Kwabena A-Manager, Author at TalkAfrique

March 3, 2011December 22, 2012

Business in Africa: It’s Boom Time if You Can Dance

There is much more happening in Africa than what you see on TV. There is a reason the world’s big businesses are paying closer attention to the continent known for its challenges like poverty, disease, gang rape and high maternal and infant mortality. Some of the portrayals are real.

Last week, former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo said ‘

“The lack of a dependable electricity supply hampers production, the absence of good roads slows transport, and insufficient access to modern technology limits industrialization and integration into the global marketplace. The resultant inefficiencies make Africa the most difficult and expensive place in which to do business; they also slow economic growth and frustrate general development”

President Obasanjo was 100% right is the statement he made but he was yet very optimistic about the prospects for the continent, a fact that is often clouded by the pessimism. Similarly, Mr. Kofi Annan in a speech delivered at the Exeter College on February 13 portrayed a similar sentiment: hope and excitement in the years ahead for the continent of Africa. Reports from several international bodies and financial institutions point to a continent experiencing an economic boom that is creating numerous opportunities not just for the African people, but for investors and business owners all over the world.

As Kofi Annan pointed out in his speech, the country with the world’s most sustained and strongest economic growth over the last four decades is in Africa; it is Botswana. In fact, the IMF assessment establishes that the African continent will have as many as seven of the ten fastest-growing economies in the world over the next decade. The McKinsey report estimates that by 2030, the continent’s top 18 cities will have a combined spending power of $1.3 trillion. These are the reasons why multinational corporations can no longer afford to ignore the continent.

I still believe that Africa faces numerous challenges but those who have the eyes to see beyond these challenges are taking the lead and, by the time some of us wake up, the lead may be too big to catch up.

Last week I had conversation with a friend about business opportunities in our home countries. In the 45 minutes discussion I had with the friend, I can recollect that not less than 30 minutes were spent on listing the impossible. We might be right, but that is exactly what entrepreneurship is about. An entrepreneur is “one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen, amidst risks and challenges, in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods”.

I would like to end with laudable example of what people like you and I have embarked upon to change their lives and change their societies. A group of African traditional dancers in Botswana met and decided to form an alliance to preserve and promote the rich and historic culture of Botswana traditional dance and music. The group, MatsosaNgwao Tradition Dancers, has being performing live music shows in the region over the past three years to promote this African cultural heritage. The MatsosaNgwao Tradition Dance group was the typical neighborhood dance group, unknown and not recognized beyond their physical location. But the group’s efforts did not go unnoticed. The Department of Culture and Youth invited them on a trip to Mumbai, India, for a cultural exchange event in 2009. It was then that the youngsters realized how far their talents could take them. Today, the group is hot. The waiting list for appointment is long. To have them say “yes” is a lifelong accomplishment

What is fascinating about the MatsosaNgwao Tradition Dancers is their impetus; it was simply to help their community preserve its cultural and historic heritage. Money and fame are the bye-products.

Many communities in Sub-Saharan Africa are endowed with functional African music accompanying work, childbirth, marriage, hunting and political activities most of which are normally associated with a particular dance. Similarly, other regions of the African continent have distinct musical and dance traditions that have not yet been exploited economically. MatsosaNgwao Tradition Dancers have shown that these are untapped gold mine in today’s world.

Out of school and thinking of what the government can do? Look at how the MatsosaNgwao Tradition Dancers did it. Opportunites abound in all areas.

If you are an investor seeking to grow your business globally or an ordinary person seeking opportunities, keep Africa on top of mind. It is still early enough to bring your ideas to the table and join the competition.

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March 3, 2011March 3, 2011

Africa’s World Cup Representation in Danger

Ghana Black Stars — The Black Stars of Ghana were the only African team to get to the knock-out stages in 2010

Football’s world governing body Fifa is meeting to decide how many places each continent receives at the next World Cup in 2014.

Six African nations took part in the 2010 tournament, because South Africa were the hosts.

The continent will almost certainly be cut back to five representatives for the next finals in Brazil.

There is a chance the figure could drop further, with other regions pressing hard for more places.

Africa’s performance in 2010, where of the continent’s contenders only Ghana made it out of the knock-out stages, will count against it.

Political pressures and lobbying in the expected tussle between incumbent Fifa president Sepp Blatter and his likely challenger Mohamed Bin Hammam will also have an impact.

Bin Hammam has been pushing for an increased representation from his Asian Confederation – which had four places plus a play-off against Oceania for South Africa.

