From the famous words in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice: “All that glitters is not gold; often have you heard that told: many a man his life hath sold.”
Put simply, things that often appear precious may not always turn out to be so. This month, however, I will explore a commodity that proves the opposite to be true. A seemingly unglamorous, not particularly attractive commodity, which has sparked the interest of many: crude oil. It is a topic that is luring huge investment opportunities on our continent.
Even though alternative energy sources abound, crude oil is likely to remain a vital source of energy across the world for many decades to come. Life without oil would be virtually impossible. It is the most important raw material; generating heat, driving machinery and fueling vehicles and airplanes. Its components are used to manufacture most chemical products, including plastics, detergents, paints and even medicines.
Most countries are significantly affected by developments in the oil market, either as producers or consumers, or both. Oil catered for about 34% of the world’s energy needs in 2008. It is expected to continue being a leading component of the world’s energy mix – 30% in 2030, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
About two-thirds of oil is used for transportation in the United States and Canada. In the rest of the world it is more commonly used for heating and power generation.
Brent crude oil is derived from the ‘Brent blend’. It is a combination of crude oil from 15 different oil fields in the North Sea, off the coast of the UK and Norway. This blend is used to price two-thirds of the world’s internationally traded crude oil supplies, making it an obvious choice as the benchmark of crude oil.
Brent crude oil is excellent for making gasoline, and is highly sought after, particularly in industrialized nations. It is a ‘light’ or ‘sweet’ crude oil because it contains less sulphur.
This type of ‘sweet’ crude oil is also produced in a few countries in Africa, with Nigeria being our leading exporter. In fact, Nigeria is the largest producer of sweet oil in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec). Known as ‘Bonny light’, it is similar in composition to the petroleum extracted from the North Sea.
There are two widely used Brent crude oil futures: the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and the Opec price basket.
Opec is an organization of 12 oil-producing countries that effectively controls the world’s oil. Opec members pump out 42% of the world’s annual supply, thereby controlling 61% of exports. These 12 countries hold 80% of the world’s proven oil reserves, to last for 113 years. Opec’s decisions, therefore, are critical to countries that depend on oil imports.
Opec has stated quite adamantly that its goal is “to manage the world’s supply of oil”, which it does “to make sure its members get what they consider a good price for their oil”.
Opec’s second goal is to reduce oil price volatility. Oil and energy minis-ters from Opec members meet at least twice a year to coordinate their oil production policies. Each member country must abide by an honor system, where it agrees to produce only a certain amount. But countries that produce more suffer no sanctions or penalties.
The Opec members are: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Vene-zuela. Saudi Arabia alone produces enough oil to materially impact the world’s supply.
Opec has a basket price – an average of the prices of oil from Algeria, Indonesia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Venezuela and Mexico – which is used to monitor world oil market conditions.
The WTI is a blend of several US domestic streams of light sweet crude oil. It is also considered a key driver of growing global crude oil supply because of its unique immediacy, breadth and depth of pricing. In times of uncertainty, of massive political unrest or financial crisis, the market tends to flock to the WTI instead of the Opec price basket.
Brent crude originally traded on the open outcry International Petroleum Exchange in London. But after 2005, it traded on the Electronic Intercontinental Exchange, known more commonly as ICE. Brent crude financial futures are also traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange. One contract equals 1,000 barrels, quoted in US dollars.
From the mid-1980s until 2003 Brent crude oil averaged $25/barrel.
My technical analysis shows that Brent crude oil (listed on the ICE) is consolidating within a symmetrical triangle on the monthly chart. This triangle is a horizontal cone-shaped pattern, which could break out in
either direction. It often forms after a rally or a decline. In this case, it has formed within the major bull trend.
A positive breakout of this pattern would be signaled above $120/barrel, with the long-term objective situated at $162/barrel – through the 2008 all-time high of $147/barrel. Alternatively, Brent crude oil could breach the lower slope of the pattern, which would be signaled below $96/barrel, in which case the downside objective would be at $54/barrel. I foresee an upward break through $120/barrel, and a 34% appreciation in price in one to five years – a very brave call. However, this surge won’t happen in a straight line. Brent crude may or may not fulfill that objective, but historically, the longer it takes a pattern to form, the bigger the breakout. And as my leading indicators are bul-lish, a positive breakout seems more probable.
However, the question is twofold: how will a positive breakout in the Brent crude oil price affect African economies, and how will such a breakout benefit our oil companies?
Oil is one of the most powerful tools of trade in the world, and after the Middle East, Africa is one of the world’s largest oil producers. Further analysis sees great potential in Africa, but a lot of challenges have hindered this prospect.
Sixteen African countries are oil exporters, with 500 oil companies participating in African hydrocarbon exploration. According to the EIA, Africa’s proven oil reserves have grown by nearly 120% in the past 30 years, from 57 billion barrels in 1980 to 124 billion barrels in 2012.
In 2012, the BP Statistical Energy Survey reported that the continent produced an average of 8.8 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2011, which is just over 10% of the global output.
In November 2012, Chatham House research found that only 500 wells have been drilled in East Africa to date, compared to the 15,000 wells that exist in West Africa. In 2010, Africa’s oil production represented 12.4% of the world’s total crude oil output, with exporters achieving a higher share, at nearly 20% of the world’s total exports of crude.
Africa remains largely untapped for oil, and at present, many of the oil-producing countries with great promise are finding ways to create a safer haven for investors.
The abundant oil reserves in Africa are undoubtedly the glitter that is attracting many overseas investors. It comes at a time when minerals such as iron ore and copper, which were once economic mainstays, have reached a gradual decline.
But will a higher oil price affect the African economy negatively or positively?
Bear in mind that oil prices are still lower than they were in the late 1970s and early 1980s in real terms, if inflation is adjusted. High oil prices will affect certain African economies differently, depending on whether they are net exporters or net importers.
Oil-exporting economies have a greater advantage because an increase in oil revenues improves their balance of payments. These countries will stand to benefit from the influx of foreign revenue. It can accelerate the implementation of poverty-reduction strategies and develop infrastructure, which ultimately increases employment levels.
However, the biggest challenge of the coming boom will be to ensure that these benefits filter down to ordinary Africans.
There are only 16 net oil-exporting countries in Africa, with 38 countries being net oil importers. High oil prices in these nations will have an adverse impact on businesses, consumers and government budgets in particular. Their terms of trade could deteriorate, thereby affecting their balance of payments, which could lead to lower economic growth.
For oil-importing economies, high prices could increase import bills with adverse effects on inflation, production and employment.
In July 2009, the African Development Bank found that the real impact of high oil prices on African economies is relative. African economies are changing and significant improvements in terms of macroeconomic management are being reported, especially a reduction in inflation. Governments have passed on price increases to consumers, moderated them with subsidies and tax reductions, or have placed pressure on oil companies to keep prices down.
Revenues of the big oil companies in Africa will obviously surge. The world’s population is increasing, becoming more middle class and prosperous, buying more cars and using more oil. For example, the UK reported about 30 million cars with a population of 70 million. It is evident that Brent crude oil will be in demand in the long term, which ultimately advocates my call of a positive breakout of the long-term symmetrical triangle.

