequent forays into Gabon, where I help in directing an NGO, Gabon Untouched, for sustainable tourism and gorilla habituation.&nbsp;



The next stage of my art collection I reckoned should be one where the collections of some of my masks should actually be seen coming to life. While Mali and Burkina Faso offered me amazing experiences in this aspect a decade ago, Gabon has been delivering me some amazing experiences I wish to share here.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="683" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/01-RAM_6007-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47872" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/01-RAM_6007-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/01-RAM_6007-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/01-RAM_6007-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/01-RAM_6007-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/01-RAM_6007-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/01-RAM_6007-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/01-RAM_6007.jpg 1067w" sizes="(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" /></figure>



The art of the Punu and Fang peoples of Gabon are well-known to the West and served as an inspiration for Picasso and Matisse besides a host of other cubists in the early 20th century. Performances are appreciated as the most aesthetically appealing and exciting form of expression in Punu culture and consequently have become a national icon of Gabon. Such ceremonial dances were originally performed by initiated men who dressed as women; the practice has lately been on the wane.



The mukudj mask of the Punu is especially renowned globally with representative masks found in the major museums of New York, Dakar, Paris, Berlin and London. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, which I am a member of, describes the mask this way: “Among the Punu of southern Gabon, the visual focal point of a dance known as mukudj is a mask whose features are inspired by the most beautiful woman in a community. These marks are transformed into otherworldly spirits when empowered with white kaolin drawn from riverbeds associated with the ancestral realm, and are activated during spectacular acrobatic performances executed on stilts.”



While the average museum-goer reads these words and nods quite unremarkably, I had the opportunity to actually witness one of these ceremonies.



As we assembled around the small village quadrangle with a small group of locals to mourn the death of one of its members who passed away a few weeks ago, the arrival of the mukudji on stilts was quite an affair. To the heavy beating of drums and chants, the mukudji arrived waving a fly whisk.



The purpose of the whisk I understood was to request spiritual intervention in the hunt for malicious sorcerers and witches. By clearing such bad omens, the mukudji prepared the village for celebrations. Dancing on stilts up to two meters high, holding fly whisks, and dressed in costumes of plant fibers, the dancer was a sign of authority and inspired a mixture of admiration and fear in view of the amazing physical exploits of their performances.



Well into the dance, the locals thrusted whisks in my hands and allowed me to dance around the mukudji as a sign of appreciation and acceptance into their community.



The joy of cultural travel is one where you appreciate local traditions, their significance and enjoy the human bond such ceremonies create to strengthen. Africa may be called ‘the dark continent’ by the West, but it reveals to me each day the sophistication of its cultures and the originality of spiritual thinking. 



&#8211; By Ramdas Iyer

04-RAM_4590

The Power Behind The Mask: Up Close With The Dancers Of Gabon

Deep inside Gabon’s forests, under the harsh equatorial sun, the joy of seeing a mandrill in its habitat is a prize that cannot be missed. And one man is helping in the preservation of these vanishing primates.



IN SEARCH OF AFRICA’S LAST EDEN, my recent wildlife expedition to Gabon was organized under the auspices of Antonio Anoro of Gabon Untouched, an NGO dedicated to sustainable development through conservation and community tourism. While planning my foray into several national parks to observe wildlife prevalent in Gabon, the sighting of mandrills (the largest species of monkeys) was indeed a priority. Since the shy and reclusive mandrills are found only in tropical rain forest habitats, thick bush, and secondary forests, it is almost impossible to spot them with an untrained eye.



I therefore got in touch with Dr David Lehmann, a French-born ‘extreme’ field biologist and mandrill expert, who has been working in Gabon for over two years now. An expert in wildlife capture, he is also developing sustainable ecotourism projects, including providing specialized training for international and national trackers, guides, and researchers. He lives in a camp deep inside Lopé National Park, home to the largest ever recorded mandrill horde of over 1,000 in one location at a time.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="599" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-20.13.27-1024x599.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47643" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-20.13.27-1024x599.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-20.13.27-300x175.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-20.13.27-600x351.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-20.13.27-768x449.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-20.13.27-1536x898.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-20.13.27-2048x1197.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



&nbsp;When he indicated that he was available, I traveled by boat, road, and rail, in order to reach Lopé National Park from Ivindo National Park, home to the world-famous Langoue Baie, where elephants, gorillas, sitatunga and buffalo gather by the dozens at this salt lick. Since Lehmann had just returned from France after four weeks in Europe, he mentioned that his bearings on the mandrill troupe that he had GPS radio-collared were a bit tricky. In light of my arrival, despite jet lag and hard travel, he set out with his GPS-radio tracking antenna to get their relative position for easy access the following day.



Early the next morning, we drove in his battered Land Cruiser several miles into the park and up a small hillock with his assistant, Gabriel, to assess the location of a radio-collared group. As we were gearing up for the trek, the conversation suddenly turned serious when Lehmann turned to me and said, 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“You stay close between Gabe and me at all times. If a male gorilla attacks, look down and stay in a submissive posture close to the ground. If an elephant charges, run in a zigzag pattern and find a large bush or rock to avoid it. It will stop the chase after 30 meters. And lastly, if a buffalo charges, I will let you know what to do at that time.” </blockquote>



I realized that this was not playtime, but a serious foray into Gabon’s largest park at 4,900sqkm in size.



&nbsp;After a good hour’s walk up and down the undulating savannah, we almost reached the forest edge when we heard horrible, shrill sounds. Lehmann immediately checked the GPS tracker and realized that the mandrills we were following had scattered during a chimpanzee attack, one of their main predators during the day (and it is leopards at night). We walked back for nearly an hour to the vehicle after wasting a good four hours trying to find them.



&nbsp;The mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) is one of the most colorful animals in the world. This monkey species inhabits a very small portion of central Africa and ranges from south Cameroon to the north of Congo. The country of Gabon, therefore, represents 80% of its distribution range.



Wild mandrill males have a technicolor butt and face that glow in the shadows as if they carry their own light sources, while females are typically colorless. But the variation in color is not the only difference between male and female mandrills. Males are typically three times bigger than females (by around 10 kg).



&nbsp;While discussing his research, Lehmann added: “If they have such a difference in morphology, we can expect that they have different lifestyles. Indeed, you might need to feed on more nutritive food sources if you are all beefed up and need to constantly fight for females. Females are part of the troupe of more than several hundred monkeys that always move around the forest to find food, while males are more solitary and are only present in the group during the breeding season. Since the equatorial forest of Gabon is influenced by global warming, we are also investigating if the changes in the health of the forest will impact one sex more than another, and thus, the survival of the whole species.”



&nbsp;After a quick break, we drove through rutted tracks to an area where Lehmann believed these monkeys could have regrouped. Our GPS tracker indicated their presence was reachable by a solid walk through several hillocks and gallery forests about an hour or so away, in the blazing sun. We set about this task, finally reaching an amazing gallery forest with flowing water. Not only were we refreshed by the cool waters, the shade was a good few degrees below the equatorial sun. However, walking along streams in gallery forests can be fairly slow, and keeping up with the ever-moving and feeding mandrills became a foot race. Finally, the joy of seeing an unusual species in their habitat was a prize that could not be missed.



&nbsp;There has been a drastic decline in the mandrill population outside national parks in recent years due to habitat destruction. They are especially vulnerable to hunters because of their loud calls. Mandrills are hunted as a local food source in several areas. Currently, mandrills occupy forests at a very low density and are poorly protected, if at all. As a result, they may be threatened with complete extinction in the wild.



&nbsp;This brought me to the subject of Lehmann’s research.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="522" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-19.51.45-1024x522.png" alt="" class="wp-image-47654" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-19.51.45-1024x522.png 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-19.51.45-300x153.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-19.51.45-600x306.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-19.51.45-768x392.png 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-19.51.45-1536x783.png 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-19.51.45-2048x1044.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Photo by Ramdas Iyer</figcaption></figure>



“We catch and release these animals after placing a GPS collar around their necks so that we can track the utilization of their natural habitat. Capturing wild primates is extremely challenging; we have thus pioneered new ways to immobilize them while guaranteeing their safety. We also collect biological samples to analyze their diet, correlate it with their movements and with the temporal changes in forest health,” he explained.



&nbsp;After nine hours of mandrill tracking, we arrived at the lodge to find a cold beer and talk about his conservation work and the impact it was having. Lehmann mentioned that the publicity arising from the ecotourism project also increases the frequentation of foreigners to Lopé National Park, providing socio-economic benefits to the local community.&nbsp;



“Our results have shown that our focal group of mandrills spends ninety-five percent of its time roaming within the buffer zone of the park. We provide the Gabonese national parks agency with recommendations in adjusting park boundaries. We will provide habitat management recommendations to the mandrill range state governments for inclusion in their forest national management guidelines. Our detailed analysis of how environmental parameters are influencing mandrill movements will enable us to make first predictions about the vulnerability of the species to oncoming climate-driven environmental change.”



