<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



Air quality in New Delhi dropped to its worst level this year on Monday—with pollutant levels reaching more than 150 times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended safe levels—as local authorities enacted an emergency response plan, including shutting down schools, halting the entry of nearly all trucks and a ban on all construction activities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Key Facts</h2>



<a href="https://www.iqair.com/in-en/india/delhi%5C" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">According to IQ Air</a>, New Delhi’s Air Quality Index, which measures the level of air pollution, surged past 1,700 on Monday—more than five times above the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.airnow.gov/aqi/aqi-basics/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">“hazardous” benchmark</a>&nbsp;where even healthy individuals are likely to experience adverse effects.



The pollution level was so severe on Monday that the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi—which uses the Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow chart—<a href="https://in.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/new-delhi/air-quality-data/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">rated the conditions</a>&nbsp;“Beyond the AQI” on its hourly tracker as it registered levels above 1,600.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="699" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-2183914233.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-63705" style="width:644px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-2183914233.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-2183914233-300x205.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-2183914233-768x524.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">India Gate is covered in a thick layer of pollution in New Delhi, India, on November 13, 2024 (Photo by Bilal Kuchay/NurPhoto via Getty Images).</figcaption></figure></div>


The national pollution control authority rated the conditions in Delhi as “severe plus” and&nbsp;<a href="https://caqm.nic.in/WriteReadData/LINKS/GRAP%20Stage%20IV%20Order%20dated%2017112024272e205d-f42e-4106-932a-0514c584dfd7.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">ordered the enforcement</a>&nbsp;of stage 4 of a graded response action plan, which is the highest level emergency response and allows for the most stringent curbs on vehicles and construction work.



The Delhi Government ordered all schools to switch over to online classes and issued bans on key sources of pollution, including the entry of trucks carrying non-essential goods into the city, the operation of older diesel vehicles on the road and all construction activities.



The national capital city was blanketed by a thick layer of smog—a toxic mix of fog and smoke—that dropped&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/dense-smog-leaves-delhi-choking-as-aqi-in-severe-plus-category-visibility-down-to-100m-101731903642563.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">visibility levels</a>&nbsp;to around 100 meters.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What Is Causing Delhi’s Pollution?</h2>



Severe pollution levels have become a recurring problem for India’s capital and other major North Indian cities during the winter—when the dense fog-laden air mixes with toxic smoke and other pollutants. As with every year, the issue has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ndtv.com/video/bjp-distributes-masks-in-delhi-as-air-pollution-crisis-deepens-862172" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">triggered</a>&nbsp;a political&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/atishi-targets-centre-on-stubble-burning-amid-delhis-air-emergency-7045044" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">blame game</a>&nbsp;between the national government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Delhi government led by the rival Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).&nbsp;<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/farm-fires-continue-to-pollute-delhis-air-despite-decrease-in-incidents/articleshow/115062410.cms" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">According to</a>&nbsp;the national air quality monitoring agency SAFAR, nearly 40% of Delhi’s pollution can be attributed to the illegal burning of crop residues in neighboring states like Punjab and Haryana after harvest season. Efforts to crack down on farm fires have failed, as stubble burning is usually quicker and cheaper than manual or machine removal—which the government is trying to financially incentivize.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">News Peg</h2>



The levels of PM 2.5 pollutants—airborne particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which can enter the lungs and cause several diseases—across the city peaked above 950 micrograms per cubic meter on Monday, according to IQAir’s tracker. According to the World Health Organization, the recommended annual average exposure to PM2.5 matter should not exceed 5 micrograms per cubic meter.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Big Number</h2>



214. That is the total number of both arriving and departing flights, which have faced delays at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flightaware.com/live/cancelled" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">according to</a>&nbsp;FlightAware. In a&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/DelhiAirport/status/1858389088614613391" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">statement on X</a>&nbsp;at noon, the Delhi Airport said its “low visibility procedures are still in progress and flight operations may get affected.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Tangent</h2>



NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System, which tracks fires using satellite imagery, showed&nbsp;<a href="https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#d:24hrs;l:fires_all,earth;@74.6,32.1,5.7z" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">several active blazes</a>&nbsp;across the state of Punjab in the past 24 hours. Last month, a&nbsp;<a href="https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/spso/bio/hiren.t.jethva" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Senior Research Scientist</a>&nbsp;at NASA, Hiren T Jethva,&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/hjethva05/status/1849578536128086531" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">speculated</a>&nbsp;on X that farmers in North India may be deliberately burning crop stubbles later in the afternoon to avoid having their flames tracked by the satellite overpass. It is unclear if this is true, but this hasn’t stopped authorities from reporting a large number of farm fires in the area. In the state of Punjab alone, 4,262 cases of farm fires were reported in the last two weeks,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/of-total-8404-farm-fire-cases-in-punjab-50-reported-in-past-2-weeks/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">according to</a>&nbsp;the Tribune.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Further Reading</h2>



<a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/dense-smog-leaves-delhi-choking-as-aqi-in-severe-plus-category-visibility-down-to-100m-101731903642563.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Dense smog leaves Delhi choking as AQI in ‘severe plus’ category, visibility down to 100m</a>&nbsp;(Hindustan Times)

The Cart in the Fog

India’s Capital Chokes Under ‘Severe Plus’ Pollution—Emergency Measures Enacted Including School Shutdowns

TOPLINE The number of new coronavirus infections in India surged this week, making its outbreak the fastest-growing in the world as it struggles with widespread vaccine shortages and a low vaccination rate.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h4>



India reported 145,384 new coronavirus cases Saturday, the fifth time&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-india-idUSKBN2BX031" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">this week</a>&nbsp;that the country set a new daily infection record, following more than a month of precipitously increasing case counts, according to data compiled by&nbsp;<a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region/india" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Johns Hopkins University</a>.



Daily coronavirus case counts in India are now larger than in any other country, far surpassing previous frontrunners&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2021/03/13/brazil-now-has-the-worlds-worst-covid-outbreak-experts-blame-variants/?sh=30487e4478b1">Brazil</a>&nbsp;(which reported&nbsp;<a href="https://covid.saude.gov.br/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">about 93,000</a>&nbsp;new cases Saturday) and the United States (at&nbsp;<a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region/united-states" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">just under 83,000</a>&nbsp;new cases).



Still, India has averaged about 84.2 new cases per million residents over the past week, a much lower rate than less populous countries like the United States (205.1) and Brazil (311.2), per statistics from Oxford’s&nbsp;<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Our World In Data</a>&nbsp;project.



Deaths in India have also gradually climbed in recent weeks, reaching 794&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mohfw.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">on Saturday</a>, which is significantly lower than in&nbsp;<a href="https://covid.saude.gov.br/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Brazil</a>&nbsp;(3,693) and the&nbsp;<a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region/united-states" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">United States</a>&nbsp;(958) and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-09-16-20-intl/h_2e2f271cc29816352e45c39c79fef5ba" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">still below</a>&nbsp;India’s September peak.



Hard-hit states like Maharashtra, home to Mumbai,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbctv18.com/healthcare/no-intention-to-put-a-full-lockdown-in-maharashtra-says-health-minister-tope-8885671.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">imposed weekend lockdowns</a>&nbsp;starting Friday, aiming to curb infections as hospitals in the densely populated state&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-india-maharashtra-idUSKBN2BT15V" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">overflow with sick patients</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-india-maharashtra-idUSKBN2BT15V" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">run low on oxygen</a>.



Local experts say&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/global-trade-mumbai-india-coronavirus-pandemic-infectious-diseases-3f8acdda6d595da27980ac2a8072ab88" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">India’s cases</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/global-trade-mumbai-india-coronavirus-pandemic-infectious-diseases-3f8acdda6d595da27980ac2a8072ab88" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">are surging</a>&nbsp;partly because many people have stopped following social distancing guidelines and&nbsp;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/india-sees-lockdowns-coronavirus-cases-rise-76038339" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">returned</a>&nbsp;to normal routines, and the federal government is unwilling to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/covid19-in-india-hard-lockdown-ruled-out-pm-modi-says-focus-on-testing-101617925294364.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reimpose</a>&nbsp;last year’s strict&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/world/asia/india-coronavirus-lockdown.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">national lockdowns</a>.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h4>



6.3%. That the share of India’s population that has received at least one coronavirus vaccine dose, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/CumulativeCOVIDVaccinationCOverageReport9thApril2021.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">government figures</a>. The country’s vaccination rate is lagging behind wealthier countries with severe coronavirus outbreaks like Mexico (7%), Brazil (9.5%) and the United States (34.5%), per data compiled by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bloomberg</a>.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h4>



India is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines, with the Serum Institute of India&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-56513371" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">exporting tens of millions</a>&nbsp;of doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, yet the country is grappling with painful shortages at home. India’s vaccination campaign has sped up in recent weeks, but vaccine clinics still&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/india-faces-covid-19-vaccine-shortage-as-cases-surge-11617970632" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reportedly</a>&nbsp;don’t have enough shots to keep up with demand.&nbsp;



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h4>



India&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/world-news-india-global-trade-coronavirus-pandemic-dd58b5c596f261f8a5655e8d8b5d6984" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sharply limited</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/fcdffb8f-f86e-4bd9-adec-20256aeb0a07" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">exports</a>&nbsp;of AstraZeneca’s vaccine last month, in an effort to focus on its own supply issues. This could&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-56513371" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">slow deliveries</a>&nbsp;in wealthy countries like the United Kingdom, but it will pose especially serious delays for poorer countries, many of which are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-coronavirus-pandemic-united-nations-98e1561a12c4944478e27c0214f8e447" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reliant on</a>&nbsp;AstraZeneca doses from the COVAX international vaccine subsidy program.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h4>



“The globe needs this vaccine,” Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute of India,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/coronavirus-vaccination-rs-3-000-crores-needed-to-ramp-up-vaccine-production-adar-poonawalla-2407614" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said Tuesday</a>. “We are prioritizing the needs of India at the moment, and we are still short of being able to supply to every Indian that needs it.”



