Former Swiss-South African Tennis player ROGER FEDERER is as passionate about education as he is about sport. He talks about his eponymous foundation and the milestones that have made his philanthropic work worthwhile on the continent.&nbsp;



Roger Federer began playing tennis at the age of three and went on to win 20 Grand Slam titles and 103 career Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) titles throughout his career. What we probably don’t know is that through the Roger Federer Foundation that he launched in 2003, he is serving children so they have the best start in their educational journey. On a recent visit to South Africa, Federer, along with South African rugby captain, Siya Kolisi, relayed and emphasized the importance of access to quality early childhood education. We asked him:&nbsp;



Q. How important would you say sport is as a catalyst for social change and why?&nbsp;



A. It all starts with early motor skills. From a young age, children need to develop their social and cognitive skills, which help them to communicate and learn. Movement also plays an important role here. Strong motor skills aren’t just important for physical development; movement also has a social aspect to it. The development of the brain and body are linked.&nbsp;



If a child’s early motor skills are well-developed, they are more likely to succeed in sports later on, but it’s more than that. The importance of motor skills development, and the impact on an individual as a whole, can’t be understated.&nbsp;



Q. What is the Roger Federer Foundation doing in terms of skills development for educators and support staff?&nbsp;



A. Working though our implementing partner organizations, we provide educators with tablets containing knowledge and tools that help them improve their teaching. These tools include a course on play-based learning and resources on mobilizing parents to build playgrounds and be more involved in their children’s learning. Another app allows educators to track each child’s development using specially-designed activities. We also distribute sets of booklets that contain toy- making and learning activities that parents can use with their children. This allows parents to make an important contribution to their child’s education at home.&nbsp;



In South Africa, we have started involving government officials at circuit and district levels, with the aim of getting them to digitally track important data at pre-primary schools. This includes data on attendance and enrolment as well as data that continuously tracks if children are reaching their milestones, also ensuring that support is provided right away to children who are falling behind.&nbsp;



Q. Has there been a defining or standout moment for you that you use as motivation to continue the work that you do?&nbsp;



A. Small things, like seeing children enjoying a newly-built playground that their community has built with our guidance, already inspire me to keep going. We also know that children who get a quality pre-primary education are more likely to succeed in school and less likely to repeat grades or drop out. Studies have shown that success in education has a vital impact on economic performance later on. The massive impact of quality early childhood education (ECD) on not just people, but communities and even countries, motivates me a great deal.&nbsp;



In terms of funding, the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) has matched millions in funding in Lesotho, Malawi and Zimbabwe, which was thrilling for us. Recently, President [Cyril] Ramaphosa also emphasized that South Africa has prioritized ECD, stating that a strong foundation is vital for children’s later success. More and more, governments are beginning to put ECD on the agenda. It’s a very exciting time for my foundation and all the fantastic organizations that have been working tirelessly in this space for decades.&nbsp;



Q. As an accomplished athlete, how do you continuously cultivate a winning mentality not just in sport but in life?&nbsp;



A. From tennis, I learned early on that success isn’t just about talent; it’s about consistency, resilience, and always being open to learning. That same approach applies to life beyond the sport. I try to stay curious, embrace new challenges, and keep things in perspective. Surrounding yourself with great people who you can learn from and push you to improve is extremely important.&nbsp;

Roger Federer Visits Ethiopia

Advantage Africa: Roger Federer’s Deciding Points Serving Early Childhood Education On The Continent

The philanthropist, businesswoman, advocate for women and girls, and author speaks on embracing change, staying motivated and the universal lessons that have shaped her journey in her new book.



“Well, let me just say that I never expected to write a book like this. It is deeply personal, and to be honest, it doesn’t always show me at my best,” Melinda French Gates shares with FORBES AFRICA.



“…Throughout my life, I’ve benefited greatly from people who had the courage to share their stories and be honest about their experiences. Knowing how much their vulnerability helped me on my journey made me want to try to do that for someone else.”



Gates, the founder of Pivotal Ventures–which works to advance social progress and expand women’s power and influence in the U.S. and around the world–and co-founder of the Gates Foundation concedes that she has been through many changes over the past few years.



She adds that, in the toughest moments, she would reach for her bookshelf and find the wisdom she needed to make sense of everything happening around her.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Ludzi-School-Malawi-2023-Photo-Credit-The-Obama-Foundation-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-65247" style="width:678px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Ludzi-School-Malawi-2023-Photo-Credit-The-Obama-Foundation-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Ludzi-School-Malawi-2023-Photo-Credit-The-Obama-Foundation-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Ludzi-School-Malawi-2023-Photo-Credit-The-Obama-Foundation-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Ludzi-School-Malawi-2023-Photo-Credit-The-Obama-Foundation-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Ludzi-School-Malawi-2023-Photo-Credit-The-Obama-Foundation-2048x1366.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Ludzi Girls Secondary School in Mchinji, on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. (The Obama Foundation)</figcaption></figure></div>


The foundation, which focuses on health, gender equality, global development and education, has reported around $92 million of support in Africa, has offices in Senegal, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa and has partnered with the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the African Union, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Amref Health Africa, among others.



In her new book, The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward, Gates shares a glimpse of the moments that shaped her, including her journey of becoming a mother, the end of her marriage and life after her departure from the foundation. The common thread? Embracing the uncertainty and navigating your way through it.



She also reflects on balancing several roles and how she stays motivated.



“I’ve learned how important it is to take time for myself and to prioritize friendships and family, and I’m very intentional about doing what I need to recharge and regroup. But honestly, I find the work that I’m doing right now extremely energizing… and I want to do everything I can to make a difference,” Gates explains.



“Anytime I meet with one of the amazing partners that Pivotal [Ventures] works with, I walk away with so much motivation and hope. They are forging ahead with such focus and ingenuity that it always inspires me to double down on my own commitment.”



Her philanthropic work alone has afforded her several moments that challenged and inspired her, and gave her the courage to use her voice, including meeting scientists in Senegal who are developing lifesaving vaccines and leading important research, while managing their responsibilities at home.



“[It] reminds me how many exciting innovations are taking place all around the world—and how much more we could unleash if mothers had more support.



“Most recently, on a trip to Cape Town, I was deeply moved by the women I met who are fighting the violence and injustice they’ve endured with so much bravery and resilience. All of these women, and countless others, are the reason I do what I do.”



Her advice for readers in similar periods of transition is to not rush through them: “I know that change can be scary, and it is so tempting to try to get it over with as quickly as possible and jump to the next thing that feels safe and familiar. But if there’s one lesson that I want people to take away from this book, it’s that lingering in the uncertainty can offer a lot of wisdom and perspective that you might not get otherwise. Just know that you don’t have to navigate it alone—you can let the people who love you be there for you. Trust me, they want to”.

