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/ 16 September 2005
In <i>The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy</i>, the Deep Thought computer announced that the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything was 42. Physicists are finding themselves just as frustrated as the super-intelligent beings who built Deep Thought after discovering that the ultimate answer to their questions is a set of meaningless numbers.
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/ 16 September 2005
After its unbundling by holding company Johnnic earlier this year, media group Johnnic Communications has become one of the most eligible maidens on the stock exchange. The problem is, the cost of its lobola has screamed up over the past two years. Johncom’s share price is up 28% since its unbundling in March and this sets the bar that much higher for any potential suitor.
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/ 16 September 2005
Despite increasing wealth and becoming a consumer force to be reckoned with, the emerging black middle class faces financial risks from job volatility and unexpected interest rate hikes. On the positive side, despite increased access to credit and rising levels of indebtedness, this segment of the population is still in many ways shielded from the far greater economic shocks .
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/ 16 September 2005
It would seem that MTN Banking was not the first to market with a pure cellphone banking product. Wizzit, a small company that has purposely stayed under the radar screen for fear of being trampled on by the bigger banks, launched a cellphone-banking product in November last year.
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/ 16 September 2005
Anyone who believes gobbledegook is a flourishing art form will have been well pleased at the joint statement issued last week by Messrs T Mbeki and J Zuma, CEO and Acting Assistant CEO of the people’s consortium, African National Congress, National Party and Imvume Incorporated. Even in its edited form this statement was a masterpiece of its kind.
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/ 16 September 2005
A few years ago, Skype co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis were persona non grata in the United States, scared to enter the country in case they were arrested for unleashing file-swapping Kazaa on the internet. This week, they were glowing in the limelight as they sold their second venture to eBay for $3,2-billion to $4,1-billion.
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/ 16 September 2005
"Police stand on every corner in New York and barricades line the streets. Security is so tight that it is hard to get to where we need to. The United Nations World Summit will bring together the heads of state and governments in the biggest conference of world leaders," writes Grace Mukagabiro, the Oxfam programme coordinator in Rwanda.
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/ 16 September 2005
Women aged 15 to 24 in South Africa are substantially more likely to be HIV-positive than their male counterparts, according to a study published in the September 23 issue of the journal <i>AIDS</i>.
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/ 16 September 2005
Any crusader for small business in South Africa needs to possess missionary zeal, personal experience in running a small enterprise and a belief that the businesses need not stay small for good. Wawa Damane, CEO of the Small Enterprise Development Agency, brings to her job more than 23 years experience in running small businesses, developing support programmes with academic institutions.
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/ 16 September 2005
Precious* was 12 years old when she first sold sex, to a man nearly four times her age. Now 18, the Liberian schoolgirl says she sleeps with between five and six men on an average day in order to pay her school fees, which are the cheapest available at $1 500 Liberian dollars per year. She receives between $25 and $50 for each man.