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South Africa ZAR R55.00 | Nigeria NGN 1,200 | Ghana GHC 15 | Kenya KES 561 | Tanzania TSZ 10,230 | Uganda UGX 16,610 | Zimbabwe USD 4,95 | Mauritius MUR 143 | Botswana BWP 44 | Namibia NAD 55 | Mozambique 280 Mts | Rwanda RWF 3960

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1 | FORBES AFRICA NOVEMBER 2019

FORBES AFRICA

CONTENTS – NOVEMBER 2019 VOLUME 9 NUMBER 10

| EDITOR’S NOTE // RENUKA METHIL

| PUBLISHER’S NOTE // RAKESH WAHI

| BRIEF 360

| HOW BREXIT WILL IMPACT AFRICAShould trade barriers go up between the UK and EU, there could also be opportunities for greater direct trade between Africa and London.BY PAULA SLIER

| DEBT AND DISMAYZambia reels from slower growth as drought bites and copper output slides. BY GODFREY MUTIZWA

| ‘WHAT USE IS A FISHERMAN WHO CAN NO LONGER FISH?’Senegal’s fishermen are now vying for survival and a future out of poverty, beyond the shores of their home country. BY PEACE HYDE

COVER STORY

FOCUS

| COLLECTORS’ EDITIONFrom the old to the unusual to the bizarre, what is it that motivates the rarefied pursuit of collecting objects? For the aficionados soon to be unraveled on these pages, their collectibles are more than mere things – they are priceless treasures and extensions of who they are.

BY MASHOKANE MAHLO

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| WHAT’S BREWING IN TOKYOJapan, a tea-drinking nation, is one of South Africa’s biggest importers of rooibos tea. In 2018, a record high of 2,000 tonnes of the homegrown blend was shipped off to the land of the rising sun.

BY GYPSEENIA LION

| COLORS FOR MANDELAThe world of comic books is dominated by stories from the West. Two South African brothers are helping reshape that narrative with a central charac-ter inspired by the iconic hero.

BY KAREN MWENDERA

ENTREPRENEURS

LIFE

SPORT

|THE HAPPIEST MAN TODAYKenya’s three-time Olympic medalist Eliud Kipchoge ran his way into record books, as the first person to ever break the two-hour marathon barrier. He spoke to FORBES AFRICA soon after his win.BY NADIA NEOPHYTOU

|STUNG BY JELLYFISH, BURNED BY THE SUN, YET 56 HOURS IN THE SEASan Francisco-based South African endurance athlete, Cameron Bellamy, spent hundreds of hours in the ocean training, before finally swimming a distance of 94 miles in perilous conditions.BY MARK GLEESON

| WINNING TRAITLessons for the African continent from the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan where the locals impressed the most.BY NICK SAID

| BIG CHEESEJo and Brian Dick sell artisanal cheese and some good old-fashioned family service out of their corner store in Johannesburg. BY GYPSEENIA LION

| WALL STREET’S BEST DEALMAKEROrlando Bravo peaked as a competitive tennis player as a junior in the 1980s, but he is the undisputed world champion in a far more lucrative game: private equity.BY ANTOINE GARA

| HEELS ON WHEELSThe freight and logistics sector is changing face. More women are at the helm – and speeding ahead. BY MOTLABANA MONNAKGOTLA

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FORBES AFRICA

CONTENTS – NOVEMBER 2019 VOLUME 9 NUMBER 10

Distributors:

Also available at additional outlets. For further information on where you can fi nd FORBES AFRICA, please contact: Southern Africa: [email protected] +2711 384 0502

East Africa: [email protected] +250 (0) 734 175 008 • West Africa: [email protected] +234 1 279 8034

Now you can enjoy reading FORBES AFRICA at:

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BY MOTLABANA MONNAKGOTLA

CONTENTS – NOVEMBER 2019

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Chairman: Zafar SiddiqiFounder & Publisher: Rakesh Wahi

Managing Director: Roberta NaickerExecutive Director: Sid Wahi

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FORBES USAEditor-in-Chief: Steve Forbes

Chief Content Officer: Randall LaneArt & Design: Robert Mansfield

Editorial Director, International Editions: Katya Soldak

FORBES MEDIAPresident & CEO: Michael Federie

Senior Advisor, International: Tom Wolf

FORBES ISSN 2223-9073 is published monthly except for two issues combined periodically into one and occasional extra, expanded,

or premium issues.

FORBES AFRICA EDITION is published by ABN PUBLISHING (PTY) LIMITED under a license agreement with Forbes Media LLC, 499 Washington Blvd, 10th floor, Jersey City, NJ, 07310.

Copyright©2018 ABN Publishing (Pty) Ltd.Copyright@2018 Forbes LLC. All rights reserved. Title is protected through a trademark registered with the US Patent & Trademark Office.

Founded in 1917 B. C. Forbes, Editor-in-Chief (1917-54); Malcolm S. Forbes, Editor-in-Chief (1954-90); James W. Michaels, Editor (1961-99);

William Baldwin, Editor (1999-2010)

SUBSCRIPTIONS:For subscription rates and options, go to www.forbesafrica.com. FORBES AFRICA is available in South Africa, Namibia,

Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. To subscribe online, change your address, or for other assistance, please visit www.magsathome.co.za.

You may also write to FORBES AFRICA subscriber service, [email protected] or call +27 (0) 860 100 209.

MANAGING EDITOR Renuka Methil

SUB-EDITOR Unathi Shologu

ART DIRECTOR Lucy Nkosi

PHOTOJOURNALISTSMotlabana Monnakgotla

Gypseenia Lion

JOURNALISTKaren Mwendera

JOURNALIST – WEST AFRICA Peace Hyde

DIRECTOR,BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

AND STRATEGYKudzai Kanyangarara

PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION Sikona Cibini

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER – WEST AFRICA Patrick Omitoki

AFRICA

NOVEMBER 2019 – VOLUME 9 NUMBER 10

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COLLABORATION. IT’S MAKING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY GO ROUND.SABIC teamwork is rethinking recycling.

SABIC’s collaborations are making it possible to create materials of high enough quality for food packaging by breaking complex, low quality waste plastics down to their original state. We can use, reuse and repurpose more of our resources without needing new ones. It’s ground-breaking technology that’s making the circular economy reality with Chemistry that Matters™.

Meet one of the world’s leading chemical companies at SABIC.com

Sabic Press Ad Forbes Africa 210x275 Indian Recycle AW2.indd 1 27/09/2019 16:12


FORBES AFRICA

EDITOR’S NOTE

Views expressed by commentators in this publication are not necessarily those held by FORBES AFRICA or its members of sta� . All facts printed in FORBES AFRICA were confi rmed as being correct at the time of going to press. Note: Dollar prices in the magazine are approximate fi gures and based on exchange rates at the time of going to press.

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[email protected]

RENUKA METHIL, MANAGING EDITOR

THERE’S a story in this issue referencing

child labor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Children under the age of seven – at least 40,000 of them according to UNICEF – beavering away in dark, dank, inhuman conditions, for up to 24 hours at a stretch, earning less than $2 a day. They mine the cobalt that goes into the electronic devices we use every day – phones and laptops made by

little hands powered by punishing poverty. Sitting in our nifty newsrooms, these gut-wrenching images of Africa confl ict with the daily drivel on development delivered by our leaders.

Far from the cushy boardrooms of Sandton, there is a deep, dark reality elsewhere we are not often privy to; unspeakable truths that are only whispered murmurs in the hallowed hall-ways of power. The slaves of Mauritania or the searing poverty in South Sudan don’t get reams of editorial as do the fourth industrial revolution and AI these days.

So also countries plundered by civil war, with no paved roads, no power, no semblance of normality; nations that have seen prolonged periods of confl ict and unending drought; climate refugees making perilous journeys across borders, not knowing if humanity exists at the other end; or women who are raped and ravaged in the continent’s confl ict zones.

Yet, somewhere, the imagery is not entirely lost. South African photojournalist Kevin Carter’s indelible,

iconic 1993 image, of the plump vulture and the starving child in the bush in Sudan that shocked the world when it appeared in The New York Times, is one etched forever in the recesses of

our minds. Carter won a Pulitzer for the contentious image but the pain of that famine day never left him. The following year, he took his own life “haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and anger and pain… of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners”.

But where such goriness exists, so do global news headlines. Recently, the same week Ethiopian president Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize for securing peace in neighboring Eritrea that ended a 20-year military stalemate, the world leaped to news of another African, Eliud Kipchoge, making history in marathon running. Where the former is being billed a reformist leader, the latter proved that no human is limited. We have a story on Kip-choge in this issue, in which he tells FORBES AFRICA soon after his wondrous win about the power of mind.

“I’m the happiest man today… happy the message that no hu-man is limited is now in everybody’s mind; that you can believe in something, you can put it in your heart and transfer it to your mind and say it in your mouth so it can be realized. So I’m a happy man.” In the feature, we note that the 34-year-old Kenyan athlete, a self-made millionaire, still cleans toilets and looks after his farm animals back home in Eldoret.

Surely, there are mighty issues that need to be addressed, but there is hope for Africa. Just that, every time you pick up your smartphone to close yet another million-dollar deal, remember the disconsolate faces of the naked, starving children of the DRC who worked night and day to make it happen.

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BY RAKESH WAHI, FOUNDER AND PUBLISHER, FORBES AFRICA

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N 2011, I FOUNDED THE ALL AFRICA BUSINESS Leaders Awards (AABLAs). From its inaugural event, I have each year highlighted that good leaders are ordinary men and women who have taken extraordinary decisions

in the face of adversity to bring credit to their organizations. This is no di� erent to leadership in any walk of life including political leadership.

We attribute a lot of qualities to good leaders; these include vision, integrity, competence, commitment, setting the right example, leading from the front and many more. Looking around us, there is one quality missing in today’s context that stands out; and that’s decisive leadership. Imagine a general leading an army into battle and he then starts procrastinating before an assault. The result is no di� erent from what we are seeing in a large number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa today.

Netfl ix has changed our lives and created a previously unknown addiction, leading to marathon home entertainment through exceptional content. One show that stands out for me is Designated Survivor.

The theme revolves around an unlikely candidate becoming the president of the United States and rising to the occasion, again and again, through decisive leadership. The core qualities of the character are sincerity, consistency and surrounding himself with the right people, enabling him to take timely and informed decisions. These were not always right but even in the worst circumstances; he was able to and inspired others to do what was in the best interest of his country.

Finally, he acted in good conscience and decisively, including, when needed, terminating his Chief of Defence Force and his Secretary of State. In all contingencies, he had an e� ective communications strategy to get the right message to the people of his country.

Leaders are human beings and expected to have failings of their own but what separates one from the other is the team he puts in place so that the sum of the parts is always greater than any one part. We don’t live in an ideal world and there are no perfect solutions to problems; however, there is perfect intent.

The greatest education is through role models; learn how they have acted in times of crisis. History must be our guide and while no two circumstances are similar, the qualities needed from a good leader remain unchanged.

The one quality that would stand out for every great leader is the ability to be conclusive and take a� rmative action. It almost appears that our leaders today live in fear of upsetting others and either procrastinate or choose the easier wrong than the harder right. The notion of being popular serves no end and ultimately, the very people

IT IS TIME TO TAKE DECISIVE ACTION

who one chooses to appease and protect will be the ones that will let you down or show you the door. There is really no honor in staying in power and remaining scared. A leader cannot make everyone happy and since it’s lonely at the top; there is only one course of action: remain unwavering and resolute in your beliefs and protect your values.

Politics needs astute leaders who can fi rstly bring harmony within their own home and then bring a common manifesto to the other major parties. The latter will never be an easy task but if national interest is a goal for everyone and if there is sincerity and no personal agendas, then in time, the landscape will change. A selfl ess leader will never want supporters; for, his actions to achieve goals and improve the lives of others, will catalyze the support needed.

In the corporate world, we seek the best to lead our organizations; we look to hire people that are qualifi ed, competent, have the passion to achieve success and above all, have the determination to relentlessly achieve established goals. We don’t put square pegs in round holes and expect that we will get the desired results. We choose people that will at all times do what is in the best interest of the organization.

Let us learn from the last decade, not repeat mistakes and make a di� erence by building a better future.

Ladies and gentlemen, we live in a world that is disrupted and is changing so rapidly that if we are not bold and decisive, evolution will discard us, only to be forgotten forever.

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Rwanda’s Top 5DESTINATIONS

TravelRwanda TravelRwanda @TravelRwanda

Volcanoes National Park Two and a half hours north of Kigali you will find Volcanoes National Park, home to most of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas. Rwanda is among only three countries in the world where you can trek to see the majestic gorillas up close – a truly once in a lifetime experience.

Lake KivuKivu is one of Africa’s Great Lakes, with deep emerald-green waters and a shoreline of magnificent mountains and fishing villages. The lake is dotted with uninhabited islands that can be explored by boat and provide the perfect location to relax and enjoy the peace of Rwanda’s countryside.

Nyungwe National PARK Nyungwe is one of the oldest rainforests found anywhere on the continent. The lush, green forest is home to over 300 bird species and 13 primate species including chimpanzees and

colobus monkeys. Take a stroll through the canopy along a 70m high walkway for exhilarating views of the rainforest.

Akagera National Park Rwanda’s largest national park is home to a diverse array of plant and animal life. The lakes, papyrus swamps, savannah plains and rolling highlands make Akagera an incredibly scenic reserve. The park is home to the elusive Shoebill stork, seven newly introduced lions, elephant, leopard and the shy but stunning roan antelope.

KigaliRwanda’s capital provides the perfect backdrop for a weekend getaway. As one of the safest cities in Africa, Kigali is quickly becoming a favourite for East African and international tourists. Savour the tastes of international cuisine at the city’s best restaurants and enjoy live music at the many clubs and bars in Kigali.

nyungwe national park

akagera national park

volcanoes national park

live entertainment in kigali

Lake kivu

R W A N D A T O U R I S M . C O M


BRIEF 360DIASPORA’S ROLE IN RWANDA’S GROWTHThousands of Rwandans living in Europe and other parts of the world fi lled the World Conference Center in Bonn, Germany, on October 5. Songs, loud cheers and excitement saturated the atmosphere as they waited to have conversations with Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda. The annual event, Rwanda Day, is considered one of the major factors enabling the country to attract investors into various sectors. E� orts by the government to actively reach out to Rwandans living abroad and making them part of the change and the development of the country has increased their engagement. Urujeni Bakuramutsa, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign

A� airs, shared: “Diaspora remittances stood at $98.2 million in 2010 and a year after the launch of Rwanda Day, the number increased to $166.2 million. In 2018, Rwandans living abroad sent home $253.4 million.” According to the president, the aim of Rwanda Day is to ensure that those outside Rwanda and those in Rwanda work together to speed up the country’s transformation and achieve goals even faster.

MAURITIANS WEALTHIEST IN AFRICAThe New World Wealth released its Africa Wealth report which shows total wealth held in Africa amounts to around $2.2 trillion.Despite accounting for 16% of the world’s population, Africa only accounts for 1% of total worldwide wealth.Mauritians are the wealthiest individuals in Africa, with an average wealth of $31,000 per person, followed by South Africans with an average wealth of $11,500 per person. Rapid growth in the Mauritian millionaire population has been assisted by the island’s robust economic growth rate but also by the migration of a large number of wealthy individuals, particularly from France and southern Africa, over the past decade. According to the report, an estimated 280 dollar-millionaires have moved to the island from South Africa alone during the past 10 years.The report states that 23 billonaires are living in Africa, each with net assets of $1 billion or more. The top fi ve wealth markets in Africa are: South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco and Kenya.

HUMANITY’S EMISSIONS 100-TIMES GREATER THAN VOLCANOESHuman activity churns out up to 100 times more planet-warming carbon each year as all the volcanoes on Earth, says a decade-long study released last month.The Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO), a 500-strong international team of scientists, released a series of papers outlining how carbon is stored, emitted and reabsorbed by natural and manmade processes, according to the fi nding published in the journal Elements.They found that manmade carbon dioxide emissions drastically outstrip the contribution of volcanoes—which belch out gas and are often fi ngered as a major climate change contributor — to current warming rates.Celina Suarez, Associate Professor of Geology at the University of Arkansas, said modern manmade emissions were the “same magnitude” as past carbon shocks that precipitated mass extinction.“We are on the same level of carbon catastrophe which is a bit sobering,” she told AFP.

MARKETPLACE AFRICAThe second edition of the Africa Investment Forum, to tilt capital fl ow into the continent, will take place from November 11 to 13 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. The forum, organized by the African Development Bank and its partners, is a marketplace aimed at raising capital, advancing projects to bankable stage and accelerating fi nancial closure of deals.The forum will bring together project sponsors, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, private investors, policy-makers, private equity fi rms, and heads of government to advance Africa’s economic transformation agenda.

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FORBES AFRICA


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AFRICAN REFUGEE WOMEN REPORT SURGE OF SEX ATTACKS IN EGYPTAfrican migrant and refugee women in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, report abuse in what rights groups say has become an epidemic of sexual violence that has worsened in recent months, Reuters reported.The United Nations estimates around 500,000 migrants, half of them refugees, live in Egypt. Many arrived aiming to reach Europe via Israel or by boat to Turkey, routes that have been largely closed by tougher security measures.Cairo was named the most dangerous megacity for women in an international perception poll carried out by the Thomson Reuters Foundation in 2017.President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered a crackdown on sexual harassment after seven men were arrested for attacking women near Cairo’s Tahrir Square during his inauguration celebrations in 2014. Tougher sentences have been imposed for sex crimes.But rights groups say such measures have done little to deter attacks against African migrants, who often have no recourse to the police or family to protect them.

DISEASE FROM THE APES Hundreds of thousands of people die from malaria every year and Plasmodium falciparum, the type researchers studied, accounts for most cases.

African great apes were the original host to the parasite, the BBC reported. A chance genetic mutation about 50,000 years ago turned it into a threat to humans, experts have found.

The researchers said their

work also deepens understanding of

a process known as zoonosis – when a

pathogen that can infect animals acquires genetic

changes enabling it to infect humans – as has been

the case with diseases such as fl u and Ebola.

Malaria kills more than 400,000 people a year, the vast majority of them babies and children in the poorest parts of Africa.

“In the history of mankind, it’s been estimated that malaria has been responsible for more human deaths than any other disease,” Gavin Wright, who co-led the work, said to Reuters.

“So it is both important and fascinating to understand the molecular pathways that enabled this deadly parasite to infect humans.”

NOBEL PRIZE TRANSFORMS HUNT FOR ALIEN LIFEThe biggest astronomy story of the past two decades is that the universe is studded with planets. Swiss astronomers Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz were jointly awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for their research on exoplanets, Nature reported. They were the fi rst to fi nd convincing evidence about a world in another normal stellar system.In 1995, they uncovered a bulky planet orbiting 51 Pegasi, an otherwise unremarkable sun-like star about 50 light-years away. Since that discovery, more than 4,100 additional exoplanets have been found, MSNBC reported.“Few of these exoplanets are the kind you’d expect would cook up intelligent extraterrestrials. Preliminary estimates suggest that about one-in-fi ve star systems contains a planet that is something like Earth,” the publication reported.Mayor and Queloz weren’t looking for planets when they found one around 51 Peg, but they’re being credited with paying attention to their data and realizing what it implied.

BIG SHOTSFORBES AFRICA

AT THE CROSSROADS

AT THE CROSSROADS

AT THE CROSSROADS

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPH: MOTLABANA MONNAKGOTLA


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FORBES AFRICA

BIG SHOTS

OCTOBER HAS BEEN celebrated as Transport Month in South Africa since 2005. Public

transport in Johannesburg is an integral and inevitable part of daily city life, moving goods, commuters and dreams. But infl ation and rising petrol costs have forced most to opt for cheaper forms of transport.

In this aerial image, taken of a busy intersection in the central business district of downtown Johannesburg, private cars, taxis, public buses and pedestrians try to beat the rushhour tra� c on a sunny Tuesday.

According to StatsSA and General Household Survey, in 2018, as many as 54 million South Africans use taxis every month, 11 million use public buses, while 6 million use the train.



HOW WILL BREXIT IMPACT Africa? From the general uncertainty and escalating protectionism in global

markets, one thing is clear. No one knows. But if there’s anything the experts agree on, it’s that the United Kingdom (UK)’s departure from the European Union (EU) is likely to have the same negative effects on Africa as much as anywhere else.

The UK market is not one Africa can ignore. It is the world’s fifth largest economy, trailed by India. But China, and new players to Africa like Russia, Turkey and the Gulf states, make London’s role on the continent less critical.

At the same time, Africa is not a hugely significant trading partner for the UK and in 2017, represented only 2.6% of imports and exports alike. Still, there are signs that London wants these figures to increase and in January 2020, a UK-Africa Investment Summit will

HOW BREXIT WILL IMPACT AFRICAShould trade barriers go up between the UK and EU, there could also be opportunities for greater direct trade between Africa and London. BY PAULA SLIER

explore how to leverage investments in Africa and expand current trading patterns.

The main concern for African companies over Brexit is the protection of their access to UK markets. Currently, a number of entry points into the EU are used so that instead of sending small parcels to 27 countries, goods arrive in one central depot. African corn flour, for example, enters through a warehouse near Amsterdam in the Netherlands and from there is distributed across the EU, including to the UK.

“Now, there needs to be new arrangements and these could be more costly,” warns Dr David Luke, Co-Ordinator of the African Trade Policy Centre at the United Nations (UN) Economic Commission for Africa, based in Ethiopia.

Currently, companies operating out of least developed countries send their goods into Europe duty-free and quota-free. In the case of corn flour exports, the UK absorbs a substantial portion of the fees.

“If Amsterdam can no longer be used, then there will be added costs to African producers and it means that their margins will be cut, which could have a knock-on effect all the way down,” says Dr Luke.

Laura Bannister, Senior Adviser at the Trade Justice Movement, and Helen Dennis, Policy and Advocacy Manager at the Fairtrade Foundation, both based in London, agree.

“Companies who export to the UK from countries like Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, where so-called ‘roll-over’ agreements have not yet been signed, still need clarity on the import tariffs, and the UK government has yet to publicly confirm its plan,” says Dennis.

“These uncertainties could cause delays or blockages at the UK/EU border, which could have serious impacts on margins for all importers and exporters in the short term. In the longer term, a lot will depend on the future UK-EU relationship, especially the extent to which the UK stays aligned with the EU market and its regulations, or diverges in favor of other overseas markets such as the United States and Australia.”

Possible UK-EU border delays would be especially problematic for perishable goods

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FOCUS | BREXITFORBES AFRICA


COUNTRIES WITH DEEPER TIES TO THE UK, SUCH AS KENYA AND UGANDA, ARE MORE EXPOSED TO THIS RISK. – KAREN TAYLOR, CEO, INVEST AFRICA

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like African cut flowers arriving in the UK via the Netherlands. If the British pound also continues to drop in value, this will reduce the demand for imported goods, especially luxury items, which in turn will affect African exporters and producers.

As for British investment in Africa, which is currently dominated by mining (54%) and financial services (33%), Karen Taylor, CEO, Invest Africa, based in London, is not too worried. “Natural resource-based industries seem unlikely to suffer significantly as a direct result of Brexit,” she says.

“Financial services similarly have a strong base thanks to the deep links between the City of London, currently second only to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, in terms of the number of listed African companies. The unknown element will be the resilience of the British economy, particularly the financial sector, to a potential Brexit shock. Another key aspect of the economic relationship between Africa and the UK is remittances. There is a large African community living in the UK and the remittances that they send home have already been affected by the devaluation of the pound. Those countries with deeper ties to the UK, such as Kenya and Uganda, are more exposed to this risk. However, we saw in the 2008 financial crisis that remittances are a fairly resilient flow of capital.”

On the positive side, argues Dr Luke, the current agreements that African countries have with the EU are not ideal and there is a chance now for them to be reworked.