Concacaf, the North and Central American and Caribbean region, is also pressing especially hard for more places than the current three plus a play-off spot.

South America is likely to get an extra berth because Brazil are the hosts.

Fifa is set to announce the decision at a news conference on Thursday, following a two-day meeting in Zurich.

Fifa is also going to announce Canada as the hosts of the 2015 Women’s World Cup – they are the only contenders after Zimbabwe pulled out of the running.

In addition, Ghana will find out whether it will host the U17 World Cup in 2013 and the U17 women’s competition in 2014 while Tunisia has bid for the U17 World Cup in 2015 and the U20 event in 2015.

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February 28, 2011

20th Democracy & Diversity Graduate Summer Institute

The Transregional Center for Democratic Studies of The New School for Social Research

is pleased to announce the

**20th Democracy & Diversity Graduate Summer Institute**

**Wrocław [Vrot-swaf], Poland**

July 8-24, 2011

TCDS is looking forward to welcoming another cohort of up to forty junior scholars from the US, Europe, and other parts of the world to this anniversary session of the Democracy & Diversity Institute to be held in the inspiring city of Wroclaw, Poland, from July 8-24, 2011. Located in a landmark modernist structure in the largest park of the Lower Silesia region, the institute offers an intensive program of study, equivalent of a full semester of graduate study in the US. This year’s program will unfold around the theme The World in Crisis: A Critical Reading, and will consider issues of political violence, the salient role of new media, the contestation of gender, and the ethnicization of politics. Courses offered at this year’s Institute:

Courses offered at this year’s Institute:

Gender – Stable and Unstable: How Urgent Are Gender Questions? Professor Ann Snitow, Eugene Lang College
Media and News in a Time of Crisis, Professor Jeffrey Goldfarb, New School for Social Research & Professor Daniel Dayan, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris & New School for Social Research
Romancing Violence: Theories and Practices of Political Violence, Professor Elzbieta Matynia, New School for Social Research
“We the People”: Nationalism, Ethnicity and Belonging, Professor Sharika Thiranagama, New School for Social Research

Located between Berlin, Prague and Warsaw, and saturated with the history and memory of these three distinct cultures, Wroclaw (formerly Breslau) is a beautiful and booming city that uniquely conveys both the challenges and the promise of a united Europe. Drawing on Wroclaw’s culture of the borderland, TCDS’s network of distinguished and dedicated collaborators and alumni, and the New School’s reputation stemming from our long-term engagement in the region, this anniversary session of the Democracy & Diversity Institute offers a rigorous program of critical inquiry on some of the most pressing problems of our time.

The Wroclaw Institute is organized in collaboration with the International Institute for the Study of Culture and Education at the University of Lower Silesia.

For full program information, course descriptions and details on how to apply, please see the attached announcement or visit our website: http://newschool.edu/tcds/subpage.aspx?id=28468.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS MARCH 14, 2011.

For further information email TCDS@newschool.edu or call 212-229-5580 x3136.

February 28, 2011March 3, 2011

Learning Reduces Blood Pressure, Scientific Study

Forget about the stress you go through during exams time in school. A study that has been published in the journal BMC Public Health, shows education reduces blood pressure and the reduction is even bigger in women than in men.

The British Heart Foundation said the findings supported the link between deprivation and heart disease risk.

The researchers suggest that blood pressure could be the reason why higher levels of education are generally linked to lower levels of heart diseases.

Now the technical:

Length of study 30 years
Number of people followed in the study 3,890
Study Groups: 3 [low education (12 years or less), middle education (13 to 16 years) and high education (17 years or more].
What was measured: The average systolic blood pressure for the 30 year period was then calculated.
Results: Women with low education had a blood pressure 3.26 mmHg higher than those with a high level of education. In men the difference was 2.26 mmHg.

Factors such as smoking, drinking and medication were taken into consideration

So what? ((Added commentary mine)

Does this mean you should pack and head for Harvard? Not necessarily. Some of us surely cannot or will not go back to school, but we can surely spend a day at the library over the weekend, read a challenging article in the local newspaper, or watch that intellectual discussion on the TV. Feeding your brain with diverse material will help reduce stress and worries which play role in blood pressure. And depriving your brain with such material will surely warrant the opposite effect.

And as for your children, give them the best start in life.

(Added commentary mine)

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February 27, 2011January 3, 2013

Genetically Modified Fungi Prevent Parasite Development in Malaria Mosquitoes

K. Amponsah-Manager

A team of scientists in the UK and US have genetically modified a fungus that prevents the development of malaria-causing parasites in the mosquitoes. The study which has been published in the journal Science showed that the fungus can eliminate up to 90% of the parasite in the vector that carry it, the female anopheles mosquito.

