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theafricareport www.theafricareport.com The N° 107 • APRIL-MAY-JUNE 2019 In this issue: PROFILE Ramaphosa’s agenda DEBATE Is Magufuli’s economic nationalism working? INVESTIGATION Nigeria’s OPL 245 net widens DOSSIERS Bayelsa, East Africa, Logistics most influential Africans A constellation of the celebrated: barrier-busting business folk and power players on the continent From the stars of the moment to those imagining Africa’s tomorrow JEUNE AFRIQUE MEDIA GROUP INTERNATIONAL EDITION Algeria 610 DA • Belgium €7.90 • Canada CA$ 12 • Denmark 80 DK • Ethiopia 200 Birr • France €7.90 • Germany €7.90 • Ghana GH¢ 35 • "Kenya KES 900 • Morocco 45 DH • Netherlands €7.90 • Nigeria 2000 NGN • Norway NK 95 • Rwanda RWF 7,500 • Sierra Leone LE 67,000 • South Africa R75 (tax incl.) • Sweden SEK 100 • Switzerland 10.90 FS • Tanzania TZS 20,000 • Tunisia 15 DT • Uganda UGX 30,000 • UK £7.2 • United States US$ 15.99 • Zambia 80 ZMW • Zimbabwe US$ 6.20 • CFA Countries 3,900 F.CFA • Euro Zone €7.90 Experience the Progress Visit us at: Munich, April 8th – 14th Find out more at www.liebherr-bauma.com www.liebherr.com info.lex@liebherr.com www.facebook.com/LiebherrConstruction EDITORIAL SIGNS OF AN AFRICAN SPRING By PATRICK SMITH editorial@theafricareport.com The mobilisation of hundreds of thousands of young people on streets across the continent demanding economic and political rights challenges traditional oppositionists as much as incumbent regimes In each case, the demonstrators in Algiers, Bamenda, Harare, Kampala, Khartoum and Kinshasa are taking on systems of vested interests and dysfunctional politics that are holding them back They are calling for sweeping change, not just different party colours in the presidency Even in South Africa and Nigeria or countries where politics seems quiescent or dominated by competition between ideologically identical parties, these new movements send important messages First is that the economic downturn has exposed the jobless growth of Africa’s boom years The demographic reality of the world’s youngest continent means this issue will dominate African politics for the next three decades Although most policymakers talk of structural reform, very few have a strategy and can implement it Second, when regimes try to reform after years of stasis, they are at their weakest point They have neither the legitimacy nor the resources to change the policy course The protesters’ grievances run the gamut of economic and social demands The main targets are the spiral in youth unemployment, stagnant economies held prisoner by international commodity markets, together with deteriorating provision of education and training – a key ingredient to revive dynamism Activists are finding new ways to organise and avoid the attentions of the police They have brought together students, professionals, and trade unionists of all ages – even feuding family members – into a sprawling movement Innovation is key to the organisational power of the new groups Activists in Algeria are using WhatsApp groups of football fans to mobilise support It worked On the evening of March, hundreds of thousands marched through the streets to call on President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to refrain from standing for a fifth mandate in April’s elections In Sudan and Zimbabwe, the governments have tried to shut down services like WhatsApp, so activists use virtual private networks to share information and send messages to the outside world All this has prompted easy comparisons with the rebellions that swept across North Africa in 2011 The protest movements in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia started that way, so the argument goes, but ended in a new autocracy, bloody chaos or frustration and disappointment There are parallels between today and 2011 but more importantly there are lessons Above all, demonstrate in peace, is the message circulating relentlessly among activists in Algeria and Sudan Many hope the form of the demonstrations themselves, heterogenous with a strong, sometimes majority, participation by women, can shape the political transitions This may prove the hardest task: for a popular movement to take on the responsibilities and limitations of political power without betraying its supporters THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 107 / APRIL-MAY-JUNE 2019 theafricareport #107 / April-May-June 2019 THE AFRICA REPORT 57-BIS, RUE D’AUTEUIL 75016 PARIS – FRANCE TEL: (33) 44 30 19 60 FAX: (33) 44 30 19 30 www.theafricareport.com CHAIRMAN AND FOUNDER BÉCHIR BEN YAHMED Ramaphosa is working on his image as ‘an enigma’ MOELETSI MABE/SUNDAY TIMES/GALLO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES PUBLISHER DANIELLE BEN YAHMED publisher@theafricareport.com EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER YVES BIYAH EDITOR IN CHIEF PATRICK SMITH MANAGING EDITOR NICHOLAS NORBROOK editorial@theafricareport.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR MARSHALL VAN VALEN PRODUCTION EDITOR OHENEBA AMA NTI OSEI To find the full editorial team, all our correspondents, and much more on our new digital platform, please visit: www.theafricareport.com SALES A JUSTE TITRE 03 EDITORIAL 06 MAILBAG 08 COFFEE WITH THE AFRICA REPORT / Bob Collymore 10 THE QUESTION 12 Q2 / April 14 Q2 / May 18 Q2 / June 63 EAST AFRICA FOCUS Policymakers are not yet looking at the many concerns of business and ordinary citizens in order to avoid the pitfalls that have hobbled other integration projects FEATURES 22 PROFILE / Ramaphosa’s destiny Ahead of May’s general elections The Africa Report talks to close contacts of the president over the years to build a picture of the man who says he can get South Africa out of its current mess 86 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL AFRICANS The Africa Report’s inaugural ranking of the top Africans who control the levers of power across politics, business and the arts: from billionaire barons to unpredictable peacemakers and soft-power superstars 122 INSIDE BAYELSA New projects are taking root in the Nigerian state after years of despoliation 36 INVESTIGATION / Nigeria’s billion-dollar oil scandal An investigation in Nigeria has turned into the country’s biggest corporate bribery case, with nine executives from Eni and Shell now on trial in Milan 146 LOGISTICS DOSSIER 48 WIDE ANGLE / The youth wave Ethiopia has high hopes for exports, and has made improving logistics a priority Sudan street protests, Bobi Wine, #FeesMustFall and #NotTooYoungToRun – a demographic tide is pushing back against outdated politicians, so how long before the bulwark crumbles? 