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#1 ·


It seems as if the old thread has disappeared :( (I've searched for 15 minutes)

If anyone sees it, just bump it up, and I'll continue posting there.
 
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#28,961 · (Edited)
This is just not true. SA performs well in plenty of social indicators and poorly in a few others. Generally SA does badly on health indicators due to the lingering effects of the AIDS epidemic - where BTW the government has been praised by WHO for implementing the largest and most effective treatment program in the world. SA actually performs better than many other upper middle income on indicators like mean years of education and expected years of education, primary school completion rate etc.

Of course there is tons of room for improvement but the idea that other large SSA countries are anywhere remotely close to catching up is just not supported by any data. They are 50 years behind even with good policies and stable growth.

To this day tens of thousands of Nigerians, Ethiopians, Congolese etc. continue to flock to SA despite its so called poor economic situation and terrible living standards. South Africans going the opposite direction is unheard of.


I already posted the most common indicators here some while ago comparing SA to Colombia and another UMI nation i cant remember. You fail miserably in most common social indicators rather than a ‘give or take’ as you are claiming.

Didnt someone post here that the HDI of 80% of SA similar to Kenya or sth?!

Thumping your chest about large corporations, the JSE and your GDP pc which does not reflect the socio-economic reality cant obscure the objective social indicators.

Id post the data again though dont really have time

Update- just had a look.

IHDI- SA is 102, Kenya 110, Ghana 112.

I see other countries as having caught up in IHDI by 2030.
 
#28,962 ·
The diversified industrial conglomerate, has hinted on expanding its business network regionally to combat foreign currency woes that have been one of major deterrents to business enterprises in the country.

Most of Innscor's produce has been obtainable in the confines of Zimbabwe despite the eminence of its goods and ability to conquer some regional markets.

Julian Schonken the Innscor Limited Chief Executive Officer told shareholders and analysts at the annual general meeting this week that his group was considering broadening its supply chain into the region and some of the group's divisions have already started drip feeding their products to some export markets.

"Predominantly the group has been Zimbabwe centric, I think the current conditions do allow for exports to commence so I would say that in most of the operations there are some exports that are now taking place.

"Only that it takes time to build up export market and that is the process we are going through at the moment, exports are commencing in a small way but our aim is to increase our export market," Mr Schonken said while addressing the AGM.

https://allafrica.com/stories/201912050253.html
Exiting stuff always wondered why the never branched we are export competitive now but will the locals see the benefits or will it all go offshore
 
#28,966 ·
Egypt Vows $6 Billion to Support Industry as Part of Economic Revamp

Egypt on Wednesday launched a 100 billion pound ($6.2 billion) initiative to support local industry, as the nation looks to boost private sector growth in the next phase of its economic revival program.

Under the new plan, factories with sales of under 1 billion pounds would be able to secure loans at a reduced interest rate of 10%, central bank Governor Tarek Amer said, speaking after a Cabinet meeting. Those with sales over the threshold wouldn’t have access to that rate.

The move is the latest push by the government to spur competitiveness and growth in the private sector, a key element in the next stage of an economic program launched in late 2016 with the devaluation of the currency. That sought to curb a crippling dollar shortage and helped secure a $12 billion International Monetary Fund loan that shored up investor confidence.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...lion-to-support-industry-amid-economic-revamp
 
#28,968 ·
Poor Africans across the continent are poorly skilled. This problem is not unique to SA. We don't have any version of Ukraine or Vietnam of a "poor but skilled" population in Africa.
The statement was that relative to other Africans it seems they’re less skilled. At least when it comes to entrepreneurial skills. Which is why they’re unable to compete against the migrant shop owners. May just be perception though.
 
#28,969 ·
Fintech startups like M-Pesa have significantly impacted Kenya.
Africa’s fintech boom is creating niche ecosystems to power the industry’s future globally


The emergence of fintech startups across Africa working to boost financial inclusion over the past half decade has had some obvious effects. The startup sector has become the best funded on the continent and that has, in turn, fueled the launch of more fintech startups.

But all that activity has also seen niche fintech ecosystems pop up across several African cities. In the inaugural edition the Global Fintech Index City Rankings, four African cities are identified among the top 100 fintech ecosystems globally.



The rankings were compiled by scoring several factors including the number of fintech startups and hubs in cities, the scale of investment in those startups as well as the local regulatory environment—ranging from ease of doing business to startup incentives and internet censorship—where the startups operate.

Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi and Lagos all rank among the top 100 cities for fintech ecosystems, keeping with a trend which sees nearly half of the top 100 cities located in emerging markets. The rankings also reflect that those cities are home to Africa’s most valuable tech ecosystems and typically accounting for the most startup investment received on the continent annually.

