President Edgar Lungu of Zambia has sacked the Governor of the Bank of Zambia, Dr Denny Kalyalya. In a press statement signed by the Special Assistant to the President on Press and Public Relation, Mr Isaac Chipampe, no reason was given for the termination of Dr. Kalyalya’s appointment.
Dr Denny Kalyalya, Former governor, bank of Zambia
However, Zambian insiders are alluding to the principled stand of Dr Kalyalya in refusing the government of President Lungu, and his ruling party, access to the State treasury, ahead of 2021 general elections. Dr Kalyalya is said to have repeatedly told the government to cut spending and restore fiscal disciplines, a stand that has not gone down well with the President and his party.
Dr Kalyalya, a thorough bred professional who believes in classic central banking came to the job with a long career in both academia and the finance industry. He took over the reins of the Bank of Zambia in 2015 at a difficult time in the life of the country when the price of copper, the country’s main forex earner was experiencing a free fall. But he was able to bring the country back on the right macroeconomic track to attract investors to the admiration of Zambia’s development partners.
President Edgar Lungu of Zambia
Dr. Kalyalya joined the Bank of Zambia in 1996 as Economic Adviser but in 1997 he was seconded to the International Monetary Fund as Special Appointee, Monetary and Exchange Affairs. Before his appointment as Governor, Bank of Zambia, he was Executive Director at the World Bank for 22 African Countries. Earlier, Dr. Kalyalya was senior lecturer in Economics at the University of Zambia where he rose to become the Head, Department of Economics and also Assistant Dean (Post-graduate), School of Humanities and Social Sciences. He was on various government committees including those of the IMF, World Bank and the Paris Club negotiations, the Donors Consultative Group meetings among others.
Many in Zambia have expressed deep disappointment warning that this development might push the economy that is already in recession further down the deep, while some international watchers observe that such cavalier treatment of professionals remains the bane of sustainable development in Africa. Already, South Africa’s Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni has slammed President Lungu for this unfortunate action.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Yesterday we spoke about the comedy of appointing a commercial branch manager as deputy governor in charge of operations at the Bank of Zambia (BOZ). Today we saw it fit that we reinforce this concern by stating, though briefly, the dangers of having such ill qualified individuals at the helm of central banking. No disrespect to them and their families whose salaries have risen exponentially overnight, but it’s important that we realise the danger to the economy beyond a well networked individual.
Hjoe Moono is a Zambian Economist
The PF’s targets to keep the rate of inflation consistently below 10 percent per annum and its performance is judged by the effectiveness of the monetary policy to help achieve the inflation target and maintain and create employment. This dual aim requires a serious understanding of macroeconomics that can never be found or taught in any central banking course or experience acquired from running a branch along Cairo Road.
The USA, for their Federal Reserve Bank, has reserved the role of Chairman for the Reserve Bank to eminent macroeconomists who have devoted their lives to understanding the economy. It is not a fluke that therefore when America sneezes we call catch a cold. Despite continued calls for BOZ autonomy, the PF government has, like its predecessors, made sure that the BOZ remains de facto under the control of the Ministry of Finance and the monetary policy hostage to the fiscal requirements of the government.
Now, more than ever, with huge fiscal deficits, I suspect it should make sense for the government to hold the BOZ even under heavy hostage to its fiscal requirements. Intentionally or unintentionally, whether knowingly or indeed unknowingly, advised or not, the PF led government has now confused the qualifications of a central banker with those of a commercial banker. It has been appointing commercial bankers or persons with no macroeconomics background or policy experience as governors and deputy governors. A commercial banker cannot become an effective governor/deputy governor because he/she is trained in totally different skills. The skills required for central banking and those for commercial banking are like those of an aircraft engineer and a locomotive engineer.
Yes, they are both ‘engineers’, but they engineer different engines so we should not confuse the two at all!By tradition, and as a matter of necessity, the deputy governors used to be selected from among the senior career staff of the BOZ to ensure that an outside governor would have the services of his deputies with practical experience in central banking and institutional memory to provide historical perspective in the management of the BOZ.
The PF-led government has broken this noble and effective tradition and appointed commercial bankers as deputy governors of the BOZ according to the government’s political preferences. The PF-led government is thus making sure that the governors/deputy governors it is appointing are willing to remain under its control. Furthermore, they have to be weak and vulnerable enough to subordinate monetary policy to the financing requirements of the budget and the banking system subject to the interference of the Ministry of Finance.