56 DEBATE / Is Magufuli’s economic nationalism working? The threat of a $190bn tax bill became a $300m payment The Africa Report looks into whether the Tanzanian government’s barnstorming style will revolutionise the economy or scare away investors THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 107 / APRIL-MAY-JUNE 2019 156 ART & LIFE African designers are in the limelight when Black Hollywood stars choose their labels for red carpet ceremonies Tel: +33 (0)9 70 75 81 77 contact-ajt-sifija@ajustetitres.fr CONTACT FOR SUBSCRIPTION: Webscribe Ltd Unit College Road Business Park College Road North Aston Clinton HP22 5EZ United Kingdom Tel: + 44 (0)1 442 820580 Fax: + 44 (0)1 442 827912 Email: subs@webscribe.co.uk ExpressMag 8275 Avenue Marco Polo Montréal, QC H1E 7K1, Canada T : +1 514 355 3333 year subscription (4 issues): All destinations: €27 - $32 - £24 TO ORDER ONLINE: www.theafricareportstore.com ADVERTISING DIFCOM INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING AND COMMUNICATION AGENCY 57-BIS, RUE D’AUTEUIL 75016 PARIS - FRANCE Tel: (33) 44 30 19-60 – Fax: (33) 44 30 18 34 advertising@theafricareport.com PRINTER: SIEP 77 - FRANCE N° DE COMMISSION PARITAIRE : 0720 I 86885 Dépôt légal parution / ISSN 1950-4810 THE AFRICA REPORT is published by JEUNE AFRIQUE MEDIA GROUP For all your comments, suggestions and queries, please write to: The Editor, The Africa Report, 57bis rue d’Auteuil Paris 75016 - France or editorial@theafricareport.com MAILBAG Introducing a more technical curriculum doesn’t enough to address the root cause of the failing education system, as technology alone won’t fix our public schools [‘Yemi Osinbajo: Selling our crown jewels isn’t the solution’, TAR106 Dec./Jan 2019] What ails our educational system ranges from poverty in early childhood to underfunded districts and poorly designed incentives for an overburdened faculty, all of which feeds the unequal access to quality education for the teeming population of schoolage children Recruiting more qualified teachers into service requires more funding than the sector currently gets The proposed reform of the school curriculum will level the playing field of access, but level fields not necessarily translate to improved player skills, which is the entire point of education Maryam Bello, Ibadan, Nigeria 62 COUNTRY FOCUS | NIGERIA NIGERIA’S OBY RAISES CRUCIAL QUESTIONS Obiageli ‘Oby’ Ezekwesili Presidential candidate, Allied Congress Party of Nigeria The old order has delivered misery STEPHEN LOVEKIN/SHUTTER/SIPA THE POINT OF EDUCATION The Nigerian presidential candidate talks to The Africa Report about the education crisis and the need for the politics of ideas rather than personality B lunt-speaking and a passionate advocate for women’s r ights, Obiageli ‘Oby’ Ezekwesili has launched a groundbreaking run for the presidency, which looks like a logical stepin her professional and political career Standing for the small Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), she is shaking up the election by running a grassroots campaign with a dedicated band of young volunteer helpers Oby, as she is widely known in Nigeria, should not be underestimated as a campaigner What she lacks in establishment backers and corporate donors, she could make up for in her own enthusiasm and that of her young supporters She shot to global fame as one of the founders of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign in 2014 demanding that the government of Goodluck Jonathan find and rescuethe more than 270 schoolgirls kidnapped from Chibok in Borno State by the Islamist Boko Haram militia Oby and Hadiza Bala Usman, co-founder of the campaign, used social media to get the message around the world, and even US First Lady Michelle Obama was “I would a much better job than [Atiku] because government is not monolithic” pictured on social media brandishing a #BringBackOurGirls placard That campaign was a major reason why Jonathan lost the 2015 election An accountant by training, with amaster’sinpublicadministration from Harvard University, Oby has worked on development projects THE AFRICA REPORT for much of her career She joined then-president Olusegun Obasanjo’s government in 1999 as head of its Budget Monitoring Unit, where she earned the sobriquet ‘Madame Due Process.’ She later served as minister of mines and then of education before leaving government to join the World Bank as vice-president for Africa Oby is a fiercely independent campaigner At the launching of the now governing All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013, she warned its members that they should stand for more than chasing the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) out of power But she is also critical of Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s presidential candidate, with whom she clashed in government She tells The Africa Report that Atiku did “everything to undermine due process” when he was in government N ° 10 D E C E M B E R 018 - J A N U A R Y 019 DOUBTFUL DOUBLING FOR MAURITIUS Mauritius is keen to double the size of its financial sector in 12 years, but how will it find the growth strategies to achieve its dream in today’s global economic turmoil? [‘Mauritius: Offshore on the radar’, TAR105 Nov 2018] Various forecasts against a backdrop of new US government measures to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium have resulted in Turkey’s currency significantly Oby not only has the educational qualification, she also has enough professional experience to be president [‘Obiageli ‘Oby’ Ezekwesili: The old order has delivered misery’, TAR106 Dec./Jan 2019] It is sad that Oby was not seen as a major contender Instead, Nigerians were focused on two men who have been in power before and have shown that they have nothing to offer Is it because Nigerians cannot yet wrap their heads around a female president? Lucia Edafioka, Feminist and brand communications manager, Nigeria losing its value Four countries – Egypt, Jordan, Argentina and Barbados – have suffered from high debt and deficits Will Mauritius be successful