City Global Finech Index City rank
Johannesburg, South Africa 62
Nairobi, Kenya 63
Lagos, Nigeria 71
Cape Town, South Africa 87
Accra, Ghana 123
Kigali, Rwanda 132
Kampala, Uganda 168
Overall, fintech startups in Africa are not so much disrupting traditional financial services as building up a historically underdeveloped banking and financial industry. And by creating a raft of tech-based products and solutions from mobile money, online payment processing, lending to investing, these startups are plugging large gaps that exist in local financial service industries in the world’s youngest and fastest growing continent.


Given the clear need and the potential upside, the report predicts “fintech’s future is likely to arrive fastest” in Africa. There are clear signs major Western industry leaders think so as well with PayPal, Visa, Mastercard and Stripe all investing in African fintech startups in the past 18 months. There is also strong concerted interest from the East as China has emerged has a strong player in the space over the past few months: OPay and PalmPay, two fintech companies in Nigeria have jointly received over $210 million in funding mainly from Chinese investors this year alone.

Yet, despite all this activity, the rankings also reveal there’s still plenty of room to accelerate the scale of growth and expertise of startups and their founders in Africa based on the number of hubs.

The ranking of 238 cities was compiled by Findexable, a fintech research firm, in conjunction with partners like Crunchbase, the global startup funding database, and the Africa Fintech Network

https://qz.com/africa/1761147/johannesburg-nairobi-and-lagos-rank-as-africas-top-fintech-hubs/
 
#28,970 ·
The statement was that relative to other Africans it seems they’re less skilled. At least when it comes to entrepreneurial skills. Which is why they’re unable to compete against the migrant shop owners. May just be perception though.
Migrants are not a representative sample of a local population though. Pretty much everywhere in the world migrants have much higher rates of entrepreneurship than locals because they are a self-selecting group of people (barring mass refugee crises like Syria etc.).

I agree the comparatively good welfare state in SA might discourage poor locals from entrepreneurship because they are not completely desperate as migrants from other African countries. But I would much rather have this situation than having millions of poor people abandoned by the state and left to die like we see across other countries in SSA.
 
#28,971 ·
Kenya public prosecutor orders arrest of Nairobi governor on suspicion of economic crimes

Kenya’s public prosecutor on Friday ordered the arrest of the Nairobi County governor on suspicion of economic crimes, in one of the most high profile arrests since the government launched an anti-corruption push last year.

Noordin Haji, the country’s top prosecutor, told a news conference that he had sufficient evidence to order the arrest and arraignment of Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko.

He also named county government officials whom he said he had evidence to prosecute for various economic crimes, as well as a number of businesspeople over alleged money laundering related to Sonko’s alleged crimes.

Sonko’s whereabouts were not immediately clear.

He spends significant periods of time outside of Nairobi in his hometown of Machakos southeast of the capital. Calls to Sonko’s phone numbers went unanswered immediately after the prosecutor’s news conference.

Haji said the governor attempted to obstruct the investigations “by deploying intimidation tactics using goons to threaten law enforcement officials”.

https://af.reuters.com/article/kenyaNews/idAFL8N28G0QU
 
#28,972 ·
Uber takes to streets of Ivory Coast in African expansion

Uber launched in Ivory Coast’s commercial capital Abidjan on Thursday, part of its expansion into African markets with low levels of car ownership and limited mass transport.

The ride-hailing firm is facing competition from Estonia-based Bolt, which takes a smaller cut from drivers and plans to double its service in South Africa.

Although Uber, which is also facing regulatory clampdowns elsewhere, operates in 16 cities in sub-Saharan Africa, mostly in South Africa and east Africa, its presence has so far been limited in west Africa, aside from Nigeria and Ghana.

Abidjan, a commercial hub of nearly 5 million people, was a “perfect fit”, Uber said in a statement, adding that more than 50,000 people had tried to use its app there in the past year.

“This means that for the thousands of taxi operators in Abidjan, there will be new clients for every single driver, in addition to the number they already have now,” Alon Lits, Uber’s general manager for sub-Saharan Africa, said.

https://www.iol.co.za/business-repo...-of-ivory-coast-in-african-expansion-38704333
 
#28,973 ·
Zimbabwe: Expand Beyond South Africa, Exporters Urged

Zimbabwe needs to export more manufactured goods and must look beyond South Africa, delegates at an export awareness seminar organised by ZimTrade in Victoria Falls this week heard.

The seminar targeted manufacturers of goods and services, as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Delegates said Zimbabwe's dependency on South Africa, which is the biggest destination for the country's exports, limits the economy, so local producers should diversify their market to widen opportunities to earn more foreign currency for the country.

