African Independent Magazine - Dec 2017/Jan 2018 - Issue 01

R 35.00

www.africanindy.com

ISSUE 01 DEC/JAN 2017/8

CEO of Sagarmatha Technologies:

Paul

Lamontagne

The new tech platform on the block

The rise of insuretech Backed by the traditional players

African art innovation Baba Tjeko’s Litema

Mobile money transforms Africa

AL GLOB ers

cha mb AND

ERS PARTN

7

2017

top tier firm

top tier firm

top tier firm

g Managintual Intellec y Propert TM

team of the year

top tier firm

top tier firm

ESS USIN AL IA B IND JOURN W L A 2017

IGN FORE TOP W FIRMS LA

top foreign law firm

elite law firm

A FRL IC FUNDS A GLOBA Awards 2016

client service

recommended firm

Africa’s largest law firm ENSafrica.com

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CONTENTS 18

Rise of Insuretech

22

E-Learning in East Africa

24 Sagarmath Enters Africa

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34 Mobile Banking Revolution 38

WEF 2018 Special

42 Africa Is Rising 50 Airbnb Is Here To Stay 54 Remembering Slavery in SA

06 Editor-in-Chief’s Note 08 Editor’s Note Travel Trending

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African Art Innovation

66

From Goals to Polls

72

Nedbank Golf Challenge

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No article or any part of any article may be reproduced without the prior written consent of the publisher. The information provided and opinions expressed in this publication are provided in good faith, but do not necessarily represent the opinions of African Independent magazine, ANA Publishing or the editor. Neither this magazine nor the publisher can be held legally liable in any way for damages of any kind whatsoever arising directly or indirectly from any facts or information provided or omitted in these pages, or from any statements made or withheld by this publication.

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Do You, Africa

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REGULARS 10

58

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COLUMNS 12

Zimbabwe Conundrum.

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The ICC and Pan-Africanism

African News Agency Publishing ANA CEO Grant Fredericks grant.fredericks@africannewsagency.com Editor in Chief Evans Manyonga evans.manyonga@anapublishing.com Editor Saarah Survé saarah.surve@anapublishing.com Head of Design Tariq Cassim tariq.cassim@anapublishing.com Chief Sub-Editor Walter Hayward Group Head of Sales Kyle Villet Sales Manager Mandla Mangena Office Manager Susan Ball susan.ball@anapublishing.com Artists Cover image: Tariq Cassim Images: Shutterstock Financial Manager Lisa-Marie de Villiers CA (SA)

CONTRIBUTORS Andile Masuku Andile Masuku is a Zimbabwean broadcaster and entrepreneur based in Johannesburg, South Africa. As the executive producer of AfricanTechRoundup.com, most of Andile’s time is spent covering Africa’s emerging tech ecosystem and overseeing a portfolio of popular media brands in that space.

Wallace Chuma Associate Professor of Media Studies in the Centre for Film and Media Studies, University of Cape Town. He is a former journalist and editor in Zimbabwe (Daily News and Zimbabwe Mirror), and worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in the US as an Alfred Friendly Press Fellow.

Nadia Kamies Kamies is an occupational therapist and graduate of UCT’s Creative Writing Masters Programme. She is a doctoral candidate at the University of Pretoria. Her research interests are identity, representation and memory.

Walter Hayward Hailing from Limpopo, Walter studied Linguistics and Journalism at Stellenbosch University. He started his editing career at Independent Media, editing for major newspapers across South Africa. Walter has a passion for correct grammar and spelling, and enjoys writing about the simple things in life.

Jens Ischebeck Ischebeck is situated in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He was inspired by the lack of overview about the African edtech (e-learning, m-learning and online courses) market.

Ischebeck has dedicated his edtech endeavour to African students and lecturers to encourage them to invest in their futures.

Mekonnen Firew Ayano Ayano is an Ethiopian jurist and a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard University Centre for African Studies, where he studies law and development with a focus on land and agricultural policies in Sub-Saharan Africa. He is a visiting fellow at the Wits Institute of Social and Economic Research (WiSER). He writes in his personal capacity.

Printer RSA Litho Distribution MDA Distribution Subscriptions susan.ball@anapublishing.com Published by ANA Publishing

Physical address 176 Main Road, Claremont, 7708, Cape Town Postal address PO Box 23692, Claremont, 7735 Telephone +27 (0) 21 683 0005 Websites www.africanindy.com, www.anapublishing.com

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Energy Bara Bara is a veteran Zimbabwean journalist. He has over two decades of experience in journalism and has worked for the Zimbabwean mainstream media as well as for international organisations like the BBC and Voice of America, as a correspondent in southern Zimbabwe.

Sonwabo Macingwana Macingwana is a creative writer, documentarist and tech enthusiast. He enrolled himself in Journalism, Film and Television Studies to pursue his passion to write about and tell local and authentic African stories.

Gavin Emmanuel Emmanuel has been in the media industry since 2003. He started out as a junior reporter for a Botswana based radio station Gabz FM, he then joined another radio station in Botswana Yarona FM as a news reporter, radio presenter and producer.

Siphosethu Nini She holds a National Diploma in Journalism from Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). Growing up in Cape Town’s Nyanga, she was exposed to social issues that later became a driving force for her to study journalism.

E D I T O R

I N

C H I E F

Africa is the future G

enocide, xenophobia, tribalism, rape, pandemic, religious conflict, murder, abduction, rigged elections, starvation, malnutrition, racism, robbery, the list goes on. These are some of the blaring headlines that jump at us from print and digital pages on a daily basis (and at times, on an hourly basis).

Perhaps the key questions are; do we have all these issues in Africa and Africa alone? Are these issues present in any other society? Are these stories an accurate representation of what is happening on the ground in Africa as a whole? Lastly, are these headlines a true and fair reflection of what the continent is? I will let you reflect.

The African continent has gone through various phases of development, and the advent of globalisation has ensured a faster rate of progress for most African countries. YES - it’s not perfect, NO - we are not all dying in Africa, YES – we have major challenges, NO - it’s not because we generally enjoy chaos and live in perennial poverty, YES – the past affects the present but we are changing the narrative, YES – Africa is rising!

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African Independent magazine is the latest offering from ANA publishing. The magazine is a pioneering resource content publication that seeks to change the narrative of the African continent by presenting the true and deeper stories driving the African sphere.

Peace, growth, equality, progress and sustainability are our key ethos. We aim to showcase the true stories on the African continent within the ambit of diversity, while juxtaposing the true essence of African leadership and global trends.

Africa is rising and African Independent magazine will serve as a pan-African solidarity platform with a highly progressive slant and tone that will not shy away from the hard facts that affect the African landscape within the socio-economic context.

Nothing gives me more pleasure than presenting the first issue of this diverse and game changing publication. I hope you will enjoy this first issue and the next ones that will be presented to you in 2018. Read, be entertained, critique, but above all, take something new from this issue.

Evans Manyonga evans.manyonga@anapublishing.com

E D I T O R ’ S

N O T E

Africa’s time is now

I

write this editorial for the first issue of the African Independent magazine from Boston, Massachusetts, reminded once again how small the world is. As technology becomes accessible to more and more people on our continent, our global community is likely to shrink even more.

The African Independent has a strong emphasis on business, innovation, productivity and investment in Africa. We are seeking to change the narrative of the African continent by producing positive and progressive stories, while not shying away from the hard facts.

We strive for fair and balanced stories that dig deeper into the African socioeconomic landscape, with a fine balance within the continent’s political context.

Our launch issue celebrates innovation in Africa, and our cover story shines the spotlight on Paul Lamontagne, CEO of Sagarmatha Technologies (page 24).

Lamontagne is embarking on an exciting venture to make his company the leading digital technology platform in Africa.

This feature is in line with our vision that our covers will always celebrate success and progress on the continent.

This issue also focuses on digital disruption, and we take a look at the rise of Insuretech, Africa’s promising mobility revolution, and e-learning in East Africa.

As American writer James Baldwin said, “History is not the past. It is the present. We carry our history with us. We are our history.” With this in mind, and as we approach the December 1 anniversary of the emancipation of slaves in South Africa, we remember the heritage of slavery in our country.

If you’re interested in Africa’s flourishing art scene, be sure to turn to page 62, for Baba Tjeko’s Basotho-inspired Litema art.

The Africa rising movement guides our narrative and ethos. This premise focuses on peace, growth, progress, equality and sustainability. Essentially, Africa rising is about increasing solidarity on the African continent and showcasing it to the global arena.

Saarah Survé saarah.surve@anapublishing.com

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T R A V E L

Travel Trending Our favourite travel destinations right now N AT U R E Okonjima Nature Reserve

Situated halfway between Namibia’s vibrant capital city Windhoek and the famous Etosha National Park, the private Okonjima Nature Reserve is nestled amongst the magnificent Omboroko Mountains. Featuring excellent, and authentic, accommodation in Namibia, the definite highlight is the big cat safaris.

There are countless opportunities to interact with these spectacular carnivores in their natural environment within the huge nature reserve,

as well as to witness the vital conservation work undertaken by the AfriCat Foundation, which researches and rehabilitates cheetahs, wild dogs, and hyenas.

Okonjima offers a wide selection of accommodation, ranging from well-equipped private camp sites to stunning safari lodges. The luxurious Villa and Bush Suite offer an unmatched luxury safari experience, pampering guests with their own private chef, guide, and safari vehicle.

For more information visit okonjima.com or contact +264 67 314 000

LEISURE

Sun City Resort

The Sun City Resort is situated just 4km from the southern entrance of Pilanesberg National Park and features African aesthetics, the kind fantasies are made of.

The resort offers a choice of accommodation that are set in different locations, and include views of the resort. All rooms have work desks, as well as free Wi-Fi and personal flat-screen

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TVs. They also come with tea and coffee making equipment, and your own minibar.

Free breakfast is served in the poolside restaurant.

Other restaurants at the resort offer Asian, Indian and South African cuisine, so you’ll never be left wanting. There’s a café, a swanky cocktail bar, as well as a poolside bar. Activities

include two impressive water parks, tennis, squash and a world-class golf estate. Sun City is also well-known for its opulent casino, shops and a spa.

For more information visit suninternational.com/sun-city or contact +27 14 557 1000

T R A V E L

“ Cheetah’s can make

distinct facial expressions to signal their mood.ˮ

LUXU RY Maia Luxury Resort & Spa

This super luxurious resort on the island of Mahé is set on a rocky peninsula between two bays, 8km from the Seychelles Golf Club and 17km from the lush Seychelles National Botanical Gardens.

The thatched-roof villas with island-chic interiors feature gorgeous ocean views, infinity pools, out-door baths, gazebos with en suite dining, and butler service. Upgraded villas include private butlers, and some have private beach access.

Meals and drinks are included, and are served in your villa or in the resort’s restaurant and bar. There’s a spa and a fitness centre for your personal take on relaxation.

A selection of water sports are also included.

For more information visit tsogosun.com/maia or contact +248 4 390 000

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P O L I T I C S

SADC, AU and the Zimbabwe Conundrum It is still too early to say whether the recent dramatic events in Zimbabwe – which saw President Robert Mugabe’s thirty-seven year rule collapse spectacularly in just seven days – represent a break with the past or a mere exercise in elite transition

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or regional and continental bodies, however, these recent events may represent a new set of existential headaches, which the Southern African country of 16 million has given the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and even the UN for nearly two decades now.

“Operation Restore Legacy” was the official military designation of the “bloodless” coup (names abound on social media, from “coup lite” to “baby coup” to “almost coup” and so on) which, executed with precision, sealed off Harare and Mugabe for a few days, and led to the arrest of government and Zanu PF party

officials the military referred to as “criminals” around President Mugabe.

The siege ended – officially at least – with Mugabe’s resignation and the inauguration of Emmerson Mnangagwa as President a few days later. The new president promised on the one hand to build on the “legacy” of his predecessor, and on the other, to address economic, human rights and geopolitical challenges that had become synonymous with Mugabe’s authoritarian rule, especially in his last few years in power. No doubt a Herculean task.

Zimbabweans both at home and in the diaspora went into the streets to celebrate what seemed like a return to the heady days of independence in the 1980s. They also ascended

(or is it the opposite) into cyberspace, populating social media platforms with platitudes to the military and to the “Crocodile”, as the incoming president is often referred to by his fans and foes alike; shared memes mocking the just-deposed leader and his infamous wife, and asserted their right to chart a new path for the country.

Analysts and the “commentariat” brigade are split on the meaning of all this: some see an opportunity – a rare one at that – for the country to reboot and start afresh, while for others this represents a mere change of guard in the same authoritarian politico-military complex, where civil liberties, human rights and democracy remain curtailed in reality. Either way, time will tell.

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Z I M B A B W E

A coup by another name?

For both SADC and the AU, the events in Zimbabwe represent a conundrum. To start with, consider the nomenclature. Was this a coup or not? Military tanks rolling into the streets, the president placed under house arrest, the military seizing the state broadcaster and announcing they’ve taken over briefly to “clean” the system (whilst pledging loyalty to the now besieged president) by arresting “criminals” around the centre for power. All this has the hallmarks of an unconstitutional seizure of state power, aka coup!

SADC, through its current President Jacob Zuma, chose its words carefully. The regional body expressed concern over the “unfolding political situation in Zimbabwe”. No ‘C’ word here. The African Union’s current Chair, President Alpha Conde of Guinea, was a bit more explicit: the events in Zimbabwe “seem(ed) like a coup”, read the AU’s initial press statement.

It must have come as a relief to both bodies,

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“The accusations against both SADC and the AU as being ‘boys clubs’ that protect elite political interests at the expense of the suffering ordinary Africans are not new.”

when Mugabe offered to resign and within days a bloodless transition ensued.

Both bodies welcomed the resignation, showering praise on Mugabe for handing over in what they both referred to as a peaceful transition. This is interesting in the sense that there was more emphasis on the “peaceful” outcome of the “political situation”, than the constitutionality or otherwise of the process that led to this.

While this “peaceful” transfer of power may have saved both SADC and the AU from having to face the difficult tasks of dealing with the reality of a coup, how the “transition” in Zimbabwe shapes out going into the future may come to haunt both bodies.

Firstly, given that the military have had a taste – for the first time in the country’s history – of what it means to turn the “gun-follows-politics”

Z I M B A B W E

mantra on its head, there is nothing to stop them from repeating that sooner or later should elections deliver a political outcome that does not serve their interests.

Given that President Mnangagwa has announced that the country goes to the polls next year, it is conceivable that, should the Zanu PF candidate lose the presidential election to the opposition, the army may find the temptation to stray from the barracks too good to ignore. After all, the same army generals announced they would not salute a leader with no liberation war credentials in the run up to the 2002 election.

In the event of the army rolling back into the streets following the next election (or elections), both SADC and the AU will still have to address

the problem they conveniently shelved now. Add this to the important issue of united citizens’ right to claim the streets and demand the leadership they want.

A few days into the coup, citizens of all hue, gender and age filled the streets of Zimbabwe’s major capitals (with the support of the army) and demanded Mugabe’s resignation. The spectacle was nothing short of a united people’s reclamation of power from an unaccountable leadership. If we assume that the genie is already out, what would happen if the army refuses to accept a future elected president,

but the people come out in their numbers to defy the army?

Old boys club?

When SADC announced it was sending a delegation to Zimbabwe to address the crisis, there were cries of derision by some Zimbabwean citizens on social media, imploring SADC to stay away.

This is because within the opposition and civil society circles, SADC is viewed as having consistently sided with the Mugabe government for the

“It must have come as a relief to both bodies, when Mugabe offered to resign and within days a bloodless transition ensued.”

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Z I M B A B W E

duration of his rule, while paying lip service to the human rights violations and electoral malpractices that characterised his regime. Former South African President Thabo Mbeki’s “quiet diplomacy” on Zimbabwe is often criticised as having been one-sided, in support of Mugabe.

The accusations against both SADC and the AU as being “boys clubs” that protect elite political interests at the expense of the suffering ordinary Africans are not new. But they should also be read in context. Both bodies were founded in the crucible of anti-colonial struggles, where solidarity was key when facing the common enemy, i.e. colonialism and Apartheid. With the defeat of both, the regional and continental bodies had to transform themselves into trade, peace and security bodies, while liberation parties that had effectively constituted these bodies assumed state power.

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In several instances, the new mandates flew into the faces of the old ones: in many instances the solidarities, comradeships, sinews that were born in the crucibles of the struggles trumped over the new imperatives of calling fellow leaders to order in instances where they violated human rights.

Is there a way forward?

The Zimbabwean case is not the only potential headache for SADC and the AU. The situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where incumbent President Joseph Kabila has inexplicably postponed the elections by at least another year, amid soaring unpopularity with the citizens, continues to cry for urgent and effective regional and continental interventions beyond the usual “special envoy” deployments.

That both the AU and SADC have achieved success in peaceful conflict resolution, trade,

and integration in a few instances is not in doubt.

Neither is their importance as critical African institutions leading the way in the continent’s quest for peace, economic development and a voice in the global geopolitical matrix. But both bodies need to do more to gain credibility from ordinary Africans.

There needs to be effective, consistent, and principle-driven systems of sanction or other corrective measures for flouting the democratic rules that all member countries have signed up to, but sometimes ignore with impunity. Without this, both SADC and the AU risk being confined to the side lines of the citizens’ daily struggles, and in the process becoming redundant elite talking shops. ♦

By Wallace Chuma, Associate Professor of Media Studies, University of Cape Town.

