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Wednesday 03rd of October 2018
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Morning Africa |
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These Elephants moved in a Phalanx formation and at speed ⁦@ElsasKopje⁩ Africa |
Yesterday, I had a meeting and the destination was described thus
''It's the only House left near Nairobi Hospital'' And when I got
there it was like entering a Portal into my childhood. It was a
bungalow. And suddenly my Grandfather, My Grandmother, Shirazi my
Grandfather's manservant and everyone else was in my head and I had to
take a walk around the garden by myself to catch my breath and my
thoughts.
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Ibrahim El-Salahi Reborn Sounds of Childhood Dreams I @Tate Africa |
In Reborn Sounds of Childhood Dreams I 1961–5 ghostly figures with
stretched heads and hollow eyes emerge from a yellow ground. The
figures merge into, and out of, one another. Limbs blend into
arabesques and heads are topped with crescents, while white
over-painting blurs the distinction between abstract form, pattern and
figure. The square format, sober palette, deliberate drips and
intentional wrinkling of the paint surface are all characteristic of
El-Salahi’s work from this period. While the heads of the figures
recall African masks, the artist has also suggested that the
‘elongated, black-eyed, glittering facial shapes might represent the
veils our mothers and grandmothers used to wear in public, or the
faces of the drummers and tambourine players I had seen circling
wildly during funeral ceremonies and chants in praise of Allah’
(Ibrahim El-Salahi, ‘The Artist in His Own Words’, in Hassan 2013,
p.84).
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- Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, The Leopard: A Novel Africa |
“Good manners apart, though, the appearance of those monumental dishes
of macaroni was worthy of the quivers of admiration they evoked. The
burnished gold of the crusts, the fragrance of sugar and cinnamon they
exuded, were but preludes to the delights released from the interior
when the knife broke the crust; first came a mist laden with aromas,
then chicken livers, hard-boiled eggs, sliced ham, chicken, and
truffles in masses of piping hot, glistening macaroni, to which the
meat juice gave an exquisite hue of suède.”
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US, China thrusting towards a new Cold War @asiatimesonline Law & Politics |
As the United States squeezes China economically through an escalating
trade war, it is simultaneously ramping up military efforts to
challenge Beijing’s recent strategic gains in the contested South
China Sea.
China apparently views its roiled relations with the US as an
existential struggle, with the ongoing trade war seen as part of a
broader containment strategy Washington is now intensifying through
military means in the South China Sea.
On Sunday, a Chinese military vessel sailed close to a US destroyer
ship conducting Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP) in the
vicinity of the disputed Gaven and Johnson Reefs in the sea’s Spratly
chain of islands.
The US Navy accused China of engaging in an “unsafe and unprofessional
maneuver”, reportedly coming as close as 40 meters to the USS
Decatur’s bow and almost causing a naval collision on high seas. A US
official told Reuters the destroyer had travelled with 12 nautical
miles of the reefs.
In response, China accused the US of violating its “sovereignty and
security” and that the US’ repeated deployment of military ships near
its claimed islands without permission were “seriously damaging”
Sino-US military ties.
In the skies, the US has countered China’s expansive claims through
the recent deployment of B-52 bombers as part of a “continuous bomber
presence” in the South China Sea, a policy China has characterized as
“provocative.”
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09-JUL-2018 :: Tariff wars, who blinks first? Law & Politics |
James Dean was an iconic American actor, who tapped into the universal
yearning and angst of nearly every adolescent human being with a raw
connection that has surely not been surpassed since. In one of his
most consequential films, Rebel without a Cause, two players (read,
teenage boys) decide to settle a dispute (read, teenage girl) by way
of near-death experiences. Each speeds an automobile towards a cliff.
A simple rule governs the challenge: the first to jump out of his
automobile is the chicken and, by universally accepted social
convention, concedes the object in dispute. The second to jump is
victorious, and, depending on context, becomes gang leader, prom king,
etc.
