All Articles Tagged "South Africa"
It’s Not All About South Africa – Other Great African Cities Everyone Should Visit
It really bugs me when people refer to Africa as a country. Sadly enough, people like Oprah and influential celebrities don’t help in trying to correct the matter with the general public. Africa is the motherland of culture and the second largest continent on the planet; nevertheless, it’s merely associated with one country most of the time and that’s South Africa. Ironically, the country where apartheid oppressed Africans so boldly is the place that’s most benefiting from tourism.
Just because other African countries don’t invest in the PR machine like South Africa doesn’t mean that potential tourists shouldn’t be made aware of these other wonderful destinations. We couldn’t cover all 56 countries of course but here are a few cities that you should consider for your winter break (hey, it’s always warm in Africa)! We’ll continue to highlight various African countries in future installments of our travel series. And as always, feel free to nominate some destinations in your comments.
Stone Town, Zanzibar
Zanzibar is a small island off the coast of Tanzania that boasts a mythical flavor. A three hour ferry ride from the mainland of Dar es Salaam will bring you to this very quaint fishtown of Stonetown which offers world-renowned architecture. The mix of Arab, Indian and East African influence is reflected in the diverse array of foods from currys to, of course, great grilled fish. A great time to go would be during the Zanzibar International Film Festival in the summer, which is the second largest film festival on the continent.
Economics of the Motherland: Africa's Top Ten Competitive Economies
Earlier this month The World Economic Forum released its Global Competitiveness Report for 2011-2012. While the United States continued its decline in the rankings, now holding steady in fifth place, South Africa moved up in the ranks. But South Africa, which ranks 50 among the nations was only one of three African countries to cut through the top half of the rankings. 13 African nations were ranked among the lowest economically competitive.
What does competitive mean? According to the Forum, “a more competitive economy is one that is likely to grow faster over time” due to institutions and policies in place. Since we like to pay homage to the motherland here’s a list of the top ten economies on the continent of Africa:
10. Senegal
Coming in at number ten is Senegal. The Global Competitiveness report put them at 111 among all the nations and here’s why. The nation relies heavily on donor assistance, and when the global financial meltdown of 2009 came about Senegal suffered. Their GDP declined 2 percent. Since then the nation which since 2007 has battled an unemployment rate of roughly 48 percent has struggled to get its bearings. Industries and services only make up 22 percent of jobs, as Senegal is mostly committed to agricultural. The nation has also been hampered by protests against what many claim is a corrupt government.
South African Billionaire Set To Expand In Nigeria
By Charlotte Young
The door to corporate growth in Africa is wide open and steadily bringing in financial saavy takers. Wal-Mart has laid its claims in South Africa, but South Africa’s Pepkor Ltd, plans to begin expanding in Nigeria. Pepkor Ltd, South Africa’s biggest clothing company, is owned by billionaire Christo Wiese. The store sells clothes mostly to low income shoppers.
“Africa is awakening,” Wiese tells Bloomberg. “It’s a huge market of almost a billion people with huge resources and a young population. People spend when they’re young.”
Bloomberg reports that Wiese is set to open his first store in Nigeria this year, with plans to expand to about 50 outlets and invest as much as 100 million rand in the project or $14 million. According to Forbes Magazine, Wiese has a net worth of about $1.6 billion. He also controls Shoprite Holdings Ltd, which is Africa’s largest grocer, and owns more than a third of South Africa’s largest private equity company, Brait SA.
He believes the African economies have the chance to grow faster than the economies of the US and Europe, and is making his moves now. In addition to its stores in South Africa, Shoprite has 76 supermarkets in 15 other African nations. This will directly benefit his expansion plans for Pepkor, which he plans to expand in “nodes across the continent.” Pepkor already has 2,800 stores in southern Africa.
Wiese, the son of a farmer and gas station owner in Upington, located in South Africa’s Northern Cape, says that his businesses are “not for sale.” They will be kept in the family. The 69-year-old billionaire predicts he has about five or seven years left to run his companies. His 30-year-old son is already involved in his father’s companies, and when he retires, his two daughters will most likely take his place.