All that glitters is  not gold…

Inspired by the life of her son Dan Eldon, a Reuters photojournalist who was stoned and beaten to death in Somalia in 1993 when he was 22 years old, Kathy Eldon co-founded the Creative Visions Foundation. It is a hub where creative activists (like her son) turn ideas into positive actions to build social movements that impact the world. (Disclosure: I am a board member of Creative Visions Foundation.)
Kathy is also the author of In the Heart of Life, her memoir that was released this month (Harper One). After I read the book, I immediately sent Kathy an email filled with unedited thoughts straight from my head to the keyboard:
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-5815" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pure-JOY-173x300.jpg" alt="" width="173" height="300" />
“I finished In the Heart of Life late last night. It is a gift and will be a gift to all who read it. I was moved, touched and unsettled. I cried, smiled and thought. I felt lucky to be let into your life – a real and raw life – a book that is authentic and transparent. I felt your pain and suffering – the pain and suffering that happened years before your son Dan’s tragic death. I tried to stay removed – to not internalize it – but that was impossible. It brought up every emotion, made me think, took me to places I had thought were buried and gave me permission to always live my life. You’ve inspired me…”
I asked Kathy to answer this question: “What are the top five calamities, catastrophes, disasters and disruptions that were critical in your growth and enabled you to become who you are meant to be and live a life of joy? Lessons others can learn from.”
&nbsp;
<h4>1) Apartheid South Africa</h4>
When I was 16, I was thrilled when selected for a seven-month stay as a foreign exchange student in South Africa. However, marooned in an Afrikaans-speaking school in Bloemfontein (which bore an uncanny resemblance to my hometown, Cedar Rapids, Iowa), I spent my time learning a language that sounds like you’re spitting up phlegm. Even worse, meeting black Africans was strictly prohibited in Apartheid South Africa, and my host family was under surveillance by the secret police because “Oom” Bram, Uncle Bram, had defended Nelson Mandela and freedom fighters during the notorious Rivonia Trial. He managed to save those convicted from execution, although they were condemned to life imprisonment. Tragically, Bram was also punished for his radical beliefs. Accused of being a Communist, he was also sentenced to life imprisonment and died as a result of the harsh treatment he received in jail.
Living in South Africa shattered my Midwestern illusions about life, but the experience prepared me for a lifetime as a journalist, author and filmmaker, determined to tell stories about courageous individuals like my first hero, Bram Fischer, whose fearless stand for justice forever disrupted my life.
&nbsp;
<h4>2) Kids</h4>
I was only 24 when I had my first child, Dan, an unexpected development for a determined Wellesley grad whose only ambition was to get out of college and change the world. Suddenly, after marrying an Englishman and moving to London, the only thing I was changing was diapers. Living in a dreary British suburb, with no money for babysitters, and another baby on the way, I had to reinvent myself as a creative hometrepreneur, creating work I could manage without leaving the house. I sewed my clothes, wrote children’s books and produced toys and jewelry to sell to my neighbors. When the kids were in nursery school, I worked as a substitute teacher at the American School in London, overseeing noisy middle-school kids who thought art class was recess.
A loud voice, eyes at the back of my head, as well as a creative approach to problem-solving and the ability to deal with just about anyone are qualities that have served me well since my frustrating years as mother, teacher and wife.
&nbsp;
<h4>3) Divorce</h4>
Removed from all that was safe and familiar, in search of a self I had somehow lost along the way, after leaving my husband I developed a devastating blood condition that nearly killed me. After slowly recovering, I was still filled with guilt and shame, and faced a bleak and uncertain future. But then, by chance, I met a remarkable Ismaili woman, Zarina Dyer, who introduced me to Shakti Gawain’s book, Living in the Light. By page three I was hooked on the author’s description of a place that “all of us must pass through at one time or another, what mystics call ‘the piercing of the veil of illusion.’”
“It’s the point when we truly realize that our physical world is not the ultimate reality and begin to turn inward to discover the true nature of existence. The moment may co-incide with a sense of reaching rock-bottom, but then we may fall through a trapdoor into a bright new world, the world of spiritual truth. “Only by moving fully into the darkness can we move through it into the light.”
Over the next few weeks I met frequently with Zarina, who urged me to be patient with myself. “Everything happens in its own time,” she said, adding, “When the student is ready the teacher appears.”
After my serendipitous encounter with that unlikely teacher I realized that I had to find the trapdoor and allow myself to fall into it. After a terrifying
descent into profound darkness, one day I was able to emerge again, blinking in the unaccustomed light, aware that once again, my dreams of hope, purpose – and even love – were possible again.
&nbsp;
<h4>4) Death Of My Son</h4>
My son Dan became a photojournalist for Reuters in Somalia, where he covered a devastating famine and a bloody civil war. When he and three friends were murdered by a mob, I descended into a downward spiral. Wracked with guilt at having encouraged him to become a journalist, I knew I was to blame for his death at the age of 22.
My journey to understand why my son died to tell an important story – and why I had to live to tell one – was to shape the next 20 years of my life. Over time, thankfully, I have discovered that Dan’s creative, activist spirit, as transmitted through 17 journals he left behind, has inspired countless others to believe they, too, can lead more exciting, adventurous and purposeful lives. Because Dan was killed, we launched the Creative Visions Foundation which celebrates “creative activists” like Dan, who are telling stories that need to be told about problems that need to be solved. Since 2004, we have worked with more than 200 artists, writers, photographers and filmmakers whose powerful, positive spirits ignite sparks in others, bringing new light, life and purpose to our world.
&nbsp;
<h4>5) Happiness</h4>
Recently, after a long patch when my husband had to deal with a deadly form of cancer, and then the after-
effects of the harsh cure, a new chemo treatment resulted in remission for Michael, a delightful disruption from the endless round of blood transfusions and weariness that has accompanied him for more than three years. Now, we don’t take anything for granted, instead we focus on creating vivid memories of moments, hours and days that will remain with us always, a reminder of the joy of now, and the preciousness of each second we have on earth.

Women in politics: myths debunked

After tragedy in Somalia,  one woman’s path to self-discovery and pure joy

The accidental economist: Dr. NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA

The wealthiest women in the US have gotten even richer over the past year. Buoyed by a strong stock market and rising real estate prices, the combined net worth of the ten richest women on The Forbes 400 is $156.6 billion, up from $124.2 billion last year.
Altogether there are 48 women on this year’s Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, up from 45 last year. Newcomers include Elaine Marshall, who inherited a stake in private conglomerate Koch Industries from her late husband, and Anne Gittinger, granddaughter of the co-founder of Nordstrom  department stores.
Another new woman is a longtime Forbes 400 member: James Pritzker, a former lieutenant colonel in the army and an heir to the extended Chicago Pritzker family fortune, announced in August that she will now be known as Jennifer Pritzker. That makes her the first transgender billionaire. Pritzker runs the Pritzker Military Library in Chicago.
<div id="attachment_5799" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5799" class="size-medium wp-image-5799" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/006-Lauren-Powell-Jobs-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />Lauren Powell Jobs</div>
The wealthiest woman in America, Christy Walton, is also the world’s richest woman, with a net worth Forbes pegs at $35.4 billion. Walton inherited a stake in retailer Wal-Mart and a chunk of stock in solar firm First Solar FSLR -1.23% when her husband, John Walton, died in a plane crash in 2005.
Walton ranks 6th on The Forbes 400 list. She leads a very private life in Jackson, Wyoming but in August had a rare bit of publicity when was given an award by the Imagen Foundation for producing the film Bless Me, Ultima, based on the book by Rudolfo Anaya, who is considered the father of Chicano literature. Walton, aged 59, has faced a number of difficulties in her life in addition to her husband’s death. Her son – her only child – battled cancer when he was just three years old and she fought a case of pneumonia that nearly killed her, according to the Imagen Foundation.
America’s second-richest woman is Alice Walton, sister-in-law of Christy Walton and daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. Forbes puts her net worth at $33.5 billion, a fortune mostly comprised of stock she inherited in Wal-Mart and her art collection. She ranks 8th on The Forbes 400. Alice Walton opened the Crystal Springs Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas in 2011, and it has proved to be a popular attraction, already clocking 1 million visitors.
<div id="attachment_5801" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5801" class="size-medium wp-image-5801" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/004-Abigain-Johnson-300x229.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="229" />Abigain Johnson</div>
Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs, ranks 35th on The Forbes 400. She is the richest woman in Silicon Valley and is the 6th richest woman on the list, with a net worth of $11.7 billion.
Women still make up a minority of The Forbes 400 richest – just 12% of this elite group. Most of the women inherited their fortunes; only seven of the 45 started their own businesses or co-founded them with their husbands.
&nbsp;