MelindaFrenchGates_photo by Jason Bell (21

‘Lingering In The Uncertainty Can Offer Wisdom And Perspective’: Melinda French Gates Puts Pen To Paper, Talks Transition And Moving Forward

Innovation, education and inspiration are at the core of the AFRICA2MOON PROJECT, soon set to showcase the potential of the continent for deep-space exploration.



Africa’s space exploration ambitions could take a giant leap forward in April with its first moon mission and, potentially, its first lunar radio telescope.



Called the Africa2Moon project, it awaits an announcement on the final payload selection for China’s Chang’e 8 mission (to explore the lunar south pole) scheduled to launch in 2028.



The Africa2Moon project’s first mission aims to deploy four antennae near the lunar south pole, according to Dr Adriana Marais, Director at the Foundation for Space Development Africa, and the Head of Science for Africa2Moon. “[This will be] paving the way for a larger future mission to deploy an array of 54 antennae on the lunar far side, representing each of Africa’s nations,” she adds.



The project is focused on a low-cost, low-mass, low-frequency array of BALLS (Bounced African Lunar Low Spheres) or spherical antenna systems, as Marais explains it, that will work together to investigate a region of space–frequencies below 10 MHz–mostly undetectable from our planet.



“Radio emissions from solar bursts, Earth’s aurora, Jupiter, the galaxy’s glow, and also the lunar surface itself, are some of the phenomena that Africa2Moon will attempt to observe,” adds Marais.



Showcasing cooperation on an international scale, the South China Morning Post reported in 2023 that China was planning to offer more space for foreign equipment on its Chang’e 8 mission and that it could carry up to 200kg of it.



Africa’s space ambitions have soared in recent years. As per Space in Africa, a provider of market research, consulting, and data analytics services, African nations budgeted $465.34 million for their space programs in 2024.



“At the Foundation for Space Development Africa, we believe [it] is time for Africa to expand its role in space exploration,” says Marais, adding that “through the power of collaboration, Africa2Moon will serve as a continent-wide in- spiration and enabler for space-related activities; to educate, inspire and pave the way for African scientists to aspire to achieve world-firsts”.



The initiative, which was founded in 2014 by Carla Sharpe Mitchell, who is also the mission director of Africa2Moon, is led by the foundation in collaboration with organizations like the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) and South African National Space Agency (SANSA).



Other names involved in the project include Khutso Ngoasheng as Director of the Foundation for Space Development Africa, Thomas Kusel as Head of Engineering and Hendrik Burger for Space Systems.



Marais, who, as a child, dreamed of exploring other planets, is a theoretical physicist, technologist and advocate for off-world exploration. She is also the founder of Proudly Human, a non-profit volunteer organization, which she set up in 2019. Its Off-World Project is reported as a series of habitation experiments in the most remote and extreme environments on the planet. According to Marais, the project will collect data on groups of experts setting up off-grid infrastructure including shelter, power, water, air, food and communication systems, from scratch, in places such the driest deserts as well as from under the ocean. She adds that the team will live as a research community and prepare for life beyond Earth. It will also allow them to better understand community structures



here on the planet and is expected to “generate exploration-driven innovation and research”. All of this will reportedly be filmed and showcased through a documentary series, titled Mission Off-World.



When it comes to lunar exploration, Marais believes its importance lies in the fact that it reveals our capabilities as humans and contributes to a collective sense of participation and belonging.



“Space exploration gives us a broader perspective of our world, whether we are thinking about the satellites that en- able global communications networks and imagery of the sur- face of our planet, or rovers sending us videos of the surface of Mars. Expanding beyond Earth will further advance our society, also in ways we cannot yet imagine.



“When children living in Africa and all around the world look up at the Moon, we aim to promote a sense of wonder, excitement and participation in this exciting era for human- ity, as we prepare to establish a human presence on the Moon, Mars and beyond.”



Here’s a winner with ambitions beyond earth!&nbsp;Dr Adriana Marais&nbsp;is Director of the Foundation for Space Development Africa and Head of Science for the Foundation’s Africa2Moon Project which is in the running to become Africa’s first mission to the Moon. With a background in theoretical physics and currently a researcher at the University of Stellenbosch, in 2019, she also founded Proudly Human, and has visited some of the harshest and remotest locations on Earth.

DSC_8919

Shooting For The Moon: Africa Mission Near Lunar South Pole Is Close To Launch

A recent report also notes that the African continent makes up less than 4% of global power sector emissions despite representing 19% of the global population.



The growth rate of solar generation reached a six-year high in 2024, up by 29%, with the share of global electricity generation from low-carbon sources being 40.9%. As reported by energy thinktank, Ember, in the Global Electricity Review 2025,global electricity demand grew by 4% last year, which was amplified by heatwaves.



Africa, however, only accounted for 3.1% of this demand. The continent also still only makes up 3.6% of global power sector emissions.



The report adds that “data for 2024 reveals a considerable rise in solar exports to the Middle East and Africa–two of the world’s sunniest regions that have historically had very low levels of installed capacity. In both regions, imports of solar panels have tripled in the last two years”.



South Africa imported 3.8 GW of solar panels in 2024; this is following “a record-breaking 2023 when 4.3 GW were imported as consumers turned to the technology amid rising blackouts”. Nigeria and Morocco imported 1.3 GW and 1.1 GW respectively, which reportedly marks the first time that either country has imported more than 1 GW in a single year.



“Over the last five years, 99 countries have doubled the amount of electricity they produce from solar power. This includes emerging economies such as South Africa, countries with the largest power systems in the world such as China and the United States and countries with the highest shares of solar power in their electricity mix such as Hungary and Spain.”



According to the Africa Market Outlook for Solar PV 2025–2028, published in March, in partnership with RMI and supported by GET.invest, 2.4 GW of new solar capacity was installed on the continent last year.



“By 2028, the continent is expected to install an additional 23 GW of solar–more than doubling its current capacity,” the outlook states.



“This growth is still a fraction of the immense solar potential in Africa, and it is essential to tap into this resource to meet global climate goals and the tripling of renewables target.”



The Ember report, which analyzes electricity data from 215 countries, including the latest 2024 data for 88 countries representing 93% of global electricity demand, as well as estimates for 2024 for all other countries, further indicates that South Africa forms part of the top three countries in the world with the highest share of coal power in 2024 at 82%, behind only Kosovo at 92% and Mongolia at 86%.



However, the country’s cabinet has approved the South African Renewable Energy Master (SAREM) Plan in March, which aims to increase the pace of the rolling out of renewable energy projects, create jobs and expand local manufacturing, foster industrial development through localization and support a just energy transition, amongst others.