Z I M B A B W E

“For both SADC and the AU, the events in Zimbabwe represent a conundrum.

To start with, consider the nomenclature.

Was this a coup or not?”

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T E C H N O L O G Y

The Rise of Traditional insurance players appear eager to back the industry’s new kid on the block WRITER: Andile Masuku

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uring a podcast interview taped in July 2016, Frank Schutte said that his insuretech start-up aimed to transform South Africa’s micro-insurance industry.

Previously the managing director of retail product and marketing at Liberty, one of South Africa’s largest life insurers, Schutte left his cushy corporate gig earlier last year to start a business called MobiLife – “Africa’s first 100% mobile insurance offering”.

Nearly a year and a half later, Schutte remains tight-lipped about his business numbers, stating that things are “going very well”. He is, however, as bullish as ever on the notion that technological innovation will catalyse the creation of new distribution models and connect financial services to lower-income consumers, who are either currently inadequately serviced by the established industry or not being catered for at all.

He also believes that the upward trend in mobile adoption is going to continue and that it will significantly influence the kind of technological solutions that emerge within the insurance industry – both in terms of leveraging direct engagement with consumers via mobile devices, and in terms of coupling face-to-face distribution with mobile solutions.

Relative to newer insuretech entrants such as the founders of Pineapple (formerly known as Amyti), Click2Sure, IndieFin and Naked Insurance, Schutte has the benefit of being – in relative terms – a veteran operator in this nascent fintech sub-genre.

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Unpacking what he now knows for sure about what it takes to win at the insuretech game, Schutte says that as long as life insurance remains a low priority purchase for most people, it is naive to think that simply building great products and lining a storefront with them will make for a profitable business. He has learnt that distribution is key to scaling for success, and that engaging with legacy distribution channels and getting them to embrace new products, technologies and processes are not for the faint-hearted.

Meanwhile, Naked Insurance recently landed US$1.4 million courtesy of Hollard – South Africa’s largest privately-owned insurance group – and private investment firm, Yellowwood. In the couple of months leading up to this deal going down, a handful of other sizeable insuretech start-up funding announcements have been made by big-name insurance corporations.

Given that backdrop, I asked entrepreneurturned-angel investor and founder of Click2Sure, Daniel Guasco, to factor in on whether success

Frank Schutte MobiLife Founder and CEO

T E C H N O L O G Y

for insuretech ventures is possible without engaging in partnerships with big scale players.

Guasco explained that in order to write an insurance policy, a license is required, and that can be hugely expensive. In his opinion, partnering with a traditional insurer or reinsurer is the only realistic way to get an insurance product to market.

Speaking to the same point, Schutte echoed Guasco’s sentiments, stating that the biggest challenge for any new insurance play is building distribution to achieve scale. Partnering with entrenched financial services players not only gives insuretech start-ups access to venture capital needed to extend their runways, but allows them to leverage trusted brands and exploit the benefits of scaling across an established customer footprint.

Complicating the nimble efforts of start-ups like Click2Sure – a full-stack digital insurance platform offering clients an array of bolt-on insurance products at point of sale – is the fact that even as big brand insurers fund innovative ventures, they continue to cling fiercely to their dominance by tapping seemingly inexhaustible financial resources and enormous customer bases to compete for market share.

While Guasco considers the large incumbents as his biggest competitive threat, he is also wary of start-ups that, while currently in stealth mode, might well be capable of shaking up the whole industry in some unimaginable way when they decide to make themselves known.

Peter Castleden is the CEO of IndieFin – essentially an ambitious internal insuretech experiment wholly-backed by Sanlam, a financial services group boasting an extensive African footprint in more than 30 African countries.

Prior to heading up IndieFin, Castleden served as Sanlam’s head of alternative millennial solutions. His role involved managing a respectable reinsurance portfolio in close collaboration with the world’s big five reinsurers.

His intimate interactions with the reinsurance industry are what inform his preference for running a venture funded by an established insurer as opposed to a reinsurer. Castleden has found that, while reinsurers make for excellent technical partners, they often prove less than ideal as holistic partners. He believes that reinsurers provide solid guidance around fundamentals like technical product design,

“Although technology continues to open up many opportunities within the industry, the fundamentals of the insurance business model do not change.”

Daniel Guasco Founder and CEO Click2Sure claim definitions and pricing, but they are less adept at deciphering consumer needs and making actionable sense of the market in general.

However, Castleden hastened to point out that IndieFin did, in fact, rope in both Munich Re and Gen Re to design and price their product suite.

When pressed to comment on the conspicuous sluggishness of the traditional insurance industry as a whole, Castleden yielded that big corporates simply do not have the right technical infrastructure for rapid deployment and iteration. Apparently this is why IndieFin has opted to design, build and buy their entire

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T E C H N O L O G Y

architecture from scratch while operating independently of Sanlam’s infrastructure.

According to Castleden, this approach has increased his company’s agility— allowing them to rapidly and cost-effectively adopt and deploy technological solutions.

When asked to give a sense of what level of autonomy his start-up is allowed by Sanlam, and what type of support the company enjoys from the insurance giant, Castleden said that to date, IndieFin has taken full advantage of Sanlam’s underwriting, medical, actuarial, legal, compliance and distribution functions to assist in development efforts. He said that Sanlam tries hard not to suffocate them with impossible governance requirements while maintaining a sufficient level of oversight to discourage “rogue” behaviour.

Castleden praised the insurance giant for giving him enough space and trust to test concepts in the real world, and for appreciating the fact that failure is an organic part of the journey to start-up success. He shared that as a result of this approach, IndieFin was able to build

Peter Castleden CEO IndieFin

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and launch a beta version of a fully underwritten life insurance proposition within three months.

To help make sense of the emerging insuretech scene, I asked the founders of MobiLife, Click2Sure and IndieFin to tell me which common buzzwords in their circles are overused. MobiLife’s Schutte reckons that while in theory, the business potential of blockchainenabled innovations, big data crunching and social media-based underwriting is huge, in practice, South African insurers are a long way away from being able to exploit such advances meaningfully. This is due to the quality of data available being relatively poor, as well as internet penetration and digital adoption remaining far below optimum levels.

Click2Sure’s Guasco concurs with Schutte’s views on big data, insisting that it is tempting to make too much of the positive potential of harnessing big data to make unprecedented business gains, because most start-ups in the African context typically do not have access to the right kind and the right volume of data to make significant changes to their models.

T E C H N O L O G Y

Guasco believes that the greatest business opportunities currently lie in slowly but surely creating efficiencies by digitising the customer journey, and that “all the high-tech stuff” will get worked in as and when.

Guasco’s assertion truly hits home when one considers the fact that at the most basic capitalist level, the golden opportunity that insuretech potentially unlocks for the industry is converting previously low-margin and uninsurable prospects into lucrative sources of commercial benefit.

Getting caught up in the hype invariably gets in the way of keeping one’s eye on the prize. After all, like the banking and mobile telco industries, the insurance business isn’t backing innovation for warm and fuzzy reasons. The industry needs to keep up with changing consumer patterns which are shaped by technological advancement. And beyond the heart-warming prospect of advancing widespread financial inclusion, there’s the irresistible allure of banking more and more cold hard cash as technology makes it easier and cheaper to insure Africa’s citizenry.

Perhaps that is partly why Castleden says he constantly reminds his team at IndieFin to focus on understanding how their customers are using their products, so they can find new opportunities to deliver a better client service experience and release new product features in time frames that traditional insurers simply cannot match. He says that at this stage of his start-up’s lifecycle, his priority is building in

“The golden opportunity that insuretech potentially unlocks for the insurance industry is converting previously lowmargin and uninsurable prospects into lucrative sources of commercial benefit.” the discipline and capability to ship updates and new features early and often, because such a culture is nearly impossible to inculcate once a company is operating at scale.

When asked to provide a list of Click2Sure’s business successes to date in terms of sum assured, number of people insured, revenue, profit and other key metrics, Guasco told me that owing to a non-disclosure agreement, all he

was at liberty to confirm is that his company is currently running several live service provider integrations, including one across WeFix’s digital device repair shop franchise locations nationwide.

Likewise, when I asked Castleden a similar question regarding key indicators that might validate IndieFin’s business model, he declined to reveal specifics, saying that the company is still in “build mode” and that sales or volume metrics are not how they are currently choosing to define the company’s success.

The reticence of the founders of MobiLife, Click2Sure and IndieFin to reveal their numbers notwithstanding, all three harbour decidedly lofty business aspirations in terms of growing their businesses beyond South Africa.

When prompted to share his vision for growth, Schutte highlighted the potential applicability of MobiLife’s mobile insurance model in other sub-Saharan African countries and in other developing regions around the world with large populations of low-income consumers.

Guasco too, said that he relishes the prospect of global expansion – citing the fact that Click2Sure’s investors have substantial rest-of-Africa, Asia and South America exposure. Meanwhile, Castleden disclosed that IndieFin is currently poised to run a production pilot in West Africa, which the company plans to follow up with a regional country-by-country roll-out of slightly tweaked solutions – which take into account variations in risk profile, culture, and legislation.

One thing is abundantly clear to me, insuretech is no hack. Castleden neatly summed it up by observing that although technology continues to open up many opportunities within the industry, the fundamentals of the insurance business model do not change. Every successful insurance undertaking, however traditional or novel, must grapple with the cost of acquiring new customers and figure out how to keep clients on the books once they have been landed.

In short, insuretech start-ups which cleverly minimise customer acquisition costs, and master client retention will write their own cheques.

Now, that might sound a little boring, but the glitz and glamour will just have to wait. ♦

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T E C H N O L O G Y

How e-learning can ensure African success Online learning specialist Jens Ischebeck looks at the impact of edtech on East Africa

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oday, new technologies including information communication technology (ICT) and e-learning have become the driving force in the education sector in Kenya. E-learning is important in helping people access education easily. It allows learners to carry out their daily activities and learn at the same time.

In the modern world, lifelong learning is becoming an important concept. In this context, people have to advance their skills to fit into dynamic work places. E-learning allows one to advance their skills without taking long leaves from work.

As the African society continually embraces modern technology, traditional forms of pedagogy in higher-learning institutions are failing to meet societal needs.

The situation of e-learning in East Africa The rise of mobile technology in Africa has become one of the most revolutionary steps in the recent technological growth. Many people are now using smartphones and other handheld devices. Major communication companies like Safaricom and Telkom Kenya are providing a stable connection to the internet.

The Kenyan government has also made a major step in installing fibre optic connections to major cities across the nation. Thus, a fast and stable internet connection has motivated

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many people to embrace e-learning as a new method of learning.E-learning policies at Kenyan universities are in their infant-stage.

The majority of these institutions lack senateapproved e-learning policies to guide the needed structured implementation. Only 32% of the lecturers and 35% of the students use e-learning in Kenya. In addition, the number of online courses offered is approximately 10% of all the courses.

The nature of the material used in this form of learning is not interactive, as it entails uploaded lecture notes.

For instance, 87% of the materials used in online lectures are simply lecturing notes.

In this regard, it becomes apparent that most of the universities in Kenya, and East Africa at large, lack a requisite ICT infrastructure and skills. However, a number of private and public universities have made tremendous steps towards implementing e-learning technology. A few institutions that have used e-learning have proved it to be a successful model, with benefits outweighing the challenges.

Tanzania is a similar case to Kenya. The implementation of e-learning is still low, despite various opportunities provided by the open source technology and supportive environment facilitated by the government.

However, some institutions like Dar Es Salaam University have managed to implement e-learning platforms like WEBCT and

Blackboard. These platforms are e-learning proprietary software. Other universities such as the Open University of Tanzania (OUT) and Mzumbe University have good ICT structures, but the implementation of e-learning is still minimal.

Successful cases of e-learning Can e-learning be a successful learning method in (East) Africa? The answer to this question is yes.

There are some Africans who have gathered enough courage to use e-learning and achieve their higher degrees successfully. These examples are proof that e-learning can be an effective method of learning in East Africa.

E-learning success story #1: Dr Henry Barasa Dr Henry Barasa is a good example of a physics student who used e-learning to complete his master’s degree.

Being a full-time lecturer at Masinde Muliro University in Kakamega town, Barasa did not have enough time to pursue his master’s degree.

He enrolled for a Master’s in Atomic Physics in Dar Es Salaam University in Tanzania.

Through WEBCT, Barasa could access all the required learning materials and communicate with lecturers and other students. He also accessed all exams through the online platform.

What’s inspiring is that he never took an education leave, but managed to balance the

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two. For the case of experiments, he carried them out from Kenya and sent results online.

The case of Dr Henry Barasa shows the effectiveness of e-learning.

Kenyans can embrace this new method of learning and acquire their degrees as they continue with their work. Even in the case of higher degrees, it is possible to attain them through e-learning.

E-learning success story #2: Kelvin Omondi Kelvin Omondi is another example of effective e-learning. Having been brought up in the Mathare slums, his parents did not have the ability to take him to a good high school.

Through a Nairobi-based organisation, he got a chance to attend a national high school and pass well in his studies.

He lacked the financial capacity to complete his Bachelor of Commerce degree at Kenyatta University. However, the university had

established an online learning programme, which was cheaper. Omondi opted for this option. The university provided him with an iPhone, which he used to access his learning material. The study programme provided him with an option to work and learn. He managed to raise his university fee and graduated with a second upper-class degree.

From this example, other Africans can learn that e-learning is an effective method of learning that the underprivileged can use to access quality education.

Most Africans have poverty-stricken backgrounds; hence, their inability to access higher education. However, e-learning is an effective method, as it is cheaper, because it only requires tuition-fees. Learners can raise the amount through part-time and full-time jobs.

E-learning success story #3: Rashid Muhamud

Rashid Muhamud is another example of a learner who completed his diploma through an e-learning programme. He comes from Mwanza town in Tanzania.

Just like Omondi, he had inadequate resources to access higher education. He managed to raise some money from odd jobs, which he used to purchase a smartphone.

He later enrolled in an e-learning diploma programme with Dar Es Salaam University.

Despite the fact that he was a hawker, he managed to raise money for his tuition fee.

Who would have thought that a hawker would be able to finance his university education?

It seems an impossible case, but e-learning has made it possible for Muhamud.

Currently, he owns a private company that employs over fifteen youths.

This example shows that e-learning is the most effective method that can promote access to effective learning even to the poor.

It is a cheap way of learning that Africans can embrace to transform their lives. In this regard, it is evident that this new form of learning has helped some Africans to overcome learning challenges.

M-learning is one of the relatively new applications, which uses the new internet and mobile phone-based technologies to improve access to some basic needs or skills; such as medical education, app-based language learning or cheap online money transfers.

Since distance education plays such an important role in the further development of the African education systems, more and more regional African edtech providers offer locally adapted products, such as online courses or tutoring. Many of these African start-ups are presented on apps-for-learning. com (Ischebeck’s website). ♌ WWW.AFRICANINDY.COM | 23

“I think Africa is at a tipping point right now more than ever. I’m an Afro-optimist!”

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F E A T U R E

Motivated by purpose “

I

’m purpose-driven. I moved to Africa because I wanted to change the world and I felt it was the right place to make an impact,” says Paul Lamontagne, CEO of Sagarmatha Technologies.

Lamontagne is no stranger to the African continent. A posting initially pencilled in for two years, ultimately led to him moving his family to South Africa and today, over a decade later, he has no plans to leave.

In 2003, Lamontagne started working on the Enablis Entrepreneurial Network, a Canadian non-profit organisation founded by Quebec entrepreneur Charles Sirois, and Accenture, with the support of the Canadian government.

He is chairman of the organisation, which aims to support SME entrepreneurs who create jobs in developing and emerging countries, leading to sustainable economic growth.

Initially, Lamontagne travelled back and forth between Canada and South Africa every two months, until he moved to South Africa.

Enablis launched in South Africa in 2004 and has since supported over 2 400 entrepreneurs. The organisation also operates in West Africa (Ghana and Senegal) and in Latin America (Argentina).

Lamontagne is currently the executive investment partner at Capafrica, a Canadian private equity fund with interests in renewable

A tech platform that will change Africa and the world energy, infrastructure, agriculture and telecommunications.

His new company, Sagarmatha Technologies, strives to be the leading digital technology platform group in Africa. “We are active in ecommerce, branded digital media, syndicatedcontent distribution and technology ventures, with proprietary data-driven technologies,” he explains.

“I’m still purpose-driven today and believe the opportunity to lead Sagarmatha will allow me to leave a sustainable legacy around technology and improve economic development in Africa.”

Delving deeper into his background and the new company, African Independent sat down with the accomplished CEO. Can you give us a brief background of your academic career?

McGill University in Montreal (BA). Both my parents also attended McGill. Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (MBA), in France.

You have been active in Africa for a long time.

What was the biggest motivating factor?

My first trip to Africa was as a tourist in 1989 to Botswana. It was an incredible experience.

I couldn’t believe how beautiful the African landscape was.

My first business trip was to Cape Town in 2000 for a G7 DOTFORCE (Digital Opportunity Task Force) meeting on bringing greater capacity and venture capital to technology ventures in Africa in order to improve development. The beauty of Cape Town left an indelible mark.