The richest women in America 2013

A recent study from the 50,000-member strong B2B Technology Marketing community on LinkedIn showed that 85% of B2B Marketers say LinkedIn is the most effective social network in delivering content. That study also showed that 71% of B2B Marketers say audience relevance is the most important element of content marketing and 88% of B2B Marketers cite case studies as the most effective form content marketing.
Yet, most business owners and most marketing, sales and business development professionals have a LinkedIn profile that reads like a resume. Their profiles do not show why a decision-maker or influencer should connect with them. Right there, they are not demonstrating their relevance. And, they’re not effectively showing their relevance in the content they are sharing.
Let me show you how four women are effectively using content and LinkedIn to generate more leads and profits.
<h4>How the founder of Wizard Media gained hundreds of leads and $60,000 by mixing content marketing with LinkedIn marketing</h4>
If you look at the profile of Jimena Cortes, you’ll notice we’ve included case studies. For example, you’ll find a case study on how Jimena built a Neiman Marcus jewelry designer’s Facebook community to 45,000 members in nine months (something retailers would find very interesting). Within that case study, Jimena shows why her strategies took the client from 600 fans to 45,000 fans, zero engagement to capturing 37% of her fans’ information and from zero sales to $12,000 in three days.
Because her profile has content that resonates with her targeted audiences – her targeted audiences are accepting her LinkedIn connection. They’re joining her LinkedIn groups where she offers more content. The profile attracted a prospect that was ready, willing and able to spend $36,000 per year on her services.
Plus, when Jimena completes an email lead generation campaign through LinkedIn (using LinkedIn groups) about an upcoming webinar, prospects are signing up because they see that she has value to offer just by looking at her profile. By mixing LinkedIn marketing with webinar marketing (a form of content marketing), Jimena gained an additional $60,000 for her business last year.
<h4>IT marketing firm gains four new clients fast by challenging the way software and technology companies market their solutions</h4>
Conversion Copywriting President Susan Tatum creates thought leadership content for her clients so they can attract more prospects. But she was creating the same old, boring topics on her own blog. She was writing about topics like “Wow to write an awesome white paper”, “Why tech marketers must have a blog” and “Five signs you’re talking to the wrong content writer.” She was writing for the search engines – but she wasn’t writing content that would position her as an influencer within the different social media circles she belonged to, including LinkedIn. LinkedIn members are savvy, educated professionals, who are constantly looking for new and original ideas and ways of conducting business. As there are thousands of LinkedIn groups with hundreds of discussions happening every single day, your content will get ignored if you are providing the same old, regurgitated content that’s already all over the web. By creating thought-provoking blog posts, special reports and discussions that literally open the eyes of technology marketers inside her own Linked-In group and inside the 50 targeted groups she belongs to, Susan increased her website traffic by 300%. She went from zero LinkedIn shares to 90+ LinkedIn shares. And, she was able to recently gain four new clients including a company that serves 86% of the Fortune 100.
<h4>International coaching firm attracts more women business owners by telling stories</h4>
While working with Zee Worstell, President of AccelerateHer, I discovered that she and her clients had amazing stories to tell. Zee’s expertise is in showing women business owners how to price themselves appropriately. She knows first-hand how hard this is because she came across this issue when she was growing her recruiting business. When she was starting out, she would lower her prices in order to secure a client and wound up earning less than she was worth. This backfired because prospects would doubt her work because she was priced significantly lower than her competition. She was turning off prospects just by lowering her fees – and the clients she did get failed to show her respect. So, we had Zee create blog posts that discussed the “good girl beliefs” that held her back as a woman business owner. She discussed her own confidence issues within the articles and the mistakes she made. She also writes articles where she discusses the challenges her clients faced – and she tells their complete story and how they’ve become successful. As on average, women business owners make 45% less than male business owners, her target audience resonated with the discussions that were being created based on the blog posts. In fact, when she spoke to many of her LinkedIn connections on the phone (as she took the LinkedIn conversation offline) they felt like she was writing and speaking directly to them. As a result they signed up for her coaching program.
&nbsp;
<h4>How the author of this article mixed LinkedIn marketing and content marketing to gain more PR, more exposure and more leads</h4>
You are reading this article right now because I invited the editor to connect and to join my Get Help with Linked Strategies LinkedIn group so she can see the value I have to offer her readers. After reviewing my LinkedIn discussions and blog posts, she asked me to write the article that you’re reading right now. How many leads do you think I’ll generate by being on one of the top business websites? Now, offer real value, challenge your prospects, start thought-provoking conversations, showcase your expertise by sharing case studies, demonstrate your relevance and connect with your audience with stories. And you will generate more leads with LinkedIn.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