In a time such as ours when we are faced with huge budget deficits and a falling exchange rate and slogans of Link 8000 and more mega infrastructure to hoodwink votes in 2016, the greatest recipe for economic governance failure is to have puppets at the central bank that will do as instructed without questioning the authorities. We feel the recent appointments may breed such. A grave side effect of the appointment of governors without merit such as being done by PF is that the contribution of the BOZ in macroeconomic policy formulation and in handling the international financial institutions may be questioned heavily, and lead to low confidence in the way we govern our affairs.
A systematic degradation of the office of the governor and deputy governors may be very costly for the country. With a huge budget deficit and high domestic and international debt, we need to guard ourselves against the temptation of resorting to the old trick in the book of printing money, —- the one Uncle Bob next door resorted to when he appointed commercial bankers as central bank governors, or further borrowing.
Indeed, the present state of the BOZ may be deemed poor, but it will go down further if incompetent ‘yes mwami’ men and women are appointed as governors or the government shows an inability to differentiate between commercial and central banking and appoints and sustains other commercial bankers as governors and deputy governors. Unfortunately, it seems the government has already failed to differentiate between the two, and have already fallen prey to the economic governance gimmicks of appeasement and quick fixes.
That said the BOZ needs to understand that it is a professional — not political — institution and that its governors have a statutory national responsibility without having a blind commitment to a particular government. At the same time, the political leadership of the country needs to understand that economic recovery and price stability will come with strengthening, not weakening, vital economic institutions like the BOZ. Recent appointments surely serve to weaken such important institutions.
What is needed at BOZ is a competent macroeconomist with appropriate experience in policymaking to be appointed as the governor and likewise deputy governors too, allowed to function professionally and then held accountable for the formulation and conduct of monetary policy to control inflation and promote private sector investment and economic growth in coordination with fiscal and exchange rate policies.
A submissive governor and an ineffective BOZ do not serve the national interests that even the PF have at their heart. Enough said, the real test of the PF-government will be beyond the qualifications, calibre and competence of the its governors at the bank—It will be their performance in controlling the volatility of the kwacha and keeping inflation at the government target level while promoting growth and employment.
Hjoe Moono is a Zambian Economist
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The Egyptian aviation authorities has said that in preparation for full opening of the airspace and international airports starting September, every passenger onboard its flights to Egypt, regardless of nationality, must have a PCR analysis confirming that they tested negative for coronavirus.The statement explained that this comes as part of efforts by the Egyptian government to combat the spread of Covid-19.
Beginning September 1, all local and foreign passengers must provide a PCR analysis document proving they tested negative for coronavirus within 72 hours of reaching Egyptian territory.
The statement added that passengers can review travel requirements to Egypt and other countries around the world through its website or call center 1717 in Egypt.
Earlier in August, Egypt’s Ministry of Civil Aviationsay it would begin implementing the decision to require all non-Egyptians entering the country to arrive with PCR test results proving they are not infected with the novel coronavirus, part of more stringent procedures to ensure the health and safety of the Egyptian people.
The test must be conducted within 72 hours of reaching Egyptian territory, according to the decision, which was published in Egypt’s Official Gazette.
The decision — implemented on August 15 — applies only to foreigners who do not hold Egyptian citizenship, a statement from the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is working on finding a lasting solution to the continuous trade disagreements between Nigerian businessmen in Ghana and the Ghanaian authorities. This comes as Nigerians continue to protest against what they termed acts of discrimination against them by the Ghanaian government over the years which if left unattended, may snowball into a more serious confrontations.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama
Assuring on the readiness of the subregional body to Wade into the problem with hope to finding lasting solution, the Director, Microeconomic Analysis, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, David Adeosun, who was part of the Federal Government’s delegation at the meeting, said ECOWAS is working on the matter.
The invitation of ECOWAS became necessary as Ghanaian officials sealed off the shops belonging to Nigerian traders in Accra for allegedly failing to have the $1m equity stipulated by the Ghana Investment Promotions Council (GIPC).
In response, the Federal Government of Nigeria faulted the closure of the business premises belonging to Nigerians by the Ghanaian authorities, saying it would consider retaliatory actions.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, had stated that the government might drag Ghana to the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States if found to have breached the sub-region’s Protocol of Free Movement of People.
Commenting on the development at the ECOWAS workshop in Abuja, Adeosun assured aggrieved Nigerians that the issue would be deliberated on at the workshop for proper solution.
