BREATHING LIFE INTO THE NDP

SOUTH Africans currently face what one might consider a serious predicament. We all seem interested in moving forward, creating a better life, building a great nation, but are torn on how to get to this Promised Land, precisely because while others are talking to the future, our country seems to be drowning in the present.

We are confronted with so much, from claims of state capture, to Guptaleaks, to countless no-confidence motions and virtually every other man-made crisis you can think of.  Just the thought of it all makes achieving progress seem overwhelming. Despite it all, we have little choice but to pursue progress in the interest of our nation, our collective future and that of the next generations. As Oscar Wilde put it, “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars”. 

The adoption of the National Development Plan (NPD) in 2012 as a blueprint for government planning, for a moment heralded a sense of hope and ample opportunity for South Africans across all divides. In particular, it presented hope for millions experiencing poverty, characterised by high levels of inequality, lack of opportunity and joblessness.

Its adoption signaled the unfolding of a roadmap towards the socio-economic development. The moment almost resembled and carried with it hopes and aspirations similar to those created by the Reconstruction and Development Programme ("RDP"). At the core of the RDP was an integrated, coherent socio-economic policy aimed at mobilising citizens as well as the country’s resources towards building a democratic and prosperous nation. 

The NDP sought to carry the same sentiment. In its foreword it makes the point that SA belongs to all its people and the future of our country is our collective future. Making it work is also our collective responsibility.

The NDP is essentially a plan to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030 through uniting South Africans, unleashing the energies of citizens, growing an inclusive economy, building capabilities, enhancing the capability of the state and leaders working together to solve complex problems. Among its targets is the creation of 11-million jobs by 2030. Key economic targets include increasing the investment rate to 25% of the GDP by 2019 and reducing official unemployment to 14% by 2020.

Five years after its adoption, and with 13 years to its expiry, the country seems – despite the bold assertions made – to be stagnating if not regressing. A few months ago SA entered a technical recession. Contrary to creating much needed job opportunities, it haemorrhaged jobs.

Of great concern is that at the centre of these challenges continues to be a peculiar stand-off between the most important role players – government, business and communities. This, at the time when they ought to be working together towards finding common solutions.

To illustrate the point, I draw attention to the quagmire around the adoption and or lack thereof, of the revised Mining Charter, now a bone of contention between government, the mining sector and communities.

The latest Mining Charter released by the Mineral Resources Ministry has drawn so much condemnation from business that it is now the subject of a court battle between the ministry and the Chamber of Mines. The revised Charter is straining relations in a sector already under strain as is seen through the large volumes of job losses.

Since 2012, an estimated 70000 jobs have been lost in mining. Just a few weeks ago, Sibanye Gold announced it could cut 7400 jobs at its Beatrix West and Cooke operations. This was against the backdrop of an announcement by AngloGold Ashanti that it was looking to cut 8500 jobs at two of its local mines. Meanwhile Bokoni platinum mine in Limpopo plans to retrench up to 2651 employees.

Private sector blames government for political instability, policy uncertainty and senseless decision-making. Government blames business for a lack of patriotism and interest and an inability to transform the economy.

And as the adage goes, when two elephants fight, it’s the grass that suffers. According to Stats SA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey, national unemployment in the first quarter of 2017 increased by 1.2 of a percentage point to 27.7%, the highest figure since September 2003.

As conceded by the Statistician-General Pali Lehohla, by any means, the gap between the unemployment rate as envisaged in the NDP and the current rate is widening.

As the sideshows continue, the jobs bloodbath goes on unabated. It is India’s Mahatma Gandhi who reminds us, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”. That’s a situation we ought to avoid at all costs. We need to adopt collective and dual strategies to deal with the political and economic challenges while breathing life into the only strategic document that still carries the potential to deliver us into our Promised Land.

We must continuously echo the sentiment that SA’s progress rests on the ability of government, business, labour and communities to work together. National interest must transcend sectoral and individual interest and deliver hope and opportunity to the most vulnerable; if not we are in for an inevitably nasty time – the type alluded to by Jean-Jacques Rousseau when he said, “When the people shall have nothing more to eat, but the rich”.

It’s time to turn to the NDP into a people’s contract, to move it from a plan, to a national action and let everyone reap its rewards.

Sango Ntsaluba is Executive Chairman of NMT Capital; Co-founded

SizweNtsalubaGobodo and Co-founder of venture Capital firm WZCapital.

Power to the people

August 2015

When I was in Abu Dhabi recently, specifically on 6 August 2015, I had time to page through a publication titled “Philanthropy Age” Issue 8, June-August 2015. The sub title (in case that matters) was “Power to the people".

The two sections that caught my eye were the one with interesting statistics under the section “Bright young things"(pg 13) and the other one under the section "The world in 2025" (pg 26).  I have to say, for completeness, that the publication is looking more at this part of the world.

“Bright young things"

“According to a poll of more than 2500 global entrepreneurs, the Middle East and South Asia region offers fertile ground for start-ups". It continues that Turkey and India, by way of example, outrank mature markets such as the United Kingdom and United States of America when it comes to supporting entrepreneurial activities. The same section refers to a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) which shows that there is an emergence of New Wealth Builders (NWBs) which is influenced by changing patterns of prosperity. NWBs are those with assets between $100 000 and $2million. The NWBs, according to the EIU, hold around $88 trillion globally, expected to be about $145 trillion by 2020.

“The age at which entrepreneurial urge kicks in is falling. Entrepreneurs who are 60 years old today first considered going into business when they were 37 years old. Current business-savvy youth, in contrast, start out at an average of 30 years and one month"

“The world in 2025"

The contributors to this section offer their predictions on how the industry (should we say the world) will change “for good or bad over the next decade".

“Gender: closing the gap”

"Worldwide, women are still not equal to men. They earn less, they are highly vulnerable to violence and they are under-represented at every level of leadership". The Author, Musimbi Kanyoro continues “I would like us to look back over a decade that saw exponentially more funding for women's rights - especially for the grassroots women's groups we know are the best mobilizers of lasting change.

