Howard Univ. Africa Business Conference

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Zimbabwe Hyperinflation: Z$100tr note

Make we talk true...Zimbabwe's hyperinflation is far beyond "getting out of control" Chei!

Zimbabwe is introducing a Z$100 trillion note, currently worth about US$30 (£20), state media reports.

Other notes in trillion-dollar denominations of 10, 20 and 50 are also being released to help Zimbabweans cope with hyperinflation.

However, the dollarisation of the economy means that few products are available in the local currency.

On Thursday, the opposition leader said he was still committed to power-sharing intended to rescue the failing economy.

Since September, when the deal was signed, talks have stalled over who should control key ministries.

Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai said he was due to hold talks with President Robert Mugabe "within this coming week" to try to resolve the political crisis.

He described Mr Mugabe as "part of the problem but also part of the solution".

The latest annual figure for inflation, estimated in July last year, was 231m% - the world's highest.

"In a move meant to ensure that the public has access to their money from banks, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has introduced a new family of banknotes which will gradually come into circulation, starting with the Z$10 trillion," Zimbabwe's state-run Herald newspaper quotes a bank statement as saying.

But previous issues of new banknotes - and the dropping of several zeros from the currency - have done little to help Zimbabweans cope with inflation.

On Tuesday, a 50bn Zimbabwean dollar note was issued, less than a month after a Z$500m bill was released.

Correspondents say prices can double every day, and food and fuel - for those without US dollars - are in short supply.

Last month, the daily bank cash withdrawal limit - which at one stage was only enough for several loaves of bread - was abandoned.

However, most banks do not have enough cash to meet demand.

Some shops are licensed to sells goods in foreign currency but everyone from vegetable sellers to mobile phone service providers peg their prices to the US dollar.

Most groceries are brought in by Zimbabweans from neighbouring South Africa, Botswana or Zambia, further driving up prices.

There is more than 80% unemployment in the country and those with jobs find their salary is worthless unless they are paid in foreign currency.

Tears

Mr Tsvangirai is expected to return to Zimbabwe on Saturday after two months abroad.

At a press conference in Johannesburg, Mr Tsvangirai again appealed for prominent human rights activist Jestina Mukoko, who appeared in court on Thursday, and other such detainees, to be released.

"Those abducted and illegally detained must be released unconditionally if this agreement is to be consummated," Reuters news agency quotes Mr Tsvangirai as saying.

Ms Mukoko - director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project - denies charges of organising military training to topple President Mugabe.

She broke down in tears in court as she spoke about her ordeal when she was abducted from her home by armed security agents at the beginning of December.

She described how she was beaten on her feet during questioning.

"The experience was frightening. I would not wish it upon anyone," she said.

Under September's power-sharing agreement, Mr Tsvangirai is to become prime minister while Mr Mugabe remains as president.

But the deal faltered after the MDC accused Zanu-PF of keeping the most powerful ministries - including the one that controls the police - to itself.

As the political wrangling continued, Zimbabwe has been hit by a cholera epidemic that has claimed more than 2,000 lives, made worse by the collapse of the water, health and sanitation systems.

Mr Tsvangirai, and Western nations, accuse Mr Mugabe of not being sincere about power-sharing.

Mr Mugabe insists he welcomes the power-sharing deal, and has resisted growing international pressure to resign.

SOURCE: BBC

Which is better: to be Madoffed or 419ed

"cough" "cough"...do the naija 419 guys need to step up their game? I wasn't gonna bring this up but haba...$50 Billion scheme, still sending out gifts worth millions to friends, transferring millions overseas and has the privilege of waiting for trial in his $7 Million crib. Chei...pensions have been wiped out, some guy has committed suicide, and some charities have to fold up shop...

for over ten years...

whereas there are "taskforces" still pursuing 419 aka yahoozee ala peckam guys. Perhaps those taskforce efforts would be better served by focusing on the "ogbologbo" scam artists.

I'm just saying

South African Companies Unlock sub-Saharan Africa

Versed in the highs and lows of emerging-market development, SABMiller, Standard Bank, and others are expanding across the continent and beyond.

Name a global economic woe, and chances are Charles Needham is dealing with it. Market turmoil has knocked 80% off the shares of South Africa's Metorex, the mining company he runs. The plunge in global commodities is slamming prices for the copper, cobalt, and other minerals Metorex unearths across Africa. The credit crisis makes it harder to raise money. And fighting has again broken out in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Metorex has a mine and several projects in development.

Such problems might send many executives to the window ledge. Yet Needham appears unruffled as he sits down at a conference table in the company's modest offices in a Johannesburg suburb. The combat in northeast Congo, he notes, is far from Metorex's mine. Commodity prices are still high, in historical terms. And Needham is confident he can raise enough capital, drawing on relationships with South African banks. "These are the kinds of things you deal with, doing business in Africa," he says.