The seminar sought to engage manufacturers of both goods and services to encourage them to diversify into the regional market.

ZimTrade Matabeleland regional manager Mr Similo Nkala said South Africa commanded 50 percent of Zimbabwe's market share, which was not good for the local economy since there is need for diversification.

"We have to diversify and not concentrate on specific products and country," he said.

"As ZimTrade, we are your partner and we have been conducting market research in the DRC, Germany, Malawi, Namibia, Angola, Botswana and Zambia so that we can really try and assist our companies.

"We found that there are opportunities out there."

Mr Nkala said capturing the foreign market was the only way to earn foreign currency for the country.

"We rely on South Africa, which accounts for 50 percent of market share and the United Arab Emirates with 20 percent share, meaning that when South Africa catches a cold, we all sneeze.

"We need to go back to 1992 where we used to market in Italy, France, Germany, South Africa and many more, so in times of trouble we would rely on others."

Mr Nkala said the Botswana market used to earn the country about $200 million per annum, but had now gone down to about $31 million.

https://allafrica.com/stories/201912060319.html
 
#28,974 ·
Migrants are not a representative sample of a local population though. Pretty much everywhere in the world migrants have much higher rates of entrepreneurship than locals because they are a self-selecting group of people (barring mass refugee crises like Syria etc.).
Because usually, locals have secure jobs (requiring even higher skills) and have no reasons to open up shops. Hence, why they don't attack migrants for "taking their jobs" or "making more profits in their trade". The case is not true for South Africa. In countries like South Africa, where you still have poor people at the level of migrants' income (eg: Kenya, Nigeria, etc), you don't see migrants dominating the entrepreneurship sector across the country. If poor south Africans are so poorly skilled that they can't compete against a tiny number migrant entrepreneurs, they would definitely crash, if they ever try moving to any SSA country, where basically every "poor" person has some trading business going on.

I agree the comparatively good welfare state in SA might discourage poor locals from entrepreneurship because they are not completely desperate as migrants from other African countries.
If they are so comfortable with the peanut handouts that they receive, they shouldn't be attacking foreign shops. They should be content with sitting idle while "living the good life".

Nothing screams "desperation" more than attacking other people for your misery.
 
#28,975 ·
The Urgent Need to Fix South Africa

President Cyril Ramaphosa keeps getting reminded that South Africa’s economy urgently needs reforms.

He’s made progress repairing South Africa’s broken institutions, most notably the national revenue service and state prosecutor. He’s also appointed credible boards to state companies shackled by debt and corruption.

Yet it’s not helping a stumbling economy. Data this week showed the fourth economic contraction in the seven quarters since he became president.

The country still has too many civil servants, the state power company can’t meet its costs and the national airline has entered bankruptcy protection.

Private companies are shedding jobs and protests are rife – mining giant Rio Tinto shut its minerals sands operation and halted a $463 million expansion after violence near the mine.

“Another recession is looming,” said Business Unity South Africa, the main business lobby. “Very little has happened between the end of September and now to change the trajectory of the economy.”

For now, investors are giving Ramaphosa the benefit of the doubt.

A Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey of local fund managers showed that most plan to invest in South African stocks and bonds. Still, they expect the already slow pace of reform to decelerate further as labor unions and ruling-party factions dig in their heels.

For foreign investors, the long-term outlook is positive but there is an opportunity cost in keeping money tied up when progress is hard to see.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/news...ica-ramaphosa-s-long-game?srnd=premium-africa
 
#28,976 ·
Algeria: 2 Ex-Ministers Face Groundbreaking Corruption Trial



ALGIERS, ALGERIA - Two former Algerian prime ministers went on trial Wednesday on corruption charges, in the most high-profile act of transparency and accountability since a pro-democracy movement pushed out the long-serving president.

The exceptional trial, which is being televised and also involves several other former Algerian power players, comes at a time of renewed political tensions in the oil- and gas-rich country, a week ahead of a controversial election to replace President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Ahmed Ouyahia, who was forced out as prime minister in March as protests against Bouteflika escalated, and his predecessor Abdelmalek Sellal testified Wednesday at the Sidi M'Hamed court in Algiers.



Both are charged with "corruption and the misappropriation of public funds" and both deny any wrongdoing.

Two former industry ministers who served under Bouteflika, influential car industry executives, bankers and other businessmen are also facing charges.

The trial was boycotted by defense lawyers, who stayed away because they felt conditions were not met for a fair trial.

Much of the questioning involved a car manufacturing corruption scandal, allegedly involving huge bribes, inflated invoices and dodgy loans.