In 2003, I started working on the Enablis Entrepreneurial Network model by travelling back and forth from Canada to South Africa every two months, then moved with my family to Cape Town for two years in 2005.

Though, as you can see, I’m still here after leading Enablis Financial Corporation, serving as Head of Africa and Middle East in the Global Banks division at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and as Executive Investment Partner at Capafrica, a Canadian private equity fund investing in renewable energy, telecommunications and agriculture in Africa.

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In a nutshell, how would you describe Sagarmatha Technologies?

We strive to be the leading digital technology platform company in Africa. A platform is a foundation, underpinned by technology upon which we can develop new business models that are scalable and that we aim to monetise.

What are your thoughts on Africa as an investment destination?

It’s the modern day gold rush!

We’ve heard the Africa rising story for the past 10+ years and in many ways the continent has underperformed, yet I’m very bullish. I think Africa is at a tipping point right now more than ever. I’m an Afro-optimist!

Why choose Africa, specifically? What was the key motivating factor?

The numbers can shed better insight into my reasoning: Africa is already the second most populous continent at over 1 billion people and is forecast to become the most populous at 2 billion by 2050, Africa’s GDP is expected to double to approximately $5 trillion by 2030, Africa is

and the risks. Not everyone is prepared or capable of doing that!

We believe Sagarmatha can play an important role in improving global investor confidence in the African story and enable international companies to conduct business more easily on the continent.

“I’m still purpose-driven today and believe the opportunity to lead Sagarmatha will allow me to leave a sustainable legacy around technology and improve economic development in Africa.” projected to have the largest working age (18-35) population in the world at 1.1 billion by 2035.

However, doing business in Africa is not for the faint-hearted. You need determination and a keen understanding of the environment (political, social, business). It is 54 different stories, so you can’t look at Africa as a single market, but rather as a diverse one, with many opportunities, and where some markets are more mature than others.

We’re an African company, with an Africa strategy, so we understand both the opportunities

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What makes you certain that Africa will be a key centre of the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

Africa might have missed the second industrial revolution at the turn of the last century, brought about by mechanisation. It didn’t benefit enough from the third industrial revolution started in the 1960s and brought about by computing, but I believe that Africa is primed to take advantage of the Fourth Industrial Revolution brought about by digitisation for four reasons:

• In recent years, there has been massive investment in African infrastructure and energy, though much more still needs to be done, • Africans are in some ways more tech savvy than anyone else, with 900 million active mobile phones and the huge growth of mobile banking platforms, such as MPesa, • This is a millennial continent today, with less than 2% of the economy currently digitised.

This is forecast to grow to 20% by 2025, • Conventional business models have changed with disruption. Thanks to technology, entrepreneurs can dream of ways to revolutionise industries such as the hospitality industry (Airbnb) and the transportation industry (Uber), so those dreams are possible here as well.

When you look at Africa, it is the millennial continent, it’s where young people are and we know it’s much easier for them to take up and adopt, and leverage technology.

It always astounds me as someone in their 50s to look at children today who take their parents’ phone at three or five years of age and they’re able to unlock and work their way into it.

The approach you are taking seems quite multifaceted, can you explain why you have decided to take a more diverse approach as opposed to specialising on one key avenue/ venture/approach?

We have a bold vision and we don’t think the one-trick pony approach works for us. We see

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lots of opportunities in Africa and as a platform company, we intend to leverage them across all our businesses. In many cases, the same technology can underpin multiple market opportunities.

They say data is the new oil, you need to store it, mine it, curate it and monetise it. It’s an important focus of investment for us and we expect that our efforts in artificial intelligence (AI) will have a ripple effect across all our platforms.

In fact, we intend on launching a business plan competition to identify the best technology ideas in AI ready for commercialisation. We want to invest in these businesses and then scale in Africa and globally.

Who will you be partnering with in this global venture in order to deliver adequately, any key African players?

We believe in partnerships to reach our ambitions, so we favour a collaborative approach. We already have strong partnerships in South Africa and will look to build more technology and media partnerships as we grow our footprint into the continent.

The recent announcement of our International Advisory Board shows how important networks are to us. We plan on engaging with and leveraging the global networks of this group of pre-eminent business people and investors to achieve our ambitions of taking Africa to the world and bringing the world to Africa.

We recently announced that we intend to invest over R1 billion in African News Agency (ANA), one of our group companies over the next five years. As ANA expands into Africa, we hope that this will enable our group and partner companies to benefit from the strategic media and technology partnerships already established, as well as those to be established.

It’s premature to talk specific new partnerships at this point, but we expect to grow organically and through acquisitions, so partnerships in areas such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Fintech, Edutech, Healthtech, etc. will be considered.

F E A T U R E

Why does Africa need a company like Sagarmatha Technologies?

As a continent, Africa needs to embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution as an agent of change. We believe Sagarmatha can provide the spark of disruption and promote this quiet revolution around technology and greater opportunity.

We want to be a technology company that is for Africa by Africans. That’s our Africa First ethos. We have local perspective, which we believe is different from many international technology companies operating in hundreds of geographies around the world.

Our headquarters is in Africa and we’ll be investing in the continent. While some international companies come and go, Sagarmatha is home-grown and here to stay!

“We’re an African company, with an Africa strategy, so we understand both the opportunities and the risks.

Not everyone is prepared or capable of doing that!”

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What separates Sagarmatha Technologies from the rest?

Clear vision, talent, existing technology platforms, entrepreneurial spirit, collaborative approach, first to market and a strong determination to succeed. I learnt from famous Mount Everest climber Sibusiso Vilane that having a common objective helps drive determination. Similar to Sibusiso and his team’s determination to summit Everest in 2003, the Sagarmatha team is determined to achieve our objective of being the leading technology platform company in Africa.

The train has already left the station and we’re starting with a solid foundation of assets.

Companies in the Sagarmatha group that are active in syndicated content distribution, ecommerce and branded digital media have already built strong platforms that can be both scaled and leveraged.

Our clear focus on the African opportunity, which we believe has significant potential, is what distinguishes us.

Can you tell us more about the company’s name?

Sagarmatha is the word the Nepalese people use to refer to Mt. Everest. The highest peak in the world at 8 800 meters. Summited by only a few thousand climbers in 65 years.

Our motto at Sagarmatha is to scale new heights, conquer the summit and touch the sky.

We have our eye on the prize and will maintain the determination to achieve it. Failure is simply not an option!

We recently hosted Sibusiso Vilane at our headquarters, the first black African to summit Mt. Everest in 2003 and then again in 2005.

Sibusiso inspires us at Sagarmatha.

How will you help Africa’s young working population?

Africa needs jobs and we believe these jobs are most likely to come from SMEs, so we need to empower the SME sector with the technological tools to be successful and grow.

We also need to inspire a new generation of digital entrepreneurs to start new businesses.

Of course, a lot still needs to be done around graduating more engineers and training more computer programmers in Africa. Sagarmatha will encourage university bursaries & scholarships in engineering, as well as the training of thousands of new computer programmers in universities &

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technical colleges. Sagarmatha, which aims to become a leading investor in the African technology space, will look to attract much needed international investors and donors.

Finally, we’re getting ready for Generation Z, the first true digital generation, and there is forecast to be a growth of the post-Millennial generation workforce in Africa, competing with the rest of the world. It’s a huge opportunity for us.

You have ambitions to open offices in three other regions on the continent over the next 12 to 20 months. How will you achieve this?

We plan on opening new regional offices in East, West and North Africa over the next 12-18 months. I’m as excited about our expansion into Africa as I was when I embarked in my previous role as CEO of Enablis on a similar expansion, where we opened offices in Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda and Ghana.

Beginning 2018, I plan on touring all these regions and visiting 12 African cities, where we will meet with governments and decision makers, universities and technical colleges, venture capitalists and angel investors, NGO’s, incubators and accelerators, technology companies and, most importantly, digital entrepreneurs.

We intend to design our offices as collaborative work spaces where Sagarmatha group companies can pursue their growth plans, strengthen their

respective platforms and tap-into local & regional tech communities.

In addition, we plan to give our partners access to Sagarmatha’s infrastructure and resources to achieve their own ambitions. Let me be clear, we’re not running an Amazonlike HQ2 process as they are doing in North America, with a reported 100 plus cities having bid to host this Amazon campus and reap the economic impact.

However, our choices will be informed by governments’ digital strategies, the existence of a tech eco-system, proximity to higher learning institutions, a local investor scene and of course, a vibrant start-up community and lots of digital entrepreneurs. This all aligns with our vision for Silicon Africa.

What does the term ‘Silicon Africa’ mean?

It’s coined after Silicon Valley in California, which is the Bay Area across the bridge from San Francisco. It’s where the microprocessor was developed (the computer chip) and is home to many of the world’s tech giants; Apple, Intel, Netflix and new disruptors such as Airbnb and Uber.

I believe that there are four key reasons that Silicon Valley works: universities with strong technical programs, like Stanford University; a culture of research and development stemming from the 1940s; a vibrant venture capital industry of risk-taking investors; and a large pool of entrepreneurs supported by

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the tech industry and inspired by so many successes. They work together as part of one, close eco-system!

Our vision for Silicon Africa is to replicate those critical pre-conditions by: • Building a common vision with governments and political leaders, NGO’s, tech companies in Africa, incubators and accelerators, the media and entrepreneurs, • Encouraging more scholarships and bursaries in higher learning institutions across Africa, particularly in engineering, and training of thousands of new young computer programmers in Africa, • Continuing to promote digital literacy to ensure that the technological Fourth Industrial Revolution does not lead to greater inequality, but rather to greater prosperity, • Providing critical venture capital to take ideas to the commercialisation phase.

In the near future, we plan on launching a business plan competition in Africa to identify the best companies and entrepreneurs working in the field of AI, a leading area of technology.

We’re looking for the hidden-gems and to put the spotlight on Africa’s AI stars!

How will Sagarmatha become a dominant market player?

I like to think of Sagarmatha as an agent of disruption, ready to look at new business models and take advantage of opportunities to leverage our technology platforms, many of which are proprietary. If we embrace disruption and are constantly prepared to re-invent ourselves through new business models, we think we will have a better chance at being a dominant market player.

We seek to be a role model for emerging tech companies in Africa by showing leadership in this regard.

As an example, in content syndication, ANA is the leading local market player in Africa. It has carved out a niche for itself by providing its subscribers with a comprehensive source of African news and has a clear strategy for the continent to build more media partnerships and make its product offering available around the world. Our brands in ecommerce and digital media are well-known in South Africa, and we believe there is lots of room for them to grow and scale across the continent. Online shopping numbers in Africa are still below 2%, while they are above 10% in countries like the UK, US and China, and I believe there will be a significant uptick on the continent in the future. ♦ WRITERS: Evans Manyonga & Saarah Survé

FAST FACTS: PAUL LAMONTAGNE FAVOURITE QUOTE:

“One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

– Neil Armstrong (1969)

FAVOURITE BOOK:

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (I just read it)

FAVOURITE DESTINATION:

Paris (We lived there for 5 years)

FAVOURITE CITY : Cape Town

FAVOURITE TECH GADGET: Fitbit

IDEAL DAY:

Time with our three children, who we only see twice a year as they live in Canada and the US

HOW DO YOU UNWIND AND RELAX? I walk on the beach with my wife Mary and our dog Phumli.

BIGGEST INSPIRATION : Nelson Mandela

BEST MOMENT IN YOUR LIFE:

My wedding, where I married Mary, the love of my life 31 years ago.

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H E A L T H

Fast Company Promotion

Philip Morris bets big on a smoke-free future Philip Morris International (PMI), a leading tobacco company, is aiming for a better tomorrow with an innovative approach to smoke-free products in a move to stub out cigarettes in the future.

Writer: Kisha Van Vuuren

After a decade of research, an investment exceeding $3 billion and hundreds of world-class scientists backing the research, PMI is making big strides towards a smoke-free future, starting with an innovative, science-driven new device called IQOS. In recent years tobacco companies have spent billions in researching of the industry’s Holy Grail – alternatives to cigarettes that cause less harm, but that are still comparable to the traditional in ways that are important to current adult smokers that would otherwise continue smoking.

With PMI’s new IQOS innovation, a “smokeless” cigarette alternative, it believes it has found the answer.

This device uses an electronic heat source to heat tobacco at precisely controlled temperatures below combustion levels. It produces an aerosol, not smoke, that has on average less than 10% the amount of harmful chemicals found in ordinary cigarette smoke.

The IQOS is already on sale in over 30 markets around the world, and was launched in South Africa earlier this year.

“The idea of ‘heat-not-burn’ has been around for quite some time, but until now the technology was never advanced enough for it to be a real success,” says Marcelo Nico, CEO of Philip Morris South Africa. “Globally PMI has spearheaded the concept, making a no burn, smoke-free future a reality.”

“Designing a smoke-free future is an ambitious task, one we cannot achieve alone,” Nico explains.

“All stakeholders in the tobacco industry have a role to play and we are encouraged by the growing number of experts, regulators and government bodies that are taking steps to support the role that

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“The IQOS is already on sale in over 30 markets around the world, and was launched in South Africa earlier this year.”

science and innovation can have for public health.”

Globally the company’s vision is for all current adult smokers, who would otherwise continue smoking, to switch to their scientifically substantiated smokefree products. PMI already produces over 32 billion HEETS (tobacco sticks), and hopes to reach 50 billion by 2018.

“We are more confident than ever that these products have the potential to fundamentally transform our cigarette business to potentially less harmful alternatives,” Nico says.

For instance, he adds, “Over 3.5 million smokers have already quit smoking cigarettes and switched to the new alternative, proving that designing a smoke-free future is a concrete possibility.

In South Africa alone, exactly 70% of smokers that have tried IQOS have fully converted to the system and are enjoying the benefits of this technology.”

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The tobacco technology battle is heating up, though, and some analysts believe that PMI is winning the race to produce heat-not-burn products.

“We are very happy to be the key catalyst for a reduced risk product category and will continue to innovate to ensure our vision becomes a true reality,” he says.

PMI is preparing for the day when they will stop selling traditional cigarettes, but it doesn’t come without its challenges.

“It has been a dramatic decision, but we will become far more than a

leading cigarette company,” Nico explains.

“Why are we doing it? The answer is simple; we understand that millions of men and women who smoke cigarettes are looking for less harmful, yet satisfying alternatives to smoking, and we want to give them that choice.”

PMI has an inspiring approach to align itself to a more technologically innovative company, and just like any tech company, they are aware that the competition will come from unexpected sources.

“The category is going to allow for a lot of creativity and innovation, we will embrace this by developing the market, transition of our resources and through ongoing engagement with regulatory stakeholders,” Nico says.

The massive investment into research, product testing and change are proof that Big Tobacco is moving towards something greater.

“More than ever, society expects us to act responsibly and we believe that one day the new technology will replace traditional cigarettes,” Nico says.

INTERESTING FACTS As hubs of innovation go, Switzerland trumps pretty much any region in the world. It is home to a number of Nobel Prize winners; it’s where pharmacist Henri Nestlé perfected the concoction of milk, flour and sugar that spawned the world’s largest food conglomerate; where the first

wristwatch was developed; where the World Wide Web was born; and where Velcro made its debut.

With a history dating back to 1957, PMI’s head office in Lausanne, Switzerland is one of the company’s most important facilities, producing tobacco products for the

domestic and export markets; over 40 countries around the world. It is also home to their Innovation Cube where the IQOS Heat-Not-Burn system was invented.

IQOS™ is not risk free. The best way to reduce tobacco related

health risks is to quit tobacco use altogether.

For more information: www.iqos.co.za More information on PMI’s scientific research can be found at www.pmiscience.com

NOVEMBER 2017 FASTCOMPANY.CO.Z A

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The Internet of Things is here.

SqwidNet is the SIGFOX network operator for South Africa. It provides an ecosystem for IoT innovation and for developing and delivering IoT solutions that are enabled through: the deployment of long-range networks that are purpose-built for IoT access to low-cost and highly secure connectivity access to low-cost, low-power devices and modules.

SIGFOX is a global IoT network deployed in 36 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

The SqwidNet network roll-out started in January 2017 and now covers close to 65% of South Africa’s population. National coverage will extend to 85% of the population by the end of this year.

Logistics optimization

Cloud and Services + Platform

Factory optimization

.

Hospital optimization

Smart grid

Integrated operations centre

Smart Hospital Smart Factory Connected ambulances

Smart City Intelligent medical devices

What is the IoT all about?

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the internetworking of physical devices, vehicles, buildings, and other items — embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data.

For more information or to sign up as a SqwidNet partner, visit www.sqwidnet.com.

Home energy management Comms network optimization

Smart Highway

Automated car system

Intelligent digital signage

Connected traffic cameras

Traffic flow optimization

B A N K I N G

Banking technology that enriches African lives Mobile payment technology has rapidly spread across the continent, creating a genuine cashless economy that has transformed the lives of millions

T

he rapid growth of mobile money transfer technology internationally is a phenomenon that has been particularly remarkable on the African continent.

Africa, a continent that has lagged behind the rest of the world in terms of development, has taken a giant leap in embracing mobile payment services, with over 500 million people now making cashless transactions.

Although Asia pioneered the use of mobile money transfer systems a few years ago, it is in Africa where the technology has transformed the lives of people who would otherwise be struggling to access their money.