He said, “I want to believe that this workshop will equally be able to proffer some solutions in terms of this issue. We shouldn’t give room for member states to see themselves as rivals.“Rather, we should work together and complement each other’s efforts to be able to move the sub-region forward. I want to see ECOWAS as a sub-region that surpass European union.”
At the opening session of the workshop, the Vice President, ECOWAS Commission, Finda Koroma, said the heads of state of various governments adopted the ECOWAS Vision 2020 in June 2007 as a roadmap of transformation of the sub-region into a borderless, peace
Observers are of the view that the recent closure is politically motivated as Ghanaian politicians use the closures to wipe up sentiments from their support base back home for support in the upcoming elections.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
There is significant verbiage but little illumination out there about the trending disputation concerning the provisions of the 2020 Companies and Allied Matters Act on not-for-profits. The petulant intervention of Bishop David Oyedepo of Living Faith Church brought anger rather than light and has inflamed the discourse. The consequence is that it has engaged combatants on either side of the Church versus the State debate rather than reasoned discussion to finetune or discard the legislation.
Chido Nwakanma, Lagos Business School.
Section 839 Chapter 4 of CAMA 2020 borrows part of what exists in other jurisdictions to spell out stipulations for the management of civil society organisations. It grants powers without responsibility. The decision of the Charities Commission in England to penalise the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries therein has suddenly become a justification for the inelegant Nigerian legislation. It is enough to state that while apples and oranges have the same shape and classification as fruits, they differ, nonetheless.
There is a loud hallelujah chorus for CAMA 2020. I share those sentiments in many areas. According to Banwo & Ighodalo Legal Practice, “CAMA 2020 is undeniably a progressive development in the Nigerian business and economic landscape and a big boost to the Ease-of-Doing-Business (EoDB) campaign of the Government. CAMA 2020 provides a robust framework for reforming identified onerous legal, regulatory and administrative bottlenecks which, for three decades, have made doing business in Nigeria substantially difficult (particularly for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)), and impeded investments into Nigeria.” That ululation does not apply to Chapter Four of Section 839. First, we must pivot from the reductionist position that sees the section only in terms of the Church. Or the non-argument that secular authorities cannot regulate churches. Jesus Christ instituted the Church standard, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). Section 839 covers the incorporated trustees of various nonprofits. These are associations “for the advancement of any religious, educational, literary, scientific, social, development, cultural, sporting or charitable purpose.” S839 of CAMA 2020 applies to the operations and activities of private secondary schools and universities, cultural associations, sports clubs, or the Umuode Development Association of my community. It also applies to various NGOs and other CSOs.
It would help to read Section 443-558 on the appointment of administrators for companies in distress alongside a reading of Section 839. Subsection 1 of 839 empowers the CAC to apply to the court, suspend the trustees of an association and replace them with an interim manager(s). Reason? “If It reasonably believes” that there has been misconduct or mismanagement, fraud, to protect the property of the association or in the public interest. Compare this with S571 on winding up of a company. It would only happen if “(a) the company has by special resolution resolved that the company be wound up by the Court; (b) default is made in delivering the statutory report to the Commission or in holding the statutory meeting; (c) the number of members is reduced below two in the case of companies with more than one shareholder; (d) the company is unable to pay its debts; (e) the condition precedent to the operation of the company has ceased to exist, or (f) the Court is of the opinion that it is just and equitable that the company should be wound up.” Did you notice the difference? CAMA 2020 states clear grounds for winding up of a company starting with the intent of the promoters through to compliance failures or indebtedness. Contrarily, the provisions for CSOs are ambiguous and include notably “if it (CAC) reasonably believes” that there has been fraud, misconduct, or mismanagement. In other words, if CAC suspects an organisation, it applies to the court to remove its trustees and take over its affairs. Just like that! Moreover, there is no time limit to the running of affairs by the CAC-appointed and court-sanctioned managers. Then there is the nebulous “public interest” provision. What is that? What does public interest mean here, and who defines it? Suspicion of the motive and intent of Section 839 stems from the nebulous grounds for the intervention of the CAC in the running of CSOs. The provisions are subject to varying interpretation. It comes against the backdrop of the poisoned chalice of mistrust that characterises Nigerian public affairs and governance in the Buhari Years. Only the paranoid survive, Andy Grove famously asserted concerning competition in the microchips market. Paranoia is excusable in Nigeria today. S839 of CAMA 2020 sets a higher bar for CSOs than for even quoted companies. It is a bar that is, at times, invisible and other times unclear. If there is fraud or mismanagement in a