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Good Luck with that @FedericaMog well, at least she showed willing, which is as far it goes. Law & Politics |
This grand bargain between the US president and a Saudi king
established that oil would always be denominated in Dollars and Folks
from Saddam Hussein to Chavez of Venezuela and now the high re-
presentative of the European Union for foreign affairs Federica Maria
Mogherini have all sought to break the chokehold of the petro Dollar.
Mogherini announced that Europe would create a special purpose
vehicle, ‘’a legal entity to facilitate legitimate financial
transactions with Iran and this will allow European companies to
continue trade with Iran, in accordance with European Union law’’ Good
Luck with that Federica, well, at least she showed willing, which is
as far it goes.
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@SkyNews pronounced @jeremycorbyn 'king of all he surveys' in its assessment of his keynote speech. @LRB Law & Politics |
Sky News pronounced Corbyn ‘king of all he surveys’ in its assessment
of his keynote speech. Lord Jim O’Neill – who got an ironic mention in
the speech – has written in the Financial Times that Labour is ‘poised
to shake up the status quo’. The Daily Mail’s Quentin Letts delivered
a backhanded compliment: ‘Don’t scoff at Comrade Corbyn. His party’s
got zip in its tank – and if the Tories don’t wake up, we’re all
banjaxed.’ Even the Guardian, arguably Corbynism’s most dedicated
adversary, endorsed the leader’s speech as ‘catching the zeitgeist’.
Polly Toynbee, having spent the best part of the last three years
trying to sink Corbyn, now says that he is ‘winning the battle of
ideas’.
His proficiency is the legacy of more than thirty years as an activist
and campaigner, not of a three-year crash course in the ways of the
political establishment.
The Guardian claims that Labour fought last year’s election on
‘policies from the past’, while its new agenda is ‘future-facing and
concerned with dispersing the rights, wealth and power currently
concentrated in a few hands’. But this egalitarian and democratic
project has been at the heart of Corbynism, and the main source of its
appeal, from the outset. Corbyn’s Labour has deepened and extended its
policy commitments since its popular but necessarily rushed 2017
election manifesto. But the new commitments emerging from the party
conference – taxing second homes to create a ‘solidarity fund’ for
supporting homeless people; giving workers a stake and a voice in the
companies that employ them – are recognisably of a piece with previous
ones. It isn’t Corbyn that has changed, but his opponents, as they now
acknowledge that Corbynism has outlived their estimations of its life
expectancy, and is the only plausible challenger to a Tory party in
total disarray.
The media focus has been on domestic economic policy, but it is
arguably in foreign affairs that Corbyn’s challenge to political
orthodoxy is most striking. He promised to put ‘diplomacy before
tub-thumping threats’, and ‘no more reckless wars of intervention like
Iraq or Libya’. He condemned the Tory collusion with the Saudi-led war
on Yemen, which has displaced millions of people and killed tens of
thousands of children, and said Labour would work ‘to resolve the
world’s injustices, not standing idly by, or worse, fuelling them in
the first place’ (an implied criticism of previous administrations).
These are not new convictions on Corbyn’s part but lifelong
commitments. Yet they are a radical departure from a cross-party
historical norm in British politics.
Our common interest lies in a total break with the patterns of the
past. By refusing to change, Corbyn has already changed a lot.
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01-OCT-2018 :: This grand bargain between the US president and a Saudi king Commodities |
The history of oil did not start In February 1945, when Roosevelt met
with King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia in person aboard the USS Quincy
but the History of the Petro-Dollar did. This grand bargain between
the US president and a Saudi king established that oil would always be
denominated in Dollars and Folks from Saddam Hussein to Chavez
of Venezuela and now the high representative of the European Union for
foreign affairs Federica Maria Mogherini have all sought to break the
chokehold of the petro Dollar.