Minister of Electricity and Energy, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa welcomed the approval, stating: “The South African Renewable Energy Master Plan is not just a blueprint for green industrialization; it is a pathway to a more sustainable and equitable future for all South Africans.



“We have a unique opportunity to lead in the global renewable energy and battery storage landscape, creating jobs and fostering economic growth while protecting our environment.”

Solar Power as South Africa Eyes Supply Deal With China

Global Solar Generation Growth Rate Up 29% In 2024; South Africa Sees Imports Of 3.8 GW Of Solar Panels

President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs for over 180 countries on Wednesday, including South Africa, Nigeria, and Angola, amongst others, in a bid to rectify trade practices that have reportedly contributed to the country’s trade deficits.



A 30% tariff has been imposed on South Africa in relation to imports into the United States (U.S.). This is following an announcement by President Donald Trump, on April 2, 2025. The U.S. plans to impose a tariff of 10% on all imports into the country with higher percentages mentioned for specific trading partners. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



According to the Executive Order, trade deficits have led to the hollowing out of the country’s manufacturing base and inhibited its ability to scale advanced domestic manufacturing capacity. It goes on to say that this has undermined critical supply chains in the U.S. and rendered its defense-industrial base dependent on foreign adversaries.



The South African Presidency noted the new tariffs, in a statement, saying: “Whilst South Africa remains committed to a mutually beneficial trade relationship with the United States, unilaterally imposed and punitive tariffs are a concern and serve as a barrier to trade and shared prosperity”.



“The tariffs affirm the urgency to negotiate a new bilateral and mutually beneficial trade agreement with the U.S., as an essential step to secure long-term trade certainty.”



Following the announcement of the tariffs, Investec Chief Economist, Annabel Bishop noted in a statement that the reaction from financial markets was swift, adding that there might be “higher inflation expectations (and fewer interest rate cuts) for the U.S. as a consequence of the marked increase of the cost of living on the imposition of the tariffs on imported goods into the U.S.”.



She also pointed out that South Africa is expected to see lower gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2025 at 1.3% year-on-year from 1.8% year-on-year, referring to an economic growth note from March 7 and the macroeconomic outlook from March 27. This would be as a consequence of the “escalation in the trade war and the loss of AGOA [the African Growth and Opportunity Act], among other noted factors”.



Relations between South Africa and the U.S., in particular, have been strained recently for several reasons, most notably, the cutting of funding to the country and an offer from the latter to resettle White South African farmers and their families in February following utterances of a ‘white genocide’ in the country–allegations which have been denied by South Africa–and the suspension of USAID funding, globally, by the U.S, which has reportedly impacted several organizations in South Africa.



More recently, in March, the U.S. expelled South Africa’s ambassador to the country, Ebrahim Rasool, after remarks he made about President Trump. In the same month, Trump nominated Brent Bozell III, a conservative media commentator, to become the next U.S. ambassador to South Africa, stating, “Brent brings fearless tenacity, extraordinary experience, and vast knowledge to a nation that desperately needs it”.



In relation to the new tariffs, South Africa’s Trade Minister, Parks Tau reportedly stated, at the Gauteng Investment Conference on Thursday in Johannesburg, that the country would need clarity from the U.S. as to how they arrived at the 30% figure and how they would want to engage.



According to reports, South Africa currently imposes an averaged 7.6% tariff on products from the U.S.



Other African countries facing higher percentages than the standard 10% include Angola (32%), Botswana (37%), Côte d’Ivoire (21%), Lesotho (50%), Mauritius (40%), Namibia (21%), Nigeria (14%), Zambia (17%) and Zimbabwe (18%), to name a few.



The White House confirmed that the 10% tariffs would take effect from April 5 and reciprocal levies on April 9.

South African Rand Sinks Most Since 2011

U.S. Imposes Reciprocal Tariffs Globally; South Africa To Seek Clarity, New Trade Deal

Passionate about clean water and advocating for the basic needs for women and girls on the continent, Lumbie Mlambo spoke to us at the 2025 FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit about walking the talk when it comes to humanitarian work on the ground in Africa.



“We can talk all we want , but if you don’t put action behind it, nothing happens. I always tell people that when I talk, I’m talking because I’m actually doing something,” Lumbie Mlambo says to FORBES AFRICA.



Mlambo is the founder of J.B. Dondolo, a non-profit organization that works to remove barriers of access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene in underserved and impoverished communities.



This need to promote development and gender equity stems from the vision and values of her father, who was a humanitarian advocate and instilled the importance of this type of work in his children.



She believes that tragedies can teach you something, and it was tragedies in her own life–which included experiencing a stroke at a very young age and losing her father–that led her to found the organization, which she named after him.



“Before he died, he wanted all his children to continue his humanitarian work because he was a humanitarian in the community he lived in,” she says.



“I took a leap of faith and decided [to] go check it out. While I was there, I found out that the community; the clinic wanted something totally different–they wanted water. I decided, ‘let me give them what they want’, but also finish my father’s work; refurbish the clinic. I did that, and I started learning about water, and I fell in love with it.”



The U.S.-educated Mlambo goes on to explain the work she is doing in several countries in southern Africa and East Africa.



“I’m here right now in South Africa because I’m starting an innovation for water. I’m working with companies here, creating jobs, enabling them to do something for themselves.



“I’m going to Zimbabwe [with] the same innovation, which is Climate H20 for water; we’ve started a factory there. They’re just going to pilot-test it for three to six months, fine tune it until it works, then mass produce it. So, there’s action.”



She also emphasizes the significance of providing basic services to women and girls who are adversely impacted by the lack of water.



Addressing this need allows them to be happy, go to school, start businesses and just experience an overall sense of good physical and mental health.



“I always say, ‘J.B. Dondolo has to strive’, because when I utter my father’s name, I’m always reminded that he was a strong man–he never gave up on the community,” Mlambo says with conviction.



She adds that “the 2030 SDGs are not going to be accomplished by just talking alone; we need to be piloting work on the ground and measuring it”.

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What Tragedy Can Teach: The Zimbabwean Fighting For Water Innovation And Access In Africa

Minister Enoch Godongwana says the decision to increase Value Added Tax (VAT) “was not made lightly” as proposal also includes no inflationary adjustments for personal income tax brackets.&nbsp;



South Africa’s Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivered the country’s 2025 Budget Speech on Wednesday, March 12, following the initial postponement of the speech in February.



According to reports at the time, there was a dispute amongst the members of the Government of National Unity (GNU) over a proposed two percentage point VAT increase, which would have put further pressure on consumers.



In the newly-tabled budget, government has proposed to increase the VAT rate by half a percentage point in 2025/26; and by another half a percentage point the following year.



