| |
Monday 13th of February 2017
|
Morning Africa |
Register and its all Free.
If you are tracking the NSE Do it via RICHLIVE and use Mozilla Firefox
as your Browser.
0930-1500 KENYA TIME
Normal Board - The Whole shebang
Prompt Board Next day settlement
Expert Board All you need re an Individual stock.
The Latest Daily PodCast can be found here on the Front Page of the site
http://www.rich.co.ke |
| read more |
|
Mahama: Leave when applause is loudest @TheStarKenya Africa |
It really was a rare a privilege hosting immediate former President of
Ghana, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, at Mindspeak on Saturday.
When Phanice confirmed his attendance, I immersed myself in
‘’Dramani’’ and what I discovered was that my guest was a polymath.
His book (which I found in the Library of the Muthaiga Club), My First
Coup d’État and Other True Stories From the Lost Decades of Africa, is
beautiful and lyrical.
He describes a magical world and in one section he writes of the
Simpa, or full-moon dance. Simpa would take place in the village
square when the moon was “huge, round, and electric white against the
black sky”. Villagers would start to sing. Then young women would
begin to dance seductively, and young men would tap them on the
shoulder and ask to join them. “As the evening went on under the light
of that moon,” Mahama says, “people would find partners not only for
dancing but also for life.” I learnt that Mahama is a devotee of
Afrobeat music and immersed myself in Fela Kuti and enjoyed
‘Afrodisiac’ best. President Mahama was the first ‘born-free’
President of Ghana. And as I thought about the man, I realised that
now for so many of us it’s actually the ‘born-free’ generation that
speaks our language.
Of course, I have been following the markets in Ghana for quite a
while and the President said: ‘’You know the Cedi was the
worst-performing currency in the world, and then a year or two later
we were the best-performing currency.’’ And I said quietly: ‘’You
remember [which he obviously did].’’
President Mahama conceded the election to President Nana Akufo-Addo in
record-breaking time. Mahama was a key player in the ECOWAS team that
prised President Yahya Jammeh out of power. When it comes to
democratic credentials, Mahama is self-evidently off the charts. He is
what Malcolm Gladwell called an ‘’outlier’’.
“The more we investigate the reasons for African prosperity, the more
we’ll find that democracy is one of them,” HE @JDMahama #Mindspeak.
“Democratic nations unleash the creative nature of its people”
@JDMahama “Extreme partisanship is worse than dictatorship because it
stifles development & progress.” @JDMahama “And we need to accelerate
trade among ourselves in Africa & create opportunities for prosperity
for our young people’’ @JDMahama.
However, the most powerful comment was: “Leave when the applause is
loudest’’ – and he described how the loudest applause he ever received
was when he entered the Backstair square on the day of President
Akufo-Addo’s inauguration, and of course after he had already
conceded.
|
| read more |
|
Mr. Mahama is at his best in describing this vanished world WSJ Africa |
Mr. Mahama is at his best in describing this vanished world. He does
so with the eye of a historian and the flair of a novelist. "My First
Coup d'Etat" is a collection of personal reminiscences centered on the
traditional customs of his home village, where every older man is
respectfully called a grandfather and every woman a grandmother. Some
of the stories are his own, involving one or more of his 18 brothers
and sisters; others were handed down by his father, who came from a
long line of tribal chiefs. At times the lost world he describes seems
almost magical, as if it were populated by fairies and demons rather
than real people.
Many of his tales revolve around tribal practices that no longer
exist. One is the teenage courting ritual called Simpa, or full-moon
dance. Simpa would take place in the village square when the moon was
"huge, round, and electric white against the black sky." Villagers
would start to sing. Then young women would begin to dance
seductively, and young men would tap them on the shoulder and ask to
join them. "As the evening went on under the light of that moon," Mr.
Mahama says, "people would find partners not only for dancing but also
for life."
As a result of his elevation to the presidency, Mahama made political
history by becoming the first Ghanaian head of state to have been born
after Ghana's declaration of independence on 6 March 1957
Macro Thoughts
Home Thoughts
|
| read more |
|
Trump Hands Xi a Diplomatic Victory Africa |
Late last year, Trump set the region and world on edge by questioning
the “One China” policy that has stabilized U.S.-China relations for
nearly four decades. Late last week, Trump walked that back, affirming
the policy in a long-delayed phone call with Chinese President Xi
Jinping.