Dr Joseph Okoye, Director of Parcs Gabon (ANPN) whom I met en route from Ivindo where he was on a forest patrol inspection, when asked about mandrill conservation, mentioned: “For a species with such a restricted global distribution, this is of importance for international assessments of the species which is in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List as a conservation priority.”



&nbsp;In choosing to write this article, I wanted to expose the amount of basic research conducted to protect our biodiversity on earth. Lehmann works in a remote outpost with minimal comforts, constantly searching for funding and often interacting with officials like Okoye who provide Parcs Gabon support for his work. Thanks to European Union funding, he is helping in the preservation of one of the planet’s vanishing species.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="555" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-19.53.03-1024x555.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47648" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-19.53.03-1024x555.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-19.53.03-scaled-300x163.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-19.53.03-scaled-600x325.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-19.53.03-768x416.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-19.53.03-1536x832.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-01-18-at-19.53.03-2048x1109.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Photo by Ramdas Iyer</figcaption></figure>



By Ramdas Iyer

Screen Shot 2020-01-18 at 20.14.22

Thrills, Perils, And Mandrills

A tourist magnet, this small town in South Africa faces its own Covid-19 crisis, but the outdoors still entice. 



In the northeastern region of South Africa, nestled in the verdant Mpumalanga province is a capital city named Nelspruit, now known as Mbombela, a stunning and popular getaway for city-dwellers and tourists from other parts of the country.



Personal reasons took me to Mbombela recently, with special permission to move between provinces. And in the current pandemic, with no tourists flocking to the town to admire its iconic scenery or engage with the friendly locals, I had all the time and space to soak it in and capture it all on camera.



I arrived here around noon by road from Soweto, the vibrant township where I reside, 371kms away in Johannesburg.



Mpumalanga was warm in comparison with the wintry Gauteng province, which Soweto is a part of.



Although in the same country, the two provinces have many obvious differences, but the conversations and concerns around the coronavirus pandemic were the same, when I was there.



Despite Mpumalanga recording lower infection rates – and hardly any power cuts as in Gauteng – the face-mask was a common motif here too, from the petrol stations to the parking lots.



An old family friend came to pick me up in a small town called White River. He had arranged a safe place for me to rest and work in at the Kabokweni township, where he resides. The driving was different. I am used to Johannesburg’s beautiful tarred roads but this time, I was up in the bumpy mountains in my 1.4-liter car. I was worried because the locals were speeding up and down and I had to be extra-careful as I negotiated my way up to my place of stay.



I was now settled and able to respond to work emails, make calls and even sample the province’s tap water (although I prefer the water in Johannesburg). The next morning, it was back to business. I was up early like any professional photographer to catch the early rays of the Mpumalanga sun. It was enchanting. My friend and I wore our masks and gloves and topped our hand-sanitizers. We walked down the hill and the first stop was at the local eatery where women were rustling up African cuisine on the side of the road. They could tell I was not a resident because of my accent, but didn’t mind me photographing them. 



About a kilometer down the road, was a church that I had spotted enroute to my accommodation the previous day. I was intrigued by the architecture of this Lutheran Church.&nbsp;



As we continued walking and admiring the landscape, keeping clear of speeding cars, I also spotted a mosque on the horizon, and couldn’t leave without capturing it. We walked up to it and spoke to the caretaker about how they were practising social distancing here.



On our way back, I heard that 13 nurses had tested Covid-19 positive at the local clinic, so the town’s inhabitants had started taking the virus seriously. However, I did discover the face-mask-and-social-distancing rules were being flouted considerably at the shopping malls.



Well before my return to Johannesburg, I had picked up and could now speak a new language: siSwati (Bantu language spoken in eSwatini and South Africa by the Swazi people). I was fascinated by how the locals spoke it and I didn’t really care about what they were saying to me; I just wanted them to keep talking. I have since become a new convert to tuning in to siSwati news on the telly every day, still enthralled by how much a small town can teach fast-paced city-dwellers like me.

MIP_6327

The Road Trip To Mbombela

Tourism is slowly reawakening in Rwanda, with a renewed focus on the local market.



It’s a quiet, warm afternoon in June at Rwanda’s iconic, otherwise busy Kigali Convention Center (KCC). The conference venue’s paved parking lot that’s normally teeming with cars, is grey and empty against the backdrop of the green hills. Inside the KCC’s domed facility are 18 venues that can host more than 5,000 delegates at any given time. All of them are painfully silent, just like the five-star Radisson Blu hotel next to it.



This is the first time it has been as quiet since its opening in 2016. The KCC resumed operations on July 1 after the easing of lockdown restrictions, but overall, the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibitions) industry in Rwanda was to host close to 147 events this year targeting a revenue of $88 million. Most of these have been postponed or canceled. The highly-anticipated 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, for instance, originally scheduled for June 22-27 and that would have brought together more than a thousand business and government leaders from The Commonwealth to Kigali, has been postponed to June next year.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Five kilometers from the KCC, commercial passenger services at the Kigali International Airport that had been suspended are now slowly resuming, with national airline RwandAir announcing flights to select African routes and Dubai from August 1.



Rwanda recorded its first case of Covid-19 in mid-March and was one of the first few African countries to impose a strict and complete lockdown. As everywhere else, this has spelt bad news for the country’s leisure and business tourism sectors.&nbsp;



Take Ntende Hotel, a two-star facility owned by a 3,700-member cooperative of rice farmers called Coproriz. The cooperative’s members collected money to build the facility in Gatsibo district in the country’s Eastern Province in 2018. The hotel’s proximity to the Akagera National Park made it a big drawcard and all was well until Covid-19 changed everything.&nbsp;



James Karangwa, the hotel’s Investment Department Manager, explains that the outbreak resulted in the hotel suspending operations but it continued paying contracted staff and other fixed expenses. An even heavier burden was the repayment of a bank loan. A disheartened Karangwa says: “Having to meet such obligations whilst inoperative has affected us a great deal.”



Karangwa explains that, thankfully, the negative impact on the hotel business was cushioned by the group’s agri-business which was relatively less affected in the pandemic.



“The consequences would have been disastrous if we had not diversified our portfolio by investing in the cultivation of rice, maize and soya.”



The tourism and hospitality operators had been enduring the pain of Covid-19 since January, when the news about the virus first broke globally.



“There were already fears over the virus in January and many travelers cancelled their bookings while those that were here rushed back home to avoid being stuck,” recalls Wilson Habimana, founder of Wilson Tours and Travel Agency Ltd in Kigali. Of the 16 people his company employed before the outbreak, only four remain now.



“We have had a lot of cancellations from clients while others want their money back, hence, we had to do refund both for tours and tickets, which hasn’t been easy, as this pandemic caught the world unawares and it’s like most of the clients have lost the hope of traveling because of fear,” says Buwule Anna Fridah, a tour consultant, to FORBES AFRICA.



“As workers in the tourism industry, we have been affected by this pandemic because the source of our income has been closed,” concurs Ismael Nsengiyumva, a driver-guide, adding that investing in sectors other than tourism is one of the lessons he has learned from the crisis.



The pandemic has especially been a burden for new facilities such as the Epic Hotel &amp; Suites in Nyagatare district, in the Eastern Province of Rwanda. The four-star property opened in 2018; today, most of its workers have been sent home as the pandemic rendered them redundant.



“Since the lockdown, we certainly got affected; as most hotels, we had to lay off a large number of our workers. We came up with a policy to maintain the hotel in a semi-functional state because closing it would cost us a lot more [than] to restart,” says the chairman of its board, Alfred Ndabarasa. However, he expresses the hope of a recovery.



“The reopening of tourism and hospitality activities is helpful and we are gradually bringing our staff to work. Hopefully, by September, a big number would have returned to work if this problem does not persist.”



On June 16, a cabinet resolution that shone a glimmer of hope for the tourism and hospitality industry was released. “Domestic tourism and international tourism for visitors traveling [on] charter flights will resume,” read part of the statement. The government encouraged hotels to participate in domestic tourism promotion and offer conference services while adhering to strict health guidelines.&nbsp;



Earlier in the month, the government had launched a two-year fund for businesses affected by Covid-19. Dubbed the Economic Recovery Fund (ERF), it is to mobilize $200 million and designed to support enterprises highly impacted by the crisis so they can survive, restart work and safeguard employment.



An initial $100 million was allocated to the hotels sector loan refinancing as the cancellations of events and bookings due to the global lockdown and travel restrictions brought the sector to its knees, leading to a loss of over 90% of revenue.



Nsengiyumva Barakabuye, Chairman of the Rwanda Hospitality Association, commends the collaboration between the association and the government in responding to the crisis.



“We joined hands with the government in combating the pandemic through raising awareness to our members about Covid-19 and the measures to prevent its propagation,” he says.



“We requested for a tax waiver and economic stimulus. So far, so good. Although not all we requested was granted, the PAYE (Pay as You Earn) was waived for four months and a post Covid-19 Recovery Fund was put in place by the government.”