LinkedIn with  content marketing

Brian Mitchell grew up in a ring. When he was three years old, his father, Brian Mitchell senior, was a South African bantamweight champion. He was throwing punches from the age of nine. In the late 1980s, his boxing career lit up with 45 wins, 21 knock-outs, 12 World Boxing Association (WBA) Super Featherweight titles and an International Boxing Federation (IBF) Super Featherweight title. They called him the ‘Road Warrior’; he couldn’t fight at home because of sanctions in South Africa. Boxing brought him tragedy as well as fame. Now he is on the road again, paving the way ahead by spotting new boxers.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-2346" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/20130730-IMG_7430-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
From the ring to the ringside seat, the ‘Road Warrior’ says his name is one of the many reasons why boxers in Africa are drawn to his gym.
“It was quite a simple process for me. I had retired undefeated and to stay with boxing was easy for me. I left the game for three years, never went close to a gym or a fight, then I decided that boxing had been my whole life, and I opened a gym and became a trainer,” he says.
After training boxers for 10 years, Mitchell decided to move into the business side, using all the knowledge of his 35 years in the boxing world.
Mitchell’s rise to fame was hardly glamorous. He was raised in a broken home on the rough side of Johannesburg, in Troyeville. Mitchell grew up fighting in the streets more than in the ring. It steeled him through 10 years as an amateur. By the time he turned professional he was well conditioned and fame beckoned. On a spring evening in 1986, Mitchell won the World Super Featherweight title against Panama’s Alfredo Layne at Sun City, in the North West province of South Africa.
Victory proved bittersweet. South Africa was shunned from international sport because of apartheid. It forced Mitchell to become a wandering champion; traveling the globe to fight opponents on their home turf, with few South Africans to cheer him on.
“I think the fact that I was never able to defend my title in my own country did a lot for me. I had to all of a sudden become a man and stand on my own two feet and be half a politician and half a world champion boxer. Wherever I went I was bombarded with questions about apartheid and being a white South African. I had to stand up for myself from that point of view. I had to say ‘look I’m not a politician, I am a boxer, but what I know about politics, where I come from, boxing in the townships has no racial issues,’” he says.
“It was tough but it worked for me. It helped me to get to the hall of fame in boxing in 2009. In hindsight, all the hardships made my career. Fighting my opponents in their backyard and earning dollars helped me a lot. I didn’t have anybody bugging me for fight tickets. You had nobody around,” says Mitchell.
Nearly 30 years on, Mitchell has found many promising fighters. Among them is Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Ilunga ‘Junior’ Makabu. He has fought everyone he can in Africa and Mitchell is lining Makabu, who now has a WBC cruiserweight silver belt, up for fights in Monte Carlo.
“He can compete with the best in the world. He in fact phoned me to manage him. He said he wasn’t getting enough activity, enough fights. He knew I could get him fights so he phoned me and we did a bit of a deal,” he says.
According to Mitchell, boxing in Africa is on the rise. The popularity of what he calls boxercising, people who like training but never intend to fight, has increased interest.
“Boxing is a funny sport. Through the years it goes up and down. Right now, there are a lot of good fighters in the world. There is a lot of talk about boxing. A few years ago, it was going through a bit of a slump. It depends on who the actual figureheads are at the time. You need those personalities, like Floyd Mayweather and Muhammad Ali.”
In South Africa, top fights draw in crowds of 3,000. A Mayweather fight in Las Vegas gets 100,000. But most of the money in boxing is made from pay-per-view.
“In the States, pay-per-view is huge. Hundreds of millions of people will pay to watch a fight. The casinos pay to host them as well. Imagine two million hits paying $100 to watch a fight. Supersport [South African sport channel] will pay $200,000 for the fight,” says Mitchell.
Mayweather’s fight against Saul ‘Canelo’Alvarez drew $150 million in pay-per-view revenue with 2.2 million buys. The prize money is nothing to sneeze at either. Mayweather was expected to roll in a guaranteed $41.5 million appearance fee and a final take could approach $100 million after ticket sales, according to FORBES magazine. Makabu gets $10,000 for his fights.
“You’ve got to make it big. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are some of the highest paid sportsmen in the world. But they are the best in the world. I wouldn’t say it’s the best-paid sport in the world. If you get to the top, you’ll be a superstar. Guys have much better equipment available. They have fancy machines with treadmills, nutritionists and sports psychologists. That’s changed for the better. But I think the fighters were better in the seventies and the eighties than they are now. I think as far as toughness goes and work ethic and training in the gym, there were more characters worldwide that stood out in the eighties,” says Mitchell.
The glitz and glam of boxing does have its dark shadows. Mitchell’s longest shadow was cast by the death of Sowetan-born Jacob ‘Dancing Shoes’ Morake, the only boxer to beat Mitchell in a fight. Mitchell connected with a right cross to Morake’s head. The knock-out punch ended with Morake’s neck hitting the ropes. He never regained consciousness, dying in hospital a day later.
Mitchell says he paid for the funeral and it was hard to move on.  But he did.
“It was something that happened that you don’t expect to happen and you don’t want to happen. I wouldn’t have won a world title if I had retired after a fight like that. I left it. I can’t take the blame for it directly; it was part of the sport. You are going out there to knock him out and beat him, but you’re not looking for a tragedy.”
According to Bob Yearham, in charge of boxing at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg, Mitchell is the face of the sport in Africa.
“He’s a great man and presenter; he’s rubbed shoulders with the best,” he says.
The man who is a legend in boxing rings around the country is humble about his exploits. He says his most memorable punch was thrown where it all began; facing off with Layne. He’s also a man who doesn’t really enjoy boxing movies, but has a secret respect for Rocky and Million Dollar Baby. You could say the ‘Road Warrior’ has traveled every avenue in boxing. The only thing you could say he hasn’t done, is bite off someone’s ear.

The Road Warrior Points The Way

As Floyd Mayweather earned a massive $41.5 million from his most recent fight against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in Las Vegas, South African Phillip Ndou, who fought him a decade ago, was preparing to fight a nobody in Namibia for $4,544. One fighter on the crest of a triumphant wave; the other beached and struggling with a painful comeback. Both connected, and divided, by the outcome of one fight.
Rarely in sport has there been such a yawning gap in fortunes. Mayweather and Ndou, both 36, stand at opposite ends of the boxing scale. Mayweather has fought 45 times with 26 knockouts and remains undefeated. He is a world champion in five divisions and holds eight titles.
<div id="attachment_2342" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2342" class="size-medium wp-image-2342" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/119037604-300x223.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="223" />Floyd Mayweather throws a right hand at Phillip Ndou early in the WBC lightweight championship fight. (Photo by Matthew Mitchell/Getty Images)</div>
Ndou, known as ‘Time Bomb’, has been sidelined by a brain injury he suffered in 2004. He is now trying to scrape his way back to his former glory.
On November 1, 2003, Ndou and Mayweather stood as equals, toe-to-toe for a WBC lightweight title fight in Michigan, United States. Big puncher Ndou was the hope of Africa that night, but Mayweather knocked him out in the seventh round. Mayweather earned $3 million and Ndou $250,000.
On the night Mayweather beat Alvarez for the WBC and WBA light-middleweight titles, Ndou was watching on television. The South African knew Mayweather would win.
“When I fought him he was not this experienced. Our mistake was we went out to prove a point, which is the weakness Mayweather capitalized on,” says Ndou.
The loss to Mayweather resulted in fading fortunes for Ndou. Seven months later, Ndou lost again to fellow countryman Isaac Hlatshwayo. He collapsed minutes after the fight.
Doctors ruled Ndou unfit to box after a brain scan. The former South African and WBA International featherweight champion, and WBU and WBC international junior lightweight champion, was forced to retire at the young age of 27.
The years after that defeat were spent in the wilderness of television commentary and a cameo in a local soap opera Muvhango. In a role scripted for him, Ndou played a boxing trainer in a club named after him—Time Bomb. That was as near to acclaim as it got for him.
Television brought instant money but a return to the ring took five years.
“I appreciated what people offered to keep me going and [help me] earn a living. But, I am an entertainer in the boxing ring; I missed my days of boxing.”
Ndou returned to the sport in February, 2009, defeating Frenchman, Rachid Drilzane, on a technical knockout in Saint-Quentin, France.
Under a new trainer, Bernie Pailman, Ndou is pursuing a strong comeback. He beat Pius Dipheko in June, climbing to fourth place in the South African welterweight ranking.
“I remain the only pound-for-pound titlist in Africa. I am on a mission to claim my former glory back. I will be a world champion again. I know I have it in me. Thirty six is just a number. I still have many more years [left in the ring],” Ndou says.
“I have never been operated on or taken medication, but here I am. I am grateful to God. He has been there for me.”
In boxing, female managers are rare. Promise Moyo, who manages Ndou, is not going to let her gender get in her, or Ndou’s, way. She was previously a deputy director at a municipality before acquiring her boxing promotion license late last year.
Namibia’s HS Okungo Promotions contracted Ndou for two fights in Windhoek, one against little-known Pohamba Mandume, which he won in eight rounds. Ndou will return to the country in November to fight a contender that is yet to be announced.
“In the few months I have been with Phillip, we secured the Namibian contract and he is in line to challenge for the title. Things are shaping up,” says an upbeat Moyo.
Moyo says the amount of money Ndou earns for a fight is not that important, all they want is to secure more fights and then get him back to the level required for top-notch international bouts.
“The fight against Pius earned him R25,000 ($2,499) and now he is going to Namibia for R45,000 ($4,499), we don’t see things in money terms but the leverage he’s getting day-by-day,” says Moyo.
“Phillip is so disciplined. You can’t believe he is a three-time former champion. Since he’s joined the gym, he’s been consistent and behaved like a hungry student. He has shown commitment to my ground rules,” says Pailman.
Ndou has spent six months training with Pailman, who is known as one of the quietest, yet wisest men in the business.
“We come a long way. We both know what is expected of each other. I am here to learn and he’s the teacher. If you want to work with me, I am not a child anymore and should not be treated like one. I respect trainers who show respect to their boxers,” says Ndou.
“The Namibians can be a clean-up on our front door before going to look outside. But my benchmark for him is Kaizer Mabuza,” says Pailman.
Mabuza is a highly ranked South African who put up a good fight against American and former undisputed world champion, Zab Judah, two years ago. Mabuza lost by a technical knockout.
If Lady Luck smiles on Ndou, the former champion’s dream of fighting before his own people in Thohoyandou, in northern South Africa, for the first time since he turned professional in 1996, could be realized.
You could argue Ndou has done his fair share of the drudgery in the scullery of the fight game, through a beating from Mayweather and recovery from brain damage. If ever there was an African Cinderella, Ndou should surely go to the ball.

