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Good Growth Expected in Sub-Saharan Africa

[ad#amazon_120x240]Growth in sub-Saharan Africa may exceed growth in all other regions except developing Asia, the International Monetary Fund said.

“growth in sub-Saharan Africa — projected at 5.5 percent in 2011 and 5.75 percent in 2012 — is expected to exceed growth in all other regions except developing Asia,” according to a world economic outlook update released by the IMF.

“This reflects sustained strength in domestic demand in many of the region’s economies, as well as rising global demand for commodities.”

The release of the report took place in Johannesburg because South Africa is seen as a key emerging market economy, and is a member of the IMF and G20, said Caroline Atkinson, director of external relations at the IMF.

The fund was also taking “updates outside Washington to represent the global nature of our work”, she added.

The pace of recovery varied across the sub-Saharan region.

Growth was now close to the pre-financial crisis high in the low-income countries of sub-Saharan Africa. These countries had grown by over six percent prior to the financial crisis and were expected to grow by 6.5 percent in 2011.

“The recovery in South Africa and its neighbours, however, has been more subdued, reflecting the more severe impact of the collapse in world trade and elevated unemployment levels that are proving difficult to reduce.”

The IMF predicted growth of 3.5 percent for South Africa in 2011. This was almost in line with the SA Reserve Bank’s forecast of 3.4 percent growth in gross domestic product for 2011.

South Africa’s forecast growth is below the average of other emerging and developing economies, which were expected to grow by 6.5 percent in 2011, according to the IMF.

“… during the recent crisis South Africa’s financial system fared relatively well,” said José Viñals, financial counsellor and director of the IMF’s monetary and capital markets department.

Risks to the economy remained, because of the influence of the country’s major trading partner, Europe.

“The pace of recovery in Europe, the dominant trade partner for most non-oil-exporting countries in sub-Saharan Africa, is modest and uncertain.”

The IMF warned the “sharp pickup” in fuel and food prices could have a significant impact on non-oil-exporting countries in the region.

“Rising food prices are likely to affect the urban poor in particular, given the high share of food in their consumption baskets.”

Countries would have to counter this with social grants or “social safety nets” which they would have to find funds for.

Global financial conditions broadly improved in the latter half of 2010, although there were still “lingering vulnerabilities”.

Countries should also remain alert about inflation as there was pressure from rising commodity prices.

Olivier Blanchard, economic counsellor and director of the IMF’s research department, told the briefing that global economic recovery continued at two speeds — a slower rate for advanced economies and a much faster growth rate for emerging economies.

This could lead to “tensions and risks” which need strong policy responses, he said.

“With emerging markets now accounting for almost 40 percent of global consumption and more than two-thirds of global growth, a slowdown in these economies would deal a serious blow to the global recovery — and to the rebalancing that needs to take place,” the IMF warned.

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Africa: Unlocking the Economic Potential of Biotechnology

Jose W. Fernandez

By 2050 population growth is expected to translate into a 70 percent increase in global demand for food. Add the estimated 27 percent decline in global productivity expected due to climate change, and it is clear that the demand for food production will become more critical in the coming decades.

Countries that depend on rain-fed agriculture will be especially vulnerable. Crop models for Sub-Saharan Africa have indicated that in 2050, average rice, wheat, and maize yields will decline by up to 14 percent, 22 percent, and 5 percent, respectively.

But there are rays of hope as we go towards 2050. The potential for agriculture in Africa is great. African countries can use their own experiences, indigenous knowledge and traditional methods, as well as the many talents of their people to adopt and adapt the best of what science has to offer in new technologies.

An essential lever for raising agricultural productivity is increasing investments in science and technology. An important lesson of the 1960s “Green Revolution” was that agricultural research could contribute decisively to spurring agricultural growth. Countries that simultaneously adopted the technology and increased their investments in agricultural research have maintained and even accelerated their rate of productivity and growth. New technologies – like biotechnology, conservation tillage, drip irrigation, integrated pest management, and new multiple-cropping practices – have improved the efficiency and productivity of agricultural resources over the last decade. Around the world some 14 million small and resource poor farmers in the developing world have already benefited from biotechnology crops.