Government has also proposed no inflationary adjustments to personal income tax brackets, rebates and medical tax credits.&nbsp;



According to the minister, these measures are expected to raise R28 billion ($1.5 billion) in additional revenue in the 2025/2026 financial year and R14.5 billion ($791.5 million) in 2026/2027.



“This decision was not made lightly. No Minister of Finance is ever happy to increase taxes. We are aware of the fact that a lower overall burden of tax can help to increase investment and job creation and also unlock household spending power,” Godongwana said in his speech.



“We have, however, had to balance this knowledge against the very real, and pressing, service delivery needs that are vital to our developmental goals and which cannot be further postponed.”



He goes on to explain that government weighed up the policy trade-offs, and touches on increases to corporate and personal income tax, as well as taking on additional debt but states that these measures were not feasible.



“VAT is a tax that affects everyone. By opting for a marginal increase to VAT, its distributional effect and impact were cautiously considered. The increase is also the most effective way to avoid further spending cuts and to enable us extend the social wage.”



Other notable points in the speech include the proposed expansion of the list of VAT zero-rated food items, no increase in the fuel levy for another year and the provision of social grant increases that are above inflation.



Speaking on the 2025 Budget, Lullu Krugel, PwC South Africa’s Chief Economist, said, in a statement, that, “Expanding the list of VAT zero-rated products has long been called for by private business and civil society as a way of supporting the financial situation of low-income households”.



“Today’s announcement to expand the basket of goods to include more meat and other products that are widely consumed in the lower expenditure deciles is welcomed with open arms in light of the impending VAT increases. It is now incumbent upon the producers and retail sector to ensure that these adjustments are passed onto the consumer.”



With an overall impression, Althea Soobyah, National Head of Tax, Forvis Mazars in South Africa, said, “One of the biggest issues with the budget every year is that South Africa is not investing in growth-enhancing initiatives with a significant proportion of the budget going to paying off debt and social grants”.&nbsp;



“South Africa urgently needs to look at other ways to increase revenue other than relying on the tax base.  At some point it will reach a saturation point. Growth enhancing structural reforms which support small and medium sized businesses will help to address unemployment and grow the tax base. One of the ways to increase the tax base is to grow the employment rate,” she adds in the statement.

South Africa’s Fractious Coalition Faces Second Budget Reckoning

VAT Up By 0.5 Percentage Point As South Africa’s Finance Minister Tables 2025 Budget

The country’s parliament announced, on the day that the Budget Speech was expected to be delivered, that it would be postponed until a later date, reportedly over concerns within the GNU about a proposed 2% increase in VAT, among others.



For the first time in its democratic history, South Africa has postponed its 2025 Budget Speech to March 12, after it was initially expected to be delivered on February 19.



This was after reports of an emergency cabinet meeting, called by President Cyril Ramaphosa, earlier on Wednesday following concerns by members of the executive committee, which included a proposed 2% increase in Value Added Tax (VAT). It would have taken the country’s VAT to 17% from the current 15%.



National Assembly speaker, Thoko Didiza announced to parliament that an agreement could not be reached regarding these proposals. &nbsp;



“Cabinet decided not to come and do a presentation of the budget and allow themselves enough time to relook at the budget and come back to this house in March, at a time at which they will inform us,” she said.



Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana later briefed the media on the postponement announcement, where the new date was announced.



“Cabinet is united in the view that the budget must strike a balance between the interest of the public, economic growth and fiscal sustainability,” he said.



Political party leaders in the country have each offered their view with the Economic Freedom Fighters’ Julius Malema stating that “this is unprecedented”.



“This is not a practice we want to set for this parliament. It is going to be your legacy that, during your tenure, that parliament could not debate and adopt a budget. You are denying this body an opportunity to receive a budget, debate it, accept it or reject it,” Malema added in parliament.



The Democratic Alliance&#8217;s (DA) John Steenhuisen later said, “There were some concerns around some of the proposals in the current budget that members of the GNU felt were not in-line with the growth agenda in South Africa”.



“What we want to do is come back with a budget that will give South Africans hope that there is now a big move forward under the Government of National Unity to fix the economy, create jobs and ensure that we can combat the high cost of living.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa Launches South Africa’s G20 Presidency

South Africa’s 2025 Budget Postponed Until March 12

Figures from UN Tourism’s latest World Tourism Barometer indicate a “virtual recovery of pre-pandemic levels” as the African continent welcomed 7% more arrivals in 2024 than in 2019.



United Nations (UN) Tourism estimates that 1.4 billion tourists travelled internationally in 2024, representing an 11% increase compared to 2023. The African continent, in particular, welcomed 12% more arrivals during the same period.



“In 2024, global tourism completed its recovery from the pandemic and, in many places, tourist arrival and specially earnings are already higher than in 2019,” UN Tourism Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili said in a statement.



According to the World Travel &amp; Tourism Council (WTTC), in 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the sector–which includes its direct, indirect, and induced impacts–accounted for 10.4% of global GDP or $10.3 trillion.&nbsp;



In 2023, it reportedly contributed 9.1% to global GDP; an increase of 23.2% from 2022.



In April, WTTC President and CEO, Julia Simpson, said, “The future is very bright. We can predict a record-breaking 2024. The sector’s global economic contribution is set to reach an all-time high of $11.1 trillion, which will generate one in every ten dollars worldwide. The sector is also expected to support nearly 348 million jobs, an increase of 13.6 million jobs on its 2019 record”.



North Africa saw 22% more international arrivals than pre-pandemic numbers with Morocco recording a 35% increase since 2019. The nation surpassed Egypt, with a record 17.4 million visitors in 2024, reportedly meeting the target in its roadmap ahead of schedule.&nbsp;



The country’s Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts and the Social and Solidarity Economy, Fatim-Zahra Ammor was quoted as saying that the performance was “as the result of targeted investment by our government in this sector, which is vital to our country’s economy, and of the constant mobilization of professionals in the sector”.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Morocco is set to host the African Cup of Nations in 2025, further bolstering its growth prospects.



Egypt, according to UN Tourism, recorded a 23% increase in arrivals compared to 2019, followed by Kenya and Tunisia, both on 9%. The Seychelles saw an 8% decrease while South Africa saw a 13% decrease.



Statista indicates that the travel and tourism market in Africa is projected to reach revenue of $25.16 billion by 2025.



However, UN Tourism cautioned that higher transport and accommodation costs, economic factors and geopolitical risks remain the three main challenges that international tourism will face this year.



“Growth is expected to continue throughout 2025, driven by strong demand contributing to the socio-economic development of both mature and emerging destinations,” said Pololikashvili.



“This recalls our immense responsibility as a sector to accelerate transformation, placing people and planet at the center of the development of tourism.”