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h4>



Vaccine shortages are not unique to India. Well-heeled places like the United States and Europe have vaccinated their populations far more quickly than low and middle-income countries, partly because they pre-ordered hundreds of millions of doses last year. So far, about 87% of the world’s vaccine supplies have gone to wealthy or upper-middle-income countries, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19-9-april-2021" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Health Organization</a>&nbsp;said Friday, while many African countries have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">secured enough doses</a>&nbsp;to immunize less than 1% of their populations.&nbsp;



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h4>



<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/21/world/asia/india-covid19-vaccines-mumbai.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">India Battles a Second Covid-19 Wave and Vaccine Skepticism (New York Times)</a>



By Joe Walsh, Forbes Staff

INDIA-HEALTH-VIRUS-VACCINES

India’s Covid Outbreak Is Now The World’s Worst As It Lags In Vaccinations

TOPLINE At least 345 people in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh have been hospitalized with an unidentified illness that includes a range of symptoms like seizures, nausea, loss of consciousness and has led to at least one fatality —  potentially creating another public health challenge as the region continues to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h4>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The outbreak of the illness has centered around the town of Eluru, with the sole fatality being a 45-year-old man, who died on Sunday.</li><li>The cause of the illness has yet to be established but local authorities said that all patients, currently 345, have tested negative for Covid-19, ruling it out as a possible cause, the Hindustan Times <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/1-dead-hundreds-take-ill-what-we-know-about-eluru-mystery-disease-so-far/story-NS6B5QhWDJNOIhKc017RVJ.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>.</li><li>YS Jaganmohan Reddy, the state’s chief minister, <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/andhra-cm-jagan-mohan-reddy-visits-those-afflicted-with-mystery-disease-in-hospital-7095096/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">visited</a> the patients on Monday while the regional opposition party has <a href="https://twitter.com/ncbn/status/1335570008143904770?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1335570008143904770%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Findianexpress.com%2Farticle%2Findia%2F150-fall-ill-in-andhra-pradesh-officials-suspect-water-contamination-7093702%2F" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">accused</a> him and his government of mishandling the situation while suggesting that the illness may have been caused by contaminated water supply.</li><li>The government, however, has <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/1-dead-hundreds-take-ill-what-we-know-about-eluru-mystery-disease-so-far/story-NS6B5QhWDJNOIhKc017RVJ.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">claimed</a> that water samples from the affected areas showed no signs of contamination and no viral infections were detected among the patients.</li></ul>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chief-critic">CHIEF CRITIC</h4>



Calling the situation in Eluru just “the tip of an iceberg,” former Andhra Pradesh chief minister and current opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu accused the government of negligence,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/ncbn/status/1335570009909686273" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeting</a>: “Can there be a more unfortunate &amp; bigger failure than this? The Eluru water contamination incident calls for a declaration of Health Emergency in Andhra Pradesh.”



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h4>



871,972: That’s the total number of cases of Covid-19 the state of Andhra Pradesh has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/1-dead-hundreds-take-ill-what-we-know-about-eluru-mystery-disease-so-far/story-NS6B5QhWDJNOIhKc017RVJ.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recorded</a>&nbsp;so far making it the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.covid19india.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">third worst-hit</a>&nbsp;state in India. The state has recorded 7,033 deaths from the disease. India has the second-highest number of Covid-19 infections after the U.S., with 9.6 million&nbsp;<a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cases</a>&nbsp;as of Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University data.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h4>



Earlier this year, 11 people&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/gas-leakage-at-chemical-plant-in-andhra-pradesh-at-least-3-dead/story-t0Ziyrl5EhUqYBaNr5WbWM.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">died</a>&nbsp;in Andhra Pradesh after a chemical gas from a factory run by LG Polymers leaked near the city of Visakhapatnam. Thousands of people had reported being sick after the incident and hundreds had been admitted to hospitals, with some needing to go on ventilators. The incident had forced the state to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/3-dead-200-fall-sick-after-chemical-leak-at-andhra-pradesh-factory/story-kKoFwHbMjS77lSvxUgLx3H.html#:~:text=At%20least%2011%20people%20died,the%20early%20hours%20of%20Thursday.&amp;text=Many%20people%2C%20who%20rushed%20on,gas%2C%20collapsed%20on%20the%20roads." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">divert</a>&nbsp;resources like ambulances, away from Covid-19 cases to help treat those affected by the leak.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h4>



<a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/1-dead-hundreds-take-ill-what-we-know-about-eluru-mystery-disease-so-far/story-NS6B5QhWDJNOIhKc017RVJ.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">1 dead, hundreds take ill: What we know about Eluru mystery disease so far</a>&nbsp;(Hindustan Times)



<a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/150-fall-ill-in-andhra-pradesh-officials-suspect-water-contamination-7093702/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Andhra Pradesh: 300 fall sick in Eluru, health minister says ‘mystery illness’</a> (Indian Express)



-By Siladitya Ray, Forbes Staff

INDIA-ACCIDENT

Over 300 People Hospitalized With Mysterious Illness In India, One Dead

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="405" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/WHO.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-46685" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/WHO.jpg 720w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/WHO-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/WHO-600x338.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /><figcaption>Flags fly at the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Photo Eric Bridiers/ <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/us-mission/14195612051" target="_blank">U.S. Mission Geneva</a>/ <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/" target="_blank">CC BY-ND</a></figcaption></figure>



The World Health Organization (WHO) has been under attack- efforts being made to defund it, ridicule it, undermine it. The world is fighting a major pandemic which rivals the flu of 1918, which killed over 50 million people.



The Coronavirus pandemic may well be a precursor of what is to come in the future. This for sure is not the last pandemic the world will grapple with, <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/opinion/2020/05/13/without-universal-health-coverage-we-are-sitting-ducks-when-the-next-pandemic-strikes/">so let’s brace for impact</a>, as the velocity and virulence of the next contagion may be far more fierce and destructive than COVID-19.



A recent remark that “WHO has been bought by China” is painful to hear. Coming from a senior leader of a country which is the beating heart of the UN’s multilateral system, and has been at the vanguard of improving lives and livelihoods of populations all over the world, is puzzling.



Words matter, and by promoting a number of incorrect and insinuating statements, such language may damage the overall pandemic response and undermine an organization that is doing its best – under the extraordinary circumstances – to save lives across the globe.&nbsp;



I live in Kenya, and on a day to day basis I see the WHO working with countries across the continent to strengthen health systems and tackle health crises. These African countries, like many others especially in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, rely on WHO for guidance, expertise and often for human resources, particularly around disease responses like Ebola, Marburg, Zika or the plague.&nbsp;



I myself have been a beneficiary of the organization’s work, having been immunized as a child through one of the WHO immunization programs, and <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/09/qa-we-need-a-decisive-win-against-polio/">surviving polio</a> thanks to these efforts. Small pox would not have been eradicated without WHO. Billions more have benefited from WHO’s work, and humanity as a whole stands to gain from a well-funded, highly operational institution not only during this pandemic, but for years to come to prevent the next pandemic and build robust health systems.



Currently, there have been more than 15 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 600,000 deaths around the world. But this tiny microbe has impacted far more than just the global health system. It has pressure tested our political, economic, social and cultural institutions, attacking not only our bodies but the very threads of humanity that hold us together. What’s clear already is that the virus mercilessly exploits any chinks in national unity or global solidarity, making it an enemy far more formidable the modern world has seen in recent history.&nbsp;



At a pivotal time for tackling the pandemic, the global response needs solidarity, not politicization. The attacks against WHO threatens to derail global efforts to bring this pandemic under control.