While the slow reopening of the tourism and hospitality sector has brought relief, Barakabuye says it’s yet to pick up. “Tourism activities have just been reopened. Borders are still closed and we are yet to start as members are preparing for the domestic market.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="600" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Nyungwe-Canopy-Walkway-in-the-evening.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47081" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Nyungwe-Canopy-Walkway-in-the-evening.jpg 800w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Nyungwe-Canopy-Walkway-in-the-evening-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Nyungwe-Canopy-Walkway-in-the-evening-600x450.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Nyungwe-Canopy-Walkway-in-the-evening-768x576.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption>The Nyungwe Canopy Walkway in the evening</figcaption></figure>



New opportunities in a crisis



Twentyfive-year-old Nostalgie Patrice studied software engineering in China and the United States. When he graduated in 2018, he wasn’t just nostalgic about his home country, he was also enthusiastic and prepared to use his newfound skills to seek opportunities in it. In March last year, he founded DTravela, a platform that aims to promote tourism and hospitality products digitally.



“I started DTravela after seeing how Rwanda was highly promoted as a tourism destination, and identified a business opportunity in unlocking its accessibility,” says Patrice.



But now, sales has suffered. “Covid-19 has strongly affected us because our clients are not operating. From March to June, we had almost zero sales,” he rues.



Going through this troublesome phase has been an uphill task. And like many others, he pivoted his business.&nbsp;



He revisited his idea of offering virtual tours, which had been disregarded by the many he had originally pitched it to. “When I took the proposal to different stakeholders prior to the pandemic, they could not understand its significance,” he says.



This time around, it was welcomed and supported. He makes a strong case for virtual tourism, which he considers an unexplored route to attracting tourists.



“We do teasers and that helps raise awareness about a place or product. By showcasing products and profiling people, we are able to attract tourists because research has shown that 80% of them do online searches before visiting,” says Patrice.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Last year, travel blog, Travel Lemming, voted Rwanda one of the top 30 emerging travel destinations worldwide for 2020 and the first in Africa. In addition to tourism partnerships with European topflight football clubs, 2020 was expected to be a good year for Rwanda’s tourism sector.&nbsp;



Furthermore, the Global Peace Index 2020 ranked ‘the land of a thousand hills’ as the second most peaceful country in the East African region after Tanzania and 14th in Africa, from 17th last year. It was all the more reason to believe 2020 would have been a landmark year for tourism in the country.



When Covid-19 was first identified in the country, the government suspended tourism and research activities in the three national parks namely Nyungwe, Gishwati-Mukura and the Volcanoes National Park, which are habitats of the renowned mountain gorillas and other primates.



Only Akagera National Park, home to ‘The Big Five’, remained temporarily open to visitors.



In the wake of the reopening of tourism, the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) has embarked on a promotional campaign for both Rwandan citizens and foreign visitors into these national attractions.



As Belise Kariza, Chief Tourism Officer at RDB, explains: “We’re seeing good trends since tourism reopened.



“We have 69 bookings for Volcanoes National Park in a span of a week which is a very good indication. Out of them, 42 have confirmed bookings.



&nbsp;“In terms of international tourists, they usually plan between one month-and-plus ahead of time but the good news is that we’ve got a lot of inquiries about the functionality of testing and more queries and hopefully we’re going to see international tourists arriving.”



She points out that the government’s strategy for tourism recovery will focus on domestic tourism while international tourism will be reopened in a phased manner.



Operators in the sector believe the pandemic should be an opportunity to strengthen indigenous tourism given the fact that international travel will take long to normalize. But Habimana of Wilson Tours and Travel Agency observes that traveling isn’t a passion for many Rwandese, especially now.



“Traveling isn’t a basic need and now people are stretched, some have lost their jobs, or had their salaries cut. It’s not easy to develop a package and convince them,” he says.



He believes offering promotional prices alone won’t be effective and recommends that the government also invests in behavior-change campaigns.



Rwanda’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has been regarded by many as a success after the country made it to the list of 15 countries from where travelers are allowed into the European Union (EU) from July 1.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;Using regional marketing and promotion strategies, countries can co-create programs and opportunities to recover, develop joint messages of solidarity to draw interests from travelers with a diversified product, pricing and packaging offers.” &#8211; Toyin Abiodun</blockquote>



Besides Rwanda, only Morocco and Tunisia are included from the continent, as the EU member states consider these countries safe due to their epidemiological situation related to the coronavirus.



While most of the pandemic-induced hardships appear to be in the past, the tourism and hospitality sector is far from getting back on its feet.



In order for it to rebound, experts say that a number of steps must be followed to ensure a balance between reopening whilst ensuring people are safe from the virus.



Toyin Abiodun, the Strategic Advisor at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, tells FORBES AFRICA the steps include dialogues with industry players to draw out short-term tailored practical measures, ensure adequacy of a variety of infrastructure components for travel to and from tourist locations and continuously send out strong messages on the safety and security African destinations offer foreign travelers. She also believes regional coordination would significantly support the sector’s recovery. “Using regional marketing and promotion strategies, countries can co-create programs and opportunities to recover, develop joint messages of solidarity to draw interests from travelers with a diversified product, pricing and packaging offers.”



Toyin adds that this would help reduce the adjustment costs associated with setting up individual protocol systems and ensure integration that enhances cross-country intel-sharing to restore traveler confidence.



Tour consultant Fridah advises that tour companies shouldn’t lose hope but rather keep on promoting their packages and revise their prices so as to be afloat.



“In addition, in cases where a company feels over-staffed, they shouldn’t fire their workers but rather come to an agreement to either pay them commission or half-salary because firing them will not bring in business.”



She explains that social media has been one of the ways she now promotes her business.



“I have been engaging with our audience on our social media handles, posting pictures for them not to lose hope [about] traveling again.”



Surely, the operative word is hope, not just for tourism, but for every industry on the planet now fighting for survival.



– By Steven Muvunyi

The-Kigali-Convention-Centres-design-is-inspired-by-traditional-Rwandan-baskets

Slowly But Surely: Tourism’s Renewal In Rwanda

Billionaire entrepreneur&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/richard-branson/#72d1a7ea6ff5">Sir Richard Branson</a>&nbsp;has been criticized by a U.K. politician for airline Virgin Atlantic’s request on Monday for staff to take eight weeks unpaid leave during the coronavirus pandemic.



Labour MP Kate Osborne, the second U.K. politician to be diagnosed with coronavirus, described Virgin Atlantic’s decision as “an absolute disgrace” on Twitter.



Author Liam Young tweeted, “Virgin Atlantic have 8,500 employees and Branson has asked them to take 8 weeks unpaid leave. It would cost £4.2 million to pay all of these employees £500 a week to cover this leave. In total that’s a cost of £34 million for 8 weeks.”



The implication appears to be that billionaire Richard Branson, whose net worth Forbes estimates $3.8 billion, could afford to cover this cost.



Virgin Atlantic confirmed in a statement Monday that it plans to reduce its schedule and prioritize routes based on customer demand. The airline predicts an 80% reduction in flights per day, and adds, “As a direct consequence we will be parking approximately 75% of our fleet by 26 March and at points in April will go up to 85%.” 



Virgin Atlantic describes the changes as “drastic measures” put in place to “ensure cash is preserved, costs are controlled, and the future of the airline is safeguarded.”



Adding, “Staff will be asked to take eight weeks unpaid leave over the next three months, with the cost spread over six months&#8217; salary, to drastically reduce costs without job losses.” The airline confirms its decision has received the support of unions BALPA and UNITE in agreeing to the unpaid leave.



 A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “The aviation industry is facing unprecedented pressure. We are appealing to the [U.K] government for clear, decisive and unwavering support. Our industry needs emergency credit facilities to a value of £5-7.5 billion, to bolster confidence and to prevent credit card processors from withholding customer payments.” 



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Bad Times For Branson</h3>



Branson’s business empire has been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic.



On March 14 the Virgin Voyages cruise ship operation decided to postpone the launch of its new Scarlet Lady cruise line. “The current global health crisis is understandably making many people rethink upcoming travel plans,” Virgin Voyages confirmed in a statement.



On March 5, British airline Flybe — which is part owned by Virgin Atlantic— collapsed after it succumbed to its financial woes and weakened demand because of the Covid-19 outbreak.



Following the announcement of Flybe’s collapse, Virgin Atlantic said: “Sadly, despite the efforts of all involved to turn the airline around, not least the people of Flybe, the impact of Covid-19 on Flybe’s trading means that the consortium can no longer commit to continued financial support.”



Flybe, which once was Europe’s largest independent regional carrier, narrowly escaped collapse in January, after being bought by Cyrus Capital, Virgin Atlantic and Stobart last year.



Virgin Galactic, Branson’s publicly traded space tourism arm, has seen its shares slump since its mid February high of $37.26 on the NYSE. Having lost another 10% of value as of 4:30 pm U.K. time on Monday, Virgin Galactic is priced at $13.30 and falling. Branson’s Virgin Investment Limited owns 47% of Virgin Galactic through an investment entity, Vieco. 