“Aid:  the long game”

“The days of handing out basic pots and pans and plastic sheeting to desperate refugees must end". According to the Author of this piece, “Refugees are no longer a short-term concern. The involvement of the private sector in this regard is critical. The Author concludes that “By 2025, our intervention methodologies must be on preventing disaster, rather than responding to it. If we fail, the consequences will be vast”.

“Youth employment: a tipping point”

“Education and employment top the list of issues set to create an outsized impact on the future of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The Author, Ron Brunder, quotes “the International Labour Organisation forecasts regional youth unemployment will rise to 30 per cent by 2018", and further states that “many predict the situation will only worsen through 2025". "A decade from now, the region will witness a deepening crisis with social, political and economic reverberations". On the positive side, the Author is of the view that “massive improvements in the employment outlook for youth will unleash tremendous creative energy and growth".

 “Over the next decade, the private sector has a chance to drive a transformation in Education and Workforce Development Practices". If this is done by the private sector “Classroom education will be more closely aligned with the skills that companies need and we'll see the first signs of the Education systems and business working together to anticipate future skills needs".

“Mobile Money: complex cash”

"Mobile money did not exist 10 years ago and it may not exist 10 years from now". “In the next decade, we may see the mobile wallet torn asunder by the draw of informal, unregistered services on the one hand, and the freedom to choose among any service through mobile data and smart phones, on the other". According to the Author, Tillman Bruett, “we could see a growing pay-as-you-go economy, with banks and regulated deposit taking institutions, the likely platforms for these digital transaction accounts”.

“Migration: winds of change”

“Migration or human mobility will be a mega trend well beyond the first half of this century". The Author, William Lacy Swing, identifies the need for a change of the narrative about migration.

"From the current negativity, to reflect the historical reality that migration has always been overwhelmingly positive". The second challenge “is to help countries learn to manage social and economic diversity as well as ethnic and business diversity". The next five years will be very difficult, but beyond that the issue will become less complex simply because societies will recognize that they are only hurting themselves by not bringing their policies on migration up to date".

Over the next decade the Author hopes "to see more countries passing laws as to allow dual citizenship and to see regulations that support portability of social security benefits".

“Education: beyond the classroom”

“There are 58 million primary-age children across the globe today without access to education. What is more worrying is that a further 250 million primary-age children are not able to read, write or count adequately". The author, Tariq Al Gura, identifies education as “a central driver of social and economic change". "It is a primary mechanism to tackle poverty, increase income, reduce conflict and aid sustainability". The author is looking forward, amongst other things, to "seeing more and better prepared, better compensated and better supported teachers across the developing world".

As we acknowledge that governments have a pivotal role to play in these factors, the question to ask is, what is the role of business, the intelligentsia and especially the black middle class in addressing these challenges?

As we solve the problems of today and yesterday, can we pause to look at these predicaments and integrate solutions in our daily lives to provide leadership on these challenges of tomorrow.

Sango Ntsaluba

“A humbler SA would be a good thing for Africa”

An article written by Adeyeke Adebajo with the above heading , two days before our national and provincial elections which are going to be a resounding success and declared free and fair, which appeared in the Business Day  on page 9 (Monday 5  May 2014), makes for interesting reading.

Adeyeke make various points which I agree with but there are areas which I feel that for South Africans in particular and Africans in general it would be reckless if they are left unchallenged.

The fact that now Nigeria has GDP greater than that of South Africa is an achievement which should be celebrated by all Africans. In fact, what we should be talking about is, how the other African countries could also grow their GDP. But as Adeyeke no doubt knows, in addition and probably more important than the size of the GDP, is the GDP per capital because that is a measure, at least on average, of the welfare of the citizens.

The other measures which he does not comment on, are the size of the budget deficit, efficiency of tax collection, development of the financial markets which all point to stability and maturity of an economy. South Africa must not chase size but rather the quality and sustainability of its economy.

The list of the achievements of Nigeria which Adeyeke lists with pride, and with very little humbleness, like football are quite impressive.

For South Africans though:

This notion that South Africans must be humbler must be rejected, if only because I am not aware of who else is humble in this African continent, not least my fellow Africans from Nigeria.

Whilst I admire the success of the Nigerian movie industry which Adeyeke deals with in some detail and I personally enjoy the movies from Nigeria I equally admire the impressive malls created by South African companies in the rest of the continent and as I travel around in the continent, I hope to see more for the convenience they bring. Don't Africans deserve good things too?

I have no means of measuring, as Adeyeke does, of who is a talented intelligentsia, what I do know is that South Africa has produced academics, and professionals recognized the world over. You have only to look at the scientists and chartered  accountants, to mention but a few.

South Africans must be wary of the division propagated by Adekeye between black and white. I am not convinced that it is in the interest of South Africa for black South Africans to disown their white compatriots. I have seen no benefits from that, at least from the other African countries. What South Africans must do, is to continue to work towards a truly inter grated society that shares economic benefits, knowledge and resources in an equitable manner recognizing their painful past.

South Africa and Nigeria must take economic charge of Africa

I am sure all of us have been hearing terms almost in a nauseating way “it’s Africa’s century", Africa is a sleeping giant" and many more.

It's simple, we need leadership and boldness from both Nigeria and South Africa. I am not even sure what these unseemly squabbles which are tangential are all about. Whatever they are about, they must not take our attention from the fact that we need these powerful countries to be in the forefront of practical economic activity in our continent, Africa. I am told (from the Financial Times article that was published on 03 June) that a Harvard professor, Graham Allison, uses the term " Thucydides trap"  which the same article says its a tendency, first observed by Greek historians, for a rising power to clash with a ruling power. I am not here to analyse who is who but we must leave this tendency alone.

Both countries present high levels of business innovation, wealth of natural resources, are cash flush, etc. In taking the leading role, they should look at:

1. investing in other African countries in a big way;

2. developing their domestic manufacturing capabilities; and,

3. promoting entrepreneurial funding to encourage their entrepreneurs to get on with it.

As things stand, Africa is a looting place, a free for all, except for Africans. Africans continue to play in the periphery and maybe they are taking the Anglican creed recited before the Holy Communion that “we are not worthy to pick the crumbs underneath the table" too far.