Cinderella Man and the  $41.5 Million Slugger

Unearthing hidden gems at a grassroots level is vital for most African countries, but it is one of the most difficult aspects of football administration.
Scouts have a keen eye for talent, but they also need to identify other factors. Silky skills alone will not guarantee success for any player.
I would say that most African countries believe that somewhere out there, on the dusty streets of a remote village, is the next Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto’o or George Weah.
You are not just looking for one special individual, but rather a new wave of talent to take your football forward into the future. What you really need to find is potential; it is highly unlikely you will find anything near the finished article.
You need to be able to look at a player between the ages of 13 and 16 and take into account his current attributes before deciding if he has potential.
There is no exact science to this. Football history is littered with players who looked like world-beaters when they were 15 years old, but faded into obscurity a year later.
Then there is an element of luck. You need to be in the right place at the right time to spot a gifted player. There is a difference between gifted players and talented players. Some players have natural ability on the ball, great dribbling skills, quick feet and an accurate shot, but they do not have the potential to develop an all-round game that will enable them to make a career out of football. A player may be able to make an accurate 10-yard pass to a teammate but unable to hit a 30-yard ball.
Individual skills are one thing, but football is a team sport and young players must be able to blend into a side and be able to use the ball to help those around them.
Every player needs basic skills to play the game. Once those are identified, you can look for areas of excellence to work with. For example: a center-back should be good with his head; a striker should be able to shoot with both feet; a winger should be quick and have the ability to cross.
If these skills are not immediately obvious, a coach needs to believe that they can push them to the required level. It is often guess work and there are many other elements to be considered.
There are the physical factors to take into account, which have become more important in the modern game. Players are now well-oiled athletic machines, using muscle as well as skill.
Generally, players with a slight physical stature will struggle to make it as professionals because they are too easily knocked off the ball. There is a lot you can do to help players develop in this area, but genetics will always work against some. The quick pace of the game today also requires excellent aerobic capacity, endurance and power. Again, training will help most players reach the required level, but for some the capability is just not there. If a player cannot last 90 minutes in a game then he will be unable to make it at the highest level.
Another huge distinction between those that will be successful and those that are not is personality. You can have all the skill in the world, but if your attitude is wrong it will be worthless.
Discipline, desire, determination, dedication, drive, self-confidence, motivation and concentration are all important factors in helping a player make the most of his physical attributes.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo did not become global superstars on skill alone. They had the drive to do hours of extra training, when everybody else had gone home, and the dedication to stay away from off-the-field temptations.
Again, this is something that can be encouraged with youngsters, but they need to want to take on the challenge themselves. It cannot be forced.
The attributes mentioned above can often be dependent on the sociological factors that players find around them. What level of education have they received to date? Do they come from a stable and nurturing background?
These can determine the type of personality within individuals and how easy it will be to nurture their skills—on and off the pitch.
You also have to assess how well a young player takes instructions and whether they can adhere to tactical discipline.
In a well-oiled team, each player must understand and stick to their roles within the side. When a player has the ball, his teammates must know exactly where to position themselves. They must also never deviate from that unless instructed otherwise by the coach.
It sounds simple, but there are many scenarios that a player must understand. Displaying tactical discipline can be extremely difficult for some. No matter how skilful a player is, they will become a hindrance to the team if they cannot follow a coach’s orders.
All of this is not foolproof and individuals develop at different rates. There are many players who were released by their club before they made the first team that went on and enjoyed stunning careers elsewhere.
When they were 18, they did not show enough of the above, but by the time they reached 23, they had a level of maturity that made it easier for them.
Samuel Eto’o was released by Real Madrid when he was 19 years old, but can now point to four African Footballer of the Year titles, three UEFA Champions League wins, league titles in Spain and Italy and the status as one of Africa’s greatest ever players.
History says that Real Madrid was wrong, but did Eto’o show enough to suggest he would go on to be a superstar? You would have to say he did not and it highlights the difficulty in deciding who will make it and who will not. There is no crystal ball.

THE TROUBLE WITH Finding THE Next Eto’o

Governments all over the world lose billions in revenue from corporate tax evasion every year. In many instances, citizens in a country pay a proportionally higher rate of tax than multibillion dollar companies.
Despite this being a global pandemic, Africa suffers more than most.
While delivering his Nelson Mandela lecture in Johannesburg, Sudanese-British mobile communications entrepreneur and billionaire, Mo Ibrahim, said more money is lost from multinationals not paying tax, through what he calls fancy accounting, than gained from aid.
“Physics and numbers don’t lie, but people do,” he says.
The continent is blessed with resources: Oil in Nigeria; gas and mineral reserves in Botswana; Angola, Ghana, and South Africa; the Democratic Republic of Congo has diamonds and cobalt; Mozambique has natural gas. These resources alone could lift millions of Africans out of poverty.
Former United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, wrote that the continent loses a huge amount of money from the use of shell corporations, offshore companies and tax havens by multinationals which often divert their profits.
But Dylan Buttrick, an associate at Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa begs to differ—slightly.
“It is important to understand the distinction between aggressive structures that facilitate tax evasion, and corporations that have tax efficient structures as a result of tax planning. In a world of increased globalization and multinationals, offshore structuring and tax planning is to be expected and remains legitimate,” says Buttrick.
The lack of infrastructure and resources makes it difficult for tax authorities to track payments. Revenue authorities would benefit from more sophisticated collection systems and processes that would help these authorities in enforcing compliance.
According to The Elders, an independent group of global leaders, transfer pricing—the practise of shifting profits to lower tax jurisdictions—cost Africa $38.4 billion every year, a number which Buttrick says is difficult, if not impossible, to quantify.
He says in recent years, African authorities have increased their focus on compliance with transfer pricing.
Buttrick further says the practise in the market is to ensure that transfer pricing policies comply with the South African tax laws, this despite significant chances in recent times, leading to a perceived uncertainty in some circles.
“Most multinationals do not indulge in invasion, i.e. fraudulent reduction of their tax, but may reduce their taxes in a particular jurisdiction through the use of legitimate tax planning tools, but beyond what certain politicians or even the public may deem appropriate,” says Buttrick.
Buttrick says from an exchange control perspective, South Africa’s banking and reporting system is fairly sophisticated and cross-border payments are easily monitored. The inflow and outflow of capital from the country will need to comply with exchange control regulations.
The G20 plans to fight international tax evasion by multinational companies. They will exchange tax information and support the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its plans to prevent multinational companies from avoiding tax by moving profits across borders. The new rules would force companies to pay tax in the countries where they make their money, instead of where the tax rate is the lowest.
Companies like Google, Apple, Amazon and Starbucks are reported to have perfected the art of using loopholes within tax regulations. MercoPress reports that these firms argue that they are doing nothing illegal and have a duty to shareholders to minimize tax payments to maximize profits.
The OECD says that some of the existing tax rules, created in the 1920s, were designed to avoid double taxation of companies operating in more than one country. But this is haunting the industry nearly a century later as these same rules are being used to create double non-taxation.
The G20 leaders agreed to an unprecedented deal to share information on individual taxpayers. They plan to start exchanging information on tax matters among G20 members by the end of 2015.
David Cameron, the British prime minister, says the new tax rules state that only advanced nations will sign on the deal, but it’s important that developing countries participate in sharing tax regulations.
Reforming the outdated global tax framework needs to occur, with governments across the globe working together. Regardless, one question still bothers me: should multinationals be taxed on the basis of where they are doing business or on the strength or weakness of their lawyers?