In a 2008 survey of the global impact of biotech crops, the global net economic benefits to biotech crop farmers was $9.2 billion dollars, divided roughly equally between developed and developing countries. In South Africa, for example, biotech maize, soybean, and cotton are estimated to have enhanced farm incomes by $383 million dollars. In other areas of the world, the technology has changed the lives of farmers and raised incomes in a matter of years. In India, conservative estimates for small-scale farmers have indicated that the use of biotech cotton has increased yield by 31 percent, decreased insecticide application by 39 percent, and increased profitability by 88 percent, equivalent to $250 U.S. dollars per hectare. With the advent of enhanced tools, such as drought-resistant corn and disease-resistant bananas, those who have paved the way for the technology will reap even further economic benefits.

African researchers are already working on the next generation of biotech crops that will have a wider array of benefits for farmers, like drought tolerance, nitrogen-use efficiency, and salt tolerance to help address shifting environments due to climate change. But second generation biotech crops will go beyond benefits to the farmer. Work is underway in crops, like cassava and rice, to increase their vitamin, mineral, and protein content, benefitting the consumer as well.

So we know what technology can do. The question is what has been keeping it out of the hands of those who could benefit from it? In many cases misinformation has made people fear a process and its products. However, the real obstacle is the lack of functioning regulatory systems that would allow countries to make their own decisions about the safety of these products. Biotechnology-produced crops have been assessed for safety in all regions of the world – from the European Union to Japan to Brazil to Burkina Faso. Not to adopt biotechnology because of unfounded claims after more than 15 years of safe use and proven benefits would be to unnecessarily narrow an African farmer’s agricultural potential. It is one of the tools, which, when paired with the right incentives, can enable Africa’s farmers and businesses to close the productivity gap.

But those incentives must have political will behind them. Technology alone is not the answer. To make use of the potential of biotechnology, science-based regulatory systems must be established. I call upon those who have the ability to do so to put in place such sound policies, based on science, and to take full advantage of what investment in agricultural science and technology can do for African farmers and economies.

Several African countries have already adopted the policies and regulatory frameworks needed to support the responsible and safe use of biotechnology. I applaud their courage and foresight to move forward. With increased political will, strong research support, and biosafety policies and regulations that empower the use of the technology, African countries can revolutionize their agricultural sector. What’s more, they can squarely look those in the eye who maintain that crop technology leads to lost markets, and ask them to explain why the expanding economies of the world are exactly those that are developing and using biotechnology.

To those who fear monopolies and multinational ownership of the food supply, I say promote competition, don’t stifle innovation. It is clear that economic growth will be achieved by those countries that are innovators in agriculture and that take the leap of faith needed to invest in their farmers, which is an investment in their future.

Mr. Fernandez was nominated by President Obama on August 6, 2009, and sworn in as Assistant Secretary on December 1, 2009. He serves as the Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs. He leads the Bureau that is responsible for overseeing work on international trade and investment policy; international finance, development, and debt policy; economic sanctions and combating terrorist financing; international energy security policy; international telecommunications and transportation policies; and support for U.S. businesses and the private sector overseas. Mr. Fernandez was named one of the “World’s Leading Lawyers” by Chambers Global for his M&A and corporate expertise, an “Expert” in International Financial Law Review’s “Guide to the World’s Leading Project Finance Lawyers”, and one of the “World’s Leading Privatization Lawyers” by Euromoney Publications.
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GLOCALISATION: A Development Model for Africa

Glocalisation is both an idea and a process. As an idea, ‘it refers to a set of principles wherein developing sovereign national states in the Global community, will formulate policies of regional and local content for the actualization of development in their respective regions. As a process, ”Glocalisation” is the beginning of a new era for developing states to attain optimum development vis-à-vis globalizing the Local, and localizing the global’.