We would like to see more Nigerian businesses and investors in South Africa more than we see Chinese investors and also South African businesses must get into Nigeria, but not in this trial and error way of extreme caution.

So, what needs to be done first? Business people know, let's get on with business.

THE BLACK SOUTH AFRICAN MILLENNIALS AND BORN FREES ARE IN A TIGHT CORNER

My heart goes to the enormous challenges faced by black South African millennials (1982-1995) and born frees (1994- to date). These challenges are in addition to their generational challenges which I classify as those of their own doing or, at least, those over which they have a great measure of control.

This group is caught within a triangle which makes it very difficult if not impossible to escape.

At the top of the triangle is lack of ethical leadership.

On the left is lack of creative or enterprising leadership.

On the right is lack of economic resources.

Never in my experience have I ever heard of a liberated people who must fight to emancipate themselves from failures of others before they start to look at how they can release their potential.

The ethical leadership manifests itself in the following practical ways, at least:

·         Failure to provide this group with a proper education system that equips them for the future.

·         Failure to deal with corruption decisively so that resources of the country are not squandered.

·         Failure to embed a culture of accountability as this creates an impression that failure has no consequences.

On the left:

·         Adults continuously blame government and shift their responsibility of parenthood.

·         Able bodied adults who don't want to do anything for themselves (they don't even want to paint by themselves a house given to them by government).

·         Adults who refuse to explore other possibilities for survival when traditional means are no longer viable ( e.g, who wants to go back to plough the fields when jobs are no longer available in the mines)

·         Adults who have eroded the black traditions and values and have passed nothing to the next generation.

On the right:

·         False expectations are being created that if people spend enough time at hotel lobbies waiting for or discussing deals, wealth will come soon.

·         Our white compatriots who are still by far the captains of industry unwilling to give this group any opportunity.

·         Endless  and meaningless discussions about rich black people instead of acknowledging that wealth has not shifted at all from our white compatriots.

·         Lack of bold steps by those in authority to embark on serious programmes to help this group with economic means (not grants) so they can take their chances.

I hope these millennials and born frees will understand what Steve Biko meant when he wrote “Black man you are on your own".

NOW, BLACK MELLENNIALS AND BORN FREES, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN.

SOUTH AFRICA MUST TAKE ITS PLACE ONE DAY IN THE WORLD STAGE: JULY 2012

Sometimes one cannot always discuss South Africa without making reference to the rest of the African continent. This is so because the rest of the world, sometimes rightly or wrongly, will attribute certain behavioral patterns to Africans with no care whatsoever whether you are from the South, East or anywhere else in Africa.

I was taken aback by two issues on the recent trip I had to the East. This was in South Korea and in Vietnam.

The first striking thing was the absence of Africans, everywhere I went in these countries, even in the markets where you might think African traders would be present. The assumption they make there is that if you are black, you are American.

It was quite clear that in these countries they do not receive any significant number of Black South Africans, I guess they would not know where our white compatriots come from, in fact, they might be surprised if they come from Africa at all.

The surprise they had, was not derogatory like in the west, where people think wild animals still roam the streets in Africa.

I was particularly shocked by all this in Korea (they don't call it South Korea) because as late as few months ago, a Korean telecoms company wanted to buy a significant interest in Telkom.

Whilst this was a shock, it pointed to immense unexplored opportunities by South Africans to go to markets they are not in, if they have something to offer.

The second shock was an identity one.

As far as Easterners are concerned there is only East and West in the world. Since, as an African, I am not from the East I am therefore from the West.

When people continuously tell you that " we don't do things like you do in the west" you get tired of telling them that you are an African and not from the West in the sense of what they say.

For the first time, I asked myself, if I keep arguing that I am an African but continue to behave, in all manners like somebody from the west, what makes me different in their eyes? Is our being African reduced only to looks and the texture of our hair?

It's about time that South Africa take up their rightful place in the world stage and assert. My only concern is that we are so absorbed and consumed  by our internal petty issues that we forget that there is space waiting for us in the world stage to be occupied but we have to go out there and take it.

18 YEARS SINCE INDEPENDENCE: WHERE IS OUR HOPE

With the apartheid era fading from collective memory a new question arises, when will the next generation, especially black youth up to the age of 27, be truly independent? I feel that this question should come in the context of the South African youth being compared to other African youths.


Africans from the rest of Africa, from my personal observation, demonstrate admirable confidence, and have an extensive knowledge of their history and culture. It could be that this is due to the fact that some of my African compatriots were liberated from the 1960s and have had ample opportunity to find a sense of self, this is shown by the large number of Africans who have gone abroad and established themselves beyond their borders.

South African black youth, still in their formative years, seem to lack the ability to rebel at being treated as second class citizens, which classification their African counterparts have long rejected. This rejection form the basis of free and independent Africans who are comfortable with themselves and are equal to anyone, who are willing to explore and learn, and possess no inferiority complex due to being African.

One has to acknowledge though that whilst our education system is still one of the major drawbacks to unleash this potential, the few who have come out the private and model C schools and thus have escaped the less than ideal public education system should begin to form the nucleus of this movement to independence

They are a generation which hopefully shall not require BEE to assist them to get into business, they shall not require initiatives such as affirmative action to get opportunities in the corporate world, they shall demand their place in the corporate world, and they shall unleash creativity and innovation that will help them release their business acumen with no need of government support

It is therefore important for this generation, from day one, to learn from their African counterparts as to what it means to be a free African in terms of values, demands, aggression and self self-reliance

Whilst the intention is not to put pressure on this generation, it is important for one to realise that as a black community in SA for the first time in almost 300 years, we have a group of people to showcase and pin our hopes on. It is now up to each and every one of them to wake up tomorrow, understanding the very ideal position they are in, to decide how they will take advantage of the vast amount of space afforded to them, to think, to express, to enjoy, to be free.

It's a very interesting continent, my continent.

It's a very interesting continent, my continent.