Due to the lack of a steady income, 80% of Africa’s inhabitants do not have bank accounts.

Therefore, mobile payment technology has become the most convenient and safest way to transact.

Since only a mobile phone is needed for one to send or receive money, even people living in the most rural areas have amazing tales of how they can receive money by the click of a button – money typically sent by their relatives living in the diaspora.

“We no longer fret over how we can get cash sent from relatives abroad. We use the phone to do all of our financial transactions and we do not miss the banks,” said 60-year-old Mary Mushayi,

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from Sengwe communal area, deep in the rural Chiredzi district in Southern Zimbabwe.

In the past, Mushayi used to travel 80km on a dirt road to access banking services in the sugar-growing town. She is one of millions of Africans who have embraced a cashless economy thanks to mobile payment technology – now in widespread use on the continent.

Basic mobile phones, smuggled from China or Dubai, are available in many parts of Africa at relatively cheap prices, and most adults own a device, making it easy for the systems to flourish.

It is not necessary to have a smartphone in Africa, but one has to have a basic mobile phone from where transactions worth billions can be performed. According to the international trade body Global System Mobile Association (GSMA), the current top 20 countries in terms of mobile payment system usage are found in Africa. These include Kenya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Tanzania, Cameroon and Malawi, among others.

While the growth of mobile payment technology has been rapid in most African countries, Kenya remains the best example.

The word “pesa” means money in Swahili, and the majority of people in the East African economic giant have subscribed to the mobile payment platform M-Pesa, run by Kenyan telecommunications giant Safaricom, which has a 70% market share.

The M-Pesa mobile money transfer system has blown up in Kenya, where the subscriber base rose from 2 million to 15 million in five years.

Launched in 2007, the mobile payment system processed $6 billion on its platform last year alone.

Although there has been a slump in transactions on the M-Pesa platform in Kenya this year due to political and economic developments, the country remains one of the biggest global spaces for mobile money transactions.

“It has become a global trend to use cashless methods for doing financial transactions. This has been convenient for Africa, where the facility has transformed lives of ordinary people in rural areas,” said Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore.

In Ghana, the system is dominated by MTN, which has partnered with 16 banks in the country. MTN mobile money operates through authorised agents who facilitate the service in remote areas.

According to statistics provided by GSMA, MTN has a subscriber base of 8.5 million for its mobile payment system and has 57 000 active agents.

MTN recorded a transaction value of 23 billion Ghanaian Cedi, about $5.5bn last year.

In Zimbabwe, mobile payments account for 81.2% of financial transactions in the country.

Ecocash – another mobile money transfer platform – has become a household name. Apart from the convenience of transacting on the

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“Due to the lack of a steady income, 80% of Africa’s inhabitants do not have bank accounts.”

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phone, Zimbabwe has its own unique reasons for fast becoming a cashless economy.

After battling hyperinflation, which peaked at 231 000 000% in 2008, and adopting a multi-currency regime in 2009, the country is grappling with a severe liquidity crunch that has caused misery to families and led to the collapse of numerous businesses.

The introduction of the Bond notes, a surrogate currency backed by the Afrexim bank to the tune of $200 million, has not helped matters and people sleep on bank door steps to get the few notes that are being rationed. Mobile transfer technology is seen as a panacea to the cash shortages faced by citizens.

The Ecocash platform, which has over eight million subscribers and over 2 000 street agents, is making it easy to perform payments and other financial affairs.

Transactions of over $16bn have already been conducted on the Ecocash platform in Zimbabwe during the past four years.

In 2017, a total of $5bn was exchanged using the Ecocash platform, a subsidiary of Econet Wireless – the country’s largest mobile phone service provider in Zimbabwe.

The figure grew significantly due to the cash crunch in a country where 80% of the 14 million inhabitants live in rural areas.

“Ecocash is the solution to the current liquidity challenges in Zimbabwe and the platform can assist the country to mitigate cash shortages,” said Econet Wireless CEO Douglas Mboweni.

“Africa has taken a giant leap in embracing mobile payment services, with over 500 million people now making cashless transactions.”

“Our focus is to grow this mobile financial service as a premier mobile merchant payment platform,” Mboweni added.

In addition to the Ecocash platform, two other mobile phone service providers have also eased the way of financial transactions in the country.

Telecash and Onemoney, run by Telecel Zimbabwe and Netone respectively, have also played a major role in making sure that the payment systems flourish.

“The cash crisis in Zimbabwe has been a blessing in disguise as clients, particularly ordinary people living in remote areas, are

now able to do financial transactions where there is a cash crisis,” Zimbabwean economist Vince Museve said.

The country’s Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has urged citizens to use plastic money or other forms of electronic financial transactions as the cash crisis deepens.

In other African countries like South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria and Malawi, trusted mobile payment systems have helped in creating a cashless economy. They are also spurred by remittances from abroad.

In war-ravaged Somalia, mobile payments are referred to as a “game changer”. The country’s mobile payment usage is 73%, compared to only 23% of the population who have accounts with financial banks.

Research conducted recently shows that 88% of Somalis above 16 years of age own at least one SIM card.

It is projected that Somalia will play a significant role in reaching GSMA’s 1 billion unique mobile money transfer subscribers in Africa by 2020.

Somalia’s mobile payment services are run by two companies, namely Hormuund and Telesoms through their subsidiary companies EVC and Zaad respectively, and have transformed the lives of thousands in the Horn of Africa.

In Nigeria and South Africa, the continent’s two economic giants’ mobile payment technology uptake has been significantly lower in use. MTN leads mobile money transfer usage in both countries.

Developing countries, by nature, have a sizeable number of migrant workers and Africa is no exception.

Low income groups or even professionals from Africa seek better opportunities in developed or neighbouring countries.

This therefore creates a need for a system to enable these workers to send money back home. Mobile payment technology has played a pivotal role in ensuring that there is an efficient service for transferring funds.

The developments taking place in Zimbabwe, Somalia and Kenya in terms of mobile payments will certainly spread across Africa in the near future, thereby transforming Africa into a genuine cashless economy. ♦ WRITER: Energy Bara

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The rules of Bitcoin What are the tax and exchange control implications of the virtual currency?

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ith virtual currencies such as Bitcoin becoming ever more popular and accessible, it is important that South African taxpayers carefully consider the tax and exchange control uncertainties that accompany these relatively new systems into businesses and/or investment portfolios.

On December 3, 2014, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) issued a Position Paper on Virtual Currencies indicating that Bitcoin, “is a digital representation of value that can be digitally traded and functions as a medium of exchange, a unit of account and/or a store of value, but does not have legal tender status.”

It is therefore not, of itself, subject to regulation by the SARB. South African residents nevertheless remain subject to South Africa’s exchange control regulations in general, and should take care that they do not unwittingly contravene any of these regulations in their dealings with Bitcoin. It remains to be seen how the SARB’s approach to Bitcoin develops over time.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has not yet given any clear indication of its views regarding Bitcoin. It is therefore not yet clear whether SARS would consider Bitcoin to be a “currency”, a term which is not defined in section 1 of the Income Tax Act, 1962.

In our view, however, until Bitcoin is officially recognised as legal tender in South Africa or elsewhere, it is more likely that it would be considered to be an “asset”, and be dealt with under the ordinary principles of the Income Tax Act. The circumstances of the specific taxpayer in question would therefore be of great importance in determining, inter alia, the capital or revenue nature of trades involving Bitcoin, and therefore, whether gains from such trade would be subject to income tax or capital gains tax – and, conversely, whether losses will be deductible or not. In addition, the use of Bitcoin would require careful analysis from a value-added tax (VAT) perspective. Where Bitcoin is used as consideration for the supply of

goods or services, and it is determined that Bitcoin may be viewed as an asset rather than currency for VAT, the trade would likely be treated akin to a barter transaction (i.e. the VAT consequences of two potentially taxable transactions would need to be determined).

Where Bitcoin is traded, i.e. bought and sold for cash, the VAT consequences for both parties would depend on a detailed analysis of the exact facts of each case. This would be of particular relevance to taxpayers that may exceed the VAT registration threshold through their Bitcoin trades.

The VAT consequences of the particular trade would depend, inter alia, on whether the trade of Bitcoin is considered the supply of a “good” or “service”, as defined in section 1 of the Value-Added Tax Act, 1991 (VAT Act). The rights to performance are personal rights against another person, rather than rights in a thing (which are real rights). Personal rights are incorporeal by their nature, and are classed as movable property.

Personal rights are transferred by cession rather than by traditio (as in the case of tangible, corporeal movable assets) since, by their very nature, they are incapable of physical delivery. The transfer of personal rights cannot be the supply of “goods” as defined in the VAT Act, because those personal rights are not “goods”, being incorporeal by nature, they are neither corporeal movable things, nor fixed property, nor a real right in a corporeal thing or fixed property, nor electricity.

In our view, it is likely that Bitcoin constitutes an incorporeal right, the sale of which should constitute the supply of a “service” for purposes of the VAT Act. Given the uncertainty and potentially significant tax and exchange control implications that may arise in the context of trading in and using virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, it is increasingly important for any party implicated in a transaction that involves Bitcoin to obtain advice on their specific circumstances prior to implementation.

Robert Gad and Nicolette Smit are directors, Megan McCormack is an associate and Jo-Paula Roman is a candidate attorney at ENSafrica’s tax department in South Africa. Contact them at info@ENSafrica.com

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World Economic Forum 2018 Special What you can expect at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in January next year.

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he World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting will take place in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland from 23 to 26 January 2018.

The annual meeting brings together governments, international organisations, business, civil society, media, foremost experts and the young generation

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from all over the world, at the highest level and in representative ways.

It engages some 50 heads of state and government, over 300 ministerial-level government participants, and business representation at the chief executive officer and chair level.

The 48th WEF meeting The global context has changed dramatically: geostrategic fissures have re-emerged on multiple fronts with

wide-ranging political, economic and social consequences. Realpolitik is no longer just a relic of the Cold War. Economic prosperity and social cohesion are not one and the same. The global commons cannot protect or heal itself.

Politically, new and divisive narratives are transforming governance. Economically, policies are being formulated to preserve the benefits of global integration while limiting shared obligations such as sustainable development, inclusive growth and managing the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

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Socially, citizens yearn for responsive leadership; yet, a collective purpose remains elusive despite ever-expanding social networks.

All the while, the social contract between states and their citizens continues to erode. The 48th WEF meeting therefore aims to rededicate leaders from all walks of life to developing a shared narrative to improve the state of the world.

The programme, initiatives and projects of the meeting are focused on the theme of “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World”. The theme will make a case for renewed commitment to

international collaboration as a way of solving critical global challenges.

“Our collective inability to secure inclusive growth and preserve our scarce resources puts multiple global systems at risk simultaneously.

Our first response must be to develop new models for cooperation that are not based on narrow interests but on the destiny of humanity as a whole," said Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of WEF. “Creating a shared future in a fractured world requires addressing issues on the global agenda in a holistic, interconnected and future-oriented way,” added Schwab.

“Our Annual Meeting in Davos provides an exceptional platform for collaboration to create new, global initiatives.”

Borge Brende, President of WEF, noted that the annual meeting would be uniquely multifaceted and in-depth, prepared by expert working groups that will also feature impactful geopolitical sessions, many of which will be viewed by millions of citizens worldwide throughout the year.

Last year the forum dealt with issues such as populism, Britain’s exit

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from the EU and the new US president in the White House.

With over 2 500 people from over 100 countries coming together at the start of the year, WEF participants hope to shape the future by joining this unparalleled global effort in co-design, co-creation and collaboration.

The annual meeting remains a global platform unmatched in engaging leaders in over 400 peer-to-peer working sessions. The programme’s depth and breadth make it a true summit of summits.

Co-chairs of the 48th meeting Sharan Burrow (Belgium), Fabiola Gianotti (Switzerland), Isabelle Kocher (France), Christine Lagarde (USA), Ginni Rometty (USA), Chetna Sinha (India) and Erna Solberg (Norway) will be the co-chairs taking a principal role in shaping the discussion at the annual meeting in 2018.

The co-chairs represent the public and private sectors, international organizations, organised labour, academia and science, as well as civil society and social entrepreneurship.

They will lend a strong voice to all parts of society, ensuring a multi-stakeholder approach to the programme and eventually the impact of the meeting.

Multiple Agendas With the WEF communities and organisational capacity dedicated to driving positive change through 14 distinct system initiatives, participants at the meeting will contribute to multiple agendas:

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• The Global Agenda: Supporting efforts to improve global governance mechanisms and advance major multilateral processes; for example, the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

• The Geopolitical Agenda: Convening leaders and experts to prepare for and respond to a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape.

• The Economic Agenda: Supporting multistakeholder efforts to deliver sustainable and inclusive economic development in the face of lower growth rates, declining productivity and skills gaps.

• The Regional Agenda: Examining in depth the social and economic transformations occurring in all regions.

• The Industry and Business Agenda: Contributing to the shaping of new industry ecosystems and helping industry and government leaders prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

• The Future Agenda: Sharing the ideas, innovations and discoveries that will have the greatest impact in reshaping global systems.

• The Crystal Awards • Each year, the Crystal Awards Ceremony marks the start of the annual meeting. The Crystal

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Award is bestowed upon leading artists. These are role models who exemplify WEF’s mission of improving the state of the world.

• Awardees are active in one of the following areas: cross-cultural understanding, peacemaking, social inclusion, the environment, health, education, and food security.

• There have been more than 80 Crystal Award recipients over the decades – from musicians to film-makers, writers to architects – all of whom have been recognised for their commitment to advancing inclusive progress on the abovementioned areas.

Pop-music superstar Shakira was one of the recipients of the 23rd Crystal Award at the annual meeting in 2017. She was awarded for her leadership in supporting early childhood development.

A UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Shakira founded the Pies Descalzos Foundation at the age of 18, which provides education for children in Colombia. Her foundation has now established six state-of-the-art schools in her native Colombia for displaced and disadvantaged children.

Shakira was honoured alongside German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and awardwinning Hollywood actor, director and producer Forest Whitaker.

Mutter, who is considered one of the greatest violinists of our time, was awarded for her leadership in providing opportunities for young people to develop careers as musicians.

Aware of the need to support aspiring musicians in their careers, she founded the Friends of Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation, through which she provides young people with scholarships and performing opportunities.

Whitaker was honoured for his leadership in peace-building and conflict resolution.

He is the founder of the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative, an organization that empowers young men and women across the United States, Mexico, Uganda and South Sudan to become peace-builders and agents of positive change in their communities.

He is also the co-founder and chair of the International Institute for Peace and a UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation. ♦ Writer: Saarah Survé

A D V E R T O R I A L

Trade marks in China: a New Balance The copyright landscape in China is becoming less hostile than it once was

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here was a time when companies were sceptical about IP protection in China, with the general impression being that the law was heavily weighted in favour of local companies, some of whom seemed to make a habit of hijacking foreign brands.

Things have changed considerably over the past few years, and a recent trade mark development should further persuade African businesses that their IP rights, and particularly their trade marks, will be properly protected in China.

According to the publication The Trademark Lawyer, a Chinese court recently ordered three Chinese companies to pay shoe manufacturer New Balance damages of $1.5-million for trade mark infringement.

The company owns a number of trade marks, including the name New Balance, but this case related to their logo, the slanting N. New Balance sued three Chinese companies – Zheng Chaozhong, Xin Ping Heng Sporting Goods, and Bo Si Da Ke Trading – which seemingly all used a very similar logo in relation to shoes sold under the name New Boon.

The Suzhou Intermediate People’s Court ruled in favour of New Balance, and spoke of the fact that the local companies had “seized market share” from the company, and “drastically damaged its business reputation”.

The damages award is the most noteworthy aspect, however. Although Chinese courts have not shied away from damages awards over recent years, this is apparently the largest that a Chinese court has made in a trade mark infringement case involving a foreign trade mark owner.

Damages awards tend to get trade mark lawyers excited, since in a number of countries damages awards for trade mark infringement are rare. It can be a lengthy task to establish exactly what financial loss has been suffered – for example, in Mauritius and South Africa, a court will award an interdict (injunction) where there has been an infringement, but when it comes to the financial side, it’s more likely to order a separate inquiry into damages (something that seldom actually happens), than make a damages award. Chinese trade mark law was amended recently to make it easier for courts to award damages, including triple damages in cases where there is bad faith, and penalties of up to 500% of the profits earned from the infringement.

Given the importance of China as a destination for African companies – both as a market and as a source of manufacture – ENSafrica have written about Chinese trade

mark law on a number of occasions. Over the past few years, we have tracked a steady improvement. For example, we’ve reported on how the company 3M persuaded a Chinese court (and an appeal court) that a Chinese company, Changzhou Huawei Advanced Material (Huawei), had infringed the trade mark 3M by using the trade mark 3N. The court ordered the Chinese company to pay damages, after taking account of certain aggravating factors: the infringement had been going on for many years, it had resulted in huge profits, and the Chinese company had been very reluctant to disclose financial records.

We’ve reported on how the Scotch Whiskey Association successfully sued two Chinese companies – Shanghai Make Lipu Wine and Qingdao Make Lipu – for infringing a collective trade mark registration that it has for the term “Scotch Whiskey” in class 33 for whiskey – the two companies were using the term on products that did not originate in Scotland. Once again, the court ordered the payment of damages. The Chinese companies took the case on appeal, but the appeal court upheld the first court’s finding.