&#8211;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddawkins/">David Dawkins</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/worlds-billionaires">Billionaires</a>

gettyimages-1187259137-594×594

Bad Times For Billionaire Branson–Staff At Virgin Atlantic Asked To Take Unpaid Leave As Coronavirus Cripples Air Travel

In the coastal country’s capital Accra, the South African musician savored street food and a different kind of music, in tandem with the sound of the waves.



For Unathi Nkayi, life is all about investing in experiences, be it in her music or her travel sojourns.



The popular South African musician and Idols South Africa judge has lived in and visited several countries around the world, but one of her most abiding memories of a holiday was last year in the coastal African country Ghana.



“I felt the beauty of the continent in Ghana and her pride and respect and her anointing,” Nkayi tells FORBES AFRICA.



In December, she accompanied a friend who was traveling to the West African country, and spent six days in the capital Accra, well into the New Year.



They stayed at the Mövenpick, situated on a busy street down the road from the military base, the presidential house and in close proximity to the beach.



“I’m a beach person so wherever I travel for leisure, I have to be on the coast,” says Nkayi.



On New Year’s Day, she was at one of Ghana’s most popular beaches, Labadi Beach, and it was the most beautiful she had seen – and what attracted her to it more, were the Afro beats emanating from it as she arrived at the parking lot.



The air was spiked with a medley of music, from Burna Boy to Tiwa Savage to D’banj and Wizkid.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="768" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG-0332-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-46761" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG-0332-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG-0332-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG-0332-600x450.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG-0332-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG-0332.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



As she sauntered closer to the white sandy shores, the music got louder and it became apparent it came from the restaurants serving food to serpentine queues of visitors on the beach.



With music in the air, and the clear blue waters of the ocean under her feet, Nkayi experienced a serene calm as she closed her eyes and shut out her city life in far-away Johannesburg.



The two-hour professional spa massage she received on the beach, with the sound of the waves in her ear, made her de-stress totally. After that, it was time for some soul food on the busy streets of Accra.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-46759" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-100x100.jpg 100w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-600x600.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Busy Nima area.</figcaption></figure>



“You park on the streets and your table and chairs are on the street. And then, they bring you a tank with live fish and you choose,” she says of the unique experience savoring local delicacies.



She relished her fish with jollof rice and some plantain, the local staples that took her on a culinary journey.



“It was very multicultural in that sense, and experiencing the vastness of Ghana which is absolutely beautiful.”



Apart from the food, the culture and the scenery, Nkayi greatly appreciated the people.



“They are the most gracious people I have met,” she says of their welcoming nature.



Nkayi grew up in Namibia, England and Wales, studied in the Netherlands and Spain, has traveled to France and Belgium, but says nothing compares to visiting countries like Ghana.



“There’s a grace and respect I feel that I don’t feel in the rest of the world,” she says. “It is almost royal.”



She was especially impressed with the way Ghanaian men treat women.



“They adore women… there’s a deliberate acknowledgement of the feminine presence of power,” she says.



Hailing from a country where the femicide rate is one of the highest in the world, she was struck by these genteel attributes.



“For example, there are certain things I do not wear in South Africa. There are certain parts of my closet I only go to when I go on holiday [to places like Ghana], and that is because I know that the West African man will not whistle at me, and he will not call me ma bhebheza [meaning ‘my baby’ as a form of cat-calling].



“There’s an adoration West Africa has for women that I don’t get to experience in any other part of the world,” she says, adding this is something all countries could learn from.



More on Ghanaian hospitality: on one particular morning in Accra, she and her friend visited a local couple who cooked them a three-course meal for brunch.



Alcohol of every kind was offered, including some of the finest from Nkayi’s home country, South Africa.



But what she loved most was the sauce that accompanied her meal.



“There’s a Ghanaian fish sauce I love called shito,” she says.



It’s a hot pepper soup that consists of fish or vegetable oil, ginger, dried fish, prawns, crustaceans, tomatoes, garlic, peppers and spices.



The couple gifted her with three jars of shito that they made, which she carried back home, and thrust into her freezer, so she could enjoy them for longer.



And what can South Africa learn from Ghana?



“Everything!” says Nkayi.



“We need to be more open, and we need to be more hospitable. We need to look at our own continent the same way we marvel at traveling to America or Europe… Africa is beautiful and I marvel at how complex she is.”



Nkayi hopes to visit Ghana again, but not just yet.



Her next trip is to another pristine beach, at Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, for the carnival in February 2020.

H&M reveals collaboration with African brand Mantsho

#ExecutiveTravel: Unathi Nkayi’s Ghana

Africa dominates the bottom of the rung in the 2020 Henley Passport Index. A majority of the continent’s passport-holders don’t have the luxury of visa-free travel around the world. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/African-countries-ranking-1.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="512" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/African-countries-ranking-1-1024x512.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-42514" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/African-countries-ranking-1-1024x512.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/African-countries-ranking-1-300x150.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/African-countries-ranking-1-600x300.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/African-countries-ranking-1-768x384.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/African-countries-ranking-1-1536x768.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/African-countries-ranking-1.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption> [To see the infographic on Africa&#8217;s rankings, click on the image] </figcaption></figure>



The African Union may be gearing for a common African passport, but for now, it seems like most African passports don’t have what it takes to get to other parts of the world.



In the recently-released Henley Passport Index, which measures all the
world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can
access without a prior visa, only two African countries –Seychelles and Mauritius — are in the top 50.



The
rest of the continent dominates the bottom quarter of the rankings with weaker
passports than most, pointing to difficult and intensive visa processes in most
cases. 



Africa’s
biggest economy and one of its most influential, Nigeria, is at the end of the
travel freedom spectrum, at a pitiful number 95 with Djibouti. Nigeria’s
population of 200 million can only travel to 46 countries without obtaining a
visa in advance.&nbsp; 



Even
passport-holders from Samoa and Serbia have a better chance of traveling to
most places in the world, visa-free, than those in South Africa, the African
continent’s second biggest economy. 



Ranked
56, the number of global destinations South African passport-holders can travel
to is 100. 



It
is followed by its southern African neighbor, Botswana,
ranking at 62 with a score of 84.



Seychelles, the archipelago country in the Indian Ocean, is Africa’s
top-ranking African passport in this regard, at 29 with access to 151
destinations worldwide. 



It is quickly followed by Mauritius which is at 32 with a score of 146
destinations passport-holders of this country can visit.



The lowest-ranking African country is Somalia at 104. Passport-holders
from this tiny nation in the Horn of Africa can only visit 32 countries without
a pre-departure visa



Globally, Asia dominates the list. For the third consecutive year, Japan
has secured the top spot on the index — which is based on exclusive data from
the International Air Transport Association (IATA) — with a
visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 191. Singapore holds on to its second place
position with a score of 190.

passports_-_flickr

Emerging Economies, But Weaker Passports

The South African hip-hop artist and entrepreneur
experienced a hurricane and a seismic spiritual shift in the city of
Cancun.&nbsp; 



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



It has been a journey, a lot to learn and a lot learned,”
says Siyabonga Metane, popularly known on South African hip-hop stages as
‘Slikour’.



The learnings have been in music and business, but the
journeys have been beyond both.



Just two years post South Africa’s democratic elections in
1994, Slikour was part of a rap group named Skwatta Kamp, formed on the streets
of the country’s Gauteng province, with the aim of commercializing the local
hip-hop scene.



The group consisted of seven members and most of them went on to release solo albums. Slikour released two, Ventilation Mix Tape Vol.1 and 2, in 2005 and 2007. Long before that, in 2002, Slikour had turned entrepreneur, co-founding Buttabing Entertainment, a record label and artist management organization.



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Executive Travel: Reneilwe Letsholonyane’s Manchester (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/travel/2019/08/20/executive-travel-reneilwe-letsholonyanes-manchester/" target="_blank">Executive Travel: Reneilwe Letsholonyane’s Manchester</a>



&nbsp;Today, he is also the
founder of SlikourOnLife, a prominent urban culture online publication that he
started in 2014 catering to music lovers. 



Returning to the word ‘journey’, it especially sparks
memories of a trip he undertook in 2011 to Cancun, a Mexican city on the
Yucatán Peninsula bordering the Caribbean Sea, known for its beaches, resorts
and nightlife. Slikour was there for a television shoot as part of a group. The
trip still stands out in his mind. 



He was not blown away by the city initially, but as he
visited some of Cancun’s tourism attractions, he began to change his
perception. 



Ultimately, it proved to be what he calls an amazing
rendezvous. 



“The people were pretty much speaking Spanish,” he chuckles, recalling being immersed in the local culture.



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Executive Travel: Mpho Popps’ Ghana (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/travel/2019/07/25/executive-travel-mpho-popps-ghana/" target="_blank">Executive Travel: Mpho Popps’ Ghana</a>



“There are a lot of laborers there and the people are
beautiful and accommodating, but we never really spoke or interacted with the
community.”



Slikour decided to savor the city’s famed nightlife instead
and see for himself what all the hype was about. 