Over the course of the next few months, governments will determine not only how they tackle COVID-19, but they will set a precedent that will guide the world for tackling future global threats.&nbsp;No country can overcome this pandemic on its own, no matter how advanced its economic systems are or how mighty its military is.



This pandemic is threatening lives, livelihoods, social and economic systems that have taken decades to build. It is an enemy that is threatening to reverse the gains the world has made in healthcare, education, poverty reduction, eradicating hunger and strengthening political unity.



For the sake of humanity, we must stand united against it, and this means supporting institutions that are playing a key role in the pandemic response.



From the climate crisis to inequality, antimicrobial resistance to the threat of a meteor hit, global challenges need global solutions, and these solutions cannot be developed if we focus on demonizing institutions rather than addressing the real issues at hand.



In terms of COVID-19, we have seen examples from around the world that clearly show that no matter how bad the outbreak, leaders can get a grip on the virus. By working with a whole of government and whole of society approach, the virus can be brought under control. Countries that have done this successfully, including New Zealand and Vietnam, which stand out as exemplars of how to tackle the pandemic, have shown us that a singular focus on preventing transmission and keeping their populations safe – not engaging in politics, blame games and blatant denial of science – is what is needed to ultimately flatten the curve.



WHO continues to provide valuable leadership in navigating the pandemic, helping the world deal with this crisis by distributing much-needed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and diagnostics, providing technical guidance for health workers, leading efforts to find a vaccine and disseminating&nbsp;information that is playing a critical role in keeping people safe. Reducing support for WHO at this time is therefore tantamount to saying that we are all on our own. But we are not.



At the conclusion of the 73rd World Health Assembly on 19 May 2020, the WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “COVID-19 has robbed us of people we love. It’s robbed us of lives and livelihoods; it’s shaken the foundations of our world; it threatens to tear at the fabric of international cooperation. But it’s also reminded us that for all our differences, we are one human race, and we are stronger together.”



Let’s take a moment to look at the value WHO brings to the world. It may not be a perfect institution, but it is providing global leadership at a time when it is needed most.



What WHO has achieved in 72 years is remarkable, and undeniable. To accelerate the science, find solutions to the COVID-19 challenges and build global solidarity; now more than ever, the world needs WHO.



Siddharth Chatterjee, is the United Nations resident coordinator to Kenya. He has served with the UN and the Red Cross Movement in various parts of the world affected by conflicts and humanitarian crisis. He is also a decorated Special Forces veteran and a Princeton University alumnus. Follow him on Twitter&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/sidchat1?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">@sidchat1</a>



The views expressed in this article are the author’s own.​​​​​

Attacking WHO is Unhelpful-Let’s Focus on Defeating The Virus

Analysts predict BRICS could become as big as the Group 7 by 2027. Can the BRICS nations effectively come together promoting inclusiveness, trade and technological collaboration?

The recurring question at the three-day BRICS summit in July, which brought some of the planet’s most powerful leaders to Africa’s richest square mile Sandton, was the importance of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) when it comes to inter-trade. So what happens next?
The 4IR, like the three revolutions preceding it, has disrupted economies and societies around the globe. In many instances, developing countries have been left behind, perpetuating the exclusion of the past rooted in colonialism and exploitation.
The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), who are aware of the enormous hurdles, used the gathering in Johannesburg to issue a clarion call for united and concerted action for the impending revolution.
Host president Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa – which is the current chair of BRICS – said the 4IR presents the world with opportunities and should be embraced.
“As the BRICS forum, we can neither ignore, nor take for-granted, the reality that is the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the impact that it will have on the global economy. There is no area of economic activity that is immune from technological disruption.
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<div id="attachment_37173" style="width: 750px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-37173" class="wp-image-37173 size-large" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Cyril-Ramaphosa_GL-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="740" height="493" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Cyril-Ramaphosa_GL-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Cyril-Ramaphosa_GL-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Cyril-Ramaphosa_GL-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Cyril-Ramaphosa_GL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Cyril-Ramaphosa_GL.jpg 1241w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" />Cyril Ramaphosa. Photo by Gypseenia Lion</div>
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<blockquote> “It [The Fourth Industrial Revolution] has the potential to solve many of the social problems we face, by better equipping us to combat disease, hunger and environmental degradation.”</blockquote>
The 10th summit, hosted in South Africa for a second time, was held from July 25 to 27. It brought together a galaxy of delegates, government officials, business people and the media at the Sandton Convention Centre.
Roads were barricaded amid heavy police and military presence, with strict no-flying zones applied as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, among some of the world’s most reclusive leaders, spent a night or two under African skies.
Under the theme, ‘BRICS in Africa: collaboration for inclusive growth and shared prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution’, the focus of the summit was issues and solutions to achieve inclusive growth through collaboration.
Technology, big data and innovation were amongst the most operative words. Ramaphosa set the agenda by highlighting the role technology will play years from now.
“The technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution provide developing and emerging economies with the opportunity to leapfrog the technologies of the preceding revolutions.
“It aims to translate the vision of the second decade of BRICS cooperation into reality through deepened cooperation on industrialization, innovation, inclusiveness and investment,” he said.
India’s Prime minister, Narendra Modi, emphasized the need for shared policies and collaboration in order to unlock the opportunities of the future.
But, he added, the consequences of the revolution may be difficult to predict.
“Whatever happens will be far-reaching. We need to discuss how we will prepare for it. Traditionally, manufacturing will continue being a source of jobs for our youth. We need to make changes in our approach and make sure that schools prepare our youth for the changes,” said Modi.
The BRICS Youth Forum started off as an idea during a meeting between the heads of the five states in South Africa in 2014.
Encouraging dialogue with regard to youth policies and employment, the forum has notched some progress.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2018/09/10/why-we-need-hard-cash-into-the-economy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Why We Need ‘Hard Cash In The Economy</a>
South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education and Training, Naledi Pandor, said the youth forum consolidated a set of messages that was to be sent to the BRICS leaders.
“The youth have begun to speak, they believe BRICS should be a solid formation and they have ideas on how the youth should collaborate to ensure that the BRICS idea is not just the idea of our generation but one that exists in perpetuity,” she said.
As argued by the South African Minister of Science and Technology, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, collaboration between the youth from the five states will take the form of what she called “young researchers’ exchange”.
For Kubayi-Ngubane,“the inclusion of young people especially with regard to new tech and innovations should be prioritized as much as  the formal trade collaboration.
“Innovation [is] becoming the cornerstone for our economy going forward,” she told FORBES AFRICA.
<div id="attachment_37174" style="width: 750px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-37174" class="wp-image-37174 size-large" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Family-photo_km-1024x681.jpg" alt="" width="740" height="492" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Family-photo_km-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Family-photo_km-300x199.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Family-photo_km-600x399.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Family-photo_km-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Family-photo_km.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" />(left to right) India&#8217;s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President of China Xi Jinping, South Africa&#8217;s President Cyril Ramaphosa, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and the President of Brazil Michel Temer. Photo by Karen Mwendera.</div>
The BRICS countries, which account for 40% of the world’s population, have not been laggards with regard to technological advancements, with the World Economic Forum noting in 2016 that four of them – South Africa, Brazil, China and Russia – are in the top 100 list of countries with the latest technologies.
The President of BRICS’ New Development Bank, K V Kamath, says that some of their big investments “include power, port and renewable power”.
Analysts predict that BRICS could become as influential as the Group 7 (the USA, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Canada and Italy) by 2027.
Therefore, the collaboration of BRICS nations is a key strategy to strengthen not just political powers but technological capabilities as well.
However, this collaboration calls for the redefinition of borders and going against the norms of sovereignty.
During the summit, emphasis was placed on establishing open economies. This would help foster easier trade between BRICS countries.
Within the hallways of the convention center, presidents Jinping and Ramaphosa shared a joke as they walked side by side towards the stage. They had caught up earlier.
China has dominated the trade relationship with South Africa, with some analysts going so far as to suggest that the world’s second largest economy is dumping goods in South Africa.
Dressed in black and a blue tie, the Chinese president said he was delighted to visit the Rainbow Nation once again and used his opening address to drive home a message clearly directed at US President Donald Trump.
“We BRICS countries should firmly promote an open world economy, be resolute in rejecting unilateralism and protectionism, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and jointly steer the global economy toward greater openness, inclusiveness, balanced growth and win-win outcomes for all,” he told the 1,000-plus business leaders present.
Among those present at the summit was Alan Mukoki, CEO of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which groups approximately 20,000 small, medium and large enterprises.
Mukoki said as desirable as having open economies among the BRICS countries is, it may have negative implications for those members not as developed as the others.
“You need to manage those things correctly, you need to say ‘let’s all start on an equal footing’. We start together and then when we are equal, we can then go and race an open race,” he told FORBES AFRICA.
“Even though I look fit, you can’t say that I should run the same race as Usain Bolt. It is not going to happen…otherwise we will destroy and decimate the economies of the region. South Africa’s economy cannot be big if the economies of the region are actually small,” he said.
Mukoki said the right mechanisms and strategies should be put in place in order for each member state to compete equally.
Others however remain hopeful.
South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies, chose his words carefully when describing what South Africa is looking for regarding trade and investment in an open economy.
“It’s all about building regional value chains allowing us to up the value chain and become more sophisticated producers of industrial products and more value-added products,” he told FORBES AFRICA.
For South Africa, the involvement in BRICS is an opportunity to strengthen intra-Africa ties. A number of countries
<div id="attachment_37176" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-37176" class="wp-image-37176 size-medium" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Break-the-Brics_GL-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Break-the-Brics_GL-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Break-the-Brics_GL-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Break-the-Brics_GL-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Break-the-Brics_GL-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Break-the-Brics_GL.jpg 1736w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Trevor Ngwane, coordinator of the Break the BRICS coalition, hands over a memorandum of demands to South African Minister of Public Works, Thembelani Nxesi. The Group gathered outside the Sandton Convention Centre claiming BRICS in &#8220;anti-poor&#8221;. Photo by Gypseenia Lion.</div>
were invited to an outreach program of the BRICS summit, including Ethiopia, Angola, Zambia, Namibia, Senegal, Jamaica, Gabon, Togo, Uganda and Rwanda. Each presented opportunities to deepen their partnerships with BRICS countries.
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“BRICS is not in competition with anyone, BRICS seeks to work with the entire global community for the betterment of humankind,” said Anil Sooklal, ambassador for BRICS, to FORBES AFRICA.
“The summit is not the end, the summit is the beginning of a process.”
&#8211; By Gypseenia Lion and Karen Mwendera