“The deals were negotiated essentially to break Africa up into different pieces. For now, African countries want these agreements to be rolled over by the UK but after Brexit, the UK will be desperate to get some new deals signed

and this is an opportunity for Africa to push through agreements on things the EU did not want. We could, for example, get a better deal for African doctors and nurses in the NHS (National Health Service in the UK) who are providing services,” he says.

Should trade barriers go up between the UK and EU, there could also be opportunities for greater direct trade between Africa and London. A study produced by the UN’s Economic Commission for Africa shows a moderate increase in trade flows between the UK and East Africa.

But without being clear on where things are going, Taylor says African economies should prioritize on building trade within the continent and focus on developing their manufacturing base.

“All the evidence shows that when African countries trade with each other, they trade a much higher proportion of manufactured goods – 41.9 percent of regional exports are manufactured compared to just 14.8 percent of exports leaving the continent. Natural resources continue to dominate the UK-Africa trade relationship, meaning that, in terms of developing African economies in a sustainable way that creates jobs for its booming youth,

trade within the continent will likely be more important than links with the UK. This is why one of our key projects is delivering the Intra-African Trade Fair 2020 in partnership with Afreximbank and the African Union,” she says.

What remains unclear is how London will approach issues like climate change, jobs and migration, and whether there will be any amendments to the much-criticized visa system affecting visitors from Africa to the UK. Brexit also means London will lose the funds it receives from the EU and European Development Fund that, together with increasing public scepticism about the value of international aid, could adversely affect its development projects in Africa, believe Bannister and Dennis.

“However, it could go the other way entirely,” they say, “with the UK strengthening its ties to the wider world as it loosens them with Europe. Of course, tax justice and remittances are of much greater importance to African countries than aid. The UK’s immigration policy and its commitment to efforts to tackle tax avoidance will be key in determining the impact of Brexit on Africa.”

– Additional reporting by Allison Gosney


FROM A COUNTRY ESPOUSING ‘fiscal fitness’ a couple of years ago, Zambia’s 2020 budget showed the face of an economy

under severe strain from a lack of growth drivers and growing indebtedness.

It fell to Dr Bwalya Ng’andu, the country’s third finance minister in three years, to present the sad numbers: a target

Zambia reels from slower growth as drought bites and copper output slides.

BY GODFREY MUTIZWA

DEBT AND D I S M A Y

of 4% in gross domestic product growth is expected to halve to 2% in 2019, inflation has shot up to double digits, breaching the upper band of 8% while the kwacha is down 9% so far and the foreign debt is above $10 billion for a second year.

On the plus side, the budget deficit is seen improving to 6.5% from 2018’s 7.4% as the government exercised some discipline, a lone plus in an environment of negatives, exacerbated by drought which withered farming output and cut electricity production, and a 14.7% plunge in export earnings because of lower copper prices and output.

“I personally do not feel optimistic about the 2020 budget stimulating growth or helping the government stabilize the economy,’’ John Kasanga, a Lusaka-based economist told FORBES AFRICA.

“It is more of the same under an even more challenging environment. The budget does not contain clearly discernible measures aimed at turning round the economy and restoring fiscal fitness.’’

Zambia was among Africa’s 10 fastest-growing economies in the decade to 2014 when growth averaged 6.7%. But a combination of declining copper prices, power shortages and a lack of diversification from the mainstay copper, stymied further growth. Growing indebtedness after the country took a $750 million Eurobond loan and further borrowings from China added to the burden.

Debt servicing is now the single biggest item in the country’s budget, consuming an estimated 40% in 2019,

NOT FOR SALE

FOCUS | ZAMBIAFORBES AFRICA


IT IS MORE OF THE SAME UNDER AN EVEN MORE CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT. THE BUDGET DOES NOT CONTAIN CLEARLY DISCERNIBLE MEASURES AIMED AT TURNING ROUND THE ECONOMY AND RESTORING FISCAL FITNESS.

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almost eight times the money allocated to education and bigger than all the social sectors – education, health and social protection – combined. Total debt is now the equivalent of 80% of gross domestic product, this, in a country that benefitted from the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative in 2005 when a large chunk of its external debt was written off.

“Zambia’s debt situation is very serious,’’ says Jason Kazilimani, CEO of auditors KPMG Zambia.

“On the foreign side, the Eurobond will be due for repayment in 2022 and yet only paltry sums have been set aside for the sinking fund. With the sovereign downgrade, refinancing will also be a costly option.’’

With fiscal space limited by near unbridled borrowing in the past, Ng’andu

promised to postpone or cancel further debt contraction, delay or cancel loans in the pipeline and refinance existing loans while at the same time adding more taxes on the mainstay mining industry, bringing protests from the Zambia Chamber of Mines (ZCM).

“The Chamber of Mines was dismayed that no action was taken to revise the 2019 mining tax regime, despite there also being evidence to suggest that it is reducing tax revenues, rather than increasing them,’’ says Sokwani Chilembo, Chief Executive Officer of the ZCM.

“We estimate that the government will receive this year approximately $80 million less, in royalties and profits tax, than it did in 2018 – and some $140 million less than it could have received if it had not made these extreme changes.”

“Following this budget, and the impact that it will have on the cost profile of Zambia’s mines, we maintain our prediction of a 100,000-tonne reduction in copper production for this year, with a further commensurate drop in 2020,’’ Chilembo says, urging the government to reverse the changes before irreparable harm is done to the industry.

But with a budget deficit stubbornly stuck above 6.5% of GDP for the past two years, the Minister’s hands were

tied. He ended up mixing austerity with expansion. For instance, the ZMW106 billion ($8 billion) he is proposing to spend is 22% more than the 2019 budget.

To be sure, the minister did bring an axe to the fight, committing to effective management of the wage bill and subsidies, halting accumulation of arrears and providing ZMW2.3 billion ($174 million) (11% of the amount owed) to reduce the stock of Value Added Tax (VAT) refunds, running the government more efficiently and modernizing and automating revenue collection processes.

But there are doubts about the government’s ability to implement some of its commitments given its record and a high turnover of ministers in the past few years.

On the plus side, industry collectively gave a big sigh of relief when the minister made a U-turn on the replacement of VAT and the introduction of sales tax in its place amid uncertainty on how exemptions for inputs would be implemented. But many were still left unhappy with the cloud over what items qualify for VAT exemption.

“More clarity is required on what consumables exactly fall into the category of those under which input VAT cannot be claimed,’’ Kazilimani says. It’s a position PricewaterhouseCoopers agrees with.

“Depending on the definition of consumables and stock in trade adopted by the tax authorities, this amendment could result in a significant increase in operating costs for most sectors of the economy,’’ the auditors said in their budget report. Coming at a time when the country is having to import costly foreign power in addition to slowing demand at home, Kasanga is asking where the growth stimulators are in an environment where effectively, industries may end up paying more in taxes against subdued domestic demand.

“Perhaps the government can help us find where the actual economic stimulus lies in the budget,’’ he says. “It’s difficult to see it at present to be honest!’’

A conveyor belt feeds broken rock into a stockpile at sunset at an open-pit copper mine in Zambia

A “transporter” carries fresh fish from a pirogue to a freezer truck in St. Louis, Senegal

‘WHAT USE IS A FISHERMAN WHO CAN NO

LONGER FISH?’


NOT FOR SALE

Senegal’s fishermen are now vying for survival and a future out of poverty,

beyond the shores of their home country.

BY PEACE HYDE

FORBES AFRICA

FOCUS | SENEGAL



MOR DIOUF FELT A COLD chill in the air, not as a result of the night temperature, but on account of the perilous

journey he was about to embark on. The 21-year-old Senegalese was boarding

a boat along with a group of illegal migrants, desperate to escape impoverished conditions in St. Louis, a bustling fishing town in northern Senegal, to Europe, where their dreams of a better life could finally be realized.

The price of admission; CFA36,000 ($60), a hefty sum Diouf barely managed to scrape together from a combination of personal savings from fishing and a loan from his aunt, who dabbles between selling fish in the local market and house cleaning for expatriates in the country.

The boat was full to capacity. “I think there were about 100 people

on the boat,” recalls Diouf.Over on the deck, young men were

hanging carelessly on rusted rails, vying desperately for every inch of space they could hold on to. On the floors of the main cabin, Diouf could see women, some with their young infants, clutching each other desperately for emotional support and praying silently, as the boat sputtered and jerked angrily into the darkness. The mood was somber and even though everybody had heard about the risks associated with this journey, they allowed themselves one last chance to feel the hope of a brighter future.

A future out of poverty, beyond the shores of Senegal. But it was not to be.

“About halfway through the journey, we noticed a lot of water coming into the boat. The ship was filling up rapidly with freezing water. Everybody began to panic as more and more water rushed into the boat,” says Diouf. About 30 of the passengers trying to reach Spain from Senegal drowned that day. The remaining

ALL WE KNOW IS HOW TO FISH AND IN THE PAST DECADE, MANY OF US KEEP GOING OUT TO THE SEAS AND RETURN WITH EMPTY NETS. THE SITUATION IS GETTING REALLY HOPELESS NOW.

lucky passengers were rescued by a Mauritanian fishing trawler heading back to shore. “That was the worst experience of my life. I am lucky to be here but so many people were not so lucky. Some children fell ill and passed away even before the boat began to sink. We were all looking for a better life but we came close to death instead.”

According to a 2018 European Union (EU) report, Senegal ranked 10th amongst the countries of origin for illegal sea-crossing migration into the EU.

For many like Diouf, the dangerous voyage to the land of milk and honey has become the only chance of refuge from a country that once thrived on the profitable fishing industry.

Long considered one of Africa’s shining examples of democracy, Senegal has a population of about 16 million people. St. Louis, a town which used to lie at the heart of one of the world’s richest fishing areas, is now in crisis.

“There is no more fish. I was raised on these waters by my father who was also raised by his father to be a fisherman. All we know is how to fish and in the past decade, many of us keep going out to the seas and return with empty nets. The situation is getting really hopeless now,” says Diouf.

The country is a dramatic example of the world trend plaguing the fishing

industry in which a significant number of fisheries are over-fished and nearing collapse according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Hence, Diouf and many youths are desperately looking for greener pastures outside the country, often at the expense of their own lives. Worst yet, this is happening at a time when climate change is also reducing the amount of food grown on Senegalese land.

NOT FOR SALE


FORBES AFRICA

FOCUS | SENEGAL

Fishermen in Dakar, Senegal’s capital, bring in the evening’s catch

FOCUS | SENEGALFORBES AFRICA


“Our oceans are currently facing the biggest threat in human history through industrial overfishing. Ecosystems are at risk as our oceans are being overexploited or depleted. Similar to its neighboring countries, Senegal was hit by a serious drought, one of the adverse impacts of climate change, which has severely affected the ecology and its environment,” says Nazanin Alakija, a climate change activist and founder of the Sage Climate Innovation Centre in Lagos.

“Lack of annual rainfall has created dire conditions for agricultural production. There has also been an increase in livestock mortality. Ultimately, the underlying problem is soil degradation as 60 percent of Senegal’s population depended directly or indirectly on this; it has destabilized the production system completely.”

But climate change alone is not responsible for Senegal’s fishing crisis. The once-prodigious artisanal fishing industries have been completely depleted by European and Asian fishing trawlers who are desperate to meet the insatiable consumer appetite in their home country

as well as the manufacturing of fishmeal, a derivative of processed sardinella into animal and aquaculture feed sold in Europe and Asia. In the wake of the plunder, local fishermen are now vying for survival. “Our local fish is sardinella. We can no longer catch them in our waters because they have all been fished by foreign trawlers. They fish in one day, what it will take a year for us to fish,” says Diouf. Survival as a fisherman now means risking their lives by venturing into the illegal waters of neighboring Mauritania.

“Most of my friends have moved to Mauritania where there is still plenty of fish but it is illegal for fishermen in Senegal to fish there. Sometimes the guards on the water open fire to warn trespassers and some fishermen have been shot and killed,” adds Diouf.

According to United States Agency for International Development (USAID), one in six Senegalese work in the fisheries sector and overfishing has affected 50% of fish stocks in western Africa and greatly diminished the fish stocks in Senegal.

“The local fishermen have small pirogues which they use for their daily

LACK OF ANNUAL RAINFALL HAS CREATED DIRE CONDITIONS FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION. THERE HAS ALSO BEEN AN INCREASE IN LIVESTOCK MORTALITY.– NAZANIN ALAKIJA, CLIMATE CHANGE ACTIVIST

Fatou Binetou Sarr, president of St. Louis’s Female Processors

Association, holds up dried fish, an important backup when

fresh fish is scarce

NOT FOR SALE

FOCUS | SENEGALFORBES AFRICA


catch which is a fraction of what these European and Asian trawlers drag back home. This problem is leading to a humanitarian crisis as local fishermen are now using finer nets which are catching everything and so there is no replenishment of fish. If you have nothing left over, then eventually there will be no fish,” says Salif Diallo, an ecologist in Senegal.

Five years ago, Mbaye Sy, a local fisherman who worked aboard one of the European trawlers in Senegal witnessed first-hand how much the country’s resources were being exploited. “The foreigners fish at a scale that our local fishermen cannot even begin to copy. They are to blame for the demise of our local industry. There is big demand for fishmeal abroad and so they catch as many fish as they can, big or small,” says Sy. Today, he is a carpenter. “I build boats and do repairs for other boats now. I don’t go out to fish as before.”

The effects are spread across every facet of local life in St. Louis. Every morning, at about 5AM, Abibatou, Diouf’s aunt, waits patiently on the shores of Guet Ndar beach with a bucket of water, waiting desperately for fish to buy and sell at the local market. Hope is slowly running out for the business that was once sufficient enough to sustain her family.

“We come here to buy fish to take to the local markets where we sell them to make a living. But they are in short supply and we can go days sometimes without any fish to sell. Sometimes, I have to preserve some of the small fish we get by drying and adding salt which makes them last longer but reduces the market price we get for them. It is the only way we can make the little fish we get last. As a result, I had to get a second job cleaning houses,” laments Abibatou.

The overfishing crisis has put many fishermen out of work and worsened the food crisis in the West African country. As the fish have grown scarce, the fishermen have consequently repurposed their fishing skills into illegal smuggling to help Senegalese hoping to flee impoverished conditions. Reaching the shores of Europe seems to be a calculated risk many are

willing to take to support families back home. “It is now a case of go to Spain or die in Senegal. We are fishermen who have no fish and that means we have no way to survive. It is very hopeless for us,” says Diouf.

In an attempt to revive its fisheries, the Senegalese government resorted to desperate measures. “The government has done a lot to save this industry. They cancelled deals allowing all trawlers from the EU into Senegalese waters but I am afraid it is too little too late. The damage had already been done and now the only hope these local fishermen have is to venture into neighboring Mauritanian waters where they risk being shot at, or take a 15-day trip to Spain, where they risk death on the high seas,” says Diallo. Similar to Diouf, Mamadou Cisse, is also struggling to make ends meet. “I am no longer fishing as there is no point. Myself and a group of other fishermen now go to the local markets and help people carry their loads on to their cars to make ends meet,” says Cisse. Before throwing in the towel, he had been part of an illegal fishing expedition into the shores of Mauritania, which left his uncle dead. “The police

opened fire on us and my uncle, who was at the back of the boat, was hit. He died by the time we got back on land. Then I said, ‘this is enough, I will not die for fish’.”

The impact of overfishing has also contributed to illegal and unregulated fishing which according to a study in the journal, Frontiers in Marine Science, costs West Africa $2.3 billion annually.

According to the World Food Programme, 2.6 million people (17% of the population) are food insecure. The Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel estimate that about 9.5 million people in West Africa are expected to experience severe food crisis or famine with an estimated 500,000 of the most vulnerable located in the north and east of Senegal.

While fewer and fewer Senegalese are making it into Europe, the allure of a new life away from the tragic reality of the once bustling fishing town remains as addictive as ever before. For Diouf, it is the only hope he has left. He is getting ready for his second illegal crossing into Europe in just under two years. “I would rather fight for a better life than to die here. What use is a fisherman who can no longer fish?”

St. Louis has the largest fleet of brightly-painted, open-topped pirogues in Senegal

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NOT FOR SALE


W E EXPLORE the captivating world of Africa’s collectors, and get a feel

of their prized possessions, and what motivates them to keep building on their treasures. This is a selection of considered individuals on the continent who embrace the world around them in enchanting, curious and unlikely ways.

They are passionate devotees, enthusiasts and fanatics who share a love of unique objects. They are drawn to either preserve the things they love, or be surrounded by them.

The featured collections range from accessible and popular to the aspirational and unusual, each different and purposeful. And what we have uncovered rings true to the words “not all treasure is silver and gold”.

It is not always the financial value or return on investment that sparks nor sustains a collector’s momentum. It is the essential personal value they derive from their collection.

The value of the featured collections come from what the individuals are willing to sacrifice, in actions, finances and space to establish their treasure trove.

What’s most encouraging is to see how their hobbies pave the way to alternative avenues of wealth creation and notably, how serial collectors unlock opportunities of commercial, professional and social benefit. This compilation is innovative, exciting and aspirational. Most impactfully, it brings to light how we can extend our personality, values, self-expression, memories, emotions and passions through eclectic items of interest. The compilation on the pages that follow is in no particular order.

From the old to the unusual to the bizarre, what is it that motivates the rarefied pursuit of collecting objects?

For the aficionados soon to be unraveled on these pages, their collectibles are more than mere things – they are

priceless treasures and extensions of who they are.

BY MASHOKANE MAHLO

Photographer: Motlabana Monnakgotla | Co-Photographer: Gypseenia Lion | Art Direction: Lucy Nkosi | Makeup Artist: Vanessa Unamaca of MakoleMadeBeauty | Assistant: Patience Mashaba | Studio: GBP Studio

Rental, Johannesburg | Pallet furniture provided by Kenneth Mohlomo (Beyond Capital Companies)

COVER STORY


MAKGATI MOLEBATSI, 61, SOUTH AFRICACOLLECTION: Contemporary artESTIMATED WORTH: R1.2 million ($80,000)COLLECTING FOR: Enjoyment and appreciation

MOST OF MY ARTWORKS ARE ABSTRACTIONS WHICH ARE ENGAGING AND HAVE A DIALOGUE.

MAKGATI MOLEBATSI QUIT HER 30-YEAR career in marketing and communications at the end of 2015 to pursue her passion for visual art. The following year, she founded a

consulting firm in the contemporary art space called Mak’Dct Art Advisory & Agency.

Her keen interest in art began in 1997 after briefly working in the second Johannesburg Biennale art exhibition. The conceptual nature of the artworks exhibited intrigued her and almost immediately sparked her interest in collecting paintings, sculptures, installations and photography. Twenty two years later, she has amassed around 40 significant pieces in her personal stable. Each gem cost Molebatsi an average of R30,000 ($2,000).

“Most of my artworks are acquired from artists during their early career phase,” she says. One of her favorite artworks,

which almost eluded her, is a mesmerizing installation of 1,200 keys intricately strung into a scarf by Liza Grobler titled Easy Access Scarf.

Collecting art is a big-budget, yet profitable, indulgence. Local art sales were estimated at R5.5 billion ($368 million) in 2017 according to the AfrAsia Bank South Africa Wealth Report. Molebatsi, however, is not investing in art. She considers herself an ‘essential value collector’ who only acquires pieces that resonate with her.

“Most of my artworks are abstractions which are engaging and have a dialogue. I gravitate towards color fields in artworks [that] I acquire because I tend to be monochromatic and minimalist in my dress sense and home décor,” she adds.

Molebatsi is one of the few black female art collectors in the country and a prominent art curator and advisor in the local and international space. She has served on the selection committees for the prestigious annual Turbine Art Fair. In 2018, she produced and curated an exhibition with renowned photojournalist Óscar Gutiérrez, to celebrate the centenary of former South African president Nelson Mandela. Some of her artwork is displayed within the Breast Cancer Unit at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg, to which she loaned.

NOT FOR SALE

COVER STORY | THE COLLECTORS FORBES AFRICA


CLYDE TERRY, 54,SOUTH AFRICACOLLECTION: AntiquesESTIMATED WORTH: +/- R4.9 million ($327,936)COLLECTING FOR: Enjoyment and resonance

AFTER QUALIFYING AS A CHARTERED accountant, Clyde Terry decided to neglect his father’s ambition to follow the profession but to convert

his hobby of collecting rare antiques into a fully-fledged career instead. Today, Terry is one of the leading antique dealers in South Africa with a personal collection of 83 unique and rare antiquities that have a special place in his heart.

Terry recalls childhood moments spent at auction houses and local antique shops in his hometown of Ramsgate in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, which sparked his love of things old, rare and beautiful. He has now built up a notable selection of silver and glassware; including beautifully-contoured Daum decorative art glass as well as rare Lladro and Hummel figurines. His prized collection includes enchanted, floral pottery from sought-after 1900s British art potter and manufacturer, William Moorcroft; whose delicate pieces have sold for an amount of R221,583.96 ($14,723.45) on auction. “I love that William Moorcroft traveled the world [to] study the flowers of different countries, including South Africa. His vase with the [South African] protea is one I still search for,” he says.

Terry is not only led to acquire unique items just for himself. He has turned a beautifully-restored house in Melville, Johannesburg, into an antique treasure trove of magnificently-decorated rooms, showcasing everything from art-deco, Georgian, Art Nouveau and 1950’s objects. There, he proudly runs his business, Clyde on 4th, which aids antique-enthusiasts in finding and trading prized showpieces and valuable relics. “My hardest lesson was learning that as a collector, you hold on to items and as a purveyor of antiques, you look after many collections and help collectors grow,” says Terry. “[It’s] become easy now to part with items and give them a new future and history.”

As the founder of the South African National Antiques Decorative Arts Association, part of his time is spent organizing the biggest monthly antique fairs in the country which take place at the prestigious Nelson Mandela Square, as well as the upmarket Mall of Africa in Johannesburg.

[IT’S] BECOME EASY NOW TO PART WITH ITEMS AND GIVE THEM A NEW FUTURE AND HISTORY.


MASEGO ‘MAPS’ MAPONYANE, 29, SOUTH AFRICACOLLECTION: Hats and capsESTIMATED WORTH: +/- R180,000 ($12,046)COLLECTING FOR: Passion and enjoyment

AS A PROMINENT FIGURE IN ‘showbiz’, it’s tempting to presume that Masego ‘Maps’ Maponyane’s continuous showcasing of personal

style is merely a part of his job. Yet, his love affair, specifically with accentuated headgear, dates back to a time before his career even took shape. “My grandfather is one of my biggest inspirations as far as clothing goes. He was of the generation of Sophiatown, always [fully] dressed in their Sunday best. There would be a complete look with him and his peers with the hat, and I always loved how it complemented their outfit,” says Maponyane.

Maponyane’s fondness for headwear took form in his late teens while on a family vacation in Namibia. There, he bought his first hat, a tan straw fedora with a ribbon around, to combat the scorching heat of the desert land. Impressed by the aesthetic and esteem it gave his ensemble, Maponyane has since invested in over 200 headpieces that have become an extension of his everyday life.

Even so, hats are more than a fashion accessory to him. They represent an opportunity to step into different frames of mind. “Hats are like a form of expression for me. Hats allow me to be that character for a day, depending on the hat. I will choose the hat, not only based on what I am wearing but on my mood,” adds the entrepreneur who also recently opened a hip burger joint in Johannesburg named Buns Out. His collection includes different headgear of varying styles and finessed artisanry such as millinery hats, caps, cowboy style, panama

straw and homburg hats. His headgear can be inexpensive as much as it can be pricey. He has once parted with R4,500 ($299) for a blue pork pie with a slick leather ribbon designed by England-based hat-maker, Christys’ of London. Locally, Simon

and Mary is his go-to confidante. Although he may order caps online, Maponyane still prefers the sensorial experience of shopping in-store. To ensure the right aesthetic, Maponyane opts to physically weave through selections, feel the weight, texture, try it on and above all, make sure it’s the perfect fit. If not, he has several trusted milliners to adorn his head flawlessly.