It all began and ended with tequila, a distilled alcoholic
drink and one of Mexico’s most famous exports, made of the blue agave plant
from the city of Tequila in Mexico.&nbsp; 



“Everything you do there is done with tequila. I don’t drink
alcohol, but I had to accept and apply myself because there, they don’t use
tomato sauce, they use tequila; I literally had to get into the tequila swag;
it’s everything there. Tequila started there,” Slikour says.



Mexico is known for its recurring hurricanes too, which
Slikour also got a taste of while there.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;




“After a few days of getting there, we were warned of a
hurricane, and asked to close our doors and windows, and because these things
happen regularly, there’s a drill to follow. The hurricane wasn’t a major one
but I was excited because I wanted to see it. I had to look through the
window,” he says. 



The hurricanes are so frequent in Mexico that he likens the
precautions taken to lighting a candle during South Africa’s frequent power
cuts.&nbsp;&nbsp; 



Despite this exhilarating encounter with nature, the real earth-shaking experience for him, however, happened deep inside a cave in the city of Cancun – and also deep inside him. 



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“My spiritual [epiphany] was when I went into those caves.
You go in there with your self-assurance, claiming you understand everything.
Thereon, they tell you where everything comes from and all of a sudden, you
become this very small thing in this big ecosystem. It just shows how
everything affects everything,” Slikour says.



The tour guides explained how everything inside the cave
came from rain, elaborating how it was connected to the core of the earth; which
is where they were at the time.



Slikour was in Cancun for two weeks, and also visited the
pyramids. 



“The Mexicans didn’t have all the mathematics that we have
now but the pyramids were built to perfection. It just showed you how
forward-thinking they were and how behind we are in as much as we think we are
forward; we just have technology. We don’t think the way historic societies
used to think,” says Slikour, in deep reflection.



Mexico is a place he would return to, anyday, in a
heartbeat.

Slikour

Executive Travel: Slikour’s Mexico

The 37-year-old South African soccer midfielder says he
could move to the English city for its sense of serenity and calm.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



South Africa’s former national football player Reneilwe
‘Yeye’ Letsholonyane started playing in the streets of Soweto but his fame has
often taken him beyond the soccer pitches of South Africa.



Also a fashion entrepreneur and co-founder of the
newly-established ShaYe lounge, the veteran midfielder recounts the indelible
memories of his most recent holiday to Manchester with his wife, sports
presenter Mpho Letsholonyane.



“In the off season of 2018, I had just gotten married. I personally love Jay-Z and my wife loves Beyoncé; and they were having their On The Run 2 tour in Manchester; a major city in the northwest of England.”



READ MORE | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Executive Travel: Mpho Popps’ Ghana (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/travel/2019/07/25/executive-travel-mpho-popps-ghana/" target="_blank">Executive Travel: Mpho Popps’ Ghana</a>



Letsholonyane had also always wanted to go to Paris, a major
European city and global center for art, fashion, food and culture, so flew to
Manchester via the French capital. 



The newly-weds spent a few days in Paris and thereon
proceeded to Manchester for the concert, flying Air France on both sectors. 



“Funnily enough, the economy class on Air France is not as
squashed as the economy class on South African Airlines. You’d expect an
uncomfortable flight, but that wasn’t the case. There was enough room to
stretch your legs and recline your seat,” says the footballer. 



Upon landing and clearing customs, a shuttle was waiting for the two to be chauffeured through the city to their hotel. The 40-minute drive was what the 37-year-old says he enjoyed the most. It made him reflect and draw comparisons between his home country and Europe.



At the age of 23, Letsholonyane’s professional career had
kicked-started, but it was in 2008 that he joined one of South Africa’s biggest
teams, the Kaizer Chiefs Football Club, for an eight-year stint. 



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Receiving the call to represent Bafana Bafana for the 2010
World Cup was a moment he recalls vividly.



“We were at camp, and told to check out from the hotel and go home. We were to find out from the media, like other citizens, if we had been selected to play. I remember I was in the streets and didn’t want to focus on the media because I was nervous, panicking and excited. 



 “My parents broke the news to me, but there was more cheering in my hometown and outside my parent’s home. A soccer pitch and jersey with my number and surname were painted in the streets.”



It was a moment that led to fame and more travels. He flips back to Manchester, gushing about the city’s architecture as he was equally captivated by the serenity of the city and its mild-mannered people.



“The standalone houses are the kind you see on television,
with no walls. People that side don’t seem to be worried about burglaries. It
seems like the crime rate is low. It’s quiet and it’s the quiet that I like. I
remember saying to my wife, ‘I could stay here’.”&nbsp; 



<a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/travel/2019/06/04/nomzamo-mbathas-kenya/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Executive Travel: Nomzamo Mbatha’s Kenya (opens in a new tab)">Executive Travel: Nomzamo Mbatha’s Kenya</a>



Letsholonyane admits to seeking alone time to think and
ruminate. 



Ironically, for the footballer, the Beyoncé and Jay-Z
concert was in the home of a football club. 



Like all tourists, the couple traveled to Etihad Stadium,
the home of Manchester City Football Club, where the musical extravaganza was
to take place. 



“We were told to use the train; luckily, it was a
five-minute walk to the station. We got there but the people around us showed
us what to do and where to go. We got off at a station, only to find out we had
to wait for another train and it was packed. Then I started thinking about the
hassle of getting into the stadium,” he says.



Letsholonyane and his wife dribbled their way through busy subways in Manchester to watch their favorite musicians on stage.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“Getting to Etihad Stadium was a pain-free experience. We got there early and people were idling outside. We went straight in and got seats in the front. There was no opening act, just the artists’ music playing. </blockquote>



Then the lights went dimmer and dimmer. 



“It was time, we were about 10 meters away, and we saw them
closely. Then it started raining. You’d think people would run for cover but
no, people were just enjoying themselves. It was two and half hours of Beyoncé
and Jay-Z and an experience never to be forgotten,” he says.



It was well after 1AM when the couple reached their hotel.
“There was nothing that made us uncomfortable about walking the streets of
Manchester at night. It felt like day.” 



The night ended with rain, rounding off a day so different
from playing under the hot African sun in the soccer fields of South Africa.

gettyimages-461023224-594×594

Executive Travel: Reneilwe Letsholonyane’s Manchester

Meet the women challenging stereotypes deep in the bush in Botswana’s
tourism capital Maun, filling roles conventionally held by men.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



For 10 years, until 2018, Botswana had no First Lady, as President Ian Khama was unmarried. Botswana’s first First Lady, Ruth Williams Khama, the wife of Botswana’s first president Sir Seretse Khama, was recognized for her charitable work with women, and the current First Lady, Neo Masisi, is a champion for these causes too.



 However, Masisi is also an accountant by profession with an MBA and an impressive resume (United Nations Headquarters in New York, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic). 



But not just on the frontlines, in the deeper realms of this southern African country and acclaimed tourism destination, there are more women defying stereotypes, especially in its famed safari industry. 



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In
the country’s tourism capital of Maun, at Kwando Safaris, guests visiting the
iconic Okavango Delta waterways and predator plains of the Central Kalahari
might be surprised to discover that for over a decade, a majority team of women
have been behind the operation. 



“Having
so many women work in the company was never a policy; it just happened that
way. I guess that women were just more capable,” says Sue Smart in her office
in Maun. 



She talks about her role as the Director of Kwando Safaris for 12 years as an accidental occupation, but a gutsy corporate background primed her for the head position. 



“Coming
to Gaborone as a volunteer, I worked with children impacted by HIV/AIDS. Then I
visited the Okavango Delta on holiday. A chain of life events eventually led to
me working at Kwando Safaris’ Kwara Camp, volunteering back of house, in the
kitchen, with housekeeping – anywhere they needed it.”



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Ungwang-Makuluba-Moremi-Air-1-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-41513" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Ungwang-Makuluba-Moremi-Air-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Ungwang-Makuluba-Moremi-Air-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Ungwang-Makuluba-Moremi-Air-1-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Ungwang-Makuluba-Moremi-Air-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Ungwang-Makuluba-Moremi-Air-1.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Ungwang Makuluba is Moremi Air&#8217;s first local female pilot. Picture: Melanie Van Zyl </figcaption></figure>



Formerly
a Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, with a background in environmental
biology, it was a chance meeting with the owner that saw her grow from
volunteer to boss in just three months. “In many ways, I was not a conventional
fit for this role. I’m not African, a pilot, a guide, or a man, but my
background in other areas meant I could run a business – even in the bush.” 



Having
a woman at the helm has had significant side effects for the company. Many
women at Kwando Safaris hold high positions, from the general manager to
operations manager to those in reservations to sales and marketing. This
unofficial head office policy also extends into the camps in a formal staff
management plan, where each lodge has a male and a female camp manager always
on duty.&nbsp; 



Looking
at the origins of tourism in Botswana, it’s perhaps not surprising that
(generally speaking) travel in southern Africa has been a male-dominated
industry. After all, the very first visitors to Botswana’s wild spaces were
rough and tough gun-slinging, trophy-seeking tourists. 