company, the trustees would ordinarily involve the law such as invite the police, go to the court or seek arbitration. How is it the business of the CAC? It becomes the business of CAC in the case of CSOs. That brings up the issue of public benefit and the story of the fine on MFM in the UK. The Charity Commission for England and Wales regulates charities in that jurisdiction. Charities are public benefit organisations run by their trustees for the benefit of the charity’s beneficiaries. “An organisation cannot be a charity if it is run in the interests of anyone beyond the charity, including private individuals and public bodies such as local authorities”. The Charities Commission registers all charities. They enjoy grants-in-aid based on their registration. The charity law binds all charities, including those currently exempted from registration. They have an overriding duty to “act prudently and within the law” as in sound corporate governance. The Government intervenes based on the law and because it provides support and a cover for the charities to raise funds.There are various regulators. For instance, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) regulates universities as charities. CAMA 2020 empowers CAC without giving it any responsibilities. CAC will do nothing for not-for-profits in the country but would have the power to take over their operations by appointing a manager to run their affairs on patently nebulous grounds. In an example of lazy legislative drafting, CAMA 2020 borrows aspects of the law from other jurisdictions but fails to go the whole hog. There is no Charities Commission, or will the CAC set up one? S 17 demands plaintiffs to inform CAC in writing 30 days before filing a suit against it. Strange. Then in S19, it disallows freedom of association or action by 20 or more persons running a business unless they register it with CAC. “No association, or partnership consisting of more than 20 persons shall be formed for the purpose of carrying on any business for profit or gain by the association, or partnership, or by the individual members thereof, unless it is registered as a company under this Act, or is formed in pursuance of some other enactments in force in Nigeria.”
CAMA 1990 listed lawyers, accountants, and company secretaries as those who can handle company registration. CAMA 2020 regresses from professions to individuals. S 705 of CAMA 2020 brings in a private body, BRIPAN, and vests it with the sole right for the practice of insolvency in Nigeria. S 839 is just one of many poisonous provisions in the new CAMA that necessitate a re-think of the entire law. It speaks to deleterious sloppiness or malice aforethought. Was there stakeholder engagement at all as should be the norm? There is a need to review the law.
Chido Nwakanma is of the Lagos Business School.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The role of digitalisation of rail transport services across Africa is the focus of a recent forum titled:Africa Digital Rail Forum 2020 hosted by Southern African Railways Association (SARA) in conjunction with Siemens Mobility and Huawei Technologies. This event, which took within the week, focused on “Accelerating Railway Digitalization, Boosting Economic Recovery”. With more than 17,000 people from 300 companies, 22 countries in participation, it provided answers to most of the challenges railway companies have been facing especially in this period.
Due to the global outbreak of COVID-19, most railway companies have been forced to stop services. In light of this, railway operators seek the help of new technologies to navigate these difficulties.
Mr. Hao Guoqiang, President of Global Transportation Development Dept in Huawei Enterprise Business Group shared some ideas from china experience: How to fight against with COVID-19 and how to use this opportunity to accelerate digital transformation in rail industry. He commented: “Here I would like share some of the lessons Huawei learnt from our clients. Lesson 1: The pandemic will accelerate digital transformation of the rail industry. Lesson 2: After the pandemic, the rail industry will rapidly help economic recovery, requiring advanced and unified technology. With these lessons in mind, Huawei is addressing how railways can use new technologies to speed up digitalization, while helping customers at the same time. The new technology like 5G, AI will be used in rail industry.” Read also:20 Finalists Makes it to “Africa’s Business Heroes” Competition 2020
Dr. Joice Chidora, Finance Director of SARA, she shared some thoughts form the regional association side. In the advent of new norm of doing business due to Covid-19 railways, it needs to embrace and catch up with technical advancement in the areas of Digital technologies. She introduced the “JOICE” system – “Joint, Operating, Integrated, Control, Enhanced” and commented “Now is the time that SARA should forge ahead to implement the JOICE system to address the challenges and opportunities brought about by Covid-19.” Read also:12 Years After, Egypt’s Fintech Startup Fawry Is Now Worth Over $1 Billion
Mr. Patrick, Head of Sales and Business Development in Siemens Mobility South Africa, and his team introduced the frontline in the fight against theft and vandalism in Rail with the help of the digitalization. He said “Theft and vandalism is an increasing threat to our rail industry; causing disruptions to operators and negatively affecting commuters lives and freight operations. Using smart infrastructure, Siemens offers solutions that provide for real-time detection of acts of theft and vandalism. Our solutions leverage digitalization and provide innovative ways of identifying these criminal acts to our clients. With this insight, customers can put in effective measures to tackle theft and vandalism.”
