In recent years, African countries have steadily emerged as strong consumer markets at a time when emerging economies are struggling with sluggish local demand. Fast-growing economies have greatly improved household incomes over the years as reflected by the rising household consumption expenditure.
Already international consumer businesses have taken notice of this and are planning to invest. A recent Deloitte EMEA survey: Consumer businesses priority markets for 2014-2015 ranked Africa third, behind the European Union and China, as an important market for investment this year by European consumer businesses. The survey confirmed a growing trend since the close of 2013, retail and consumer sectors are among the top three investment sectors by foreign direct investments.
No doubt, more households with discretionary spending means Africa’s consumer market is poised for even greater growth. Data from the World Bank shows that between 2000 and 2012, Africa’s household final consumption expenditure grew at an average annual rate of 10.7%, rising from $360 billion and reaching nearly $1.3 trillion. Consumer demand is now projected to add around $ 1.1 trillion to Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2019, with Ethiopia, Uganda and Mozambique expected to be the fastest expanding markets. Clearly, rising prosperity is slowly becoming an important component in Africa’s future growth.
It is widely believed that much of the increasing demand is attributed to the growing middle class. Owing to their ever expanding varied tastes and preferences, this group has served as an important force behind the current consumer boom. Over the three decades ending in 2010, the middle class has grown by 3.1%, compared with the overall population growth of 2.6% effectively accounting for 34% of Africa’s population or 355 million people by the end of that year. It is forecast that by 2030, about half a billion Africans will join this class and a further half a billion by the year 2060.
Another important factor contributing to the African consumption story is the rapid urbanization. Migrations to bigger cities have created large clustered urban centers which are supporting growth in domestic demand. According to the United Nations (UN), Africa’s urban population as a percentage of the total population stood at 40% last year, up from 27% in 1980. The same research projects that urban population will grow to 47% by 2030.
Closely tied to urbanization is the young population. Younger Africans who form a large share of the rising middle class, are estimated to number at more than 200 million, or just over 20% of Africans. This dynamic demographic is expected to grow to 321 million by 2030 which translates into a 57% growth from 2010. Potentially, young African consumers are expected to account for even stronger demand for consumer goods in the future. Already demand from the 15-year-old to 24-year-old age group is driving growth of the modern retail and sales of branded goods. Interestingly, a recent Deloitte survey of this group revealed that the majority of younger consumers use mobile phones to access internet. Investors need an effective channel to engage with this group, especially across large markets.
In view of all this, it is highly probable that as wealth, which historically has been concentrated within the elite, begins to trickle down to the masses, the region will become a magnet for international capital. Evidently, for companies seeking to invest, it is clear that Africa is not suffering from a lack of demand, but perhaps from a lack of supply. With growth projected by the World Economic Outlook at around 7.7% annually to 2019 (this is twice the rate projected for advanced economies in the same period), potential investors can rest assured of a sustainable growing consumption trend.
Presently, the region is the second fastest growing economic region behind Asia. Certainly, it is undeniable that Africa is indeed an attractive consumer market that is worth tak

half a billion reasons  to be optimistic

JJ Milner was an IT geek and never had to make a conscious effort to learn about the industry he is in today. It was a hobby that came naturally. He knew this hobby would turn into a business when he was just 17 years old. Today, 25 years since its inception, Global Micro Solutions is making a mark in cloud servicing and business in the IT industry.
In 1990, Milner and a friend founded Global Micro Solutions with $400 each, selling computers out of his parents’ garage.
Today, Global Micro Solutions is making money many businesses can only dream of. Working with a broad spectrum of companies in South Africa, Milner provides IT solutions to small and medium sized organizations as well as enterprises and multi-nationals.
But it hasn’t been smooth sailing for this entrepreneur.
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Micro Global Solutions offers the latest advances in the information, communications and technology sector but when the United States-based WorldCom (now known as MCI) decided to pull out of a $400,000 deal with Micro Global Solutions, Milner had to dig deep to save his business.
“Our biggest challenge is people not keeping their word, in one form or another. Whether in breaking a contract or breaking the spirit of the contract; when not delivering when they say they’re going to deliver; renegotiating something that was agreed when they understood that was not the basis when they went into the deal,” says Milner.
Global Micro Solutions was doing well and he wanted the business to grow out of its comfort zone and that involved putting down his hard-earned money, as well as his time and effort.
Around 1995, Global Micro Solutions had a deal with UUNET, a subsidiary of WorldCom. UUNET partnered with Global Micro Solutions to offer the first multi-tenant hosted exchange platform in Africa. It was made possible through a close relationship with Microsoft.
“We went to them and spent six to eight months planning what we were going to do, like build some new services. We built the first multi-tenant host exchange solution in the world with Microsoft on Exchange 2000 Beta,” says Milner.
UUNET was based in Johannesburg and at the time the US-based telecommunications firm, WorldCom, was the second largest distance phone company and had partnered with Global Micro Solutions on this project.
Milner and his team spent over eight months building the data center at UUNET’s offices and connecting all the wires to make this a success, spending around $400,000 on the project.
It was around this time that a WorldCom representative from the US came to South Africa. Everything was set, all the connections made and Milner was just waiting for the green light to unveil the project.
“We kept asking them when we are going to launch and the guy turned around and said we’re not sure if the service is going to work,” remembers Milner.
After months of hard work, this was a sickening blow.
“Yes, with all the equipment in their data center,” he says.
WorldCom was going to sell UUNET, which meant that the management team would change affecting relationships already built between Milner and the companies. At the time, Milner didn’t know what was going on with WorldCom in the US.
“And literally after I was funding this myself and every month we were there, there was R300,000 finance fees going out for the business. I had to start pushing buttons quite hard to find out what was going on,” says Milner.
Global Micro Solutions were given a million reasons why WorldCom was pulling out of the deal and none made sense to Milner as there was a signed agreement.
“It was a hard thing to deal with, because normally when someone is having a dispute with you they defend their position. There are three sides to every story right? When someone says to you ‘I just changed my mind’, how do you argue with that?” asks Milner.
He could have sued WorldCom, but he didn’t.
“You’ve got to fight the battles you can win,” he says.
Even with a Law degree, Milner felt helpless.
He was worried about the salaries for the 18 people who relied on him to survive. The equipment cost around a few hundred thousand rand every month, but there was no revenue coming in.
“You have a multi-million-rand hole and you’re 24 or 25 years old and the largest telecoms company in the world is telling you to whistle and you don’t have a customer yet and you’ve moved on from what was a good customer service because it was time to spread your wings and do the next thing,” says Milner.
“It’s not a bad decision to be in, but it makes you stronger.”
Milner went on and reached out to everyone he knew including Microsoft. They couldn’t help him but they set up a meeting with South Africa’s biggest landline provider, Telkom.
“I went to Telkom with Microsoft. We gave them an incredibly soft deal. We had to. They had no risk, we put everything down and to Telkom’s credit they took the opportunity. They were incredibly cushioned. I shouldn’t sound surprised by it, we priced it right,” he says.
Telkom launched the hosted exchange project within three months, also becoming Global Micro Solutions first major reseller of its services. The deal got Milner’s company out of its debt woes. Today, Telkom remains a client.
Since then, Milner has been taking risk and expanding his business. The company has evolved into one of the most experienced IT providers of diverse, comprehensive and business-related managed technology services in South Africa. Global Micro Solutions also boasts a number of South African firsts, including: first deployments of hosted Exchange and federated hosted Exchange, hosted Citrix, n-Tier provisioning, Hosted Hyper-V, and Hosted OCS.
He says this has all happened because he took risks. Milner compares his personality as a bussinessperson to Discovery Holdings’ Adrian Gore. He says that becoming an entrepreneur is like jumping out of a plane with silkworms instead of a parachute and hoping that they’re overachievers.
“I can’t think of a better definition than that because I do that a lot,” he says.
“I’ll often go into something and just trust the team we’ve got and trust that we will figure out the answers. It’s served us well. I hope I’ve got overachievers with me.”
Cloud computing is quickly becoming an indispensable part of the IT industry. Milner, along with his team, offers insights into cloud technologies, email management, server architecture, and enterprise communication strategies which has made Global Micro Solutions a leader in its industry.
Milner is one of the most respected voices in the industry today and his company, Global Micro Solutions, is spearheading many of South Africa’s top technology projects. And he will not allow another deal to set him back.