Morocco, Casablanca, Muhammad V Airport

Tourism Sector Recovers As North Africa Records Strong Performance

Nasdaq and JSE-Listed Karooooo has set its sights on innovation and expansion, headquartered in Singapore and with operations in about 23 countries and over 2.13 million subscribers. The tech tycoon behind it, ZAK CALISTO, accelerated to ai over a decade ago long before the rest of us.



Ask Karooooo Group Chief Executive and Cartrack founder, Zak Calisto, how he has stayed ahead of the curve and he will tell you that innovation is the key. It’s this concept that is seemingly at the core of his professional ethos, and more than 20 years on, the narrative hasn’t changed.



Karooooo, with five o’s, and a reported market cap of around $1.22 billion, provides on-the-ground operations cloud. Cartrack (wholly owned by Karooooo) is a Soft- ware-as-a-Service (SaaS) vehicle-tracking platform that provides insights, real-time data analytics and business intelligence reports. Calisto explains that the business initially addressed telemetry challenges, IoT devices and vehicle theft. But, by 2007, the company’s commercial customers wanted more than just track and trace – they wanted data on the vehicles. “So, we launched our first fleet management platform. We were the first company in South Africa to have our platform on the cloud,” Calisto tells FORBES AFRICA. “Everybody was still at desktop solutions and since then we’ve just continuously evolved our platforms. Today, I think we’ve got one of the most comprehensive operations platforms.



“I think we’ve been doing AI for over 10 years. Clearly, what we are doing is getting better and better at it. I do believe we’ve got very advanced technology for what we’re currently doing. It’s innovation… if we stand still, we die. We’ve got to continuously compound on our innovation capabilities.”



He also explains the interesting story behind the company’s name. Calisto held his shares in Cartrack through holding company Karooooo (sans the five o’s), which was incorporated in Singapore. During the takeover process of Cartrack, this involved the buying out and reinvesting of shareholders, so he sought to acquire the URL for the holding business.



Unfortunately, the owner of the URL wanted “a few million dollars for it” so Calisto had to get creative.



“I said if that’s the case, I’d rather keep the zeros in my bank account and put the zeros on to the name.” And that’s how Karooooo came to be.



The company, which listed on the NASDAQ in 2021, with a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), has operations in about 23 countries spanning Africa, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, the United States and Europe.



According to the company’s Second Quarter 2025 Financial Overview (unaudited), Cartrack subscribers were up 17% to over 2.13 million as at August 31, 2024.



South Africa, in particular, where Calisto founded Cartrack in 2001, saw the number of subscribers increase 16% to approximately 1.6 million for the same period, with subscription revenue growth of 15%.



Calisto also shares his delight at the company’s recently-built office space in Johannesburg, which, according to him, can house around 3,500 employees.



“All these geographies we operate in, I think the room for growth is so obvious, it’s so big. It’s just about us having the capacity to onboard more business.”



At this point, Calisto also harks back to his own early days, the days that he didn’t know he would be heading up such a large business. He studied Mathematics and Statistics at the University of South Africa (UNISA) and Actuarial Science at the University of the Witwatersrand, but indicates he did not finish either degree.



He completed an accelerated training program at Standard Bank from 1986 to 1991.



At the beginning of his journey as an entrepreneur, he faced several notable challenges, though he acknowledges the businesses that were instrumental to the company’s progress.



“Today, our biggest partners in the business are the cell phone networks. They still are. We contribute a lot of revenue to the cell phone providers. I was able to convince them to believe in me and for our past finance. Without them, we would never have been able to get off the ground.”



Entrepreneurs often face these types of challenges but, through them, emerge stronger and often with lessons that they can share with the next generation of change makers. Apart from being prudent with capital allocation, Calisto emphasizes that “culture and your management is key”. “You’ve got to always be agile. Communication is key, and not being scared of making mistakes, provided you fix them quickly – that is critical to success.”

Zak Calisto; Image supplied

Engine Of Growth: A South African Entrepreneur On Scaling To 23 Countries

Namibia’s ruling party, the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO), will retain its status as woman leader, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah secures the Presidency, a first for the country.



According to reports, the current Vice President secured 57% of the votes.



Namibia, which has a population of about three&nbsp;million, as per 2024 figures from the World Bank, initially went to the polls on November 27. However, the elections had to be extended until November 29-30 at some stations, reportedly due to technical challenges, including a shortage of ballot papers.



This has contributed to a dispute of the results by opposition parties, who have claimed the extension was illegal.



Opposition leader Panduleni Itula, of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), which secured 25.5% of the votes, was quoted as saying that the “IPC shall not recognize the outcome of that election”, and that the party would fight “to nullify the elections through the processes that are established within our electoral process”.



According to reports, President-elect Nandi-Ndaitwah commented on the results on Tuesday, stating, “The Namibian nation has voted for peace and stability”.



Fellow female leader, Samia Suluhu Hassan, the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, commented on the appointment on X.



“On behalf of the Government and the People of the United Republic of Tanzania, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Her Excellency Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, President-elect of the Republic of Namibia, on your historic victory in the 2024 Namibian general election. I am looking forward to working with you in strengthening the all-weather fraternal bonds and historical ties between Tanzania and Namibia.”



The World Bank’s economic outlook for Namibia indicates that its recent economic performance was stronger than expected. The economy grew by 4.2% in 2023, partly due to the mining sector, which included investments in oil exploration.&nbsp;



Furthermore, the World Economic Forum&#8217;s Global Gender Gap Index 2024 ranks Namibia eighth with a score of 0.805, with 1 equaling parity. It is the only sub-Saharan African country in the Top 10.

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of

Namibia Makes History As It Elects First Woman President

South African businesses and consumers alike could reap the rewards during November and, possibly, long after, as retailers look to take advantage of increased consumer confidence before the festive season (officially) begins.



Seen as ‘the largest trading weekend on the Retail Calendar’ for some, the knock-on effect of Black Friday and Cyber Monday can be used to create economic movement over a longer period.



Reports online recently forecasted consumer spend of ZAR3 billion ($164.7 million) over the Black Friday weekend, according to First National Bank (FNB), partly due to an increase in consumer purchasing power and the fact that it fell after payday.



Further to this, research commissioned by&nbsp;Capital Connect, a platform that offers financing for retailers, indicated that South Africa’s wholesale, retail and fuel sectors were forecasted to generate more than ZAR88 billion ($4.8 billion) in additional economic value for the economy as a whole during November 2024.



Udhveer Sookraj, Data Integration Specialist at Insight Consulting, emphasizes to FORBES AFRICA that Black Friday is not just a retail event but rather an important stimulus of the economy.