Chinese trade mark law has been improved in many ways of late.

Besides the issue of damages for infringement, there was a significant development when authorities tackled some of the problems caused by the first-to-file system – a system that states the first company to file an application to register a trade mark owns it.

This was mitigated by requiring good faith when it comes to filing a trade mark application, and by introducing penalties for lawyers who act in bad faith. A further improvement was the introduction of multi-class filing – a system whereby a number of classes of goods or services can be covered in a single application, which leads to cost savings.

A third improvement was the requirement for the registry to deal with trade mark applications within a period of nine months, thus speeding up the registration process. As a result of these changes, foreign companies are now filing huge numbers of trademark applications in China. And, as a result of a concerted effort to promote IP by the Chinese authorities, Chinese companies file vast numbers of trade mark applications, both in China and abroad. ♦ Pravin Barthia is a senior associate at ENSafrica in Mauritius. This article was reviewed by Gaelyn Scott, Director and Head of the firm’s IP Department. Contact them at info@ENSafrica.com

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Africa rising in the

post-colonial era Development, economic - and political stability are key contributors to Africa’s steady growth and strong currencies

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he Western perception of Africa is often limited to poverty, disease, starvation and inequality. In 1999, extreme poverty affected 58% of the African population. That number has now fallen to 35%. With over 500 companies generating a turnover involving

billions of dollars each year, Africa is not emerging – it’s already here.

Surprising to most, Africa is the world leader in online banking and mobile-money transactions. The continent faces many challenges and difficulties, but is evolving and already boasts numerous economies. Though there are

challenges, Africa has made great strides in various sectors and democracy has become a permanent feature in most African countries.

The continents growth can be tracked in multiple areas, such as the improvement in democracy, population growth, demographics, education, and an uptake in IT and mobilephone usage.

Nigeria One in every five Africans is Nigerian; this is an indicator of how large and populated Nigeria is.

Often referred to as the “Giant of Africa”, Nigeria has a population of approximately 187 million and the largest youth population in the world. The country is home to over 500 ethnic groups, with Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba being the three largest.

Governed by President Muhammadu Buhari, who took over from Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, the country is run by a presidential government system consisting of the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary.

According to the Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the unemployment rate sat at 14.2% in the last quarter of 2016, up from 13.9% in the preceding quarter. It’s the ninth consecutive quarter that the unemployment rate in the country has increased.

Nigeria has a dual economy with a modern segment dependent on oil earnings, overlaid by a traditional agricultural and trading economy. Today, the oil sector in Nigeria is overwhelmingly important to the point of overdependence. Though the country went from being the 10th to 12th largest producer of oil

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“Often referred to as the ‘Giant of Africa’, Nigeria has a population of approximately 187 million and the largest youth population in the world.”

Nigeria Year of independence from British colonies

in the world, Nigeria still remains Africa’s largest oil manufacturer.

The oil sector contributes 20% to the GDP, 95% to foreign exchange earnings, and around 70% to government revenues.

Due to last year’s continued failure of recovering commodity prices and the global slump in economic growth that affected mostly emerging markets such as China, Nigeria’s economic state was in a grave condition.

Nonetheless, in mid-2016, Nigeria overtook South Africa as the largest economy on the African continent and was viewed as having the potential to merge as a major global economy. This, however, was short lived due to substantial dependency on oil revenues that could not keep up with rapid population growth among other factors.

Despite constraints in the education sector – mostly due to the severe cuts in public expenditure – the country will likely remain a dynamic market for international students. This is largely due to the overwhelming and unmet demand by millennial Nigerians. The country’s higher education sector has been overburdened by strong population growth and a significant “youth bulge” (more than 60% of the country’s population are under the age of 24).

The country’s top three exports consist of fossil fuels, including oil which accounts for $31.9 billion (91.6%) of total exports, followed by cocoa beans worth $899.1 million (2.6%) and wood worth $279.4 million (0.8%). It was estimated by the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) World Economic Outlook that this year, Nigeria’s economy will enjoy a 0.8% growth.

1960

Currency

Naira (NGN)

Population

190 million

Population growth rate in 2016

2.6%

Capital City

Abuja

GDP

US$394.82 billion

GDP based on PPP

US$1.090.1 billion

GDP per capita

US$2 457.80

Inflation rate

16.3%

Unemployment rate

16.3%

Exports growth in 2015

0.1%

Imports growth in 2015

-26.8%

Sources

World Data Atlas and Trading Economics

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Sou t h Af r i c a Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s “Rainbow Nation” – named because of its racial, linguistic and religious diversity – has the third wealthiest economy in Africa, behind Egypt and Nigeria in terms of export sales. Platinum, gold and raw materials are the most valuable South African exports.

The country held its first democratic election in 1994, which saw the African National Congress (ANC) party take governance of South Africa. The election was vital for South Africans, as it meant the end of 300 years of colonialism and white supremacy, including apartheid.

Today, the country is still led by the ANC. However, over the years its power to govern has been put under threat due to dissatisfaction with the support of the party, leading to the birth of other political parties such as the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Congress of the People (COPE).

South Africa is home to more than 55 million people. The country’s unemployment rate was 27.7% in the second quarter of 2017. Statistics South Africa says 92 000 jobs were added in the third quarter. At the same time, 105 000 jobs in the agriculture, manufacturing and construction

“The country held its first democratic election in 1994, which saw the African National Congress party take governance of South Africa.”

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industry were shed, and an additional 33 000 people were looking for employment.

Finance and other service sectors recorded the biggest gain of 68 000 jobs. The number of unemployed increased from 37 000 to 6.18 million, while the number of employed increased from 113 000 to 16.1 million.

With the constraints of the 2016 economic crisis that affected numerous African countries, the South African economy was left at BBBstatus, one notch above Junk Status.

The country made a significant return in the second quarter of 2016. Its economy grew by 3.3% quarter-on-quarter. South Africa exited recession in 2017 with a 2.5% GDP growth.

The top three exports in South Africa are precious metals and stones, accounting for 16.2% of total exports, motor vehicles (12.4%), and iron ore, slag and ash (10.3%).

Unaccounted numbers of civilians from neighbouring countries enter South Africa, often illegally, in a bid to improve their lives. It is estimated that about 4 million foreigners in the country are from Zimbabwe alone. Unfortunately, this presents its own challenges when it comes to service delivery.

At first glance, one might be put off by these setbacks, but South Africa has done a great deal in terms of education development. Compared to the apartheid-era, the country’s current education system is one of the more evident improvements.

Acknowledging the fact that it is not the pinnacle of quality education, with its low math and science scores being of particular concern, it is heading in the right direction.

Despite tertiary education being expensive, the number of tertiary-educated people in

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South Africa 1994

Year of independence from Britain

55.6 million

Population Population growth rate in 2016

1.6%

Female population

51%

Male population

49%

Youth population

36.2% ZAR (RAND)

Currency

US$344.06

GDP GDP Annual growth rate

1.1% (second quarter of 2017)

Unemployment rate

27.7% ( third quarter of 2017)

Inflation rate

5.1%

Gross Domestic Product (Q3 2016), q/q change PPI

5.2%

CPI

5.1%

Retail

0,9%

Manufacturing

-2.0%

Source

South Africa is increasing. In 2011, the number of people with a college or university degree increased significantly, while the number of people with no education decreased by almost 10%.

Ninety percent of universities in the top 200 universities in Africa are found in South Africa, with the University of Cape Town taking first place, followed by the University of Pretoria and the University of South Africa.

Stats SA and Trading Economics

E gypt Occupying the northeast corner of the continent, Egypt is promising to be one of the most important economic success stories in the Middle East. The country’s advantages include a strategic geographic location, a significant regional influence despite its decline in recent years, a large consumer market, a

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well-developed financial sector, as well as an underdeveloped private sector providing ample room for growth.

Even so, Egypt’s economy is currently undergoing a drawn-out adjustment process, which could have major economic and political repercussions in the future. The structural flaws have damaged the Egyptian economy,

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yet changes escalated quickly after 2011, due to the aftermath of the “Arab Spring”.

Egypt’s current president and former Egyptian military chief, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, was officially declared president in the 2014 presidential elections by a crushing 96% of votes over 3.9% to his sole opponent, Hamdeen Sabahy.

Egypt Year of independence from British colonies Population Currency

1953 98 million Egyptian Pound

Unemployment rate

11.98%

Inflation rate

18.75%

Balance of Trade Government Debt to GDP GDP per capita GDP from agriculture

US$-3314 million 92.3% US$2724 US$2,877.29EGP million

Minimum wage

US$68.0510/Month

Source

Trading Economics

“Egypt’s economy is currently undergoing a drawn-out adjustment process, which could have major economic and political repercussions in the future.”

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As of October 2017, it is estimated by the United Nations that over 99 million people reside in Egypt; equivalent to 1.29% of the total world population.

Despite economic challenges the country has faced since the 2011 revolution, Egypt is home to the biggest number of billionaires in Africa, after South Africa and Nigeria.

It is ranked the second cheapest destination for international tourists in the 2015 Travel and Tourism Competitive Report. Unfortunately, that report also estimates that 26% of the Egyptian population live beneath the international poverty line.

Egypt’s parliament is currently a unicameral legislature, located in the country’s capital, Cairo. Parliament is ruled under the country’s 2014 constitution, as the legislative branch of the Egyptian state of Parliament enacted laws. It approved the general policy of the State, the general plan for economic and social development, and the general budget of the State. It supervises the work of the government, and has the power to impeach the President of the Republic, or replace the government and its prime minister by a vote of no-confidence.

According to estimates from Trading Economic, Egypt’s unemployment rate was 11.98% in 2016. It’s most traded goods include fossil fuels, such as oil, worth US$3.2 billion (14.3%) of total exports, precious metals and gems $2.7 billion (11.8%), and electrical machinery and equipment $1.5 billion (6.8%).

The country’s overall education system has grown rapidly since the 1990s, and is

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currently the largest in the Middle East and North Africa. Interestingly, Egypt offers free tertiary education.

Za m bia Zambia is one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s most highly-urbanised countries with a population of 17 million people; half of the population being mainly urbanites, congested in a number of the country’s metropolitan zones strung along major transport routes. Rural areas are mostly underpopulated.

The former British colony is one of Africa’s fastest growing economies. Its capital Lusaka is in the league of the fastest growing cities in the Southern African Development Community region (SADC).

Zambia’s GDP has doubled since it gained independence, standing at $1 213.4 – growing 4% since 2016 according to the IMF World Economic Outlook 2017, with agriculture contributing 9.2%, industry 29.2% and services 61.7%.

Zambia is the second largest copper producer in Africa after the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), manufacturing 712 tonnes per annum, and is ranked 8th in the world after Russia.

According to the Central Trade Statistics, Switzerland is identified as the main destination of Zambia’s exports, receiving 59.5%, while China is the biggest receiver of its copper exports. The Sub-Saharan nation exports an average of $1.8 billion worth of copper each year – deriving 90% of its export earnings from

“Zambia is the second largest copper producer in Africa after the DRC, manufacturing 712 tonnes per annum, and is ranked 8th in the world after Russia.”

Zambia Year of independence

1964 From Britain

Population

17.094, 000 People

Gross Domestic Product Economic Growth

4.1%

Inflation Rate

6.8%

Currency

copper as a single commodity, which accounts for 70% of Africa’s total copper production.

Zambia has the world’s best performing currency; its kwacha equals to $19 cents. The kwacha is benefiting from the expectation that copper prices will see an increase after several years of decline. The kwacha returned from being the third best performing currency in 2015, and this year’s best performing asset, beating silver, gold and other currencies.

According to Finance Minister Felix Mutati, the government’s strong policy making and regulations are one of the major boosts to the kwacha.Unlike some of its neighbours, Zambia has managed to avoid the conflict that has plagued much of Africa’s post-colonial history, earning itself a reputation of political stability.

After gaining independence in 1964, the landlocked nation was a one-party state led by Kenneth Kaunda’s United National Independence Party (UNIP). Kaunda ruled the former Northern Rhodesian state as Zambian President for 27 years.

In 1990, he signed legislation ending UNIP’s monopoly on power and was subsequently defeated by Frederick Chiluba of the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy in 1991. Chiluba won his presidential position by obtaining 131 out of 150 seats in the national assembly after the parliamentary polls, which elected him for a second term in 1996.

Chiluba won praise for his emphasis on democracy, human rights and transparency,

25.58 Billion $

Kwacha

which was seen as the positive change many longed for after almost three decades of oneparty state rule. He left a strong legacy in the economic and political field.

It was under his reign that Zambia witnessed a series of landmark market-oriented reforms, such as the removal of subsidy on maize mill, petroleum imports and the liberalisation of foreign exchange facilitating private investment. He was more of an economist than a president, similar to South Africa’s former president Thabo Mbeki.

In 2002, at the end of his tenure, Chiluba handed over power peacefully to his successor Levy Mwanawasa – also from the MMD – who governed until 2011, after which the Patriotic Front, led by Edgar Lungu, took over leadership and is still in power.

Zambia’s school curriculum is ranked third in Africa, with high levels of literacy in basic education, according to the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ).

The new school curriculum was developed and introduced in 2013 to enable learners to choose a career path and guiding framework for the preferred type of education in the nation. Its government also created technical and vocational training schools for both formal and informal employment, boosting the country’s gross domestic product – charcoal – which has been and continues to be a very important domestic energy source for most Zambian households.

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“In 1960, Ivory Coast had a population of 3.55 million – the number rose to 23 million people in 2017, with 49.5% being the urban population.”

Ivory C o a st Ivory Coast is one of the biggest and fastest growing nations in Western Africa. In 1960, the former French colony had a population of 3.55 million – the number rose to 23 million people in 2017, with 49.5% being urban population.

The country’s huge population of young people (9.95 million), life expectancy of 56-7 years, and an average of 55% in adult literacy rates, are indicators of a steady growth since becoming a democracy.

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The West African nation gained independence in 1961. Prime Minister Félix HouphouetBoigny of the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire, who had long fought for African equality, was elected Ivory Coast’s first president. He ran the country under a one-party state unopposed for over three decades.

Boigny is credited for leading the country to liberation in 1960. Under his presidency, Ivory Coast prospered economically and maintained

strong anti-communist policies, which led to sustained diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.

With an ability to unite people and keep prosperous relations with France, Ivory Coast grew in wealth during Boigny’s leadership.

France extended railways, introduced schools and Westernised hospitals to its former colony.

They also encouraged locals to plant cash crops, such as cocoa and coffee.

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Ivory Coast Year of Independence Population Gross Domestic Product Economic Growth

Ivory Coast is now the world’s biggest cocoa grower, the main ingredient in anything chocolate. The cocoa industry – which accounts for 15% of the GDP, more than 50% of export receipts, and two thirds of jobs – is the main source of revenue in the country’s economic welfare according to the World Bank.

Commercial agriculture employs over half of the country’s labour force and over a quarter of Ivoirians (around six million people) are involved in the cocoa industry, which is extremely important to the country and its people. Training sessions are given to help workers increase their harvests. Ivory Coast supplies a third of the world’s cocoa. Its exports for the global chocolate market are worth over $1.7 billion.

Education is still a priority in the country that sports 11 universities. Five are situated in the city of Abidjan, the country’s major urban and economic centre, and many other higher institutes of learning are being built. However, increasing Ivorian incomes and opportunities for employment through agriculture mean young people are more likely to get employed in the agricultural sector.

1960 From France 24, 295, 000 People 39.1 Billion $ 7.3%

Inflation Rate

0.72% 2012 - 2016

Currency

West African FRANC

UN Membership Date

1960

Sources According to

African Economic Outlook

I N

A F R I C A

The land of many religions held its first multiparty election in 1990, perpetuated by ethnic and religious diversity that rose over concern for dwindling natural resources. With many migrants having settled in the north, nationalistic arguments were brought into play by politicians in the south.

In 1993, President Boigny stepped down and was succeeded by Henry Konan Bedie, also a member of the Democratic Party of Cote d’lvoire, of which all citizens were required to support.

Bedie’s term ended in 1999. The main goal of the party was stability, and compared with parties in other Sub-Saharan countries, it had achieved its objective and paved way for other parties who came to power and governed the country – such as the Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP).

The RHDP is now the majority and ruling party in Ivory Coast with 167 seats out of 255. It came to power in 2011, after Laurent Gbagbo of the Popular Ivorian Front (FPI) – who had been in power for a decade – lost to current president Alassane Ouattara.

A US-educated economist from the Muslim north, Ouattara served as President Felix Houphouet-Boigny’s prime minister after a career at the IMF. His current leadership has led to many new developments in Ivory Coast, such as being a beneficial and active member of the World Bank-financed West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP), a sub-regional programme of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) coordinated at a sub-regional level by the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development.

Eight-hundred thousand Ivorian farmers have benefited from WAAPP, most of whom being in the banana plantations – representing 22% of the national production. The programme aims to improve agricultural productivity through the development and use of certified seeds, and the adoption of best practices for livestock farming, such as the construction of hen houses using local materials and the vaccination of poultry. ♦ WRITERS: Sonwabo Macingwana and Siphosethu Nini

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Airbnb has big plans to stay in Africa The online marketplace and hospitality service, announced its commitment of $1 million to boost community-led tourism projects in Africa

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irbnb announced it will invest $1 million (R13.7m) through 2020 to promote and support community-led tourism projects in Africa.