in its expansion of its financial sector with new international investments when the general global economic outlook seems negative? Kokil Shah, Kenya HELL BREAKS LOOSE IN ZIMBABWE It surely never rains in Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s attempts to turn the economy around are yet to bear fruit [‘Zimbabwe 2019 Country Report’, TAR106 Dec./Jan 2019] Fuel shortages have loomed, doctors are going on strike, teachers are going to work twice a week and there has been a sharp increase in the prices of basic goods and services New uncorrupt blood is needed, human rights laws need to be respected and in a nutshell, a new government is needed Jeff K Chakanyuka, Zimbabwe HOW TO GET YOUR COPY OF THE AFRICA REPORT On sale at your usual outlet If you experience problems obtaining your copy, please contact your local distributor, as shown below ETHIOPIA: SHAMA PLC, Aisha Mohammed, +251 11 554 5290, aisham@shamaethiopia.com – GHANA: TM HUDU ENTERPRISE, T M Hudu, +233 (0)209 007 620, +233 (0)247 584 290, tmhuduenterprise@gmail.com – KENYA, UGANDA, TANZANIA: THE NEWZ POINT, Dennis Lukhoola, +256 701 793092, +254 724 825186, 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Unlimited For more info Visit www.gloworld.com/ng/business/gateway COFFEE WITH THE AFRICA REPORT BOB COLLYMORE PLATFORM BUILDER The Africa Report sits down with the retiring boss of Safaricom, Kenya’s dominant telecoms player and creator of the widely popular M-Pesa mobile-money platform By NICHOLAS NORBROOK in Nairobi “I highly recommend this lifestyle,” says Bob Collymore, sitting on the veranda of his imposing house in the affluent Nairobi suburbs “This morning I woke up and had the 8:15am call Then I caught up with some emails, then I have you and another media engagement after […] I don’t actually need to go to the office.” With the gentle chirrup of birdsong and the jazz radio playing in the large sitting room behind, it is hard to disagree, though the less well-organised might see their productivity suffer “And it occurred to me,” continues Collymore, “that we all get into this funnel, to commute and get into the office by 8-9am Whereas, I could easily the interviews here, go into the office by midday and miss the traffic.” Nairobi is blessed with an abundance of cars, which can render the smallest commute unbearable So it is no surprise to hear an executive plan around it But Collymore is not being boastful about his terrific life; he has a different problem to steer around Treatment for acute myeloid leukaemia has stripped his immune system of its former strength “I’m starting over from scratch,” he says Until it returns, he is forced to limit his interaction with people Collymore is a ‘silver linings’ guy rather than a ‘dweller’ One of those silver linings is the ability to put more time into his music “I have a saxophone addiction, yes It’s gotten worse in recent times The saxophone shop was right across the way from the hospital in London, so I bought myself a new Conn-Selmer saxophone And I’m very diligent I manage to get in seven or eight hours a week.” Collymore is not boasting about his terrific life; he has a different problem THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 107 / APRIL-MAY-JUNE 2019 That does not mean he is any less in touch with the office The launch of Safaricom’s mobile overdraft facility, for example, has been at the forefront of his days And he has had to fend off a recent polemic in Kenyan public life surrounding Safaricom’s dominant position It is one of the reasons he is so sanguine about a merger between two rivals, Airtel Kenya and Telkom Kenya “Telcom operators need to get a certain critical mass to work,” he says “So this will create a player with 33% market share That makes sense For the market it makes sense, too, to have a stronger player as competition to Safaricom.” But that is not where he believes the real competition will come from For all the kudos Safaricom won worldwide for its mobile payments platform M-Pesa, “you can pay for things with your Fitbit now,” says Collymore And in the future, the real challengers to telephone companies like Safaricom will come from ‘big tech’: Amazon, Google, Facebook, as well as Chinese challengers like Tencent WhatsApp has launched a payments trial in India involving tens of millions of participants If WhatsApp gets into payments and comes to Kenya, what will Safaricom do? “We don’t get complacent about these things,” says Collymore “For sure, we believe we need to evolve, and quickly The thing that we have today was designed 11 years ago.” That evolution is being helped along by a strategic partnership with Vodacom, the South Africa-based telecoms company, in particular with its data capabilities And Safaricom is looking for new revenue drivers “The shareholders are certainly looking for this,” says Collymore “And we think that you can bolt a few things together – e-commerce, payments and data analytics Most people are using data to gauge whether you are a credit risk or not But look at the Chinese, they are not looking at whether you have money or not – they are looking at whether you are a good guy or not They look at intent If I know that your intent is good, then I can rent you my apartment.” That gives companies that sit on piles of information an advantage “We have access to a pool of data, and not just our own but publicly available data, which can help us to start to profile people much better and to monetise that by how we develop our own products for you and individualise it,” says Collymore “But then also, how we move into other markets which are not our legacy markets, voice and SMS And not many operators can say that because they are just voice and SMS.” E-commerce is certainly an obvious choice – with a trusted brand, a payments platform and new logistics partner Sendy, Safaricom is stealing a march on other retailers seeking online customers But the strategy, like big tech’s, is to be the platform, says Collymore, “whether it was for the banking industry, the healthcare industry, the agricultural industry And we have our sights on the education sector Look, at Amazon, it doesn’t just sell books Google is putting balloons up in the air, it is not just a search engine.” Take, for example, DigiFarm, Safaricom’s new agricultural initiative The company will be able to give loans to a smallholder, source cheap