dps2_gl

Towards An Open World Economy

For Nigeria’s high-flying doctor, Ola Orekunrin, being a part of the booming global air ambulance services industry presents opportunities to save lives as well as visit places she hasn’t seen before.
Orekunrin, a medical doctor and helicopter pilot, is the founder of Flying Doctors, an air ambulance service launched in Lagos to transport patients from areas with low levels of healthcare to those with well-appointed facilities offering better medical aid.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/30-under-30/2011/11/01/flying-doctor-shoots-stars/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Flying Doctor Shoots For The Stars</a>
Over the years, the demand for her organization’s services has risen due to the healthcare challenges Nigeria faces. And there are many. On top of the list is the burden of infectious diseases like malaria and tuberculosis, followed by non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. The country has a high rate of trauma-related incidents such as accidents and violence.
According to national statistics, Nigeria has the highest number of deaths from road traffic accidents in the world.
For Orekunrin, her business presents an opportunity to fulfil her desire to serve. The motivation for the launch of her company, Flying Doctors, was the loss of her sister, who had tragically died for want of urgent care.
Today, Flying Doctors swiftly moves patients from across the African continent to some of the best healthcare destinations, saving thousands of lives in the process. The job means Orekunrin is constantly on the go.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/travel/2018/03/23/magda-wierzyckas-india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Magda Wierzycka’s India</a>
With so much time away from home and in the air, Orekunrin has become somewhat of an expert when it comes to the most exciting destinations to visit both for business and leisure on the African continent – and beyond.
“My favorite destination in the world right now is India,” she says.
“It is a place I spend a lot of time because we have a huge Indian diaspora in Nigeria and when they get sick, they usually request to be flown back home. So I have had a lot of experience with India. I think India is in the process of cracking healthcare. For example, they take the best medical students from the whole of India and put them in one hospital. This means the [number] of procedures that get done there are a lot and the advanced medicine that is practised there is equivalent or better than what you get in some first world countries,” she says.
But that is not the only reason Orekunrin is in love with the subcontinent.
“It is such a vast country that moving from state to state, you can find different types of productivity everywhere. In places like Bengaluru, everybody is running a startup and it’s like the Silicon Valley of India. You go to a place like Goa and that is like a beach resort and you go to Kerala and it is completely different like a spa resort with some sort of Indian medicine being practised and infused with conventional medicine. So it is an incredible country where you can find so much variety, culture, language, tribes and so many successful people coexisting together and identifying as Indians. I think that is another lesson that Nigerians can learn.”
Her favorite past-time in the country is getting her eyebrows threaded and going to remote oil and gas exploration sites.
<div id="attachment_36663" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36663" class="wp-image-36663 size-large" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/GettyImages-547676927-1024x677.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="677" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/GettyImages-547676927-1024x677.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/GettyImages-547676927-300x198.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/GettyImages-547676927-600x397.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/GettyImages-547676927-768x508.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/GettyImages-547676927.jpg 1902w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Ola Orekunrin moves from state to state in India exploring cultures and languages. Photo provided.</div>
“The companies there inspire me because I think about their [the companies’] history in terms of growing from a sole proprietorship to eventually growing into the biggest businesses in the world. It makes me think about Nigerian businesses; I run my own business but I also invest in other businesses as well,” says Orekunrin.
Within West Africa, Orekunrin’s favorite destination is Cape Verde. The country is particularly interesting for medical evacuations because it is made up of remote islands and the influx of tourists to that destination means medical logistics are in very high demand.
“It is four hours away from Nigeria and is a fusion of a lot of cultures; from South America, to Africa and European cultures all in one. I visit it frequently most of the time for work. I also really love the different food. I was born and brought up in England but always had a craving for Africa. My connection to Cape Verde is the closeness to Nigeria but also some of the similarities we share in terms of the food and the culture and the music and that is a strong connection.”
In the next few years, Orekunrin is hoping to grow her medical business into a pan-African player. She continues to look forward to the travel it will entail. For Orekunrin, the air ambulance business is all about saving lives. And being at the right place at the right time – for sick patients in need.

Executive travel: Ola Orekunrin’s India

Magda Wierzycka, CEO of Sygnia Asset Management, is known for her leadership style, her controversial Twitter feed and her no-nonsense take on politics and business.
She also loves to travel.
For over a decade, she and her husband bundled their two sons up four times a year and whisked them away: to the steamy Amazon, over rocky seas to Antarctica (“the glaciers are the most amazing things one could ever see in a lifetime”) and even the last refuge of the strange and wonderful; the Galapagos Islands (“I’d go back in a flash”).
They’ve visited over 80 countries together, including Wierzycka’s birthplace, Poland, which she describes brusquely as “not a mainstream tourist destination”. Compared to the descriptions of her other trips, it’s clear Poland is not a country of happy memories for her; in 1981, her family escaped the communist regime and found refuge in South Africa.
Many of the moments Wierzycka plans for her children are a foil to the experiences she had growing up. Their trips are also crucial parent-child bonding time, especially with Wierzycka working demanding hours as a CEO.
She says in a telephonic interview with FORBES AFRICA: “When you’re traveling with kids and then taking them to exotic locations, it means they are very reliant on you. If you go to a beach they couldn’t care less. They’re on their iPads or phones most of the time. But if you travel, they have nowhere to go except where you’re going. So they have to have every meal with you, they have to interact, there are a lot of things to discover: you hike, you canoe; which means you spend a lot of time together.”
The family’s five-week trek across India was one of their more significant and meaningful trips, with the bulk of their adventure taking place across The Golden Triangle, comprising New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur; the most visited tourist spots in northern India.
It’s named &#8216;golden&#8217; for the cultural and historical richness of each city. The Wierzycka family started their 2013 trip in New Delhi with their then 13- and 15-year-old sons.
“The first time we were thrown into India, and the very first thing we did which petrified the living daylights out of us – you couldn’t have had greater exposure to anything – we did a bicycle tour of New Delhi… There were monkeys and there were cows and the four of us on bicycles. I just remember being petrified of absolutely everything about it,” she laughs at the memory.
“It was kind of the most bizarre thing we’ve ever done and in hindsight, a very dangerous thing, because you were thrown into chaos, absolute chaos.”
But it wasn’t the chaos that made India memorable for Wierzycka. It was traveling from temple to temple, and consciously demystifying religion for her children.
“I was brought up very strict Roman Catholic, and I had only had my kind of ‘aha!’ moment when I learned the truth at the age of 12 or 13, when suddenly instead of thinking of Jesus Christ as a God, I read a book which portrayed him as a man, and prophet, and I just thought I don&#8217;t want my kids to grow up to the age of 12 to realize [only then] that there is more than one religion. I never wanted them to have that moment I had,” she explains.
<div id="attachment_35663" style="width: 291px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35663" class=" wp-image-35663" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Magda-Wierzycka-with-her-sons-in-front-of-the-Taj-Mahal-in-Agra-India-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="281" height="422" />Magda Wierzycka with her sons in front of the Taj Mahal in Agra, India (Photo supplied)</div>
After this experience in her teens, shaking away institutionalized thinking was a pressing priority for her as a mother; the one way she had done that, years before, was by taking her children to Vietnam to see the other side of the famous war.
“If you’ve ever been to India, you learn that there is a religion about everything. [India] is effectively a way of learning where religion originates from, and it’s kind of demystifying religion for everybody.
“[I noticed that] all religions started in the same way: it might have been thousands of years ago, but it always started with someone who had a particular vision or theory and then created a following around a particular concept. [My sons] have a deep understanding of different cultures and different religions, and a very high level of religious tolerance. The only thing we don’t tolerate in my house is intolerance! You don’t have this kind of religious intolerance.
“Because coming back from Poland, growing up in Poland, there was only one religion – and that was Roman Catholic. There was no such concept as not believing – we had to go to church every Sunday, we had to go to confession, and God was always looking over you…
“And so… giving [my children] diversity was essential to me. First of all, that they grow up in a completely tolerant household that stretches across every boundary&#8230;”
Wierzycka’s disillusionment with the indoctrination of her youth drives much of her excursion planning.
“I think all of our trips have been a way to show them the reason ‘why’. All our trips have had that built into them, whether that is looking at museums, or going to Cambodia and looking at the Khmer Rouge regime and looking at the atrocities committed. I want my children to learn not to take things at face value. Analyze things.”
Now, with one child in Columbia University and the other hopefully headed to Harvard, family trips are going to be harder to coordinate, but they’re not going to stop. Their next destination? Alaska.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/travel/2018/03/02/cosmas-madukas-japan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Cosmas Maduka&#8217;s Japan</a>