The commitment is part of the company’s vision to empower communities through home-sharing, and to promote peopleto-people tourism that benefits local families and their communities.

The announcement was made in October by Chris Lehane, Airbnb Global Head of Public Policy and Public Affairs, at a press conference held in the Johannesburg City Hall, together with Mayor Herman Mashaba and Hermione Nevill, World Bank Group Senior Travel Specialist.

“Africa is home to some of the most welcoming communities and breath-taking landscapes on earth. By leveraging technology to boost

AIRBNB $1$million commitmentto Africa (Mashaba & Chris Lehane)

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people-to-people tourism in Africa, we can help build a new economic engine for local families and their communities, while helping more guests enjoy magical travel experiences through the eyes of locals,” said Lehane.

“Airbnb travel is already delivering significant economic benefits for Africa and today’s investment will help kick-start new benefits for more people across Africa,” he added.

The announcement followed the presentation of a study demonstrating how Airbnb hosts in Africa have welcomed 1.2 million guests to the continent in the past year. That number is more than double compared to the previous year.

Hosts earned a combined $139m (R1.9 billion) in host income and are able to keep up to 97% of the accommodation charge.

THE INVESTMENTS WILL BE PUT TO WORK NEXT YEAR AND WILL FOCUS ON THREE MAIN AREAS: Empowering townships through hosting As part of Airbnb’s belief that home-sharing can support greater economic and social empowerment, the company ran a pilot programme in early 2017 - together with local partners - to support hospitality and technology training for residents from townships across the Western Cape.

The programme - developed in collaboration with Open Africa, the South African College for Tourism and the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CiTi) - was the first of its kind by Airbnb in South Africa to support underserved communities and improve their futures through tourism.

T O U R I S M

“For many Africans, being able to turn their greatest expense - their home into a source of additional revenue is a great opportunity.”

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It consisted of ten modules and focused on a variety of topics; from exploring how to list their home on Airbnb to managing online payments and creating a compelling guest experience.

Since its launch, 15 residents - mostly women - from a number of townships across the Western Cape have already participated.

The programme is open to everyone, including people who do not own their own homes.

Fast Facts: • There are more than 100 000 homes listed on Airbnb in Africa • Since 2012, more than 2 million all-time guest arrivals in Africa used Airbnb • Hosts in Africa earned $139 million (R1.9bn) by welcoming 1.2 million guests to the continent in one year • Typical hosts earn $1 500 (R20 500) by sharing their homes for 18 nights per annum • The average host age in Africa is 43 • The host community is evenly split between women and men • Airbnb travel had a total economic impact of roughly $250 million (R3.4bn) in South Africa

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Thanks to Airbnb’s co-hosting feature, the company allows hosts to add co-hosts to their account, such as family members or trusted friends, to help with some of the hosting responsibilities. They can help with as much or as little as is needed, and can then split the Airbnb income.

Given its success, Airbnb will expand the programme which is especially targeted at women and young people from underserved communities - to 15 more township communities across South Africa, and scale the programme to other countries in Africa by 2019.

Promoting sustainable and inclusive tourism through technology Airbnb’s vision is to use technology to help spread the benefits of tourism, previously kept in the hands of a few, to the many.

In May next year, Airbnb will host the Africa Travel Summit in Cape Town and bring together 80 thought leaders from across the continent to share best practices, exchange ideas and to co-create a vision for how technology can best be used for inclusive and sustainable tourism growth.

Potential attendees - such as governments, tourism boards, development agencies, technology companies, incubators and individuals - can apply to attend the summit from now until 31 January 2018.

The University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB) will serve as the Summit’s learning partner. Organisations such as The World Bank Group (WBG), The United Nations World Travel Organisation (UNWTO)

and The Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CiTi) will also take part in the event.

Secretary General for UNWTO Taleb Rifai welcomed the Airbnb initiative as an effective means to promote development in Africa.

Supporting locals and non-profits through Airbnb travel As part of Airbnb’s vision to promote peopleto-people travel that helps generate new revenue streams for more communities, Airbnb will expand the Airbnb Experiences offer across the Western Cape. This will enable more locals to turn their passions into economic opportunities and showcase the best authentic experiences that guests might otherwise miss.

Airbnb will particularly focus on increasing Social Impact Experiences, the proceeds of which go directly to non-profit organisations.

“Tourism in Africa is expected to continue its rapid growth. It is vital to ensure this growth occurs sustainably and drives poverty reduction across the continent,” said Nevill.

Nevill added that it is encouraging to see travel technology platforms such as Airbnb investing in Africa, and piloting more inclusive forms of tourism growth.

Home-sharing on Airbnb boosted South Africa’s economy by roughly $250m (R3.4bn) in the past year, including host income and guest spending.

While South Africa still represents the biggest market in terms of Airbnb guest arrivals, other countries are also increasingly benefitting from home-sharing. In the past year, countries such as Morocco, Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria have all seen growth in guest arrivals of over 50%, with Nigeria noting a guest arrival growth of 325%.

For many Africans, being able to turn their greatest expense - their home - into a source of additional revenue is a great opportunity. Homesharing is healthy tourism by virtue of being, not only inclusive, but also sustainable, helping people create new economic opportunities for themselves in their homes and communities. ♦ Writer: Saarah Survé

H I S T O R Y

Remembering slavery in South Africa The history of slavery and colonisation in South Africa has largely been ignored (except in academic circles) in favour of the more dominant narrative of apartheid 54 | WWW.AFRICANINDY.COM

H I S T O R Y

S

lavery was a subject glossed over in the history classes we were taught in apartheid-era schools.

Presented as a more benign version of slavery elsewhere, slave-owners in South Africa were portrayed as paternal figures caring for their child-like slaves while attempting to “civilise” them.

As a child I was vaguely aware that the Coon Carnival my parents took us to watch in District Six each New Year, or the liederen sung at “Malay” weddings, had a connection to slavery. The absence of published slave narratives confirmed that slaves were nothing more than possessions, their histories undocumented apart from lists of slave-owners’ possessions, estate transfer documents and court cases. It is only in the last thirty years that studies on slavery at the Cape have presented a counter-narrative.

Although slavery existed in antiquity, it did not equate with race until the 15th century.

Questions about skin colour came from European contact with the wider world and the answers often came from an interpretation of the Book of Genesis that linked dark skin, Africans, and servile status to the curse of Ham (in spite of the fact that there is no textual connection to dark skin or to Africans).

By the 18th century the curse of dark skin and slavery were synonymous, and played a fundamental role in the justification of slavery in the British Empire and the New World.

In antiquity, many slaves occupied higher positions as artists, educators or soldiers, and were often symbols of power and prestige rather than a source of labour. In the New World, however, slavery provided the labour force for a profit-making system of plantation agriculture that produced cotton, sugar, coffee and cocoa for distant markets.

Slavery was essentially about economics – the trans-Atlantic slave route assisted the manufacturing industries of Europe which produced weapons and iron to purchase slaves who were taken to the New World; goods generated from slave labour there made its way back to Europe.

The forcible removal of over 12 million Africans to the Americas was one part of the

trade in human bodies. Another was that of those who were shipped in an Indian Ocean slave trade to the Cape. Indian Ocean slavery differed from North Atlantic slavery in a number of ways; trade was mainly female not male, slaves were required for household rather than plantation work, and the lines were blurred between slaves, “free” people, indentured labourers and settlers. This was further complicated by the independent traders and, mainly Muslim, clerics and pilgrims who came to the Cape.

The Dutch were active participants in both the Atlantic and Indian Ocean slave trades.

The Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC or the Dutch East India Company) was a sovereign body which acted independently of the Dutch government, although its headquarters were in the Netherlands. They were granted a monopoly over trade in the East Indies, where they enslaved over half of the population of Batavia (Jakarta) and protected their monopoly with brute force.

In 1652, the VOC established a refreshment station at the Cape of Good Hope. Six years later the first slaves from the coast of Guinea and Angola arrived to meet the increased labour needs of the colony, but by 1700 about 50% of slaves came from the coast of India.

By 1660 the Cape was a busy port where a multitude of languages were spoken and women from all backgrounds bolstered the population.

“The absence of published slave narratives confirmed that slaves were nothing more than possessions.”

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The VOC turned a blind eye to the fact that the slave lodge served as a brothel for garrison soldiers and passing sailors, since it increased the slave population and within two decades liaisons between Europeans, slaves and the Khoisan had given rise to a population of mixed origin.

Between 1652 and 1795 there were 1 273 “mixed” unions and 147 cases of marriage between “coloureds” and Europeans. Capeborn women of mixed parentage made up the majority of brides and became matriarchs of “white” South African families. European surnames masked the slave woman’s origins and the descendants of these marriages were all accepted into the “white” community.

Slavery was a central element of the Dutch colonial conquest and part of the emergence of Afrikaner political and social ideas, although both the British and the Dutch occupied the Cape during this time and were responsible for the continuation of slavery until it was abolished in 1834. As happened elsewhere, discrimination arose against non-Europeans and people of half-European descent. Racial prejudice and ethnic division laid the foundation for apartheid in South Africa and a climate of violence and the devaluation of the labour of domestic workers and farm labourers.

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The Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) and Lord Milner’s reconstruction programme (19021907) left thousands of Boer families homeless and destitute; they were accommodated in camps where they died in catastrophic numbers. Those who flocked to the cities to work on the mines found themselves competing for the same jobs as “black” people. A new Afrikaner nationalism arose out of a deep sense of grievance. Power and European descent became very important and maintaining racial distinctions became a compelling necessity. The colour bar was to become the hallmark of the South African way of life.

Author and academic Gabeba Baderoon (2014) observes that “slavery generated foundational notions of race and sex in South Africa” that has largely been forgotten through the sustained system of propaganda that portrayed slavery as mild. However, the legacy of slavery is not only present in our ideas about race and sex, but in the high levels of violence that South Africa continues to experience today.

For most of the 180 years that slavery existed at the Cape, slaves far outnumbered the settlers. Excessive force and punishment was used to control slaves who were subjected

“Between 1652 and 1795 there were 1 273 ‘mixed’ unions and 147 cases of marriage between ‘coloureds’ and Europeans.” to regulations such as the size of their gatherings and the control of their movements by carrying passes – a practice that resurfaced in apartheid legislation.

Slave women were routinely subjected to brutal sexual assault, but throughout the period of slavery, not one male – slave or freed, white or black – was convicted for the rape of a slave woman. Today, sexual violence in South Africa has reached epidemic proportions, with one in five women being assaulted.

The history of the picturesque Cape vineyards is interwoven with 350 years of

H I S T O R Y

References: 1. Sheikh Yusuf of Macassar was a Bantamese resistance leader who arrived at the Cape in 1694. Credited with having brought Islam to the Cape, he arrived with a group of political exiles who were sent to the Zandvliet farm, an area known today as Macassar.

2. Tuan Guru (meaning Master Teacher) was a prince from Tidore, a sultanate in the Moluccas, who was imprisoned for a time on Robben Island. Guru was captured by the Dutch for allegedly conspiring with the English. His teaching and philosophy provided the basis of Cape Islam. After his release he set up a madrassah at his house in Dorp Street and converted a warehouse in Dorp Street into the Auwal Mosque.

slavery and serfdom. Farmers controlled their workers with low wages, tied housing, corporal punishment and the dop system.

This system of paying workers in daily rations of cheap alcohol fostered a lifestyle of dependency and abuse. Poor living conditions and poor nutrition contributed to foetal alcohol syndrome and high infant mortality rates. Recent protests in the Robertson area of the Western Cape illustrate the plight of farmworkers today.

But to remember slavery is also to remember the spirit of resistance which brought into being a vibrant and diverse culture of music and dance, food, language, in spite of repression. This process of creolisation was not specific to South Africa but occurred globally. Many of the slaves from Bengal, the Malabar Coast and the Indonesian archipelago came as political prisoners when the VOC used the Cape as a penal colony. Men like Sheikh Yusuf of Macassar1 and Tuan Guru2, provided intellectual and religious leadership. It was Muslim political exiles who were the first to write in Afrikaans, a language that had evolved through the simplification of Dutch blended with “Malay” and indigenous languages in order for inhabitants of the Cape to communicate with each other.

South Africa’s rich legacy of music can be traced back to the 17th century when the indigenous Khoi people first played European folksongs on a ramkie, the guitar-like Malay instrument.

Music was a highly-valued skill which could ensure a higher price for slaves who often formed part of the estate’s orchestra.

“Malay” slaves blended their music with Dutch ballads and further musical integration happened between “coloured” and African labourers working on the diamond mines in Kimberley.

According to social historian, David Coplan, (1985) it was jazz that would influence and shape most “black” music, fusing with mbaqanga, marabi and kwela, and with rock and pop. He observes that “versatile musicians absorbed almost everything, played for almost everyone, and gave birth to an authentically South African jazz”.

As we approach the December 1 anniversary of the emancipation of slaves in South Africa, we sho uld remember with pride the contributions to our society by the ordinary people who found ways to survive the harshness and cruelty while holding onto that which made them human. ♦

WRITER: Nadia Kamies Nadia Kamies is an occupational therapist and graduate of UCT’s Creative Writing Masters Programme. She is a doctoral candidate at the University of Pretoria. Her research interests are identity, representation and memory.

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A F R O - S T R E A M

Are African entertainment tech start-ups viable?

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frostream is the once-promising video-on-demand (VOD) service founded by the Cameroonian start-up creator, Tonjé Bakang.

Last month, the company stopped signing up subscribers in the wake of Bakang announcing, via a Medium blog post (written in French and subsequently translated into English by Audrey Lang), that the business he founded in 2014 would be shutting down in France, the UK, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and in all 24 African countries it operated in – including Cameroon, Congo, Senegal and Togo.

Afrostream’s collapse occurred despite the start-up attracting $4 million worth of venture capital since its inception.

Since his open letter was published, Bakang has been lauded for his grace in not only providing a candid explanation for his business’ failure, but also for empowering many aspiring entertainment tech founders by sharing detailed insights into what it takes to succeed in that field.

Given how far behind the digital adoption curve most African countries remain, Afrostream’s demise has unwittingly refuelled the on-going debate about the viability of entertainment tech on the continent. In the extreme, some critics argue that talented African founders ought to focus on solving “more pertinent” African problems.

I recently caught up with Tegan Bristow, the director of the highly acclaimed Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival, which recently brought together a diverse array of creative digital media-makers, artists, entertainers and tech innovators for “an African celebration of digital technology, art, and culture”.

I asked Bristow what she thinks of the assertion made by some that because Africa

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Do You,

A F R O - S T R E A M

Africa! has bigger fish to fry, “funtech” should take a back seat. Her response was fierce.

She told me that people who think that way don’t account for the value of African culture and the fact that there are forms of knowledge that existed in Africa long before digital technology became a buzz-phrase.

Bristow said she senses that there are those who are fearful of the implications of Africa fully and confidently asserting itself digitally.

She maintains that real innovation cannot happen unless culture is fully embedded in its “knowledge forms”. Put simply, Bristow’s argument is that if African cultural perspectives aren’t weaved into the continent’s digital transformation narrative, then there is little hope that digital solutions will address the so-called more pertinent problems that Africans face.

Baziks Pulse is a neat music-streaming platform from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

It was co-founded by the Congolese media

“If African cultural perspectives aren’t weaved into the continent’s digital transformation narrative, then there is little hope that digital solutions will address the so-called more pertinent problems that Africans face.”

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A F R O - S T R E A M

personality Baya Ciamala and his UK-based countryman Harlem Mufoncol, to solve the senseless fact that for many Congolese people it used to be easier to access Western music than it was to source and stream local music.

Chatting with these gentlemen, I got the impression that their decision to execute this particular start-up concept was less about taking on the likes of Spotify and Apple for a share of the global music-streaming market, and more about serving their people something great – something necessary.

Of course, Ciamala and Mufoncol are all about the business too. They’re confident that the rest of the world will soon come to find Congolese music as irresistible as locals in the DRC do.

(Hey Drake, I hope you’re reading this.)

In the short to medium term, they are intent on growing the Baziks Pulse platform into the music streaming service of choice across all nine of the DRC’s neighbouring countries.

When I asked Mufoncol to react to the spectacular demise of the Afrostream VOD service and to say whether the news shook his confidence in what their start-up is trying to achieve. He responded matter-of-factly.

“Tonjé is just a guy who tried something and came up short. He can always try again, fail again and fail better. I can’t wait to see his next idea, because I get the impression that whatever he does next will be way better.”

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“Tonjé [Bakang] is just a guy who tried something and came up short. He can always try again, fail again and fail better. I can’t wait to see his next idea, because I get the impression that whatever he does next will be way better.”

Can you imagine a world where you could use tiny snippets of your favourite songs to easily and pleasantly express yourself via text message – the way we all use emojis and GIFs? Well, thanks to George Asamani and his team at DooWapp, that unserious premise is now a reality.

Asamani is an exceedingly well-travelled Ghanaian who currently calls Addis Ababa home. He has become accustomed to having to justify the merits of his award-winning “niceto-have” software product wherever he goes.