The scientists inserted the genes of human antibodies or scorpion toxins into a fungus called Metarhizium anisopliae and infected mosquitoes with the fungus. This conferred onto mosquitoes infected with the fungus the ability to block the development of malaria-causing parasites in mosquitoes.

The female Anopheles mosquitoes are the vectors for the malaria parasite, Plasmodium, which develop inside the body of mosquitoes. The mosquito simply helps to shuttle the parasite between infected person and healthy people and therefore the ability to deprive the parasite of its taxi service is key to fighting the illness.

Due to the environmental hazards of using pesticides to fight the malaria mosquitoes and the development of resistance to many anti-malarial products, recent years scientists have focused their attention on finding natural and environmental friendly methods to fight the disease. The fungus Metarhizium anisopliae naturally kills mosquitoes but unlike parasites, it takes day to accomplish that. The advantage of the Fungi’s patience is that because the mosquitoes can mate and do their usual chores, they have less reason to develop resistance.

Results of the study showed that malaria parasite survived in the salivary glands of 25 percent of the mosquitoes sprayed with the genetically modified organism, compared to 87 percent of those sprayed with an unmodified strain of the fungus, and to 94 percent of those that were not sprayed at all.

The good news from the study is the possibility that spraying malaria-transmitting mosquitoes with the genetically-modified fungus, also known as transgenic fungus, could one day become a feasible method to significantly reduce the transmission of the disease to humans.

February 24, 2011May 31, 2011

Getting Pregnant Together With Your Buddies, Oh How Cool

Earlier this week, a news story containing a disturbing statistics came to light that will shock most readers. Nearly, 5000 schoolgirls in Johannesburg, South Africa, became pregnant in just one school calendar year. Before you attribute this mass teenage pregnancy to rural illiteracy, lack of electricity, lack of television and all those excuses, let us call to mind that, three weeks ago, it was also reported that 90 girls were known to be pregnant in a single school in Tennessee, United States. This did not happen in a slum in Nairobi, Accra, Abuja, or Harare. It happened in the heart of the United States.

I am neither a sociologist nor a psychologist and so I will not attempt to ascribe rationale for these mass pregnancies. Some have referred to them as Pregnancy Pact, Pregnancy Covenant, and others.

The unfortunate situation is that some (may be most) of these girls would never become what they dreamed of becoming: teachers, pastors, parliamentarians, ambassadors, or doctors. Those who will ever get there will do it by the hard, tortuous way. As for the boys, on other hand, no problem. They can achieve whatever they want to achieve in life with minimal drag from the children who will result from these pregnancies. Some of them will later look down upon these girls as failures and fools.

I need to admit that I do not have data to base this on, but from my personal experience and assumptions, I would assume that most the boys or men involved in the adventure that led the girls into these situations knew of the plastic material called the condom. The never used it. On the other hand, and of course, this is my personal assumption; it is likely that most of the girls were oblivious of whatever options they had that could have prevented what they carry in their immature wombs.

How do we help young girls avoid these situations?

Give Women The Necessary Information:

As usual, many of the parents of these girls perhaps assumed their children were innocent. Well, they are not. In an interview with one of the South African to-be moms, this is what she said

“It’s fashionable to have a baby. You are like a fool if you don’t have sex”

As I have said here a few times, it is vital that parents, teachers and authorities provide young girls and women with the information they need and tell them they too have an option.

They can say NO and IT IS OK TO SAY NO!
If they cannot or do not want to say no, then they have an option, the female condom. The female condom is over 95% effective in preventing HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases, and unwanted pregnancies. Most women have never heard this nor seen it. It’s shame and irresponsible that several years of campaigns have focused solely on the man and the options he has in sexual encounters. In the above unfortunate situation, it is easy to focus only on the teenage pregnancy, but it is important to realize that some of these girls that are not lucky may contract other STDs like Human Papiloma Virus/HPV, Herpes Simplex Virus/HSV, Chlamydia, Gonorrhea and Syphillus.

By equipping these girls with ignorance, we are in essence, cursing their the futures.

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February 24, 2011February 26, 2011

Moderate Alcohol Can Promote Heart Health

According to a compilation of 30 years of research, an alcoholic drink a day can help ward off heart diseases and improve overall heart health and function.

The study which has been published in the British Medical Journal found that there was a reduction of 14% to 25% in heart diseases in moderate drinkers compared with people who had never drink alcohol.