Magda Wierzycka’s India

Shobhana Wahi, dressed in a crisp salwar kameez (traditional Indian outfit), is a picture of elegance. There is a sense of serenity about her that’s very comforting and must have come from years of working for the underprivileged, as also for being the better half of a decorated Indian army official and civil servant, the late Colonel Satya Pal Wahi, who was also a legend in India’s business world. Their son, Rakesh Wahi, is co-founder of the ABN Group that publishes FORBES AFRICA.
Born in 1938 in Uttar Pradesh in north India into a business family, Shobhana earned her diploma in home science and studied in Delhi’s prestigious colleges: Lady Irwin, Lady Shri Ram and Indraprastha. Growing up, her family was committed to India’s freedom struggle. Her father, Prag Nath Kukreja, was imprisoned by the British during the Quit India Movement in 1942.
She married Col. (then Capt.) Wahi in 1957, and all her life, has been involved in innumerable charitable activities including adopting villages, setting up schools, cultural centers, vocational centers and polytechnic institutes for the less fortunate.
When we meet her on her recent visit to Johannesburg, she highlights her association with Mother Teresa and vignettes of her own life committed to uplifting communities in India.
What impressed you most about army life after marriage?
There was something special about men in uniform; it was first a romantic notion but over time, it was overwhelming to see the disciplined life, the respect for ladies, the honor code and the brotherhood. My husband was posted all over the country and some of the notable cities were Delhi and Secunderabad. Since my husband had served two years with the British Army at the Vickers Armstrong Tank factory in Leeds, he was handpicked to be part of India’s tank factory in Avadi where he, along with some great leaders, rolled out India’s first indigenous tank, The Vijayanta, in 1966; the inauguration was done by none other than our first woman prime minister Indira Gandhi.
In 1968, my husband was the first commanding officer of 6014 EME Battalion that he raised in Ambala. This was the pinnacle of our time in the military. The army is a unique way of life. While our husbands would be away on exercises and other combat duties, the ladies would form a strong support system for each other; this was not just the officers’ wives but the Commanding Officer’s wife would be responsible for welfare activities of the complete battalion. Perhaps it is this comforting thought that allows our brave soldiers to fearlessly take on responsibilities on the frontier knowing their families were safe.
My husband had served under Mr Mantosh Sondhi in Avadi [in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu], and when he moved to establish Bokaro Steel Plant, he requested Army Headquarters to transfer my husband on deputation. Once again, the entire city developed around this mammoth steel plant that was built with Soviet collaboration. It was during this period my husband finally decided to retire from the Army and stepped out of uniform in 1972.
My husband then pursued a career with the public sector and first moved in 1974 to establish BHEL’s foundry and forge plant in Hardwar [in northern India] and later was appointed Chairman of Cement Corporation of India. In 1981, he moved as Chairman of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) and finally retired from service in 1989.
How did you get involved in welfare activities?
This has to be seen in the context of the economic disparity and poverty in India. We have extreme poverty and being charitable was in our blood. It’s hard to see people live below subsistence; I grew up watching my grandfather and parents supporting schools for the blind as well as our orphanage in Patodi House Daryaganj, Delhi. Even at school, we gave our clothes, books, toys, tiffin and shoes to poor children. These activities were unstructured and localized within communities but as I grew up, got married and traveled all over the country, my husband and I were able to institutionalize the activities.
In the army, the activities were all internalized; they were centered on the welfare of the soldiers and were related to hygiene, medical, day care centers, schools and other social activities like fetes. We taught ladies to knit, cook, home finance, bank and most importantly write letters to their husbands; it was so important for the morale of soldiers. It was extremely gratifying.
I had a great mentor in Mrs Reeta Sondhi from whom I had learned a lot in Avadi and Bokaro. The real opportunity to lead social activities started when we moved to Hardwar. Some of the activities I initiated were: starting a nursery school, a central school, establishing a branch of Delhi Public School, starting welfare centers etc. Since Indians love spices, we purchased grinding machines and got the spices ready and packed. Almost 10,000 people were living in Ranipur [in Hardwar in northern India] and everyone started buying the fresh spices from our little cooperative which I believe is still the tradition there.
In 1981, when we moved to Dehradun; Mrs Indira Gandhi visited Dehradun in Dec 1981 and she asked me to adopt villages around the 20-point program. The ONGC is India’s largest public sector company and was spread all over India. My husband and I decided to create a strong culture of supporting our people as well as the communities where we were operating. I established the ONGC Mahila Samiti in 1982 under the auspices of which we adopted Jhajra and Majra villages where we constructed bus stops with sheds, repaired roads, bored wells, and built school buildings; improved the quality of life by supplying power and water; launched a cleanliness drive giving incentives to each house in the village; offered adult education for women, and talks on personal hygiene and health.
What was your most noteworthy accomplishment?
It was the setting up of a vocational center where widows and dependents of deceased employees and also women of the weaker sections of society were given training to earn a living. The following units were set up that were commercially viable: a printing press; a typing center; we bought a grinding machine and employed ladies to clean, grind and pack fresh spices into small packets for sale; grocery stores; a sewing, cutting, embroidery and knitting section; we bought weaving looms and made bed covers, table cloths, dusters, napkins and towels&#8230;
We launched cultural activities in Dehradun – we hosted the First Regional Cultural meet of ONGC and produced ‘Festivals of India’; we produced tableau for various cultural programs for Delhi Doordarshan [state-run TV] and our work centers throughout the country including composing patriotic songs on the 20-point program and on Mother Teresa for Independence Day and Republic Day.
There was a dire need of a polytechnic institute for girls and women in the Doon Valley to be trained in various fields and be gainfully employed.
The polytechnic received an overwhelming response from the people, evident from the 400 admissions we had in the first semester. I secured partnerships and recognition from institutions and industry. This included a French language course to be conducted by Alliance Francaise; cutting and tailoring course recognized by Usha International limited; recognition of the hotel management course by the Welcom Group of Hotels and the computer science course by the Computer Society of India and the Russian language affiliated to the All India Institute of Russian Language; we have employed experienced teachers and eminent visiting lecturers; provided a comprehensive library; and was amongst the first to start a computer literacy program.
<div id="attachment_35591" style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35591" class=" wp-image-35591" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Shobhana-Wahi-with-Mother-Teresa-300x213.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="355" />Shobhana Wahi with Mother Teresa (Photo supplied)</div>
How and when did you meet Mother Teresa?
This was the highlight of my life. I was informed that Mother Teresa was visiting Meerut, a city a few hours away from Dehradun [in northern India]. I extended an invitation to her to visit Dehradun which she accepted; this was a dream come true for me. We welcomed her at our auditorium and arranged a cultural program for her after which she visited and blessed our home. My younger daughter, Shalini, who was in school, met her several times. This was the start of a relationship that was the greatest blessing from God. She had spent her life in the service of people and we were blessed to have had such a close relationship with her.
I met her whenever she came to Delhi and on a few occasions she traveled with us. I went to meet her on one of the occasions when she asked my husband and I to start a home for her in Dehradun. We found a place and the Sisters from the Missionary of Charity visited and approved the place. From the Ladies Club, we donated furniture beds, utensils, curtains quilts, blankets, clothes, woolens, books and toys. The home was occupied by children, old and disabled people; our doctors from the ONGC Hospital visited the home and treated them as when required. Mother Teresa became very fond of me through this association and it’s her blessing that has been a pillar of strength for us all.