When Asamani and his founding team launched the beta version of DooWapp two years ago, he recalls the app being slightly ahead of its time in terms of the tech available to build emoji applications. The use of emojis wasn’t nearly as ubiquitous as it is now. Yet today, many of us can barely contemplate an emoji-less world.

Asamani says that he has learnt not to be put off by people who simply don’t get it. The team at DooWapp have always had their sights on where things are going.

Now, given how chat apps have vastly reshaped media consumption habits over the last few years, Asamani anticipates that DooWapp’s latest (soon-to-be-launched) product innovation – an emoji keyboard – will be a game changer for the music distribution industry. Go ahead and do you, Africa! ♦ WRITERS: Andile Masuku

C U L T U R E

Artist Baba Tjeko believes originality means staying true to oneself and finding a distinctive creative outlet

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e’s been a creative soul for as long as he can remember – from cherishing colouring books at crèche to entering (and winning) art competitions at school. Baba Tjeko believes himself to be a born artist who uses numerous mediums to express himself, communicate, impact or inspire fellow human beings.

Like many artists, Tjeko doesn’t like being placed inside the box, but he is mostly known for his visual art talents like drawing, cartooning, painting and communication design.

He recently created his own brand of Litema art work – a form of Sotho mural art that features geometric patterns.

Here he combines the traditional with his own innovative style. The results are beautiful Basotho-inspired Litema art, but with a hint of cartoonish chic. The elements that shine through in his work are mostly portraits filled with bold but gentle Basotho patterns.

Tjeko was born on 18 October 1985 in Mokwallo, Vredefort in the Free State, but spent

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most of his childhood in Tumahole Township in Parys where he was raised by his grandmother.

He made a name for himself at Barnard Molokoane Comprehensive School in Parys, where praise for his artwork started at a young age.

He describes himself as a sensitive introvert who enjoys solitude as it is a “safe haven where I am able to formulate thoughts, ideas and perspectives that I then apply in trying to have a positive impact on the world.”

Tjeko says he’s not without his weaknesses, “I get overwhelmed by chaos and I’m easily distracted, hence I am constantly changing my mind about plans and ideas”. He is also a “nostalgic being” who yearns for the simple life of years gone by. “This trait has seen me battle with depression from time to time and I use creative expression to deal with the challenge,” he says.

Despite his fight with depression, Tjeko says he is also a big dreamer who believes in the potential of mankind, “because each person, whether poor, rich or mentally ill has a role to play in this exciting journey called life.”

Africa is saturated with many different styles of art, ranging from sculptures to weave art. Do you think there is room for innovation and/or creating something new in an already existing art form (for instance, what you create with Litema)?

I believe there’s still room for innovation and creating something new, because Africa’s countries, cities, townships and villages have so much to offer in terms of aesthetics, functional art, stories and sustainable ways of doing things. I often joke that poverty did a good job in making us creative and coming up with innovative ways that helped us survive. With what has been offered by our continent so far, this is only the beginning.

There has been a global surge in the “African aesthetic” in terms of art, and there are many young, emerging African artists trying to make a name for themselves. What advice do you have for these artists and what do you think is driving this global surge?

I think for far too long, the global art industry has been missing the authentic African voice and that may be due to African culture being portrayed as somewhat inferior. Most Africans come from financially disadvantaged backgrounds, so we always aspired the lifestyle of the Western culture we saw on TV and magazines - that was not authentic.

Today, social media is playing a huge role in allowing people to share their stories and embrace their different backgrounds. We now live in a global village and have to contribute our identity to the art world as honestly as

possible. That’s how the world came to open up and embrace the African aesthetic.

My encouragement to young, emerging African artists is that they should remain true to who they are, because the world is interested in their unique story.

You are most well-known for your Litema artworks – can you tell us why it has been important for you to return to this largely forgotten method of working?

My work (paintings, illustrations and surface designs) are mostly inspired by Litema patterns, so I do not necessarily reproduce the Litema designs but I integrate them in my work. From a young age, I have always been fascinated by Basotho culture, the language, lifestyle and aesthetics.

Although the Northern Free State is predominantly made of Sesotho speaking, the richness of the language and culture does not compare to that of Lesotho. So I grew up fascinated by stories I read about Lesotho and its culture.

While completing my final year of Advertising Design at the National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa (NEMISA), I chose to focus my final research project on Litema

“My encouragement to young, emerging African artists is that they should remain true to who they are, because the world is interested in their unique story.” because it is a fascinating art form to me. This has been important, mainly because Litema is sadly disappearing. I integrate the art form’s uniqueness in my work as a way of preserving it and seeking to inspire the younger generation to do the same.

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“Knowing yourself as an artist is the best way to find creative outlets unique to the message you want to convey.”

Being a full-time artist is not a lucrative business unless you’re extremely well-known in the industry. You recently decided to leave your government job to focus solely on your art, what caused you to make this decision?

Art sort of requires one to constantly create and express oneself in an authentic way, so being in an environment that did not allow that was very challenging. I always believed that I have a lot to offer the world and working to earn a salary was not doing justice to that belief, so I had to resign.

I knew that it would be difficult, but I had to follow my conviction and do what will give me peace and fulfilment. Financial returns will come, as long as one is pursuing their dream and seeking to make it happen.

You are the creator of a comic strip publication, titled Township Voice, which considers the everyday difficulties faced by

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township residents in South Africa. Using art as a tool to create awareness around poverty and boost access to information, can you tell us who the readers of Township Voice are, and why you think visual language may better convey these difficulties than any other medium?

The majority of township residents are very disadvantaged and do not have formal education, so illiteracy is a major problem that is hampering their development.

I’m currently based in the town of Parys and having worked for the provincial government, I am familiar with the challenges within my home province.

The readers are the township people in the Free State, but the end goal is to have it reach Lesotho and the Vaal region in Gauteng. That is because Township Voice is 80% produced in Sesotho and 20% English.

I chose to focus on that market because people residing in urban settlements have better knowledge about the world they live in, due to sufficient information produced in the language they understand and at the level that is relevant to them. There are countless newspapers, magazines and books that are produced in English and are distributed in the townships, but a large majority do not read them because they are not produced in the language they understand.

I am a firm believer of “a picture tells a thousand words”, so I believe visual language to be the best medium to convey messages to township people, both illiterate and semi-literate.

Again, black people are from the background and culture of ditshomo (folk tales), so communicating to them through comic storytelling is a relevant medium

C U L T U R E

they can easily relate to. Due to financial challenges, Township Voice has since taken a pause.

What materials do you mainly work with, and what is your process behind creating your artworks, especially your Litema works?

I mainly use pencil to sketch, then black calligraphy pens to finish my line works. For paintings, I mostly use acrylic on canvas or watercolour on paper. For my digital patterns, I draw on Adobe Photoshop using Cintiq 13HD drawing tablet.

I do not want to limit myself as an artist so I am also working on a limited edition of fabric prints and wallpaper designs (inspired by Litema) through Robin Sprong and Fabric Bank.

You consider yourself a multidisciplinary artist, working with different mediums and

“We now live in a global village and have to contribute our identity to the art world as honestly as possible. That’s how the world came to open up and embrace the African aesthetic.”

materials. Do you consider this an important trait for emerging artists?

It is an important trait, but the key thing is for emerging artists to find their voice and tell their story as authenticly as possible.

In that, they will find out if they are comfortable with a single medium of expression, or if like some of us, they are sensitive enough to use multiple mediums to do justice to specific stories.

Knowing yourself as an artist is the best way to find creative outlets unique to the message you want to convey. Tjeko is currently freelancing as an illustrator for the Sunday Times newspaper and working as an independent artist.

He does illustrations, painting, surface design, product customisation, and visual storytelling through photographs and performance art that incorporates musical poetry and film. ♦ Writer: Walter Hayward

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S P O R T S

FROM GOALS

TO POLLS Liberian football legend George Weah has gone from playing on the field to running in the elections.

Is Africa ready for the first celebrity president?

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eorge Weah was born on 1 October, 1966 in Clara Town, a small community in the Liberian capital of Monrovia. He was raised by his grandmother after his father abandoned him at the age of three and his mother couldn’t afford to raise him or his younger sister.

Weah started his footballing dream in the dusty streets of his impoverished community before playing for domestic clubs Mighty Barolle, Bongrange Bonguine Young Survivors and Invincible Eleven Monrovia in 1987, in Liberia’s domestic league, and winning the Liberian Premier League and Liberian Cup. He was spotted by well-known football coach Arsene Wenger while playing for the Cameroonian side Tonnerre Yaounde on a semi-professional contract. The team was one of the most prominent African clubs in the mid1980’s, winning five national championships.

His exceptional dribbling and shooting skills scored him a chance to play for AC Monaco where he won the Coupe de France (French

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Cup) in 1991 and scored four goals in nine cup final appearances, totalling a tally of 57 goals in his five seasons with the club from 1987 to 1992.

Leaving Monaco, Weah went on to play for some of the world’s most prestigious clubs. The likes of Paris Saint-Germain in late 1992, where he had a golden year and made a worldwide name for himself; winning the French Cup, French League in 1994 and subsequently finished as the top goal scorer during the 1994/1995 season in the UEFA Champions League with seven goals.

Other clubs he played for include Chelsea, Manchester City and Marseille, but his extraordinary soccer career was most memorable at Italian club AC Milan, where he won the Italian National Championship, the Italian Serie A twice in 1996 and 1999.

He became the first-ever African player to win the Golden Ball Award for the best European Footballer of the year – better known today as the Ballon d’Or – scoring 16 goals in 25 European games.

In 1995, during his time with AC Milan he was named FIFA World Player of the Year, UEFA Best Player in Europe, and African Footballer of The Year. Weah was adored by AC Milan’s fans and scored several unforgettable goals, including a Slalom Dribble from his own penalty area that ended in a clinical finish against rivals Verona in a 4-1 victory over the Hellas in 1996.

“Growing up in the slums and the ghettos, football was like a toy. It was something we wanted to go out to and touch every day and follow its movement, never knowing it could put someone at a global level. We realised that it was actually a way of life, a way of interacting with other peers and not just a toy, and we started learning skills,” says the football star.

In 1997, he was appointed as the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for publicising immunisation campaigns when he would visit Liberia, and in admiration of the humanitarian work he completed on behalf of his country for the United Nations (UN). He aided in bringing an end to the civil war between his land of birth and neighbouring Sierra Leone.

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“Weah’s successful candidacy will mark a historical political shift after nearly thirty years of sustained political conflict in Liberia.”

Weah’s efforts on behalf of UNICEF included his support for HIV/Aids education programmes, promotion of vocational training schools for former child soldiers and other war-affected youth, and visited healthcare clinics that were restored by UNICEF. After leaving Milan in January 2000, Weah made a striking start in the English Premier League, arriving at Chelsea and later playing for Manchester City. The deadly centre forward made an instant impact on his first match with English-side Chelsea when he came off the bench to score a header against Tottenham Hotspur with just three minutes to spare, and secured a late win for the Blues at Stamford Bridge.

He left Chelsea with five league goals, winning the FA Cup to join Manchester City and Olympique Marseille in quick succession. He left Marseille in May 2001 for Al Jazira FC in

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the United Arab Emirates, where he retired in 2003 with 134 goals in 338 games during his professional career.

For his captivating football flair Weah won the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2004 ESPY awards, an accolade presented by the American Broadcast Television Network to recognise athletic achievement.

As successful as he was at club level, Weah was not able to carry over that success to the Liberian national team, scoring 13 goals in 60 games. As one of the smaller nations in world football, and perennial underdogs, Weah filled almost every role within the national squad, from playing to coaching and financing it.

He was able to help his country qualify for two editions of the African Cup of Nations in 1996 and 2002, but on both occasions they were eliminated in the first round. Realising the importance of soccer as a stabilising

force in Liberia, Weah spent an estimated $2 million from his own pocket on travel, equipment and salary expenses for the national team, the Lone Stars.

Serving as player and manager, Weah led the Lone Stars on an impressive run through the 2002 World Cup qualifying rounds, but failed to qualify for a single World Cup, falling just a point short in qualifying for the 2002 tournament.

It’s no dispute that Weah is certainly one of the greatest players in the world. His dazzling impressions gained him a lot of respect from other players and made him a favourite for his supporters during his time on the pitch. He is among the few phenomenal soccer luminaries who have never played in a World Cup match despite all of his success.

Weah launched his political career in 2005 when he decided to run for presidency, but unsuccessfully lost to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

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who was elected as Liberia’s first female president; the first female Head of State in Africa and the world’s first black female elected president.

Weah ran for presidency as a member of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), Liberia’s largest opposition party which he founded the same year, but lost in a second round run-off to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of the Unity Party. In 2011, he was again on the CDC ticket, this time as the vice president, but Joseph Boakai retained his seat in office for a second term.

In 2014, “King George” as many of his supporters would call him, continued to immerse himself in politics and was elected as Liberia’s senate winning Montserrado County seat with 78%, defeating Robert Sirleaf, the son of the President Johnson Sirleaf.

His political intentions were motivated by his background; growing up in a poverty stricken area, a history of political turmoil, and the deteriorating quality of basic services in Liberia. In his manifestations, Weah pledged to increase the country’s national budget, work towards religious harmony and support vocational education.

“Every time after a football game, the media would talk about my country and the killings during the gruesome civil war, calling Liberians savages and cannibals. This made me go crazy and sad. I knew it was time for change, a change that would restore our image,” says Weah.

“Every time after a football game, the media would talk about my country and the killings during the gruesome civil war, calling Liberians savages and cannibals. This made me go crazy and sad. I knew it was time for change, a change that would restore our image.”

The retired soccer legend faces a run-off in the second round after winning the first one but failing to get an absolute majority vote. Weah leads the polls with 38.4% of the votes in the October election, placing him ahead of his official opposition Johnson Boakai of the Unity Party, who is also the current Liberian Vice President.

Elections in Liberia are held at a national level every six years. The head of state is elected to a six-year term in a two-round system; a run-off between the two candidates with the highest number of votes is held, should no single candidate earn an absolute majority of the vote in the first round. Weah’s 38.4% of the vote in the first round poll on 10 October, places him ten points ahead of Boakai in the race to succeed Johnson Sirleaf. The successful candidate will be decided on 7 November in the second round of the elections.

Weah’s successful candidacy will mark a historical political shift after nearly thirty years of sustained political conflict in Liberia. Importantly, it will be the first time since 1944 that political

power will be transferred peacefully between one Liberian president and another. Weah will be the first professional footballer in the world to become president of a republic. ♦ Writer: Sonwabo Macingwana

The second round of elections in the runoff vote on November 7, was postponed by the Liberian Supreme Court over an opposition party complaint of electoral fraud. The delay arrived after Liberty Party’s presidential candidate Charles Brumskine, who came in third in the first round of elections, claimed ballot stuffing and false voter registration cards marred the election.

These allegations were backed by Boakai. The date of the elections will be decided by the Court pending the investigation by the country's national elections commission.

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Taking an intelligent approach to Africa’s mobility transformation Africa’s transport revolution is setting the scene for a new era of intelligent mobility, writes Kevin Pillay, Vice President for Mobility at Siemens Africa

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espite the continent’s transport infrastructure lagging behind global standards for decades, Africa is bracing itself for a transport revolution as more countries embrace the onset of new technology.

Intelligent mobility involves the electrification, automation and digitalisation of existing transport infrastructure, and gives every citizen access to safe, reliable and efficient modes of transport.

The need and demand for intelligent mobility in Africa has never been greater – the World Economic Forum competitiveness data reveals that only three African countries feature in the top 50 globally for quality of roads, quality of rail and quality of ports infrastructure respectively.

World Bank data also indicates that the Sub-Saharan African railway network has declined to 59 634km today, down from 65 661km in 1980, with only about 70% of the railway network in operational state.

At face value, it seems as though the continent faces insurmountable transport challenges. However, the reality is that we are already setting the wheels in motion to create interconnected, more modern and efficient African transport networks that keep economies on the move, rather than hindering them. This development will not happen overnight, and will be realised one step at a time.

INTELLIGENT TRAFFIC SYSTEMS Many African cities have traffic infrastructure plagued by unreliable power supply. To the frustration of motorists, timing of traffic lights stays the same regardless of actual conditions, and many are faulty and take weeks to repair. This means that the road infrastructure cannot handle peak traffic, not because of technology but because of the lack of proper technological investment.

The challenge is partly that these traffic systems have grown in an uncoordinated way, with lots of different suppliers and systems cobbled together. Speeding and traffic light violations are a problem, and there is limited technology deployed to support effective traffic law enforcement.

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Kevin Pillay, Vice President for Mobility at Siemens Africa

Concern of this situation has been expressed by officials and road users alike, who say congestion and accidents have reached alarming levels.

Inefficiencies in these transport systems affect a country’s ability to attract and maintain investment.

SO WHERE DO WE BEGIN? The adoption of intelligent traffic systems (ITS) will keep Africa’s busiest cities as fast-moving investment destinations.

ITS includes the deployment of smart sensor systems with intelligent algorithms to automatically adapt to improve traffic flow.

Two-way communication can be enabled by running fibre between traffic junctions and a central control centre to gather information from intelligent networked systems, sensors and cameras at every junction. This allows traffic lights to be adjusted according to demand.