HATS ALLOW ME TO BE THAT CHARACTER FOR A DAY.

NOT FOR SALE



I WAS SO INTRIGUED BY THE AMAZING ATTENTION TO DETAIL AND CRAFTSMANSHIP THAT GOES INTO THESE HANDMADE STATUES.

DAMIAN DE CANHA, 30, SOUTH AFRICACOLLECTION: Fine art statuesESTIMATED WORTH: +/- R2.75 million ($184,000)COLLECTING FOR: Enjoyment and passion

WHAT IS BETTER THAN WATCHING your favorite superheroes or villains on screen? For Damian de Canha, it’s having life-like statues of them

displayed as works of art that he can marvel at everyday in his home. De Canha has been collecting the most premium pieces since 2017. As a superfan of all the comics from Marvel and DC Entertainment, his collectible statues hail primarily from their successful fantasy franchises, as well as from the Transformers and Mortal Kombat stable.

“I have always been a geek but what got me into collecting was when [a] friend bought me a Hulk statue as a thank you gift,” says De Canha. Standing up to 70cm tall and an average weight of 17kg, these statues are primarily imported from XM Studios in Singapore

which supply luxury collectible pieces that are not manufactured, rather individually hand-crafted to inspire the pride and status of the limited pieces.

“I was so intrigued by the amazing attention to detail and craftsmanship that goes into these handmade

statues that I was hooked from the moment I received it,” he says.

In the span of two years, De Canha has collected over 140 limited statues that stand in marvelous grandeur displayed across two rooms turned into galleries in his home. Not to be mistaken for toys or figurines, the figures can take De Canha up to 20 minutes to correctly assemble, and they hold their value over time. One iconic statue, called the X-Men Sentinel Diorama, is worth R110,000 ($7,361). His most treasured piece is a priceless little green bus his mother gifted him when he was just a toddler.

He has turned his enthusiasm into a business called Symbiote Premium Comics & Collectibles, which seeks to increase the accessibility of high-end statues. It’s become the official African distributor for XM Studios for the DC franchise. The business hosted its first exhibition at Comic Con Africa in September.



YEGAS NAIDOO, 60, SOUTH AFRICACOLLECTION: WineESTIMATED WORTH: R125,500 ($8,500) excluding champagneCOLLECTING FOR: Consumption and enjoyment

YEGAS NAIDOO HAS been collecting wine from 1985. As a gourmet

hedonist, she is not one to deny herself the sensorial joy and global allure of a signature wine. For Naidoo, the process of winemaking,

from bottling to evolution, is a spectacle in itself that makes each bottle unique and multi-faceted.

The 1981 red blend from the southern Rhone in France called Pierre Perrin Châteauneuf du Pape Vintage inducted Naidoo’s collection

of high-quality wine. She now has over 500 bottles in her home and admits that her wine assortment is purely for consumption with family and friends.

“My collection is imbibed daily, but the average cost is R250 ($17) per bottle, conservatively [and] not including champagne,” says Naidoo. The most valuable addition to-date is a magnum of the 2007 La Motte Hanneli R, a vintage shiraz blend

inspired by the owner, Hanneli Rupert. Naidoo purchased this for R9,500 ($636) at the 2017 Nederburg charity auction.

She is a bonafide champagne zealot and is an ordained member of the esteemed L’Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne, the official French fraternity of the major Champagne brands. She has been an anchor judge at world-renowned wine competitions based in London including the International Wine Challenge and International Wine & Spirit Competition. Notably, she has served on the judging panel of the South African Airways inflight wine selection for the last 15 years. In her spare time, she’s involved in wine education and participates in global wine events to promote South African wine. “I speak on numerous forums, delivering the message of wine not being an exclusive product targeted for only certain social classes, wine being a product without mystery for the un-christened [as well as the] health benefits of drinking wine in modicum over time,” she says.

MY COLLECTION IS IMBIBED DAILY.

NOT FOR SALE

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ERIC LEESON, 35, SOUTH AFRICACOLLECTION: SneakersESTIMATED WORTH: +/- R625,000 ($42,325)COLLECTING FOR: Personal apparel

THE WAVE OF MILLENNIAL CULTURAL INFLUENCE HAS birthed a new form of collectibles, and Eric Leeson is rooted in the game. Leeson fell in love with sneakers at the age of 13 but only began collecting at the age of 16 with a pair of marked-down cherry-red

Jordan 11 Retro Lows gifted to him by his father. “I started collecting sneakers out of struggle. It was simply about having, at least, more than three pairs of shoes aside from my school or physical training shoes. [But] not being able to get the ones I wanted sparked my obsession,” says Leeson.

He has since accumulated a fashionable footwear collection of 350 pairs which he recently downsized to 250. His motivations are now fueled by pleasure and the experience – no longer strife. “I’ve really enjoyed the chase of getting a pair of shoes. Standing in a line to wait my turn doesn’t give me that thrill. I need to be able to make a few calls, locate a pair and get on a taxi, [or] drive to the place that pair is suspected to be,” he says.

Leeson has taken advantage of social media to trade, hunt and purchase

limited releases. Although, a recent purchase from Germany was a challenge due to negative perceptions around African buyers. However, through Leeson’s active Instagram and Facebook profiles, he was able to gain trust with the seller.

Globally, Nike still reigns as the most popular sneaker brand with the 2018 global footwear sales reaching $22.3 billion, representing 61% of total group revenue according to Nike’s 2018 Annual Report. It’s no surprise then that Leeson’s top picks include the Air Max 1 Anniversary Red and a pair of high-top Jordan 11 Concord which he proudly wore at his wedding.

He is excited to pass on his affection for sneakers to his children. Currently, his six-year-old son already has 40 colorful pairs of ‘sneaks’, and his five-month-old daughter is soon to follow.

I’VE REALLY ENJOYED THE CHASE OF GETTING A PAIR OF SHOES.

SARAH LANGA MACKAY, 26, SOUTH AFRICACOLLECTION: Luxury fashion ESTIMATED WORTH: +/- R1.9 million ($127,150)COLLECTION FOR: Investment

SOURCING RARE, UNIQUE AND TIMELESS pieces that are in high demand is how fashion influencer and avid digital media content creator, Sarah Langa Mackay,

manages to stay ahead. In 2011, she began her fashion journey in her first year of university by launching a blogsite showcasing “campus looks of the day”. “All I wanted to do was show someone how to mix and style everyday outfits with key items and pieces,” says Mackay.

Initially, she collected for fun and as a personal shopper and stylist for local celebrities, which meant searching and finding the right fashion pieces for her clients. As her reputation grew in the digital space, she began cementing herself as a luxury fashion brand influencer. This prompted her to intentionally source distinctive and hard-to-find fashion items that stood out. “This gave me the competitive edge needed over my peers and [as a] businesswoman,” she adds.

Her closet is exquisitely stacked with more than 200 pairs of stylish shoes and over 30 luxury one-of-a-kind handbags. Her favorite accessories include the elegant Louis Vuitton Monogram Palm Springs occasional backpack and the effortlessly chic Prada Cahier leather handbag. Amidst Christian Louboutin, Gucci and Alexander McQueen heels, her front-runners are her Amina Muaddi Begum Glass Slingback and the super-trendy Miuccia Prada Cult Flame sandals.

She proudly confesses that she has a trained eye to differentiate fake merchandise from originals. “I do not condone anything counterfeit as I feel like

NOT FOR SALE


FORBES AFRICA

COVER STORY | THE COLLECTORS

it robs the fashion industry, craft-makers and the original designers of their work, creativity and intellectual property,” she says.

With fashion on the rise in terms of collectibles, she sees acquiring rare luxury items as an investment that will positively contribute towards the growth of her online store, Luvant, which retails affordable pre-owned luxury apparel. “I want to offer my customers a premium experience, something they won’t get from heading to other spaces,” says Mackay.

THIS GAVE ME THE COMPETITIVE EDGE NEEDED OVER MY PEERS AND [AS A] BUSINESSWOMAN.

ONE OF MAURITIUS’ MOST FAMOUS VINTAGE CAR COLLECTORS is Viju Gowreesunkur, a sugar farmer whose home in Central Flacq by the ubiquitous sugarcane plantations, is a repository of gleaming metal. In his unassuming, musty garage, under greasy

white sheets, are some of the island’s most classic vehicles. The Rolls-Royces and Cabriolets stand out in the ubiquitous green of the

sugarcane fields, taking unsuspecting passersby to another era. “I love old things, old houses, old furniture… and old cars that make me

nostalgic,” the 60-something Gowreesunkur, who also has many vintage cars parked in the front yard of his home, told FORBES AFRICA when we visited him in mid-2017.

“When you see an old car, it brings back memories of your parents, an old film… the cars are that and so many things, you can’t really express it.”

The die-hard antique enthusiast says he has as many as 50 vintage cars in his collection, possibly a record in all of Mauritius. A respected senior at Mauritius’ Vintage and Classic Car Owners Association (VCCOA), he regularly attends meets and races.

In his garage are such jewels as a stunning burgundy 1950 Opel, six Chevrolets, six Jaguars, three horse wagons, a black Daimler that belonged to the Governor of Mauritius in the colonial period, and three Rolls-Royces including a 1956 Silver Clouds Rolls-Royce “believed to have belonged to Marilyn Monroe”. Gowreesunkur’s first car was a beige Citroën that he has now given up. Every car he owns has a story, he says.

“I drive for pleasure… When you drive an old car through the sugarcane fields, you don’t feel anything, you don’t feel the bumps, it’s just incredible!”

– Renuka Methil

‘OLD CARS MAKE ME NOSTALGIC’

A vintage car collector in Mauritius says nothing can beat driving an old car through the

swaying sugarcane fields near his home.


ALAN DONOVAN was fi rst exposed to the world of African art as a young US

diplomat based in Nigeria in 1967. After several serendipitous meetings with West African chieftains and contemporary artists, Donovan began traveling extensively to remote places across the continent such as the northern lands of Kenya where he started collecting art, beads, artefacts, weapons, adornments and textiles.

In 1970, he befriended the late Joseph Murumbi, who was the fi rst foreign minister of Kenya, and its second vice president, which transformed his life and birthed a life-long career of collecting, displaying and selling African art. Today, Donovan’s house, a brainchild and artful conception of his partnership and collaboration with Murumbi, is one of the most critically-acclaimed private African art galleries in Kenya.

“It was Murumbi’s dream to set up a pan-African gallery in Kenya where artists from all parts of the continent could show and sell their works [as well as] to preserve, protect and promote African culture,” he says. Set up in 1972, the African Heritage House, as it’s known, is a piece of art by itself. It boasts a decorative summation of Donovan’s art collection spanning 50 years from all over Africa. So diverse

and valuable, the house has become a national monument.

The interior and exterior construction design is a mosaic of indigenous and pre-colonial architecture of various African cultures. “I wanted to make my house as African as possible: its architecture, design, furniture, fi ttings, décor, cutlery and everything,” he says. “I designed my house as a blend of all of the Africa that I was privileged to visit along my way: the desert palaces of Morocco, the sensual Sahel mud structures, the carved wooden house posts of Nigeria and Cameroon, the palm-thatched coral stone houses of the Kenya coast and the extraordinary painted houses of Northern Ghana and Burkina Faso.” Inspiration was also drawn from the towering mud mosques of Djenné. and Timbuktu in Mali. Although his house has not been valued, one of his decorative pieces was recently valued by Sotheby’s at $400,000.

At the age of 80, he still has many hearty dreams for the place he calls home. He plans to add another 200 rooms, a conference center, a restaurant and to build a museum, to be called ‘African Journeys’, which will highlight the works of those who have dedicated their lives to African heritage as well as the pioneering artists of Africa whose careers started at the time of African independence.

ALAN DONOVAN, 80, KENYACOLLECTION: African ArtESTIMATED WORTH: UnknownCOLLECTING FOR: Preservation and exhibition

KNOWN AS “MR RECORDS” IN KENYA, JAMESRugami lives o� music. As the country’s chief record dealer, Rugami has amassed around 55,000 vinyl records of which 3,000 form part of his personal

collection. The rest he sells in his shop, Real Vinyl Guru, situated in a busy meat market in Nairobi where he also restores broken records and record players.

The store is draped in circular black discs. He’s been growing his vinyl collection and business since 1987. The selection of vinyls encompass all genres of music, including an impressive library of classic African tunes. “The output of vinyl is rich and priceless. [It has no] comparison with any other format and it’s purely original,”

he says. He remembers that the very fi rst disc record he purchased was Louis and The Good Book by legendary American jazz trumpeter and vocalist, Louis Armstrong, whose popularly known for the late-1960s hit track, What A Wonderful World.

Globally, there is a massive resurgence and renaissance of vinyl collecting. Some rare long-playing records (LPs)

can trade up to $40 on auction. Classical ‘Afro’ music is even harder to fi nd and therefore, more expensive. With thousands of Afro-selections, Rugami’s vinyl collection is a gold mine. Befi ttingly, his store has won the admiration of international vinyl fans and clients who sift through the archives in search of rare fi nds.

JAMES RUGAMI, 57, KENYACOLLECTION: Vinyl recordsESTIMATED WORTH: KSh440,000 ($4,242)COLLECTING FOR: Investment

FORBES AFRICA


THE OUTPUT OF VINYL IS RICH AND PRICELESS. [IT HAS NO] COMPARISON WITH ANY OTHER FORMAT AND IT’S PURELY ORIGINAL.

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DAWID VENTER, 42, SOUTH AFRICACOLLECTION: GamingESTIMATED WORTH: +/- R300,000 ($20,000)COLLECTION FOR: Experience and passion

ALTHOUGH MANY PEOPLE PERCEIVE GAMERS as adolescent boys and girls, Dawid Venter is a self-confessed console and gaming fanatic. An avid video game collector and serial champion of

the South African gaming industry, Venter’s love for gaming started at the age of six with the childhood veteran game, Donkey Kong Junior. However, the Sega Dreamcast was the first video game console to inaugurate Venter’s collection.

“I originally started in 1996, but sold off [my] collection in 2006 after my mom passed away,” says Venter. He later restarted his collection in 2013. Currently, he has an impressive collection of over 30 gaming consoles. Amongst his collection are modern consoles such as Switch, Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro, right through to nostalgic gaming consoles including GameCube, Nintendo, Dreamcast and SEGA. “Retro collecting is something that never ends. Every generation brings new games which in time becomes retro and collectible,” he shares.

The local video game market is growing at double digits and is estimated to be worth R3.5 billion ($234 million) in 2018, according to PricewaterhouseCooper’s Media and Entertainment Outlook. As a major proponent of the gaming industry in South Africa, Venter is also the co-founder, managing director and contributing author of SA Gamer.com, one of the country’s biggest gaming news and review websites. He’s had the pleasure of meeting legendary pioneers of the industry including Shinji Mikami, the creative engineer of the long-standing, mainstream video game series Resident Evil, which subsequently birthed the highest-grossing film series based on a video game in 2016.

Today, Venter has no less than 1,000 games, excluding digital titles, to enjoy in the personal comfort of a dedicated gaming room in his home. The latest games to mark his extensive collection are a CD copy of Mortal Kombat and Silpheed for his Sega CD accessory. Interestingly, if Venter were to be left on a deserted island, the only game he would take with him is the futuristic and combat racing game titled Wipeout Omega Collection.

I LOVE THE BANKNOTES AND COINS BECAUSE THEY ARE VINTAGE COLLECTIONS. [THEY] ARE NO LONGER IN USE IN THEIR VARIOUS COUNTRIES.

NNENNAYA FAKOYA-SMITH, 34, NIGERIACOLLECTION: Postcards, stamps, coins and banknotesESTIMATED WORTH: UnknownCOLLECTING FOR: Investment

WHEN ONE hears deltiologist, philatelist and

numismatist, the first thoughts that may arise may be that these grandiose terms are used to label medical practitioners. Contrary to that, these three illustrative words are expressively used by the esteemed Nigerian tourism promoter, Nnennaya Fakoya-Smith, to represent her unique obsessions. The descriptions define a postcard collector, stamp collector as well as a coins and banknotes collector, respectively.

Fakoya-Smith has been collecting elements that represent the culture and history of a people since she was seven years old. “My dad used to collect stamps and coins, and I inherited the hobby from him. He also used to send my siblings and me postcards from the countries he visited, which I truly enjoyed reading,” she says. Fast forward 27 years, she has over 100 stamps, postcards as well as a diverse currency collection from across 36 countries. “I love the banknotes and coins because they are vintage collections. [They] are no longer in use in their various countries. They have become rare valuables among my collection,”

she shares.Many are baffled by her

interests, especially in this digital age. Although, it is on the internet from which people trade their coins, which can demand a premium over 1,000 times their original value. A 1969 2-and-½ shillings Africa Biafra coin is currently selling at N36,851.85 ($101.31) on eBay. “The first time I found out that stamps and coins were valuable investments was when I bumped into the United

Nations stamps and other coin websites,” she says.

True to her millennial nature, Fakoya-Smith regularly makes use of social media to meet and collaborate with people who are like-minded as well as create awareness for these communities. She plans to retain her collection and similarly, like her father, pass it down to future generations. She hopes to open a stamp and coin gallery in the future.

NOT FOR SALE


EVERY BOOK TELLS A STORY. IMMEDIATELY THROUGH A BOOK, YOU CAN [FEEL] THE INTIMACY OF SOMEONE ELSE’S LIFE.

THOMAS COLLIER, 37, ETHIOPIACOLLECTION: Jordan sneakersESTIMATED WORTH: +/- £46,500 ($57,351)COLLECTING FOR: Personal apparel and nostalgia

THOMAS COLLIER IS AN ETHIOPIAN London-based photographer who grew up in the “golden ages”, loving basketball and watching Michael

Jordan, Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton and Penny Hardaway. This gave rise to a fetish for sneakers associated with old generation sports players. To this regard, he has bought every pair of Nike Jordan’ sneaks’ that have ever been released – a feat that would leave any dedicated sneakerhead in awe. “I don’t see [my sneakers] as an investment, more like works of art. [They] remind me of my childhood and daydreaming of one day playing in the NBA,” says Collier.

Collier began this dream collection in 1998. Currently, he has bought close to 300 pairs, with his favorite shoe undoubtedly being the Jordan 11’s. Collier buys all his sneakers from retailers and not resellers. Furthermore, when it comes to solidifying his selection, he’d go as far as camping in a tent outside a Nike store. This was the case in London when Nike had the highly-anticipated special release of the Air Foamposite One Galaxy colorway shoe in 2012.

“I thought I was going to be the only one [camping], but I was soon joined by about 300 other sneakerheads from all over Europe who arrived just to buy these shoes,” he says. Globally, sneaker fanatics still regard these as the most legendary and publicized sneakers of the century. They’re currently reselling on eBay for $700, for pre-owned and around $2,499, fresh from the box.

Apart from the illustrious designs of his sneakers, Collier treasures the fact that for every pair he has, he can find a picture of his hailed players wearing them. Even though his dream of becoming an NBA player didn’t materialize, his complete range of Jordan’s iconic designer shoes is consolation enough.

FORBES AFRICA


KATHERINE MUNRO, 74, SOUTH AFRICACOLLECTION: BooksESTIMATED WORTH: +/- R8.5 million ($569,000)COLLECTING FOR: Knowledge

READING AND discovering the world through other people's writing is Katherine

Munro's devotion. A seasoned lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, Munro enjoys gathering items of knowledge, specifically ephemera, antique maps and non-fiction books.

She began collecting in the 1950s as a child. Today, she has amassed around 17,000 books, mostly written in English and a few in German, French and Afrikaans. "[I was] fortunate to have a family and a husband who built me a library for my books," says Munro. Within her library, Munro runs private tours and talks to discuss interesting books and book collecting.

Almost all her books are pre-owned. The genres include history, travel, geography, politics and the Folio Society collection, to name a few. To

this day, the excitement of escaping into a world full of thrills, surprises and the appeal of dusty old bookshops in cities around the world is something Munro can't resist. There, she savors the dusty smell of books not opened (for maybe 20 years); discovering things hidden in books such as money, birthday cards, peculiar bookmarks or pressed flowers. "Every book tells a story. Immediately through a book, you can [feel] the intimacy of someone else's life. [It's] also fascinating to read inscriptions in books – gifts to other people or a book signed by the author," says Munro.

Within her career as an academic, Munro credits books as the stock in trade to spread ideas and stimulate young minds. Her current focus is building a book collection of the city of Johannesburg: focusing on the rich history, people, town-planning and literature.

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NEWTON JIBUNOH, 81, NIGERIACOLLECTION: African artESTIMATED WORTH: Priceless COLLECTION FOR: Preservation

NIGERIA IS QUICKLY BECOMING AN ART collectors’ haven; however, for Newton Jibunoh, the man who has driven across the Sahara four times, African art collection is an old trade. His love of the history, civilization

and religion of the African black race sparked his reverence for African art. This made him an eager collector from a very young age, but he didn’t start to collect seriously until the early 1960s, after his first visit to the British Museum in London. “Seeing our works in a foreign land and being appreciated by many triggered my need to collect even further. It wasn’t just because I enjoyed art anymore, but I felt obligated to safeguard our works,” says Jibunoh.

He grew up as a choir boy and member of the early churches run by missionaries. During this time, he observed how heritage, religion and culture were stripped off the surrounding indigenous villages before being converted into Christianity. “I witnessed most of [their artworks] being carted away. They were various bronze works from Benin and Ife, woodworks from Igbo-Ukwu and Nok Terracotta from the Nok culture. I [later] wrote home from London requesting that

I RECALL THAT I WOULD SPEND MY ENTIRE ONE MONTH’S SALARY PURCHASING ARTWORKS.

SONAL MAHERALI, 39, KENYACOLLECTION: Luxury bags and shoesESTIMATED WORTH: KSh20.7 million ($200,000)COLLECTING FOR: Personal accessorizing and investment

EVER SINCE SONAL Maherali was a little girl, she’s had a great obsession for the finer

things in life. A mother of four and arguably, East Africa’s queen of fashion, Maherali’s walk-in closet is drizzled with glamorous high-priced shoes, bags, perfumes, clothes and jewelry.

“I grew up from a very humble background. Unlike most kids who were fascinated by toys, I loved the lore of Cinderella and her coveted glass slipper. That slipper became an obsession,” she says.

Not too shy to impress, the stylish fashionista has a designer collection to enviously flaunt which inspired her to launch a YouTube channel in 2010. She has since drawn over 68,000

whatever was left, should be kept for me,” he says. These formed his first collection.

Throughout the years, he has acquired a wide variety of African crafts ranging from paintings, sculptures, shrines to artefacts. “I recall that I would spend my entire one month’s salary purchasing artworks,” he shares. One painting by Akin Salu called One Man, One Wife cost him 60% of his monthly salary which he paid over three months. Eventually, when his home could no longer contain his passion, he was moved to open the first private museum in Nigeria, DIDI Museum. It now houses close to 1,000 artworks.

He considers his collection priceless: an investment in kind towards the historical preservation of the continent’s unwritten and continuing story. Some of his collection is loaned to institutions, homes and galleries across Africa and Europe, and others are registered with the national museum, making it close to impossible to auction.

subscribers to whom she shares her appreciation of fashion, style and her extravagant lot of Christian Louboutin heels. Her luxury collection also includes high-priced bags like the Lady Dior, the rare Diorama and the exceptional quilted 2.55 Chanel shoulder bag commissioned by Gabriel ‘Coco’ Chanel in 1955.

Her lavish and custom-made items average between $3,000 and $13,000, individually. Some pieces she considers priceless. This includes a special Trash Pigalle by Christian Louboutin that was custom-made with items she sent to the shoemaker. Although her tailormade accessories hold significant memories, they’re not the priciest items in her closet. “[The most expensive] would have to be the

first Birkin bag I was offered by Hermès. It set me back a cool KSh1.6 million ($15,400) while the second one, a Fjord leather in blood orange was around KSh1.3million ($12,500),” she shares.