inputs from iProcure – an agricultural start-up Safaricom invested in – deliver the latest agronomic expertise by phone, and then Investing $100 at the start of Collymore’s reign would deliver tenfold returns today connect the smallholder to specific off-takers All of this is in the Safaricom ecosystem Like all good musicians and chief executives, Collymore understands the importance of timing, for a company and for a career He looks at the way his predecessor Michael Joseph hewed Safaricom out of the stubborn potential of the market His own tenure – which comes to an end in August 2019 – has been about consolidation and profitable pivots to M-Pesa and data: investing $100 in the company when he began would have seen that money grow nearly tenfold R R TA U FO C PA -MAR JEAN And he is clear that the company needs a successor with yet another set of skills, as the chapter of the ‘ubiquitous platform’ begins “I have never been a good mergers and acquisitions person, but we will need someone who can spot a deal and grab it,” concludes Collymore “[We need] someone who understands the financial sector a lot more, if we are to occupy the fintech space, and someone who is not going to be scared of going into other markets.” Collymore says he is leaving with few regrets: a small number of missed opportunities and a regretted comment or two about the quality of Kenyan food, or about whether Kenyans trusted Safaricom more than the church His greatest triumph? The team he has assembled “Finish your tea,” he says “Let me just go get an injection pumped into me, and I will be back.” N° 107 / APRIL-MAY-JUNE 2019 There are many private logistics firms in Ethiopia, but most are small, with only one or two clients Privatisation of the railway, which has been beset with problems, might also prove problematic Only a small number of big companies are currently using it for exports, in part because the line does not yet reach the dock in Djibouti and there are no trunk lines to industrial zones, dry ports and depots Moreover, rail rates are not yet competitive with trucks Towards the end of 2018, China extended the debt repayment period for the railway from 10 to 30 years – possibly because Ethiopia had failed to start paying back the loans Completion of another line connecting to the northern city of Mekele has stalled because China’s Exim Bank is wary of financing it Perhaps the biggest bottleneck of all is the port of Djibouti [see box] It is small and congested, especially when the Ethiopian government procures bulk imports like wheat, sugar and fertiliser Freighters International’s Daniel says it is around 70% more expensive than other ports in the region Gizeshwork Tessema of Gize PLC, another local firm, puts it bluntly: “It’s the most difficult part of the supply chain.” Ports of possibility High-tempo port diplomacy characterised the early days of Abiy Ahmed’s premiership last year All Ethiopia’s seaboard neighbours received entreaties, starting with Djibouti in May An agreement struck between Abiy and his Djiboutian counterpart, Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, promised joint development of the latter’s maritime facilities: Ethiopia will take a stake in the port of Djibouti while Djibouti will have the option of taking stakes in state-owned Ethiopian firms The following month Ethiopia announced plans with Somalia to invest jointly in four sea ports Trips to Sudan and Kenya were followed by similar announcements, while a deal with the Emirati state-owned port operator DP World and the government of Somaliland made Ethiopia a minority shareholder in Berbera port A bigger game-changer was the rapprochement with Eritrea in July The deal struck between Abiy and President Isaias Afwerki included restoring Ethiopian access to the ports of Massawa and Assab In September, an Ethiopian vessel docked at Massawa for the first time in 20 years, though it is Assab – only 887km from Addis Ababa and close to large potash deposits in northern Ethiopia – that will be most important to the Ethiopian economy “Our natural gateway has always been Assab,” says Teodros Abraham of Ethiopia’s CLS Logistics Services Yet neither is currently fit for purpose Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which both played a role in the diplomatic thaw, are said to have promised funding to refurbish them, and the World Bank will likely chip in But it will take at least two years to get Assab ready for Ethiopian shipments, including installing a yard capable of receiving containerised cargo As it stands, Assab is suitable only for the Emirati military vessels that have been using it as a base since 2015 “Yes, Assab is an option – but not now,” says Serge Tiran of logistics firm Massida Group “Nothing is ready.” In the long-term, diversification will be good for Ethiopia Competition should bring down prices in Djibouti The prospect of rivals already seems to have jolted the country into action: after years of Ethiopian badgering, port working hours now include a full day on Thursday More importantly, new ports mean Ethiopia will have other options if Djibouti runs into trouble “An economy like Ethiopia cannot be dependent on one corridor,” says Teodros THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 107 / APRIL-MAY-JUNE 2019 149 ZHOU XIAOXIONG/XINHUA/SIPA A new Ethiopia-Djibouti railway should cut a three-day journey down to 12 hours LOGISTICS DOSSIER / PORTS OF CALL April 1965 Born CMPORT 1986 Earned a bachelor’s degree from Tianjin University in port and channel engineering April 2015 Promoted to general manager of CMPort INTERVIEW Jingtao Bai June 2015 Appointed managing director of CMPort 2016 Named deputy chairman of Dalian Port Company ‘Investment is not limited to ports’ The director general of China Merchants Port Holdings talks about exporting the Port-Park-City model created in the Chinese city of Shekou to Africa By JULIEN WAGNER and OLIVIER CASLIN for Jeune Afrique Big state-run conglomerates like China Merchants Group (CMG) – which is active in the ports, banking and insurance sectors – are at the forefront of China’s Africa policy Through its control of China Merchants Port Holdings (CMPort) and other entities, CMG is China’s biggest port operator It manages 36 terminals in 18 countries Three of the ports are in Africa, where CMPort has been active since 2007 It took control of Nigeria’s Tin-Can