Knowing Mother Teresa

It has been a year since FORBES AFRICA lost one of its staunchest supporters and readers, Colonel Satya Pal Wahi. He was an ardent admirer of our magazine and the great stories of African entrepreneurship in it.
In India’s industrial and business world, Col. Wahi was a legend himself, having had a highly-decorated career in the armed forces and then, as a corporate titan.
Through him, stories of Africa reached the pristine parks and walking trails of Gurugram (formerly Gurgaon), about 32kms from India’s capital New Delhi, home to some of the biggest Fortune 500 companies.
In his later years, on his morning walks in the park, he carried copies of FORBES AFRICA. There was always an erudite audience looking forward to impromptu conversations with the genteel, illustrious Col. Wahi.
Thus, the doyens of business in Africa, 8,000kms away, invariably became a part of Gurugram’s misty mornings.
Col. Wahi visited South Africa many times, and also the offices of FORBES AFRICA, when he regaled staff with rapturous stories of his own leadership journey. His lessons and legacy are being carried forward by his son, Rakesh, who was also in the Indian Army and is co-founder of FORBES AFRICA. His grandson, Sid, is the Executive Director of the magazine.
Col. Wahi, born in Khushab, a small village near Lahore in what is now Pakistan, went on to do his engineering at the prestigious Banaras Hindu University in India and thereafter attended the Indian Military Academy. He worked with some of India’s greatest political leaders such as Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
He says in his book, Leading From The Front: From Army To Corporate World: “I have never bowed down to anyone and have learned to stand on my own legs and fight my own battles.”
The book vividly illustrates him as a man with an insatiable hunger for knowledge and information; his attitude to rebel against injustice remained with him throughout his working life.
The Indian Army gave him a strong foundation for leadership. On retiring from the army, he served many corporate enterprises, including Bokaro Steel Plant, Bharat Heavy Electricals and Cement Corporation of India.
A leading light in India’s energy sector, he was inducted into the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) in June 1981 as chairman of the public sector behemoth. He was a firm believer that an organization or individual, which does not grow, stagnates and finally decays.
His decade-long stint at ONGC coincided with the development of Bombay High offshore oilfields and he is credited with contributions in raising India’s oil output from 9 million tons to 32 million tons per annum. He brought about several paradigm shifts, modernizing office facilities and setting up training centers for ONGC.
His contribution in India’s various public sector undertakings is unparalleled. Of the array of awards he has won is one of India’s most shining medals: the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honor, which he received in 1988. He is the recipient of the Giants International Award and Indian Geophysical Union’s Silver Jubilee Award. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award Petrotech in 2007. To recognize his contribution to the energy sector, he was conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. He was also a recipient of the degree of Doctor of Science (honoris causa) from three Indian universities.
Col Wahi passed away on 13 February last year, at the age of 88, leaving an aching void and an empty park bench southwest of Delhi.

Remembering A Corporate Legend

Almost four hours before sunrise in Cape Town, another coastal town, 7,000kms away, in Kerala in south India, wakes up to the sights and sounds of dawn.
This is Kozhikode, where fishermen return ashore from the choppy waters of the Arabian Sea, bringing with them boatloads of fish, stuffed into baskets they then haul on to their bare, bony backs.
They sell the morning’s fresh catch on Kappad beach, made famous by Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama who landed here in 1498, on a voyage from Europe that included stopovers in South Africa and Mozambique before his itinerant tryst with India.
A small, near-derelict stone monument on the beach stands as a lone reminder of Da Gama’s Kerala expedition. The powerful Zamorin rulers of Kozhikode welcomed the Portuguese but kept a close watch on them. The spices were enough reason for the Arabs, the Dutch, the Portuguese and the English to flock to this palm-fringed, leaf-shaped Indian state.
With a population of 35 million and regaled in global travel brochures as ‘God’s Own Country’, Kerala produces ample coffee, tea, pepper, rubber, coconut and cashew. Yet, the state’s most famous exports are its people.
Immigrants from Kerala can be found in any nook of the planet, but predominantly in the Middle East, from where the trade winds blew strongest across the Arabian Sea. The joke in Kerala is if there was a tea stall on the moon, you would be sure to find an enterprising Keralite running it.
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With its strong Arabic influences, in Kozhikode, you find temples designed like mosques; and every home boasting family in the Gulf. As dawn moves to dusk, lilting strains of Sufi music fill the evening air, even as the arterial S M Street (known as Sweetmeat Street) selling red halwa (a sticky sweet) and savory Arabian snacks winds up for the night.
The red, rain-drenched earth, the red sweets and the soulful music beckon any traveler to these shores.
The tea stalls of Kerala, as ubiquitous as shawarma joints in the Middle East, are where newspapers are devoured and politics hotly debated over steaming glasses of tea and crisp dosas (rice pancakes) served on banana leaves.
These are eaten perched on rickety wooden benches undeniably wet from the rains and the leaking thatched roofs. This culinary experience transcends socio-economic barriers, as every Keralite worth his salt would have tried it at some point in life.
It is from Kozhikode that many wannabe entrepreneurs, with dreams and dirhams in their eyes, have boarded the flight to Dubai – that mecca of opportunities – and some to South Africa, where they have made their millions in the little trading hubs of Johannesburg.
Fordsburg, the colorful cultural quarter in Johannesburg, teeming with traders from the subcontinent, has its own glorified Kerala tea stall on Central Road selling authentic cuisine prepared by cooks brought all the way from Kozhikode.
Discerning dosa-lovers arrive in droves to Dosa Hut, a restaurant run by Keralites Judy Joseph and Abhilash Raveendran. Joseph arrived here with $500 in 2005 and never looked back. On weekends, they rustle up as many as 600 rice pancakes a day to expatriates hungry for a taste of home.
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This year, for Onam, Kerala’s annual harvest festival celebrated in September, the two restaurateurs, who now own a slew of eateries in Johannesburg, fed traditional fare to 500 Malayalees (as Keralites are known) at a cultural get-together in Lenasia, an Indian township south of Soweto.
The day-long event featured a live orchestra – a music troupe flown in from Kerala – and dances and skits from the motherland. This convivial communal event every year is a true experience of south India in South Africa.
October in South Africa also saw a performance of Kathakali (classical dance-theater from Kerala) by Arjun Raina, an Indian dancer, actor and playwright whose show The Magic Hour was an interpretation of William Shakespeare’s Othello.
It was watched by an audience all too familiar with the classical art form, which transported them to the oil lamp-lit temples and stages of Kerala, but more importantly to their rich past, and the land and lore they left behind for a country they now call a home from home in Africa.

A Slice Of India In Africa

When Colonel Satya Pal Wahi took his morning walk in the park near his home in Gurgaon, a city 32 kilometers outside the Indian capital of New Delhi, he always took a few copies of FORBES AFRICA with him. When influential people stopped him for chat, which happened often to one of India’s best known people, he would hand them a copy with a recommendation that they read it. He believed that our reporting was promoting business in Africa, 5,000 miles away, and gave his time and energy, selflessly, to support this. That was the kind of man Colonel Wahi was; always working, looking forward and willing a better world.
In his busy office, Colonel Wahi read and dissected every line of FORBES AFRICA. Often he used to correspond with me about our articles with beautiful, flowing, prose; always concise, and precise.
In person, he was a warm, humble, kind, and gentle man, with whom there was never a dull moment. I had the honor to meet him a number of times, on his many visits to Africa, and also at the weddings of his grandchildren on home soil.
I was always struck by his energy and tireless erudition. With his eyes lit up, it was always straight into the issues of the day. The last time, in Chandigarh, we debated, at length, the opportunities and pitfalls of artificial intelligence.
Colonel Wahi passed on this passion for business and life to his son, Rakesh, who was also an Indian Army officer engineer and the present publisher of FORBES AFRICA; his grandson, Sid, is the executive director of our magazine.
A remarkable man, who had lived a memorable and illustrious life, was born in Khushab, a small village near Lahore, in what is now Pakistan. He graduated in electrical and mechanical engineering from Banaras Hindu University. On graduation he joined the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, before joining the Corps of the Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, in 1950, where he reached the rank of Colonel.
On retiring from the army, Colonel Wahi served many corporate enterprises which included Bokaro Steel Plant (1969-74), Bharat Heavy Electricals (1974-78), before joining Cement Corporation of India (CCI), a wholly-owned company of the Government of India as its chairman. He turned the loss-making CCI into a profitable business and, in 1981, was appointed chairman of ONGC, the largest oil and gas exploration and production company in India. His tenure at ONGC coincided with the development of Bombay High offshore oilfields and he is credited with contributions in raising India&#8217;s oil output from 9 million tons to 32 million tons per annum. His efforts are also reported behind the modernization of the organization by the introduction of computerization and modern office facilities and the establishment of a training center for the organization.
There were a number of occasions where Col. Wahi&#8217;s charismatic leadership was hailed. One such incident was his deft handling of the blowout in the offshore drilling rig Sagar Vikas. His professional stewardship in the case not only handled the blowout effectively, but ONGC was praised all over the media for the courageous act of the Oil Soldiers of India. A more significant victory, perhaps, was the confidence that grew in the cadres of ONGC after this incident.
After his stint at ONGC, he was associated with Bharat Ophthalmic Glass Limited and served as the Chairman of the Standing Committee of Public Enterprises.
A recipient of the degree of Doctor of Science (honoris causa) from three Indian universities, Wahi has also received honors such as Petrotech Lifetime Achievement Award, Indian Geophysical Union Silver jubilee Award and Giants International Award. The Government of India awarded him the third-highest civilian honor of the Padma Bhushan, in 1988, for his contribution to society.
The world was richer for the life of Col Satya Pal Wahi and poorer for his passing. His legacy will live for all time.