“There is a very widespread impact to the economy in general from this boom. This is as simple as driving the need for the transportation to stores and delivery logistics, to the impact to manufacturing, supply chain and marketing, positively impacting direct participants and indirect participants.



“Black Friday could in fact be seen as one of the most important economic events in the country.”



The knock-on effect of these retail days could, equally, be seen in other sectors of the economy.



“With consumers focusing largely on retail on Black Friday, this puts more focus on the social industry – holidays, restaurants and entertainment – in the festive season as consumers feel less pressured with the traditional festive shopping, moving more towards social experience,” Sookraj explains.



“In other instances, there is an increased focus in preparing for the new year – back to school, a new car – thus in turn stimulating these industries. This pattern of economic activity results in increased consumer confidence, and creates the important knock-on effect that results in active economy well&nbsp;into the new year.”



Steven Heilbron, CEO of Capital Connect, explained, in a statement in October, that the positive outlook for&nbsp;Black&nbsp;Friday&nbsp;2024&nbsp;indicates that “the tide is turning for South African retailers after a long period of economic and retail stagnation”.



In a thought leadership piece on the frenzied festive shopping season, Ulana van Biljon, Chief Operating Officer of Emira Property Fund, states that consumers are more likely to spend during seasonal shopping peaks when they perceive their financial situation as stable or improving.



Following the announcement from Reserve Bank Governor, Lesetja Kganyago of a rate cut of 25 basis points, with the repo rate falling from 8% to 7.75%, consumers may feel more confident about their spending power.



However, van Biljon did caution that, for the 2024 festive season overall, consumers would remain cautious and focus, primarily, on essentials.



Sookraj believes that Black Friday has truly been adopted as a mainstay event by South Africans.



“It’s an event that is so focal to South Africans that budgeting and saving for this event happens months in advance, firmly underlining the joy this event brings,” he says.



“South Africa’s rise in the technology space has also seen [an] incredible increase in online sales participation. For a larger number of retailers, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become the highest trading days in the retail calendar, with some retailers doing over half the annual turnover in that single weekend than in the entire year.”

Shoppers In Manhattan On Black Friday

Stimulating Consumer Spending In South Africa: Could ‘Black Friday’ Become The Gift That Keeps On Giving?

Sustainable housing could play a significant role in the way the continent tackles its housing deficit. We unpack the ground-breaking innovations, Initiatives and ideations&nbsp;developing&nbsp;the&nbsp;‘green&nbsp;scene’. 



In a village in the Mtwara region of Tanzania, a project borne from the concepts of architectural innovation, sustainability and social responsibility is underway. And it’s just one of many aimed at tackling the demand for environmentally-conscious housing in Africa.



A report from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) states that the continent’s housing deficit is estimated at over 97 million units and “this is expected to increase as the continent’s population grows, and urbanization continues”.



The clinical trial in Mtwara, dubbed The Star Homes Project, was initiated in 2021 by Denmark-based Ingvartsen Architects in cooperation with the Hanako Foundation and, according to the company, was developed by a cross-disciplinary team of architects, physicians, entomologists and social scientists along with local community leaders and stakeholders.



However, Jakob Knudsen, Principal Architect at Ingvartsen, says that the focus of the project, initially, was simply to improve the health of the occupants of the houses.



“The [houses] are made [of ] very light materials. It looks like concrete, but actually it’s a very thin steel profile with a thin plaster, so it has a very low material use. And what looks like glass is basically a net, so we kind of replaced all the walls with netting, and we made this house naturally very cool. We can see that we have lowered the material consumption and CO2 use by 30% to 40% depending on how you calculate it. And that’s because we try to kind of maximize all the components,” he says.



“It actually didn’t start as a sustainability thing. It started as a way to make the buildings cheaper, but we realized, during the process, that actually we are onto something where we’re using far less materials. It also became interesting from a financial side and a material side, and this is what we’re looking at now. We know that these houses are actually working against malaria, we can see that.”



An article from the World Health Organization on Malaria Day 2023 indicates that Tanzania is one of the four countries in Africa that accounted for slightly over half (52%) of all malaria deaths globally in 2021. Further to this, the country alone accounted for 4% of all malaria deaths, and the disease continues to pose a major burden in the northwest and southeastern regions of the country.



As part of the Star Homes Project, the health of the occupants of the 110 constructed homes will be compared to those living in 440 control homes over a three-year period, which is set to conclude this year.



“We conclude by the end of this year, then we have the three- year period. Nothing is published yet, but I can say that we have very promising results already on the malaria [aspect]. There’s a clear benefit from having a new house when you’re looking at malaria. I mean, this is a rural area in Tanzania, so lots of people [have] malaria, and they’re much better protected. But this is one of the first housing projects, to our knowledge, the first time a house has been built and used in this way to demonstrate it.”



Each house also has a 40W solar panel that provides lights in each room and USB charging, and rainwater is collected from the roof and stored in a 2,000-liter tank for clean drinking water. According to Knudsen, based on the materials used, it cost around $9,000 to build at the time.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-does-a-green-future-look-like">What does a ‘green’ future look like?</h4>



The ongoing demand for affordable housing coupled with growing climate change concerns has brought sustainable or green architecture to the fore.



Britannica defines green architecture as a philosophy of architecture that advocates sustainable energy sources, the conservation of energy, the reuse and safety of building materials, and the siting of a building with consideration of its impact on the environment.



A 2023 report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) titled, Building Materials And The Climate: Constructing A New Future, indicates that the buildings and construction sector is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, accounting for 37% of global emissions.



However, herein lies the opportunity. Entrepreneurs and businesses alike have taken up the mantle to innovate, ‘go green’ and make a positive impact on the environment at large.



According to the World Green Building Council’s (WorldGBC) Africa Manifesto for Sustainable Cities and the Built Environment, by 2050, Africa will be home to 1.1 billion more people than it is today, and 80% of the buildings that will exist in Africa in 2050 are yet to be built.



Lisa Reynolds, Chief Executive Officer of the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA) and Vice Chair for the WorldGBC’s Africa Regional Network, emphasizes the progress of the collaborative efforts across the continent. 



“We’ve got different sort of levels of Green Building Councils. In Africa, there are two established Green Building Councils – South Africa and Kenya, and the others are mixed between emerging and prospective. Our job, and I include Kenya in it, is really to support the prospective and emerging councils,” she tells FORBES AFRICA.



“Africa has [been] hit by climate events, so there is a huge awareness that, whether it be the Green Building Council or governments, [we] have to do something to alleviate these things,” Reynolds adds.



Knudsen echoes the sentiment on collaboration, stating, “I think one of the sustainability problems I see in Africa is that materials are used in a very inefficient way in many local buildings. You could easily save 30% of the materials if there was better knowledge for the builder who’s doing this, but that’s not something you can expect. We need somebody else who knows how to work with building techniques.”