Island Container Terminal (TICT) in that year and then took minority stakes in ports at Lomé in 2012 and Djibouti in 2013 Also in CMG’s orbit is the operator Terminal Link, after purchasing a 49% stake from France’s CMA CGM in 2013 That gives the conglomerate indirect stakes in projects in Tangier, Casablanca and Abidjan Amidst tough competition from players like Bolloré, APM Terminals and DP World, CMPort won two of the 150 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 107 / APRIL-MAY-JUNE 2019 most sought-after port concessions on the continent: those at Nigeria’s Lekki and the planned Bagamoyo port in Tanzania CMPort is said to be in the race to buy a stake in Ethiopian Shipping & Logistics Services Enterprise (see page 138), which would expand the port company’s business by giving it the ownership of a dozen ships used for Ethiopia’s imports and exports That would strengthen CMG’s role in Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to build trade and infrastructure ties LOGISTICS DOSSIER / Jingtao Bai between China, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa TAR: What is your role in China’s Belt and Road Initiative? Jingtao Bai: We consider ourselves the natural executor of the Belt and Road Initiative In recent years, we have actively expanded business along the Belt and Road countries, and have become an important participant and promoter of the Belt and Road Initiative Djibouti seems to play a large role in your plans Why is that? Djibouti is located at the mouth of the Red Sea, which is very close to the major Asia-Europe shipping route and is an important gateway port for the hinterland countries within the region The importance of its geographical location gives it the potential to become a regional shipping centre Our investment in Djibouti is not limited to ports but also an international free trade zone and urban development, called the Shekou Port-Park-City (PPC) comprehensive development model What would be the impact, for your activities in Djibouti, of the next arrival of modern deepwater ports in Berbera or Massawa? ‘WE HAVE ALREADY RECOVERED ALL OUR INVESTMENTS’ Nigeria through direct links to the main motorways in the city and its industrial centres, as well as exploring waterways transport, so as to promote the development of local foreign trade […] With our continuous efforts, we have already recovered all our investments by the year 2017, which fully proved our foresight and validity in investing in TICT […] Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy, with the potential of replicating the PPC model We will explore this possibility at a suitable time in the future We are aware of the construction of other ports within the region However, we believe that Djibouti port has its absolute advantages in terms of location, facilities and service quality Moreover, it is costly for customers to reshuffle the shipping routes to the other ports We have great confidence in Djibouti’s port business Do you worry that the Togolese market is too small for your operations there? Lomé Container Terminal (LCT) is the only deepwater port in the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa […] Its maximum design capacity can reach up to 2.2 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) per year […] LCT resumed the ramp-up momentum and recorded a substantial growth of 36.1% year-on-year to 0.49m TEUs in the first half of 2018 The economy of West Africa is expected to continue to rebound in 2018 alongside the increase of oil prices and other basic materials, which will create a favourable environment for LCT to continue the ramp-up What are your expectations and ambitions in Nigeria? TICT is the most efficient container terminal in Lagos, offering services to 14 shipping companies calling in Lagos After CMPort invested in TICT, we made an overall evaluation and made a major investment in facilities and equipment, which has significantly improved the terminal productivity TICT employs about 610 staff, with the goal of turning TICT into the most efficient terminal in VINCENT FOURNIER/JA CMG plans to turn Djibouti’s port into a major shipping hub 152 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 107 / APRIL-MAY-JUNE 2019 The media have talked a lot about the Hambantota port deal, a 99-year lease signed in July 2017 with the Sri Lankan authorities to address its debt to China after the port did not attract the business to repay the loan Would this kind of deal be possible in Africa? Our investment in Hambantota is entirely based on commercial considerations It is a publicprivate partnership project jointly developed with the port authority of Sri Lanka and has nothing to with debt relief At the same time, our investment in Africa is also completely business driven LOGISTICS DOSSIER / AIRLINES The flag carrier is suffering, and even its own optimistic predictions not call for a return to profitability for at least the next two years SAA estimates it has the funds to keep running until June 2019 By HONORÉ BANDA With billions of dollars in debt and a record of opaque decisions and political interference, government-owned national carrier South African Airways (SAA) is under threat Reforming SAA and other parastatals puts President Cyril Ramaphosa in a tight squeeze: the economy is suffering and investors want to see improvements in that area, but the governing African National Congress’s leftist base is opposed to job cuts and privatisations, and national elections are planned for May SAA chief executive Vuyani Jarana, who was a veteran senior executive at telecoms company Vodacom, has the task of managing SAA’s multi-year turnaround That means improving the company’s supply contracts, possibly selling off subsidiaries like Air Chefs and cutting loss-making routes He told local media: “We are going to review the business model and ask: ‘What are the things we can that we can be great at, and what are the things we are not great at that we can let go?” Jarana’s goal is to make the company profitable by 2021, as the firm has been making losses and relying on government bailouts since 2011 The government upped SIPHIWE SIBEKO/REUTERS Saving South African Airways its guarantees for SAA in the 2019 State of the Nation address given by Ramaphosa in February SAA estimates that it has the funds to keep running until June of this year, but it is likely to