Birkin handbags are rare and can fetch a fortune in re-sale markets. In this light, Maherali has launched an online store, closetsm.com, where she sells pre-owned items from her closet that she no longer wears and that are still chic, trendy and timeless.

I LOVED THE LORE OF CINDERELLA AND HER COVETED GLASS SLIPPER. THAT SLIPPER BECAME AN OBSESSION.

NOT FOR SALE


FOR SOME PEOPLE, THE PLEASURE ALONE OF consuming a premium whisky is enough, but not for Marc Pendlebury. In 2007, he progressed from whisky drinker to collector when he began purchasing more whisky bottles

than he consumed. “I love everything about the world of whisky: the flavors, people, production process, history and the places it is made. I wanted to try as many different whiskies as I could,” says Pendlebury.

He’s since collected about 1,200 distilled bottles of the finest whiskies from across the world – some acquired for consumptive pleasure and others for appreciation. Pendlebury takes pleasure in visiting prominent distilleries, famous whisky bars and festivals in search of limited or discontinued bottles similar to his Japanese Chichibu whisky collection. “[Their] whiskies are near-impossible to find and are expensive on the secondary market. That makes each release I secure quite an accomplishment,” he adds. To date, the most significant spend he’s incurred was on the highly-lauded Springbank Millennium Collection which he part-purchased with two of his friends. The rare set includes six whiskies ranging in ages from 25 to 50 years old and is worth approximately R400,000 ($26,767).

Whether Scottish or Irish, bourbon or rye, whisky returns out-perform every other collectible asset including classic cars, art and fine wine. According to the 2019 Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index, whisky topped the list of the most desired objects with the value of rare whisky rising by 582% over the past 10 years. Although Pendlebury doesn’t buy to invest, he does recognize that collectively, his whisky selection holds a substantial monetary value.

Pendlebury’s greatest pride includes becoming an inducted member of the Keepers of the Quaich, an elite international society that recognizes outstanding individuals committed to the Scotch whisky industry. He is also the founder and co-owner of a dedicated whisky bar, WhiskyBrothers, based in Sandton.

ACCORDING TO THE 2019 KNIGHT FRANK LUXURY INVESTMENT INDEX, WHISKY TOPPED THE LIST OF THE MOST DESIRED OBJECTS WITH THE VALUE OF RARE WHISKY RISING BY 582% OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS.

RYAN HERMAN, 30, SOUTH AFRICACOLLECTION: Nike and Jordan SneakersESTIMATED WORTH: R75,000 ($5,000)COLLECTING FOR: Personal apparel

RYAN HERMAN HAS ALWAYS HAD A LOVE AND appreciation for sneakers. He sees himself as a silent member in the game and not necessarily influenced by the millennial social trend of sneaker culture. “I don’t

have the common ‘I saw the cool kids wearing it’ story. I’ve always had a love for sneakers,” Herman says.

Back in the early 2000s, when companies didn’t send emails or newsletters to remind customers what sneakers were being released, Herman would have to make regular trips to the mall and town to see which sneakers were on shelf. “I remember [a time] when you didn’t have to stand in line or even do the raffle system because the sneakers were all just there,” says Herman.

As a 15-year-old, sneaker-obsessed teenager, he remembers how he would complete household chores to earn his next pair of sneakers. Fast forward to adulthood and financial independence, not one month passes by without Herman purchasing at least one or two pairs. At age 30, Herman has

amassed 50 pairs of Nike and Jordan sneakers. “My collection consists solely of sneakers that I like and wear, and I’ve always loved the Nike brand; their unique styles, colorways and their sportswear too,” he shares. To usher in the summer, Herman has already added to his footgear collection the latest addition to the Air Max lineage, the multi-colored Air Max 270 React ‘Bauhaus’, which debuted in July.

I DON’T HAVE THE COMMON ‘I SAW THE COOL KIDS WEARING IT’ STORY. I’VE ALWAYS HAD A LOVE FOR SNEAKERS.

MARC PENDLEBURY, 38, SOUTH AFRICACOLLECTION: WhiskyESTIMATED WORTH: +/- R2.5 million ($169,000)COLLECTION FOR: Consumption and investment

NOT FOR SALE



KAVITA CHELLARAM, 62, NIGERIACOLLECTION: African artESTIMATED WORTH: UnknownCOLLECTING FOR: Investment

KAVITA CHELLARAM is an influential Nigerian art curator of Indian-

descent. She began collecting art when she moved to Nigeria as a way to explore the culture of her adopted country. The first works of art she bought were in 1979. These were workmanships of the highly astute and multi-talented artist Jimoh Buraimoh and the late Twins Seven-Seven. Her passion gradually grew over the years, leading her to build the Arthouse Contemporary in 2007.

"When I started collecting, there were very few galleries and exhibition spaces in Lagos. Often, artists sold out of their cars," she explains. As a result, Arthouse quickly grew into an international auction house and exhibition venue.

Over time, Chellaram has acquired approximately 400 artworks. She's particularly drawn to Nigerian artists of the modern period including artists

KOFI ASMAH, THE founding partner of Gyandoh Asmah & Co, has been

collecting FORBES and FORBES AFRICA magazines for the last 15 years.

When he was still an attorney, he visited one of his client’s offices in Ghana and that was the first time he came across a FORBES magazine on world billionaires.

“It inspired me to want to be on that list one day,” he tells FORBES AFRICA.

Asmah made it his mission to collect the magazines and stack them up to form a mini-museum in his house.

“What I did was to rip the covers off and have them framed,” he says.

“I actually have about 20 to 25 of the top issues framed, the ones with Warren Buffet, Aliko Dangote and just really the big heavyweights. I use that as a theme for my beach

house, where I created a FORBES-themed room. The whole idea is that it’s a rich lifestyle and while you’re in the room, you are surrounded by the richest people in the world. It’s for people to know that these are my heroes.”

His favorite issue to date of FORBES AFRICA is the February 2019 edition that featured Africa’s billionaires.

And his message for FORBES AFRICA’s eighth anniversary last month?

“We need to send FORBES AFRICA to every corner of the world so people can be educated about Africa has to offer,” he says.

– karen Mwendera

‘SURROUNDED BY THE RICHEST

PEOPLE IN THE WORLD’

An entrepreneur in Ghana collects and frames FORBES AFRICA magazines.

I CREATED A FORBES-THEMED ROOM.

of the Zaria Art Society, who were making artworks around the time of Nigeria's looming independence. According to Chellaram, these artists incorporated traditional narratives and styles along with Western training, creating a unique visual style that developed modernism in Nigeria. "Many of my favorite artists [include] Uche Okeke, Yusuf Grillo, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Demas Nwoko and Simon Okeke," she says.

Her collection is ever-evolving as she discovers new artists as well as finds rare artwork. Some of her most recent acquisitions are works by Abdoulaye Konaté, the artist from Mali who makes beautiful textile pieces, as well as Nicholas Hlobo, a South African artist. "I also recently added an artwork by Kudanzai Chiurai, an artist from Zimbabwe who works in photography and oils," she says.

Chellaram sits on the African Acquisition Committee at the Tate Modern, an institution that houses the United Kingdom's

national collection of British and international contemporary art. She is also on the Advisory Board of the School of Traditional Arts under the Prince Charles Foundation. Moreover, she has a non-profit organization arm, Arthouse Foundation, which facilitates artist residencies and support programs for emerging artists.

NOT FOR SALE


THE BIG DEPARTMENT STORE and the corner shop today are as di� erent as chalk and cheese.

The allure of the corner store grocery is its quaint old-world charm, and thankfully, in an era of mass retail production and consumption, there are some still thriving in the more hip and trendy suburbs of Johannesburg.

Take Cheese Gourmet, in the leafy Linden neighborhood with its churches, schools and charming boutiques.

Once every six weeks, this corner store is frequented by Henri Postma, a 102-year-old gentleman from the area who makes his way for his monthly supply of cheese. He was gifted a cheesecake for his 100th birthday.

“When he comes, the chair comes out and everyone is happy to see him, it is just wonderful to watch. He eats a lot of cheese, so cheese obviously is good for you,” laughs Jo Dick, who with her husband Brian, have been selling cheese here for the last 15 years.

Jo and Brian Dick sell artisanal cheese and some good old-fashioned family service out of their corner store in Johannesburg.

BY GYPSEENIA LION

The tiny store also includes a restaurant at the back. The whole outfi t has its own character and architectural detail.

“It was a hard struggle. People asked us why you are opening a cheese store in a tiny little shop on 7th street around the corner. Linden wasn’t a thing back then but we lived in Linden and made a conscious e� ort to open our business very close to home,” says Jo.

Cheese Gourmet has managed to withstand competition.

“A lot of people have the money to put in a business but they are not prepared to be in it themselves, and the experience of the corner shop and having it specialized needs to be supported by your community.”

An open fridge stacked with a variety of cold meats and cheese on its shelves parallels a selection of bowls fi lled with olives. Artisanal products line the shelves from corner to corner. Jo is briefl y lost in thought as she reminisces about her travels around the country, back in the day, to source various

NOT FOR SALE

ENTREPRENEURS | JO AND BRIAN DICK FORBES AFRICA


PEOPLE WANT TO GET THEIR HANDS DIRTY AGAIN, THEY WANT TO MAKE WINE, AND THEY WANT TO MAKE THEIR OWN BREAD. THEY ARE GOING RIGHT BACK AND THEY ARE MAKING THINGS THEMSELVES FOR THE EXPERIENCE.– JO DICK

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farm produce and products to sell door-to-door.

She did this for 10 years, before deciding to open the 65sqm corner store.

“The most precious thing about our business is the relationships with the people.

We have many customers who come here on a weekly basis if not twice a month. I am seeing a trend, thank goodness, otherwise we wouldn’t be in business. A lot of younger people are coming in as well,” Jo says.

Brian says that selling unique products that are locally-produced will help the local economy and it starts with supporting the artisan first.

“We don’t sell everyday cheese because the trends are towards more prominent cheeses, rather than the common cheeses,” Brian says.

A broad selection of cheeses are packed on to a large wooden counter. The cheese is weighed and packaged for eager customers and at times, even customized.

“The customers want to see how much you cut off, and that is going to be their piece. It (the cheese) sat and it matured for a year or maybe a couple of weeks depending on the cheese, but that is going to be their slice of heaven,” Jo says.

The multitude of flavors on offer enhances the curiosity and that is what the cheese business means for the family, and customers are willing to pay for this experience.

“We are a country that is still changing its mind about cheese because there are many people that struggle with cheese but people have been exposed to travel, either literally or virtually, and they are the experimental ones because they want to experience and

they are the ones who come here and say ‘I want to try that’ and then they surprise themselves,” Brian says.

“People want to get their hands dirty again, they want to make wine, and they want to make their own bread. They are going right back and they are making things themselves, for the experience,” Jo adds.

The product range and prices vary to cater for both high-end preferences and daily consumption. Customers queue up to make sure their taste buds are tickled with some good old-fashioned family service. “This is a cheesy business filled with fun. Cheese is a product and you notice when you find something that people like, it will make them smile and say cheese!”

Brian and Jo Dick

WHAT MAKES A GOOD SLICE OF CHEESE?

South African cheese consultant, Kobus Mulder, says that South African

cheese consumption is growing at 4% annually.

With over 50 years in the cheese industry, Mulder observes a growing

trend in the sale of innovative cheeses sold by artisans at markets, restaurants

and the catering sector.This is despite the high supply of

factory-produced industrial cheese, such as cheddar, gouda,

mozzarella and feta.For Mulder, appearance, texture and flavor are the three key attributes to

judging good cheese. “A good cheese which looks

appetizing, has the correct texture for its type and has a good flavor, also typical for its type. The three

important aspects of flavor is harmony between the acidity, saltiness and the developed cheesy taste. The final test is if the consumer likes it or not. If the consumer enjoys a cheese, then it is

good cheese,” he says.

Orlando Bravo peaked as a competitive tennis player as a junior in the 1980s, but he is the undisputed world

champion in a far more lucrative game: private equity.

BY ANTOINE GARA

WALL STREET’S

BEST DEALMAKER

FORBES AFRICA

ENTREPRENEURS | ORLANDO BRAVO


NOT FOR SALE


IN 1985, AT AGE 15, HE traveled from his home in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, a small town on the island’s

western coast, to Bradenton, Florida, to enroll in the legendary tennis guru Nick Bollettieri’s grueling academy.

Bravo would wake at dawn, head to class at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, then return to Bollettieri’s tennis courts at noon. He spent hours warring against peers like Andre Agassi and Jim Courier under the broiling sun. At sundown, after an hour to shower and eat, he would study, then retire to a sweaty, two-bedroom condominium in which players bunked four to a room like army barracks. Then he would do it all over again, six days a week, for a full year. “It was the tennis version of Lord of the Flies,” says his former roommate Courier.

The brutally competitive environment helped Bravo climb to a top-40 ranking in the US as a junior. Then he peaked. “It was quite humbling,” recalls Bravo, who’s still fit from his weekly tennis games. “It was a different level of hard work altogether. It became clear I could operate at these super-high levels of pain.”

That grit and perseverance eventually propelled him to the top echelons of the private equity world. Few outside of finance have heard of the 49-year-old Bravo, but he is the driving force behind Wall Street’s hottest firm, the $39 billion (assets) Thoma Bravo.

In February, the French business school HEC Paris, in conjunction with Dow Jones, named Thoma Bravo the best-performing buyout investor in


the world after studying 898 funds raised between 2005 and 2014. According to public data analyzed by Forbes, its funds returned 30% net annually, far better than famous buyout firms like KKR, Blackstone and Apollo Global Management. That’s even better than the returns from the software buyout firm Vista Equity Partners, its closest rival, run by Robert F. Smith, the African American billionaire who recently made headlines by paying off the college debt of Morehouse College’s entire graduating class. Since the beginning of 2015, Bravo has sold or listed 25 investments worth a total of $20 billion, four times their cost. His secret? He invests only in well-established software companies, especially those with clearly discernible moats.

“The economics of software were just so powerful. It was like no other industry I had ever researched,” says Bravo, seated in his office in San Francisco’s Transamerica Pyramid. He wears a tailored purple dress shirt and enunciates his words with a slight Puerto Rican accent. “It was just very obvious.”

Bravo’s firm has done 230 software deals worth over $68 billion since 2003 and presently oversees a portfolio of 38 software companies that generate some $12 billion in annual revenue and employ 40,000 people. Forbes estimates the value of the firm, which is owned entirely by Bravo and a handful of his partners, at $7 billion. Based on his stake in the firm and his cash in its funds, Bravo has a $3 billion fortune. Not only does that make him the first Puerto Rican-born billionaire, it’s enough for Bravo to debut

at 287th place on this year’s Forbes 400 ranking of the richest Americans.

Like a good tennis player who’s worked relentlessly on his ground strokes, Bravo has made private equity investing look simple. There are no complicated tricks. He figured out nearly two decades ago that software and private equity were an incredible combination. Since then, Bravo has never invested elsewhere, instead honing his strategy and technique deal after deal. He hunts for companies with novel software products, like Veracode, a Burlington, Massachusetts-based maker of security features for coders, or Pleasanton, California-based Ellie Mae, the default system among online mortgage lenders, which the firm picked up for $3.7 billion in April. His investments typically have at least $150 million in sales from repeat customers and are in markets that are too specialized to draw the interest of giants like Microsoft and Google. Bravo looks to triple their size with better operations, and by the time he strikes, he’s already mapped out an acquisition or turnaround strategy.

The pool of potential deals is growing. On public markets, there are now more than 75 subscription software companies, worth nearly $1 trillion, that Bravo can target, versus fewer than 20, worth less than $100 billion, a decade ago. Investors

around the world clamor to get into his firm’s funds and lenders have check books ready to finance his next big deal. “The opportunities today are the biggest I’ve ever seen,” Bravo says. “Right now we are in a huge, exploding and changing industry.”

Orlando Bravo’s isn’t a rags-to-riches story. He was born into a privileged life in Puerto Rico in the Spanish colonial city of Mayagüez, which for decades was the port for tuna fishing vessels supplying the local Starkist, Neptune and Bumble Bee canneries. Starting in 1945, his grandfather Orlando Bravo, and later his father, Orlando Bravo Sr., ran Bravo Shipping, which acted as an agent for the massive tuna-fishing factory ships entering the port in Mayagüez. It was a lucrative business. His parents moved him and his younger brother Alejandro to what’s now a gated community in the hills of Mayagüez, where the brothers attended private schools and tooled about on the family’s 16-foot motorboat.

After taking up tennis at age 8, practicing on the courts of a local university and a Hilton hotel, Bravo and his family began making the two-and-a-half-hour drive from their home to San Juan on weekends to allow him to train against better competition. “What I loved about tennis was the opportunity,” he recalls. “I’m from Mayagüez, and I’m going to come to the big city and I’m going to make it,” he says. “Let’s go! The underdog! ”

He quickly became one of Puerto Rico’s top players, which landed him at Bollettieri’s academy and then on Brown University’s tennis team. “I was so scared I wouldn’t make it through,” Bravo says of the Ivy League, so he took most classes pass/fail as a college freshman. But he quickly found his footing and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1992 with degrees in economics and political science. That helped him get a prestigious job as an analyst in Morgan Stanley’s mergers and acquisitions department. There he paid his dues, clocking 100-hour weeks under the renowned dealmaker Joseph Perella.

Bravo’s Spanish fluency put him in front of clients as other analysts slaved away in data rooms. Working on Venezuelan billionaire Gustavo Cisneros’ 1993 acquisition of Puerto Rican supermarket chain Pueblo Xtra International opened his eyes to the world of buyouts. But mostly he says he learned he didn’t want to be a banker.

Bravo eventually headed west to Stanford University. He’d already been accepted into its law school, but he also wanted to attend the business school. He called insistently and eventually got accepted to pursue both. He worked during a summer at Seaver Kent, a Menlo Park, California based joint venture with David Bonderman’s Texas Pacific Group that specialized in middle market deals. Upon graduation in 1998, Bravo wasn’t offered a position there or at TPG, and he spent

I LEARNED I DIDN’T WANT TO INVEST IN RISKY THINGS EVER AGAIN. IT WAS TOO PAINFUL.

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ENTREPRENEURS | ORLANDO BRAVOFORBES AFRICA


months cold-calling for a job. After about a hundred calls, Bravo’s résumé caught the eye of Carl Thoma, a founding partner of the Chicago-based private equity firm Golder, Thoma, Cressey, Rauner (now known as GTCR), and they hit it off. “The biggest mistake Texas Pacific made was Orlando worked there for the summer between business school years and they didn’t make him a job offer,” says Thoma, 71, who Forbes estimates is also a billionaire based on an analysis of public filings.

One of the pioneers of the private equity industry in the 1970s, Thoma is a tall and mild-mannered Oklahoman whose parents were ranchers. Thoma and his partners practiced a friendlier version of the buyouts popularized by Michael Milken, preferring to buy small businesses and expand them using acquisitions. When Bravo came aboard in 1998, Thoma and partner Bryan Cressey had just split from Stanley Golder and Bruce Rauner, who later went on to become governor of Illinois, creating Thoma Cressey. Thoma sent Bravo to San Francisco to hunt for investments and eventually expand the firm’s Bay Area presence.

Bravo’s first few deals, struck before he turned 30, were disasters. He backed two website design startups, NerveWire and Eclipse Networks, just as the dot-com bubble popped. The two lost most of the $100 million Bravo invested. “I learned I didn’t want to invest in risky things ever again,” Bravo says. “It was too painful to live through.” Thoma Cressey was also struggling elsewhere, with underperforming

investments in oil and gas and telecommunications. It was among the worst performers in the private equity industry at the time.

But the failure led to an epiphany that soon made Bravo and his partners billions. He realized his mistake was in backing start-up entrepreneurs, an inherently risky move, when for the same money he could buy established companies selling niche software to loyal customers. With Thoma’s blessing, Bravo pivoted and became an expert on these arcane firms. Coming out of the dot-com bust, the market was littered with foundering companies that had gone public during the bubble and had few interested buyers. Bravo got to work. His first big move, in 2002, was to buy Prophet 21, a Yardley, Pennsylvania-based software provider to distributors in the

healthcare and manufacturing sectors that was trading at a mere one times sales.

Rather than clean house, Bravo kept the company’s CEO, Chuck Boyle, and worked beside him to boost profits, mainly by rolling up competitors. When Boyle wanted to buy a company called Faspac, Bravo flew to San Diego to work out of the Faspac owner’s garage for five days, analyzing reams of contracts to see if the deal would work. “Orlando would help not only at the highest level with strategy but also when we got grunt work done,” Boyle recalls. After seven acquisitions, Bravo sold the business for $215 million, making five times his money.

Software quickly became Bravo’s sole focus, and Thoma Cressey began to thrive. By 2005, Bravo and Thoma had recruited three employees, Scott Crabill, Holden Spaht and Seth Boro, to focus on software applications, cyber security and Web infrastructure. All remain with the firm today as managing partners.

Bravo’s big opportunity came during the financial crisis when Thoma put Bravo’s name on the door and split with his partner Bryan Cressey, a healthcare investor, creating Thoma Bravo. From that moment on, the firm invested only in software, with Bravo leading the way.

A string of billion-dollar buyouts followed— Sunnyvale, California-based network security firm Blue Coat, financial software outfit Digital Insight of Westlake Village, California, and Herndon, Virginia’s Deltek, which sells project management software—all of which more than doubled in value under Bravo’s watch. The firm’s inaugural 2009 software-only fund posted a 44% net annualized return by the

Mission Driven Days after Hurricane Maria hit his

native Puerto Rico, Orlando Bravo loads up a plane in Ft. Lauderdale

with hundreds of pounds of supplies, including hydration pills,

IV tubes and diapers

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ENTREPRENEURS | ORLANDO BRAVOFORBES AFRICA


WITH A FRESH $12.6 BILLION WAR CHEST, BRAVO IS NOW EYEING $10 BILLION-PLUS DEALS AND EXPECTS TO BEGIN BUYING ENTIRE DIVISIONS OF TECH GIANTS.

time its investments were sold, making investors four times their money and proving the wisdom of discipline and specialization. “Every time we picked up our heads to peek at a deal that wasn’t software, the software deal looked a lot better to us,” he brags.

It’s late May, and Orlando Bravo’s 20th-floor offices overlooking the San Francisco Bay are filled with dozens of tech executives from its portfolio companies. Folks from Houston’s Quorum Software, which makes technology systems for oil and gas companies, mingle with cybersecurity experts from Redwood Shores, California’s Imperva. They juggle their roller board suitcases and thick financial books as Thoma Bravo partners map out corporate strategies on dry-erase whiteboards. Those on break hammer away at keyboards in small workrooms or demolish chicken sandwiches in a no-frills kitchenette.

This is one of Thoma Bravo’s monthly boot camps for new acquisitions, gruelling daylong sessions that are critical to its success. Partners regularly buzz into Bravo’s spartan glass-walled offices, while in the background the drilling and hammering of construction workers making room for 13 new associates disturbs the peace.

After two decades studying software, Bravo recognizes clear patterns. For instance, when a company pioneers a product, its sales explode and then inevitably slow as competitors emerge. Often a CEO will use this cue to stray into new markets or overspend to gin up sales. Bravo calls this “chasing

too many rabbits.” To fix it, he and his ten partners work alongside 22 current and former software executives who serve as consultants. They begin tracking the profit-and-loss statements for each product line and pore over contracts in search of bad deals or under-priced products. Critically, by the time a Thoma Bravo acquisition check clears, existing management has agreed that this rigorous approach will help. Bravo calls it “making peace with the past.”

There are also layoffs. Those can total as much as 10% of the workforce, for which Bravo doesn’t apologize. “In order to realign the business and set it up for big-time growth, you first need to take a step back before you take a step forward. It’s like boxing,” he says. “These are unbelievable assets with great innovators, and they are usually undermanaged.”