In other words, leaders and policy makers of developing nations must acknowledge that workable solutions to the challenges facing their regions must best be sourced ‘locally’ vis-à-vis globalizing the local, and localizing the global. Granted, the world is a Global Village. In the pre- Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) world, economic advancement was not demographically defined; rather it came out of the level of the scientific and technological know-how each country was exposed to. The advanced countries of the western hemisphere hoarded as much scientific and technological information as possible leaving the Third World nations in the dust. Countries with large populations like the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India & China) experienced major hiccups: we can well remember the near collapse of the Brazilian currency in the 1980s, the widespread hunger in India and China (not forgetting that Japan once colonized China, but today China has overtaken Japan as the world’s 2nd largest economy).

However, access to scientific and technological information has known very little restriction today, as the nations above (BRIC) made the best of it, investing heavily on education, the process through which intellectual capital is built. This has to a large extent facilitated rapid growth and development of these nations especially those with common origin, interest, culture, philosophies amongst others. Needless to state why we have nations forming alliances to promote their common interest such as the European Union, African Union, Asian Tigers, etc.

Suffice to state that the development of nations as mentioned above can largely be attributed to the application of principles inherent in the concept of GLOCALISATION which requires an independent nation(s) though recognizing her inclusion in the comity of nations, design and articulate a policy framework of local content for the attainment of her developmental goals. Consider a research report by Goldman Sachs (2003): The rise of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India & China). The report as originally published predicted that China’s economy will surpass Germany in the next few years, Japan by 2015, the United States by 2041. India’s growth rate will be the highest – not China’s- and it will overtake Japan (today the world’s second-largest economy) by 2032. Taken together, the BRIC could be larger than the United States and the developed economies of Europe within 40years.

According to the Goldman Sachs report, China’s economy overtook Germany’s economy, a year earlier than expected, and overtook Japan in July 2010. It is now believed that the Chinese economy will overtake the United States by 2027. With India accounting for 10 of the 30 fastest growing urban areas in the world and 700million people moving to cities by 2050, its influence on the world economy will be bigger and quicker than was implied in 2003 analysis.(source: Wikipedia)

Closely following the BRIC prediction is the 2004 Report on the NEXT ELEVEN {N-11}, where Nigeria is included among eleven nations warming up to also assert themselves in the global economic map. While China overtakes the United States as the greatest economic power in the world by 2047, Nigeria would become the 20th largest economy by 2025 and the 12th by 2050 ahead of G-7 giants, Italy and Canada.

Successive leaders coupled with a consistent local developmental plan have been able to take the countries in focus above to their present world status. India as been able to localize the global especially in the area of alternative health care. Most countries around the world seek after India’s healthcare expertise resulting in a rapid economic and social development to the nation. Japan has taken the world in the field of technology vis-à-vis globalizing the local, and localizing the global. Most of Japanese products compete favorably world over with those from the United States, U.K, Germany, Spain, just to mention a few. Same is true of Algeria and South-Africa, nations in Africa that have achieved remarkable development due to a consistent Local framework vis-à-vis globalizing the local, and localizing the global. South Africa hosted the famous FIFA world cup tournament in 2010, as the first Africa nation. Dubai of the United Arab Emirates hosts a ‘prototype’ of the world trade center (New York); a center for trade and tourism in Africa is non existent.

Needless to state that the countries making progress have learned to adapt international opportunities to their local benefits. Much can be learned by developing nations especially in Africa in achieving national and continental development from the concept of Glocalisation

Glocalisation will strengthen and give the needed impetus for Africans to proffer local solutions to the challenges facing the continent. Africa is well positioned on the world stage being endowed with numerous human and material resources to address its challenges with little or no external influence. While African owes the Global community of which it is an integral part for some of her achievement in commerce, healthcare, insurance, transportation, etc, much of the desired results yet to be recorded by the continent especially in the area of governance, Human Rights, freedom and legality can realistically be attained with the principle of Glocalisation.