need more government money and to roll over its commercial bank loans due this year in order to move forward with its plans Early days Reorganisation is the name of the main game Jarana announced in February that SAA will split its internal operations into three parts to make the company more nimble in its main areas of focus: the domestic, regional and international markets But analysts like Wits University’s Jannie Rossouw warn that changes to the way SAA manages the unpredictability of fuel prices and its wage bill will need to be addressed for the government’s current plans to be fruitful If SAA enters a better The firm has been making losses and relying on government bailouts since 2011 154 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 107 / APRIL-MAY-JUNE 2019 glide path, the government might consider selling some of its stake in the company on the stock market to raise more funds But the early days are showing that it will be difficult to keep the government on message In October, public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan announced that SAA does not have the means to launch any new routes In November 2018, finance minister Tito Mboweni said SAA should be shut down Then on a trip to India in January 2019, President Ramaphosa said that SAA should relaunch its flights from Johannesburg to Mumbai Former public enterprises minister Barbara Hogan told the Zondo Commission, which is investigating ‘state capture’ by private interests, that SAA was pressured to drop the India route for the benefit of people connected to former president Jacob Zuma – a claim that they deny Making SAA run like a company – as state-run Ethiopian Airlines has shown can be possible and profitable – rather than a strategic state asset or a source of patronage will take the buy-in of the wider government, SAA’s senior leadership and the workers who make sure that the planes fly on time FOCUSING ON AFRICA Lands of plenty Lands of contrasts Lands of opportunities From the stoneage to the future AVAILABLE AT LES ÉDITIONS DU JAGUAR Email : jaguar@jeuneafrique.com - www.leseditionsdujaguar.com ART & LIFE FASHION Red-carpet raves African designers are thrust into the limelight when Hollywood stars shine in their lines As orders flood in from around the world, they must be ready to up production quotas and ride the rollercoaster of Instagram success By KATIA DANSOKO TOURÉ for Jeune Afrique Guests at the American Music Awards last October were already hyped to see what host Tracee Ellis Ross would be wearing – in 2017, the actress and daughter of Diana Ross made a spectacular 11 wardrobe changes in the course of the evening This time she only changed 10 times, but she made even more of a statement: every one of her outfits was by a black designer The most sensational was a majestic mermaid dress with double bell sleeves and ruffles to the floor, its “scales” shimmering in a blue and red wax print The dress was by Claude Lavie Kameni, a Cameroonian-born designer and founder of the brand LavieByCK Kameni, who had already made waves by dressing Janet Jackson in a wax print crinoline for the music video of her single Made 156 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 107 / APRIL-MAY-JUNE 2019 for Now, posted a photo of the mermaid dress on Instagram and got 32,000 likes A few snaps later, the 24-year-old designer finally published the information everyone was waiting for: “The dress that @traceeellisross fell in love with was from our 2017 fall collection” and “This gown will be available to pre-order on Sunday!!” Ten days later, it was already sold out while the designer sourced new shipments of the now iconic fabric Over the past decade, particularly with the explosion of social media, a designer’s reputation can be made overnight Celebrity stylists now have access to a world of fashion way beyond the big names in couture and can seek talent from anywhere in the world – including the African continent Black Hollywood stars have seized the opportunity to more with their looks than GARETH CATTERMOLE/GETTY IMAGES FOR VOGUE AND THE DUBAI MALL Designer Alexis Temomanin’s Dent de Man is among African labels chosen by Black Hollywood stars at awards and premieres ART & LIFE / Red-carpet raves just appear stunning on a red carpet By turning to these creators they are making a statement about black talent; far beyond mere marketing, they are paying tribute to an ‘African heritage’, an expression of shared roots, that delights their fans “When Hollywood stars decide to wear a creation from the continent, they make a strong political and social gesture,” says Italian-Haitian designer Stella Jean, known for her fusion of classical Italian tailoring with African fabrics and Haitian themes Rihanna was the first celebrity to wear one of her designs when she appeared at the White House in an Ankara-printed shirt dress in 2014, during President Barack Obama’s second term To the mainstream Other personalities followed, like the film director Ava DuVernay and actresses Tiffany Haddish, Issa Rae and Zendaya “I don’t think it’s just a question of advertising a brand or a designer, but rather of promoting a creative and dynamic Africa,” Stella Jean continues This was clearly what motivated the singer Solange Knowles when she chose to shoot the video for Losing You in South Africa in 2012 As well as introducing the wider world to pantsula dancing and culture from the townships Far beyond mere marketing, they are paying tribute to an expression of shared roots, delighting fans (see TAR105, October 2018), Knowles – Beyoncé’s younger sister – enlisted the help of Asanda Sizani, then fashion editor of Elle South Africa, and featured on the cover of the magazine wearing South African designers African motifs exploded into mainstream fashion last year, thanks in part to the influence of the film Black Panther The phenomenon first appeared at the film’s premieres, where Angela Bassett, who played the role of the Queen of Wakanda, showed up in a tailored suit by the Ivorian menswear designer Alexis Temomanin (Dent de Man) Then, in February 2018, she appeared at the American Black Film Festival to promote the blockbuster in a dress by Mangishi Doll – the ready-to-wear line by Zambian designer Kapasa Musonda The outfit, at an affordable $169, sold out in a few days Rosario Dawson’s Ghanaian venture A Hollywood actress launching