Mark Bishof, the former CEO of Flexera Software, an application management company outside of Chicago that Bravo bought in 2008 for $200 million and sold for a nearly $1 billion profit three years later, has a succinct description for this wild success. “He just kind of cuts all of the bullsh*t,” Bishof says. “It’s refreshing.” Flexera’s profits rose 70% during Bravo’s ownership, largely thanks to four major acquisitions. “Orlando’s like the general in the foxhole with his sergeant. You know he’s knee-deep in there with you,” Bishof gushes.

Under Thoma Bravo’s watch, companies on average saw cash flow surge as margins hit 35%, as of 2018, nearly triple those of the average public software company

at that time. “It’s like training for the Olympics… You have a finite goal to make it [in year four], and you make it very, very clear,” Bravo says. Today’s roaring market adds potency to the playbook. Lenders are now gorging on software debt, and stock market multiples for these businesses are surging.

A recent example is Detroit’s Compuware, a decades-old pioneer of software applications to manage mainframe computer systems. In 2013, this Nasdaq-listed giant was all but left for dead and up for sale. There was minimal interest, other than from Bravo and partner Seth Boro, who were keen on Dynatrace, software that helped companies move databases to the cloud, which Compuware had acquired in 2011. Thoma Bravo used $675 million in cash and raised $1.8 billion in debt to buy Compuware and then split off Dynatrace as a separate company. The pair began to move Dynatrace from selling database licenses, once the bulk of its business, to cloud subscription services, now 70% of sales. This past August, Dynatrace went public, and Thoma Bravo’s 70% stake is now worth over $4 billion, with the remainder of Compuware worth nearly a billion more. “I learned more about building an efficient software company over the last four and a half years than in the first 30 years of my career,” says Dynatrace CEO John Van Siclen.

With a fresh $12.6 billion war chest for its 13th fund raised in 2018, Bravo is eyeing $10 billion-plus deals and expects to begin buying entire divisions from today’s technology giants. But thanks in part to the success of his firm, he now faces more competition. Heavyweights like Blackstone and KKR are increasingly sussing out software deals, not to mention his long-time rival Vista Equity. And he’s not immune to mistakes. Bravo’s $3.6 billion 2015 acquisition of San Francisco-based digital network tracker Riverbed Technology is currently struggling because of slowing sales and too much debt. He isn’t worried. “There are bigger and better companies to fix than there were ten years ago,” Bravo says.

His biggest challenge these days is likely back home in Puerto Rico where it all began. Bravo announced in May that he is contributing $100 million to his Bravo Family Foundation that will be used to promote entrepreneurship and economic development on the island.

This new foundation was birthed by Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island two years ago. Bravo was in Japan raising cash for yet another massive fund and frantically calling San Juan trying to locate his parents, who were living in the capital. They were fine, but the island wasn’t.

NOT FOR SALE

Five days later, he fl ew his Gulfstream jet with 1,000 pounds of supplies—water, granola bars, meal kits, satellite telephones, diapers, intravenous tubes and hydration pills—to Aguadilla, near Mayagüez. When an airport worker opened the door of his plane, Bravo says, the look of fear on his face was unforgettable. “All you could say was ‘I’m sorry for what happened to you.’ ”

He returned two weeks later in a larger plane with 7,000 pounds of supplies. Then he came in a massive DC-10 cargo plane before ultimately chartering two container ships carrying 600,000 pounds. “It was just like cold-calling for deals,” Bravo says of rounding up all the donations. He personally put in $3 million in just the fi rst 30 days, and committed $10 million altogether.

When the Federal Emergency Management Agency became fully operative there, the island’s richest native turned his attention to Puerto Rico’s future. Though 44% of Puerto Ricans live below the poverty line, Bravo believes in the potential to foster entrepreneurship, citing that a tenth of the population has tried to build a business.

Armed with his money, his foundation is looking to back Puerto Rican technology entrepreneurs, even ferrying them to Thoma Bravo’s o� ces for training. Bravo admits to being tired of the debate over Puerto Rico’s statehood and holds his tongue when asked about President Trump’s performance during Maria. “My passion, which is the same as with companies, is to move beyond the strategic, long-term pontifi cation, and into the operational and tactical moves that make you move forward today,” he says. “Economies go down, companies miss their numbers, trade stops, product issues happen and people quit. [The question is] do you have a creative approach to problem solving?” Bravo says. “Some people are stuck . . . and some people love putting the pieces together. I just feel like every operational problem can be solved. There’s always a solution.”

2019 TSHWANE TRADE AND INVESTMENT SUMMIT (TTIS 2019) BOOSTS INVESTMENT AND JOBS

AdVoice BY TSHWANE TRADE AND INVESTMENT SUMMIT

Held during September, TTIS 2019 promoted the City of Tshwane as a preferred destination for the infl ow of domestic and foreign

investments. Over 500 participants including over 400 business delegates attended the Summit.

Powered by the City of Tshwane and the Tshwane Economic Development Agency, TTIS 2019 showcased 20 bankable projects to potential investors across 5 priority sectors, accounting for a total of over R126 billion in potential pipeline investments. A key sentiment carried by the Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Cllr Stevens Mokgalapa, was that the City of Tshwane had taken an approach of reducing red tape and rolling out the red carpet for investment and business.

Under the theme of “Partnering for development: An investor-friendly capital city”, TTIS 2019 managed to secure well over R10 billion in investment commitments which is set to create over 6 700 jobs in the City of Tshwane.

The breakaway sessions for the 5 priority sectors provided opportunities that the City can take forward in positioning these sectors for growth - some key insights uncovered include;

•Automotive – the City needs to partner with the local automotive sector

to benefi t from the opportunities o� ered by the new Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA).

•Agro-processing - the 4th industrial revolution will help in connecting farmers to markets, bridging the gap between research, policy and business. Tshwane as a research hub, has the advantage to use this capacity to benefi t the sector

•Tourism - township revitalisation is a big growth sector and that focus should also go towards transforming the township tourism precincts in Tshwane

•Energy and Renewables - the changing regulatory environment in the energy sector presents an opportunity for municipalities to play a bigger role in both the generation and distribution of electricity

•Property – various investment opportunities were showcased highlighting impact and opportunities across this sector – to see all projects showcased please visit www.ttisummit.com/projects/

Aside from the panel discussions, exhibitions and site tours, the below investors were honoured for doing business in the city and encouraged to keep growing the city’s economy and create employment.

STRATEGIC URBAN DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

OTHER PROJECTS SME

Rainbow Junction Development Com-pany (Pty) Ltd

Sun Time Square The Distilling Native

Big Cedar Property Development Growth

Bader SA Mamelodi Lager

MIO-Liviero Garankuwa (Pty) Ltd Regency Hotel Group Soltech

Mzansi Rail Technology Bio2Watt Kgabo Cars

M&T Development (Pty) Ltd Exemplar Troy Gold Consolidated

Abland Pty Ltd

Atterbury

For more information, please visit www.ttisummit.com

Curtin Dubai - Choose Engineering_Double Spread_Forbes Ad.indd 1 7/18/19 8:23 PM

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Curtin Dubai - Choose Engineering_Double Spread_Forbes Ad.indd 1 7/18/19 8:23 PM


HEELS ON WHEELS

The freight and logistics sector is changing face. More women are at the helm – and speeding ahead.


FOR MANY YEARS, THE logistics and trucking industry in South Africa was dominated by men until a young woman

from Durban saw a gap in the market and took the opportunity to overtake them. They didn’t see her in their rear-view mirrors, speeding ahead.

Nicci Scott is today the founder of Commercial Transport Academy (CTA), a program designed to help students enter the trucking industry. In an industry where there are few women even now, she is a formidable force.

In 1995, at the age of 21, Scott started Siyaduma Auto Ferriers, which she says was the first female-owned logistics company in South Africa. This was soon after the country had gained democracy and women were unheard of in the industry. But she had been an entrepreneur long before that. At the age

of 18, Scott started a business and sold it for just enough to go to work in the United States where she spent two years.

“While I was there, during the sanctions that South Africa was exposed to, I got to experience services that I had never seen before, like delivery services. These were services we never saw in the country, especially where I grew up,” says Scott. She returned home, worked for a car rental company for three months, and during that time, saw a gap in the market. The company she worked for moved cars based on bookings, so she saw that as an opportunity to provide these companies with drivers.

That epiphany marked her entry into the industry.

These rental companies would either use labor brokers, who would just drop-off the cars, or use big car carriers which would load the cars on to trailers

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FORBES AFRICA

ENTREPRENEURS | WOMEN IN TRANSPORT

Trucks parked at the One Logix facility in Kempton Park, Johannesburg


THERE WERE MORE TRUCKS PARKED IN SOUTH AFRICA THAN TRUCKS ON THE ROAD.– NICCI SCOTT

restricted to 80kmph, and there was nothing in between, she says.

She started her own car delivery service and her list of clients kept increasing.

Her clients didn’t want to work with labor brokers anymore because there was no screening process – drivers with licences who were barely vetted for their criminal records were allowed to drive.

Scott offered a 90-minute turnaround time and that grew the business immensely.

“The big organizations at the time were running like a cartel and they were ignoring me until they couldn’t anymore and these were men, it didn’t matter to them that I was a woman. There was no charter to develop women back in 1998; no one was doing anything to help women in the business,” she says.

What was key to her was that she was only as good as her last delivery. Every damaged vehicle was an absolute personal failure, so she had to make sure that all was perfect.

However, while the technology on passenger vehicles was improving, she had to find a new market and the technology on trucks hadn’t evolved as much.

“From around 1999, I moved on to the trucking side and offered the very same service solutions to deliver trucks and the industry had never ever seen such a turnaround time,” she says.

Her first customer was MAN Truck & Bus.

She then started phasing out the passenger vehicle market, sold the various regions that came under her purview to the young entrepreneurs and branch managers she had being working with for long.

For her, the commercial trucking industry was far more engaging and stimulating because her services were new to them and Siyaduma Auto Ferriers was innovative.

“In 2008, there was the recession, and by 2009, my business lost 54% market share within three months, not to somebody else, but because trucks were not sold. There were more trucks parked in South Africa than trucks on the road,” she says.

Again, the company had to look at how they were going to reinvent themselves to survive the recession. There was a lot of innovation from the industry during that time to try and cut costs, recalls Scott.

In 2011, the industry started revving up again and business was doing well. But by then, it came to a point where she was totally exhausted as an individual.

“I had made the worst mistake any entrepreneur could make; I had worked myself to the point where I was sick, I then decided to sell,” she says.

The business was making a turnover of R100 million ($6.7 million), employing 280 people in 2018 and Scott sold the 23-year-old business to One Logix and became part of a big organization.

She now truly wanted to develop young startups and wanted to give back the opportunity that was given to her in 1995.

The CTA became her new focus; she left the organization to focus on the academy. She started with Volvo with the very first program training 20 men, but at the same time, she knew she wanted to be a catalyst for change.

Her goal was to curate an academy focused on the development of men and women, with a special focus on women in the transport sector, offering bespoke training.

“We are currently running a program with Volvo called Iron Women, it takes women with a Code 10 driver’s license and then a Code 14; they then do theory about operating a combination vehicle successfully and safely,” she says.

Then, they are incorporated into the workplace and train for three months, driving

Nicci Scott

NOT FOR SALE


IT WAS A SUCCESS BECAUSE THEY FOUND THAT WOMEN DRIVERS WERE BETTER THAN MALE DRIVERS, WE WERE RELIABLE, WE WERE NOT INVOLVED IN ACCIDENTS, BARELY TAKE SICK LEAVE OR COME TO WORK WITH A HANGOVER.– NTOMBIZODWA KHUMALO

all kinds of trucks. “I then go into the market and find them jobs and at this point, there has been 80% employment,” says Scott.

Ntombizodwa Khumalo from Sebokeng, a township in the south of Johannesburg, is one of the 80% women now employed as drivers.

Before that, Khumalo worked in a hotel, booking in drivers from parts of southern Africa. The inquisitive Khumalo would page through some of the truck manuals that she would find in their rooms.

About two years later, she heard from a friend that a mining company was looking to employ women. Out of the eight women that were interviewed and tested, she was one of four that got an opportunity to work for the firm in 2007.

Khumalo had never driven a truck in her life and received her Code 14 driver’s licence and a certificate to operate a truck.

“It was a success because they found that women drivers were better than male drivers, we were reliable, we were not involved in accidents, barely take sick leave or come to work with a hangover,” says Khumalo.

The 36-year-old was operating a dump truck in and around the mine.

In 2012, the contract ended and she was left unemployed. It was not easy gaining employment with logistics companies because she was a woman.

“This was until I met Nicci Scott, she made it easier for companies to trust that as women, the job can be done. Today, I am driving all

industrial trucks all around South Africa for an international soft drink manufacturing company.

“Safety-wise on the road, you always have to be alert of your surroundings, and now, we have drivecams (cameras), but we also have convoys, we are never alone. So I feel safe on the road,” she says.

Khumalo is working towards getting her own fleet and becoming an entrepreneur.

The transport industry has seen drastic changes over the last few decades and thankfully, there are women in leadership positions too, specifically in road freight.

Matlhodi Senyatsi, Director: Logistics Infrastructure, of the National Department of Transport (DoT) in South Africa, has a commerce background and has been in the industry 10 years now.

Her work focuses on policy and regulations in the transport industry. Her portfolio revolves around freight, the movement of goods and services, and coming up with new policies or reviewing existing ones.

“We engage the industry and stakeholders to reach a consensus and after that, we take the processes to cabinet and portfolio committee to say this is what we think needs to happen in the industry from the policy point of view,” says Senyatsi.

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ENTREPRENEURS | WOMEN IN TRANSPORT

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That being said, going back to 2008, former transport minister Jeff Radebe had stated the sector would change the face of transport. The South African Network for Women in Transport (SANWIT) was established the same year.

“This umbrella body was established as a strategic vehicle to engage business and government on issues that impact on

THERE ARE A WHOLE LOT OF YOUNG GIRLS THAT ARE LOOKING TO DRIVING AND TRUCKS HAVE CAMERAS NOW SO THAT DRIVERS CAN BE MONITORED. TECHNOLOGY HAS PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN TERMS OF SAFETY FOR WOMEN. – LEBO LETSOALO

women in the transport sector, including entrepreneurship,” said Radebe in a statement.

Indeed, this has happened and Lebo Letsoalo is a perfect case in point.

Letsoalo is a supply chain coach, a thought leader in the sector, from procurement all the way to transportation and the logistics subdivision.

She currently runs her own organization;

Sincpoint, founded in 2016. The company offers integrated supply

chain solutions in the industry. It also enables knowledge, skills and experience to assist in the development of procurement, logistics, information systems and distribution among other fundamentals.

A few months after Sincpoint was founded, she also founded AWISCA (African Women in Supply Chain Association), a non-profit organization, with the focus of building technical capacity and skills through mentorship.

“Part of what I do as a mentor and coach is focus on skills development; we develop capacity around the supply chain sector. I am passionate about supply chain and have being in the industry for 18 years. I started my career doing media studies and after the first year, I dropped it because it wasn’t in sync with what I wanted,” says Letsoalo.

She, therefore, researched the future around certain careers, and the one that caught her attention was the supply chain sector. Her focus was always logistics, she says.

“During my third year, I was recruited into the industry and worked for my first big corporate company as a procurement officer. Over the years, I was moving companies and getting promotions and eventually worked as a senior manager at a mining company. The last organization I worked for was a petroleum company as a general manager for one of their business units, was then promoted to vice-president for supply chain running the logistics of the chemical sector which was about 60% of the organization’s income.”

She learned as an employee that the industry is male-dominated and realized there was a bigger gap in upskilling, especially around logistics and procurement; she built relationships and currently contributes to upskilling in the sector.

Today, she employs six permanent staff and works with about 10 associate companies, including freelancers.

The name, Sincpoint, came about synchronizing all the subsectors in the supply chain industry which are driving the GDP, and AWISCA was created for students, women, entrepreneurs and professionals.

Lebo LetsoaloNOT FOR SALE

ENTREPRENEURS | WOMEN IN TRANSPORTFORBES AFRICA


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“With the student chapter, we have partnered with universities that drive the transport economy, logistics, supply chain, and we have a memorandum of understanding with these institutes. We prepare them [the students] for the workplace and also show how you can be an entrepreneur in this sector, like owning a truck in road freight and going into the clearing and forwarding business,” she says.

Letsoalo goes on to add the issue with women driving trucks are the safety measures. “If you are a woman and you have to drive from Johannesburg to Cape Town, you are not allowed to drive non-stop, they need to rest. So the concern of having women on the road has always been a challenge. There is the issue of rape or cargo getting stolen while they are resting, but now the landscape is changing. There are a whole lot of young women that are looking to driving, and trucks have cameras now so that drivers

can be monitored. Technology has played a major role in terms of safety for women,” says Letsoalo.

However, in the number of years that she has worked and managed in this sector, she has never met a female truck driver moving freight, although, there are a number of female truck owners.

“It’s an entrepreneur’s space,” she says.The issue of women empowerment has

brought a lot of opportunities for women and Senyatsi testifies to that.

“In the late 1980s, there was a deregulation of the law that trucks were not allowed to move certain commodities, and out of that, we saw a lot of trucking businesses mushrooming,” says Senyatsi.

She says anyone can get into the business; it just depends on which type of business you are interested in. What the DoT finds is that it is easy to get into the industry and people want to own trucks without looking at factors

like maintenance and management.As government, they are looking at making

sure there are quality regulations in the industry.

The Road Freight Strategy document will regulate that everybody competes on an equal footing, be it male and female, and this will highlight that owners are properly operating, the truck is serviced regularly, the driver is competent, trained, and also have a person who manages the business for the owner if the owner has other priorities.

“We find a lot of women in the clearing and forwarding business because you don’t have to have a lot of money to start, you must just understand the trade. In the value chain, there is insurance, maintenance and not just owning a truck, people seem to think that those trucking industries are not as important,” says Senyatsi.

The journey for women in this space has just begun, and they are here to stay.


GIRAFFES ARE HEADING towards extinction – their population has declined by 30% in the past 30 years. What’s more is there is a massive genetic depression in

the giraffe population globally – giraffes in zoos suffer from inbreeding, the result being life-threatening skin conditions, only adding to what many are calling a silent extinction.

One of the most important and innovative giraffe studies, led by giraffe specialist Dr Francois Deacon, is about to come to a close. Deacon, his team of researchers (supported by the University of the Free State in South Africa, Save the Giraffes, a US-based NGO and the De Beers Group) used satellite technology and innovative GPS-equipped head collars to gather new, previously-unknown giraffe data.

Wesley Black, a conservation specialist from Bloemfontein (in South Africa’s Free State province), worked with Deacon on the project. He says: “None of the collaring companies had designs for giraffes – it had simply never been

done before. Giraffe heads grow, the older they get, in both mass and density, so if you want to collar a giraffe for an entire year, the size of their heads will be completely different to when you first put on a collar – there’s a risk of the collar becoming too tight. It was quite difficult.”

Giraffes are known to be a poorly-studied species – the scrum cap design was one of many prototypes. Before the data started coming through, conservationists didn’t have a clear idea of how a giraffe’s herd structure worked. With the caps in place, they could finally get a better understanding of their movements and migration routes, as well as the effects of climate change on the giraffe population. The collars also took away the need for aerial surveying – something which can disturb these gentle giants.

The results of this project will be key for boosting the global giraffe population. The next step? Artificial insemination to promote genetic diversity: “The big plan with giraffes is to try and reintroduce genetic material to all the zoos across the world. Giraffes die when you move them – up to 70% of males die when you translocate them,”

Conserving wildlife has become more complicated but technology like

drones, satellite-tracking and

other connected platforms are

now helping, for example, to boost the global giraffe

population.

BY TIANA CLINE O R D E RNOT FOR SALE

WILDLIFE CONSERVATIONFORBES AFRICA


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explains Black, “transporting them internationally is not an option, they struggle and stress too much… and you have to catch them first. To handle a giraffe is very delicate but when you catch a giraffe, you feel like a cowboy,” he laughs.

Collecting giraffe semen is a challenge but it’s something Deacon and his team managed to do: “Sperm analysis and its impact on future reproduction may very well be the key to ensuring that giraffe populations thrive in our ever-changing world,” says Dr Ilse Luther-Binoir, the first reproductive physiologist to successfully collect semen from a wild giraffe.

Cisco and Dimension Data’s Connected Conservation project, which began in South Africa in 2015 and later extended to Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia, is using a combination of different technologies to put to try stop animal poaching. Not only has it

been successful – the numbers show a sharp decrease in rhinos being poached – it’s innovative in its approach: “Unlike any other solution ever used, the endangered animals remain undisturbed and free to roam in their natural habitat – while technology is used to track the movement of people (and potential poachers) coming in and out of the reserve,” explains Bruce Watson, Dimension Data’s group executive for the Cisco Global Alliance.

“Many organizations have committed to protecting animals through various reactive initiatives, such as dehorning, or inserting sensors in the horn and subcutaneously. However, the problem with reactive initiatives is that by the time the reserve rangers reach the animal, it has been killed and the rhino horn or elephant tusks have been hacked off.”

What’s unique about the

WILDLIFE CONSERVATIONFORBES AFRICA


Connected Conservation initiative is that it does not interfere with the animals. It uses technology – a secure park area network, data collection and analysis via CCTV/ biometric scanning, sensors, drone-based surveillance and thermal imaging – to protect the land against people (like poachers), creating a safe haven for the animals to roam freely.

“In using a combination of Cisco technology of digital infrastructure, hybrid cloud, digital workplace, and cybersecurity, the Connected Conservation Pilot was able to overcome many limitations often faced by game reserves in these remote locations,” adds Watson. “These include manual security processes (lock and key), basic access control, a lack of basic IT infrastructure, limited communications capabilities – and harsh environment and changing weather patterns.”

ONLINE ECOTOURISMFor those who cannot afford to go on safari or visit game lodges, live-streaming online wildlife channels like Africam.com is a way to take in the sights and sounds of the bush from afar. But any technology used within a game park has to be installed with caution – elephants and monkeys are known to rip cameras out of their hiding spots, and lighting storms can also take out the tech. But it’s far more than carefully-placed infrared cameras – live-streaming can put endangered animals at risk by sharing their whereabouts and feeding pattern.

“You can’t just hide the animals, you have to be careful with the data. We can show rhinos and other endangered

species, but there has to be huge security behind it. Only certain information can go live, other data needs to go straight to anti-poaching units. If it’s not done properly, it can be dangerous,” explains Paul Penzhorn, CEO of Africam.com. “Some of the lodges we’re now working with want to see rhinos on camera – they use Africam as a way to track them through their migration within the game park.”

Live-streaming can also mobilize communities to help – Penzhorn has managed to raise funds through the Africam website, creating much-needed awareness for grassroots NGOs.

EYES IN THE SKYIn order to understand an animal population, you need to count it. With orangutans, for example, you have to be on the ground and count nests. WWF is using new thermal imaging drone technology to monitor critically-endangered orangutans.

“We needed to find a way to reduce the error margin so we could detect changes in population numbers and therefore determine the impact of our conservation strategies better,” explains Professor Serge Wich, a primatologist and contemporary wildlife conservation expert.

According to WWF, their astro-ecologists (a combination of astrophysicists, conservationists and ecologists) are in the processing of developing a machine learning algorithm to tell animal species apart based on their unique thermal fingerprint. They’re using technology previously used to study stars: “In thermal images, animals shine in a similar way to stars and galaxies,

so we used techniques from astronomy to detect and distinguish them,” says Dr Claire Burke, an astrophysicist at Liverpool John Moores University, in a statement.

A WWF Living Planet report revealed that the global population of fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles are on course to decline by 67% by 2020, making conservation one of the biggest necessities. Innovative technology used within conservation has changed the way wildlife is both conserved and protected. It has transformed the work of researchers from across all fields interested in the protection of species.

