Nbr. 344, July 2008

Index

• The Kenyan nightmare.
• The South-South revolution.
• Leaders, management and capitalism.
• Africa's economy grows by 6%.
• France and the US still biting their SA nuclear nails.
• Rwanda wants to be Africa's high-tech hub.
• The Japanese are coming.
• World Bank funds Zambian power feasibility study.
• Ethiopia's very good year.
• Global investment resource targets African leisure sector.
• Let's change Africa for good-Odinga.
• Microfinance help for DRC's entrepreneurs.
• SA power famine to drive up platinum prices.
• South African government must pay up.
• UN seeks CDM 'green' investment for Africa.
• Right and wrong skill-sets.
• Africa's progress report; Goodbye Gleneagles; hello Hokkaido G8 summit.
• A little helping hand.
• Members of the Africa Progress Panel.
• Promises and prospects: edited extracts from the Africa progress report.
• Rwanda's IT revolution: Rwanda has identified information technology (IT) as its route out of poverty. The government has started a vigorous campaign to transform the economy through greater knowledge and the application of technology. Can Rwanda pull it off? Nitay Artenstein reports from Kigali.
• Safaricom float beats all records: when president Mwai Kibaki rang the stock exchange bell in the second week of June to mark the beginning of Safaricom's trading, he was as optimistic as the day he launched the IPO. Dennis Onyango reports.
• Is Mboweni stoking stagflation? While Reserve Bank governor, Tito Mboweni relentlessly pushes up interest rates to combat inflation, economic growth forecasts have been cut to just 2% and the danger of stagflation 100ms larger. Which way should South Africa go? Tom Nevin has been investigating.
• Boom time for African construction: Chinese and Arabs lead construction charge.
• Region by region.
• Battle for Cup tourist dollar: the hospitality industry reasonably expects bumper income from World Cup fans come 2010. The competition's hotting up-not only between hospitality groups, but entire countries within the sub region. Tom Nevin reports.
• Battle deepens over power upgrade: industrial strife looms on the horizon as South Africa's electricity monopoly seeks massive tariff increase to pay for urgently-needed expansion in supply capacity.
• A tribute to African entrepreneurs: this month, July, sees the presentation of the first ever CBC - African Business Awards in London. Companies and individuals from all over Africa vied for awards in 16 different categories. African Business editor Anver Versi has the details.
• The Delta-our abused, neglected child: the troubled Niger Delta is the linchpin of Nigeria's economy and one of the world's most important sources of oil and gas. But the troubles continue to rumble on with no real solution in sight. Oilman Osamede Okhomina * warns of the dire consequences of a failure to find answers.
• Diversity is the key: diversity is the key to improving Africa's export capability. After six decades of losing market share, Africa actually increased its share of world trade in 2006. This begs the question whether recent trade expansion is sustainable?
• 'Shoot 'em dead', police are told; It seems the gloves are off. South Africa's violent criminals have been warned by Susan Shabangu, the country's deputy security minister, that she wants the police to shoot them dead. Tom Nevin reports on the reaction.
• The great green fuel conversion; Malawi has taken up Brazil's lead and is now planning to switch from petrol to ethanol as the main vehicle fuel. Experiments on converting cars to run on this fuel have gone well and greater use of ethanol will be healthy for the economy. But is this campaign too soon and too ambitious? Lameck Masina reports from Blantyre.
• Spontaeous combustion or organised violence? The world, including most of Africa, was shocked and horrified as mobs in South Africa rampaged against foreigners. Most of the victims were Zimbabweans trying to eke out a bare living. What led to this sudden outbreak of violence? Was it spontaneous or was it organised? Tom Nevin has gathered together a few clues.
• Feed the world: a global emergency.
• The unforgettable fire; Afro-Celtic connections.