Mr. Fang Jun, Senior Transportation Solution Manger in Huawei Enterprise Business Group, commented “The COVID 19 epidemic is surely a challenge but also an opportunity for railway industry. The ‘new normal’ state of the epidemic poses new requirements including agile business deployment. This further accelerates the digital transformation trend of railway industry.”
Huawei is a leading global ICT solutions provider for transportation. It has provided service for over 50 railway builders and operators on 50,000 km globally. Huawei has been actively involved in the railway modernization process in Africa and is dedicated to provide world-class technologies and services for local communications. Huawei digital railway solution has been serving in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and other countries.
Kelechi Deca Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Kenya’s MarketForce360 has made it to this year’s Y Combinator Summer camp joining the prestigious alumni of globally recognized startups such as Stripe, Airbnb, Flutterwave, PayStack, Quora and Dropbox. With this development, MarketForce360 will receive $150,000 from the summer batch of 2020 which ran from June through August. The winter batch runs from January through March. Ordinarily, attendees of the camp have the opportunity for networking and connecting with other leaders and executives of startups across the world. But with the COVID-19 lockdown, this year’s Summer batch program would be remotely attended through virtual office hours, evening talks, and meetups held over video conferencing. The Y Combinator (YC) has funded close to 2,000 startups since it began its program in 2005 and the combined valuation of its portfolio is $100 Billion.
The Kenyan startup enables consumer brands to optimize how they deliver essential goods and services to retailers and consumers by bridging the information gap in last-mile distribution, while maximizing efficiency across the sales and distribution value chain. It equally leverages on the power and availability of mobile devices by enabling both employed and independent field agents to record all customer interactions as they happen in the field, from taking orders and feedback to managing deliveries and payments; and will soon be allowing retail outlets to order and pay for goods directly from their nearest supplier, whenever they need them.
Mesozi Group, owners of MarketForce360 see this development as a sign of greater things to come for the group and also a great year for MarketForce because it recently closed a $350,000 seed investment in May to unlock new revenue streams and build the team’s capacity in East Africa. And this is coming after two bootstrapped years of R&D, building the product, and testing across various industries.
Company sources say that with the quality feedback from its customers MarketForce360 is ready to aggressively grow its customer base as it makes an impact in the expansive African retail and distribution economy. “We are focused on supporting our clients to sell more during this difficult time and plan to raise additional capital within the year to support our efforts,” the source said.
With the YC and Viktoria Business funding, MarketForce 360 is building a suite of solutions which address an African economy where over 90% of the goods and services consumed are sold through an informal network of over 15 million retail outlets and millions of field agents.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The pre-final stage of this year’s African Business Heroes competition has been announced by the Jack Ma Foundation. The project which seeks to discover the continent’s outstanding bankable business idea is in its second year and the 20 finalists are made up of over 50% female candidates from 11 key sectors and 14 countries. The 2020 Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) prize competition, a flagship philanthropic program established by the Jack Ma Foundation’s Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI), has shortlisted the top 20 finalists competing for a spot at this year’s finale. The twenty entrepreneurs are one step closer to the finishing line as they impressed the panel of high-profile judges, and now have a chance to become one of the ten entrepreneurs entering the grand finale, and competing for their share of the US$1.5 million prize pool.
Jack Ma
According to the organizers, the 20 finalists have impressed the judges with their vision and entrepreneurial prowess, and are ready to progress to the semi-final stage of the competition, for a chance to secure a spot at the grand finale. The Program will now enter the next stage where the entrepreneurs representing a wide spectrum of business sectors compete to showcase the best of their entrepreneurial spirit and drive, scaling a tough selection process ahead for a chance to enter the Top 10 at the grand finale.