Presently, a major challenge facing the continent of Africa is the political upheaval in IVORY COAST where the incumbent president – Lauren Gbagbo lost in the nation’s last general election to his opposition leader- Alassane Quattara and insists on holding on to power despite calls from the international community and regional heads that he hands over. Interestingly, African Leaders under the auspices of AFRICAN UNION have succeeded in the past in ousting a defiant and failed leader out of power. Examples are sierra-lone, Liberia, Kenya just to mention few. ECOWAS, a regional community of which Ivory Coast is a signatory to with Nigeria as its seat of power is about to use military measure as a last resort to make the vote of the people count if the incumbent insists on not vacating office. Much of this is of interest to political observers and people around the world, especially Africans. Challenges as above are addressed locally with consideration to external measures.  In addition, the age-long Niger Delta region crisis in Nigeria over resource control appears to be halted in 2010 when the government in power granted ‘AMNESTY’ or ‘STATE PARDON’ to the militants, leading to an unprecedented handing over of arms and ammunition by the aggrieved youths of the community. Many benefited from the federal government Rehabilitation Programs for the ex-militants which empowered the youths in various skills and trade. That in itself was a practical demonstration of principles inherent in Glocalisation.

African leaders must come to terms with the peculiar challenges facing the continent and in the spirit of the African continent, proffer local solutions to the continent’s challenges. This is the time for African leaders to call back home Africans in the Diaspora to contribute towards the development of the continent using their international exposure and experience in all field of human endeavors. This will in turn translate into globalizing the local, and localizing the global for the benefit of the continent and its people.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) of the third world nations will be realized only if the principles of Glocalisation are applied. African Leaders must consolidate effort towards the actualization of the MGDs. In my view, African leaders through the African Union should develop a long term development plan of Local Content geared towards addressing Poverty, Education, Mortality, Human Rights, etc., which are the issues embedded in the MDGs. Hence, there should be a’ Master-Plan’ out of which regional bodies in Africa-(ECOWAS, SADC) draw their individual plans. The MGDs should be a ‘driving force’ for African leaders to take the continent to its next level in the global community. Imagine a time when the western region of Africa connects the East, South and North through an integrated Rail system….(AFROLINE), when an African University is rated amongst the best five in the world; when a common mechanized agricultural system is developed; when the average African lives above one dollar per-day; when we can rely on our indigenous medical experts in handling terminal ailments such as cancer; and when our leaders plays high value in service devoid of corruption, violence, abuse of power and so on. All these can be achieved when principles inherent in Glocalisation are holistically applied in Africa.

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African Development Bank Positioning Nigeria among the Strongest Economies in the World in 2020

Africa Business Communities

The African Development Bank (AfDB ) President, Donald Kaberuka, just completed a two-day official visit to Nigeria (23-24 November 2010). During this visit, he met with Goodluck Jonathan, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who reiterated his congratulations and support.

“Nigeria is at your side to support you to continue the reforms you have undertaken,” said President Jonathan Goodluck. In order to better understand Nigeria’s needs and assess the prospects for future AfDB Group operations in the country, the AfDB President also held talks with Vice-President Namadi Sambo, Senate President David B. A Mark, parliamentarians, the chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament, the Minister of Finance Olesegun Agang, government officials, bankers, experts and business people.

“I’m leaving Nigeria’s satisfied with the quality of the discussions I had at all levels. Nigeria is a large country with huge potential, an economy that plays a leading role in the West African region. Like most African countries, Nigeria is suffering from a large deficit in infrastructure, particularly in energy. The AfDB is prepared to lend its support to resolve this problem, in close collaboration with the Nigerian private sector”, said the Bank Group President during a press briefing concluding his visit.