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Madagascar elections: 36 candidates, 4 (ex-)presidents, and a lot of money @africaarguments Africa |
Back in 2013, when 33 candidates competed in Madagascar’s presidential
elections, it was something of a record for the country. In the run-up
to that vote, much discussion centred on the sheer logistics of having
so many nominees run for office. How would 33 names fit on the single
ballot paper? (It ended up being A3.) Would electoral boards take up
entire streets? (They did.) Would voters be able to familiarise
themselves with the programmes of so many candidates? (They didn’t.)
In the end, it worked out with Hery Rajaonarimampianina emerging
victorious after the second-round. Nonetheless, it was still a slight
surprise earlier this year when an even bigger pool of 36 candidates
was approved to run in the upcoming 7 November elections, with a
possible run-off on 19 December.
Other elements of the upcoming 2018 presidential elections have been
more predictable. Among the three dozen candidates, for example, are
several usual suspects. The incumbent President Rajaonarimampianina is
seeking re-election, while three former presidents are also running:
Didier Ratsiraka, Madagascar’s autocratic ruler from 1975-1993 and
1997-2002; Marc Ravolamanana, the country’s elected leader from 2002
until his overthrow in 2009; and Andry Rajoelina, the man that led
that 2009 coup and stayed as transitional president until 2014.
“It’s political calculations,” says Marcus Schneider, director of the
Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) in Madagascar. “There is a lot of
ethnic voting. In the second round, those [smaller] candidates will
support the big two: this is where support gets bought. [They] might
also get a job as a minister.”
In fact, according to a 2016 study, Rajaonarimampianina’s campaign in
2013 was the most expensive worldwide ever. In that election, the now
president spent an estimated $21.50 for each vote won, surpassing even
Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump’s 2016 bids and outspending many
European campaigns by a factor of ten.
“It will be a battle of means,” says Schneider. “The big three
candidates [Rajaonarimampianina, Rajoelina and Ravalomanana] have very
substantial means.”
Only time will tell how these factors will translate into votes at the
ballot box. But whoever the victor is, he or she will face the
Sisyphean task of lifting Madagascar out of poverty. 75% of Malagasy
live on less than $2 a day and the country is the poorest in the world
not to have experienced conflict. Although economic growth is on the
uptick, with 5% forecast for 2018, corruption remains rampant and the
country has little resilience in the face of external shocks, be they
commodity price fluctuations or natural disasters.
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Durban Poison Dope Inspires South Africa's First Cannabis Beer @BBGAfrica Africa |
A South African craft brewery has launched the nation’s first lager
containing cannabis, capitalizing on the globally known Durban Poison
strain after the private use of the plant was legalized in the country
last month.
Drinks infused with marijuana-derived compounds could grow to a $600
million market in the U.S. within the next four years, outpacing the
growth of other categories of retail cannabis products, according to
analysts at Canaccord Genuity. Corona-parent Constellation Brands Inc.
became the largest stakeholder in Canadian pot cultivator Canopy
Growth Corp. earlier this year, while Molson Coors Canada has formed a
joint venture with Hexo Corp.
It’s not legal to grow the plant in South Africa, so the beer is being
made with imported strains, mostly from Germany and Eastern Europe,
Schubert said.
Funded by investors including RCL Foods Ltd. Chief Executive Officer
Miles Dally, Spar Group Ltd. CEO Graham O’Connor and Grindrod Bank
Ltd., Poison City Brewing founders Andre Schubert and Graeme Bird
realized with non-smoking uses of marijuana rising globally, they
could be first to market in South Africa.
The Durban Poison variety of marijuana, which originates from the
sub-tropical Indian ocean city of Durban, has a sweet smell and is
known for its “energetic, uplifting” effects when smoked, according to
Leafly.com, which bills itself as a cannabis information resource.
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Insomnia No More for Zambian Finance Chief Over Elusive @IMFNews Deal @business Africa |
Zambian Finance Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe is no longer having
sleepless nights over an International Monetary Fund loan the southern
African nation has been trying unsuccessfully to secure for the past
two years.