Another article, by the same Canadian scientist at the University of Calgary, showed alcohol also increased “good” cholesterol levels.

This review showed that the overall risk of death was lower for those consuming small quantities of alcohol, 2.5g to 14.9g, compared with non-drinkers. The researchers also say regular moderate drinking reduced all forms of cardiovascular disease by up to 25%.

It is important to note that this is a slippery slope as what we consider moderate may mean different things to different people. In fact, while consuming small quantities of alcohol had a beneficial effect on the number of strokes, the risk increased significantly with heavier drinking. Heavier drinking is also a leading cause of liver cirrhosis. A little bit does you good, but a lot does you harm

For non-drinkers, this should not be a license to start. Being physically active, adapting stress reducing techniques like prayer or yoga, and eating a balanced diet can help you achieve the same effect.[ad#Adsense-200by200sq]

February 20, 2011January 3, 2013

HIV: When They Need it Most, Just Embrace, Do Not Reject

By K. Amponsah-Manager

In an earlier article, I told you a story with the title “I Was Shocked When I Was Told I Have HIV”. Please remember to read that if you missed it.

HIV and Stigma:

We have lived with HIV for nearly 30 years, ever since the illness first came to light in the early 1980s, but the cultural attitudes that drive most of the stereotypes do not seem to be going any where. Globally, it estimated that 7,400 people are infected every day with HIV, a significant proportion of this in Africa.

Stigmatization of HIV rooted in cultural and religious attitudes is perhaps sending as many people to their graves as the condition itself.

Stigmatization may be defined as severe social disapproval of personal characteristics or beliefs that are perceived to be against cultural norms. With regard to HIV stigma is portrayed in prejudice, negative attitudes, abuse and maltreatment directed at people living with HIV and AIDS. In some cases, people with HIV are ostracized by direct family members and the wider community. Even healthcare and education facilities may discriminate in offering service to such people.

Causes of HIV Stigma:

The causes for these established stigmas are widespread ranging from religious and cultural beliefs and expectations and mere misinformation. Personally, the first time I heard about HIV was around 1986 and it was in a church. The Ministry of Health had sent out a team of nurses and Para-medics to tour rural communities in Ghana to educate them on the newcomer HIV. In fact Churches and Mosques were the easiest and cheapest places to get the message across. I was young then, but looking back I am embarrassed by how much misinformation we were fed. And I do not blame the messengers for what they told us. In fact, the world knew very little at that time. Since then much has been learnt about what is and what is not about HIV and AIDS. Some societies have moved quickly in using the available information to undo some of the damage done by the earlier misinformation; other societies are yet to begin the process. This is true of several African communities.

It is sad to say that some communities in Africa still hold the belief that shaking hands, drinking from a cup or eating from a bowl that has been used by a person with HIV, and in extreme cases using a chair previously used by an HIV carrier, will all result in contracting the virus. Again, HIV is normally associated with behaviors that are shunned by society. These include prostitution, drugs, homosexuality, and infidelity. In fact, in some communities, HIV, prostitution and promiscuity are synonyms. HIV was first identified in young gay men in New York and this is always used to tie the illness to the practice of homosexuality. When viewed from the religious perspective, the stigma is even justified since HIV is seen as a punishment for deviant behaviors.

Unfortunately, stigmatization hurts all of us: the patient, the family, and the community as a whole. Early detection is vital to managing the HIV condition but fear of stigmatization makes it difficult for people to go for check up and testing services even when there is reason to believe that something may not be right. The fear of stigmatization holds 1000s of people from accessing care even when it is available to them for free. A sizable proportion of our natural resources is spent in HIV treatment and campaign. We expect to move forward but stigmas and myths continue to be impediment.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon once said

“Stigma remains the single most important barrier to public action. It is a main reason why too many people are afraid to see a doctor to determine whether they have the disease, or to seek treatment if so. It helps make AIDS the silent killer, because people fear the social disgrace of speaking about it, or taking easily available precautions. Stigma is a chief reason why the AIDS epidemic continues to devastate societies around the world.” I couldn’t agree with him any more.

HIV stigma is not a problem with developing nation alone. Even in a developed world such as the US, stigma associated with HIV prevails. HIV is a new disease compared to malaria, TB, and syphilis but at it is least 25 years old. It is about time that we work our way out of the stigmas associated with the condition and help ourselves, our families and society.

The person living with the HIV virus is a sister, brother, father, mother, teacher and an entertainer. He or she is not just the ‘HIV Patient’. What a different it would make if it was that easy to accept that.

Thanks for reading.

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