During a meeting with the principal architects of Vision 2020, held at the Presidential Palace under the chairmanship of Vice-President Sambo, the Bank Group President took note on the needs expressed by the Nigerian authorities. These requirements extend to all sectors, especially infrastructure (airports, roads, railways, ICT, energy), capacity building, industry, agriculture and rural development, governance, climate change, integration at federal and regional levels.

Vision 2020 aims at positioning Nigeria among the top 20 world economies. However, to achieve this goal, Nigeria must ensure an average in energy generation of 40,000 megawatts per day. To date, total electricity generation in Nigeria is 3,500 megawatts / day, against an estimated demand of 15,000 megawatts per day. The estimated investment in this sector to fill the gap amounts to the equivalent of USD 4 billion/year over the next 10 years.

Areas of intervention involved in Vision 2020 in Nigeria are in line with the AfDB Group Medium-Term Strategy. “I welcome the farsighted vision of the Nigerian authorities and the proper articulation of Vision 2020. The AfDB Group and Nigeria will work together for its realization, “said President Kaberuka.

Nigeria is a founding member of the AfDB. The country has access to both non-concessional (ADB) and concessional (ADF) resources. The AfDB has an office in Nigeria as part of its decentralization policy.

(Africa Business Communities)

 

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Nigeria’s Role in Africa Over the Next 50 Years

Dr. Robin Sanders, U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria

Nigeria — a nation of plenty, a nation of potential, and nation of prospects. These are the key pillars that the next 50 years should bring to fruition for this great country. As an African-American who sees Nigeria as one of the most important global nations in the world today, it is important for Nigeria, with the support and encouragement from its friends, to enter the next half century with the goal of improving the daily lives of each Nigerian citizen. This includes having a safe enabling environment not only for economic growth and development, but also to further ensure its rightful place as a leader in the sub-region on peace and security issues. Nigerians, and their friends, see the struggles that this great nation faces today with instability being renewed in the Delta, ethnic tensions in parts of the North, corruption issues, and concerns about a successful, and transparent election looming large for April 2011.

None of these issues should be taken lightly, they are real, cause uncertainty, and are challenges that must be addressed in a transparent manner to set the stage not only for Nigeria in the next 50 years, but also for the African continent writ large. The nation of Nigeria and the people I have had the pleasure of working with and knowing have always made me proud to be connected to a country with such great potential and prospects. Nigeria is a symbol for many African-Americans in so many positive ways — the creativeness, the talent, and the strong love of country — to name a few of the core values that I experienced living in Nigeria. This viewpoint does not mean that we are not rooting for Nigeria to be even more than it is today and that it must continue to work to ensure that the challenges of today mentioned above are addressed and are not markers of the future. I was asked about the role of Nigeria in the future of Africa over the next 50 years given that Nigeria and 17 other nations celebrated their jubilee anniversary in 2010. There are several very important points to make in this regard:

Leadership by far is Nigeria’s first role on the continent as it is a key political, security, and trading partner in the sub-region and with other world nations. However, with this, it has to continue to find ways to better address its own internal security and corruption issues as part of this leadership and make transparent elections and good governance the order of the day;

Nigeria’s development role is next, particularly, as Nigeria and the rest of Africa should be the next emerging frontiers for economic growth, markets, and trade. The recent positive news in some quarters of Nigeria’s macro-economic and capital market reforms efforts spurred by the leadership at Nigeria’s Central Bank and at its Security and Exchange Commission are symbolic of the solid foundations that countries in Africa need to be moving toward over the next 50 years. The issues of most concern to me are what I have called the FEEEDS issues (with the acronym meaning Food Security, Education, Environment, Energy, Development/Democracy and Self-Help). The FEEEDS issues will need to be better handled over the next 50 years by all nations on the continent;

Nigeria’s youth and women need to be included and play a key role in the direction of the country. Given that more than half of Nigeria’s population is under the age of 35 coupled with having nearly 74 million women, both youth and women need to be provided with not only ample but more adequate educational opportunities (including vocational and entrepreneurship training) as they are vital to a viable future for any nation. No nation can develop by excluding more than half its population from a strong and visible role in political development, and social sector reform; and, transparency in resource management which is not only cross sectoral but also a synergistic way of better addressing how all resources — energy resources, land and water resources, human resources, and financial resources — in a country are governed.