The Deal That  Short-Circuited

It’s the third month of 2015; some people are still trying to find their footing while others already feel the need for a holiday. Some are chief executives of companies who are trying to stay abreast with economic activity to maintain the status quo, or go one better, and increase profits.
Many are not rosy over this year’s economic growth, but there’s still a bit of confidence in their ability to keep the performance of their companies stable. They believe global economic growth will decline more than twice. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut South Africa’s growth forecast to 2.1%.
According to PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) Global CEO Survey, only 29% of South African chief executives, compared to 37% globally, anticipate global economic growth will improve in 2015.
PwC’s Senior Partner for Africa, Suresh Kana, says chief executives are facing a multitude of challenges and uncertainties in global markets, which is affecting global growth.
“The government’s response to fiscal deficits, debt burdens and social instability are more concerning than a year ago,” he says.
The reports states that the emergence of digital technology has completely changed how companies do business. Mobile technologies are seen by 90% of South African CEO’s as most important to their company, including data mining and analysis, cybersecurity, battery and power technologies as well as cloud computing.
Information technology affects many organizations and they will be left behind if they do not keep up with the changing trends, says Hitachi Data Systems’ Executive Vice President of Global Services, Hicham Abdessamad. He says there is a huge shift happening in the market of cloud transformation not seen before and it is happening quickly. Companies should take advantage of this change and adjust with the market.
“It’s about staying relevant,” says Abessamad. “By 2015, 35 percent of IT spend will be managed outside the IT department’s budget.”
Kana says that chief executives know that they must adapt to disruptive changes in technology and in their markets.
Many chief executives see technology as a key vulnerability for their organizations. Technological change saw the second biggest increase of all the threats. The PwC report states that the pace of change is inescapable: less than a decade after its initial public offering, Google’s revenue soared from $3 billion to $60 billion.
“[CEOs] need to put technology at the core of their business to create value for customers. Finding new ways of thinking and working in this new competitive landscape is critical to success,” says Kana.
When technology is a strength, there are significant opportunities for growth.
Business leaders are increasingly aware that fundamental forces of change will affect their industries over the long term, according to PwC’s report. Technological advances, demographic changes and a shift in global economic power are some of the disruptive trends that companies need to be aware of. The interplay between them is transforming the macroeconomic landscape.
But challenges remain in other spheres of their businesses. Sixty eight percent of South African CEOs plan to implement a cost-reduction initiative over the next nine months. This includes cutting their workforce.
According to the report, about 22% of chief executives plan to cut their workforce. Retail company, Edcon, announced job cuts in February. In November, Edcon reported a loss of $94 million in the 26 weeks to September 27, from $111 million a year earlier.
To be able to build for success in 2015, the report suggests that companies should focus on what they are good at. They must re-evaluate the business they are in; anticipate policy issues; build diverse yet aligned partnerships; transform through digital and also develop a good mix of talent. Only 39% of the head of companies expect to increase their headcount, compared to 50% globally.
To stay in the game, business leaders must think strategically and
be adaptable.

Keep Up  Or fall Behind

There is a Swahili saying that goes; ‘a good day is known in the morning’. Is 2015 a good year for the Kenyan investment environment? All indications suggest it is.
The World Bank has reviewed its prediction about Kenya, predicting GDP growth at 6%. While I am happy that the New York-based economists think so highly of the country, I highly doubt if this will be the case.
The World Bank has missed its growth predictions for Kenya for three consecutive years, being forced to adjust mid-year from 2012. Beyond that, the country’s economy is still not out of the woods and growth will remain slow.
For this year, I would trust their adjusted statement given in June 2014, stating that the economy would grow at around 4.7% both in 2014 and 2015. I would place the figure at between 4.9% and 5.2%, two to four percentage points above Mckinsey’s growth figures for Africa.
To make accurate predictions, you need to look at the past.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) performed averagely in 2014. The NSE 20 Share Index delivered price gains of 4.9% compared to 19.2% the previous year. On the flipside, the NSE All Share Index (NSEASI) delivered a price gain value of 19.9% compared to 44.1% in the previous year.
It’s worth noting that the NSEASI is driven by speculative trading on the smaller counters, mostly in the agricultural sector. The large caps in the NSE 20 are mostly attractive to large investors who prefer long term to short term benefits, hence minimal price gains.
While the price gains were average, most of the companies registered the anticipated major profits. Safaricom reported a net profit of $256 million, a 31% increase, while Equity Bank reported a profit of $211 million for the year ended December 31, 2013. Better news arrived when the bank announced its third quarter results in October to stand at 124 million, a 26% rise from the previous year.
It was not all rosy though. Kenya Airways reported a loss of $87.9 million, which coincided with the rising insecurity in the country, the Ebola pandemic in West Africa and poor tourism numbers driven by travel advisories in the west. The other companies that reported losses were Mumias Sugar, suffering the after effects of dishonest management, and Transcentury which posted a half year loss of $17.8 million.
The country’s economy grew 2.7% in the first quarter, 5.8% in the second and 5.5% in the third. While better performance is expected for the fourth, I believe Kenya’s growth figure for 2014 is still within the region of 4.7%.
With this information, one can authoritatively talk of a better performance in 2015.
I expect continued activity from the traditional movers like Safaricom, Equity Bank, KCB, EABL and Kenol Kobil. I also expect Mumias Sugar to make a comeback after shedding off 33% last year. There will also be significant activity from the growth counters; Centum Investment, Britam, and Car and General.
In essence, the sectors to watch will be agriculture, insurance, banking and oil which will benefit from the lower crude prices. We may even see a breach of the 6,000 mark for the NSE 20 Share Index, with the risks being poor implementation of the capital gains tax and insecurity.
The decision by the ICC to drop charges against President Uhuru Kenyatta is good news for the country, but terror attacks are derailing progress in Kenya, having eroded the robust tourist industry last year. While there is confidence in the government efforts to curtail the attacks, the risk still lingers in 2015 and might affect business significantly.
I expect government economists to take a conservative approach in setting both the fiscal and monetary policy. The Vision 2030 flagship projects will offer liquidity to the economy and spur growth, thus there will be no need to induce additional government spending in the next budget. In addition, the spending will send interest rates downward and the Monetary Policy Committee is likely to lower the Central Bank Rate when the economy has responded positively to the aggressive fiscal spending.
With this in mind, I can say it’s a good year to invest.