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Trash to treasure</h4>



In 2019, the first plastic road was laid down in South Africa’s Jeffery’s Bay, and reports, published recently, indicate that it has lasted longer than traditional tar roads. And the uses for this often-troublesome product seem to only increase from here.



As per the United Nations’ goal 11 of making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, entrepreneurs across Africa are tackling sustainable building prac- tices in their own way.



One such example is Kubik CEO and co-founder, Kidus Asfaw. Kubik, an environmental tech company, takes plastic waste and transforms it into low-carbon, low-cost housing in Ethiopia, where the startup is based.



Asfaw, who has worked for the World Bank, Accenture, and Google, as well as on technology and innovation initiatives for UNICEF, relays the story of how he got into the trash business. “I helped set up the first-ever circular economy project for UNICEF in Cote d’Ivoire, and we were able to create bricks out of plastic waste. We made over 500 schools using those and my love changed from software to trash, affordability, housing and cities. I did that for about four years,” he says.



“During that time, I learned the issues not just around trash, but a multitude of major challenges that human beings that live in cities are facing, especially on rapidly urbanizing continents like Africa. Alongside poor waste management [which] needs to be addressed, affordable housing is probably one of the biggest priorities in many countries right now. And then, of course, there’s climate change.”



Kubik, which was founded in 2021, produces products that are high in compression strength, non-flammable, non-toxic and modular.



“We’re a business that transforms hard-to-recycle plastic waste into building materials that real estate developers can use at a cheaper price than conventional cement-based materials without compromising the quality or safety of those buildings,” says Asfaw.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kubik-Wall-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-63677" style="width:568px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kubik-Wall-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kubik-Wall-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kubik-Wall-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kubik-Wall-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kubik-Wall-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Kubik Wall expression</figcaption></figure></div>


“Part of them doing business with Kubik [is] they’re also reducing the greenhouse gas impact that they bring to building cities like Addis Ababa. In a nutshell, we take all of that very bad plastic that you typically see in a landfill, and we make things like bricks that can make an entire wall, and that wall is as unremarkable as it looks, because it’s supposed to look just like every other building. What makes it remarkable to us is how accessible it is to lower-income communities, price-wise, and how green and sustainable it is within the real estate sector.”



In South Africa, sisters Kedibone and Kekeletso Tsiloane are tackling the plastic pollution and waste management issue through Ramtsilo Manufacturing and Construction, a company they founded in 2013. The business focuses on transforming hard-to-recycle plastics and other waste products into eco-bricks.



Kekeletso, who has a background in engineering, tells FORBES AFRICA about how this passion project turned into a fully-fledged business in a traditionally male-dominated industry.



“We initially started with small construction jobs, so building roads and building small projects, and that’s when we actually noticed that we spent so much money on materials, specifically bricks for us. We went out to look for a woman-owned brick manufacturing company, which we struggled to find. We then started making the bricks ourselves,” she says.



“I am interested in the green economy and what happens to waste and that grew an interest of learning about the afterlife of waste. In our research, we did not know that plastic had different properties and had different values. In terms of money, per kilogram, in the recycling space, it has different prices as well. And with that, we then sought out to make a product that we’re still comfortable with, but is innovative and in the green space.” South Africa, according to World Wide Fund (WWF), produces over 2.5 million tonnes of plastic annually. And while the bricks produced by Ramtsilo reportedly function in exactly the same way as conventional bricks, Kedibone, who has a finance background, states that the company still had to do a fair amount of educating on the product.



“We’re still having to re-educate people. It’s a plug and play solution but it integrates seamlessly into the construction industry. That was one of our biggest value-adds… the fact that people could easily use the product because they had the same look and feel as the conventional brick,” she explains.



“We then realized there’s additional benefits that come with the products – from an installation perspective, from a condensation water absorption [perspective] – because of the use of the plastic. The brick is actually branded so that people know that they’re [buying] an eco-friendly product. We’ve seen from the retailers, that product doesn’t stay in the retail stores and it’s simply because of the quality [and] the performance of the product.”


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="768" height="1024" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kekeletso-Kedibone-Tsiloane-768x1024.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-63676" style="width:516px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kekeletso-Kedibone-Tsiloane-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kekeletso-Kedibone-Tsiloane-225x300.jpeg 225w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kekeletso-Kedibone-Tsiloane-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kekeletso-Kedibone-Tsiloane-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Kekeletso-Kedibone-Tsiloane-scaled.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Kekeletso &amp; Kedibone Tsiloane (Photo Supplied)</figcaption></figure></div>


According to Kedibone, the bricks can be found at South African retailers like Builders Warehouse and Leroy Merlin in Gauteng. And while Ramtsilo’s business model tends to focus more on partnerships with corporates and retailers – a model that appears to be working well for them – Kubik’s has opted to focus on and develop the company’s relationships with waste pickers.



“We grappled with what our supply chain model should look like for many months. There are thousands of waste pickers in Ethiopia. Most of those pickers happen to be women, over 80% of them, and most of them end up selling their produce for the day to brokers at very low prices that are not economically sustainable for them to pass the poverty line,” he says.



“We wanted our business model to have a supply chain that not only worked at scale and made business/financial sense for us, but ethically is also empowering those that have previously been exploited in this space. We typically would work with city administrations that typically manage landfills. We get into a partnership with them, set up a collection site and we directly source from these waste pickers at prices that are at least three, four times more than what they would normally get from a broker.”



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-endless-possibilities">Endless possibilities</h4>



A quick search online reveals some of the most commonly-used sustainable materials in construction. Aside from bamboo and recycled plastic, others include recycled or reclaimed wood, cork, Hempcrete and biocomposite cement.



Traditional building practices have also been employed in some parts of the continent. UNEP had published an article about a project at a school in Burkina Faso, where the modules that form the structure for the school are built out of locally- sourced laterite. This is then cut into bricks and left in the sun to harden. The bricks reportedly absorb the heat during the day and radiate it at night.



Another example of innovation at work is the The Wits Flower Hall Examination and Test Centre in South Africa. Ac- cording to a recent release by the institution, the now energy- efficient building has been recognized for its sustainable design and shortlisted in the Creative Reuse category at the World Ar- chitecture Festival, set to take place in November.



“We believe that adaptive reuse is a critical foundation of green sustainable building due to the embodied carbon content of existing buildings. Wits has a great track record of repurposing buildings, for example the Science Stadium,” said Dr Heather Dodd from Savage + Dodd Architects, who worked on this project in 2022, in the release.



The growth of the sustainable or green building space presents significant employment opportunities as well, according to Reynolds.