“Numbers Don’t Lie But People Do”

African leaders have highlighted the need to mobilize domestic savings to support investment that will drive economic growth. However, as is often the case in Africa, progress in realizing many government initiatives has been slow. The increasing development and penetration of financial services provides hope that a few lofty ambitions can be accomplished. After several rounds of recapitalizing and consolidating the banking sector, the central bank reports that Nigeria now has almost 29 million bank accounts.
The regulator last April introduced a policy that effectively raised the minimum savings rate to 3.6% to increase savings in the country. It’s a move that hurt banks because it raises their funding cost. But are savers really winners?
From an early age, my parents communicated the value of saving for a rainy day but I think every African should question the wisdom of that statement. A savings culture certainly provided small opportunities to improve the quality of my life but in the school of wealth-making, the impact can be compared to drizzle and not rain on a cloudy day. The discipline of setting money aside gave me the opportunity to spoil myself with little things such as a special pair of shoes or an ice cream treat. The rewards were not life changing.
Apart from cases of inherited wealth, the richest people in the world got wealthy by either investing their savings in assets or in a business idea.
Savings do not make people rich because the returns on savings are almost always lower than the inflation rate. In most African countries, this gap is very significant. In Nigeria, where the bank savings rate is around 3.6% but the 3-year average for inflation is in double digits, many will argue that it makes more sense to spend savings as quickly as possible because the purchasing power of a saver is stronger today than in the future.
Investments offer a different wisdom. Over the last decade, Nigeria has generated mouth-watering returns to investors. From telcos to consumer goods companies, Africa’s second largest economy has made many rich. The financial markets have also provided some joy. Over the last decade, Nigeria’s stock market has provided an annual average return of 17.2%. Those that used debt wisely as leverage over this period, made even more returns.
However, many of these investments are out of reach for the typical middle class saver. This reflects the level of sophistication of the Nigerian financial market. Financial institutions must improve the product offering for investors because despite the level of poverty in the country, the potential to attract savers is huge.
The stock market only has around 5 million investors but according to a 2012 report by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access, an independent financial sector development organization, 56.3 million people, representing 64% of Nigeria’s adult population, do not even have a bank account.
Financial institutions that create a model to encourage and mobilize savings from small scale farmers, who represent the largest group of working people in the country, and others in the informal sector will be big winners. It is estimated that over $7.6 billion is currently outside Nigeria’s banking sector. That is a figure that should capture the imagination of bankers, asset managers and financial planners.
The tough task will be finding a way to rake in the funds for investments.

Invest for a rainy day

Seated in an MBA class in Lausanne, Switzerland, several thousand miles away from his home in Kenya, 31-year-old Jimna Mbaru was told to do something that is considered taboo in many parts of Africa. Before embarking on the course, one professor asked the class to write their eulogies.
“I thought, how do I write my eulogy at 31?” says Mbaru during an interview at his Nairobi office.
“That exercise was meant to make us think long-term. When you die, how will you be remembered? No-one is remembered because he or she left a lot of money. When you think with the end in mind, you find yourself thinking about posterity and creating an institution that will outlive you.”
Decades later, Mbaru—a man whose name features prominently in conversations about Africa’s stock markets—is glad to have sat in that MBA class.
Now aged 66, Mbaru is retired and serves as chairman of his investment bank, Dyer &amp; Blair. He has diverse business interests in several companies, some of which are in the banking and insurance sectors. Mbaru was the driving force at the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) where, as chairman, he was instrumental in transforming the exchange into a global market.
Mbaru describes stock exchanges in Africa as unique. The American approach was always through the equities route, followed later by the bond market.
“For new markets like Rwanda, I took the bond market route first. I advised their central bank to start by issuing bonds and bills with maturity of up to 182 days. Then they extended to one, two and five years so they could start building a yield curve. I knew the equities would come automatically.”
Mbaru was directly involved in establishing stock exchanges in Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique and countries in West Africa.
The success of any stock market is intertwined with the leadership of a country and when he was asked to reorganize the Botswana Stock Exchange, the first thing he did was have a chat with the leaders of the country.
“There is no point of organizing a stock exchange unless a country is committed to it.”
Botswana was an interesting assignment because they had a budget surplus but no budget deficit.
“I recommended that their central bank issue bonds for purposes of managing monetary policy and liquidity in their banking system. They got surrogate bonds and the government decided to fund their pension funds over one year. This resulted in a budget deficit of five years and they were able to move formally into the market.”
Mbaru says the number of listed companies on the NSE has not grown substantially because many of the organizations in Kenya are either family-owned, government-owned or subsidiaries of multinationals which get money from their parent companies.
“They don’t need to raise a lot of capital from the market.”
But this has since changed as family-owned companies like Athi River Mining and Scangroup came to the market to raise money for purposes of expansion.
He says you can make a fortune from the stock market but it is not a place to make money in the short-term.
“We analyzed Kenya’s stock market and found that if you take a five-year horizon and you add dividends, bonuses and capital appreciation, all will average a 35% return per annum.”
Looking at the NSE, foreign investors are the major buyers.
“It is good because they provide liquidity to the stock market.”
With a vibrant secondary market, it means the primary market will be able to get their shares fully subscribed. Besides liquidity, foreign investors make the market vibrant because they do a lot of analysis and research before they invest.
“If Kenyans see foreigners buying they know the shares are good to buy. If anything, they force the local brokerages to upgrade and improve their services and research.”
Regarding the future of stock exchanges in Africa, Mbaru sees a lot of them being internationalized in terms of trading platforms and practice.
“They are also changing in that they will no longer be owned by players. They will be demutualized and will operate like businesses, like the Johannesburg and London stock exchanges.”
He adds that most will be owned substantially by the bigger stock exchanges.
“I see NASDAQ trying to buy Johannesburg or NSE.”

HOW WILL YOU BE  REMEMBERED?