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ATEA ROOM FILLED WITHreverence for the traditional Japanese tea ceremony.

But fi rst, the facts. To understand tea-drinking in Japan, it is important to go through the following motions, starting with the communal practice known as chadō (the way of tea) that is older than 800 years, in which, in a hand-decorated cast iron bowl, green powder, known as matcha, is whisked to make a dark green tea to be o� ered to guests.

Tea was fi rst brought to Japan from China in the seventh century for medicinal purposes, and was regarded as a commodity that was exclusively accessible to the noble and elite.

According to Japanese historical beliefs, Myōan Eisai, a Buddhist priest who introduced the school of Zen Buddhism to Japan, was one of the fi rst to inculcate the culture of tea in Japan.

He wrote a book on the health benefi ts of drinking tea, as well as the cultivation and preparation of green tea.

By the thirteenth century, the tea drinking culture grew in popularity among warriors and the elite, and by the sixteenth century, tea had become a favorite for all social classes.

Tea schools opened and the art of making tea gradually evolved to more than just being a spiritual practice in Japan.

It became one of respect with shared peace and friendship.

The tea room is traditionally surrounded by a garden with a tranquil atmosphere, emphasized by dull fl owers without strong

Japan, a tea-drinking nation, is one of South Africa’s biggest importers of rooibos tea. In 2018, a record high of 2,000 tonnes of the homegrown blend was shipped o� to the land of the rising sun.

BY GYPSEENIA LION

WHAT’S BREWING IN TOKYO

NOT FOR SALE


scents, to avoid distraction.A low entrance into the tea room suggests

that guests are to bow as a gesture of respect for the ceremony.

Every movement, gesture and aesthetic, from the preparation to the enjoyment of the tea, is designed to express friendship and harmony. Guests watch on as the host shares the moment and finally presents it to them, kneeling on cushions.

Once the bowl has circulated among the guests, it is handed back to the host.The tools are cleaned and the ceremony is closed.

The Red BushOver 14,000kms away, across the Indian

Ocean, a South African enjoys a hot cup of ‘red tea.’

Its preparation may not be as dramatic as it is in Japan, but it evokes the same sense of calm and serenity. It’s simply made by adding tealeaves or a tea bag into a cup of boiling

water, a few teaspoons of sugar and having “a date with time”, as Swaady Martin, the founder of Yswara, an African tea and teatime company, puts it.

Martin, who has been in the tea industry for seven years, with a focus on gourmet African teas, has tasted and sourced blends from Malawi, Kenya and Rwanda but the South African rooibos is her favorite.

“Rooibos is not a tea, it is a plant. I find it a miraculous and wonderous plant. The fact that it only grows in one region of South Africa, and that it has all these incredible properties, makes it a plant I love dearly. I drink rooibos almost every day,” she says.

Located in the heart of Johannesburg’s central business district (CBD), Martin’s tea room, which is currently being refurbished, embodies what she calls a meditative appeal that coincides with the tranquil properties of tea.

Tea lovers step into a room filled with silence and walls done up in light pink hues representing a sunset in the desert.

This is to encourage focus on the tea, as it represents the removal of barriers between the different social classes.

“We have suffered in South Africa and also around the world, with so much exclusion, the one thing that was important for Yswara was to give inclusive luxury. For me, inclusiveness means being in a place where everyone could have access.

“Being in town (CBD) was just that expression of being in the midst of everything and everyone; and at the junction of what represents the new South Africa,” Martin says.

A South African Rooibos Council (SARC) industry fact sheet published in 2018 states that the country’s geographical areas provide the perfect environmental conditions for rooibos cultivation.

The plant can be found in the Cederberg and Sandveld regions of the Western Cape and the Bokkeveld area of the Northern Cape.

“The vital characteristics of this environment are the Mediterranean climate with a winter rainfall between 200mm and 450mm per year; deep, coarse and acidic sandy soils; and temperatures that can range from zero degrees Celsius in winter months, to up to forty-five degrees Celsius in summer,” the report says.

Due to the indigenous properties of the Rooibos bush, industry regulations stipulate that the term ‘rooibos’ be used responsibly.

“The terms ‘Rooibos’, ‘red bush’, ‘Rooibostee’, ‘Rooibos tea’, ‘rooitee’ and ‘Rooibosch’ may only be used when the dry product, infusion or extract is 100% pure rooibos. Furthermore, the notice stipulates that the above terms (referring to rooibos) can only be used when the product was grown in the geographic area as described in the application, i.e., the winter rainfall area of South Africa,” the SARC report states.

This uniquely-grown product is becoming a big deal across the globe, and the tea-drinking nation, Japan, has fallen in love with the health benefits that the South African tea provides.

In 2016, rooibos exports increased to over 30 countries across the globe; with Germany, Netherlands, Japan, the United Kingdom

THE FACT THAT IT ONLY GROWS IN ONE REGION OF SOUTH AFRICA, AND THAT IT HAS ALL THESE INCREDIBLE PROPERTIES, MAKES IT A PLANT I LOVE DEARLY.– SWAADY MARTIN

FORBES AFRICA

FORBES LIFE | ROOIBOS TEA

FORBES LIFE | ROOIBOS TEA FORBES AFRICA


and the United States (US) being the biggest importers.

In 2018, one of the largest tea-drinking nations recorded over 2,000 tonnes that were shipped into the Japanese shores, making it the largest export since rooibos was first introduced to the Japanese 39 years ago.

For Martin Bergh, the Managing Director of Rooibos Limited and the Chairperson of the SARC, the tea has been up against competition in the Japanese tea market, which has over 26 different types of teas to consume, ranging from the traditional green tea varieties to Jasmine and Barley, or the sacred Mugicha.

“The general trend toward natural health and wellness products continue to exert a growing influence on purchasing patterns in the region and as more of Rooibos’ health benefits become known in the East, we anticipate the demand for the product to grow,” says Bergh.

Bergh points out that the Japanese are purists and therefore prefer to drink rooibos tea unflavored, without milk or sugar.

“In the past, rooibos was consumed more in summer for hydration, but has now become an all-year-round tea product consumed by all age groups. A market as big as Japan’s 126 million-strong tea-loving population, is always eager to experiment with new products.

“Local retailers like Peacock Coffee & Tea Traders have adapted to the experimental flavors to quench the insatiable thirst of the local and international market.”

Kelebogile Monyaysi, the manager at Peacock Coffee & Tea Traders in Rosebank, Johannesburg, attentively prepares a cup of tea when we visit.

The loose tea leaves are cautiously stirred in a tea pot and served at a small coffee table.

One half of the store is dedicated to coffee and the other for tea.

The smell of freshly-brewed coffee overpowers the aromatic smell of tea.

Tea sets range from vintage English style ceramics to Japanese cast iron teapots.

A selection of rooibos tea blends with various flavored options, ranging from organic rooibos to creamy caramel, as well as herbal blends.

This includes a Nelson Mandela range. The caffeine-free tea, according to

Monyaysi, is popular in the Japanese markets because of its natural healing qualities.

Despite coffee being a popular beverage for sit-in customers, rooibos tea is the most sought after locally too.

“It (rooibos) is the center of attraction. This is a word that they (tourists) can grab and not forget, so when they walk in here, it is all they ask for,” she says.

It took some time for Monyaysi to be stirred by tea.

“I was not much of a tea-drinker. I only started to enjoy tea when I began working here. Now, the first thing in the morning, I have to drink a cup of tea and in the evening, before I go to bed. It is a habit – if I don’t drink tea, I get a headache,” Monyaysi says, preferring the original rooibos blend.

Jessica Bonin, the founder of Lady Bonin’s Tea, a Cape Town-based company that sources, blends, packages and distributes full leaf teas, either loose or in biodegradable tea bags, offers more on the world’s fetish for rooibos.

Lady Bonins’ teas and herbals are sourced locally and internationally from farms that are organic without adding additives or products that harm the environment.

The rooibos is sourced by using a method known as “wild pickings” – the process of collecting the rooibos that grows naturally in the mountains. Due to the increase in demand for rooibos and rooibos products globally, commercial farmers have scaled production unsustainably, leaving environmental and societal damage in their wake.

Bonin says that in countries like Japan

and Thailand, black tea is preferred, and it is predominantly used for the health benefits – making it a herbal infusion.

“They are buying it solely on the principle that it is a caffeine-free, non-tea beverage. People are buying it as an alternative and they are transfixed by its health properties.

“It is enabling people who naturally use plants as medicine for many years. In any Western country, you will need to justify the health benefits, but in the Asian countries, it is the medicine they are interested in. People are very healthy in Japan,” she says.

Although Bonin is facing difficulties entering the export market in Japan due to the high number of monopolies and conglomerates in the industry, small amounts of exports also go to Germany and the US.

Rooibos is a unique product that has infused the signature South African taste and its ambience with the rest of the world.

The Japanese may have their unique tea-drinking ceremonies and traditions but in Germany and the other countries that import the plant in millions, rooibos offers a cupful of experience that is incomparable and uniquely South African.

IT [ROOIBOS] IS THE CENTER OF ATTRACTION. THIS IS A WORD THAT THEY [TOURISTS] CAN GRAB AND NOT FORGET, SO WHEN THEY WALK IN HERE, IT IS ALL THEY ASK FOR.NOT FOR SALE

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NELSON MANDELA HAD HIS own following at the recent Comic Con Africa convention at the end of September in Johannesburg.

At the center of all the organized chaos at the event at the Gallagher Convention Centre attended by 71,000 visitors over four days was a comic book bearing the late South African president’s name created by brothers Phemelo, 28, and Omphile Dibodu, 25.

The comic book, Young Nelson, features an African superhero, for readers in the continent and beyond.

Co-founders of Rainbow Nations Comics, a black-owned comic book and publishing company established in 2018, the Dibodu brothers were born and bred in Rustenburg, known as ‘platinum city’, in South Africa’s North West province.

Far from their hometown, the duo were in the big city for the event, showcasing their creations to an adept audience – people dressed as superheroes, cyborgs and zombies – who crowded around their stand and were as colorful as the comic books they were thumbing through.

“Wow, that looks cool, who is Young Nelson?” asked a curious bystander.

Phemelo was ready with his answers even as his brother assisted with more queries.

“Young Nelson is a proudly South African black comic book inspired by the late Nelson Mandela,” responded Phemelo.

In front of him, on the table, a large poster of Young Nelson, featuring a young black male with the South African flag over his shoulders and a gold-colored map of Africa emblazoned on his shirt.

This day saw the launch of the very first issue of Young Nelson titled An Act of Kindness, for R20 ($1.3) a copy.

Phemelo, the writer, and Omphile, the illustrator, say they were inspired by Mandela and some of their own life experiences growing up.

“I think I wanted to pay tribute to the old man in a way that it would hopefully inspire others to look at him in the way that many South Africans see him,” says Phemelo to FORBES AFRICA.

In the story, ‘Young Nelson’ gets his nickname when he volunteers at a local boxing

COLORS FOR

MANDELA The world of comic books is dominated by stories

from the West. Two South African brothers are helping reshape that narrative with a central

character inspired by the iconic hero.

BY KAREN MWENDERA NOT FOR SALE

FORBES LIFE | COMIC BOOKSFORBES AFRICA


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gym. The people watching him witness his skills and ability to solve problems, so they equate him to the young Mandela, who was famously a boxer in his youth.

“[The lead character] doesn’t like the nickname at first but once he sees the significance of it and his heroics, how they are taken up by the community to represent who they are, he takes the name and rolls with it and that’s his superhero name going forward with the series,” Phemelo explains.

Young Nelson’s real name in the comic is actually ‘Thabo Mo Afrika’, inspired by South African president Thabo Mbeki, who succeeded Mandela.

“ ‘Mo Afrika’ is a generic surname [which] translated into English is ‘an African’. So I wanted to see every African seeing themselves in Young Nelson,” Phemelo adds.

The young writer’s plan is to take his product to bigger markets, but for now, the African comic industry is a tough market to capture for lack of any funding.

“Imagine getting paid for what you are doing. That would [make a] big difference. Once people realize that their art can be compensated, more of us will actually start creating content the world would want to start reading,” he says.

Bill Masuku, a speaker at the Comic Con event and who is also a digital artist, shares the same sentiments.

“In Zimbabwe, where I am from, it is pretty grassroots. Everyone

is self-publishing and if you don’t really have a passion for it, the book won’t come out,” says Masuku, who has been a part of the African comic industry for over three years. He is the founder of Enigma Comix Africa, and creator of Razor-Man and Captain South Africa.

“As much as new creatives are coming out every day, what really makes the comic book industry is distribution. And seeing that [Young Nelson] has such widespread potential really makes me hopeful for where we are going,” says Masuku.

For comic books to thrive on the continent, they need a big financial push from publishers, distributors or investors, unlike any other medium.

The Dibodu brothers were fortunate to have been sponsored by the Rustenburg Herald, a weekly local newspaper in Rustenburg.

“The problem with creating by yourself is that you can only create at a certain rate and you do burn out. So you find people who have been making comics who have three or four issues out and it’s easy to forget about them as a consumer,” he adds.

Globally, platforms like Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan make it easy for Japanese creatives to publish their work as the comic book and manga industry is thriving there, making it one of the best-selling magazines. Weekly Shōnen Jump has sold over 7.5 billion copies since 1968.

But the African comic industry has a long way to go.Kugali, a digital platform founded by three entrepreneurs and

friends from Nigeria and Uganda, is designed to help people find and share the best African narratives and comics. It is an entertainment company that focuses on telling stories inspired by Africans, offering much-needed exposure to young creatives such as Masuku and the Dibodu brothers. For now, the reception the Dibodus are receiving give them some hope.

“It’s been awesome and inspirational. I didn’t know people felt the same way as me. It’s amazing when people are [reading] the story of the character and people are saying ‘you know what, that’s what we need’,” says Phemelo. At the end of Comic Con, they managed to sell over 300 copies of Young Nelson.

“People are catching onto the culture. I think it might even grow bigger than the American industry only because I think we are a very artistic community… Whether you look at the hieroglyphics in Egypt or the cave paintings by the bushmen in South Africa, we draw,” he says.

He also plans to sell his comics to local book stores in the country.The team is currently working on their next creation – a black

African female superhero called Imbokodo.“We are looking for new creators we can partner with and

create our own justice league, our own Avengers, to actually have young kids in South Africa look at their heroes the same way Americans look at their heroes in the Comic Cons to come.”

Young Nelson is a refreshing reminder that not all heroes wear capes.

PEOPLE ARE CATCHING ONTO THE CULTURE. I THINK IT MIGHT EVEN GROW BIGGER THAN THE AMERICAN INDUSTRY ONLY BECAUSE I THINK WE ARE A VERY ARTISTIC COMMUNITY.– PHEMELO DIBODU

Phemelo (left) and Omphile Dibodu

PERSONAL FINANCEFORBES AFRICA


Peter Hayward, of Hayward’s Grand Safari Company, on investing in his vision and hosting presidents, royalty and world leaders in luxurious settings in some of the most remote wildlife reserves on the planet.

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‘LIFE IS A SERIES OF LESSONS FOLLOWED BY REWARDS’

WHAT HAVE YOUR RECENT VENTURES, IF ANY, BEEN? With 20 years’ experience in planning and creating fi ve-star ‘hotels’ that we ‘pop up’ in previously inaccessible regions where there is no other hospitality or tourism o� ering, I’m looking to develop into producing semi-permanent tented resorts which can be run and managed o� -the-grid and which remain totally eco-friendly and sustainable to meet the demand for tourism in remote locations.

HOW ARE YOU PART OF THE GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE CONVERSATION? Over the past 28 years, we have proven that big corporate safari events can achieve a high level (96%) satisfaction response rate from guests, in extremely remote and fragile wilderness without leaving any trace of the event ever having taken place. We don’t need bricks and mortar, drains and running water, which all impact the environment. We provide fi ve-star rated hospitality services without the need to create permanent infrastructure that scars the landscape for hundreds of years into the future. All we leave behind is perhaps some bent grass to know we were ever there.

IN A DIGITAL WORLD, IS BEING ‘OFFLINE’ A LUXURY? It is a luxury to provide people the space so they can enter the realm of present time to absorb their actual surroundings – sights, sounds, sensations, aromas, tastes; ‘present time’ to concentrate on productive things such as storytelling, art, painting, music, adventure... Our challenge is defi nitely to get executives o� their phones and into an experiential moment… Having said that, due to the

high-profi le of our esteemed guests, we always have backup communication systems in place in very remote locations.

WHAT ARE YOUR OWN INVESTMENT PHILOSOPHIES? Invest in yourself and your vision inspired by personal concepts and ideas; there are very few if any ‘get rich quick’ schemes, work hard instead – building a brand takes years; always deliver what you’ve promised, and then more; no matter how tight the budget for an event, always over-deliver; as an executive and business owner, pay yourself last – ensure everyone is paid fi rst (your sta� , your suppliers, your agents); and keep strong, ethical fi nancial habits.

YOUR BIGGEST INVESTMENT BLUNDER YET? Life is a series of lessons followed by rewards; I prefer to think of them as re-directions and following my mid-career life plan switch, I’m fi rmly on my true path to investing in our planet’s future.

WHAT IS YOUR MOST PRIZED INVESTMENT AND WHY? Hayward’s Grand Safari Company has remained solvent since day one. It keeps me creative, flexible and fluid… It has brought me in contact with some of the world’s most famous celebrities, business tycoons and opinion leaders. We’ve hosted Nelson Mandela on four occasions... With the African sky as our grandest theater, we’ve hosted greats, from Tina Turner to Johnny Clegg, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera and Miriam Makeba.

WHAT DO YOU SPEND YOUR MONEY ON MOSTLY?

Travel and exploration. I am passionate about fi nding new regions, new experiences. I also invest in myself with study and research to better my personal abilities and to develop business practices.

YOUR MOST RECENT EXPENSIVE ACQUISITION? A bevy of classic safari vehicles which have all gone up in value over the years.

YOU CANNOT TRAVEL WITHOUT…? My travel partner, Celia du Preez. Apart from that, my camera, a notebook, my Leatherman, Fenix torch, my Blundstone boots and my cigars.

– Interviewed by Gypseenia Lion

I’VE BOUGHT A BEVY OF CLASSIC SAFARI VEHICLES WHICH HAVE ALL GONE UP IN VALUE OVER THE YEARS.

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THE FINANCIAL CRISIS THAT ALMOST ENDED A

BILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS

In 2008, Eddie C Brown, founder of Brown Capital Management, received what was perhaps the worst phone call in his investment banking career.

“We had countless consultants who rep-resented our clients calling to ask us how long did we think we were going to survive as a fi rm for,” recalls Brown.

The phone calls came at the end of a three-year period of underperformance for the fi rm. And to make matters worse, the economy was going through the worst fi nancial crisis in the history of America since the Great Depression, the 2008 credit crunch.

“It was a surprise. I said are they asking me this because we are an African Amer-ican owned fi rm? I was really upset but it got my attention,” says Brown.

The fi rm was underperforming in key service benchmark areas between 2005 and 2008. In 2006, the fi rm had a total of

$6 billion of assets under management according to Brown. That number had dwindled to just under $1.1 billion in 2009. Investors and their consultants began pulling their money out to invest in other areas. Brown had to react quickly to save his business.

“We had a plan of action. We had never had any debt up to that point. We had plen-ty of liquid cash and made some decisions as things decided to decline. One of which was that the three most compensated peo-ple in the company will take a pay cut.”

“So myself with two other people re-duced our pay package to almost zero and secondly because I owned the building, I waived o� all rent for the period until the company got back on its feet. We never laid o� a single person and we made It through

whole and when things began to pick up we picked up as well,” says Brown.

Brown in the Jim Crowe South of the United States, Eddie Brown is no stranger to hard and poverty.

His mother had him when she was just 13 years old and Brown ended up being raised by his grandparents.

“There were no real role models in the black community. Teachers and ministers were the black professionals and those were the aspirations in the black commu-nity. My grandmother and grandfather were both common laborer’s but my grand-mother would take me to the big city in Orlando and she will show me men sitting behind a desk with a white shirt and dark tie. So, she used to say if you stay in school, study hard and do well, you too can sit behind a desk with a white shirt and tie.”

And that was exactly what Brown did. His vision was to move away from the life of the common laborer to one where he would be required to wear a white shirt and a tie. He graduated with a BSC and MBA in Electrical Engineering and devel-

oped a hobby following the stock market.“I love the stock market and I love fol-

lowing companies and even when I had a little bit of money I would invest. So, When I went to business school, I realized that people were making a lot of money doing what I liked to do as a hobby and it kind of changed everything for me.”

Brown then served as VP and portfolio manager at T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. for 10 years before starting his own fi rm in 1983.

With over 40 years of investment experience, Brown is a veteran in the volatile fi nancial market. As he looks back on his worst day in business, his advice for anyone looking to succeed in business is as candid as his signature straight talking reputation.

“Markets go up and down and your job as an entrepreneur is to outperform the market.”

Eddie C Brown, Brown Capital Management

MY WORST DAY

Eddie Brown

PASSING THROUGHFORBES AFRICA


IMAGINE A NATION THAT MIGHT have $24 trillion in minerals but its citizens live in abject poverty. This is a nation where half the population

lives on less than $1 a day. Among the reasons this nation lives in poverty are epidemics such as malaria, HIV, cholera and Ebola because the health system is under-resourced as a result of maladministration.

For millions of people, this is the lived experience of the citizens of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where approximately 40,000 children as young as seven years work under punishing conditions, without protective clothing, for shifts as long as 24 hours. A majority of them mine the coveted mineral and cobalt, for less than $2 a day, according to UNICEF.

The DRC contributes to more than 70% of the world’s cobalt used to create products consumed by billions of people all over the globe. The mineral contributes to the making of cell phones, laptops, electric cars, and a myriad of other

COMING HOME TO AFRICA

Prince Jaime de Bourbon de Parme of the Netherlands, who recently visited South Africa, reflects on the inclusion of refugees, his conversation with

Nelson Mandela, and his experiences with his aunt, former Queen Beatrix.

BY UNATHI SHOLOGU

electronics that require rechargeable batteries.

Amid the repeated annual calls for assistance, Prince Jaime de Bourbon de Parme of the Netherlands has been among the few who have heeded the call. He was instrumental in setting up the Conflict-Free Tin Initiative, which exports traceable minerals from conflict-prone areas in the Congo to the international market.

“I used to focus on responsible mining solutions, if you look at extractives – that sometimes becomes a curse in this continent… I’ve helped set up a conflict-free supply chain from the Kivus, the conflict area in the Congo. It grew from one mine to the 820 mines in the whole region, and 70,000 men are back at work. It’s a peace economy in a war-affected area.

“You think that nothing is possible, but even in the most seemingly hopeless places, possibilities are possible. Now I’m coming back for the refugee perspective and I’ve been very active in Kenya,

Ethiopia and Rwanda – that’s the country carrying the biggest burden in East Africa.”

Prince Jaime, who is the Senior Advisor for Private Sector Partnerships in the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), visited South Africa in September, with the goal of ensuring refugees are afforded the opportunity to contribute to the economy in a meaningful way.

“I’m here with a conference that UNHCR is organizing. We talk to government, NGOs and also to the private sector to see how to commonly engage the refugee challenge in the southern African region.

“These are people who have had to flee. Not out of choice but because of war and persecution… I think it’s important to make the distinction between a refugee and an economic migrant. Refugees have fled because they have no choice and need to survive. With economic migrants, you could say that they left out choice, to look for better opportunities,

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PASSING THROUGHFORBES AFRICA


“We need to reframe the refugee as an economic actor. They are potential entrepreneurs, employees and customers for the private sector and they are members of a wider community. So if we frame it that way, there is more interest from the private sector.”

Prince Jaime, who has made countless trips to South Africa, has traveled the length and breadth of the continent. He says his kinship with Africa is enduring because he sees the continent as home.