None of us has a crystal ball, and none of us can predict the future. What we can do is our utmost to put in place the things that we know can help make the future a better place. Nigeria, as the most populated nation on the continent and because of the core values I know are part of the Nigerian mosaic, can and should help set the stage for the future of the Africa region and the global community, but addressing the four points above are key parts of achieving these goals.
 
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Using Africa as a Test-Bed for Sustainable Technology

Joshua Keyak, Political science student at Yeshiva University and PresenTense ’09 Greening Fellow

Generally when people talk about needing to slow down and stop climate change they point to the world’s most egregious emission offenders. While countries like the United States and China have the ability to make the largest impact on emission reduction, every country must do its part. Africa has one of the lowest carbon emissions per-capita largely due to its status as underdeveloped. In fact, by using African counties as a test bed for sustainable technologies, we can both help bring sustainability to the forefront and aid developing countries.

To make real progress we need a massive investment in sustainable infrastructure in Africa. Part of the major carbon emitters responsibility is to help developing countries ease into industrialization, but in a sustainable manner. At the same time Africans must take it upon themselves to come into the future with sustainability in mind. I do not mean to gloss over this and pretend this is going to be easy. This will necessarily be a long process with a need to address political and security issues. While there are stable African governments, there are many with dictatorial regimes and even more that are that are war torn. These forms of government certainly stand in the way of the progress of sustainability.

The use of Africa as a test-bed for sustainable technology, albeit on the periphery of its mission, has been tried by the Earth Institute. One of the biggest problems I believe this institution strives to solve, as should the powers of the world if they are serious about this issue, is how to approach Africa. For years, Africa has been looked upon as a continent riddled with tribal war dating back to ancient times. Many do not hesitate to classify this society as primitive and thus, believe that the “solution” to the “problem” is supplanting infrastructure and industrialization. If we can see that Africa is a continent which was controlled through colonization and was demoralized, split up and forced to hate, we can see that the “solution” is not so clear. Aid to Africa is not a mere imposition of our beliefs on their culture, but it is working together with their culture to bring sustainable technology to them. Once we set them on the path, they will have the tools to “fish” for themselves.

In my coming posts I will address specific factors that make Africa ripe for sustainability and the challenges to why this may never happen. At the same time I will try to suggest ways to help develop African countries in a sustainable matter.
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The Black woman’s new look