I was yet on another journey via Nairobi in Kenya. By the way, if there is one thing Kenya Airways has done well, is the creation of an African hub, Nairobi. Once in Nairobi it's far easier to get a flight to Freetown, Monrovia or even Djibouti or Khartoum, to mention but a few.
So once you are at Jomo Kenyatta airport, you have a better chance of observing fellow Africans in their natural habitat. I think a number, when they get to Johannesburg are not their usual self or those who get to Johannesburg are of a particular breed.
This time there was a group of East Africans going to Libreville for the finals of the AFCON, between Zambia and Ivory Coast (sorry Cote d’Ivoire) which was to be played on Sunday, 12 February 2012. Don't forget South Africa is hosting, by default, in 2013, yes I did say 2013.
Now there are interesting observations.
The group from Somalia is not very good at observing the queues. I reached a conclusion that queues are a luxury of civilization, which is easily dispensed with, when there are other pressing needs.
There were officials of football associations of various East African countries. I pity the South Africans that want some CAF positions. It's a clique/a club. The luxury of South Africans waiting for one person to talk at a time was not on the agenda. So, you needed your voice to be very loud to get a piece of the ears. I entertained myself, puzzled at the same time and hoping that when they are in formal meetings they do things differently.
Out of the 16 people in the business class, there was only one white person. Now this is what you can't miss in the continent. One of the reasons is of course that it is the continent of black people predominantly, but the other one is that if you cannot take harsh conditions get out of the African continent. I don't include South Africa which is referred to as, Africa for beginners.

People who are 40 years old and those that are 31 years old

Let us begin with a bit of arithmetic, move to logic and finally to why all of this.

If in the year 2011 you are 40 years old that means you were born in 1971. If you are 31 years old that means you were born in 1980. Ok, even if this is not arithmetically accurate, the margin of error would be very small to be of any consequence.

Now, if you were born in 1971 that means:

You could not have participated in the 1976 uprisings, because you would have been 5 years old. There is a possibility that you did not go to exile because when Tata Madiba was released from jail in 1990, whey you were 14 years old, the numbers of people "skipping the country" , for the first time, were very low if it was still happening.
If you have any tertiary education, it means some of the years of your tertiary studies would have been under the democratically elected government.

If you were born in 1980, what does it mean?

When South Africa became a democracy in 1994, you were 14 years old and therefore all your high school education, if you have it, could not have been Bantu Education. I do not believe the democratically elected government could have taught people Bantu Education.

It also so means that you did not vote in 1994.

So, where are we going with all of this…

I do not know Mr Fikile Mbalula enough to know his age. I only gathered in the media, specifically some of the print media on Friday 28 October 2011 that he turned 40 this year, 2011. I also understand that " there are some amongst us" who would like to see him being the Secretary General of the ANC sooner. If that were to happen in 2012' as an example, he would be 41 years old.

Ms Lindiwe Mazibuko has just become the DA's parliamentary caucus leader at 31 years old. Some of the same Friday newspapers are even talking about her moving higher.

Let me declare before I proceed, that I am not a fan of politics. I am a business person and very happy at that. My point below is not about politics but about a different "new" generation.

So, it's possible that when South Africa goes to vote in 2014, there will be people who are from the different generation who will have a lot of influence on policy matters. I am hoping that South Africa will go back to discussing policy matters.

This is not necessarily about these two individuals, because they say a day is too long in politics, but I have no doubt that by the time we get to 2014 people born in 1971 and people born in 1980 will be in very influential political positions in South Africa.

This makes me so excited and those that are in their 20's today (28 October 2011) will have a huge responsibility then, because some would be voting for the second time. Their views and decisions would be very crucial.

I have written before about young people but it looks like they are now taking their rightful place.

Help us God, The All Mighty, to be around then to witness this era of significant change is our country.



Sango Ntsaluba

Reconciliation in South Africa will be set back by the R750 000 payment - September 2011

The taste, the settlement reached by Mr Bees Roux and the family of the late Tshwane traffic Sergeant Johannes Mogale, is not a sweet one at all. The timing of it all is very unfortunate indeed.

Sadly, it comes at a time when black communities are increasingly asking themselves whether the call by former President Nelson Mandela for the nation to open their hearts towards reconciliation has not been exploited by some.

My heart goes to Mrs Mogale who has been robbed of her husband. The Saturday Star (September 10,2011)" reported that Mogale's wife, Margaret, sat quietly in the front row of the court, and only spoke when the judge asked her if she was satisfied with and agreed to the details of the plea agreement. She did not speak to the press and quite honestly what was she supposed to say, this was not a match of equals and we will never be sure if the justice system could or even should not have done better for her.


It gets even worse when the same paper quotes Taukobong, the late Mr Mogale's uncle, as saying that “she (Mrs Mogale) was relieved that the saga was over and that she could now finally concentrate on raising her children". The family of the late Mr Mogale is quoted by the same paper as having said "...The Bible says you must forgive in order to be forgiven...."


Many years ago when I used to go to Sunday school I remember we were told that the Bible also says “Thou shall not kill!"

I hope I do not come across as judgmental but I hope that those who know the law better will tell us that justice has indeed been served. I also sincerely hope that those who know the bible better will tell us what should or will happen to those who kill.

I hope the reconciled world that Mr Mandela hoped for has not been set back by the
R750 000 payment.

I hope the timing of this event does not add to the growing list of concerns that black people are being asked to dig even dipper into their reconciliation reserves when other people seem to offer very little.

May Mr Mogale's soul Rest in Peace

WE ARE 17 YEARS INTO OUR DEMOCRACY: August 2011

There is a sense of discomfort as we approach 20 years of our democracy. At 17 years into our democracy, we are nearing the period when panic begins and people start to take a hard look at economic gains made or not made.

Former President Mbeki once said "As a consequence of the victories we have registered during our first ten years of freedom, we have laid a firm foundation for the new advances we must and will make during the next decade." Keep this in mind as we look into some of the recent developments in South Africa.

Post 17 years since our political freedom, don’t we hear voices from a distance urging us to get on with “new advances” as advocated by former President Mbeki when we were only 10 years into our political freedom? Seemingly, the voices are calling for economic freedom or emancipation.