“Africa is the cradle of humanity. So in a way, we all come home if we come to Africa. If you look at the challenges in the world, many are confronted here, but if you look at opportunities, many are here as well.”

He says the structure of the local finance sector is innovative and is people-centric.

“The financial sector in South Africa is always solution-focused, because they also work in neighboring countries, where there are a lot of challenges. South African banks say, ‘what is the problem and how can we resolve it?’

“You (Africa) are doing a lot of things that are technologically advanced than what we

would see in more established markets in Europe or the US. For instance, M-Pesa in Kenya, it’s a mobile banking solution. And when we (UNHCR) were talking to the banking sector here, they said people could use the mobile platform to give people loans without them having to open a banking account.

“You can skip the entire bank account because they give credit through phones, and then you can reach even the more marginalized populations – that could be the host communities or the refugees. You can reach them with financial products and banks can make money from them, but the refugees will get a service that helps them build up their lives. So, if you are an entrepreneur, you can build a business. These are the solutions we are finding here.”

Prince Jaime’s September visit coincided with the most recent spate of xenophobic attacks in South Africa, and he witnessed

the violence first-hand. “We were meeting at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, so were very much in an Ubuntu space, while we were seeing on the outside, all the violence happening. That brought in a strong contrast with the message that we were discussing.”

He is of the view that however valid grievances might be, violence should not be the solution. Apart from altruistic reasons, instability deters current and future investors from ploughing their money into the economy.

“Violence is not the solution. It sends the wrong message, and any investor coming to South Africa, who might have the same nationality as those who are attacked, might be dissuaded to invest. Those who are from different nationalities might find an unstable situation and they would not choose to invest in such an environment. So violence, usually, is very bad for business. So regardless of the challenge that they (migrants) pose and the validity of that challenge, the solution is never violence.”

During the interview, Prince Jaime is drawn to an image of former South African president and globally-celebrated humanitarian, Nelson Mandela, hanging in FORBES AFRICA’s offices in Johannesburg, and he shares an uplifting anecdote.

“The former queen, my aunt, Beatrix (of the Netherlands) was good friends with him and he would come by. On this particular visit, he was on his way to see George Bush during the Iraqi war and he wanted to convince him not to start the war. The queen wanted to have a dinner with two generations, and luckily, her sons were abroad and so she asked me to be part of the dinner.

“He (Mandela) said, ‘everybody predicted South Africa would go through a transition first through blood, before we could have peace’, but he said ‘South Africa was smarter than that and decided before going into that trap to just skip that part’.

“That was the lesson that he wanted to bring to Bush Jr, to say ‘embrace your enemy, really try to understand each other’. I ended up having that conversation and it was incredible. He left a mark with all of us.”

WE NEED TO REFRAME THE REFUGEE AS AN ECONOMIC ACTOR.

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Prince Jaime de Bourbon de Parme of the Netherlands

NOT FOR SALE

sector largely feel inadequately serviced. Burial Societies are formed as providers of such services and have developed systems around the real needs of their members. There are roughly 200 000 active Burial Societies in South Africa, with the majority being self-underwritten.

Because such groups rely on their collective savings to discharge their benefit to members, they often face liquidity problems that may lead to their disbandment. This brings about the need for an underwriter who will take on the risk on behalf of the group, as well as offer a set of products and services built around the group’s needs. NASASA is tasked by its members to solve this problem, and we have identified Sanlam as the most suitable partner in this regard.”

Mtshali says this venture will also facilitate job creation, which is key to socioeconomic inclusion, “For South Africans, this opportunity provides meaningful employment particularly in the township economy. Not only is this a step towards financial inclusion, but a giant leap towards societal transformation”

Down the line, NASASA Financial Services is aiming to extend its offering to include life cover as well as short-term products like household insurance and is investigating the potential of integrating other banking products.

Sanlam & NASASA launch NASASA Financial Services for stokvelsSanlam and the National Stokvel Association of South Africa (NASASA) have launched NASASA Financial Services (Pty) Ltd; a brokerage catering to the financial services needs of the South African stokvel market. NASASA is a self-regulatory organisation with a database of 125 000 stokvel groups, reaching about 2.5 million individuals. The new entity will foster greater financial inclusion for all members.

Jacqui Rickson, Chief Executive: Group Benefits at Sanlam Developing Markets Limited and Board member of NASASA Financial Services says, “For South African stokvels this is an opportunity to formalise their existence without having to forego their traditions. The peace-of-mind that each member of a stokvel will be protected in their time of need is invaluable.”

“Stokvels are powerful financial services providers in their own right,” says NASASA Financial Services CEO, Mizi Mtshali “and have the potential to help grow South Africa’s economy once they enter the more formalised sector through appropriate product offerings”. Currently, there are over 800 000 stokvels in the country, aggregating an estimated R50-billion pa. They are, however, quite exposed, especially to liquidity issues that may render them unable to discharge benefits to their members, as well as scams that promise to resolve such issues. This results from a lack of accessible, relevant products that meet the needs of a more informal savings sector.

As a result, some burial stokvels may not pay enough to cover funeral expenses in their entirety. By offering broad-based financial services to members, NASASA Financial Services will empower stokvels through greater socio-economic inclusion and security.

Jacqui Rickson says, “This venture supports our client-centric focus by allowing financial inclusion to be extended to South Africans who are on the edge of the formalised insurance structures. Through this, we can help families recover financially

following difficult, unexpected events.” NASASA Financial Services is currently licensed as a Juristic Representative of Sanlam Developing Markets, with a long-term plan to become a Financial Services Provider (FSP). NASASA Financial Services will distribute tailor-made products nationally via its distribution force. Sanlam as underwriter, through NASASA Financial Services, will initially offer group-based funeral benefits, tailored to each individual type of stokvel.

Products are competitively priced and start at R15 per person. Once the stokvel has selected its option, the stokvel will pay one premium for the whole group. For burial stokvels, Sanlam has designed a full product, covering up to nine family members and all products have been created in partnership with NASASA.

Currently, the product offering includes:

- A Principal Member Only Funeral Benefit- An Immediate Family Funeral Benefit- A Principal Member Plus Up To 9 Dependents Funeral Benefit- Grocery and Airtime Cash Benefits

NASASA is about educating their members about wealth and more appropriately, financial health, which includes saving on the expense of premiums through aggregation and paying group rates rather than more expensive individualised rates. We’ve designed products as an extension of this; as a tangible, affordable, non-intrusive offering that seamlessly blends the required formal structures with community-based traditional structures.

Mizi Mtshali, NASASA CEO, adds, “The research conducted during the build-up of our product launch saw the solution being entirely built by participating stovels. As a result, we deliver unmatched value by buiding a solution briefed in by our constituency. Amongst the majority of South Africans, funeral insurance fulfils an unmistakable need. While many are excluded from the formal financial system, those who do interface with the

For more information - call 0878980987 or visit our website - http://nasasa.co.za

Mizi Mtshali, NASASA CEO, Andrew Lukhele, NASASA Chairman and founder, Jacqui Rickson, Chief Executive for Group Benefits, Sanlam Developing Markets Limited and Karl Socikwa, CEO, Sanlam Developing Markets Limited.

Forbes Africa Advertorial print.indd 1 2019/10/10 11:02

PASSING THROUGH FORBES AFRICA


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YOU KNOW THE GREATEST danger facing us is ourselves, an irrational fear of the unknown. But there’s no

such thing as the unknown — only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood,” says Captain James Kirk in the 10th episode of the Star Trek franchise in 1966.

Cut to 53 years later, the commander of the fictional Starship USS Enterprise, which has “gone where no man has gone before”, sits in a reality once unknown to him.

Canadian actor William Shatner, in Johannesburg in September at the second edition of Comic Con Africa, is casually dressed in a black shirt and denim jeans. Yet, his presence fills the room.

Shatner, who has seen the popularity of Comic Con, the pop culture festival, grow in different parts of the world – South Africa being one of them – is impressed by the turnout as he sits in a quiet part of the Gallagher Convention Centre for this interview. The 2019 edition of the festival hosted a record 71,000 people.

This comes as no surprise for Shatner. “South Africa is a great country with

great people who are working out complex questions. There is a great deal of admiration here for me,” he tells FORBES AFRICA. This is not his first visit to the Rainbow Nation.

In 2017, Shatner founded an organization, Ubuntu Discovery, after visiting a township in Cape Town.

It was then that he learned the word Ubuntu, “a Zulu word meaning humanity”, as he explained to his Twitter followers the same year.

“I am starting to speak Ubuntu, and that word which conveys our humanity and our

need to be aware of how can we be satisfied with ourselves when there is so much poverty and pain in the world and in order to do that, I started something called Ubuntu Discovery,” he says.

Through social media, people are able to help those in need once they have been vetted.

Help could take the form of lunch money for school children, to tyres for a truck, and can even go as far as aid for a kidney donation; all enabled through social media.

Shatner says technology and social media can be empowering but can be destructive too if not used accordingly.

For example, nothing can beat the crackling sound of vinyl records compared to modern music.

“It still doesn’t sound the same,” says the octogenarian.

“There is a revolution in technology coming along, not only with 5G, but miniaturization. The microphone in your hand which is 6x3 inches is large or enormous in comparison to what is coming in the next few years; maybe in a year or two, technology will become molecular... Nano technology is happening as we speak and instruments will flow into your blood stream to monitor your health. Your toothbrush will send a radio signal to your doctor monitoring your saliva, so these are things that are ready to go. It is just a matter of civilization,” he says, leaning forward.

For a moment there, he becomes Captain Kirk of the 23rd century.

Shatner echoes his sentiments with a story about him and his wife traveling from coast to coast in a car with a radio.

“We never turned on the radio for four days because [our] phone was giving us the

answers to all our questions.”A return to the basics is inevitable, and

so is the need for social interaction in the digital age.

“I remember when television came and people in the movies said we are lost and that they will never make any more movies, it will all be television and people will watch everything at home… but there was something about the communal experience that required an audience, so movies did come back and I believe once the shock of technology wears off, good manners [social interaction] will come back,” Shatner says.

When asked what form of entertainment he thinks will last, he jests: “Let you and I go through the next 50 years, and we will be in contact.”

Shatner is clearly not going anywhere soon, looking at another half century and into the unknown. Wherever he might be, he is not leaving Africa behind.

DOWN TO EARTHStar Trek’s Captain James Kirk, William Shatner, who touched down in South Africa recently, reflects on the technological revolution he

has witnessed and what humanity needs now. BY GYPSEENIA LION

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FORBES FASHIONFORBES AFRICA


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11 YEAR AD FORBES.pdf 1 2018/06/19 12:57:35 PM


SIZO HENNA IS A SOUTHAfrican chef but one of his most memorable culinary outings was in Mumbai, the commercial heart

of India. The young entrepreneur and television

show host of Rustic Chakula, has worked hard for everything he has, one of which is a swanky restaurant in Bryanston, in Johannesburg, South Africa, where we meet. Sipping tea, he travels back a decade to when he reached the shores of the Indian metropolis.

In Mumbai’s bustling Bandra suburb, he had been invited to showcase South African cuisine at a week-long food and wine festival.

He stayed at the five-star Taj Mahal Palace hotel, which, at the time, cost a steep Rs6,000 ($88.44) a night. He was given a car and driver but he preferred to use the three-wheeled auto rickshaw in order to experience the city.

There were other countries represented

at the festival too, and it was televised. For the show, among other ingredients, Henna had taken with him, all the way from South Africa, the South African chutney brand, Mrs H. S. Balls.

“It is one of the things we have as South Africans; I also brought some pickled avocado. I used a local [Mumbai’s] garam masala spice to make a South African chakalaka (a spicy dish of onions, tomatoes and often beans),” recalls Henna.

He couldn’t bring with him boerewors (beef sausages), yet another South African staple, which would have been ideal to complete the spicy dish, because he had to bear in mind the religious sentiments of the people in a city that is mostly vegetarian.

“I went to the markets and there, you will find sweet corn as a snack; almost like grated cheese. There are a lot of vegetarian snacks at the food market; meat is not a big thing. It was like a vegetarian market,” he remembers.

He loved how the city dwellers were so

FORBES AFRICA

EXECUTIVE TRAVEL

SIZO HENNA’SMUMBAI

The South African chef and restaurateur experienced the bustling streets and

markets of the Indian metropolis in an auto

rickshaw, and found the food too hot to handle.


NOT FOR SALE

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creative with their food, although his palate didn’t appreciate the red-hot spices.

“South Africans love spicy food but not chilli. South Africans like to drink – we have the best wines in the world; but when we consume wine – we want to taste the food, not something that’s burning. If something is burning, it kills your taste buds,” he says.

At the food festival, Henna’s stand received the most accolades.

“A lot of the people there liked my food, but they say they liked me more,” he chuckles.

On the fifth day of the festival, Henna had dinner with a few diplomats based in Mumbai. He found the locals warm, friendly and giving. But he was also able to see the glaring disparities.

“There is no middle-class; [the people are] extremely rich or extremely poor. It was interesting to me to know that there were more billionaires in India [than Africa]. There are more people that have private jets in that country than anywhere in the world,” he says.

He recalls going to a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) joint with his driver, who requested him not to offer money to beggars on the side of the road.

“When I came out of KFC, there was this little girl that I gave money to. I ended up with 20 children around me, all asking for money. It was bad, I almost cried and because there was nothing I could do. My driver came out and dashed the kids away and pushed me straight into the car. That was the sad part of my trip,” he says of the alarming and visible poverty in the city.

As a child and the youngest of five kids, the ardent foodie, born in East London, a city on the southeast coast of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, whose mother was a teacher and father a policeman, loved traveling within the country with his family, which made him discover new tastes.

“I have been in the food industry for 17 years. What fascinates me is that this whole foodie thing is a big thing now, whereas 17 years ago, my dad would say this was for the uneducated; you either have to be a lawyer, doctor or policeman,” says Henna, who initially trained in Europe.

Henna’s signature at his tranquil eatery are the home-style cooked meals he serves up, with a menu for both meat-lovers and fruitarians. But the memories and spices of Mumbai, are still fresh in his mind.

ONE COMMUNITY AT AT TIME

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The idea was to develop a fit for purpose retail experience, specific to the needs of the Maryland community, according to Purple Directors Laide Agboola and Obinna Onunkwo. The vision was to fit retail experiences to communities starting in Lagos and Maryland specifically and then scale the idea within other communities in Nigeria and then to the continent as a whole.

Operating in a stuttering economy, deep in the throes of recession, Purple, the Developers of the mall had the challenge to develop a sustainable, thriving retail environment amidst the chaos of the Nigerian socio-economic climate. The result was a retail model in stark contrast to the status quo for formal retail in Nigeria at the time.

“We created a big black box” which stood out against the historic architectural design of the mainland and created a world class experience within an environment that was underserviced with retail and entertainment offerings from local indigenous players and international brands like Samsung and Shoprite. It was a fresh experience for both residents and retailers who now benefit from increased commercial activity in the area.

This idea speaks to the stage of the Nigerian retail sector which is still relatively young but growing. Government data reveals that between 2013 & 2016, an estimate of over $1.5bn has been directly invested in the retail sector. Available statistics revealed that Nigerians currently

have 2% of their shops in formal retail environments compared to 60% of South Africans and 30% of Kenyans. Purple hopes to be at the centre of this Nigerian growth sector by developing its model further and taking advantage of the opportunities in the retail sector driven by an estimate of 80 million Nigerians living within the metropolis in Nigeria.

President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mrs Onikepo Akande, acknowledged retail to be one of the cornerstones of Nigeria’s investment future, “It is my sincere belief that this new mall will help to expose and grow the manufacturing and commercial potential of Lagos state and by extension, the national economy,” she said at the opening of the Mall in 2016.

Commerce has been given centre stage at Maryland Mall, especially for local retailers making their first entry into formalized retail environments like Malls. Maryland Mall currently has at least 75% of its tenants being wholly owned Nigerian entities. The Maryland Mall via its collaboration with Co-Working Tenants has created a dynamic incubator space for a new generation of SMEs in the technology and creative industries. The Mall has created and maintained at least a thousand job opportunities in three years since the building has been operational, becoming part of the fabric of the Maryland community, with real impact on the lives of those in the area.

Purple wishes to replicate this impact and influence as it rolls out its pipeline of new retail locations across Nigeria and the continent. The focus of the Company going forward is to decentralize the formal retail market in Nigeria bringing fresh experiences and opportunities closer to the public, one community at a time.

Big Black Box - Maryland Mall, Ikorodu Road, Lagos, Nigeria.


EVER SINCE HE WON HIS fi rst world championship title in the 5,000m at the age of 18, Eliud Kipchoge’s name has long

been held high in the running world. As the world-record holder in the marathon and an undefeated champion in distance running, he is considered the greatest in his game. But in mid-October, the 34-year-old Kenyan athlete ensured those outside the sport learned of his prowess too, when he became the fi rst person to ever run a marathon in under two hours.

“We went to the moon together and we came back to Earth,” is how Kipchoge described the groundbreaking feat he achieved on a misty Saturday morning in

Kenya’s three-time Olympic medalist Eliud Kipchoge ran his way into record books, as the � rst person to ever break the two-hour marathon barrier. He spoke to FORBES AFRICA soon after his win.

BY NADIA NEOPHYTOU

THE HAPPIEST MAN TODAY

Vienna. Just before 10.15AM local time, Kipchoge ran his way into history books, notching up the biggest highlight, he says, in a career of highlights. As he crossed the fi nish line, pounding his chest, his trademark smile beaming while he took in the crowds that had gathered to watch him, Kipchoge achieved a feat he’s been dreaming of since 2016, when he fi rst started thinking about breaking one of sport’s biggest barriers.

“The history is not mine alone,” he said. “It’s among all the citizens – of Kenya, of Vienna, those who watched on Twitter, on YouTube, on Facebook, or on TV. I want to thank everybody that took the time to watch me. It’s our history together.”

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SPORT | ELIUD KIPCHOGEFORBES AFRICA


HAPPY THE MESSAGE THAT NO HUMAN IS LIMITED IS NOW IN EVERYBODY’S MIND; THAT YOU CAN BELIEVE IN SOMETHING, YOU CAN PUT IT IN YOUR HEART AND TRANSFER IT TO YOUR MIND AND SAY IT IN YOUR MOUTH SO IT CAN BE REALIZED. SO I’M A HAPPY MAN.

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ages The slogan for the high-profile event

was ‘No Human is Limited’ and it’s a phrase Kipchoge repeated often when asked about his motivation, even when critics dismissed the event, dubbed the ‘Ineos 159 challenge’ as a stunt because of the money and technology that had been used to set it up.

Kipchoge has been adamant from the start that his goal was to set an example for the world to follow, not just in sport, but in every day life, about the power of the mind. “I’m the happiest man today,” he told FORBES AFRICA, shortly after he finished his epic run. “Happy the message that ‘no human is limited’ is now in everybody’s mind; that you can believe in something, you can put it in

your heart and transfer it to your mind and say it in your mouth so it can be realized. So I’m a happy man.”

A three-time Olympic medalist, winner of 10 straight marathons and holder of the world record (achieved in Berlin last year, with a time of 2:01:39), Kipchoge is known for his humility and gentle nature, a self-made

millionaire who still cleans toilets and looks after his farm animals back home in Eldoret. Backed by Britain’s richest man, Jim Ratcliffe, and his petrochemical company, the Ineos 159 challenge was first announced in May this year, on the 65th anniversary of Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile, inspiring a number of other athletes to follow suit in the months after. Kipchoge spoke of his feat in similar terms. “It has been 65 years since Roger Bannister made history and today, we celebrate making history again,” Kipchoge said. “I expect more people all over the world to run under two hours after today.”

Because Kipchoge was racing the clock, and not other people, as well as other factors, his achievement isn’t being recognized as an official record by athletics governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). But it has brought excitement to a sport that has lacked greater interest and attention beyond its fans, elevating running and Kenya’s role in it too.

The scenes coming out of Nandi District, where Kipchoge was born, and Eldoret,

showed thousands of people cheering his feat. Prominent Kenyans were in Vienna to watch Kipchoge’s extraordinary accomplishment in person. Deputy president William Ruto, wearing a red and green jacket and a hat in the Kenyan flag colors, called him an icon for the country, while president Uhuru Kenyatta spoke to Kipchoge over the phone moments

after his victory. His long-time coach and neighbor, Patrick Sang, and Kipchoge’s wife and three children, were waiting for him at the finish line.

Thousands of fans lined the Hauptallee in Prater park, known as the “green lungs of Vienna”, along the 4.8km tree-lined stretch that Kipchoge ran four laps of, together with loops around roundabouts at the top and bottom of the course. A pair of

friends had created a hand-made banner, with the words “Go Eliud go. Vienna loves you”, while others traveled from far to witness the achievement firsthand. A group of school-children from Nairobi sang Hakuna Matata as he passed by each lap of the Hauptalle. When Kipchoge crossed the finish line, a 11-year-old told FORBES AFRICA: “It felt really good to be here for this. Not only has he done it for his country, he did it for the whole world to show that no human is limited.”

With his message reverberating around the world, Kipchoge says he will take the time to think about his next move, and whether or not that involves the 2020 Olympics.

“I’m a believer of challenges. I believe you climb one branch and then reach for the next branch, but for now, I’m happy to run under two hours,” he said at the press conference. He continued further, in another reply: “This is big history. It can be translated in a positive way for others, too.” Indeed, the day after his win, his fellow Kenyan, 25-year-old Brigid Kosgei shattered the women’s world record that had stood, undefeated, for 16 years.


EXTREME FATIGUE, SEVERE sleep deprivation, acute overheating, salt-mouth, jellyfi sh stings, sunburn and infected lips

that necessitated a couple of nights in hospital, were the immediate ‘rewards’ for endurance athlete Cameron Bellamy after completing the longest distance ever attempted in an ocean swim.

But for all the risks, there is an immense sense of satisfaction for the 37-year-old,

achieving a remarkable feat of perseverance and physical and mental toil.

Because of the peculiarities of marathon swimming rules, Bellamy cannot claim a world record after 56 hours and 26 minutes in the sea, despite doing what no one had ever attempted before, as he swam between the Caribbean islands of Barbados and St. Lucia – a distance of 151.7km (94 miles).

Favorable currents at times, plus the fact that he put on a special repellent suit for three

hours of the swim after a particularly bad jellyfi sh sting, disqualifi ed him from the top place in record books.

Not that it diminishes from an extraordinary feat for the San Francisco-based South African, who spent hundreds of hours in the water training and testing his endurance before fi nally taking the plunge and ultimately putting his life in severe peril.

“When they hauled me out of the ocean and back onto the support boat, I had severe

STUNG BY JELLYFISH, BURNED BY THE SUN, YET 56 HOURS IN THE SEASan Francisco-based South African endurance athlete, Cameron Bellamy, spent hundreds of hours in the ocean training, before � nally swimming a distance of 94 miles in perilous conditions.

BY MARK GLEESON

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SPORT | CAMERON BELLAMYFORBES AFRICA


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swelling of the mouth area, and sunburn. The paramedics and doctors thought I was in a pretty bad way,” he told FORBES AFRICA.

“But I trained for up to 60 hours a week for this swim and so I knew I could swim for 60 hours. That was pretty much the easy part! The hard part was always going to be the salt water, the heat of the water and air temperature and just staying awake for that long.

“It was pretty hard to manage all those and the longer the swim went on, the more significant those extra variables became. Probably the worse was how the salt water messed up my lips and tongue and it was pretty unbearable towards the end. It was agony for that bit.”

“In a sport like this, which is still amateur, the rewards of a swim like this are very self-reflective. The best thing about swims like this is that it takes a while to sink in. Once you finished, you realize you’ve done a cool thing and then it sinks in slowly over the next few months.”

Bellamy already has some of a reputation as an endurance junkie. Four years ago, he was part of a seven-man crew that rowed an unassisted 6,720km across the Indian Ocean from Australia to the Seychelles in a world record-setting 57 days and since then, he has gone onto complete seven different iconic ocean swims across the worlds, including crossing the English Channel, swimming from Robben Island to Cape Town and across from Africa to Europe in the Strait of Gibraltar.

