Nbr. 478, November 2008

Index

• Beauty and beyond Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe: yes, a woman can have it all. Beauty, brains, business acumen, a successful and supportive husband, beautiful family and, to crown it all, a pure heart of gold that puts others before self. Meet Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe, the humble force behind the dynamic and ever-growing South African Fashion Weeks. New African Woman's Regina Jere-Malanda unveils Africa's pretty face of philanthropy.
• Beauty treatments in your kitchen: did you know the ingredients for quite a few natural treatments can be found in your kitchen cupboard? According to health and well-being writer Rosamond Richardson, nature's very best skin and hair conditioners, for example, reside in the olive-oil bottle. It was used by the ancient Greeks, and possibly even before, as the foundation of beauty care.
• Black Muslim women talk their ideal beauty: the issue of "ideal African beauty" has continued to generate diverse reactions since we launched New African Woman five months ago. Here four Muslim women tell Tahira Muhammad what beauty means to them.
• Editor's note.
• Exquisite buys the allure of Dior: Dior has launched their Autumn-Winter 2008, a collection of new fragrances, skincare and cosmetics, and a new fragrance for men.
• Gerry Elsdon "you strike a woman, you strike a rock".
• Good job.
• How to handle commercialised kids.
• India Arie "a lady ain't what she wears, but what she knows".
• Keep it up.
• My "ideal" woman.
• Sisters, I'm Sorry: Wisdom Chitedze, a Malawian poet and singer, writes this (edited) ode of appreciation to the African sisterhood. Go, brother!(MAN'S VIEWPOINT)
• Sophisticated, comfortable shoes for real women.
• Unveiled--the brains behind Gwyneth Shoes: meet sisters-in-law Gwen and Abenaa Frempong-Boadu--the stunning faces behind every woman's must-have accessory--Gwyneth Shoes.
• Women and the rise of raunch culture: sex sells, no doubt. But the selling price has yet to inform buyers of the various lethal externalities involved, from sex trafficking to teenage pregnancy, Khadija Sharife denounces how women are increasingly being reduced to the state of ready-to-consume--a pre-packaged instant mix to be exploited, devoured, admired, pinched, nipped and tucked.
• More history lessons, please.
• Soludo vindicated.
• We want more.
• Alan's beefs.
• Black History Month.
• They stole from us.
• Two Socrates?
• South Africa gets ready for President Zuma: now that the battle for the heart of the ANC has been lost and won, the great imponderable is the question: what lies ahead in the road of a Jacob Zuma presidency? Will it be a dynamo or a domino? Pusch Commey explores some answers.
• The fall of Thabo Mbeki.
• Obama is not (yet) Africa's prodigal son: if we want to understand how an Obama presidency might reshape US foreign policy towards Africa, we need to confront the thorny question of identity politics and take a closer look at his recent history where Africa is concerned.
• A squalid end to empire.
• MPLA decisive victory: Angola's legislative elections on 5 September saw the ruling MPLA win a landslide victory with 81.64% of the vote, reducing the opposition to a residual political force. The main opposition party, UNITA, managed to get a mere 10.39% of the vote and 16 parliamentary seats. What does his portend for the future of democracy in the country? Asks Paula Roque in Luanda.
• Election fever grips Ghana: Ghanaians go to the polls on 7 December to elect a new president and a new parliament. President John Kufuor, having served two terms, is giving way to a new man. But who will he be--the ruling NPP's Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo or the opposition NDC's Prof John Atta Mills? Femi Akomolafe and Stephen Gyasi report.
• We want our looted artefacts back! Supporters of repatriation, in Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa, see the return of the 140-ton Aksum obelisk as a precedent for the restitution of other artefacts looted during the colonial era from many parts of Africa and elsewhere. But would the "democracy-loving" former colonial masters oblige?, asks Professor Richard Pankhurst.
• Fireworks at the TRC.
• Rising piracy threatens global trade: Somali pirates have created a lucrative business, hijacking ships plying in the waters along the country's long coastline. This has forced maritime experts to consider a raft of radical measures, including a total ban on the use of the East Africa coastline or even re-routing ships along the long route around Africa via the cape of good hope. Daniel Ouko reports.
• Think about something positive; Speak, Nana, speak. for, if we perform to our usual standards, we shall do nothing, until one day we wake up to find that we need to import water-most probably from desert countries like Libya or Saudi Arabia which have learnt to harvest water from deep underground, or from machines that turn salty sea water into potable water.
• Delta woes: threaten Nigerian success: the Gulf of Guinea could be standing on the verge of an economic boom, fuelled as ever by its hydrocarbon reserves. Nigeria stands to gain most of all from the promised boom but security fears are beginning to undermine its long-term ambitions. Neil Ford explores why.
• "The world can learn from Africa": while some of the biggest banking institutions in history were on life-support machines, the sense of irony was inescapable as bankers from every region of Africa celebrated the 2nd annual African Banker awards, held at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in Washington DC on the 10th of October.
• CDE our actions are diverse and sustainable.
• End of the free market?
• I will miss George Bush: they are going to miss him, George Bush. The people of America will. And you know what? This may come somewhat as a surprise to you, but I will miss him, too.
• Decision time in America; If Barack Obama is elected on 4 November it will clearly signal the pre-eminence of merit and competence over race in an "indivisible nation" of immigrants transcending their differences to collectively share the same values of freedom and equality under the globalisation of citizenship, argues Hippolyte Fofack, founder of the Nelson Mandela institution and fellow of the African academy of sciences.
• Why I won't vote for Obama: we should be joyful that, for the first time in US history, an African-descended person has mounted a serious challenge for the American presidency. But Ama Biney would not vote for Obama. Here, she explains why.