The current CEO of Botswana Tourism is a woman and, attesting to the country’s progressiveness, she’s not the first either. Myra Sekgororoane is encouraging about women in the industry saying, “I have not encountered any significant challenges because of my gender. Perhaps, I have been lucky in that the hospitality and tourism industry tends to have a high predominance of females globally.” 



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According
to National Geographic, research shows working women in developing
countries invest 90% of their income in their families, compared to the 35%
generally contributed by men. 



Tumie
Matlhware and Ruth Stewart, managers for Travel For Impact, wholeheartedly
agree. The Maun-based NGO aims to spread the wealth generated from tourism
activities into the community, providing a direct and tangible link between
conservation and its benefits. 



“We
want tourism dollars working beyond the traditional tourism world,” says
Stewart, when we meet for coffee at the charming Tshilli Farmstall, another
female-run establishment in Maun. 



Travel For Impact has a powerful goal, with the slogan of “If every tourist who slept in our beautiful country paid 1 USD for every night they spent here, we would raise in excess of 300,000 USD per year”. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">By partnering with exclusive lodges, camps, tour operators and hotels in Botswana, funds generated are put into local community partners, such as support for basket-weaving cooperatives. Looking at the company profile, the NGO funds many projects that support women. </blockquote>



Stewart shares the scientific standpoint endorsed by National Geographic, saying: “Women are the backbone of the community. If you support women, it gets passed down. They buy food, school supplies and more. They are the pillars of society.”&nbsp; 



The corporate social responsibility choice at Kwando Safaris concurs. Smart believes that “the ultimate saviors of animals are people, which is why we sponsor the grassroots initiative, Mummy’s Angels, instead of a more usual conservation project”. 



Mummy’s
Angels started in April 2018, spearheaded by three women in Maun, to empower
mothers with newborns who have little by way of financial support. 



“We
had second-hand clothes and other baby items in good condition and wanted to
donate somewhere it would make a difference,” says one founder, Rochelle Katz. 







<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Mokoro-Sophie-and-Nora-15-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-41512" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Mokoro-Sophie-and-Nora-15-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Mokoro-Sophie-and-Nora-15-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Mokoro-Sophie-and-Nora-15-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Mokoro-Sophie-and-Nora-15-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Mokoro-Sophie-and-Nora-15.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Poling visitors through the Okovango Delta. Picture: Melanie Van Zyl</figcaption></figure></div>



Thus,
they put the word out and soon began delivering baby bags stocked with
essentials, such as nappies, clothes and wipes, plus pyjamas for the mothers. 



“Items
that seem so indispensable to us count as luxuries to these moms. Women come
from as far as Ghanzi to give birth in Maun, often they have very little with
them, or the moms are young without work or funds to support a family,” says
Katz on a visit to the maternity wing at Ngami District Health Management Team.




“Luckily,
there is no one in need today,” a nurse smiles, as Katz walks in. The local
Maun hospital certainly approves of the initiative, which is driven by need
rather than imposed, and the nurses on duty identify mothers that can benefit
from the meaningful baby bags. 



Speaking
of children, Bontekanye ‘Bonty’ Botumile is a research student based in Maun
specializing in oral traditions and land use. She is also a prolific
story-teller. 



“I
come from a family of story-tellers, and I think maybe because I don’t have
children, I needed a channel for my stories. I created books such as Tlou
the Elephant to share what I’ve learned and to pass on the teachings I
learned at home.” 



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She
believes that women are predominantly custodians of culture, passing it onto to
children in diverse ways that include story-telling. “My challenge isn’t so
much a gender issue, but a sector issue. Carving a niche is hard work. I am
trying to develop cultural tourism in a destination renowned for wildlife. It’s
a steep incline on many levels.” She is also an inspiration for others. 



“If
it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have joined the tourism industry,” says Wabone
Temane. Hailing from Moeti Ward in Maun, Temane is the current camp manager for
Pom Pom Camp, a luxury stay in the Okavango. She’s been in tourism for almost
20 years but admits to some gender-based challenges. 



“As
a female manager, I come across people who do not want to be supervised by a
woman. They are afraid of change and do not accept criticism easily. They can
even change the whole working environment since they are full of negativity and
very influential on the other staff. It’s very disrespectful at times.”
However, there is strength in numbers. 



“Bontekanye
‘Bonty’ Botumile is my inspiration in the tourism industry. She has always been
very supportive and encouraging – a sister, indeed,” she adds.&nbsp; 



Camps
such as Pom Pom are famed for its forward-thinking environmental policies and
sustainability, but the crucial means to access and experience Botswana’s
remote landscapes is to fly in.&nbsp; 



Ungwang
Makuluba is Moremi Air’s first local female pilot. “About 20 pilots in Maun are
female, and I think 12 of us are locals too,” she says, when we meet at the
Maun Airport. 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Mokoro-Sophie-and-Nora-14-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-41514" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Mokoro-Sophie-and-Nora-14-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Mokoro-Sophie-and-Nora-14-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Mokoro-Sophie-and-Nora-14-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Mokoro-Sophie-and-Nora-14-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Mokoro-Sophie-and-Nora-14.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>A mokoro is one of Botswana&#8217;s most iconic travel offerings. Picture: Melanie Van Zyl </figcaption></figure>



“The
guys I’ve worked with have been very supportive, and I’ve learned so much from
them. I think we are past the stage of flying being a male-dominated industry
and there’s been gradual change. I want to work for Air Botswana. It’s great
flying across the Delta, but I want to work for my country.”



The
General Manager of Moremi Air, Kelly Serole, has been in charge for over 10
years, reinforcing the notion that women are not new to the safari scene. 



From
the sky to the soil, two more women demonstrate this on the ground. Floating
through on the waters of the Okavango Delta in a mokoro (a traditional
dugout canoe) has to be one of Botswana’s most iconic travel offerings, yet, at
many high-end lodges, you’ll find its a male guide that steers guests between
the tall reeds and yellow-centered waterlilies. 



The
Okavango Kopano Mokoro Community Trust (OKMCT) early on saw the need to include
women in their operations. On an overnight trip facilitated by Delta Rain,
Sophie Kehemetswe and Nora Tsaru, pole visitors through the UNESCO World
Heritage Site waters of the Okavango Delta. 



“More
women are poling the rivers now than men; there are many women,” the two agree
when asked about the gender split. 



“It
can be difficult to get the guiding license though. I studied for a month,
which includes a written test and interview. Some old women in the village
cannot write,” says Kehemetswe, as she gently poles between the swishing reeds.




A
community-run operation, the OKMCT operates in six villages at the southern
access points to the Delta, namely Ditshuping, Boro, Xharaxao, Xuoxao, Daunara
and Xaxaba. This safari offering started back in 1997, and a visit to head
office reveals that women were included in the operation as early as 1998 – just one year into
business. 



“I can
lead walks on the islands as well. I much prefer walks to the canoeing and
seeing zebra is my favorite – that is our national animal. Do you know why? The
zebra is black and white reflecting our history. Sir Seretse Khama, a black
man, married Ruth Williams, a white woman. All people are welcome in Botswana,”
she smiles proudly. The
country’s two First Ladies can be proud. &nbsp;



Meet the women challenging stereotypes deep in the bush in Botswana’s tourism capital Maun, filling roles conventionally held by men.



&#8211;Melanie Van Zyl

Mokoro – Sophie and Nora-12

No Longer In The Wilderness

The 32-year-old South African comedian traveled to the West
African country for some eye-opening experiences.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



South African comedian, actor and entrepreneur, Mpho ‘Popps’
Modikoane, is a frequent traveler but ask him about his happy place and he says
it’s a little corner of Africa named Ghana. 



He has traveled overseas before, but it was his travels
within Africa that opened his eyes to the magic of the continent, and made him
realize that all Africans have the same stories and are essentially the same. 



“It’s just these borders we were brought up [in that] we
don’t take the time to learn about each other’s cultures and share each other’s
stories,” says Modikoane.



“I’ve traveled to a lot of countries over the years and
early on in my career, I was in the US. A few years ago, I went to Canada for
the annual Just For Laughs international comedy festival and these places are
amazing, but traveling in Africa has been the most eye-opening for me.” 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="461" height="618" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mpho4.png" alt="" class="wp-image-41440" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mpho4.png 461w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mpho4-300x402.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mpho4-224x300.png 224w" sizes="(max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px" /><figcaption> Mpho ‘Popps’ Modikoane in Ghana. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure></div>



&nbsp;Modikoane’s career kick-started in 2009 on the reality TV show, So You Think You’re Funny? His growing audiences haven’t stopped laughing since. 



With fame, came the chances to travel. His very first trip
to West Africa was to Nigeria on Arik Air two years ago, when he flew business
class.



“I don’t know what it is about us [black people], but when
we don’t have things, we don’t see why it’s necessary – we don’t understand why
we have to pay R30,000 ($2,000) for a seat, a leather seat,” he says,
chuckling.



He goes on to elaborate with his trademark wit: “The seat is
reclined all the way, we are drinking champagne in glasses; I didn’t even know
there were glasses on planes…. Even forks and knives. And in business class,
you don’t get shouted at by the attendants for reclining your seat four
centimeters back, never! Even the magazines are not the same – we get business
magazines and informative magazines. We even have a food menu with pages.”