Expect Better Things

As Winston Churchill said, ‘to improve is to change’. Arise West Africa! Endowed with mineral wealth, if it is to improve economically the region must change and begin to aggressively develop and industrialize the sectors at its disposal.
Current economic ramifications in Nigeria are predicated on the 60% drop in the oil price. Sierra Leone too has suffered with the price of its biggest export earner, iron ore, falling 50%. As global demand for iron ore slows, the commodity has traded at record lows and has seen mining companies in Sierra Leone enter administration or close down.
When you consider the dependency these countries have on the resources and the lack of industry to develop them, governments are effectively playing Russian roulette with their economies. How then can countries learn from these lessons? The impact Ebola continues to have on West Africa is still prevalent. The mining sector saw many casualties, both human and economic, with the closure of several mines seen as an effective way to reduce the spread of the disease.
In Nigeria, a lack of refineries operating at maximum capacity proves that even if mineral rich countries are successful in extracting their resources, their ability to develop the infrastructure needs to be made a priority. In order to attain maximum value, every facet of the value chain in the industrialization process must be fully operational. The added value from the finished products made from the mined minerals will be greater, not only in terms of export value but also from the job creation and socio-economic development aspect. There is a widespread belief that the falling oil price makes a mockery of the Nigerian economy. It is rather an opportunity for diversification. However, there is a fervent danger of getting caught up in economic theory without implementing it.
To progress, the mining sector needs to solve infrastructural challenges. West African Exploration, a subsidiary of Sable Mining Africa, recently signed an infrastructural development agreement with the Liberian government. This will create employment, development and significant tax income. We are seeing the inner workings of getting it right. Africa, once seen as blank canvas for foreign companies to paint their pseudo-colonial economic activities, is now beginning to take a stand.
Mining opportunities in Nigeria are vast. The high costs involved present a barrier to entry and with those high costs patience is required. Exploratory costs are not always recouped. Therein lies an opportunity for any shrewd investor to assemble a team of competent geologists to determine the value of the vast mineral reserves. Notwithstanding the current security issues in the northern Nigeria, there are a growing number of opportunities for investors to pursue. The mining sector is crucial to Nigeria realizing its true economic potential.
Many western mining giants maintain a stranglehold on the continents mineral resources. Ghana’s success with its mining sector is partly due to an effective framework that involves paying a 5% mining royalty to the government. For many other countries in the region, a lack of technical expertise remains the biggest problem, thus there is a tendency to worship Western companies instead of seeing them for what they are; partners in achieving a common goal – economic development. A symbiotic relationship is required between investors and governments. Governments need assurance that investors are ethical and responsible and investors need confidence that governments will provide the necessary support in terms of regulation and licensing as well as attractive tax breaks and more importantly reduce the bureaucratic bottlenecks.
Despite the lack of geological data, there is growing rhetoric from representatives of governments for investors to engage in the development of the sector. Policy reformations are a step in the right direction. However, one sincerely hopes that this translates into practical, hands-on solutions. Only then will we see the sector really take off. If industry is the lifeblood of an economy, the mining sector is the transfusion needed to keep Nigeria PLC going.

Nigeria needs a  blood Transfusion

There can’t be too many days when you start work climbing down a ladder, with a government spy, into a dingy underground shaft in search of a torture chamber. This was how the meandering road of journalism took me to tunnels and bunkers deep beneath Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, on a sunny day in September 1995.
A few hours earlier I had been sitting at the presidential palace with the diminutive former President Frederick Chiluba. He assured me, with his peculiar trademark expression of rolling his eyes so all you could see was their whites, that we would see shocking evidence of torture in the days of his predecessor Kenneth Kaunda.
At the time, Kaunda had been a thorn in the side of Chiluba and was staging a political comeback. To give Chiluba his due, the union leader had ousted Kaunda, fair and square, at elections on a wave of votes of people fed up with food shortages and autocratic tendencies from the old man. It ended Kaunda’s 27-year reign since the day Zambia won independence on October 24, 1964. KK or Super Ken, as they called him in the copper belt, was determined to fight back at the 1996 elections and was going to wring out every bit of popularity he had as well as making a nuisance of himself to the people in power.
<div id="attachment_3519" style="width: 215px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3519" class="size-medium wp-image-3519" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Par1766006-1-205x300.jpg" alt="" width="205" height="300" />Zambia&#8217;s former president Frederick Chiluba gives the thumbs up outside the Magistrates Courts on Febrauary 15, 2008 in Lusaka after the court ruled today that Chiluba should face a corruption trial in May. Chiluba would have to show cause why he should not be convicted on charges of theft of public funds and abuse of office, prosecutor Mutembo Nchito told AFP after the ruling by Lusaka Magistrate Jones Chinyama.</div>
In response, Chiluba threw mud at Kaunda from every angle. He tried to deport the old man to Malawi with a bizarre claim that the former head of state was not a Zambian – his father, a Church of Scotland vicar, was born in Malawi. In 1998, there was a misprision of treason trial where Kaunda was charged with failing to inform authorities of a treasonous act. Kaunda, who spent nine months in prison during the independence struggle, was to spend many more months behind bars on remand and grew a bushy Father Christmas white beard in protest. Appropriate, since he was arrested on Christmas Day.
“These are frightened little men trying to hurt me,” was one of Kaunda’s phrases of the time.
This was the scene on the surface on that day I walked into the dim tunnels built by engineers from the former Yugoslavia in the days when Lusaka was under attack for sheltering guerrillas from neighboring Zimbabwe and South Africa.
It was a bit like walking down a mine as the shaft led downward, in a gentle incline. There were lights here and there perched in the rock; every now and then there was a room off the main tunnel. We had the camera ready to get shots of the torture chamber; we found… nothing. If there was a torture chamber it was well hidden.
We scoured the underground bunkers and all we found was a radio station with a five-kilowatt transmitter, lots of damp carpets and rotting wood, what looked like a council chamber and rooms filled with bunk beds; little else.
We emerged at the other end of the long tunnel, which came out at the presidential palace, puzzled. Why had Chiluba sent us on a wild-goose chase? There was anecdotal evidence from a Major Ronald Chansa who told of being held and tortured in the tunnels for 21 days in 1981.
Afterwards, we headed for Kaunda’s home in Lusaka to ask the question about torture.
“If I see a spider in the bath I will take it out before I put my water there,” says Kaunda in denying the charge.
“Maybe there were one or two over-zealous policeman, here and there, but I can say I know nothing of torture.”
Maybe.
Chiluba faced corruption charges after his term in office and died in June 2011. Chansa, if there was such a man, never spoke out again. Kaunda, who famously grabbed the microphone to make a tribute at Nelson Mandela’s funeral in December 2013, is alive and well, living in Lusaka. He pulled out of the 1996 election at the last minute and never stood again and was acquitted of misprision of treason.
Maybe between the three, lies the truth about the bunkers deep below Lusaka.
&nbsp;

Deep Under The Earth  In Search Of A Dark Secret

Daniel Adongo is not the first athlete from Africa to make it to the highest level of American football; however his dogged determination, relentless grit and unwavering faith could make him the top African athlete the National Football League (NFL).
Weighing more than 120 kilograms and towering at six foot five inches, the linebacker with the Indianapolis Colts has come a long way from Nairobi, where he was born and learned to play a completely different sport, rugby.
The Colts, whose team mantra is build the monster, is quietly building a monster in Adongo. Not surprising as his grandfather, Odiek Chilo, nicknamed him Liech, a Kenyan word for elephant, because he was a big baby.
“From what my mom tells me, I was huge baby and I have been growing ever since!” says Adongo, laughing at his not-so-average stature.
Sport was far from Adongo when he was growing up. Born and raised in a middle-class family in Nairobi, his dad, Joseph was a mid-level executive whose career took the family to London and back to Kenya.
“I had a really great childhood in Nairobi. Even though my parents come from humble beginnings, we were also fortunate enough as a family to be afforded the opportunity to live in Europe,” he says.
He was a typical boy-next-door with an unquenchable curiosity about the world. Even though it never occurred to him that sport would play an enormous role in his life, he says he was very competitive from the age of five.
In London, at the age of six, Adongo insisted on participating in a 15-kilometer charity walk with his parents on a hot summer’s day. Despite objections from his parents and to his father’s amazement, Adongo completed the walk.
“I am happy that I took the opportunity and obligated myself to the discipline and rigor of athletics from a young age.”
It was in primary school that Adongo and his older brother, Leon, discovered their love for sport, particularly rugby.
“I looked up to my older brother and followed him in whatever sports he played. I wanted to emulate everything he did on the field.”
It was former Kenya Rugby Sevens coach, Benjamin Ayimba, who spotted the brothers and their athletic prowess early. At that time, the older Adongo was a student at Makini School and the younger at Strathmore School, both schools in Nairobi.
“People talk about him [Daniel] as a rugby person but he is an all-round sportsman. While at Strathmore School, he was the best at both track and field events. He set a record in high jump and was a greater sprinter. He also played basketball, football and rugby,” says Joseph.
Adongo enjoyed rugby the most and he excelled so much that he was crowned Sportsman of the Year.
His trajectory in sport rose after he joined the junior team at Harlequins, a rugby club in Kenya. It was from there that he was spotted by South African scouts at the 2006 Safari Sevens tournament, playing in the schools category. In 2007, he was scouted by the academy of the Sharks, a rugby team in KwaZulu Natal on South Africa’s east coast.
Within a short space of time, Adongo left Kenya to play professionally in South Africa.
“Before, there was no Kenyan who had been signed to the Sharks Academy with a junior contract at the end of their first year. I achieved that,” he says with pride.
Change was a constant feature in his life and after the 2011 season, Adongo moved north to play for the Blue Bulls in Pretoria. He then decided to play for Counties Manukau in New Zealand in 2012.
“I had established myself in South Africa, but I wanted a change of pace. The decision to move from playing rugby in South Africa to playing in New Zealand was a tough one.”
Adongo took a salary cut, accepting the New Zealand’s minimum 12-week pay of $12,300 including bonuses. Rugby is part of the fabric of New Zealand life. He was willing to sacrifice money for the vital experience.
“The experience in New Zealand was a different style of play. Rugby players in New Zealand employ more skill, tact, power, guile and speed to defeat their opponents. South African players are aggressive and big and they want to hurt you; your manhood is tested when you are playing against South Africans.”
The move to New Zealand paid off; South Africa’s Eastern Province Kings offered Adongo a one-year contract to play for them in Super Rugby. This was a major feat for Adongo; he is the first Kenyan to play professional rugby at the highest level in New Zealand and the first to compete in Super Rugby, the southern hemisphere’s premier club rugby tournament.
“I had to prove to myself that I can excel and excel at the highest level.”
The United States (US) offered him another chance to prove his ability. The Indianapolis Colts showed an interest when Adongo’s manager, Johnny Gbenda-Charles, a former rugby player and Hong-Kong based sports agent, contacted them.
“The Colts were looking for professional athletes from other sporting backgrounds who could transfer their skills to American football,” says Adongo.
The 24-year-old Kenyan had no idea about American football, let alone how to put on cleats, padded armor and helmets.
“Rugby and American football are night and day in terms of technical aspects of the game, even though both sports use extreme levels of physical aggression. American football is much more of a contact sport between the two. It was crazy at first, but I was determined to master the game,” says Adongo, laughing about his early days in the US.
Despite his limited knowledge of the sport, his style of play, which he describes as brutish, aggressive and very physical, but as nimble as a deer, is what probably caught the attention of the Colts’ General Manager, Ryan Grigson, and the coaching team.
Adongo signed a one-year contract and is expected to develop into a vital member of their defensive line-up as an intimidating rush linebacker. This makes him the first black African and first Kenyan to transition from rugby to American football. While the learning curve is steep for Adongo, he continues to push the limits for himself. He made his debut against the Cincinnati Bengals in Ohio.
“I practiced in shorts and t-shirts to force myself to adapt to the extreme weather conditions I was going to be playing in.”
That particular December week, there had been severe snow storms and below-zero temperatures in the Midwest. Adongo’s dedication was noticed and he was promoted from the practice squad to the playing roster.
Adongo, who is deeply religious, says sport is a small part of his life. Bigger is his purpose to inspire the imagination of young Africans to dream big and work hard. After all, that is what he did on his way to becoming a professional NFL player, made in Nairobi.

The Kenyan Hercules Stomping  The States

Throughout the years that Greg Etafia has been between the poles for South African club Moroka Swallows, he has become one of the most valuable players in the Premier Soccer League (PSL). The Nigerian’s performances have been consistently high since he signed for Swallows in 2002 and he remains Swallows’ first choice goalkeeper. He feels he can still offer more.
“I am very happy that I am still active, doing well for Swallows whenever I am in action. For all the years that I have been playing for Swallows, I always gave my best and it is good that the team has been stable. When I arrived at Swallows from Nigeria, I was aware that I [was] going to participate in a highly competitive league that is well organized, so I always prepare myself well for any challenges that I come across,” he says.
Etafia has an impressive track record. In Nigeria, he performed with flying colors for Lobi Stars while they were in the CAF Champions League. He helped Stars reach the semifinals and quarterfinals of Africa’s most prestigious football competition. He also played for Plateau United in Nigeria for a brief period.
“While I was playing for Lobi Stars, I had good communication with my teammates and I was always determined to deliver for the team wherever we played. Whether it was a local league game or in the African Champions League, it was very important for the whole team to get good results. Playing in Africa in the Champions League was a good experience for the team because there were so many things that we learned from playing in different countries under different conditions,” he says.
Etafia represented Nigeria at the Under-17 and Under-23 levels. He was also part of the Super Eagles’ senior team. He credits the coaches he played under at youth level for getting him where he is now.
“Whenever I represented Nigeria, no matter at what level, I always felt honored. Playing for my country means a lot to me and I did my best whenever I got the opportunity to wear the national team jersey.”
Gavin Hunt, one of the top coaches in South Africa, discovered Etafia and brought him to Swallows. At the Soweto club, he was rated highly by many coaches from different backgrounds, including Julio Cesar Leal of Brazil, Rainer Zobel of Germany, Ian Gorowa of Zimbabwe and Gordon Igesund of South Africa. All appreciated his ability to deal with the crosses and organize his defence, but what really makes him stand out are his spectacular saves.
“All the coaches that I played under at Swallows had something to offer the team and I learned from them,” says Etafia.
He has won three major trophies with Swallows – the ABSA Cup, the Nedbank Cup and the MTN 8 – and feels there are more on their way.
“I remember my first cup that I won with Swallows was when we were playing against Manning Rangers in Bloemfontein. We had prepared well for that particular game. We had a good game plan and we approached that game well and we ended up winning. The other final was when we were playing against University of Pretoria (Tuks) in the Nedbank Cup final. Even though we were more experienced than Tuks, we took that game very seriously and we emerged victorious. The other glorious moment was when we beat SuperSport United 2-1 in the MTN 8 final at Orlando Stadium. It was a tough game as SuperSport had many quality players. We played good attacking football and eventually it paid off for us,” he says.
“We were very excited with our victory against SuperSport; you could just see the energy and happiness we showed as we were celebrating. It really feels good winning trophies with the team and I will carry on working very hard so we can win something again.”
Swallows, one of the oldest clubs in South Africa, has a rich history and has recently signed top players which Etafia feels proud to team up with.
The current season started on a high note when Swallows beat South African giants Orlando Pirates, however their form faded and they began losing games. It led to head coach, Zeca Marques, stepping down and Fani Madida taking over as caretaker coach. A 1-1 draw against high-flying Kaizer Chiefs in a league match boosted morale and Etafia is confident they can turn the corner and improve their position in the PSL standings.
“The spirit is very high in our camp at Swallows. It is a matter of taking each game as it comes. It is very important for us to get the good results. No matter who we play against, whether it is a small or a big team, we need to go out there and perform. It is very important for us to be consistent. I know there are so many games that we can play in a short period but we are professionals and we should be able to deal well with the tough situations we face.”
The 32-year-old goalkeeper keeps in touch with his fellow countryman Williams Okpara, the former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper. He grew up supporting Manchester United but his favorite player is Vincent Enyeama, the Nigerian goalkeeper who plays for Lille in France.
Being around fellow Nigerians and following other sports has helped Etafia settle in South Africa.
“I just love sport. I enjoy basketball; it is also a very interesting sport. I communicate with other Nigerians in South Africa and we discuss soccer and other important things in life. In Africa, we have the talent and it is therefore very important to use our skills right and do well at the highest level.”
It certainly takes a man with a big heart to stay far away from home and manage to remain his club’s first choice.

The Nigerian Swallow Soaring In The South

International countries are guilty of having misconceptions about Africa but we are guilty about of the same thing with our own countries. When you hear about the Olympics, your thoughts undoubtedly go to the United States’ basketball team or Usain Bolt. You probably wouldn’t think about Zimbabwe or believe that this landlocked country in Southern Africa has been successful in swimming. Why would it, Africa can’t swim, or can it?
Coming from Africa means we have to work harder to get noticed and work longer to succeed. I have been swimming against this current for over a decade.
We give more recognition to the first-world athletes than our own. We have had to work harder, with less, yet when we succeed the scales are still not tipped in our favour. We are always looking away from Africa because we believe the grass is greener on the other side.
<div id="attachment_3510" style="width: 229px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3510" class="size-medium wp-image-3510" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/149377073-219x300.jpg" alt="" width="219" height="300" />LONDON, ENGLAND &#8211; JULY 27: Kirsty Coventry of the Zimbabwe Olympic swimming team carries her country&#8217;s flag during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on July 27, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)</div>
In 2012, while at lunch with Econet Wireless’ Strive Masiyiwa, I asked him where I should focus my business of swimwear apparel. He responded by quoting Booker T Washington.
“A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen a signal: ‘Water, water. We die of thirst.’ The answer from the friendly vessel at once came back: ‘Cast down your bucket where you are.’ A second time, the signal, ‘Water, send us water!’ went up from the distressed vessel. And was answered: ‘Cast down your bucket where you are.’ A third and fourth signal for water was answered: ‘Cast down your bucket where you are.’ The captain of the distressed vessel, at last, heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket and it came up full of fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River.”
Washington helped unite our races by fighting against white discrimination. Masiyiwa’s point was what we need is right here. It wasn’t easy back then and it’s certainly not easy now but as history has proved, it does become easier with concerted effort.
Three pillars that have given me strength in the battle against this current are perseverance, sacrifice and self-belief.
Perseverance is working hard all the time. Sacrifice is giving something up to accommodate the scarce resources of time and money. Self-belief is having faith in what you do and why you do it. It also makes sacrifice and perseverance worthwhile.
These are not things you write down and plan to do on a Monday morning. This is your ethos; it becomes your lifestyle.
Planning to be successful is important; you cannot simply believe you are going to be successful – no matter what books you might read. You have to implement your plans and it starts by setting goals. Goals should not be easy to attain but must be realistic.
When I was nine years old, I told my parents I wanted to go to the Olympics. They explained the necessity of goals as though it was a ladder; each rung you grab onto doesn’t make things easier but brings you closer to the top. The higher you get, the more difficult things become because the more people will be watching you and the more you have to balance. This balancing act is responsible for the necessary changes you will need to make.
At each Olympic Games I swam in, I had to set goals.
I qualified for the Sydney Olympics in 2000 when I was 16, but then needed a new goal: to make the finals. I only made the semi-finals but this was further than any Zimbabwean swimmer had gone before. I set myself new goals and created a plan to get there.
At Athens in 2004, I wanted to win a medal. I needed proper training facilities and a strong team. I couldn’t afford this on my own but was offered a scholarship by Auburn University in Alabama. I hated being away from home but I knew sacrifices had to be made. I worked hard over the next four years and finally won one gold, one silver and one bronze. I was not alone celebrating my victory; I was joined by 13 million Zimbabweans. This is when I realized the importance sport plays in a country – Zimbabwe was united under the flag I was holding on the podium in Greece.
New goals were set for the Beijing Olympics in 2008 but this time I wanted to win four gold medals. Most swimmers don’t even swim this many events, so I might have been a little unrealistic. I won one gold and three silvers. I was a little disappointed but I needed to adjust my thinking.
During the London Games in 2012, I wanted to become the greatest individual female swimmer in Olympic history by winning one more medal. Four months before the event, I dislocated my patella and then got pneumonia. I had to change my goals. All I wanted to do now was reach my fourth Olympic Games. Perseverance, sacrifice and self-belief ensured I made it to London. I never achieved my initial goal but I made the finals, finishing sixth in two of my races.
The Rio Olympics are next year. My goal hasn’t changed. I still want to become the greatest individual female swimmer in Olympic history.
There is a huge amount of potential in Africa but by focusing on higher profile things we are creating a current we have to fight against. We need to wake up and start celebrating what we are accomplishing and using this wave to progress further.

Swimming Against  The Tide

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is the gold standard for every financial journalist. A long-haul flight from Johannesburg to Zurich and a short trainride later, we arrived in Davos, Switzerland, to the world’s biggest summit, ready to wire the views of influential business leaders to the world.
The big players of the global economy – from the deal-makers to the political powerhouses and movers and shakers – arrived in their smart suits to the summit’s alpine reaches, to discuss this year’s theme, A New Global Context. Here are some of the key takeaways from the Davos debates:
The European Central Bank’s bold announcement to pump in €60 billion in bonds every month to reignite growth took center stage. The world was officially in a new phase of global monetary policy divergence. The withdrawal of stimulus in the United States as the economy staggered back to its feet and this new development in Europe created interesting times for emerging markets.
In all our conversations with African leaders, what emerged was that despite the Ebola outbreak and terror attacks in some parts of the continent, Africa should still be every investor’s high-growth high-return destination. In fact, with the exception of the President of Guinea, African leaders dismissed both crises as inconsequential to Africa’s growth narrative. Displaying genius, the President of Guinea used his interview to bring the world in on the request he had made to Christine Lagarde, President of the International Monetary Fund: “Clear our debt so that we may have a fighting chance against Ebola.”
The small delegation from Nigeria, the continent’s biggest economy, did not go unnoticed. With an upcoming presidential election (mid-February), and in the midst of a tense domestic environment, this was somewhat understandable. What the forum lacked in Nigeria’s presence, South Africa more than made up for with a seven-member strong ministerial delegation. They were easily spotted in their long black coats and colorful flag-scarves. From the Finance Minister to the Governor of the Reserve Bank, the delegation put on a brave front tackling the energy crisis and lackluster take-off of the National Development Plan. The country’s public relations machine was spot on and it was evident members had clearly been put through their paces.
I couldn’t help but acknowledge that some of the delegates in attendance at Davos challenged my conventional definition of ‘world leaders’.
Also present were titans from the music world – from the legendary Andrea Bocelli to African songstress Angelique Kidjo and world-renowned hip hop producer Pharrel Williams. It was clear they were being recognized for their pulling power at such a forum.
Kidjo is credited with putting the African country of Benin on the map.
“If we want Africa to be top of mind for the world leaders here, Africans need to make Africa their priority,” she told me. Her passion for Africa’s development agenda pushed me to stretch my own perception of what leadership really is.
The small representation of women was difficult to ignore. One of this year’s co-chairs was Winfred Binyama, Executive Director, Oxfam. In an unapologetic, straight-talking style, she spoke about the world’s continued exclusion of women in positions of influence and power.
Binyama shared some of the highlights of Oxfam’s latest report saying it would take 80 years for women to balance the scales professionally with their male counterparts without the intervention of platforms like WEF.
I hope to return to Davos many more times. One can surely track at least this one indicator over a few years, but I certainly hope it’s not 80 years before we see that happening.