He had wanted to do something new by swimming from Cuba to Florida but in the current political climate under the Donald Trump administration, found that plan was quickly vetoed.

“The US administration made it subtly clear that they did not like the idea and my support boat was denied permission to make the crossing.”

Having trained last year in Barbados, where he tested his endurance by swimming around the island in a 24-hour marathon on his own, the alternative was to attempt to swim between the Caribbean islands – the longest distance for an ocean swim.

“The toughest aspect of this swim was the heat, both water and air. On the second day leading up to the middle part of the swim, there was absolutely no wind, the air temperature must have been in the mid 30 degrees centigrade and water temperature around the same.

“I was incredibly dizzy and weak and if it wasn’t for the encouragement of my support crew, who instantly noticed my plight and acted by handing me a lot more ice in my drinks and shortening my time between feeds,

I think I might not have made it further,” he said.

Bellamy was trailed by a boat plus friends kayaking in the sea alongside him.

“Once I had St. Lucia in my sights, after swimming through a relatively cooler second night, it was a different story. I knew I could make it and pushed myself further than I could ever have imagined.

“With about 1km to go, the tide was against us and it meant an agonizing push to a rocky outcrop attached to the shore beneath a majestic cliff. An amazing place to complete the swim.”

The reaction has seen him receive well wishes from all over the world, coming just days before cancer survivor Sarah Thomas became the first person ever to swim the English Channel four times non-stop, swimming from England to France and back twice in 54 hours.

“It was really big for the marathon swimming community to see two plus-56 hour swims almost at the same time. It’s nice to even be compared to Sarah, because she’s been a big inspiration to me.

“To be honest, even the way I train, is based on the tips she’s given me on how to prepare for these big swims.”

Bellamy, who was an investment banker but now works in cyber security compliance in Silicon Valley, rowed for South Africa in his early 20s and says he enjoyed the discipline of the training.

“I started nine years ago and my first goal was to swim the English Channel. I had to learn to swim in about eight months and obviously train a lot. What I realized after completing was that I really enjoyed the training part, the discipline of it and chasing a really amazing goal.

“The actual swim was amazing too. When you stand on the shores of Dover and look across at France, you have no idea of what’s going to happen and that kind of uncertainty really drives me. It’s my adrenaline rush. It’s what motivates me to keep doing more and more and keeping pushing my limits,” he says.

“People have asked me where do I get my grit from and I don’t really know. I just try to be positive, expelling negative thoughts from my head. That’s always worked for me.”

WHEN THEY HAULED ME OUT OF THE OCEAN AND BACK ONTO THE SUPPORT BOAT, I HAD SEVERE MUSCLE BREAKDOWN AND TOXICITY IN THE BLOOD, SWELLING OF THE MOUTH AREA, AND SUNBURN. THE PARAMEDICS AND DOCTORS THOUGHT I WAS IN A PRETTY BAD WAY.


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THE 2019 RUGBY WORLD CUP in Japan was as slick and perfectly organized, as you would expect from an event hosted in one of the

most developed countries on the planet, but it was away from the glitz and the glamor on the pitch where the competition had some lessons for the African continent.

Magnificent stadia, superb infrastructure and the best public transport system in the world made for a predictably comfortable event for the fans, media and the teams that took part.

But it was the human element, which costs nothing, that impressed most and is something many countries can learn from when hosting global events.

Japanese society is built on discipline and respect, and at times, local fans looked on bemused, but also a little amused, at the antics of visitors from across the rugby world as each brought their own particular eccentricities.

Rugby in Japan is well down the list of favored sports according to a 2017 study, behind, in this order, baseball, sumo wrestling, soccer, tennis, golf, boxing, basketball, motor-racing and puroresu, another form of wresting only staged in the country.

And yet, before the tournament had started, 97% of tickets for matches had been sold as non-rugby fans rallied behind the event, some out of curiosity in a sport they knew little about, and others out of patriotic pride to support an event that would showcase Japan to the world.

This is in stark contrast to many international competitions held on the African continent, whose abiding memories and images are of empty stands and local disinterest.

There is, of course, an economic element at play in that Japanese society generally has disposable incomes, while conversely, African sports administrators are responsible for alienating locals with high ticket prices. Somewhere, there needs to be a balance found.

“It’s been amazing. The people of Japan really came out – every single town we have been to has been amazing,” South Africa’s rugby captain Siya Kolisi said.

“It is really remarkable how the kids get excited when they see us. The support they’ve shown us, or when you see the kids wearing Springbok jerseys – I haven’t seen so many in other countries.

“And the fact that they are eating chakalaka (a spicy South African vegetable relish)… we really do appreciate the support.”

Japanese fans also took to learning the national anthems of teams at the competition – on one occasion, 15,000 turned up to sing the Welsh anthem at a training session before the start of the tournament.

At a number of the Springbok matches, locals could be heard singing the South African national anthem, Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, with admirable skill.

It may seem like a throwaway gimmick, but it became the talk of the rugby world and displayed the enthusiasm ordinary Japanese had for the event. Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus also felt the warmth of the locals. “Something that stood out for me – and I don’t think I’ve seen this anywhere else – is the people of the host nation wearing the jersey of the visiting team – the Springbok badge,” he said.

“It’s been amazing to see the Japanese people wearing the Springbok jersey. I think that shows a lot of respect and I think we can learn a lot from that.

“It makes us proud to see that and I think you can be proud of how you have supported the World Cup, and adopting teams that are visiting here and making them feel at home.”

Cynics may say it is what happens on the pitch that matters the most at a major event and that is in part true. But the legacy of this World Cup will also be how the Japanese people embraced it as a chance to show the rest of the planet their enthusiasm.

They proved that you don’t have to just support your team, but you can rally behind the event as well, and that will win you far more friends in the long run.

Too often competitions in Africa are mired in controversy, local disinterest and at times downright hostility. The magnificent opportunity to showcase a country as a sporting, business and leisure destination is lost in fan apathy.

FORBES AFRICA

SPORT | RUGBY

WINNING TRAITLessons for the African continent from the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan where the

locals impressed the most. BY NICK SAID

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THE SPORTS INDUSTRY is the only industry with this strange and unusual relationship with its customers. An unnatural

connection built o� this immense passion that none of us could come close to quantifying. The industry o� ers an array of options to its customers with its old-school mainstream sports and the fastest-growing new form, e-Sports, rapidly taking over the attention of the masses.

As Africans, we consume sports content just as fast and as much as any other product we depend on daily. Streets come to a standstill during football weekends and it’s usually a sports fanatic’s paradise on days more than one sport is broadcast on television. From Dakar to Nairobi, Cairo to Cape Town, the script is the same across the continent. From street-viewing of live sports events and shared experiences to animated interactions in sports bars, we as Africans come alive during such moments.

One then questions, do we as a continent understand the value of the sports content and entertainment we consume daily? And are we just consumers of such content, or are we making strides to create our own content for the rest of the world as well? Let us break down the factors that contribute to creating the right product worth distributing and Ph

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OPINION – SPORTSHARON ALLELA

consuming as entertainment in the sports industry. Talent is a signifi cant prerequisite.

During the Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg in 2018, Masai Ujiri, of Nigerian and Kenyan descent and current President of the 2019 NBA Champions, Toronto Raptors, made a statement during the sports panel and said: “There is talent walking everywhere in Africa and it is a goldmine.” Well, this was merely a reminder of something we have taken forgranted for such a long time.

What we always seem to forget is, raw talent will never build itself unless e� orts are made to polish it and make it shine. Which is what keeps us glued to our screens as we consume content from the West; we enjoy watching the superlative talent in action.

Talent only looks exceptional on good sports infrastructure; we decry bad and abandoned facilities across the continent and sometimes think African governments must build and maintain state-of-the-art modern sports facilities. But do we ever consider the economic value of building sports arenas for multiple usages or are we still stuck in the good old days of thinking of only stadia as infrastructure options?

It is a common observation that we do not tend to see sports as entertainment but rather separate these two industries, yet some of the leagues most followed in the United States

and Europe are built entirely on that premise, hence the e� ort to continually improve user or consumer experience, both on location and at home. Our view of entertainment is mostly music and fi lm.

The world encountered a profound and rather pleasant realization when the viewership numbers of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France were announced; they hit the one billion mark, for the fi rst time in history. What exactly kept people glued to their screens? Especially for a sport largely regarded by many as a man’s domain? It was the quality of play and the fact that women are playing better sports than they did years ago. This ranges from rugby, football, tennis, athletics, basketball – the list goes on and on. We cannot a� ord to ignore gender equality as we strive to build this highly-underrated, yet powerful product.

A mindset change is critical if Africa is to realize its potential in the $1 billion-plus industry that is sports. Television is the most signifi cant revenue driver, with over 106 sports franchises broadcast globally. We need to think about getting eyeballs on our sports products and getting leaders who will take us in that direction. We otherwise risk staying consumers and complainers for a very long time to come.

ARE WE CASHING IN ON THE ENTERTAINMENT VALUE OF SPORTS?

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THERE HAVE BEEN OCCASIONS, where many have said, ‘Africa’s time is now’, whilst others would have argued that Africa is a dark

continent and later retract that to say ‘yes, Africa is rising’. I agree Africa’s time is now, in that the continent has reached an important milestone with the adoption by 55 countries of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) agreement.

This free trade area will be the largest on the globe, bringing together 1.2 billion people with a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion. It will lead to the creation of a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of business and investments.

In anticipation of the signing of the AfCTA, the Gauteng Provincial Government, as a sub-regional government accounting for 34% of South Africa’s GDP, entered into an agreement with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to host the inaugural Africa Investment Forum last year.

The Africa Investment Forum is Africa’s investment marketplace. Its aim is to originate, screen, structure and enhance projects, attract co-investors, and facilitate transactions to close Africa’s investment gaps. It is thus far the best platform to realize the implementation of the signing of AfCTA.

This is because, through the marketplace, the aim is to reduce intermediation costs, improve the quality of project information and documentation, and increase active and productive engagements between African governments and the private sector. Essentially, it o� ers investors access to a structured platform o� ering bankable, de-risked projects within an enabling environment.

I had the honor and privilege to chair the Organizing Steering Committee of this ground-breaking continental gathering with a group of highly-competent and committed Ph

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OPINION – FREE TRADE MDUDUZI MBADA

ON THE RIGHT TRACK TO GROW AN INCLUSIVE AFRICA

civil servants across governments, municipalities, provincial and national entities and from various state-owned enterprises.

The inaugural Africa Investment Forum (AIF) witnessed an extraordinary level of engagement by governments, the private sector, partners, investors, development fi nance institutions, commercial banks, and institutional investors such as sovereign wealth funds and pension funds.

Unlike many other gatherings that have taken place in the continent, the conversations at the AIF moved from talking about investment to advancing deals towards fi nancial closure.

This has been a major challenge for the continent. As such, there were 61 robust boardroom investment sessions focused on advancing deals to fi nancial closure and signing.

The result was the investment interest secured for 49 projects worth $38.7 billion. The projects ranged from energy, transport and utilities, agriculture, ICT and telecoms, water and sanitation to funds and fi nancial services, health, education, hospitality and tourism, and housing and aviation.

In addition, a new partnership deal that intervenes in a critical sector of Africa’s economy, the railway sector, which has an annual defi cit of $62 billion, was signed.

This is the joint venture partnership between Thelo, a rolling stock company in South Africa, and Deutsche Bahn, a global leader in the railway industry.

The Thelo-DB deal is an important and critical milestone for Africa’s transportation and logistics sector.

A $2.6 billion deal was signed by Ghana and South Africa led by Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana, to develop and fi nance the Accra Ai Skytrain, an elevated light rail, public mass transit system that uses air

propulsion technology to drive lightweight, high-passenger volume vehicles.

The outcomes of the AIF included a $400 million cooperation agreement between Africa50 and the Government of Rwanda to develop and fi nance the Kigali Innovation City. This project will help boost the innovation ecosystem in one of Africa’s knowledge cities.

The deals also included an $800 million agreement signed by the AfDB, Africa50, and the governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Congo-Brazzaville to develop and fi nance the fi rst road-rail bridge project linking their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, respectively.

In anticipation of investor interest, the AIF launched a digital platform o� ering investors, project sponsors and providers of professional services, a live database of investment opportunities in Africa as well as match-making capabilities among participants through the website platform.africainvestmentforum.com.

The positive outcomes of the AIF validated investor interest in tapping Africa’s opportunities and demonstrated the potential to unlock a signifi cant fl ow of capital towards Africa’s growth sectors.

This year, from November 11 to 13, Africa will have a second opportunity, with its partners, to accelerate private sector investments in the continent.

After signing the AfCTA, Africa should use the second AIF, to increase intra-trade, economic diplomacy and build resilient economies.

Truly, Africa is rising!

– The writer is Chairperson of the inaugural Africa Investment Forum and Head: Policy Unit, Gauteng O� ce of the Premier, in Johannesburg.

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A celebration of women, thought leaders, innovators, thinkers, problem solvers, and drivers of growth and development who are

contributing to the Rising Africa Story.

RISING WOMAN

ABENA BRIGIDICEO Nimed Capital, Ghana

Nimed Capital’s Managing Director and CEO demonstrated a flair for finance early in her professional career. She quickly rose through the ranks at Zenith Bank from a customer service advisor to a relationship manager and head of customer service. Her expertise in corporate finance, funds and investment management, as well as investment

research, has effectively paired with her entrepreneurial drive to create one of Ghana’s leading investment banks. Today, the investment analyst, author, and speaker is a passionate advocate for empowering women through recognition and promotion of the efforts and successes of women in various industries.Brigidi herself was recognized as one of the Woman Rising’s 100 Most Outstanding Women Entrepreneurs in Ghana in 2017 and adjudged the Emerging Woman Entrepreneur of the Year.

YOADAN TILAHUNCEO Flawless Events, Ethiopia

Running seamless, perfect – flawless – events was a vision of Ethiopian-born Yoadan Tilahun. Initially launched in Washington, DC and transplanted to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Flawless Events has worked tirelessly to earn its well-deserved reputation for innovation and creativity. As a result, it has achieved substantial growth in its 15 years of operation. Tilahun is known for instituting exceptionally

high work standards and always doing business with integrity and honesty. Tilahun is also an enthusiastic advocate for professionalizing the MICE industry in East Africa and is an active member of the International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA). In 2018, she was named Seasoned Entrepreneur of the Year by Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW).

MICHELLE TAKONFounder Narnia Events, Nigeria

What advice would you give young women entrepreneurs? Firstly, young women entrepreneurs need to understand the business they’d like to go into; the business environment, target market, and then ensure that their business ideas will solve a problem before they embark on their entrepreneurial journey. I would also tell them to make sure that whatever they choose to do, should be borne out of passion and not based on what other people are doing or how much money others are making.

DR. IBILOLA AMAOSTEM Specialist & CEO Lonadek, Nigeria

Dr. Amao established Lonadek with a greater purpose than just providing technical consultancy to ensure that local and indigenous companies utilized established systems, processes and procedures to deliver quality goods and services. She envisioned a company that could continually develop the capacity of young Africans in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Dr. Amao also mentors young professionals and engages with Junior Engineers, Technicians, and Scientists (JETS) clubs. Over the last 25 years, Lonadek has successfully trained over 5,000 certified engineers, designers, and cost consultants in the utilization of engineering software and information technology.

QUEEN OHAMARAFounder, Qmara Vie Planners, Nigeria

Qmara Vie Planners is a boutique events management company based in Abuja, Nigeria and founded by Queen Ohamara. The company emphasizes adding luxury

and sophistication to their client’s event while maintaining a sense of modernity. Qmara Vie Planner is comprised of a young, vibrant team that is constantly innovating and pushing themselves to creatively turning dreams into reality. The company prides itself on curating unique once in a lifetime experiences. That is why her company bears all the stress of planning an event so clients can enjoy their special day.

ADAMA AMANDA NDIAYE Adama Paris, Senegal

Adama Amanda Ndiay is a Senegalese fashion designer born in Kinshasa, Zaire. She epitomizes the multicultural fashion

designer of the new millennium.Adama is also the founder and producer of many fashion events such as Dakar Fashion Week, the Afrika Fashion Awards, also known as the Trophies of African Fashion (TMA), and the Black Fashion Week in Prague, Paris, Bahia, and Montreal since 2010. Adama and her team also launched the first Fashion Africa Channel in 2014. She is a passionate advocate for the promotion of women entrepreneurship throughout Africa.

TANG SAU MUOICEO of ILCI Business School & IESIG Management School, France

As I ran from war and emigrated to France, I never had the chance to finish my education. I was certain that the only way to succeed was to

be well-educated. The benefit of a good education was exemplified by my children; all five attained Master’s degrees and have good jobs. I wanted to give the same chance to children from abroad, to benefit from a good education. I established the IESIG School and ILCI Business School with the main focus of offering programs that align with future employment needs.


DESPITE THE POLITICAL and popular confusion, it is indisputable that we live in the era of the fourth industrial

revolution (4IR). The main driver of 4IR is artificial intelligence (AI). According to President Vladimir Putin of Russia, any nation that masters AI will dominate the future.

Traditionally, we considered intelligence to be an attribute limited to biological beings, such as humans. A machine is considered to be intelligent if it can analyze information and extract insights beyond the obvious. The idea behind AI is to make machines intelligent, and in many tasks making them more intelligent than humans. For example, an AI machine designed by IBM called Deep Blue plays better chess than any human, while AlphaGo, designed by Google DeepMind, plays the game Chinese Go better than any human.

AI is transforming all aspects of our lives. An AI system designed by Cambridge Analytica, for instance, is alleged to have influenced the presidential election in the United States in favor of President Donald Trump. Uber is in the process of launching a self-driving car, even after one of its cars killed a pedestrian during the testing stage. AI systems are now as competent in reading medical images as expert radiologists.

Given the centrality of AI in the modern era, how do we capacitate our people to understand it? One way of doing this is to organize intensive short courses on AI. An initiative such as the Deep Learning Indaba, the brainchild of Dr Shakir Mohamed from Google DeepMind, aims to strengthen machine learning in Africa by organizing meetings (called indaba in isiZulu) around the continent and getting world experts to come and teach about AI. Incidentally, Dr Mohamed was my Master’s student at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. The Deep Learning Indaba, Ill

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OPINION – TECHNOLOGYTSHILIDZI MARWALA

THE AFRICAN APPROACH TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

on average, attracts people from more than 30 African countries and from 19 countries across the world, and has so far held AI meetings at universities in South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, Morocco and Senegal.

Initiatives such as the Deep Learning Indaba are aimed at people who already have tertiary education. However, one of the biggest concerns is whether we can teach children concepts that would facilitate easy learning of AI later in their lives.

Fernando Buarque from the University of Pernambuco in Brazil, as well as Nicky Roberts, from the University of Johannesburg, and I have just published a book on AI for children titled My First AI Book – Artificial Intelligence and Learning. This is the first book of its kind and will form a series of six books on AI. Using cartoons and elementary examples, the book breaks down AI concepts such as methods of machine learning, coding, and human-machine interface.

However, to make this book relevant to Africa, certain things still need to be put into place, the first of which is the translation of the book into local languages. We are translating this book into languages such as isiZulu, Swahili, Tshivenda, Kinyarwanda and Yoruba.

However, translation into local languages is not as easy as it sounds, as many of the AI concepts are not available in our local languages. As part of the translation process, we have to invent words which expands the vocabulary of our local languages.

The second dilemma we faced in translating the book was that some examples we use are not universally understandable. A young boy skating to illustrate the concept of reinforcement learning is difficult to explain. Reinforcement learning is the concept of learning through the principles of punishment and reward, but skating is not generally recognized in the African continent, especially

in rural areas. We have found that translation in the African context is more than just the translation of words but also the translation of context, which can be difficult.

The third dilemma that we faced was how we use different platforms to facilitate the learning of AI. In this case, we chose short movies to illustrate storylines and AI concepts. However, the disadvantage of using movies to illustrate concepts is that many of these movies are transmitted using the internet, which is difficult to achieve in parts of the African continent because of limited internet connectivity.

Part of the solution should be introducing 4IR technologies such as AI into our schooling system, especially in the first few years of learning and for early childhood development. Secondly, African countries should invest in translating AI technologies and concepts into our local languages to enable understanding. Thirdly, where possible, African countries should tap into different media platforms such as the internet to aid the teaching of concepts not commonly understood such as AI.

– The writer is a professor and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Johannesburg. He deputises President Cyril Ramaphosa on the South African Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

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SOMETIME IN AFRICA

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IT IS A GRINDING TWO-DAY journey by bus from Malawi’s capital city, Lilongwe, to Johannesburg, South Africa.

On a chilly day in March 2017, my father, sister and I departed Lilongwe at 4AM making our way to the Mwanza border in a bus with mostly small-time business owners and traders accustomed to this tedious road trip past multiple borders.

A woman sitting across from me in the bus was making her monthly trip to South Africa to buy goods, one of the many female traders who take this arduous route, bringing back heavy consignments on the return trip, to sell in Malawi.

The borders are any passenger’s worst nightmare. Stashed into any trader’s cloth bags will be a handful of soiled notes they would, no doubt, need to bribe the officers at the check-posts.

When we arrived at Mwanza border, thankfully, things went smoothly, and we spent less than an hour waiting for our passports to be stamped.

It was the last chance to buy anything local, from cooked food like nsima and kapenta, to some of Malawi’s favorites that I am extremely fond of, such as Kamba Puffs (crisps) and Sobo (a concentrated juice).

After crossing the border to Mozambique, we entered an area called Zobue.

The trees danced wildly in the wind, grass huts, miles apart, signified pockets of life and we also spotted animals like monkeys, cows and goats. But one of the best sights from my window seat was that of the Baobab tree.

These are found in Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and parts of South Africa. The thick indigenous trees are both imposing and beautiful, stretching into the sky, going up to 20 meters.

Next, our bus crossed the Zambezi River, which commanded the attention of anyone who passed it.

There it was, big and blue, glittering as the setting sun shone on the horizon.

It was almost late evening by the time we got to the Nyampanda border to Zimbabwe. This time, we spent at least two hours there, as we had to haul out all our bags and luggage, even as a brown dog that looked sickly, sniffed for drugs. The animal looked so emaciated that even if there had been any drugs onboard the bus that day, they would surely have passed the search.

We were unable to sleep that night but found comfort gazing at the clear starry African sky. Our ordeal was to continue the following day, when we had to tackle the infamous Beitbridge border, from Zimbabwe into South Africa. I had heard many dreadful stories about this border post and had a foreboding feeling. We spent about three

hours there, but for the traders and those carrying goods, it was an even longer and anguishing wait.

While at baggage claim, two women were caught carrying ‘illegal’ goods from South Africa into Zimbabwe. The security tore up the bags and confiscated them. They vigorously rummaged through our bags too, leaving them in untidy heaps.

The experience was tortuous enough to leave anyone with an eternal phobia for travel – especially across borders.

We finally boarded the bus and headed for our destination, Johannesburg.

The afternoon sun shone brightly in the sky, bringing relief and hope to the haggard travelers for having made it past the multiple check-points. The experience served as a reminder of how harsh and unfair policies are for cross-border travelers in Africa.

My heart still goes out to the female traders, who brave dust, dirt and the lustful looks of men, to buy goods to feed their families back home. How do they make these trips every month? Do they make enough to also dole out “bribery money” to the officials manning the borders? Do they appreciate Mother Nature the way ordinary travelers like us do?

When the continent is now talking about a single Africa and the free movement of goods and people, I wonder if there will ever be respite for them.

A bus trip from Malawi to South Africa will leave you in awe of the scenic sights, but it’s rough at the border check-posts. BY KAREN MWENDERA

THE LONG, ARDUOUS ROAD TO SOUTH AFRICA

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