"Naked woman, black woman. Dressed in your color that is life, in your form that is beauty!", reads the famous line from Leopold Senghor’s Femme Noire. And yet, day in day out, the man regarded as one of the most revered African intellectuals of the last century is ridiculed down to his toe nails. Natural beauty? What natural beauty. From New York, London, Paris to Brazzaville, via Abidjan, Bamako, Dakar, Douala…, it is becoming increasing rare to come across Black women strutting their naturally strong feminine magnetism. Apart from the outrageous skin lightening phenomenon, the sexy afro hair has not only given way to synthetic hair, but hairs that are grown on Indian, Brazillian and Chinese heads. Congo, a typical African setting, has become the quintessential burlesque of the counterfeited African woman. Needless to say, it is a high return enterprise for a woman who proudly calls herself the Congolese "Marilyn Munroe"!
It is a fine September morning in Brazaville, Congo, and the bourgeois species has invaded the main morgue in the city. They are here to make sure that the body of a defunct dear one is properly appareled and ready for a big showy funeral. As paradoxical as it may seem, it is here in this morgue that the tired flabby skin and breasts of a corpse imbibed with hydroquinone is reborn. The low neckline dress or decolté thrown on the corpse to show its expensive breast job is confusing! "If God is dead, everything is permitted". Dostoevsky and Nietzsche couldn’t be more right. After all, humility is a tributary of that great river called pride. In Brazzaville, what should be a place of meditation and mourning has become a replica of the red carpet at the Cannes film festival. Women go to funerals to show off their curves, bosoms, new hair. Funerals are all about whetting sexual appetites. Mourning has been relegated to the background.
But even more surprising is that out of the 500 women present here at the morgue, 480 have long discarded their natural hair. They are either wearing wigs or weaves. Woe betide anyone who dares break the code of new womanhood and not wear a wig! And not just any wig. It has to be Brazilian or Indian! Insults and mockery against the prodigal daughter who doesn’t are virulent. "Brazilian" and "Indian" hair are second to none. And the Indians, whose hairs are transformed into wigs and are certainly unaware of their own abuse, continue to brighten the days of hundreds of Congolese women who line up to buy or rent fake hair with a mutinous urge, thousands of miles away.
In a corner of the morgue, one of the womenfolk’s "Indian" hair flows all the way down to caress her huge round buttocks, whilst her three year old daughter’s "Brazilian" dances the samba on her shoulders. "Without it (the Indian), I feel uneasy," says the Indian-haired Black mother, with a smirk. "From the first lady to the very last, we are all keen on frills, without which we are nothing". No one dares to challenge her as all eyes covetously move to another woman in the middle of the room, brazenly sporting nothing natural; from her bleached skin, false eyelashes, enhanced breasts, false nails, nose job, surgically implanted bluish green eyes, and of course her long Beyonce-looking wig. She is apparently a Congolese French-born Parisian gallery manager. "Like all women, I need to change my hairstyle from time to time for that surprise effect. This requires wigs or weaves, without which I am not in harmony with myself" she says.
And Congo is the land of The Miss. There are so many pageants to make Donald Trump run for dear life! The list is inexhaustible… Miss Fifty (years), Miss Forty (years), Miss fight against flies, Miss Total, Miss Fortune … All these women spend up to 700 Euros each (450 000 FCFA) on wigs. The Lace Wig, especially, can easily reach the sum of 1000 Euros.
"As long as there are black women, I wont be found wanting"
And in this big burlesque oratorio – where the most unnatural is queen – a young woman has found her perfect act. She organizes the orchestra of fakes. Thirty something, her unnaturally lightened skin is imbibed in cortisone. She would be white had it not been for those dark and stubbornly natural knuckles. Nonetheless, she’s got the title all the Bacongo women would die for: "the Congolese Marilyn Monroe". She is a natural blonde. Natural because her wig is. She gets her hair from Brazil. A businesswoman at heart, she does not own a wig or weave shop. No, she does not. She has made it big by renting out wigs that come straight from Brazil. More than four times per year, she travels from Brazzaville to Rio. Her business is a force to reckon with.
Every single Saturday, a myriad of superficial and extremist women armed to the nail hasten to her home at dawn, hours before she gets out of her satin linen bed. They have to be among the first arrivals to get the best. They are all fanatic converts of the "mine" (the art of borrowing clothes or accessories). Among them, are those who would rent a wig for 10 000 FCFA at the weekend, while there are those who rent a wig for 30 000 FCFA per week. The business woman has hundreds of customers in Brazzaville, with the exception of those who live on the outskirts.
Only recently, she rented a wig to a Member of Parliament for 50 000 CFA francs for two days. "The MP counted five fresh notes of 10 000 CFA francs without batting an eye, and she did not even try to bargain," enthused the entirely artificial Marilyn Munroe, adding: "As long as there are black women, I wont be found wanting: my head is throbbing with so many ideas for black beauty …" One of her biggest wishes is to have more customers like that good MP. And for good reason: "wigs rented by VIPs are returned intact, unlike those rented out to those ordinary girls". Besides, she wants to penetrate foreign markets. "Why not Cameroon where even the simple braids have not been seen for the past five thousand or so years?"
Her success has however stirred jealousy. And gossiping is rife: "Witchcraft partly explains her success," "She has lovers in every street corner, they are the ones who give her the money for her numerous trips," etc.. But "Marilyn Monroe" won’t be bothered. "It is true that many men want me! But my one and only boyfriend is enough!" What she fails to explain is her boyfriend’s probable fetishist tendencies; one that involves dating a woman who is artificially made from the crown of her head to the soles of her feet with the exception of her…
Notwithstanding the burlesque charade, "Marilyn Monroe" can be spared for one simple reason: Congo is an open madhouse. A place where everyone applauds everyone for no reason at all. On all fronts and at all levels there is someone ready to applaud… an applause for power cuts, one for water cuts, another one for that new dance move in town, how about a big one for Marilyn Munroe’s new wigs, an even louder one for that skin lightening product that bleaches the stubbornly dark skin on the knuckles? Yes the one with its own Black mind! Here, Michael Jackson is not seen as an artist, but one to be emulated.
A few months ago, Kenyan women had declared a sex strike to urge politicians to make more constitutional reforms. Men should do the same to encourage women to become more natural. But alas! some of the very men who can encourage that change are busily applying skin lightening creams and lotions. Do not say you were not forewarned, if you come across a poster with a male Congolese singer.
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How do we say your name?