Farewell To A Gentle Titan

Last year, cinema attendance reportedly dipped to 20-year lows in Western markets. Piracy and home-viewing are profoundly changing the way people consume visual media. But not so it seems in India, home to Bollywood, the world’s largest film industry by output, where the near-invincible sector is clocking in double the number of theatre-goers in North America.
Whether a function of India’s perennial love affair with the silver screen or a result of the ultra-modern digital multiplex theatres mushrooming in metros all over the country, Bollywood is thriving and is estimated to have been worth $2.28 billion last year.
For South Africa, this means more opportunities to service Indian film production houses increasingly searching for cost-effective locations offering all the comforts of home such as skilled support staff and quality equipment.
FORBES WOMAN AFRICA had the opportunity to meet up with the production crew of Ishq Forever, a Bollywood romantic comedy filmed in Cape Town in April-May this year.
Ishq Forever, or ‘love forever’ in English, stars Bollywood veteran Javed Jeffrey and Indian-Canadian actress Lisa Ray, as well as newcomers Krishna Chaturvedi and Ruhi Singh. The film is a production of Friday Cine Entertainment, a three-way partnership between Ajay Shah, Harry Gandhi and Shabbir Boxwala.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-30745 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/IMG_6785-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_6785-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_6785-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_6785-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_6785.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
It isn’t Boxwala’s first production in South Africa. In 2003, he co-produced the romantic drama Dil Ka Rishta, starring Bollywood royalty Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Cape Town. Like Boxwala, Shah has been producing Bollywood films for over 20 years. The final member of the trio, Gandhi – the CEO of Unique Maritime Group headquartered in the Middle East – is a film industry newcomer but has been a film enthusiast for a long time.
“I have seen first-hand how much the local industry has changed over the past 10 to 15 years,” says Boxwala.
What was once a small scale and inwardly-focused sector is now world-class and attracting sizeable foreign investment. The growth comes from two directions.
The first is locally-produced and directed films telling South African stories – during the five years leading up to 2003, local releases averaged just three a year; 10 years later, the number is closer to 15.
The second, and significantly more powerful growth lever, is the increase in international productions, such as Ishq Forever filming on location in South Africa.
As a whole, the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) in South Africa estimates the industry contributes close to R3.5 billion ($282 million) to South African GDP each year and that number is growing at a rate of 14% per annum.
The location of choice is Cape Town and it’s safe to say that pretty much anyone who has visited South Africa’s Mother City can vouch for its natural charms.
Mountains, farms, beaches, oceans and semi-arid moonscapes are all within an hour’s drive from the city center, which comes with its own unique attractions in the form of the diverse architectural structures. During the summer months, Cape Town averages close to 15 hours of daylight and very limited rain – a further pull factor for overseas film productions.
Cape Town hasn’t ridden on its looks alone though. The Western Cape Provincial Government has invested close to R20 million ($1.6 million) into the sector and justifies the expenditure by means of a conservative projection of 30,000 skilled and unskilled jobs that have been created as a result of its efforts.
The majority of Bollywood films shot in South Africa use locations in Durban, the country’s third largest city, home to the largest concentration of people of Indian descent in the country and characterized by sub-tropical vegetation allowing for an easier set replication of Indian backdrops.
Ishq Forever is different – the film was shot in Cape Town and surrounding areas – such as sleepy coastal town Hermanus.
“Ishq Forever really celebrates South African culture. The action takes place in Cape Town where the young heroine (played by Singh), the daughter of the prime minister of India, is attending university. It’s a coming of age romantic comedy with lots of plot twists and chases,” informs Boxwala.
“We caused quite a lot of excitement when we filmed in Hermanus. I don’t think the locals had experienced a Bollywood film before. When we were leaving, the mayor thanked us and we have promised to come back and arrange a public screening of the film at an open air cinema.”
At present, the majority of the international films being filmed in Cape Town are American productions – most recently The Giver and TV series Homeland Season 2 – which benefit further from exchange rate gains as a result of the woeful decline in the value of the local currency against the US dollar.
The NFVF approximates that it is on average 40% cheaper to make a film in South Africa than in the United States or in Europe.
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Not Wooing Bollywood Enough
But where does that leave Bollywood? Not in an entirely favorable position, says Boxwala.
“As Bollywood film productions, we simply can’t afford to pay the rental fees which are charged to the big US productions. We just don’t work with those kind of budgets because our revenue streams are limited,” he says.
According to statistics portal Statista, Bollywood films grossed a modest $1.2 billion in 2012 against a $10.8 billion gross revenue from US productions. The numbers may not seem surprising at first glance – Hollywood is wholly more pervasive in the global popular culture – however, consider them against the fact that during that same year, Bollywood churned out a prolific 1,602 features versus Hollywood’s 476.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-30746 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/IMG_6136-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_6136-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_6136-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_6136-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_6136.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
“A Bollywood production – even a mega blockbuster – will have significantly fewer distribution opportunities than its Hollywood equivalent, which rides on the virtue that Western productions are enjoyed by a wider audience,” says Gandhi. Ishq Forever, for example, was filmed on the relatively modest, all-inclusive budget of $2.5 million.
Gandhi says that the opportunity to attract more Bollywood productions to South Africa simply through widening the accessibility of local services is glaring. Boxwala recounts that the stock of basic equipment available for rent in South Africa during the filming of Ishq Forever was fairly limited and the resultant demand determined prices prohibitive to non-dollar earning filmmakers.
More than two thirds of Bollywood features are shot outside of India. The most popular locations are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Malaysia and Eastern Europe. South Africa could be losing out on Bollywood opportunities, say Boxwala and Gandhi, due to the high local prices, the red tape related to the obtaining Department of Trade and Industry rebates and the fact that there are no direct flights between Johannesburg and Mumbai – the heart and soul of Bollywood. Having no direct flights complicates the transportation of filming equipment, which forces crews like Boxwala’s to rent locally and brings the problem back to the high rental rates set for US customers.
“We want to work here though,” says Gandhi. “It took us 40 days to film Ishq Forever. During that time, we hired 20 local technicians and created close to 900 short-term, low skilled jobs. We invested roughly $1 million into the local economy over the production time.”
“The locations here are fantastic and the level of skill is world class. We believe that South Africa could become an even more popular film destination for Bollywood films if it works on the negatives and builds on the positives.”