Some tension is inevitable in this relationship, but it’s hard to
argue Trump is making things better. In foreign policy especially, his
belligerence could undermine both U.S. security (if it’s ever acted
on) and credibility (when it isn’t). Now that Trump’s threat has been
exposed as empty, the U.S. is arguably in a worse position than
before. Trump has in effect handed Xi a diplomatic victory.
Conclusions
Its farcical.
|
| read more |
|
"Olive oil is expensive and very much in the hands of nature," said Oliver. Commodities |
"The really good stuff is worth every penny. You pretty much charge
the oil per tablespoon, like you would foie gras or caviar."
Prices for extra virgin olive oil in Italy have soared almost
one-third since October to €5.75 ($6.15) a kilogram, while Spanish
costs jumped about 10%, according to the International Olive Council
in Madrid. The forecasters at Mintec Ltd. in England see room for even
further gains.
Nowhere is the surge felt more than Britain. Thanks to the
Brexit-induced collapse of the pound, olive oil is the most expensive
it's been in at least seven years. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is
closing six of his Italian restaurants around the country after the
currency's crash drove up costs.
|
| read more |
|
If Donald Trump can't play nice with U.S. allies, his presidency could crash and burn in the Horn of Africa. Foreign Policy Africa |
Successive U.S. administrations have had their strategic plans
shattered in the Horn of Africa. Between the “Black Hawk Down” fiasco
in Somalia, the Darfur genocide, and the implosion of South Sudan, few
regions have proved as resistant to the designs of American
policymakers. But in addition to notable failures — South Sudan being
perhaps the most glaring — Barack Obama achieved a number of qualified
successes there during his presidency, including partnering with
African military allies to drive al-Shabab militants out of Somalia’s
cities and convincing Sudan, long a regional pariah, to begin coming
in from the cold.
These successes stemmed from the Obama administration’s willingness to
work cooperatively with allies. They now risk being undone by
President Donald Trump, who will probably retain the Obama
administration’s robust counterterrorism efforts but has made no
secret of his disdain for multilateralism.
The risk that Trump’s unilateral approach could backfire is even
greater because the challenges his administration has inherited in the
Horn of Africa are just as vexing — if not more vexing — than those
that greeted the Obama administration in 2009. In addition to the
civil war in Somalia, there is a seemingly intractable conflict in
South Sudan; looming succession crises in Sudan, Eritrea, and
Djibouti; and growing unrest in Ethiopia, America’s pivotal ally in
the region and its primary engine of economic growth. Meanwhile, a
decades-long period of economic expansion seems to be ending, leaving
many U.S. allies politically vulnerable and more dependent than ever
on American engagement.
Yet Trump’s own policies could cause further economic distress. His
administration has floated plans to restrict trade, increase the cost
of borrowing, and limit migration. Such measures could lead to
diminished remittances sent from the United States and elsewhere in
the West — long the lifeblood of economies across the region,
including Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. Failure to
renew the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act of 2000, which gives
dozens of African countries the right to export certain goods
duty-free to the United States, would deal the region another blow.
Flagging growth has already sparked violent unrest across the Horn of
Africa. One of the first victims was South Sudan, which reported
record deficits when the price of oil collapsed in 2012. Some have
speculated that the country’s economic stagnation precipitated the
violent collapse of its government at the end of 2013. Meanwhile, mass
protests driven by economic grievances have erupted in several nearby
countries, including Ethiopia and Sudan. Last October and November,
Khartoum was rocked by a series of popular strikes protesting a 30
percent increase in fuel prices, as well as price hikes for basic
medicines of between 100 and 150 percent. Even larger protests played
out across Ethiopia in 2016, as youth unemployment and anger over land
seizures fueled mass discontent.
|
| read more |
|
Dollar versus Rand Chart INO 13.382 Africa |
Egypt's annualised urban consumer price inflation jumped to 28.1
percent in January from 23.3 percent in December, the official CAPMAS
statistics agency said on Saturday, its highest level since central
bank records began in 2005.
|
| read more |
|
Kenya declares drought a national disaster, seeks help Kenyan Economy |
Kenya declared a national disaster on Friday, calling for aid to
counter drought that is posing a major risk to people, livestock and
wildlife.
The Kenya Red Cross has estimated around 2.7 million people are in
need of food aid after low rainfall in October and November and the
next rainy season not due before April.
|
| read more |
|
|
|
|