For the full article log on to BusinessWeek

Dangote To Invest $250 Million Into Ethiopian Cement Industry

Nigerian billionaire, Aliko Dangote, has announced plans to invest over $250 million in the cement industry in Ethiopia, according to media reports here on Tuesday.

According to local media reports, Aliko under his company, Dangote Industries Ltd., have taken investment license during the past months from the Ethiopian Investment Agency.

Accordingly, his company will in week’s time start its construction works in the Oromia regional state of Ethiopia, which is known for its many investment opportunities.

According to a report by a local newspaper; Addis Admass, the representative of Dangote Industries Ltd in Ethiopia, Teshome Lemma has indicated that their planned factory will have the capacity to produce 2.5 million metric tons of cement annually.

The factory, which promises to be the biggest investment in the cement industry in Ethiopia, is expected to create job opportunities for over 2,000 Ethiopians.

Ethiopia is currently facing cement scarcity due to the construction boom in Addis Ababa. As a result, the country is also currently importing a huge amount of cement to tackle the shortage.

According to available information, at the age of 21, Aliko Dangote became a stock trader from a loan by his uncle. After he built his company, the Dangote Group, into a conglomerate with interest in sugar, flour milling, cement and salt processing, he struck gold when his sugar production company was listed on the Nigerian stock exchange in 2006. Presently, the Dangote Group dominates the sugar market in Nigeria and it is also Nigeria’s largest industrial group.

Dangote is ranked the 334th richest man in the world with $3 billion. Ethiopia’s Sheik Al-Amoudi is said to be the richest African with $9 billion. He is also involved n the cement industry in Ethiopia.

SOURCE: The Times of Nigeria

Africa Investment - T-Bills

I'm no finance guru, and if there are any readers that are please chime in, but here is some information you might be interested in.

Nigeria to auction $341M in treasury bills

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria will auction 40.11 billion naira in 91-day and 182-day treasury bills on Wednesday to tame money supply, the central bank said on Tuesday.
The bank said it will issue 5.11 billion naira in 91-day bills and 35 billion naira in the 182-day paper, using the Dutch Auction System.
The results of the auction will be announced on Thursday, the regulator said.
The auction is one of the measures the central bank employs to control money supply, curb inflationary growth and help retail banks manage their liquidity.

Source: Reuters

What nation's flag are these African children displaying in the picture below?

Liberia's New Lap of Luxury

ROBERT JOHNSON PLANS POSH RESORT IN WEST AFRICA

...RLJ Kendeja Resorts & Villas will be an $8 million, 85-room, four-star resort on the Atlantic coast of northern Africa, near the capital of Liberia. Whatever images the world might have of an impoverished country that is still trying to recover from 13 years of civil war, Johnson wants this project to provide a new one.

"There is no hotel in West Africa like this," he says, sitting straight-backed on the edge of the bed in a crisp blue suit. "This will be a Class-A beachfront property, with great views from the bar and restaurant out to the ocean. This really is going to be something."

For the full article click here

African Company: Safaricom worth over $4.5 Billion after IPO

NAIROBI, June 9 (Reuters) - East Africa's biggest initial public offer debuted on Monday with shares in Kenya's Safaricom surging as much as 60 percent to value the mobile phone company at more than $4.5 billion.

Click here to read the full story.

Welcome ChinAfrica

China Invades Africa.

This is a very eye opening article about China's quest for resources in Africa, particularly the players, both winners and losers, in this growing phenomenon.



While America is preoccupied with the war in Iraq (cost: half a trillion dollars and counting), and while think-tank economists continue to spit out papers debating whether vital resources are running out at all, China's leadership isn't taking any chances. In just a few years, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has become the most aggressive investor-nation in Africa. This commercial invasion is without question the most important development in the sub-Sahara since the end of the Cold War -- an epic, almost primal propulsion that is redrawing the global economic map. One former U.S. assistant secretary of state has called it a "tsunami." Some are even calling the region "ChinAfrica."

For the complete article click here

The World's Billionaires: #334

Fortune: inherited and growing
Source: sugar, flour, cement manufacturing
Net Worth: $3.3 bil
Country Of Citizenship: Nigeria Residence: Lagos , Nigeria, Middle East & Africa
Industry: Diversified
Marital Status:
Education:
Nigeria's first billionaire hit the jackpot when his sugar-production company listed on the Nigerian stock exchange last year. Meanwhile, proposed initial public offerings of his flour and cement companies have stalled. Began career as trader at 21 with loan from his uncle; built his Dangote Group into conglomerate with interests in sugar, flour milling, salt processing, cement manufacturing, textiles, real estate, haulage and oil and gas. Closely linked to Nigeria's former president Olusegun Obasanjo.

Check out the Africans on the list.

NTA - 5th Public Lecture

Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria Chukwuma Soludo will be in attendance .

Venue:6400 Ivy LaneGreenbelt, MD 20770

@ 5pm!