her own fashion brand on the continent? Rosario Dawson has done it The 39-year-old US actress who shot to fame in the 1990s with Larry Clark’s Kids and Spike Lee’s He Got Game co-founded Studio 189 in 2013 with her best friend, the American-Ghanaian Abrima Erwiah, a former marketing director at Bottega Veneta A social enterprise promoting African design, sustainability and craftsmanship, it sells high-end but easy-to-wear clothes priced from $45 for a T-shirt to $1,275 for an evening gown Each piece is handmade from typically African fabrics found in Ghana, Mali or Burkina Faso Its factory is located in Accra, with stores in Accra and New York In September 2018, Studio 189 presented its debut spring-summer collection at New York Fashion Week studiooneeightynine.com 158 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 107 / APRIL-MAY-JUNE 2019 “The 50 or so dresses left in two days – our fastest sale to date The customers were from the US, Europe, Australia, but also from the African continent,” Musonda recounts with delight Based in Zambia, Musonda obviously had all the tools at hand to sell internationally But this unpredictability is one of the main challenges for African designers suddenly thrown into the limelight outside their own country It is one that Sam Mensah Jr., a Ghanaian entrepreneur, has tried to solve with his e-commerce platform KISUA Styled as “ a sustainable platform for African craftsmen and designers to access the international market”, KISUA handles the development, production and distribution Designers then receive a portion of every sale The only downside for designers is that the clothes are branded KISUA, so when Beyoncé is spotted wearing them – as happened in 2014, twice in one week – the brand gets all the kudos, even if the designer gets the added profits that come from a sudden rush to buy “Beyoncé tops the list as the personality that most allows African creators to shine internationally,” says Senegalese designer Sarah Diouf And she should know – she is one of the young African creators, along with Selly Raby Kane from Senegal and Loza Maléombho from Côte d’Ivoire – who have found themselves in the spotlight thanks to the US singer Last July, Diouf saw Beyoncé on Instagram wearing two of her designs for her brand Tongoro: a top-and-trouser set at €150 ($170) and a dress at €120 “In the days that followed, orders came flooding in We usually produce just 50 to 60 examples of each design,” she says Today, the phrase ‘as worn by Beyoncé’ almost serves as a calling card for African design During her visit to Johannesburg for the Global Citizen Festival in December 2018, the pop star showcased the work of a good 10 designers from the African diaspora Stamp of approval She did not fail to thank them all on Instagram Among them: Adama Paris, Quiteria & Georges, Rich Mnisi, Afrikanista, Peulh Vagabond and Tongoro But the singer is not the only celebrity acting as a five-star press agent Cameroonian designer Kibonen Nfi can count on Mexican-Kenyan ALL RIGHTS RESERVED; MATT SAYLES/AP/SIPA; ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Rihanna, in a look by designer Stella Jean; Tracee Ellis Ross, wearing a LavieByCK dress; and Lupita Nyong’o, in Kibonen NY actress Lupita Nyong’o, a fan of her creations, who has been seen around Manhattan in her Kibonen NY line In France, Malian designer Mariah Bocoum has been noticed by the press thanks to dressing her sister, the singer Inna Modja Finally, the world of showbiz is not the only one where African fashion is being shown to the world Prize-winning writers such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie also support the designers of their home countries – among the exclusively Nigerian brands she has chosen to wear are GREY, The Ladymaker and Moofa And Alain Mabanckou has extended the fame of Le Bachelor, a tailor and boutique well known to Parisian sapeurs, with the rest of the world As for political figures, US former first lady Michelle Obama is a Nigerian ready-to-wear fan (Duro Olowu, Maki Oh), while Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May showed up in Nigeria in August 2018 in an Emmy Kasbit jacket by Emmanuel Okoro Even if May did not rock the jacket like Chimamanda did the trousers from the same collection, Okoro told BBC Pidgin: “My Instagram follows don jump wit like 2,000 new followers.” ART & LIFE / SAAD ALAMI From left, a previous exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Al Maaden; La Mamounia; the Jardin Majorelle and Berber Musem; the exterior of the Musée Yves Saint Laurent; and a room within the museum displaying works by the designer Into the (he)art of Marrakech With its artistic initiatives and fortuitous location as a bridge between the rest of the continent and Europe, this bona fide cultural capital is shifting and surprising AYODEJI ROTINWA in Marrakech If there were such a thing as travelling away from home and yet arriving there, that riddle can be solved at Jnane Tamsna, a sprawling nine-acre boutique hotel situated amongst palm trees and camels on red desert sand in the Palmeraie area of downtown Marrakech Since there is no place like home, arguably, there is no place like Jnane, ‘the big garden’ in Arabic Start your holiday here You might be welcomed by the owner of the hotel, Meryanne Loum-Martin, an entrepreneur, interior designer and matriarch of these grounds who takes care of every guest, the way a legacy hotel brand cannot An impeccably curated room awaits Decadent and Moorish in design, every amenity invites a smile and an appreciative nod for its intricate beauty: the chandelier, the illuminated mirrors, the graceful archways Just outside, in your personal backyard, birds are chirping You may even have a deck and stairway to climb to overlook the sprawling garden built and tended to by Gary Martin, an ethnobotanist and Meryanne’s husband These gardens provide for breakfast, lunch and dinner: carrots, oranges, cabbages for salads and sauces Do not be alarmed if your skin becomes clearer after only a few days 160 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 107 / APRIL-MAY-JUNE 2019 ALAN KEOHANE TRAVEL If you are able to tear yourself away from the Jnane after your first night (or two), your next stop is a double dose of treasures: the Musée Yves Saint Laurent and the Jardin Majorelle The museum, a glamorously designed space, is a homage