Nigeria’s Edo State government recently announced its intention to upgrade to a technologically-advanced ITS system that provides real-time traffic information in Benin City. As part of the integrated solution, motorists and commuters will be informed about travel times, weather conditions and traffic jams on the radio or online.

With all traffic management systems automated and digitalised, Technology like ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) Cameras can be utilised to efficiently enforce traffic rules.

For example, Safe Zone, Siemens’s average speed over distance (ASOD) offering, captures the time when a specific vehicle enters into to ASOD zone. A second time stamp is captured when the vehicle exits the ASOD zone. The journey time is compared against the distance travelled and authorities are automatically notified if the prescribed speed limit was exceeded.

This improves the safety of drivers, passengers and pedestrians. It also minimises the risk of corruption, while promoting best practice among traffic enforcement officers who are exposed to a new skillset when trained in operating these new systems.

A clear case in point is the Gauteng Nerve Centre (GNC) in South Africa. The 3 400m2 state of the art control centre for centralised rail traffic management, in South Africa’s economic hub of Gauteng, accommodates 35 train control operators in one place, and constantly monitors Gauteng’s rail traffic where over 600 trains carry more than 500 000 commuters on a daily basis.

The GNC boasts world-class automation capabilities and can immediately respond to any operating failures, accidents and other incidents, thereby enabling greater efficiencies in rail operations and train safety, while offering a more reliable service through higher infrastructure utilisation.

Siemens’ proven railway capabilities are set to be bolstered further, following the mobility business’ recent announcement of its intention to merge with French railway engineering specialist Alstom. With a strong presence in, and dedicated commitment to Africa, this anticipated partnership will create an African champion in mobility.

Intelligent, integrated mobility ensures environmental sustainability Transportation is the world’s secondbiggest producer of greenhouse gases. In 2015, motor vehicles, trains, ships, and planes emitted 7.5 billion tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, accounting for almost a quarter of all CO2 emissions worldwide.

Today transportation-related emissions are already about 60% higher than in 1990. One of the reasons for this is the dramatic increase in the number of vehicles in developing countries and emerging markets – of which Africa is home to many.

According to forecasts, transportationrelated CO2 emissions will increase by another 67% between now and 2050. Clearly, in view of this, the global community must take decisive action to bring about a worldwide transition to sustainable transportation systems.

A well-integrated intelligent multi-modal transport network promotes a culture of eco-friendly travel and healthier living, as it reduces traffic congestion and CO2 emissions by transporting more people, more safely and more comfortably, using newer and cleaner technology without relying on fossil fuels.

“Intelligent mobility involves the electrification, automation and digitalisation of existing transport infrastructure, and gives every citizen access to safe, reliable and efficient modes of transport.”

AUTOMATED RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE Another effective means of reducing congestion on overburdened and under-maintained roads in Africa is through greater investment in upgrading passenger rail networks.

Some of the world’s cities with the most advanced transport networks feature fast, efficient, safe and clean rail-mobility networks powered by Siemens. African cities can benefit from expertise in centralised traffic management and automation systems, including train control systems with minimum line side equipment linked to modern control centres.

THE TIME FOR INTELLIGENT MOBILITY IS NOW If Africa truly wants to unleash its full potential, then sufficient funds must be responsibly invested in upgrading existing transport and logistics infrastructure like road, rail and ports, in addition to new concepts that include electric bus rapid transport and ferries, to name a few.

Intelligent and integrated traffic systems are part of the future of transport in the world’s advanced cities. If Africa seizes the opportunity, many of its cities will be on that list, and the continent’s citizens will reap the rewards. That is the way forward. ♦

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Bringing the trophy home Amazing Grace quenches Africa’s thirst for victory

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here’s a highly held notion in Africa that whenever it rains the spirits have agreed. This was the case after Brendan Grace was crowned the 2017 Nedbank Golf Challenge champion.

Africa has not seen one of its son’s winning the coveted crystal trophy in the past ten years.

The four day golfing extravaganza, held in Sun City, brought together golf aficionados from all over the world.

The event, known as Africa’s Major, started on November 9 and ended November 12. Each day had its fair share of surprises as far as golfing was concerned, but what made the event extraordinary was how a sport could unite people from different parts of the world.

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Golf enthusiasts witnessed the who’s who of the golfing world, including veteran players such as Lee Westwood, Brandon Stone and Alex Noren.

Upon reaching Sun City Resort, golf fans were welcomed by traditional African dancers at the palatial gates. The sound of the Djembe drums could be heard from kilometres away, proving that Africans have a unique way of welcoming their visitors.

On the opening day of the Nedbank Golf Challenge, the resort was abuzz with enthusiasts exploring the Gary Player Country Club. African Independent spoke to several golf fans to find out why they love the event.

Mark Hutchison, who travelled from Botswana, said he never misses the Nedbank

WRITER: Gavin Emmanuel Golf Challenge because he gets to see some of the best golfers from all over the world on African soil.

“This is an opportunity of a lifetime. I was here last year when Noren was crowned champion, and I am back again this year. We hardly get to see big sporting tournaments in Africa. This is one of the biggest on the continent,” said Hutchison.

The event was not only about the sport; some of the visitors to Sun City took time to go on a game drive to Pilanesberg Game Reserve to witness the Big Five, while others simply enjoyed the Lost City and the Valley of the Waves, culminating in a perfect familyfriendly outing.

The 37th annual golf tournament continuously lives up to expectations.

However, not everyone sang praises for the event. Several people African Independent spoke to complained about the lack of transformation within the sport.

“This tournament has been going on for more than twenty years. I come here every year, and every year I complain about the same thing; the lack of black golf players,” said Kananelo Chabeli from Lesotho.

He also mentioned the fact that most black people involved in the tournament were either cleaners, restaurant helpers or those carrying scoreboards.

“Black people love and attend this sport in numbers, some of us come from outside the

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“The golfing gods of Africa were smiling down on Grace as he sank a 30-foot birdie putt at the 15th hole in the final round of the challenge.”

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“It was not an easy road for Brendan Grace and his caddy Zack Rasego, who missed out on birdie opportunities in several holes.” borders of South Africa. We are hungry for a black golf player and we were happy when they invited Tiger Woods many years ago, but

since then no black player has featured in the tournament,” said Chabeli.

He added, however, that there is not a lack of black players in the game of golf in Africa.

“I attend a lot of golf tournaments in Swaziland, Mauritius as well as the South African Open, and I see a lot of talented black players, but they do not get invited to tournaments such as this one, which is supposed to represent Africans of all races,” said Chabeli.

Mtende Banda from Malawi told African Independent that it was about time that the misconception that black Africans only love football changed.

“I love a lot of sporting codes including golf.

There are misconceptions that golf is a white man’s sport, and it can only be played by a certain class of people. Well, that is slowly fading away as a lot of black people are taking an interest,” said Banda.

He said that in the past black people were reduced to only being caddies.

“You can see even in this tournament that blacks are only caddies, but with the evergrowing attendance of black supporters, black golfers will emerge in numbers.”

The politics of golf could not dampen the spirits of the supporters who came to witness the beauty of Africa. The scorching African sun played its part too as temperatures soared to a maximum of 35 degrees Celsius.

Several celebrity athletes also took some time to attend a game of golf. Among them were former South African boxer Kallie Knoetze, SuperSport United coach Gavin Hunt, and former Zimbabwean football player Peter Ndlovu.

At the end of each day fans were treated to music concerts near the public hospitality area, where bands like Mango Groove and Me & Mr Green entertained the crowds.

“This is how Africans do things; we end the day with a bit of music and dancing. In Africa we sing and dance,” said a local to a Japanese tourist.

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After a day on the green, several fans were soaking in the swimming pools after walking the golf course for hours, following their favourite players around the 18 holes.

“Golf is not an easy sport, even for a fan, because when you love this sport you have to follow your favourite to all the eighteen holes.

You have a shot at witnessing some of the greatest moments in golf. A chance to witness a player hitting the hole in one, birdies and eagles, some of which are rare things to see in the game of golf,” said Len Daniels.

Even though the politics of the game seemed to be repeated in many conversations, one thing that most Africans seemed to agree upon was to have an African champion.

The last time an African won the tournament was South Africa’s Trevor Immelman in 2007.

“We need something to wipe away our tears. We had a bad week of sports in South Africa this week; the Springboks lost to Ireland, Bafana lost to Senegal. I’m hoping that Brendan Grace wins this thing to salvage our pride,” said Dawie De Wet at the start of the event.

It was not an easy road for Brendan Grace and his caddy Zack Rasego, who missed out on birdie opportunities in several holes. A lot of fans were frustrated with Grace, some even threatening to stop following him.

“This boy is not consistent, he has missed three birdies so far. I don’t understand what

the problem is, he drives the ball so well and parks it nicely, but when it comes to scoring a birdie he fails,” said disgruntled supporter Boikanyo Kgosana.

However, the golfing gods of Africa were smiling down on Grace as he sank a 30-foot birdie putt at the 15th hole in the final round of the challenge.

In the post-match interview, Grace said he told his caddy Rasego he knew that if he was to go bogey-free he would end the ten year drought for South Africa.

During his speech, Grace thanked his expecting wife and Rasego, and also mentioned that he and Rasego were jetting off to Dubai later that evening.

Rasego was another winner on the day, as he pocketed 10% of Grace’s winnings.

Rasego, who hails a stone’s throw away from the Gary Player Country Club, has caddied for Gary Player and Louis Oosthuizen in the past.

He was one of the few black caddies at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, having got into the sport as a way to escape poverty.

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When Oosthuizen and Rasego parted ways in 2011, it allowed Grace to acquire the services of Rasego for the European Tour Qualifying School.

After a successful campaign, the pair continued to make an impact on the golfing world with backto-back victories in the Johannesburg Open and Volvo Golf Champions, followed by more success in the Volvo China Open and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Rasego is a living testimony that behind every great golfer there’s an equally great caddy.

After Grace was crowned the 2017 Nedbank Golf Challenge champion, heavy downpours began at the Gary Player Country Club, proving that even the African spirits were in agreement. ♦

“Rasego is a living testimony that behind every great golfer there’s an equally great caddy.”

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C O L U M N

The ICC and Pan-Africanism: A Preliminary Observation

masse n e g in ck a b n o si ci e d t n The African Union’s rece from the International ers withdrawal of its memb the latest dent in the rks Criminal Court (ICC) ma ship with Africa. on court’s chequered relati

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decision e jure non-binding; the criticisms of ies ser a of is a result the levelled at the court on geted tar en be s ha ica Afr t grounds tha reads ord rec ’s unfairly. Indeed, the ICC

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tion of Africa as a stereotypical depic all of the trials and African leaders as but one of and convictions, and all cted by the du con the investigations, ns. ica Afr n cer court to date con

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In October 2016, Burundi, South Africa, and the Gambia declared their intention to withdraw from the global court of criminal justice based in The Hague. Sheriff Bojang, a former Gambian minister, declared that the ICC is deployed to persecute “Africans and especially their leaders”.

“We refuse to be carried along in a vehicle that has strayed off course to the detriment of our sovereignty, security and dignity as Africans,” declared Uhuru Kenyatta. Although the new Gambian government has reconsidered its decision to withdraw from the court, these sentiments reveal steadily intensifying discontent with the ICC. Created by the Rome Statute, a treaty that entered into force four years after its adoption by the United Nations General Assembly in 1998, the ICC is a global court intended to investigate and try perpetrators of genocide, war

crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression.

African countries were among the most ardent supporters of the ICC. South Africa, for instance, was its founding champion. The AU also passed decisions intended to encourage its members to adopt the Rome Statute on two occasions.

Out of the 124 State Parties to the Statute, 34 are African, making Africa the largest block. The ICC’s first investigations were also on the basis of referrals by the governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.

A combination of internal and external circumstances swayed African governments to embrace the agenda of global criminal justice, even as other parts of the world did not.

The conflict and economic crises that afflicted Africa waned with the end of the

Cold War and the fall of the apartheid regime in South Africa in the 1990s. Constitutional reforms were happening across the continent.

The OAU transitioned to the AU eight days after the ICC. In short, it was impossible at that time to doubt the promise of neoliberal globalism.

The Schism The schism between Africa and the ICC unfolded when the United Nations (UN) Security Council referred a situation in the Darfur region in 2005, followed by the ICC’s warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Ahmed al-Bashir in 2009.

In 2010, the ICC launched its first proprio motu investigation against Uhuru Kenyatta, then Deputy Prime Minister of Kenya, and five other prominent Kenyans in connection with the violence following the 2007 election.

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These investigations set in motion a chain That the ICC is biased against Africa is not the court’s budget. Furthermore, the US, China, of reactions. Al-Bashir denounced the warrant, the most compelling case for the decision to and Russia wield the power to steer the ICC’s and several African countries, which he vis- withdraw from the court. It does not explain prosecutions through the UN Security Council, ited between 2011 and 2016, defied the Rome African countries’ overwhelming subscription despite the fact that they are not members of Statute’s call to arrest and hand him over to the to the Rome Statute. The fact that the ICC fails the Rome Statute.

ICC. In Kenya, the ICC faced backlash when to prosecute criminals in the West does not jusSecond, the ICC’s architecture is not tailored to Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, rivals in the tify that African criminals should go free. “Two the sociological realities in Africa. The definition earlier election, forged an alliance and became wrongs do not make a right,” as the saying goes. of crimes by the Rome Statute centres on the neoPresident and Deputy President, respectively, Pan-Africanist Case against ICC liberal norms and processes. The basic premise after the election in 2013.

A critical question surrounding the ICC is of the ICC’s definition of crime is the idea that In 2008, the AU Peace and Security Council whether the court’s objectives and architecture criminality is the conduct of a rational individual requested the UN Security Council to drop or align with the vision and aspirations of African and that culpability applies to individuals solely. defer the investigation against Al-Bashir so that peoples. This question offers a broader context to The ICC does not investigate corporations and its peace-building efforts in Sudan could move examine whether Africa should rely on the ICC governments. forward. Following the denial of this request, the to realise justice, and the Pan-African agenda This disregards ample evidence that cataAU decided to create a continental court of crimi- more generally. strophic conflicts in Africa are often funded and nal justice – the Malabo Protocol (2014) – and African states are committed to a set of aspira- engineered by corporations, arms dealers, and eventually the January 2017 decision backing en tions and objectives that are collectively called foreign governments. Violence and impunity masse withdrawal.

“Pan-Africanism”. The principal elements of Pan- in Africa cannot be isolated from the legacy of The AU objects to the ICC primarily because Africanism are solidarity, economic and political colonialism, political economy of natural resource of attempts to prosecute sitting heads of state, integration, anti-colonialism, and the desire to extraction, geopolitics, and other structural factors which arguably flouts the rule of immunity under provide “African solutions for African problems” that shape internal and external affairs in Africa. general international law. more generally.

Finally, a lesson that should be drawn from the Apart from the view that Africans have been The ideological and architectural foundation of rise of anti-globalism in the West is that Africa’s the exclusive targets of the ICC’s investigations, the ICC, on the other hand, is neoliberal global commitment to global governance is irrelevant sceptics of the court cite the billions of dollars that governance. The ICC is supposed to complement, when more nations are moving toward isolationist the ICC has spent to investigate approximately not substitute, national courts to investigate, policies. two-dozen cases, only three of which resulted in prosecute, and try perpetrators. The lack of Engagement with the global governance convictions. Arguably these resources could have robust justice institutions in Africa, however, apparatus should not diminish the attention been put toward building African institutions means that the ICC often assumes primary Africa needs to give to its own institutions, the of justice. jurisdiction. development of which would be in the long-term Pan-Africanism is not an anti-globalisation interest of the continent. As such, establishing Critics further note that the ICC interventions have often been unhelpful in brokering peace. agenda. Contrary to the ideological current an African court of criminal justice within the Scepticism in regard to the court’s capacity to surging in the West, Pan-Africanism envisions AU matrix should be prioritised.

With a robust regional court, and more fully identify and prosecute the right perpetrators and a self-reliant Africa that engages the world in its to render meaningful support for the victims of own voice and as an equal partner. This vision developed domestic courts, Africa’s withdrawal demands efforts to build and sustain institutions from the ICC might be unnecessary provided that violence is also ubiquitous.

Africa’s objections to the ICC are neither unani- that resonate with Africa’s needs and sensibilities the principle of complementarity is amended so mous nor coherent. A plethora of civil society and that withstand the undue influence of old that the ICC would defer, not only to domestic entities and activists decry the objections levelled and new hegemons. courts, but to African regional courts also. ♦ at the ICC for many reasons; among them the Nonetheless, numerous factors constrain belief that African victims of violence deserve Africa’s ability to shape the actions of the court. justice irrespective of who delivers it, and despite First, the court is not entirely independent of the peace efforts. interests of rich and powerful global players. The Archbishop Desmond Tutu stated, for instance, ICC’s finance comes mainly from Western counthat, “To imply that the [ICC] prosecution is a tries, with the European Union providing 60% of plot by the West is Writer: Mekonnen Firew Ayano demeaning to Africans Mekonnen Firew Ayano is an Ethiopian jurist and a postdoctoral fellow and understates the at the Harvard University Centre for African Studies, where he studies commitment to justice we have seen across law and development with a focus on land and agricultural policies in the continent.”

Sub-Saharan Africa. He is a visiting fellow at the Wits Institute of Social and Economic Research (WiSER). He writes in his personal capacity.

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