Wiese is certainly not alone in ventures to stake financial claims in Africa. Wal-Mart recently bought 51 percent of Massmart Holdings Ltd, South Africa’s largest wholesaler, to secure its position on the continent. Massmart Holdings Ltd also has investments in 12 other African countries. While Wal-Mart may have stepped into the growing competition in Africa, Wiese is not intimidated.
He tells Bloomberg that with the growing market in Africa, “there’s enough for everybody.”
Youth Uprising Might Be South Africa’s Next Test
(BET) — It’s been about 35 years since South Africa’s youth revolt against apartheid, the racial segregation system that served to oppress the nation’s Black majority. But now, South Africa could be facing another uprising, this time due to high levels of youth unemployment, according to one of South Africa’s top union officials. In fact, during the recent interview with CNN, Zwelinzima Vavi, general secretary of the Congress of South African trade unions, also likened such a rebellion to the Arab spring from earlier this year (which saw longtime leaders from Egypt and Tunisia get booted), warning that the nation could stand to become the “new Egypt.” “If we don’t do something urgent enough with the crisis of youth unemployment in South Africa we will be in Tunisia and Egypt very soon,” he said during the interview.
Why Sub-Saharan Africa is the Continent’s “Silicon Savanna”
By Alexis Garrett Stodghill
Most Western news about Africa focuses on the seeding of al-Qaeda terrorism in nations like Yemen, or revolutionary battles against dictators like Muammar Gaddafi. But there is another, quieter disruption taking place in countries like Kenya in which black coders and tech entrepreneurs are creating their own boom. In Alex Perry’s article for Time, the author outlines numerous stories of success that have had international implications emerging from the continent, chronicling Africa’s exponential growth in the sector. Mobile tech via cell phones in particular has seen a host of creative applications sparked by African inventiveness. About the impact of cell phones on Africa’s economies, Perry reports:
According to studies by the London Business School, the World Bank and consultants at Deloitte, for every 10 additional mobiles per 100 Africans, GDP rises 0.6% to 1.2%. [...]
But this is not a story merely of how technology is changing Africa. Africans are changing technology right back. They now use text-message networks to send e mail, run social networks (South Africa’s MXit) and even verify from a bar code whether a drug is genuine or fake (mPedigree in Ghana and Sproxil in Nigeria). Africa’s influence on global technology is most marked in mobile banking: with its M Pesa service (M for mobile, pesa meaning money in Swahili), Kenyan operator Safaricom became the first-ever telecom company to create a mass mobile-banking service, setting industry standards now being copied from California to Kabul.
Africans, and Kenyans in particular, are making their presence felt online too. When Kenya erupted in violence in the aftermath of a disputed general election in late 2007, a handful of Nairobi code writers created Ushahidi (meaning testimony in Swahili), a data-mapping platform to collate and locate reports of unrest sent in by the public via text message, e mail and social media. The idea was simply to find out what was happening. Says Ushahidi co-founder Juliana Rotich: “The TV was playing The Sound of Music while we could see houses burning in our neighborhood.” But the desire to know what’s going on turned out to be universal, and Ushahidi quickly became the world’s default platform for mapping crises, disasters and political upheaval. According to Rotich, by May of this year, Ushahidi, which is free to download, had been used 14,000 times in 128 countries to map everything from last year’s earthquake in Haiti to this year’s Japanese tsunami and the Arab Spring.
We can only expect more African tech companies to blow up as plans to add Internet cables in the region are executed in the coming years. The cost of connectivity will go down and the speed of the average connection will go up as a result, leading to more involvement by the already active community. Growing investment from companies like Google, which has its regional headquarters in Kenya’s Nairobi, will lead to similar inventions like cloud computing, which came out of South Africa.
But unlike South Africa, the most developed African country, Kenya is the nation tech onlookers are observing with the greatest expectations. It has promoted the free and open use of telecom, unlike leaders that over-control or underdevelop state resources to the detriment of their useful application. Kenya invests in tech infrastructure so that both companies and citizens can enjoy the Internet as “a basic human right,” the nation’s information minister told Time.
Such is its affinity for technology that “Kenya’s love for IT has earned it the nickname Silicon Savanna,” Perry wrote. Playing on the name of America’s tech hub — Silicon Valley — this moniker shows just how important the region has become as a leader in international innovation.