to the legacy of the French fashion designer The pièce de résistance of the museum is a pitch-black room brought to life by the colourful clothing and accessories he created The light design in the room allows each piece to twinkle, glisten or blind A gold bust cased in glass is a particular thing of wonder It is a shame you are not allowed pictures, but you could well be tempted to sneak one or two to marvel at later Next to the museum is the botanical and landscape garden built by French painter Jacques Majorelle in 1923 and restored by Yves Saint Laurent and his business partner Pierre Bergé in the 1980s FONDATION JARDIN MAJORELLE / NICOLAS MATHÉUS MUSÉE YVES SAINT LAURENT JONATHAN PRIME The garden here is rich, both in plant species – bamboo, cactus – transplanted from all over the world, and in history: the garden houses the Berber museum, a visual celebration of the original peoples of North Africa Couscous, contemporary art It might now be time for a lunch and tea break Look no further than the smoky hallways of La Mamounia Here, you can sip rich, memorable-to-the-tongue tea, to which an addition of sugar might be an insult It is perfect without any additions And for lunch? Naturally, couscous or a chicken tagine At the time of writing La Mamounia was host to 1–54, a leading fair on contemporary art by African artists Works included Omar Victor Diop’s arresting portraits of high-achieving and overlooked Africans and Joana Choumali’s affecting photographs [pictured] and collages interrogating gender and identity Can’t get enough of the art? Pace yourself The next day head to Guliz, Marrakech’s gallery district that houses work by some of Morocco’s most accomplished artists At Galerie Siniya 28 are Abdelmalek Berhiss’s paintings of his childhood growing up in the port city of Essaouira Fun fact: some major Daenerys Targaryen scenes in the hit show Game of Thrones were shot there At the time of writing a threefloor exhibition curated by BritishMoroccan artist Hassan Hajjaj was on show at the Comptoir des Mines gallery At the Museum of Contemporary Art Al Maaden, a 20-minute drive or so out of central Marrakech, the city’s crossroads with the rest of the continent comes into full bloom with an exhibition of over 30 artists from all over Africa Now that you are fully soaked in the he(art) of Marrakech, it is time to explore its belly Look to Nomad, a restaurant in the UNESCO Heritage Site-listed Jemaa el-Fna square and expansive market Before food, get lost and work up an appetite – inhale or buy spices from the stalls, consider Berber-style rugs and carpets, try a spicy brochette and dance with snake charmers Resist the temptation to whip out your phone and use Google Maps to find the restaurant Just wander You may want to start with the delicious juice of avocado, dates, orange and cinnamon Then perhaps, the calamari from Agadir? Finish lavishly with a saffron-scented date cake Then yet again, return home THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 107 / APRIL-MAY-JUNE 2019 161 SELORM (JAY) ATTIKPO/FULLISH ART FOR TAR DAY IN THE LIFE MOSHOOD BALOGUN in Accra I was born in Lagos in 1981 I got all of my formal education in the same city Unfortunately, I did not get to complete my university education because I got into a series of troubles with the authorities and I eventually had to leave My mother provided me with some money, and I travelled to Denmark in 2002 Over there, I got into a relationship with a Danish woman and lived with her for close to a year We’d made plans to get married, but she betrayed me one day; she called the police on me and had me deported Back in Nigeria, I reunited with my family: my parents, my children and their mother Me and her are divorced now We have five children in total Two have passed The eldest was born in the year 2000, on the ninth of July In 2007, when my then wife was pregnant with our last child, I was involved in a very serious accident I was seated behind a friend on a motorbike and […] Searching for the right path Adebayo Hammed Ajibade’s passions and hopes have kept him going through lifechanging moments I don’t even know how the accident happened, but my friend lost his life in it I came out of it with a broken leg Although my life was spared, a lifelong dream of mine was killed I could no longer play football It had always been my dream to be a footballer My father spent a lot of his money in pursuit of this dream of mine After a few years, when things were not going so well in my life, my mother suggested once again 162 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 107 / APRIL-MAY-JUNE 2019 that I travel elsewhere So I came to Ghana in 2013 In my very early days here, I was robbed My bag, which contained the little money I had, my passport and a few other essentials, was stolen I had to hustle to get back on my feet I sold pure water in traffic – dusters, too And then I got into working as a labourer, but the work was so hard I reasoned that I’d die young if I continued with it So I stopped For a while, I had nothing to Until a fellow Nigerian living here in Ghana introduced me to selling books in traffic I choose to sell solely African books because I’m proud to be African These books I sell help me manage myself quite well financially I get them from a wholesaler with whom I split the profits after I’ve sold the books I’ve suffered a lot, and things are still not easy But I thank God for my life because when there is life, there is hope My dream now is to be a musician because I believe I’ve got a message to deliver I just pray to God to point the right path for me soon ... the responsibilities and limitations of political power without betraying its supporters THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 107 / APRIL- MAY- JUNE 2019 theafricareport #107 / April- May- June 2019 THE AFRICA REPORT. .. scare away investors THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 107 / APRIL- MAY- JUNE 2019 21 FEATURES / Ramaphosa is working on his image as ‘an enigma’ 22 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 107 / APRIL- MAY- JUNE 2019 PROFILE Ramaphosa’s... visit www.theafricareport.com You can also find The Africa Report on Facebook and on Twitter @theafricareport Comments, suggestions and queries can also be sent to: The Editor, The Africa Report,
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