The Drakensberg has been around for 540 million years. Man has been living in its shadows for more than 100,000 years. In its bowels are 40,000 Bushmen paintings. It is home to one of the most famous choirs in the world, The Drakensburg Boys Choir, countless resorts, and herds of cattle. Thousands of tourists flock to its scenic basalt rock structures to hike, climb and camp in its huge shadow.
Winter is a good time to go. It brings out the golden hues of a dry mountainscape capped with sapphire skies.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-2327" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_5899-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />
I’m nestled deep within the sweet scent of the pine trees of the Champagne Valley in the heart of the Central Drakensberg.
Within this valley is the Champagne Castle Resort. It is here where I am about to experience the ‘berg’, as people call it, in what many say is the best way possible; in the saddle.
The brochure was a sell: Why walk when you can ride in comfort? Experience the glory of an African sunset. To boot they’ll even throw in a free glass of champagne. It’s money you will never regret spending.
With this in mind, I walk down to the stables to gewar-up. I imagine a majestic creature approaching. The dust rises up as its hooves caress the earth. His mane billows majestically in the cool mountain breeze. They say if you stare into a horse’s eye you can see into its soul. All I see is a beady eye.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-2328" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_8875-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
“Majestic?” I ask the guide.
More like a deadly creature galloping straight out of a nightmare. Its brown coat is muddy. It smells like hay and 10-year-old sweat. Staring into his eyes was like being a loaf of bread in the middle of St Michael’s Square in Venice with a flock of hungry pigeons hovering in the air.
“You don’t want to walk behind it,” the guide reminds me, as I try to mount the steed.
Osama. That is his name, I am told. Yes I didn’t believe him either. An ill omen for someone with an innate fear of horses. And so my romantic champagne sunset horse ride in the mountains began, more like three hours of hell.
I rode with the grace of a sack of potatoes. Fear kept me rigid in my saddle. My helmet bounced on my head; slapping sweat, horse hair and bugs into my eyes.
True to his namesake, Osama was a force to be reckoned with. Much to the amusement of my fellow travelers, I had no say in which direction or what speed he wanted to go. He was a horse apart. At times he would stop to eat grass, a brief respite for my sore behind, only to leave our company wandering off into the distance. He behaved like a mountain goat leaping from stone to stone with his penchant for the off-road. His attempts to swing me over the edge of deep gullies left others rolling in laughter; me in terror.
As the sun began to set, our mounted troop finally paused. I figured that I had earned more than a glass of bubbly. I sat and admired the trails of smoke rising up in the distance from the bush fires that filtered beams of sunlight. The Drakensberg was bathed in gold. A photographer’s paradise.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-2330" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_8902-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
It’s hard to ruin a beautiful sunset accompanied with champagne, but Osama came close.
My far-from-graceful dismount led to a deep breath of fresh mountain air, only something smelled rotten. Beneath my shoes was a mountain of steamy dung, courtesy of my trusty steed. Idiot, don’t walk behind a horse.
I wish I could have stayed on that hill longer.
But alas, as the sun sank over the horizon, Osama decided it was time to leave—this time without his rider. In the fading light, in the shadow of one of Africa’s splendid natural wonders, I ran after him into the sunset. I really don’t get why people like horses, but I can see why riding a horse in the Drakensberg is an unforgettable experience. A short three-hour drive from Johannesburg, it’s truly a beautiful place to spend a weekend away.

Love The Mountain Hate The Horse

Oba Nsugbe isn’t your average stuffy British Queen’s Counsel (QC). He is a Lagos-born Nigerian for starters. He studied English law at unfashionable Hull University, often rides a mountain bike and is not adverse to relaxing in a hoodie and jeans on weekends. In fact, he’s the kind of mellow person you would happily go for a drink with after work.
Yet,it’s hard to underestimate the stir he created when, at the relatively tender age of 39, he became the first Nigerian practicing in Britain to be appointed as a Queen’s Counsel.
Today, he is head of Pump Court Chambers, based in the legal heartlands of London’s Temple district. He heads up a busy common law set of chambers with around 90 self-employed barristers (there were 30 when he arrived). Nsugbe, brought up in Lagos and Lusaka, in Zambia, operates at the very top of the legal profession in England and Nigeria. To get there he had to break through a ceiling of ignorance and prejudice.
Nsugbe is a specialist in commercial contracts and arbitration, with an emphasis on Nigeria, corruption and serious crime. He works for and against multi-national clients, sits as a judge himself, and advises and trains judges in Africa. As the Nigerian economy grows at 6 or 7%, so his practice thrives.
Many apply to become Queen’s Counsel, but few are chosen. As a matter of record, the lucky ones are listed in The Times newspaper. Nsugbe remembers his name appeared second from bottom.
“The list gets published in order of seniority and it was only then I realized how junior I was on the list, and that perhaps this was a big deal.”
In the ultra-conservative world of the English barrister, a 12,000-strong elite, merely one in ten take silk. Nsugbe remembers there were even those in his own chambers who thought that applying so young was: ‘being pushy and not the done thing old boy’.
“Today, I’m still introduced as Nigeria’s first QC, yet to me it feels like it happened a long time ago,” says Nsugbe.
“I hope you understand when I say I would prefer to be remembered for what I’m doing today?”
He has little desire to talk about it, but when pushed, he has fond memories of his appointment in the House of  Lords.
“Afterwards they give you the Queen’s Letters, and it’s a special moment in your life. I’m very lucky to be a barrister, it’s a unique world.’’
Eleven years on, Nsugbe has become a tireless advocate for all things African, and is passionate about Nigeria. He now understands how his father, an anthropologist and academic specializing in the history of African Man, has had a far greater influence on his life than he realized.
After public school in Oxford, Nsugbe studied law at Hull, where a large group of African students took Law and Economics. Many are still friends today.
“They made their mark in the UK and now most are back working in Nigeria. I was at a 50th birthday party in Lagos recently for a friend from the World Bank, and hear me, the world-class diaspora of talent is returning to join those already there.”
In 1986, Nsugbe studied at bar school, then went straight to Lagos to qualify in Nigerian as well as English law. It was a deeply unfashionable move.
“My friends were rushing to find pupillages in London, the final step to becoming a barrister.”
Today, only he and one other lawyer share the distinction of being both Queen’s Counsel and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the West African country’s equivalent. What seemed like career suicide in the 1980s has become the best move he ever made.
“The Nigerian economy is booming, and clients who are new to Nigeria like to be reassured that you have the right credentials, so this comes in very useful,” he says.
Life at the top of the legal pile can be difficult, with endless travel and long hours. But breaking into the profession was harder, with the blunt weapon of racial prejudice to be overcome.
Nsugbe had difficulty finding a London pupillage.
“It’s tough and competitive now, but there are more black lawyers in the system. When I was starting out, there were only a few black guys in total.”
At one job interview he was asked: “What would you do if you were prosecuting a black man in court, the gallery is full of black people and they were whispering ‘Uncle Tom, Uncle Tom’?”
“What? Needless to say that didn’t work out.”
Even when he did eventually get taken on for a pupillage by well-regarded chambers, he was told after six months: “You have done well, but we can’t keep you on. Solicitor’s can’t pronounce your name, they won’t instruct you… you won’t get any work.”
That just made Nsugbe more determined.
“Effectively he said you will never be a success at the bar. That same guy is now a QC and has been trying to attract me back to his chambers for the last five years—of course I’ve said I’m not going.”
Nsugbe works hard to make his voice heard, and increasingly in fields beyond the law. He says he chooses to sit on many committees which both talk and do. He champions the cause of black and minority ethnic (BME) lawyers, and founded the British Nigeria Law Forum of which he chaired in the past.
Nsugbe and his friends formed a business group which invests in Nigeria. He is a fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts. He is also quite rightly proud of his links with Tate Modern, where two years ago he became one of the members of the Africa Acquisitions Committee established to buy contemporary African art for the museum.
Although he doesn’t live there, Nsugbe swears Nigeria will always be home.
“My father sent us to good schools but in the long holidays he insisted we came home to Nsukka where he was teaching.”
Nigerians always rise to a challenge says Nsugbe, and they are the most resilient people he knows.
“It’s these characteristics which hold me in good stead when I’m abroad—and it’s what I call upon to advance in life.”