I do not wish, at all, to be part of the chorus on privatization mainly because it sounds like a choir with no conductor. What I want to be part of is a sober but urgent discussion that accepts that South Africa has not made the economic gains for all its citizens as was expected in 1994.

The prerogative of our struggle was political freedom. Our Bill of Rights originates, in its preamble, with " We, the people of South Africa, recognising the injustices of our past..."

It continues to state the values that include "human dignity; all adults will be able to vote; there will be regular elections..., etc". It is clear and understandable that our constitution was mainly concerned with restoration of our dignity and entrenching our political rights.

There seems to be a belief that political stability is one “…of the victories we have registered…”. The question now is whether a lot of the “noises” are not arising from those who believe that it’s now time for economic emancipation.

There are a number of questions which will be asked, amongst them being whether the various pieces of legislation which sought to empower previously disadvantaged people are not adequate.

I seem to hear a response that says so far we have been tinkering in the periphery and now it’s time for a comprehensive economic struggle. There can no longer be a piecemeal and half-hearted approach but a whole movement needs to be behind the economic revolution.

The problem of not having a comprehensive approach is that we will have disjointed and uncoordinated noises, like those that are happening around privatization. Each group will seek to protect their current positions rather than to conduct honest assessments no matter how hard it is.

I hear voices, that sadly will not be silenced soon, that say there is a need, and an urgent one for that matter, for the economic freedom to begin now. Let us ignore the noise but we must please listen carefully to the voices.

Sango Ntsaluba

Is the World listening to What Young People are saying?

Yes! it is young people again who have had enough and are doing something about that, starting in North Africa, Tunisia to be specific. What I am not sure is whether the world understands and hears what they are saying. The world seems to be reacting to what they want to hear and obviously preferring not to hear the other messages that are uncomfortable to the ‘peaceful” world.

In the conference I have just attended in London the stability and corruption indexes showed Tunisia, as shining star, very stable and almost imuned of corruption. These are indeces updated to 2010.

The European community was in the process of finalising yet another arms deal with Libya when the young people gate crashed and spoilt the party.

The Financial times of 3 March, carried one of the articles”UAE offers poor states $1.5 billion. Ask why now?

The starting question being asked by young people seem to be a simple one of “who gave you this right to want to rule us forever”. This is against the backdrop of where most of these rulers were already lining up their family members to take over from them. The questions which I get a feeling the world is closing their ears to are directed at most countries regarded as democracies and have to include:

1.Why are you messing up with our future? The question is directed at countries that collect huge amounts of money from taxpayers and do not develop proper education and training policies and do not adequately invested in education related infrastructure.

2.Why is there so much unemployment of Young people? Look at most of the countries and check the young (up to 35 years) peopleunemployment ratse. It is scary for people whoshould be starting to establish themselves.

3.Why do you continue to trade and do business with despots?
It is amazing that to date, I have yet not heard the voice of the AU on all what is happening.Their silence is deafening,but I can understand. They are confronted with the biblical “let the one who has no sin throw the first stone”. Most are waiting and hoping that this is a passing wave and they will ride it and continue to do what they were doing. I am not so sure.

We should say thanks to Young people for showing leadership and courage. It had to get to a stage like this, the way things were going.

The world had long accepted the suffering of the young people and the world was continuing as though there is no crisis “what crisis” they were asking.

As we look at these developments, we should be listening to the real message. The world has been given an opportunity, by young people, to do serious introspection. Let us not burry our heads in the sand : this is not a wave, it’s a revolution led by your people only armed with the social net working. Will tomorrow be the same as today and yesterday? Let’s answer this question with honesty.

I ARRIVED IN MTWARA

I WAS IN MTWARA, TANZANIA


Flight PW 401 left Dar es Salaam at 8h00 on Sunday, 5 December 2010 for Mtwara; we landed at 9h10 safely, thanks God.


It was a smooth and pleasant flight and I realised after we landed that we had two ministers in our midst, one of them, a minister in the office of the President. How I knew, is that I was very surprised as we were getting off to see a delegation in the tar mark clearly very happy. The first time I saw people accompanying or collecting a dignitary right at the steps of an aircraft was in Lagos, Nigeria. I seem to think it’s an African thing.


Mtwara, maybe, could be forgiven because even though it has a very long landing strip there is hardly a proper demarcation between the terminal building and the landing strip. By the time my friend’s luggage arrived there was still singing and ululation by a group of the political party of the ministers. Remember, Tanzania has just had yet another round of peaceful elections and the new ministers took office the previous week. So, the two were “coming home” for the first time after they had been sworn in as ministers even though both were on second term.


Precision Air is the only airline that goes to Mtwara. The same aircraft that took us in would be leaving in 20minutes time, back to Dar (as it is affectionately called). Even though our business was only 3hrs, maximum, I was to spend the whole day until I go back to Dar the following morning. Travelling in general can be stressful, continental travelling is painful.


Mtwara is a “forgotten” area in the South of Tanzania, at the border with Mozambique. Tanzania share its borders with 8 countries, I am told.


There is a lot beginning to happen in Mtwara. Gas fields have been found, another port is being planned, a fertiliser plant is being considered (there is something between gas and fertiliser) etc.


Amongst other reasons for coming to Mtwara, was to see a piece (big piece) of land the (Tanzanian) friend of mine has bought in what I must consider to be amongst the most beautiful coastlines. He is now the owner of a long beach area along a crispy blue Indian ocean. Call it virgin beauty.

The land was bought from a villager. I had the opportunity to meet the Chairman of the village who came to confirm the piece of land now owned by my friend. He also told him that there was another 3 hectares available for 1.5million Tanzania shillings (+/- $1000).

The chairman, who is a wonderful man, told us a lot of stories one of them was that the Minister we were with in the plane is an MP for the area, and that during her last period as an MP, she visited them around October 2005 and the next visit was in October 2010, just before the elections. The chairman said they, as the community, were looking forward to see her in 2015 again, you could not miss the sarcasm in his face.