That was his trip to Nigeria when on the ground, he was
impressed by the hard work of the locals, the hustle and bustle of the streets
and everything from bikes and Maybachs driving past him. 



However, Ghana was his most memorable destination where he stayed five days.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“Ghana just looks beautiful and is next to Nigeria and they have this feud going on about who makes the best jollof rice and after tasting both, I have to give it up to Ghana,” says the comedian.&nbsp; </blockquote>



What he also loved about Ghana was its orderliness, and the
warmth of the people. 



&nbsp; What impressed
Modikoane was that the people did not wait for the government to give them
handouts and opportunities; the locals were willing to work hard to find them. 



“The people there work outside of their work, have a
business outside of their job and that’s the one thing I’ve come to realize
about traveling in Africa. We [South Africans] are sitting in the land of
opportunity but we are not working as hard as those from other parts of Africa.
That is the magic of going to these places and spending time with other artists
or musicians who also may have [on the side] their own clothing store, a
restaurant, a barber shop…” 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="824" height="616" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mpho3.png" alt="" class="wp-image-41441" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mpho3.png 824w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mpho3-300x224.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mpho3-600x449.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mpho3-768x574.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 824px) 100vw, 824px" /><figcaption> Mpho ‘Popps’ Modikoane in an interview in Ghana. Picture: Supplied </figcaption></figure></div>



Modikoane juxtaposes his experiences in Ghana and South
Africa, making various comparisons in the ways people conduct their lives.
“When you go outside of South Africa, you see the Africanness of our continent.
We South Africans have the modern, western element and live with white people
in our communities and our country is not fully ours, but there, it’s theirs.
Their heritage is rich, their culture is rich.”



And the most important part about visiting the rest of
Africa for Modikoane? 



“They make you feel like a celebrity,” he chuckles again.&nbsp; 



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



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Mpho

Executive Travel: Mpho Popps’ Ghana

Ghana has been&nbsp;chosen&nbsp;by the African Union (AU) to host the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area. It beat other competing countries including Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar and Senegal to win the bid.



As a free trade area, member countries have come together and agreed not to impose tariffs, quotas and other trade barriers on goods and services. The agreement is expected to enlarge markets and diversify exports, particularly manufactured goods. 



According to US-based think tank the Brookings Institute, intra-African trade stands at about 14%, while the share of manufactured goods to the rest of the world stands at 18%. Trade among Asian countries is much higher – at 59% – and even higher among European countries at 69%. The hope is that the African free trade area will boost trade across the continent by 52% by 2022 .



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The core mandate of the secretariat will be to implement the free trade agreement, which has been&nbsp;ratified&nbsp;by 25 out of 54 countries. Once all have ratified the deal, it will create the world’s largest free trade area since the formation of the World Trade Organisation in 1995.



Africa’s free trade area will cover a market of 1.2 billion people with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of&nbsp;US$2.5 trillion.



The secretariat’s job will be to recruit personnel, train them, and develop organisational capability. The secretariat will also have to implement policies handed down by the governing body, keep the media informed, organise conferences and identify potential funding sources. It will also monitor and evaluate the progress of policies and programmes.



This is a first for Ghana which has not hosted a continental secretariat. The hope is that it can emulate the success of other African capitals that have befitted from hosting the AU and the United Nations. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">Addis Ababa is home to the AU headquarters while Nairobi hosts two of the UN’s biggest bodies. For its part, South Africa hosts the Pan-African Parliament.</blockquote>



The presence of the AU in Addis Ababa has been&nbsp;credited&nbsp;with an increase in property valuations as well as job creation.



In making its bid, Ghana took advantage of its strategic geographical location in West Africa. It has put a great deal of effort into making the country a gateway and a trade hub in West Africa.



Hosting the free trade area secretariat will come with costs and benefits &#8211; direct and indirect.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Why Ghana</h3>



In establishing its credentials to host the secretariat, the Ghanaian government would have set out the country’s most notable achievements.



These would have included the fact that it’s been an exemplary member of the AU. For example, in 2007 it was among the first countries to be reviewed by the&nbsp;African Peer Review Mechanism&nbsp;– the self-assessment mechanism used to measure&nbsp;good governance.



The fact that it put its hand up sent a signal to other countries that the peer review process was credible.



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Other factors that would have played in Ghana’s favour are that the country’s economy has been showing strong growth.



It is one of the fastest growing economies in the world with an&nbsp;averageGDP growth of about 6%. In addition, it comes second to Cape Verde in West Africa in terms of the United Nations Human Development&nbsp;index.



In one of the most unstable sub regions in the world, Ghana also has a tradition of relative peace and security, a key parameter for hosting a secretariat.



In addition, Ghana has had the advantage of learning about trade collaboration through its membership of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Costs and benefits</h3>



Ghana has been part of the&nbsp;15-member&nbsp;Ecowas since its formation in 1990. The regional body introduced a common external tariff in&nbsp;2015&nbsp;.



While Ghana has enjoyed&nbsp;benefits&nbsp;from the arrangement, like many other West African States, it has not been able to harness its full potential. For example, border controls remain cumbersome, delaying transits due to the numerous check points, huge unofficial payments at the&nbsp;borders.



The most direct cost to the country will be the $10 million pledged by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to support setting up the secretariat. The AU is also expected to contribute funds and appeals have been made to international funding agencies.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">Ghana’s hope is that hosting the secretariat will boost the hospitality sector – and more broadly the services sector – and generate increased international exposure.</blockquote>



There should also be a boost for job creation as the secretariat hires staff; ranging from economists to translators, administrators and technicians.



There is no clear deadline on when the secretariat is expected to be up and running. The AU itself still has to clear a number of&nbsp;hurdles, including adopting a structure, staff rules and regulations, and the secretariat’s budget.

gettyimages-1133592971-594×594

Ghana Hopes To Benefit From Hosting Africa’s Free Trade Area Secretariat

French football legend Thierry Henry was in South Africa to watch the 2019 UEFA Champions League final on television screens with dizzy fans.  



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



A teaser campaign on Heineken South Africa’s Twitter page
unveiling the identity of a legendary footballer kicks off the 2019 season of
the UEFA Champions League. 



It certainly piques the attention of South African fans on
social media who tentatively await the unmasking of this legend – French
footballer Thierry Henry.&nbsp; 



Even as fans attempt to piece the mysterious mosaic, the
Champions League 100 club member is already making his way from Europe to watch
the much-anticipated UEFA Champions League tournament final on June 1, on a
giant television screen with his South African fans, at the Kyalami Grand Prix
Circuit race track in Johannesburg.



South Africa’s vibrant football culture finds expression in
all venues, from the dusty make-shift fields that continue to play a crucial
role in community life in townships, to the manicured green pitches of
gargantuan stadiums. 



As Tottenham Hotspur FC and Liverpool FC take to the field
for the final leg in Spain, here in Johannesburg, all eyes are on Henry, who
can barely focus with all the attention on him. But these are interactions the
former FC Barcelona and Arsenal FC striker would not trade for anything else –
even watching the match in the comfort of his own home. 



“It is always nice to have these moments with South African
fans. Usually, I would be at home watching the game, but now, I am in South
Africa. It is a bit surreal to watch the Champions League that happens in
Europe, in Africa,” he tells FORBES AFRICA.&nbsp;




Watching the all-English final on South African soil evoked
nostalgia, and Henry reminisces the beginning of an illustrious career in
football.&nbsp; 



“I went to Monaco [to play] as a youngster; that was the
choice. I didn’t know we were going to make the Champions League. I was just
trying to be a football player,” he says.



&nbsp;Henry then moved to
Arsenal, and then Barcelona where he ended up winning the Champions League. 



The bulk of the retired footballer’s career as a player was
in the English Premier League for Arsenal FC that saw him as Arsenal’s all-time
top scorer, with 228 goals, for the club. 



“The moves were based on competing, trying to get the best
out of myself and get the best out of my teammates,” he says. 



Despite a two-nil loss on Henry’s first professional
appearance for Monaco in 1994, first impressions should make a lasting impact,
he says.&nbsp; 



“For me, it is always the first game, it is very important
because you are now on the scene and you need to make sure that everybody can
see what you are about in that particular moment. I remember losing the first
game but I had an impact and the rest is history.”



On June 1, Liverpool FC was crowned champions in the 64th
season of the premier football tournament. 



The win for the English team meant more beer, selfies and
snapshots with Henry for the few lucky South African soccer fans, and again,
the rest is history.&nbsp;

Thierry Henry

Football, Beer And Selfies With Thierry Henry

The South African actor and musician was impressed with the
city’s architecture, food and work ethic.&nbsp;




<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



South African actor and musician Anga Makubalo, known by his
stage name NaakMusiQ, calls the Middle Eastern emirate of Dubai a luxury destination.



NaakMusiQ, who hails from Port Elizabeth in South Africa’s
Eastern Cape Province, shot to fame after appearing in the award-winning South
African soap opera Generations and has since been in a number of television
shows. 



He has also had a chart-topping music hit, Ntombi ft Bucie.



NaakMusiQ’s first trip to Dubai, known as the melting pot of the Middle East, was last year on an Emirates flight when he traveled Business Class. The fashion-lover admits to being a light packer, although there are some items he would never travel without, such as cologne, a pair of sneakers, and his music.



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“I also carry my scripts all the time. Because of the long
flights, I can get tired of watching a movie, I can get tired of listening to
music, so the next best thing is to get into my script and get a head start.”



He has been to Dubai before, but only transiting the airport
connecting to another flight, so this was his first official trip into the
glistening city. 



“Dubai is everything that people say it is,” he says. “We
went to the mall. It was crazy! I’ve never seen anything like it before. [The
Dubai Mall] has a full-on aquarium inside. In the middle of the center, there’s
like this huge fish tank. It’s crazy! That was probably the highlight of my
visit.” 



The actor was also intrigued by the city’s architecture and skyscrapers.   



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“I’m actually very huge on architecture. It’s actually something I wanted to study. Their engineering is absolutely insane. The way they’ve built this place and the designs – it’s luxury, one after the other. We drove for hours admiring the architecture because I’m such a nerd when it comes to that. I love it.”</blockquote>



Dubai has a sizeable African expatriate community, and no
dearth of African culture. As a musician, NaaqMusiQ had been invited to the
city. 



“Africans that have immigrated to Dubai request their
favorite African artist to come over so that they’re still connected to Africa
and home. The nice thing about that is, as much as it is our people that have
invited us there to perform, they have influenced people from there [Dubai] and
other parts of the country [UAE] to come and listen to our music. 



“Because they’ve become residents there, they have
friendships where they introduce African music to the people of Dubai. So when
we went there, there were quite a lot of people, even though some couldn’t sing
along, there were a lot of people who went crazy when my song [Ntombi] played.”



During his time there, NaakMusiQ was also taken to
restaurants serving African food. This came as somewhat of a surprise for the
actor that the Arab city boasted a range of eateries specializing in African
cuisine. 



“We had a lot of Kenyan food that I hadn’t tasted before, which was really nice. They’ve got Tanzanian food, they’ve got South African food, Zambian food; it’s just a whole African experience there. And they do well actually.”



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While NaakMusiQ didn’t interact with the natives of Dubai,
he did get a sense of what they are like. The hustle and bustle of the city
left him greatly motivated.



“Everyone in Dubai is there to work. Everyone is there to hustle. People think that Dubai is this big, fun place, which it can be, but even people from there aren’t out partying every night. It’s people from the countries that are visiting that are out partying. Everyone else is really working. Some people are so hectic when it comes to business and money that they don’t have a life outside of their work. 



 “When they do have nights off, they choose to be at home or to put in extra hours working. It just made me want to work harder. That is the impact… Everyone there wants to do better. The standards there are incredibly high. What we would consider as good here is probably entry-level there,” says the hit-maker who now plans to return to Dubai wealthier and with more cash to splurge.

Anga

Executive Travel: NaakMusiQ’s Dubai

The South African actor immerses herself in all things Kenyan, from the natural wonders to cultural experiences, and has an awakening.&nbsp;&nbsp; 



It’s a Wednesday afternoon in Sandton, South Africa, and the
sun is a couple of hours away from its daily disappearance down the horizon.
FORBES AFRICA makes a phone call. A voice at the other end says a deep “hello”.
It is award-winning South African actor and entrepreneur Nomzamo Mbatha, who is
in New York City and has just woken up. 



From the Big Apple, her mind travels to Africa.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="924" height="619" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo1.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40770" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo1.png.png 924w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo1.png-300x201.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo1.png-600x402.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo1.png-768x514.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 924px) 100vw, 924px" /><figcaption> Nomzamo Mbatha describes Kenya as the warmest place in Africa. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure></div>



When she’s not scorching television screens, in the award-winning South African drama-series, Isibaya, Mbatha spends a lot of time traveling. 



She has been to 13 countries, but as an African, none has
made her feel at home quite like Kenya. 



She describes it as the warmest place in Africa and speaks
of her endearing memories of the East African country. 



“Kenya makes you feel like you should live there. Kenya
makes you feel like you’re at home&#8230;” says Mbatha.



She traveled there for the first time when she was 16,
handpicked by Save the Children, a non-governmental organization promoting
children’s rights, as one of three South African children representing the
country at a conference hosted by Kenya.



Mbatha recounts her first impressions. 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="928" height="615" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo2.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40771" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo2.png.png 928w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo2.png-300x199.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo2.png-600x398.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo2.png-768x509.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 928px) 100vw, 928px" /><figcaption>Nomzamo Mbatha traveled to Kakuma on a United Nations mission in 2018. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure></div>



“I remember seeing furniture doors just piled up on the side
of the road and thought ‘whoa! I’ve never seen this’ and then I just remember
Kenya having lots and lots of bananas. 



“Because we were always on a bus, we didn’t get to see it
(Kenya). My misconception of it, as a child, was that there’s not much to do as
a tourist.”



In 2018, Mbatha was in Kenya again, flying first class on
Kenya Airways with a carry-on and two big bags. “I don’t know how to travel
light,” she confesses. 



She recalls there were times in the earlier years as a
traveler when she would pack everything, leave the house and get to the airport
only to realize she wasn’t carrying her passport. 



“So passport… that’s like your golden item! The number two [must-have item] I’d say is sneakers. It’s always great to have comfortable
sneakers so you’re able to walk around the city, around the towns and just be
comfortable. So always carry sneakers no matter what! 





<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="638" height="475" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo5.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40774" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo5.png.png 638w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo5.png-300x223.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo5.png-600x447.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 638px) 100vw, 638px" /><figcaption>Nomzamo Mbatha in Kenya. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure></div>



“Number three – I always have a nice little bag of small
decanted toiletries. I have like 20 different things that I use. 



“So when you’re traveling, especially long-haul flights, you
want to be able to have your [face] cream because you don’t want to end up
using what the airline gives you&#8230; 



“When I’m traveling and connecting flights, I always make
sure I go to the bathroom and use my products and keep my skin hydrated and
clean. 



“And, of course, the fourth must-have, is a book; it’s
always a great travel mate.” 



On her last trip to Kenya, Mbatha traveled with her manager
and they were scheduled to fly out to Kakuma on a United Nations mission,
however, she requested three days to be in Nairobi before the trip. 



“I really just wanted to experience it and see more of it.
Also, I was in a space where I hadn’t traveled in a while. 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="927" height="615" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo3.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40772" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo3.png.png 927w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo3.png-300x199.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo3.png-600x398.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo3.png-768x510.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 927px) 100vw, 927px" /><figcaption>Nomzamo Mbatha visited the K1 Flea Market in Kenya. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure></div>



&nbsp;“It completely
changed me. I went to the K1 Flea Market which is so amazing. Everybody has a
smile. Everybody is so welcoming. 



“I got to go to the Maasai Market which is absolutely
fantastic. And there is so much art and craft you can find there&#8230; And then
the fanciest restaurants; five-star restaurants they don’t tell you about, that
they don’t show you. The party scene in Kenya is amazing. And what I really
loved about Kenya is I felt completely safe.”



She then explored the Karura Forest, saved from
deforestation by conservationists led by the late Wangari Maathai (Nobel Peace
Prize laureate, leader of the Green Belt Movement, and environmental and
political activist). Karura presented the most memorable moments for Mbatha
while in Kenya.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="462" height="616" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo6.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40773" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo6.png.png 462w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo6.png-300x400.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo6.png-225x300.png 225w" sizes="(max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px" /><figcaption> Nomzamo Mbatha enjoys the meal at the K1 Flea Market in Kenya. Picture: Supplied </figcaption></figure></div>



“It was lush. And it was just inspiring to know that a
woman’s name was behind all of this. I just remember thinking how massive it
was. We just stood there and it was one of the best experiences of my life… it
was beautiful. For me, it was better than seeing the Eiffel Tower. It’s nothing
like you’ve ever seen.” 



While the visit to Karura Forest left Mbatha in awe, it also
taught her a valuable lesson. 



“It was emotional in the sense that there is so much we can
do for the planet. And it implores one to really do better in terms of our own
social responsibility when it comes to environmental sustainability.” 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="462" height="614" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo8.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40775" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo8.png.png 462w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo8.png-300x399.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo8.png-226x300.png 226w" sizes="(max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px" /><figcaption> Nomzamo Mbatha outside the K1 Flea Market in Kenya. Picture: Supplied </figcaption></figure></div>



Mbatha says the African continent has much to learn from
Kenya. 



“A lot of innovative businesses in Kenya [are] self-started.
The government of Kenya is very cognizant of the fact they are not going to
bring international brands. In fact, they empower local brands to start their
own businesses, down to potato crisps. It’s very motivating for people to have
the entrepreneurial spirit,” says the globetrotter in love with Africa.

Category: Travel

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

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