In a statement from the organizers, these top 20 entrepreneurs have come a long way from the pool of over 22,000 applications that ABH garnered from all 54 African nations earlier this year. The level of female representation is significant (55%) and the average age of the group is 34. They represent 11 key sectors and industries of the African economy, such as agriculture, fashion, education, healthcare, manufacturing, e-commerce, renewable energy, financial services, food & beverage services, retail, transportation, and span 14 countries (Algeria, Benin, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe).
Jason Pau, Senior Advisor for International Programs with the Jack Ma Foundation, said “As we approach the final phases of the 2020 Africa’s Business Heroes competition, I am incredibly impressed by the talent and energy of the entrepreneurs we have met during the selection process. This is no surprise though, as we are aware of the strength of the entrepreneurial spirit of Africa and the unique drive of businesswomen and businessmen in the continent. This strengthens even more the commitment of the Jack Ma Foundation to spotlight today and tomorrow’s African entrepreneurs, supporting them while they build successful businesses and positively impact their local communities”.
On August 18th, the top twenty Africa’s Business Heroes finalists had the opportunity to participate in a second virtual bootcamp, a unique event to exchange and learn from inspiring personalities from the African entertainment, sports and entrepreneurship scene – including Anita Erskine, UN SDG Advocate and ANPI’s Brand Ambassador and Official Host of “Africa’s Business Heroes” program; NBA Hall of Fame inductee and philanthropist Dikembe Mutombo; Sean Tong, Partner at Boyu Capital Advisory and Jack Ma Foundation’s Board Member; and the top three finalists from last year’s debut edition of ABH, Temie Giwa-Tubosun, Omar Sakr and Christelle Kwizera.
The virtual gathering was an extraordinary sharing and networking moment for the participants, who will now have the chance to connect with each other and leverage the synergies while preparing for the semi-finale. Speakers at the bootcamp webinar reminded candidates that despite the current unprecedented circumstances, entrepreneurs who can adapt, be flexible and react quickly will also be able to unlock opportunities. Discipline, passion and dedication are also essential elements to accomplish any dream and goal. Moving forward in the competition, solid communications and storytelling will also be crucial for the finalists to illustrate their business in a compelling and clear way, bringing to life the values that set their business apart and create a positive impact on their communities and across Africa.
Highlighting the investor point of view, Sean Tong emphasized that a great vision should always come with a relentless pursuit of excellence and execution. The digital, connected world we live in makes it an exceptional time for entrepreneurs to launch their ventures, but business leaders are increasingly challenged to learn and adapt fast. He also added: “I am very excited to see the excellent quality of the business projects at Africa’s Business Heroes this year, and the remarkable dedication and passion these entrepreneurs have put into turning them into successful and investable enterprises. While progressing through the competition, it will be very important for the candidates to demonstrate even more clearly the viability of their ventures and how they are able to match their vision with sustainability and profitability. I wish them all the best of luck on this journey and beyond – they are already Africa’s Business Heroes”.
Candidates will now progress to the semi-final stage of the competition, and will face even more intense scrutiny from a 7-judge panel, which will test the solidity of their business plans, their motivation and vision, and ability to clearly articulate why the ground-breaking nature of their ideas can solve pressing problems and catalyze change for society, inspiring others to do the same.The semi-final judges, selected from amongst leading entrepreneurs, VCs and start-up accelerators, and distinguished public figures in Africa, are: Fatoumata Ba – Founder of Janngo, Marième Diop – Investment Manager at Orange Digital Ventures, Hasan Haider – Managing Partner of 500 StartUps, MENA Region,Rene Parker – Director at R Labs,Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard – Founder and Chairman of APO Group,Fred Swaniker – Founder of ALU and Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu – Founder of Sole Rebels & Garden of Coffee.
The selection process to spotlight the 2020 Africa’s Business Heroes finalists will continue over the next few weeks. Following the semi-final pitch, the top 10 finalist roster will be revealed this Fall. ABH will culminate in a grand finale show later this year, where the ten finalists will take the stage to pitch to business mavens, including Jack Ma, Joe Tsai, and Strive Masiyiwa.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The COVID-19 pandemic and its health and economic impacts has forced a global rethink of the current multilateral framework and what it means for the future. For Africa, COVID-19 has served as a wake-up call in many ways. The mitigation measures that were put in place by most countries, globally, to contain the spread of the pandemic, and particularly border closures and lockdowns, resulted in reduced economic activity and supply chain disruptions across the whole world, Africa included. Reduced economic activity has meant demand contraction in Africa’s key markets, who were worse affected by the pandemic, thus depressing export revenues as commodity prices have continued to plummet.
Khaled Sherif, Vice-President, Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery at the African Development Bank
Several African manufacturers have successfully reoriented operations to begin production of Protective Personal Equipment (PPE) and ventilators to meet local demand. However, for the most part, pandemic-related disruptions have exposed African economies’ overdependence on high commodity prices and exports of raw materials to fund basic government services. Together, disrupted international supply chains and domestic lockdowns created a perfect storm in which income, goods or services stopped circulating as economies came to a standstill. No money, no movement, and a realization that most African countries lack economic diversity and resilience.
So, what is to be done? Simply put, there is a need to focus on fundamentals: producing more of what Africa consumes, and consuming more of what Africa produces. This does not mean cutting Africa off from the outside world. However, it does mean focusing first and foremost on the African market and other markets secondarily. It means the need to think about Africa more as a single common market to facilitate scaling up. Producing and consuming locally will facilitate the development of supply chains that will offer small companies, and countries, opportunities to leverage their strengths and specializations and feed into large value chain networks that create more value through production, processing and distribution. And it means raising the standards within African supply chains to enable African firms to produce world class industrial products.
To achieve this, there needs to be a concerted effort to shore up manufacturing in Africa. The demand for manufactured goods is already there, as evidenced by the figures on the import of manufactures. Key to enhancing manufacturing in Africa is improving intra-African trade through the effective operationalization of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which would spur industrialization. The COVID-19 crisis has shown that enhanced industrial production in Africa is entirely achievable, especially as countries have struggled to source inputs and products from overseas. African industries do have the potential to respond to demand and in fact, there is potential to leap-frog into advanced manufacturing and create the required capacity to produce quality world class goods.
By extension, the pandemic has also exposed the vital importance of economic capacity not only for socioeconomic development and industrialization but to enhance resilience against crises and exogenous shocks that often occur without warning. Building on existing regional strategies for disaster risk reduction, there is also a need to factor in how pandemics present a multi-dimensional set of risks that require integrated responses to mitigate systemic risks.
The capacity to locally manufacture the basics that are critical during emergencies—foodstuffs, clothing, shelter—and building the markets and supply chains needed to ensure a good supply of these, would contribute significantly to GDP, income and job creation.
The question becomes how to build the markets and supply chains needed to ensure Africa can provide for itself, including during emergencies. For example, Africa has several agricultural commodities on which regional value chains can be constructed. These alone would contribute significantly to GDP, incomes and job creation while also paving a shift into the manufacture of light intermediate goods (e.g., wood products, textiles and leather) adds to the range of possibilities. As Africa builds more critical mass, the continent would increasingly move investment into distribution, data transmission and services to ensure these goods make it to market. Financing and insurance are needed across the spectrum, as are all the skills of the youth and specialists who can help manage the IT and logistics that leverage digital capabilities. This will create high paying, skilled jobs for Africa’s youth. In other words, there is a need to take a horizontal view of value creation and maximize opportunities to generate these in Africa, for African economies, African businesses, African workers and African consumers.
So how can this be achieved? Fulfilling the African Development Bank’s High 5s priorities: Light Up and Power Africa; Feed Africa; Industrialise Africa; Integrate Africa; and, Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa, would address these challenges on multiple fronts and instrumentalize a tightly interconnected African market. The High 5s address the continent’s demonstrated need for power generation to electrify households and industries; enhanced transport links to connect African countries by land, sea and air; ICT for communication and digital management of logistics; financial markets to integrate for more and better financial flows for business enterprises to flourish and to meet household needs; and agribusinesses that rely on the latest seed and other technology to produce the crop yields needed to sustain Africa’s fast growing populations.
By producing what it consumes and consuming what it produces as its countries and businesses progress up the value chain, Africa can build wealth, opportunity and resilience and ensure the successful realisation of Agenda 2063.
Khaled Sherif is the Vice-President, Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery at the African Development Bank
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The high number of Nigerians who heaped praises on the coup plotters in Mali and their civilian supporters show that Africans are yet to understand that the world has moved on. My take stems from the fact that most of those who eulogise that development don’t know the country, have never stepped foot in Mali and have little understanding of how complicated that country has become in the last decade.
Undoubtedly, Mali has one of the richest histories of any country in West Africa dating back to 1300 when the Mali Empire was a global centre mathematics, astronomy, literature, and art. One of the recorded efforts by Africans to explore other lands was by Abu Bakr II (Abubakar the Voyager) who was the 9th Mansa of Mali. Abu Bakr II abdicated his throne in order to explore “the limits of the ocean”. He it was who first landed in the Americas 200 years before Christopher Columbus. Abubakar was said to have been driven by the quest to explore whether the Atlantic Ocean – like the great River Niger that swept through Mali – had another ‘bank’.
In 1311, he abdicated the throne over to his brother Mansa Musa (who squandered thousands of tons of gold during his extravagant pilgrimage to Mecca) and set off on an expedition with 2000 ships to cross the Atlantic. Abu Bakar was one of two sons of Cheikh Anta Diop, a sister of the founding emperor Sundiata Keita. Unfortunately, like many other African glory stories, this is where the greatness ended. I was not in any way deceived by the stupid coup led by a testosterone fired overgrown adolescent in a soldier’s uniform because I know the country and the people, and I also know that nothing positive may likely come off it. This is the 4th time Mali is experiencing this type of ‘messianic” intervention and only one had what could be described as a positive impact. And that was the coup that was ushered in during the March Revolution of 1991 after the massacre of students by the armed forces overthrowing the government of Moussa Traore who himself overthrew President Modibbo Keita in 1968. The March Revolution was expected to bring back the glory days of Mali because it witnessed the first time soldiers dropped their guns and uniforms to join protesters in calling on the President to resign.
The protest led to a coup led by Lieutenant Colonel Amadou Toumani Touré who quickly organized a Constitution Conference that ushered in a democratically elected Alpha Oumar Konaré in 1992-1997-2002. That was a period Mali was regarded as Africa’s bastion of democracy because they were the first to witness a democratically elected president hand over to another democratically elected president under a truly multi-party system. After then, everything started going south. In January 2012 a Tuareg rebellion began in Northern Mali, led by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA). They received support from Al Quida in the Maghreb and wrecked havoc on one of the greatest historical sites and an oustanding UNESCO heritage site in Timbuktu.
And in March 2012, another ‘Messianic” military officer Amadou Sanogo seized power in a coup d’état, citing Touré’s failures in quelling the rebellion, and leading to sanctions and an embargo by the Economic Community of West African States. Mali is very complicated such that even with a population that is 95% Muslim, issues of ethnicity has successfully trumped religion. Naturally, humans will always seek for and hide under identitarian umbrella as long as there is struggle for survival. With the Tuaregs and their Al-Qaida supporters causing havoc in the northern Timbuktu region, central Mali province of Mopti is embroiled in clashes with the Dogon and the Bambara one one side, against the pastoral Fulani people. They have been fighting over access to land and water, and trying to stop the Fulani from moving into new areas.
To achieve this, the Dogon and the Bambara have well armed militia groups and vigilantes that track and keep an eye on the Fulani movements as they believe the Fulani is aligned with the al-Qaeda. The Malian problem is so multifaceted that some inexperienced misguided soldiers cannot solve them. With huge natural resource base that comprise of Africa’s 3rd largest Gold Reserve, uranium, phosphates, kaolinite, and limestone, Mali is the attraction to a dangerously weaved international criminal exploitation with backing of some of the world powers led by France. They will ensure the country remains ungovernable until its resources are considerably exploited and depleted and its people made worthless. With an excess of 17,400 tonnes of uranium, Mali will not be free. It is one of the poorest countries in the world with average income per capita per annum less than $900 and a birth rate of 45.53 births per 1,000, and the total fertility rate of 6.4 children per woman.
Moreso, the country has one of the world’s highest rates of infant mortality, with 106 deaths per 1,000 live births; this encourages poor families to have far more kids as insurance for those that won’t make it. These are the best cooking ingredients needed for massive underdevelopment exemplified by sustained poverty, rising crime, ignorance, and high insecurity. Like Mauritania, slavery persists in Mali with as many as 200,000 people held in direct servitude to a master. In the Tuareg Rebellion of 2012, ex-slaves were a vulnerable population with reports of some slaves being recaptured by their former masters.
So when you eulogise this recent madness, and highlight the point that because of their religious homogeneity, the people can rise and fight together, how come they have not invoked same religious uniformity to build a prosperous society close to what their forefathers achieved? Bamako is the only city one can drive up to 50km radius in assumed safety. Venture out of the city bounds; you are on your own. Inspite of the negatives Mali has some of the most beautiful and friendliest people in Africa.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