“The more that certification grows, the more people need to be aware the job opportunities are growing with it. I do a CEO message on all our newsletters; the latest one is talking about job expansion. So, you know, there’s job creation, but there’s also potential for job expansion because we need accredited professionals; we need EDGE experts,” she states. “We did our first certification in 2009. If you think of pre-2009, there were no such things as accredited professionals. Now, small companies are formed just doing certification. It’s a true reflection of job creation and I would try to encourage more and more people to do it. If they’re in the space [and] it’s not job creation, expand your portfolio and go into this space.”

Com_Ingvartsen_Mtwara_StarHomes_C-JulienLanoo_20220907L1034048 copy

Building Africa’s Green Future: How One Project Is Even Aiming To Curb Malaria With Sustainable Architecture

Zelda la Grange, South African author, motivational speaker and former executive secretary to late former President Nelson Mandela, shares more in her latest book.



“Madiba showed us that you can’t leave everything to someone else. You have to start with yourself. That’s how change happens,” Zelda la Grange tells FORBES AFRICA, referring to the South African apartheid activist and leader Nelson Mandela, before the launch of her new book in October.



With warm sunlight shining through the large glass windows at the Holiday Inn in Rosebank, a trendy suburb in South Africa’s Gauteng province, an equally illuminating conversation is happening within its walls.



“It’s a growth process, and this is my journey of growth,” la Grange adds, speaking of What Nelson Mandela Taught Me, Timeless Lessons on Leadership and Life.



“I want people just to be hopeful again, because if you speak to the poorest of the poor, you know they have the same hopes. They want to have a good education for their children. They want safety. They want running water. They want electricity. They want a job. They want dignity. Everyone wants that in life so the frustration is real, but I want people to think of Madiba… How do you remain hopeful? He did, and I hope that inspires people to be reminded.”



In the book, la Grange presents a collection of lessons that she believes will encourage readers, including Every drop counts, More than one version of the truth, Looking at life from all angles and Our contradictions make us human.



However, la Grange, who wrote her first book, Good Morning, Mr Mandela in 2014, says that while the difficult conversations in our society have to happen, the lesson she has enjoyed sharing the most is on respect, compassion and empathy for others.



“When Hansie Cronje admitted to match fixing, he was canceled. It wasn’t known as ‘cancel culture’ [in] those days. But about six months later, Madiba announced that he wanted to go and see Hansie, and he had tea with him, and he said to him, ‘you&#8217;ve made a big mistake, and now you have to man up, because charges will be brought against you, you’ll have to face it. There’s nothing anyone can do about that, you know, it’s a process you have to go through.’ But then he reassured him of his love for him as a human being, despite his mistakes.



“We are so quick, because of social media, to judge people today based on whatever they say on one platform, whatever happens, people make mistakes. We are all very complex human beings. For me, that is something that stands out, and something that I definitely would want people to hold on to – let’s deal with each other with compassion, because no one is going to learn unless we do so in a compassionate and kind way.”



La Grange, who, currently, also does charitable projects and speaking engagements, where she shares Madiba’s love for South Africa with tourists and those who want to know more about the country’s history, hasn’t ruled out another book, adding, “Who knows? I also think there’s a book about ordinary people talking about their experiences with Nelson Mandela. That’s something that I&#8217;ve been toying with…maybe collecting all those stories.”

Zelda La Grange – Credit Brenda Veldtsman2

‘Want People Just To Be Hopeful Again’: Lessons On Compassion In New Book On Mandela

Author and former professor, Abdulrazak Gurnah, scheduled to speak at the 2024 Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture at Wits University in South Africa, elaborates on the significance of leaving his home country when he was a teenager, and the importance of kindness and a shared humanity.



Abdulrazak Gurnah places his pen on the table as he finishes signing the last book in the orderly stack next to him. Then, settling on a deep-seated burned orange chair at the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s center in the leafy suburb of Houghton in Johannesburg, he relays his writing process.



“It’s not like you sit there and then, ‘I know what I will do’. These are usually long running ideas or preoccupations. It takes a while of reflection, making a few notes and thinking things through,” Gurnah, a Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature, tells FORBES AFRICA.



“I guess, at that time, when I was thinking about it, I didn&#8217;t really know enough to write a book like Afterlives. I did, instead, actually write Paradise, which ends with a recruiting drive as the conflict is beginning. Inspiration is – here’s a story I’m hearing, about other people. I don’t know very much about it. I think about it, I read, move on, do other things, and so on. And then a time arrives when I think, yeah, I think I know enough now to be able to write about this.”



Gurnah, born in 1948 in the Sultanate of&nbsp;Zanzibar, has written more than 10 books, including titles like Gravel Heart (2017), Desertion (2005), Pilgrims Way (1988) and Memory of Departure – his first book, published in 1987.



It’s about 15-year-old Hassan, who has sought to escape the violence and poverty he’s experienced in the small village he lives in, and told from his perspective. He goes to live with a relative in Kenya but doesn’t find what he hoped for.



According to The Nobel Prize, he was recognized as the 2021 laureate due to his “uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents”.



A former professor of English at the University of Kent, he left the island of Zanzibar in the late 1960s, with Britannica citing that “when Gurnah was a teenager, a coup in 1964 overthrew the Arab rulers on Zanzibar and led to political upheaval and the persecution of Arab citizens in the following years”.



He credits this move to a different place as one of the most significant moments in his career.



“There’s more than one, but I suppose leaving my home country… It’s a transforming moment. I’m a stranger in a place, and I had not been a stranger before. So it then required a rearrangement of my mind, my life, my future, etc. Everything was different,” Gurnah explains.



“I can’t tell how it would have been if I hadn’t made that move, of course, but making that move feels, in retrospect, to have been a moment of great change. Also because of what followed – several years of living away from a place you know, getting to learn about a new place, new ways, a new language; I could hardly speak English.”



Gurnah is scheduled to speak at the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture Series on September 28, 2024, and elaborates on this year’s theme, Realising Our Shared Humanity.



“It’s an everyday thing. We recognize others. We recognize them, either by acts of kindness or by sympathy or understanding what’s happening to them and sharing something of their pain or their happiness – all of these ways. But there are several obstructions in the way of these things.”



“This might be to do with race, to do with intolerances that we can’t get rid of, and perhaps just to do with unkindness, to do with nastiness. There are barriers to what sounds like the thing that we do every day. We are kind to this one, but not kind to that one. So, how do we move on from this? How do we get to understand others enough so that we don’t obstruct our humanity as a human response to others?”



He explains further that there are different levels in which to say that we need to be kinder but we need to continue saying it, while his advice to the next generation seems to equally and perfectly surmise his work ethos – “Whatever it is that you choose to do, work hard at it.”

Nicole Pillay

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA