Michael Kinyua’s cows are the source of all evil. Kinyua lives on the outskirts of Nairobi, in Ruaka. He owns five cows, which he milks to feed his children, wife Nyokabi and himself. Anything left over is sold to his neighbours, former farmers who are now reluctant city-dwellers in the Kenyan capital’s sprawl. His neighbours are wistful for the days when they, too, were independent entrepreneurs.
It seems the battle between Aids activists and government on how to move forward in the fight against HIV/Aids is (almost) over. The National Strategic Plan on HIV/Aids is ready for implementation. One of the plan’s goals is to "identify and remove legal, policy, religious and cultural barriers to effective HIV prevention, treatment and support". Good thinking! But how, exactly?
Our northern neighbour is in the process of passing an "empowerment Bill" to force transfer of the majority stake in private companies to black Zimbabweans. Though this is indigenisation rather than empowerment in the South African sense, it raises interesting parallels with South Africa’s draft Mining Charter, which led to the outflow of billions of rand in foreign investment.
South Africa finds itself out of step with major countries — including China — internationally that are banning the energy-sucking light bulb in a bid to promote energy efficiency. Although the energy-inefficient incandescent light bulb adds at least 10% to our annual energy bills, about R2,8-billion a year, South Africa charges a 15% import tariff on energy-efficient CFL (compact flourescent lamp) light bulbs.
While the annual ranking of perceptions of corruption attracts a lot of attention, the way in which corruption creates poverty is often overlooked. Transparency International’s (TI) 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked South Africa at 5,1, compared with log leader Denmark at 9,4. While South Africa has improved on its ranking of 4,6 last year, any corruption is still a driver of poverty in the country.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel set the cat among the pigeons this week after the fallout over the disclosure that the PSL’s sponsorship negotiating team were set to share a R50-million payout from the recently announced R500-million PSL Absa sponsorship deal.
Simon Stockley, who revolutionised the home loan industry in South Africa with the creation of SA Homeloans five years ago, has returned to South Africa after a stint in Saudi Arabia, bringing to market another mortgage lender with some interesting products.
An alarming surge in suicide attacks has fuelled a 30% rise in violence in Afghanistan this year, according to the United Nations. This year has seen an average of 550 violent incidents a month compared with 425 in 2006, a report by the department of safety and security said.
China has become the world’s excuse for inaction. If there is anything that a government or a business does not want to do, it invokes the Yellow Peril. Raise the minimum wage to £6 an hour? Not when the Chinese are paid £6 a year. Cap working time at 48 hours a week? The Chinese are working 48 hours a day. Cut greenhouse gas emissions? The Chinese are building a new power station every nanosecond.
For the faithful observing Ramadan in El Geneina, West Darfur, the sun takes too long to set. Here breaking the fast happens a full 40 minutes later than it does far to the east in Khartoum. Ramadan will be over this week and will end with a celebration. It is hard to imagine people celebrating in this part of the world, but it is easy to understand that they use their faith to keep going.