The community is very poor. His village has about 768 people, and he is very particular about the count. He invited us to his place; a gesture I thought was of great honour to me. We met his family including some of his 8 children. His house is right next to the beach and has a stunning view of the ocean.

I wish many could see Mtwara. Mark my words, in the next few years, that giant will be awake. I am happy my friend has great plans about developing his place and do something for the community of the chairman.

I believe what he has is a jewel.

I am just not sure anybody reading this piece how many opportunities he/she will identify. All I could say now is VUKA AFFRICA.


Sango Ntsaluba

Two un-ignorable giants: Nigeria turns 50 and Sasol is 60 years

Two seemingly unrelated events but both of significant importance to the African continent and Africans in general and to black South Africans in particular.

Let us start by looking at Nigeria, which was amongst the first countries in Africa to be liberated from colonial rule celebrated 50 years of independence at the end of September 2010. Federal Republic of Nigeria has so many unique characteristics like having the largest population in Africa; estimated at 120million or possibly 159 million - take your guess.

The idea is not to do a historical or economic analysis of the country but rather to look at lessons we can learn. I have had many trips to Nigeria over the years and it’s a country that never stops amazing me. The first thing that strikes me is its entrepreneurial spirit. The country is buzzing with that and because there are many entrepreneurs at the lower income levels, to a foreign eye it looks rather disorganised. It is also a country that is cash flush. The lesson we can learn from this is that economies are driven by businesses and not by governments. The levels of education across the board are very high. Nigeria has also been very receptive to investors from rest of the continent and hence you find companies from South Africa like MTN and Southern Sun amongst others that have thrived in that country.

The entrepreneurial spirit is not only at the lower levels but in larger businesses. One of the first companies to be listed on the main board of JSE from the continent is Oando from Nigeria, founded and headed by one of the smart business people in the African continent, Wale Tinubu.
Of course, I cannot leave the impression that it is a perfect country because it is far from that. It is sad that its 50th Anniversary celebrations were marred by bombings. The fact is: it has not managed to utilise its vast oil resources for the benefit of all citizens. Lastly, the failure of the general population to ensure that State-owned Enterprises, e.g. the electricity utility provide adequate infrastructure for its citizens, the business community and investors is a serious indictment on its citizens. The lesson that South Africans should learn from this is to be vigilant in ensuring that our taxes are used for the intended purposes.
On the home front, another milestone which I wish to scrutinise is Sasol celebrating 60 years of existence. What does Sasol turning 60 years in 2010; have anything with black South African entrepreneurs?

Sasol which was founded as Suid Afrikaanse Steenkool en Olie (SASOL) in 1950 had accumulated assets, about $18.8 billion as of 2009, employing over 3000 people. This was just two years after the nationalist party came to power. Whatever Sasol is today, there is no doubt in my mind that it was established to advance the Afrikaner community.

There are and could be a lot of discussions about its origins and funding, sure, but that is maybe a debate for another time.
Some of the questions we need to ask ourselves are:
· Is South Africa today, with black political leadership, on its way to creating another giant,
like Sasol?
· Will black entrepreneurs 60 years from 1994 stand tall and be a beacon of hope to future
generations; not because they bought into other peoples businesses but because their
entrepreneurial spirit will stands out as a shining example?
· Is there a debate or are there initiatives in that direction, if you know of, please raise your
hand.

I am sure some will be quick to point me in the direction of MTN, AVUSA, etc. They may be correct, I do not know. The question is: Will we arrive in 2054 as proud black business people with a huge track record of enterepreual monuments to showcase?

In the meantime, our aim as black South Africans is to show that it is, at least, a Work in Progress.


Sango Ntsaluba

South Africa – Back to where we never left

South Africa has successfully delivered the first Soccer World Cup on African soil, having received a 9 out of 10 from FIFA and a ‘thumbs-up’ from the rest of the world. Sadly, none of the African Countries expect Ghana, made any seriously challenging impact to the tournament that was dubbed the African tournament.

I started asking myself how soccer can be a success if the whole country is not? i.e. if the other spheres of the life of the nation are not in success mode. I asked myself whether we, as a country and a continent, are on a slow building process or are we actually slowly going nowhere?

It then occurred to me that both in South Africa and in the rest of the African continent something is missing. Something fundamental needs to happen and it must start to happen soon.

The change that needs to happen must affect all the spheres of life. I have tried to look at where SA and the rest of the Continent is in the other spheres of life e.g science, art, business (entrepreneurship), intellectual (public thinkers), education, innovation, etc, and sadly, I think we are nowhere near where we should be.

I know in SA we are busy with correcting the wrongs of the past, which has to be done, but that is not enough to make us a successful nation. Sadly I do not see a plan.

A part of me says the current leadership, in all the spheres mentioned above seem to have exhausted all their capabilities. I do not think they are capable of coming up with anything new. It’s time for substitution, to borrow a soccer term. Even a soccer player, considered good, when he seems to be running out of ideas, gets substituted in the interest of the success of the team.

We need fresh faces with new ideas, we need to experiment with new combinations. What we should set out to do, is to build a winning Nation and a wining Continent. It all boils down to leadership.
We need younger people, in fact we need to experiment with young people, with this generation before taking a back seat as mentors. We need a total reconstruction of the country and the Continent.

I would rather spend the next 20 years without success but on the road to a lasting legacy than be confronted by the reality 20 years from now that we still have not started the process.

Where do we start – I do not know. What I do know is that we need people:
1. With energy – it is going to take a lot of effort,
2. Who are ambitious,
3. Who are prepared to take risks and are not bound by the bondage of the past,
4. Who do not owe anybody anything,
5. Enthusiastic- hungry for success,
6. Patriotic – not noise makers who are only concerned about their enrichment,
7. Who really believe in the ability of all South Africans and Africans in general. The belief includes accepting the fact that we are at the bottom, is not God’s creation but our own doing and it can be resolved.

It is in taking into account of the above that I do not think the older generation can ever attempt to deal with the turnaround and the overhauling needed.

Soccer cannot succeed when the whole nation is failing. If we ever needed something done urgently, it is now.