“I’ve talked about four things that keep me awake. Four months ago I
was saying IMF. I don’t say that anymore,” she told business leaders
Tuesday in the capital, Lusaka, after delivering her 2019 budget
speech last week. “Because IMF, I believe, will come on board at some
point — tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.” Her other concerns are
debt sustainability, extending the nation’s revenue base, domestic
arrears and clearing bad perceptions, she said.
Africa’s second-biggest copper producer is at high risk of debt
distress, according to the Washington-based lender, and last month saw
yields on its dollar bonds soar as high as 17 percent. a record. Its
currency, the kwacha, has depreciated by more than 20 percent against
the dollar this year. Only Turkey, Argentina and Angola’s currencies
have fared worse over the period, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg.
“Things like that are important, and that’s why I believe IMF is
important. But more importantly is that we sort out our economy. And
we are doing it. You guys are doing it,” Mwanakatwe said. “I just need
you to do more. And believe in yourselves and become more positive.
Make that glass half full. And you’ll be surprised at what happens.
You’ll be surprised at that bond yield. It will come down.”
Zambia’s Eurobonds, which trade more cheaply than defaulting
Mozambique’s, have suffered as the government rapidly increased its
external debt to $9.4 billion at the end of June -- almost double the
level in 2014. Donors including the U.K. last month announcing the
halt of aid amid corruption investigations also hit the bonds and the
kwacha.
Mwanakatwe’s maiden budget included gross external financing of 24.6
billion kwacha ($2 billion) for next year. This probably translates to
$2.5 billion, as the budget was drawn up before a sharp drop in the
currency, Standard Bank Group Ltd. said in a note Monday. Raising that
amount looks “challenging,” the lender said.
The government will need to spend about $1.5 billion on external debt
servicing next year, and because its foreign-exchange reserves are
close to an eight-year low of about $1.8 billion, it will need new
borrowing to pay, Standard Bank said.
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@BolloreLog has for past six months fallen behind in paying for leased leased trucks even as it implements staff rationalisation that will see 600 workers lose their jobs. @Business_KE Kenyan Economy |
Numbers aren’t just adding up at @BolloreLog Logistics Kenya The
logistics company has for past six months fallen behind in paying for
leased leased trucks even as it implements staff rationalisation that
will see 600 workers lose their jobs.
In a memo to staff, the Managing Director for Kenya Jean-Pascal Naud
says the business environment in Kenya has been harsh, complicated by
the launch of the standard gauge railway which have taken big chunk of
haulage business between Mombasa and Nairobi.
“I have had to part ways with the company because I haven’t been paid
and I can’t wait anymore. My lorries are being used yet I am not
earning from them,” says Tom Kimani, one of the contractors. He said
Ballore had committed to pay arrears two months ago but a senior
manager later told him that the company wasn’t making money and
payment would be delayed further.
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Chinese developer now top @Home Afrika investor @BD_Africa Kenyan Economy |
Chinese investor Zeyun Yang, the developer of the Great Wall
apartments in Machakos County, has become the single largest
shareholder in Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)-listed Home Afrika
after acquiring an 8.2 per cent stake.
August regulatory filings show that Mr Yang built up the stake after
buying shares under his name and through his real estate firms
Erdemann Property Limited and Erdemann Company (Kenya) Limited.
Home Afrika’s chief executive Dan Awendo told the Business Daily that
the property developer has not been approached by Mr Yang for a
strategic partnership, indicating that the Chinese investor is
currently a passive investor in the company.
“We have not had discussions with them,” Mr Awendo said. Mr Yang’s
stake in the loss-making Home Afrika is currently worth Sh23.2 million
based on the firm’s share price of Sh0.7.
The entire company is quoted on the NSE at Sh283.6 million but the
board of directors says this price heavily discounts the current
market value of its land holdings, adding that it only carries them at
cost.
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