(...)
https://www.voanews.com/africa/algeria-2-ex-ministers-face-groundbreaking-corruption-trial
 
#28,977 ·
How Africa’s entrepreneurs can innovate and invest to put African cuisine on the world stage

Over the past six months, I have engaged in a simple experiment. In packed rooms in Europe and the United States, I have asked, “What is your favorite African dish?”

Usually, the answer is blank stares.

In contrast, when I’ve asked, “What is your favorite Asian dish?” the list from the audience has been long, often including sushi, pad thai and samosas.

I also gauged the audience’s recognition of Africa’s role in the global food industry, asking about commodities such as cocoa, cashews, yam, coffee and tea, to more niche products such as rooibos, moringa or fonio. Typically, awareness has been extremely low—everyone loves chocolate, but most do not realize that 70% of the world’s cocoa is sourced from West Africa or that rooibos tea is grown in the hills of South Africa.


We don’t just grow cocoa in Ivory Coast
My informal polling tallies with the sparse survey results on global preferences for food which often excludes food from African countries, or gives the entire continent the lowest ratings—categorized as one type of food, instead of the diversity of 54 countries. Sadly, this global perception is seeping into the continent as well, with young Africans opting for fast food from international chains like KFC, Dominos and even Krispy Creme, which are making significant inroads into major African cities.

What this means is the world is missing out on the extremely diverse cuisine from across Africa, which is also highly nutritious. More importantly, it means we are limiting opportunities to foster greater global awareness about the culture and rich heritage of countries in Africa, and to promote cross-cultural learning.


These various findings, coupled with my personal investment in the transformation of the African agricultural and food landscapes over more than two decades have led me down a research path to discover how to change the disparity in the global appreciation and acceptance of African food.

Primarily, it will require African entrepreneurs to invest in branding and storytelling, innovation, and partnerships to accelerate broad-based awareness of African food. In addition, African governments must create an enabling environment and foster linkages with diaspora populations to attract the support required to position our food and change mindsets.

The rise of Japanese cuisine on the global stage offers compelling lessons for stakeholders in African countries.
The rise of Japanese cuisine on the global stage offers compelling lessons for committed stakeholders in key African countries. As is the case with Ethiopian, Senegalese or Nigerian cuisine today, in the 1960s and 70s, awareness and appreciation for Japanese food was limited overseas. Then the Japanese government took action after recognizing the important role food could play in building cultural bridges while also generating employment and demand for its food. In 2003, the Japanese government expanded the scope of the Japanese External Trade Organization (JETRO) to include branding, certification of restaurants and ingredients, and public relations. In addition, through strategic and deliberate interventions by the government, Japanese traditional cuisine was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2012.


The results of these efforts are very compelling. In 2006, there was approximately 20,000 Japanese restaurants outside Japan. By 2017, this number had increased five-fold to close to 120,000. Beyond the growth in restaurants, today, most leading supermarkets in the United States and the UK sell sushi. In addition, Japanese food attracts the highest ratings in foreign food preferences.



https://qz.com/africa/1760180/african-entrepreneurs-to-get-jollof-injera-ugali-on-world-stage/
 
#28,978 ·
^^ I think Ethiopians have been relatively outstanding in the food business! Pretty much everywhere I have been to, there's always some Ethiopian restaurant(s) in (a) major district(s).

It's a bit of a shame, that Nigerians in diaspora haven't taken advantage of this business. Nigerian restaurants are typically non-existent or in some very niche neighbourhood. Dishes like jollof rice, pepper soup, and suya should be much more popular globally than it is right now; the other local dishes should also ring bells when mentioned.
 
#28,979 ·
^^ I think Ethiopians have been relatively outstanding in the food business! Pretty much everywhere I have been to, there's always some Ethiopian restaurant(s) in (a) major district(s).

It's a bit of a shame, that Nigerians in diaspora haven't taken advantage of this business. Nigerian restaurants are typically non-existent or in some very niche neighbourhood. Dishes like jollof rice, pepper soup, and suya should be much more popular globally than it is right now; the other local dishes should also ring bells when mentioned.
yup. to really push it it'd help to have the government behind it. sushi is the national dish of Japan, but what is ours and which will we push. france has been effective at limiting the use of names like champagne, something we can do for out food and drinks, like zobo
 
#28,980 ·
yup. to really push it it'd help to have the government behind it. sushi is the national dish of Japan, but what is ours and which will we push. france has been effective at limiting the use of names like champagne, something we can do for out food and drinks, like zobo
The term "champagne" is pushed by champagne trade associations and basic marketing/consumer protection laws to prevent false advertising. Champagne is a region in France where specific grapes are made for sparkling wine. Hence calling a bottle of sparkling wine made in Napa, California "Champagne" isn't just false advertising it's just a factually incorrect statement.
 
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