Read more in detail about the leaders, movers and shakers of Silicon Savanna on Time.com. Does this movement shake up your vision of Africa as impoverished and underdeveloped? Is investing in its burgeoning tech sector something you would consider? Leave your comments below!
Happy Birthday Nelson Mandela! World Celebrates Icon’s 93rd Birthday
By Alexis Garrett Stodghill
Today the world is celebrating the birthday of Nelson Mandela, an icon of freedom who continues to inspire even though he has retired from public life. Now 93, this recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize is being commemorated widely and creatively on his special day.
A rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” has been sung for him by 12 million South African school children. Bikers in South Africa have toured the nation doing good in the name of the man who spent 27 years in prison as a beacon of hope against the tyranny of racial oppression. Fellow human rights leader Desmond Tutu came out of retirement to give an interview in honor of his friend and fellow revolutionary. President Obama sent birthday wishes to the great man. And, in one of the most modern expressions of appreciation, the youth arm of the ANC is encouraging all to change their Facebook profile pictures to reflect Mandela today, to show the leader how much he means to all.
Yes, Mandela’s 93rd birthday is touching the lives of millions, even though his frail condition prevents him from interacting with us. Mandela will be celebrating privately today with family at his home in the village of Qunu. But that doesn’t mean you, too, have to quietly rest.
Nelson Mandela Celebrates his 93rd Birthday!
South Africa’s former president and beloved leader, Nelson Mandela, celebrates his 93rd birthday today.
Throughout South Africa, millions are celebrating the day. This morning more than 12 million students sang a remixed version of “Happy Birthday” to the anti-apartheid advocate before going to class.
Two years ago, the U.N. declared Mandela’s birthday “Nelson Mandela International Day”. It’s a day dedicated to community service and people across the world are volunteering in their communities for 67 minutes- one minute for every year Mandela spent in public service.
On Sunday, President Obama called Mandela “a beacon for the global community, and for all who work for democracy, justice and reconciliation.”
Mandela is spending the day with his family in Qunu, his home village.
South African Journalists and Politicians Clash
(Wall Street Journal) — A rift has opened between South Africa’s ruling political party and the nation’s newspapers, stoking a debate over the durability of democratic freedoms in the continent’s largest economy. South African journalists are alarmed by recent government proposals they say reflect a growing bid to crack down on the press, including a bill that could jail journalists for disclosing what officials deem state secrets. Media members, as well as civil-rights, business and labor groups, have voiced concerns, with some citing a broader increase in hostility among some ruling-party members and police against those who portray officials in an unflattering light. The government says it is trying to curb sensationalistic coverage that in its eyes conveys an impression of a state under siege. “When the government has an outbreak of acne, the media call it leprosy,” South Africa’s government spokesman Jimmy Manyi said in an interview. “They blow everything out of proportion.” Tensions over the media are part of a searching national debate over the political course of a key African democracy, which held its first multiracial elections in 1994 and enshrines media freedom in its Nelson Mandela-era constitution.
South Africa Gives First Lady Royal Treatment
(New York Times) — Graça Machel, the wife of South Africa’s first black president, Nelson Mandela, took the pulpit of the Regina Mundi church here on Wednesday to introduce Michelle Obama, the wife of America’s first black president. “We welcome you as a daughter of African heritage, and we can call you the queen of our world,” said Ms. Machel, an advocate for women and children, noting that Regina Mundi means queen of the world in Latin. The prickly ambivalence that South Africans often show toward the United States, which is often perceived here as an overbearing superpower, seems to have been suspended for Mrs. Obama. South Africans have embraced her with stirring emotion since she arrived on Monday, and she has been hugging them back, one by one, stop after stop. Both the choreography of her appearances, and the nationally broadcast speech she gave here on Wednesday, have evoked the commonalities between the freedom struggles of black people in South Africa and the United States — an approach that has resonated with South Africans.
Read More…
First Lady and Family Arrive in Africa
(BBC News) — US First Lady Michelle Obama has received a warm welcome in South Africa at the start of a two-nation tour. She is travelling with her mother, two daughters and nephews on a trip to champion the importance of youth leadership across Africa. Mrs Obama is expected to visit Soweto and Robben Island where ex-President Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of his 27 years in jail. She is also due to meet current leader Jacob Zuma before going to Botswana.