Sorry, We Can’t Pronounce Your Name

It’s no secret that Porsche remains one of the most profitable car companies and when you understand the DNA of the company, it makes sense. Ironic as it may appear, I’ve chosen to demonstrate this by using the most unlikely candidate of the range: the new Porsche Cayenne S V8 Diesel.
The new generation of Porsche Cayenne differs greatly from the inaugural SUV. The car has adopted a safer design and is more at home within the wider Porsche family range. It is one of the better looking SUVs on the road, but perhaps not from a macho viewpoint, like a Land Rover Discovery or Toyota Prado. In true Porsche spirit, form follows function. The sharp bonnet, slimmed flanks and flowing mirror design hint at the fact that  it was designed to be a sports car, and the rear spoiler pays homage to the iconic and jaw-dropping Carrera GT—all this for an SUV.
Although you would never guess it judging from the outside, the Porsche Cayenne is larger than its predecessor. From the inside, your guess would change, as the airy cabin provides ample space, especially for rear seat passengers. The rear seats can be moved forward or dropped to reveal a cavernous 1,336dm3 of load space. The cabin is typical of Porsche, with solid metal pieces and inserts for door handles, seat controls and air vent surrounds. The control panel rises to meet your hand, very much like the Panamera models. As beautiful as the design is, the ergonomics are spot-on with everything simply laid out and easy to use.
What must be stressed with the Porsche Cayenne S and other Porsche models, is the extent to which the owner can tailor the car to suit their taste. This so-called Porsche Exclusive experience allows for the personalization of each car. Most brands provide a list of exterior and interior appointments from which to choose, but Porsche allows you to craft your own unique Cayenne with options not commonly found on brochures. Think embossed seats and armrests in your own name; backlit doorsills or outrageous paint schemes, such as painting the inside lining of the wheels. Imagine it and Porsche will do it. Of course, this exclusivity comes at a cost because vanity has a price tag.
The jewel of the Cayenne S Diesel is the 4.2 liter twin-turbo V8 engine. With a whopping 850Nm and 281kW torque, it is the most powerful diesel engine in its class and is superb. It will outperform and outgun most cars. The time it takes to accelerate from 0-100km/h (5.7 seconds) shouldn’t be relevant in this type of car, but it is because it’s a Porsche after all. It is a beast to drive especially when you have the optional PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management) system in Sport mode. This electronic damping control system makes the car run like a sports car. It is planted, surefooted and composed, even in the most dire of circumstances. Another option is the Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV) system that enhances the overall dynamics of the car by varying the torque to the engine and chassis to optimize handling. It’s brilliant when you consider that this is still an SUV that weighs more than two tons.
In Normal mode the car is everything you would expect in the way of comfort and road manners. I found the ride a little harder than the likes of a Mercedes-Benz ML, but not uncomfortably so. The model I test drove was fitted with 20-inch wheels, which would affect the ride to some degree. It’s a car that is as at home in comfortable driving situations as it is when driven with a bit of gusto.
That being said, the off-road capabilities would come into question when considering its sporty dynamics and impeccable road holding. While less than 10% of Porsche Cayenne owners use their cars in serious off-road conditions, that hasn’t stopped Porsche from producing a car that is as capable off the road as it is on.
This car is packed with off-road ability and Porsche has made it as easy to use as all the car’s other features. You can raise the ride height; engage Off-Road mode and Hill Descent Control (HDC) with just a few clicks of the rocker switch on the console. The immense torque will do all the heavy lifting and the system distributes the most power to the wheels with the most traction. I’ve tested all of the Porsche Cayenne models in serious off-road situations and I was genuinely impressed with its prowess.
The Porsche Cayenne S V8 Diesel costs around $96,000 and is good value for money. This particular car is the pick of the entire range but it must also be a consideration across all other SUV brands. It is Porsche South Africa’s best-selling model with more than 110 sold every month.
The car remains true to the traditional sports car enthusiasts but also lures many of the non-traditionalists. It’s flanked by a classy and personal ownership experience and is backed by an impressive piece of engineering.

A Family Car That Packs A Punch

If I had a dollar for every time someone said they were moving overseas, I would be at the top of the FORBES list of 40 Richest Africans. If I had to give a dollar back for every time they returned, I probably wouldn’t lose much. This is a story of a girl, who after making her dreams come true in the United States (US), came back to Africa and brought her hair business with her.
Nyasha Zimucha walks into the room dressed in a blue dress, cream jacket and sky-high heels. Her accent could easily fool you into thinking that she is American, but as she talks of her Zimbabwean roots and South African upbringing it becomes clear that even accents can be deceiving.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-2316" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_8734-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />
Zimucha was 13 when her family moved to Kansas, in the US. It was here where her interest in hair began. Every weekend, Zimucha and a friend would go to their local neighborhood to buy extensions and experiment with different styles. Later, it was her work that drew her closer.
“I started out in the entertainment industry as a dancer. I danced my whole life, from the time I was six until my twenties… I was an NFL cheerleader for the Patriots and so I had a lot of experience with wearing makeup and changing my hair for competitions and shows.”
After graduation, Zimucha moved to New York City with the Frank Sinatra song ringing in her ears. Referring to the Big Apple, Sinatra sings ‘If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere’.
“Fashion week was a turning point for me… I realized how hair influences fashion. Hair is the tiara of everyone’s fashion ensemble, whether you like it or not, your hair is your crown.”
With her laptop, the internet and only herself on the employee payroll, Zimucha started her business, Embrace Your Hair.
“The idea wasn’t about me wanting to get fake hair on women. It is a big misconception that hair is fake… the way I see it, hair is a fashion accessory,” she says.
She sourced the hair from a factory in India and started selling to a few people online. The business began to grow but she wanted more.
“I knocked on the door of every major fashion house in New York City and about 60% of them said ‘no’.”
Through a few connections, Zimucha got the opportunity to supply hair for celebrity designer, Zang Toi. The show was a success and suddenly Zimucha had celebrities such as rapper, Eve, calling for her hair.
“We went from having a small cubicle in Tribeca to a full size office on Seventh Avenue,” she says.
Business was booming and Zimucha was supplying hair to 30 stores across the US, but she wanted her business to make a difference in people’s lives. After both her aunt and friend’s mom beat breast cancer, she realized that hair was important. This was the inspiration for her charity, My Hair is Your Hair. A portion of the sales from Embrace Your Hair goes to My Hair is Your Hair, which donates wigs to those who have suffered from breast cancer.
“It wasn’t about making them cover their hair loss because they should be ashamed. It was about saying, ‘you’ve struggled enough, you’re going through the chemo, which can be physically painful on your body, and now I want to give you something to make you feel good about yourself. You don’t have to be ashamed; I want you to feel good.’”
Then came the move to South Africa.
“I wasn’t sure how strong the buying economy was and I wasn’t sure if hair was even big there… after doing a lot of research, I found there was definitely a market. I just needed to make sure that it would be financially lucrative and something that would make an impact nationally, instead of just launching a little store and hoping for the best.”
In 2012, Zimucha partnered with retailer, The Foschini Group, in an attempt to take advantage of their network across the continent.
“People still have misconceptions about hair and there is still a little bit of growing to do in terms of seeing that the black consumer and the white consumer can go to the same place and get the same thing.”
Besides the hair business, Zimucha has her hand in reality shows and music. So, how does the 27 year old manage to keep her head above water?
“Planning, preparation and performance are the three ‘P’s’ I live by. It is one thing to say something but to actually do it, implement it and go through with it is another thing.”
As for the notion of people leaving Africa for greener pastures overseas, Zimucha is proud to consider herself a global citizen.
“I believe that traveling is what makes you grow as an entrepreneur. If you think you are going to succeed without traveling, even within your community, you’re wrong. I think, as a world, part of the reason we are the way we are is because we all migrate all the time. If we didn’t, how would an American know what Chinese food was like?”
It could be the next trend: Africans leaving the so-called greener pastures to come back to the continent. If that is the case, a bet on them returning could put you on the top of FORBES’ rich list.

Tag: November 2013

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

All that glitters is not gold…

After tragedy in Somalia, one woman’s path to self-discovery and pure joy

The accidental economist: Dr. NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA

The richest women in America 2013

LinkedIn with content marketing