In this article, I will be discussing some of the problems those of us who are ‘unlukcy’ to bear African names in the West go through. If you are lucky to be called John or Harriet, this will probably not make much sense to you. But I know to most of us it will.
First of all, let me admit, and of course if we’re going to be honest with ourselves, we all have some formulaic, rigid, over-simplified image of other people or group of people. The phenomenon just gets too wearisome when it is applied to Africa, an African or group of Africans. Everything about African is so simplified that a kindergarten kid should be able to comprehend it in its entirety. As Chimamanda Adichie described it, it is always a ‘single story’
It is not the over-simplification of the ‘African thing’ that is the problem. The problem is that in most cases, they tend to be untrue.  This false African mindset enslaves the one that holds it, not the one about whom the label is held. As Jesus said, ‘and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free”?
I cannot count the of times I’ve met people who will not even endeavor to mention my name for fear that it is too ‘African’ and they might get it wrong. Some years ago, I work in a company where the mail carrier never mentioned my name or even ever attempted to mutter it once. He used to stand at the entrance to my cube and throw my mails at my table and laugh it off saying, “man, I dare not try to pronounce your name”. “That’s fine”, I’ll interject. The paradox is that this man was someone I knew could easily say ‘very hard to say names’ on our floor such as those I have below as if he was singing ‘‘twinkle, twinkle little star”.
I know ‘hard to say’ is always relative but please come on, be objective and help me through this.
If someone can say Kuzszczak even in a dream, why can’t he utter Kwaku?
Why would someone who said Przemyslaw with ease ever complain about Prempeh or Gyamfi or Amponsah (all from Ghana)?
How about kizhcikzwarzcy against Abibola (Yuroba?)
Then help me with Solskjaer versus Similoluwa (Yuroba)?
Finally weight Szvzeven or Tzeentch against Kimutai (Kenya), or Tshabalala (South African)?
This is my explanation and I know I may be wrong. The first step in this process is for the person to see the name as African name, and there is nothing wrong with that. I see names that I can easily identify to be Chinese or Iranian names. However, when it comes to African names, this realization subsequently means that,  as formula predicts, it should be difficult to pronounce and therefore even too scary to make the attempt. The individual gets incarcerated by his or her mathematical opinion of Africans and their stuff.
Does this bother me? No, not at all. But I know to a lot of people it does. Can we do something about it? May be not much except to show pride in our names, customs and traditions just as Indians and Chinese in the west do. It is ordinary people like you and I who have to embark on a mission to change the narrative for our children.
African names are cool.
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