EBOLA. TERRORISM. SO WHAT? COME TO AFRICA

He is the political cartoonist who was sued by his president and won. He has made a name for himself by being outspoken and critical and he’s not about to slow down.
Jonathan Shapiro has been publishing his annual collections of drawings in the Mail &amp; Guardian and Sunday Times newspapers for 19 years. In 2014, his book, It’s Code Red, features left-wing, overall-clad opposition party leader, Julius Malema, marching into South Africa’s Parliament on its cover. Inside, it’s a record of 12 months in a country weighed down by political scandals and high-profile murder trials. On page 87, however, is a ray of sunshine: an illustration depicting a conversation between two children – one white and the other black – discussing how far South Africa has come since the first democratic election 20 years ago. It’s playful and a bit silly and it sums up the man who draws South Africa’s news for a living.
“There is a difference between scepticism and cynicism. I am a sceptic and that means someone who reads between the lines and doesn’t take things at face value. The cynic doesn’t believe that anything’s good. I am not cynical about South Africa. I’m a patriotic sceptic,” says Shapiro.
“The whole idea of being a critical cartoonist is that my drawings will start a debate and hopefully something good can come out of that.”
Shapiro, known to those who read him as Zapiro, grew up in Cape Town and worshipped at the altars of Tintin creator Georges Remi and Charles Schultz of Peanuts fame. Pursuing cartooning as a career however was not on the cards and a teenage Shapiro enrolled in a seven-year architecture degree at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
“I lost confidence in my abilities and I didn’t think I could make a career out of being a cartoonist. I was lacking the vision to pursue my dreams.”
Shapiro’s university career in the late 1970s and early 1980s overlapped some of South Africa’s darkest years under the apartheid regime. His political views were progressive but Shapiro struggled to fit in with the student anti-apartheid movements which were simmering – and occasionally boiling over – at the university. Things changed in 1983 when Shapiro’s mother, Gabby, became involved in the political party the United Democratic Front and recruited most of her family to the cause within months.
Shapiro’s political awakening coincided with more time spent cartooning.
“The first time I did a political caricature was in my second year at varsity. The subject was the head of the architecture department at UCT. The picture showed the duplicity of his personality and the way he ran the department. He flew off the handle and that was when I first realized that my cartoons – these pictures that I drew – had a potential to be powerful. Definitely more powerful than anything my architecture work could accomplish,” he says.
Shapiro changed majors from architecture to graphic design after a month of backpacking through Europe as a fourth year student visiting, mostly unannounced and uninvited, the art studios where some of the world’s best loved comics such as Asterix were drawn.
“It was a shot in the arm. I came back to South Africa and told my parents I wanted to change my degree to graphic design. They were unbelievably supportive.”
Shapiro’s first fulltime cartooning job was at the now defunct South newspaper in 1987. He has spent almost three decades since then depicting the fall of apartheid, the country’s transition to democracy and the travails of the various presidential administrations.
“What gets me really down is when things get really bad politically and trying to find the glimmers of hope is not easy,” he says.
His cartoon depicting the rape of Lady Justice – a metaphor featured repeatedly in his work – by President Jacob Zuma was met with outrage by the ruling party and many members of the public. Shapiro’s only concern around the picture’s publication was that it may be interpreted as insensitive to women.
“Critical cartooning is the foray into the taboo as well as the pushing and the prodding which breaks down boundaries and creates discourse in society.”
Shapiro’s work is increasingly critical of Zuma – who has been immortalized into South African consciousness as ‘shower head’ on account of Zapiro’s work.
“I am not anti-ANC but I am against the corruption and the complacency prevalent in the ruling party. It is actually unbelievable to do cartoons in this environment because you become part of the moment, part of that political discussion.”
Shapiro works from a home studio in Cape Town. He has no plans to give up cartooning and doesn’t anticipate running out of material in the foreseeable future.
“Sometimes reality in South Africa is weirder that anything I could ever dream up.”

The Satirical Thorn In  The President’s Side

In 1986, Wilson Zulu returned from a long day’s work at the Balalaika Hotel, kissed his wife goodnight and woke up the next morning in a prison cell. During the night, the hotel was raided by the police. Zulu and his wife were arrested for not producing proper documentation and for being found spending the night at the all-white hotel during apartheid. The couple was bailed out by the hotel management. These unexpected raids become common and the hotel staff along with Zulu became accustomed to them.
Nineteen-year-old Zulu, from KwaZulu-Natal, moved to Johannesburg to find work. What he found when they got there was like a scene from an old western movie: dry land, rail roads and one hotel – the 66-year-old Balalaika. He walked in, asked for a job and started immediately as a cleaner. Two months later, he was promoted to a wine steward working in the bar, earning R38 a month. Forty two years later, Zulu is still at the doors of the hotel serving his guests their morning breakfast.
“During that time, there were no interviews; you just came to where you wanted to work. They ask you ‘can you do this?’ If you said yes, you carry on with it,” says Zulu.
For the last 42 years Zulu has lived by himself and sees his family just once a year, a tough and lonely arrangement but one that is very necessary for Zulu and most of the staff at the hotel.
“It’s fine; all they want from me is to buy something to eat and to wear. You can’t do anything without money, so when I leave, they say ‘go well,’” says Zulu.
Being at the same hotel for so long does guarantee a few regular friends.
“I’ve seen PJ Powers here; I’ve seen Johnny Clegg (the so-called ‘White Zulu’ musician) as well. Danny Jordaan, the SAFA President, used to join us for breakfast. Former Zambian president, Kenneth Kaunda, was also here. My favorite regular is Clegg. I remember saying to him once, ‘No you can’t make Zulu dance now; you are too old.’ And he said to me, ‘No I am not’, and he stood up and started dancing. Whenever Clegg comes here, he looks for me,” says Zulu.
In the early eighties, Kaunda stayed at the Balalaika Hotel for almost six months because of unrest in his country. Zulu recalls him as not a very happy man.
“Just this morning I met one of my regulars at breakfast from Barloworld and he said to me, ‘Wilson you are still here?’”
After 10 years of service to the Balalaika, Zulu told himself that he will retire at the hotel because he felt that it would be too difficult to find and learn another job. And with little education he was happy he had a job at all.
Zulu’s best memory of his time at the hotel was between the years of 1970 to 1981, when he was crowned the best Zulu dancer.
“We were visited by the [branch] in Rivonia… every Christmas and we used to perform Zulu dances for the guests. There were judges that used to keep score and I was always number one, I was like Johnny Clegg,” says Zulu.
Despite all the ups and downs, Zulu has made the Balalaika his life and even though every single thing around him changed over the decades, nothing about him has changed much. A working day for Zulu begins exactly the same way it did in 1973, with a cup of tea.

Forty Two Years  Of Black Presidents  And A White Zulu

For some food is seen as art, for others music is an art form.
Ignatius Anayawa has fused the two at the Misty Jazz Restaurant and Café in Lusaka. Earlier this year, Misty’s won the International Hotel &amp; Restaurant Quality Award from the Global Trade Leaders’ Club (GTLC) in Madrid. The question is how this two-year-old establishment on the periphery of downtown Lusaka received this honor so soon?
The answer lies in Anayawa’s innovation. The idea and concept of the establishment was born out of his love for jazz and his desire to combine music with food. It was also important to Anayawa that the music was performed live. There are very few venues where one can have a meal with good live music playing in the background. The interior décor and ambience of Misty’s is more likely to be found in Johannesburg than Lusaka.
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The biggest challenge in establishing Misty’s was finding an environment where the music could compliment the cuisine. The venue had to be suitable for jazz to be the core of the ambience. The menu also had to complement the music.
When entering Misty’s, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a gallery of jazz artists’ photographs. You would also be forgiven if you thought the menu was a jazz photo album. It was designed by the Vice President of the South African Chef Association, to specifications of the concept of fusing jazz and food.
No detail was spared in establishing this top notch venue. The walls and floor were soundproofed, the fabric of the upholstery and furniture had to complement the venue’s acoustics and the ceiling had to be an ideal height for live music. The purple color scheme and the gold framing of black and white pictures initially jars the senses, but eventually grows on you. The pictures behind the stage, featuring New York and New Orleans skylines, add a cosmopolitan vibe. The venue boasts sound equipment from the United States and a piano from Britain. The sound engineer’s booth is suitable for live broadcasts and recording live performances. Every Sunday, a Lusaka radio station broadcasts live from the restaurant.
This minute detail makes Misty’s difficult to replicate and the unique brand is being established in Kampala and Accra. Another innovation in the Misty’s concept lies in the intention to adapt it to the different night lifestyles of African cities. The venue in Kampala will have live music being performed in the bar, which will have a much larger floor space than the restaurant. Lusaka’s venue will give more space to the restaurant.
Despite these differences, some consistency will be maintained and the venues in Kampala and Accra will be fitted by the same team that worked in Lusaka. More often than not, the materials for the fittings are imported.
In Lusaka, the venue will be in a newly opened shopping mall on the outskirts of the city center. The restaurant and stage takes up more than 60% of the floor space and the venue has the capacity to seat 115 patrons comfortably. Fifty percent of the venue was financed by Anayawa and his wife, the other half came from the bank. It is projected to take three years to break even, and so far the business is on course to hit this target. A definite sign of the success of the Misty’s brand is the fact that patrons of six different nationalities have expressed an interest to franchise the concept in their home countries.
The factor that sets Misty’s apart is its ability to deliver both food and music of the highest quality. The restaurant has hired an experienced executive chef from South Africa, and the menu includes signature hearty dishes such as braised oxtail in a rich red wine sauce, grilled French trimmed lamb cutlets, stewed beef, beef fillet with a white wine and mushroom jus, and tempura prawns. Excellent music is ensured by having band members on the restaurant’s payroll. They rehearse every morning, besides Mondays, and perform every night. On Fridays and Saturdays, the band performs with guest artists that are fit for the venue.
The challenges that Misty’s has encountered include being the victim of its own success. Patrons tend to enjoy themselves so much that they spend their entire evening at the venue, with little to no turnover at the tables. This limits the revenue that can be made in one night. This tendency also presents another problem. The venue is busiest on Fridays and Saturdays when patrons can be most relaxed. However, the introduction of the live radio broadcasting on Sundays has improved business on this night.
Misty’s is also introducing themed nights and using social media to effectively reach its target audience. In addition, as a member of the GTLC, Misty’s will be featured in marketing and publications that the club puts out.
Another challenge that Misty’s has encountered is the sourcing of food which, more often than not, has to be imported. This means that the food is more expensive than it should be, squeezing the food margins. However, this has spawned another business opportunity. Misty’s imports its food in bulk and supplies other restaurateurs.
Given the effort and expertise that has gone into establishing the Misty Jazz Restaurant and Café brand, there is no doubt that it is meant for those that enjoy the finer things i