KNOWING MY CONTINENT, AFRICA, BETTER

In the News Week of January 2010, there is an article titled “How Africa is becoming the new Asia” please read on if you thought the continent (by that I mean the African Continent) is at its beginning or its end.
Here I share my personal experiences in the four months, December 2009 to March 2010. I have had the pleasure of visiting three countries: Nigeria, Angola and Equatorial Guinea. This is just the beginning, as I am due to be back in Nigeria in April 2010. It’s the beginning because personally, I have decided to get to know my continent better, and our company, Amabubesi Group, is exploring various business and investment opportunities throughout the length and breadth of this continent.
I have always suspected, but now I am beginning to know, that South Africans, Black Africans in particular, are bad travelers. I overheard some people the other day planning a trip to Mozambique (602km from Johannesburg). They were talking about:
Ø Informing their friends exactly where they would be at any given time, just in case,
Ø Understanding hospitals there,
Ø Enough cash (dollars) just in case they have to return in a hurry.
Please note that you no longer need a visa now to travel to Mozambique.
My personal interest to explore has been increased by the huge numbers of fellow Africans from various countries, who visit, do business and invest in South Africa. Have you visited some restaurants lately, in Morningside and other shopping centers in Johannesburg?
The perceptions you gather in South Africa about Africa will cover:
Ø Most of what you will read will be about corruption, lack of infrastructure, Malariacomplex ways of doing business,
Ø You would be made to believe that hardly anybody travels to these countries,
Ø You might even be convinced that people in the continent are not interprenual,
Ø There are hardly government plans to improve the conditions of people.
I am the first one concerned about corruption in the rest of the African Continent but I am more concerned about corruption in South Africa because I have a feeling it’s on the increase. I want to see corruption being reduced drastically in South Africa and beyond.
Let me, for now, just highlight my experiences in Equatorial Guinea. Statistically it’s a country of just over 600k. A small country but if you read more about Africa you will, notice that there are lots of small countries, please exclude Nigeria (±120m people).
I found in Equatorial Guinea, a country that does business with everybody including the western world e.g.
Ø America and France are firmly in the Oil and Gas industry
Ø Israel – in hospitals
Ø Arabic countries– building of roads
Ø Chinese companies – construction
The country is abuzz with international operators but if you were to read today about Equatorial Guinea, you would swear nobody, especially from the western world, goes there. It is a country with immense opportunities, which is why everybody is there.
Off course, I do not want to leave an impression that it easy sailing, after all it’s been said that “Africa is not for sissys”. You will experience network congestions, hotels (top ones) do not take credit cards and therefore take cash along and it is rather expensive.

WELCOME TO OUR CONTINENT!

Views on the Budget speech 2010

I would like to go on a relatively long quotation. The reason for this is that it offers a glimmer of hope to the business community who were beginning to doubt what they are regarded as in the recent pronouncements by some politicians.
Some of us have long argued that business, government, labour and civil society is connected by an umbilical cord. Any attempt to cut out any of these without proper surgery, all the quadruplates will die!
The Mail & Guardian, February 19 to 25 2010, vol 26 No7 and on page 2, referring to Minister Pravin Gordham when he delivered the budget speech,
“ … and he ended his speech with a call to government, the private sector and organized labour to forge a new social compact in terms of which government would provide the policy frameworks and socioeconomic conditions to accelerate job creation while business should balance the pursuit of profit with social justice”.
Organised labour, he suggested, must look beyond its existing constituency-with formal sector jobs-to “embrace and act on behalf of all our country’s workers, both those employed and those desperate for employment”.
The key observations I would like to make are:
(a) With due respect Minister, what you are calling for is not “a new social compact”. It is a relationship in the eyes of the private sector that has always been there. The only problem is that the private sector in the recent past has almost believed that the other parties have suspended this compact.
(b) The private sector must take heed of the call to “balance the pursuit of profit for social justice”. It is not a new call but the private sector has sometimes treated the issue of social justice as a peripheral.
(c) This relationship needs to be taken seriously as a relationship in the workplace and not only in the formal structures like NEDLAC.
In the last blog I placed, I indicated that there are 20 young people whose careers I want to follow. I will be challenging them to provide their views specifically on the issues of whether they think it is necessary for the private sector to balance the pursuit of profit with social justice and whether they are prepared to take less profits if that is done to pursue social justice. I would like to know further how they see this balance could be done.

Let me conclude by also leaving one matter hanging, coming also from the same budget speech, and this relates to the relaxation of labour legislation for workers aged between 18 and 25 and state subsidies to reduce the cost of employing them. A lot of attention needs to be given to this considering the effect it will have on the overall employment rate in this country.

2010, a year of great expectations.

Welcome back from holidays with renewed energy. The year 2010 starts on a positive note and for a second we have forgotten the dreadful 2009 except those who have already been called by their bank managers.

The soccer world cup is the buzz word and judging by the high standard and the upsets in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Angola, we werw trully entertained beyond our expectations. I was pinning my hopes on at least two African teams going to the quarter finals. I picked Cot De vour and Cameroon but still a loyal South African. We congradulate Egypt for the winning the cup, once again.

Reading the Financial Mail of 15 January 2010, it listed various black people (Pg 30-33) with their wealth and where it comes from. I have said before that some of these names are exaggerated because some of these gentlemen might have the wealth, it is said what we seem to always forget to list is our white compatriots who have far more than these gentlemen (it was only gentlemen).

How do we assist young people to move to the next stage? What we must consider is, if a great number of us would identify at least twenty (20) young South Africans in categories of business and entrepreneurship, intelligence etc, who are possibly in their 20s and we showcase them and look at the contribution they will make in the next ten (10) years or so. Since the financial mail has regular columns which say “Where are they now”. I want us to have one that says where will they be. I have picked twenty (20) youngsters from the ones I know and will follow their career moves and encourage them as they rise and offer support when they stagnate.

On the BEE space, I am going to do an analysis of some of the key figures in 1990s and follow their businesses or what they are doing 20 years later, I want to see what progress has been made.

