Category: African Business

Ban on ageing autos drives Nigerians round the bend Rauful, Abiodun Wheels Cheap old cars imported from Europe have kept many Nigerians on the road in troubled economic times. But now the government wants to stop any more of these ‘tokunbo’ autos from entering the country. An irate public drives home the point that they […]

Shipping newsbriefs Ewans, Graeme In Kenya some 10,000 job applicants who each paid more than Ksh10,000 ($128) to employment recruiting agents for the chance to work on cruise ships out of the United Arab Emirates have been told that there are no jobs. The adverts offering the positions have been described as part of a […]

Attention turns to debt capital as source of finance Siddiqi, Moin A few African countries (excluding S Africa) have taken the first steps to encourage the creation of debt capital markets though the issuing of bonds. Moin Siddiqi explains what these securities are and how the system works. A small but definite trend has emerged […]

Durban racism conference Nevin, Tom AFRICA AND THE WORLD The UN’s conference on racism in Durban created as many fissures as it was designed to heal. But was it altogether a failure or did it throw in sharp relief some of the most vexing issues of the day? Tom Nevin reports. ‘We tried to make […]

Tanzania makes mining a taxing prospect A study by Tanzania’s Commission of Minerals has concluded both high and comAlex taxes have inhibited the growth of the local mining industry. The report was fund- ; ed by the United States International Development Association (USAID) and looked at the state of mining in other African nations. The […]

Somalia: Business under the gun Willems, Peter C O U N T R Y F I L E SOMALIA The 11-year civil war in Somalia has left most of Mogadishu completely destroyed. With no central government to speak of, the capital is still divided between factions each trying to muscle its way into power. Pickup […]

Banking in Africa Siddiqi, Moin Economic growth walking hand-inhand with financial liberalisation is bringing a smile to the normally blank facades of the international financial institutions. They can see reason for renewed optimism. The international financial institutions have been encouraged by signs of tangible recovery and political reforms across Africa, with the World Bank stirring […]

Wide disparity creates SADC hurdle Nevin, Tom THE TOP 200 COMPANIES IN AFRICA Southern Africa The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has reiterated its determination to see a single currency in circulation in the regional bloc by 2016. The biggest hurdle to overcome is the disparity in country GDP growth, inflation rates and monetary values, […]

ART OF THE ADVANTAGE: 36 STRATEGIES TO SEIZE THE COMPETITIVE EDGE, THE THE ART OF THE ADVANTAGE 36 STRATEGIES TO SEIZE THE COMPETITIVE EDGE By Kaihan Krippendorff £14.99 Thomson ISBN 1-58799-178-0 The author of this book begins by telling us that he had been compiling business case studies for several years when, in 1998, his […]

International hotel chains wake up to African potential Trevor Ward In terms of the number of hotel chains currently present in Africa, the continent is still very much behind other regions. However, as Trevor Ward, the managing director of the W Hospitality Group, based in Lagos, Nigeria, explains, the international chains have at long last […]