Music  To Your Mouth

Their humming vibrates the pits of your stomach, their harmonies leave you wanting more and their combination of dancing and singing is extraordinary. Over the years, their uniqueness has garnered South Africa’s Ladysmith Black Mambazo numerous awards from around the world – including the coveted Grammys. They are regarded as the highest award bestowed on musicians in the world. Ladysmith Black Mambazo has bagged four of the gold-plated trophies, depicting a glided gramophone.
The group may not have been nominated for this year’s awards; but they will forever be etched in Grammy history.
Although Ladysmith Black Mambazo is internationally renowned and loved, back at home in South Africa it’s a different story and it shows in their album sales. The older generation connects better with the group, the younger generation tends to follow western music religiously. The group spends the majority of the year traveling across the United States (US) and Europe, returning home for short stints to see family and do a few performances.
I saw them perform for the first time just under a year ago.
It was June, if my memory serves me well. The warm sun was setting on a crowd dressed up to fight the winter at a concert outside South Africa’s capital, Pretoria. On stage, arrived one of the country’s youngest and hottest house acts Mi Casa, then Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The two groups from the same backyard, half a century apart, sang a new love song called My Sugar like they were born into it.
Mi Casa’s J-Something introduces the song, singing, “When you love somebody, right to the point where it hurts, and she got you feeling naughty,” a flurry of images flicker in your memory about those moments I had with my significant other.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo throws you right back to the good old days of Zulu traditional music and the isicathamiya sound they’re famous for. The isiZulu word, isicathamiya, is a sound best described as walking softly, a soft shuffling style of dancing, says Xolani Majozi, Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s executive producer. It is enriched by ragtime-influenced choral part-singing.
The group joins in after the chorus: “Njalo waz wamuhle Ntombi, awujwayelki ma ngikubona…” in isiZulu declaring their love for this beautiful girl as if they are seeing her for the first time. “Sengizothumela abakhulu,” – we are sending my uncles, they declare. This is a sign that the young man is ready to get married.
My Sugar mixes groovy house beats with smooth isiZulu vocals. The collaboration fuses two eras of Africa. The South African music legends match the youngsters note for note with swagger. They sign off with a flourish of two golden hits, Homeless, and Hello My Baby.
The crowd cheers the group off the stage, leaving Mi Casa to complete the set. Ladysmith Black Mambazo is rushed to the airport, for another gig in Durban at the MTV Africa Music Awards where they show they can hang in the contemporary music scene.
This is what Ladysmith Black Mambazo has been doing for over 50 years, while also surviving scores of line-up changes.
The current crop includes founding member Joseph Shabalala’s four sons Msizi, Thulani, Sibongiseni and Thamsanqa, grandson Babuyile as well as relatives Albert and Abednego Mazibuko, Russel Mthembu, Dlamini Mfanafuthi, and Pius Shezi.
It all started with a dream. Not a wishful one, but a recurring one. In 1964, Joseph dreamed of featuring in a choir singing in perfect harmony. He then formed what was to be the group of his dreams.
Formerly known as Ezimnyama (the Black Ones), Joseph renamed the group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. ‘Ladysmith’ was the name of the farming village in which he lived, ‘Black’ represented the black oxen that were the strongest on the farm and ‘Mambazo’ is an isiZulu word for axe – an allusion to them chopping down the other choirs by winning almost every singing competition.
A few years later, a radio broadcast in 1970 paved the way to their first recording contract – the foundation that led to more than 74 albums.
In 1973, they released their debut album Amabutho – the first album to reach gold status in Africa.
In 1986, American singer Paul Simon collaborated with the group on his Grammy Award-winning Graceland album. It was considered a seminal album that popularized world music. It was here they also composed the now famous song, Homeless. The group also sang on Simon’s single Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes.
A year later, Simon produced the group’s first worldwide release of the album Shaka Zulu, which won them their first Grammy Award in 1988 for Best Traditional Folk Recording. Since then, they’ve been nominated 15 times and added three more Grammys for the albums Raise Your Spirit Higher in 2004, Ilembe in 2009 and Live: Singing For Peace Around The World in 2014.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo spend most of their time performing in the West and Europe, from Germany to Norway. Nearly 30 years after Graceland, the tours keep coming. During March, the group will tour the west coast of the US.
FORBES AFRICA met with the group in Johannesburg, a few months after they scooped their fourth Grammy. The men are laughing and chatting in isiZulu dialect, heavy and untainted by years working away
from Africa.
Because the group comprises of Joseph Shabalala’s sons and some of his relatives of the Mshengu clan, I introduce myself with a different version of their surname, Tshabalala. They exclaim “nawe ungi Mshengu, ubuti wethu,” (you’re also an Mshengu, our brother). I am. We exchange hugs and they feel more at home. They’re celebrities but they could be your next door neighbor.
On this particular day, the group have taken a day off from their musical Amambazo at Pretoria’s State Theatre. Created by Joseph, the 25-cast and six-piece live band musical, along with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, is in its second year on stage. It follows Joseph’s story of founding the group.
More than 50 years of music has had its struggle and casualties. The group released their latest album called Always With Us, a tribute to the matriarch Nelli Shabalala, Joseph’s wife who was shot and killed outside their home in the KwaZulu Natal province. The album is a collection of songs she recorded with her church choir a year before she died.
In December 1991, Joseph’s brother and fellow member, Headman, was killed by an off-duty white security guard near Ladysmith. A few years later, Joseph’s other brother, Ben, was also shot and killed while driving his children to school.
But through it all the Shabalala’s persevered.
About three days before the group won their fourth Grammy, Majola announced that Joseph, aged 73, was scaling down his activities with the group.
“It’s a temporary retirement. He had back surgery and is recovering from that. As soon as he gets better, he won’t be as involved in the group like before, but he is still part of the group,” says Sibongiseni Shabalala.
“When we rehearse at home, we rehearse with him. He is still teaching us new songs.”
While the ensemble continue to travel across the globe, one of the senior members, Albert Mazibuko, is entrusted with keeping Joseph’s ways. Mazibuko is Joseph’s cousin and is the only original member left in the group.
“I’m so supportive to him. I make sure the group keeps together when we are going to places and that we keep our promises. I make sure the uniform is perfect,” says the 66-year-old Mazibuko, who designs the group’s shirts.
The men of Ladysmith Black Mambazo say it is not a group you can just join; it is one you grow up in. Music becomes part and parcel for all family members. Msizi, who is also part of the management team, says his father allows the families to bring their children to rehearsals so the different generations are able to work together and generate fresh ideas.
When the time came for the third generation to join Ladysmith Black Mambazo, even Msizi’s eldest son, Babuyile, had to serve an apprenticeship.
Before joining the senior team, Babuyile, along with two other relatives, founded Young Mbazo in 2009. It is a group where the younger members of the family sing isicathamiya and want to not only keep it alive, but make it more appealing to the younger generation.
“This type of music, it looks like a rhino, it’s about to be extinct. It’s not cool to be isicathamiya. It looks like you’re backward. But we are moving forward, using contemporary genres like RnB, kwaito, soul and hip-hop and we fuse that with isicathamiya,” says Babuyile.
As the day is about to end, I steal a moment with one of the most reserved members of the group, Msizi. He helped register Ladysmith Black Mambazo as a company. Msizi says they are trying to sell merchandise and also buy back albums from record companies so that they can all be distributed and sold under one umbrella.
For now, the group will continue performing in internationally to sold-out auditoriums. The group can spend up to four consecutive months touring.
Back in 2008, Joseph announced that his youngest son, Thamsanqa would take over as the leader of the group when he retires from international touring.
“The mission and message will continue. When the time comes for me to finish touring and to stay home, they will carry on my dream,” says Joseph.
With that said, Ladysmith Black Mambazo will continue to produce more albums, maybe even adding more Grammy Awards. And to think a dream started it all.

Glittering Prizes  To The Soft Shuffle Of Feet

George Tafaria Waititu lived what many would describe as a life of a king. As the Managing Director of Ipsos Synovate, an international research company, he had power, influence and money. In June 2011, Waititu quit to pursue a childhood dream. Tired of building other people’s dreams; he decided to build his own – literally.
Waititu owns Tafaria Castle and Country Lodge in the Aberdare Range – 224 kilometers north of Nairobi. He went back to his childhood village with one aim – to conquer the brutality he experienced when growing up.
“The castle is supposed to transform my village from a dark age to a more enlightened age, similar to what happed in medieval times. This place molded my character and made me the person I am today. It is desperate for help and development,” says Waititu.
The castle, with medieval architecture, cost him $3.5 million to set up.
“I could have chosen to get into the lucrative real estate sector in Kenya and by now my return would have doubled,” he says.
Three years later, the investment has paid off.
Building it was a labor of love. After four years, he was able to open its doors in September 2012. Seventy percent of the construction was done by locals.
“People just need to be inspired, guided and supervised,” he says.
Along with roads and power, Waititu created employment and a market for locally-grown produce. The area’s development has also resulted in the value of land skyrocketing.
It wasn’t always easy; the project stalled several times due to a lack of resources. Waititu had to negotiate with his neighbors for land and water. Heavy rain also made it difficult to access the area before Waititu invested in a proper road.
He is proud of the transformation he has brought to his village. He is even prouder of the skills the villagers have gained.
“The rains can come and wash away the roads but the skills they acquired can never be taken away from them.”
Waititu aims to make Tafaria a model village and guide the development of the area.
“I don’t want to change the rural life. I just want to improve it without changing its rural setting.”
The source of Waititu’s inspiration can be found in his childhood. His mother moved to Aberdare from a crowded colonial village in Nyeri, central Kenya. Unlike the lush and fertile highlands of Nyeri, Aberdare is dry and hot.
The family lived in the bush, along with wild animals that roamed freely. They would wake up in the morning and find animals had ravaged their farms and killed people.
“The first funeral I attended was of a neighbor who was killed by a buffalo on a farm.”
Waititu remembers two serious droughts, forcing the family to survive on donated yellow maize.
“These things molded my character. That upbringing made me a risk taker.”
When he visited his family in other towns, Waititu’s eyes were opened. He saw vehicles, electricity and other amenities which he craved. That is where the seed of transforming his village was planted.
“I did not desire to leave my home; I desired to make it better.”
With the castle he built there, Waititu has achieved his lofty goal.

Tag: March 2015

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