WE MUST DEFINE THESE INSTITUTIONS BETTER

The role of State owned Enterprises (SOEs) has been a matter of discussion and sometimes controversy for many years in South Africa. It has moved from ideological views e.g. support a developmental state, to individual preferences of the leadership of the time.
We have recently had the debacle at Eskom, the still lingering and unresolved issues at Transnet and there is also the role of the regulators that still need to be clarified, especially referring to ICASA, since recently both parliament and the department of Communications have been dealing with the issue of unterconnect charges.
Typical of South Africa, debates sometimes get lost by / around personalities and the whole nation after these have been sorted out, if they are ever sorted out or people simply get tired and move on, has no better understanding of the fundamental issues being debated.

It is becoming clear to me, at least, that we need to address, inter alia, the following issues regarding SOEs and similar public institutions.

1. What is the role of these institutions
a) Are they an extension of government departments
b) Are they expected to make a profit
c) Are they meant to deal with areas which the private sector would not / could not deal with because of the low returns. By the way, there is nothing the private sector cannot do as long as there are commensurate returns.
d) Are they national assets which therefore could / should be funded from the fiscus.

2. What is the role of the shareholder or of the ultimate owner
a) Is it to set them up and leave them alone.
b) Is it to dictate what they should, and should not do.
c) Is it to create one channel of communication and representation so that they should not be answerable to everybody.

3. What is the ideal governance structure
a) Who should oversee the functioning of these
b) What qualities are required from those who oversee these:, independent minds, people merely carrying out instructions of the ultimate owner?
c) How should those charged with governance relate to those they oversee i.e those charged with day to day management
d) Those tasked with governance, who are they answerable to
e) How should their success or failure be judged.

4. What is the caliber of those in management
a) Are they / should they be experts in the filed
b) Should it be people more politically inclined.
c) Who should appoint or dismiss these i.e who are they accountable to
d) How should their success / failure be judged.

5. What is the role of other stakeholders they interact with
a) What are the powers of these vis - a – vis the institutions

Of course, all these considerations must be made understanding that there are rights of individuals, groups, and structures that are enshrined by our constitution. All these discussions should take place with full knowledge that the world over, there are different models and our country must choose what suits it.

The sad part about this continuous state of flux, may I add, which is not new, is that there are many individuals who have made sacrifices to serve these institutions and are getting despondent day by day. There are also opportunists in the process, who will forever derail these institutions to the detriment of the whole nation. These opportunists strive when there is chaos and by the time we wake up, they would have looted these institutions. Good people will move on and these institutions will be plunged into a new form of crisis.

Somebody out there must finally put this matter out for debate so that the whole nation should know if we are dealing with a fish or foul because it has to be something whatever it is, we would even settle for a bat.

The asset base of Eskom, Transnet and SABC (to mention a few) at the last count was about R103 billion for Transnet, R199 billion for Eskom and 443 billion for SABC and the number of people employed by them collectively was over 130 000. By way of comparison, BHP Billiton has a market capitalization of about R509 billion. We are not talking pinutes here.

Down but not out – Economic transformation in South Africa

Johannesburg. October 2009. There is speculation that the recession is bottoming out or will bottom out by mid 2010, depending on which economist you listen to. Whether the recovery will take the shape of a W or V or L, nobody knows. The reality is we have been in recession for 12 months and it has caused damage to all areas of business, including Black Economic Empowerment (BEE)

Before the recession, South Africa was at a stage where it needed to review its progress on the hard and sometimes treacherous route of transformation, more specifically, economic transformation. This review is now even more necessary as we approach 2010, as it will mark 20 years since BEE, as we know it, emerged.

Whilst we should be careful of being lost in numbers and forget the fundamental reasons of the transformation process, we cannot ignore that some of the recent figures are worrying, to say the least. The Finweek edition published on 15 October 2009, quoted extensively from various reports, results and studies in its cover feature: “We’re all equal but some are more unequal that others- Fifteen years after the claim of democracy, we seem to be back to the starting blocks”. In quoting UNISA’s Bureau of Market Research it states, (page 17), “Last year, almost two thirds (61,9%) of black Africans were 'languishing' in the lowest income group, with just 0, 2% occupying the highest income bracket.”

What attracted my attention is the 0,2% cited in the study. To understand the context of this 0,2%, it has to be put in the following context:
· If the South African population is 47 million, then this represents about 94000 people
· The other race groups, other than black African, comprise 99,08% of the highest income
bracket
· If you were to take the average over the past 15 years, that would mean a petty 6000
more people being admitted into these upper echelons per annum.

If one thinks of how much time and energy has been devoted to this group that some have labeled as “black diamonds”, “usual suspects” and other terms, one wonders what we should be calling the other 99,08%.

The same article quotes from Statistics SA's Quarterly Labour Force Survey and states “By stark contrast, a whopping 80% of the richest 3% of the general population are still white. White unemployment stayed stable at just 4.6% – lower that 10% average unemployment rate among whites in the United States. Let me say no more.”

If you consider the above report and understand that most, if not all the statistics, do not cover the period of the recession, it starts to show that this recession has caused major set backs, especially noting that:

· Some BEE schemes have evaporated, leaving the companies they invested in
underpowered.
· Most vendor financing schemes have been reversed, in some instances permanently,
setting their BEE ratings back to where they were
· About 40% of the value has been lost over the period.

In my view, the progress of BEE is almost where it was in about 2005 and that is nowhere .

The same Finweek article offer some solutions for the government, amongst which are: “to increase services, design more teeth empowerment and transformation legislation and then wield bigger sticks to make sure companies adhere to it”. I wish we will not get to the stage of a bigger stick being wielded but that depends to a great extent on how, all of us, as the business community:
· Recognize the backlog which was there even before the recession
· That very little has changed over the past 20 years,
· That the recession has reversed a huge portion of the gains which were made and has the
nation back by many years.

Not all is lost. There are huge lessons which have been gained on which we should build. We should realise that if we do not move on our own, we are inviting government (rightfully so) to intervene. I remain optimistic that the storm will clear and the journey will continue, this time with a sense of urgency for our country and for future generations.