IMG_6140

When Bollywood Comes Calling

A new generation of African entrepreneurs and businesses is emerging. They are challenging the old way of doing business and driving cross-border growth.
Kenya’s ICT companies are investing in Rwanda and are now looking to enter Nigeria, while United Bank for Africa and other Nigerian banks are rapidly expanding into Africa. In 2009, South Africa invested $1.6 billion (FDI outflows) into other African countries. MTN, a South African mobile giant, operates in 21 African countries; and Glo, a Nigerian mobile operator, operates in the Republic of Benin, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
Africa’s statistics speak of tremendous potential: the continent is the size of China, Mexico, Europe, India, the States and Japan combined. The population will soon surpass China, with a middle class as big as India’s. Africa has enjoyed more than a decade of sustained GDP growth, which has often outstripped many other parts of the world.
There is frustration in that Africans are not reaping the rewards of the current global investor confidence. The mass export of commodities doesn’t see wealth trickle down.
Home-grown investments, focused on value-adding industries, are the key to changing this dynamic.
Africans still seem to choose products and investments from outside the continent. They prefer to export outside Africa rather than to trade, manufacture and add value within. Many African countries continue to trade raw materials but they don’t have the capability to refine or process, so they import the finished products from outside of Africa.
We need to understand what is preventing Africa from being home to value-adding and value-creating businesses. Why, for example, is Africa’s agricultural richness not generating an integrated growing and processing industry as it has done in Brazil?
Africa requires an environment that facilitates investment and greater market integration. The current weaknesses—corruption, high start-up costs, poor infrastructure—are well-known. But our study will also shed light on the legal, social and cultural differences within Africa that restrict cross-border investments.
There need to be integrated regional production chains within Africa, where Africa’s raw materials are processed into finished goods to be traded. Regional trading blocs— including the Tripartite Free Trade Area, which encompasses the East African Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the Southern African Development Community—would thus thrive, paving the way for a Continental Free Trade Area, that would produce and trade high value-added goods internally.
Greater market integration in Africa will lead to a significant reduction in the cost of doing business and alleviate some of the problems associated with securing work permits and labor mobility.
Over the long-term, Africa’s competitiveness will hinge to a great degree on how well we educate our young people. Often, the most talented Africans have sought educational advancement and careers overseas, but a combination of transformational educational technology, growing opportunities at home and the poor global economic climate could see this brain drain becoming a brain gain. Retaining talent, home-grown or otherwise, is critical. Policy that enables skilled Africans to work across our borders more easily will help achieve this goal.
Never have circumstances been more propitious for African business. A rise in disposable incomes, high rates of urbanization and a fast-growing working-age population speak of an emerging class of purchasers of consumer goods, financial services and infrastructure, as well as a potential source of manpower for industrialization and agricultural development.
Africans must explore ways to move beyond regional differences and competition to build Africa together from within, so that Africans at all levels become the primary beneficiaries of the continent’s growth.

Unite And Prosper

As I left the airport I was greeted by temperatures of over 35 degrees, it was humid and uncomfortable but within minutes I was seated in an air-conditioned car. My itinerary said that Agra was 205 kilometers away, so I figured it would be a two-hour drive. I didn’t realize the speed limit was 40 kms an hour—the journey took five painful hours. Yes at that speed, I still felt as though the driver was speeding—he kept swerving to avoid the crater size potholes. Driving in India is scary—there’s no adherence to the road markings; overtaking on a solid line is common practice; drivers hoot incessantly and cut lanes. Surprisingly, no one gets upset, no one swears or raises their hands and I arrived safely.
Agra—home of the famous Taj Mahal—is a bustling town, which looks like it had been derelict for a long time and suddenly people rushed back to rebuild it. The streets are filled with rows of abandoned housing complexes, small shanty shops and tangled power lines, which are connected mostly illegally. Cattle paraded the street without a care in the world—these sacred animals are kept like pets; children play alongside them and traffic stalls until they pass. Beef products are not allowed and if you see a steak on the menu, it’s probably buffalo meat. The McDonalds menu consists of chicken, fish and paneer burgers, with the McMaharaj being the equivalent of a Big Mac.
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Another big attraction, without which a trip to India would be incomplete, is the Taj Mahal. The white marble mausoleum was completed in 1649 in honor of emperor Shah Jahan’s favorite wife.
I drove back to New Delhi—the capital of India and home to more than 20 million people. It’s a more contemporary city, which houses the Indian parliament. Beautiful parks and gardens broke the sights of the bustling traffic, which seemed to go on for the entire day.
The food was delicious, we ate like kings, but only in restaurants. The street food looked and smelt divine, with Tikka chicken and roasted paneer on most corners, but horrible stories of ‘Delhi belly’ helped me resist.
From the capital, I travelled to Chennai, formerly known as Madras, where I had more of a culture shock as motorbikes and gas-guzzling tuk-tuks filled the streets. The streets of the densely populated city are busy until late, markets offer great bargains on fabrics and gold jewelry and food stalls, on most corners, fill the pavements with brightly colored, sweet delights.
From city to countryside, I decided to drop the pace a notch and travel to Kerala, further south. I boarded a luxury houseboat, which floated along the quiet backwaters of the Alleppey River. The highlight was stopping on the banks to buy fresh fish and prawns. I had never seen such big prawns before and never had my taste buds enjoyed such flavor. The houseboat cook skillfully prepared the seafood with his special spices. Eating on a houseboat, listening to the small ripples in the water and the crickets near the banks was another highlight.
The next day I caught a flight to Goa—India’s smallest state but a very popular tourist spot. Small windy streets, forest-like vegetation and the white sandy beaches are big attractions for foreigners and Indians alike. The region is known for its large spice plantations and cashew nuts. Gambling is popular here, unlike in the rest of India.
Mumbai, the home of Bollywood, is more liberal than the other Indian states—the people speak English well and are less traditional in their dress. Fancy five star hotels line the beach front. It’s known as a commercial hub and the economic giant of India as it is home to two Indian stock exchanges. Transport services are excellent: busses run frequently; bright yellow and black cabs fill the more affluent parts of town; tuk-tuks do short runs around the market areas and three million people travel through the famous Victoria Train Station every day, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A sharp contrast though are the huge slums deeper in the city—children ran in the streets trying to sell scarves, beautifully woven materials and miniature elephants, when they should have been at school. We visited a massive open-air laundry where 2,000 men—who have taken on laundry contracts from nearby hotels—were washing sheets and towels. The government provides them with clean water and industrial dryers. Water is not safe to drink in India, even Indians drink bottled water.
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While I was there, it was Independence Day, 65 years of independence and yet India looks like it’s battling a dilemma of moving into a new age with the rest of the world or staying with its deeply entrenched traditional and religious existence. India is not easy in many respects—it’s hot and humid, busy and noisy, but wherever I traveled I felt safe and the people were humble. So while India may not be the ideal destination to kick back and relax it is a destination that will offer you a truly unique experience. The people of India prefer quality of life with little focus on materialism. There’s a real respect for tradition and culture. The food is fantastic and the hospitality is superb. India though deserves more than just two weeks.

Incredible India, Flaws And All

Indian companies like Bharti Airtel are pioneering the telecommunications industry in Africa using bold business strategy and the experience they gained from opening up communications in their own country 20 years ago.
“When we took charge of Zain’s African operations, we made a commitment to bring world-class, affordable mobile services to customers in Africa and take our networks deep into rural areas,” says Manoj Kohli, joint managing director and CEO of Bharti Airtel’s international operations. This radical move immediately established Airtel as the world’s fifth-largest mobile service provider, immediately gaining 42 million customers. This unique business trend is being employed by Indian companies in Africa, who have adopted a strategically integrated approach to doing business. By integrating socially, politically and economically into 15 African countries, they differ in strategy from their Chinese counterparts, who tend to operate in isolation, importing Chinese workers and goods. Arthur Goldstuck, an expert analyst in telecommunications in Africa, says Airtel’s aggressive marketing strategy of cost cutting and increased volumes is making inroads into the East African market.
According to Goldstuck, this approach to price fighting in Africa and bringing down the costs of calls, SMS and data has dropped the average tariff in Kenya from 12 shillings in June last year to three shillings. Kohli believes it is incorrect to look at tariffs alone. “We have simply corrected the 20-30% premium that Zain was charging over the normal price. This was unsustainable and we brought the tariffs to more affordable levels for the customers.”
The socio-economic spin-offs of Airtel’s presence has contributed greatly to improving the lives of people, especially in the remote areas, says Dobek Pater, telecommunications and market analyst at Africa Analysis. An increase of 10% in teledensity (the proportion of cellphones in use by every 100 people in an area) is almost equivalent to 1% of GDP growth in some of these countries. However, technical challenges on the continent can be enormous. Initial investment is required to develop infrastructure, which can be very high. Extensive rollout of base stations is necessary for any network to expand into Africa, which is both expensive and time consuming from a regulatory and infrastructural point of view. Airtel has received support from governments across all markets, who share its vision of taking the benefits of telecom to every corner of the respective countries.
The Indian business strategy of social and political integration is key to doing business in Africa, and is the ingredient that has seen Bharti and Neotel successfully expanding their networks and distribution to cover a larger population, particularly in rural areas. The sharing of passive infrastructure in African countries also avoids unnecessary infrastructure duplications and helps bring down costs for the industry. Sunil Joshi, CEO of Neotel, says their approach to human capital development is unique and effective. The establishment of the Neotel Training Academy, where 30 people are currently being trained in telecommunications, is a benchmark of social and economic integration as 70-80% of these people will be employed by Neotel. “We believe in leveraging local resources within South Africa and getting the local context by engaging with government and ICASA. Our approach is to socially align with what the needs in the country are. For example, currently we employ 1,000 people in South Africa, of which the majority is local. We are also very proud of the fact that in terms of BEE we have a level three listing, which shows that we give the right focus in terms of the local dynamic.”
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Tag: India

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA