the african professional™ magazine

Arkein CEO, Zim’s D. Chimhandamba Facilitation Africa’s Isaac Nkama Nigerian Property Mogul Felix Okoh Kenyan Envoy Amb. Wamoto Sterling Afrika’s Stella Ogema

www.africanpro.co.zaR29,95 Issue 12

NDABA NTSELESA’S BEST ENTREPRENEUR& President of Black Business Council

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

MAGAZINE

© 2013 Western Union Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Family back homein Zimbabwe?

Love Transferred!

MONEY IN MINUTESWITH WESTERN UNION

Zimbabwe Press Release-AD 210x275.indd 1 06/08/13 12:00

www.africanpro.co.za

Proud to be African. Pledged to be Professional.

Proud to be African. Pledged to be Professional.

Arkein CEO, Zim’s D. Chimhandamba Facilitation Africa’s Isaac Nkama Nigerian Property Mogul Felix Okoh Kenyan Envoy Amb. Wamoto Sterling Afrika’s Stella Ogema

www.africanpro.co.zaR29,95 Issue 12

NDABA NTSELESA’S BEST ENTREPRENEUR& President of Black Business Council

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

MAGAZINE

Get The African Professional magazine on your tablet or mobile phone. Simply visit www.africanpro.co.za and follow the link to the online magazine

Subscribe to our magazine and save! Simply visit www.africanpro.co.za and follow the subscription link: R99 for a full year including VAT and postage.

Like our facebook page: www.facebook.com/africanpro Follow our editor on twitter: www.twitter.com/africankc Join us on Linked-In - Search Groups for : THE AFRICAN PROFESSIONAL

OVER 30 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE IN

DESIGN AND RELATED SERVICES

AND WITH OFFICES ACROSS THE

AFRICAN CONTINENT.

CONTACT US ON: +27 11 783 2084

OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION

6 Editorial

10 Ndaba Ntsele: SA’s Best Entrepreneur and President of BBC

14 Arkein Group CEO Donovan Chimhandamba

18 Isaac Nkama: Quietly facilitating business in Africa

23 Kenyan Ambassador H.E. Patrick Wamoto

26 Felix Okoh: Nigerian Millionaire who did it the upright way

30 TAP-Talk: Chio Sakutukwa

32 TAP-Book-review: Who fears death?

35 TAP-Immigration: Obtaining permanent residence in SA

36 TAP-Lynnsanity: Good girls gone bad

38 TAP-Travel: Los Angeles is just another Johannesburg

42 Sterling Afrika’s Stella Ogema

46 The Last Word: More elections, more thoughts

48 TAP Social Scene

05

TABLE OF CONTENTS

06Since our last issue, with the exception of the re-election of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, the admission to hospital of Nelson Mandela has had a clamp-like grip on continental news. In my opinion, if Britons are normal for obsessing about the birth of a royal baby, Africans can be forgiven for their profound interest in the health of their most celebrated hero.

In the course of this quarter, I picked up Expatriate magazine Issue 1 and read our very first Editors Note. In the final paragraph of that article, I wrote “years from now, someone will recover a dirty tattered copy of this edition. Will they look back and say wow, this is where an amazing journey began or will they sigh and speculate as to what we did wrong? Time will tell.” I had no idea that I would be the one picking up that dirty tattered copy and making that self-assessment three years on. We can surely pat ourselves on the back for an amazing journey, if only for the fact that we are onto our

twelfth issue and you are reading this very piece.

In the book Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela wrote: “There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.” In returning to that unchanged first issue, I most certainly felt the significant alterations we have made over the years with the aim to improve with each issue.

With the launch of “The African Professional”, our most significant change is here. It is the consolidation of comments from readers, advertisers and our own team deliberations to further accentuate our ideas within South Africa and across the continent.

I do not agree with a vast number of pronouncements made by Mugabe but I am attentive to this one quote: “We of Africa protest that, in this day and age, we should be viewed as lesser beings than others”. Love him or hate him, the African pride the man projects is to be admired.

Welcome to the world of “The African Professional”, where we have embraced our identity and personified an ideal. In this and in every subsequent edition, we are proud to be African while keeping the pledge to be professional.

KC Rottok, CA (SA)Managing EditorCreative & Financial Journalism (Wits University)Twitter: @africankc

EDITOR’S NOTE Change is the only constant

As verified byAs advertised onAvailable at

Publisher:The Expatriate Forum and Magazine (Pty) LimitedReg. Number: 2010/012428/07P O Box 4935 Randburg, 2125Republic of South AfricaTel: 011 791 7484www.africanpro.co.za &www.expatriate.co.za

Director:Carol Malonza – [email protected]: @mueni8Managing Editor:KC Rottok – [email protected]: @africankcDeputy Editor & Content AdvisorLeah MainaEdition Writers/ContributorsKeith KundaiWanjiru WaichigoChionesu SakutukwaAndreas KrenselYaw PeprahStephen TwinoburyoSheila Lynn SenkubugePhotographyMzu Nhlabatiwww.creativenation.co.zaDesignMike [email protected] Mediawww.drutechmedia.co.za

To subscribe or contribute an article,email us at [email protected]

All rights reserved. Excerpts may be usedas long as this magazine is credited as the source. Longer versions of our content may only be used with the written permission of the Publisher. Neither the publisher nor the editor accept responsibility for any of the information from edition writers or contributors. Whilst we have taken care in preparing this publication, the publisher/editor does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. The editor retains the right to edit all contributions. Advertisers are responsi-ble for their material.

© The African Professional / The Expatriate SA: ISSN 2218 – 757X.

Premier in Healthcare Solutions

Apply online at www.buphe.com and Get covered in less than 24 hours.24, Horwood Street, Hurlyvale, Edenvale, 1609

Tel: +27 11 454 3266 or Tel: +27 82 566 6498E-mail: [email protected]

Health Insurance

Underwritten by Guardrisk Insurance Company Ltd (FSP 75)

Buphe is an Authorised Financial Service Provider (FSP: 21033)

BUPHE

• Worldwide Cover and Freedom of choice ofHospitalwithin our network

• Flexibility on plan design, choice,payment frequency and area ofcover.

• Non Health Benefits in form ofAccessibility.

• Family underwriting instead ofindividual.

• Possibility to add Adult dependents

• Direct Settlement of claims throughMedical Debit Card

• Day to Day Cover: GP, Specialists• Hospitalisation - Access to all private hospitals

• Spectacles, Pharmacy, Dentists

• Stated Benefit Pay-out for claim

• Additional Benefits:- Death Cover

- Disability Cover- Repatriation of Mortal remains

• Cross countries cover• Cover both in SA and country of origin.

• Add Cover for loved ones back home

MEDICAL COVER TRAVEL COVER

“CoverBeyond

Borders”

Buphe Service

From R385 per month

INTERNATIONAL

STUDENT COVER

INTERNATIONAL

Buphe Value Proposition Product Cover Offerings

From R3850 per annum

INTERNATIONAL

From R3850 per annum

True learning comes from experience which for us has been through running our rental

division, steel manufacturing business and tourism outfit. Mastering all of this at the same time is similar to that juggler standing at a busy intersection trying to keep all the balls in the air at the same time. We can hardly imagine how he does that however this is also our understanding of business and success - great effort and of course a lot of practice which leads to true perfection. We have learnt to strive to unlock our own interpersonal business

skills, to glean an awareness of the bigger picture, interdependence of departments, interpersonal skills, team work, ethics and striving towards continuous improvement. We break the negative impact of scepticism through hard work, prayer and perseverance.

We at All- Danquah and Comet Steel are indeed proud to say that we have turned our CEO Mr Adjare Danquah’s dream into a smooth growing business which tells its own story of success and continuous growth despite the current negative economy. Belief and passion have helped us overcome many setbacks in producing the All Danquah fairytale.

All-Danquah and Comet Steel is a true reflection of this philosophy. The staff have an absolute passion for customer service and professionalism, with the sense of urgency; ‘’do not put off for tomorrow what you can do today’’. Mediocrity has no place here. As Managers of All- Danquah and Comet Steel it gives us confidence that we have a winning team and we will always look out for each other. If winning then becomes a habit, let’s get addicted!

Our collective passion for business is what will drive us to achieve our goals in the future. With this positive mindset, we will soon have our CEO’S ‘’brainchild’’ turned into a mature and refined adult that can harness any situation. As we continue to invest in developing our people, there is no doubt in our minds that the entire company will be involved in identifying new initiatives and that we will collectively benefit from increased knowledge and competence.

With the recent arrival of coils, we expect business at Comet to flourish to maximum capacity. Hurry whilst Stocks Last!!!!!!

Contact Details:

All Danquah Head Office:Tel 0119755006 . Fax: 0119755008E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],[email protected] Danquah Restaurant: Tel 011 394 4236 E-mail: [email protected] Danquah Guesthouse: Tel 011 393 6583

ALL DANQUAH & COMET STEEL: SWEET SUCCESS

Okavango Flats (20 Units) NBS Building

Mr. K.A. Danquah - CEO

New All-Danquah Head Office Residential Property

From left - Nozipho Dube (Receptionist), Kofi Arthur (Project Manager), Ryna Snyman (Group Consultant) and Barbara Benhura (Finance/HR Manager)

Guest house rooms All Danquah Transport Hire Comet Steel premises

10


The website of his company Pamodzi Investment Holdings states on its landing page that

Ndaba Ntsele is SA’s best entrepreneur, a title bestowed upon him for winning the SA chapter of the World Entrepreneurship awards in 2007. The following year, Ndaba was inducted to the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame at a ceremony in France and has, since 2009, represented Africa as a judge in the awards that recognise the best global businesspeople.

“Entrepreneurship is for brave people; people who see things in their minds that are invisible to others. They create things that others do not think can be done and go all out despite many challenges to achieve what they have set out to do,” he gives his definition of people like him.

Ndaba, who celebrated his 60th birthday in October last year, does not believe that entrepreneurs are born and argues that they can be nurtured.

“It is a question I am frequently asked to address when invited to various business schools. Entrepreneurship can be taught, in fact it pleases me when I coach young people and see them go on to start and flourish in their own businesses. For example, a young lawyer I have been mentoring has just signed a deal for R50 million at the age of 27.”

Ndaba was inducted into entrepreneurship at the tender age of

six when he worked alongside his aunt in Soweto where he was born. She sold coffee and pastries and provided him with a box from which he bought and sold fruits to other township dwellers. This taught him how to set prices and negotiate.

Well and truly bitten by the business bug, he went on to sell newspapers at school and thereafter teamed up with Solomon “Solly” Sithole - a fellow

executive director at Pamodzi - to form the company.

“We called the company Pamodzi after staying at a hotel by the same name in Zambia. It means togetherness in the local Nyanja language which was consistent with our spirit. We were ambitious and determined, using a business plan and a negligible balance sheet to borrow R6 million from Barclays and R4 million from Standard Bank.”

It was a major feat to accomplish in apartheid South Africa where black people were not viewed as credit-worthy.

“We did not have any collateral [and relied solely on] our vision. It is a problem that plagues entrepreneurs across Africa even today because land,

which is the most common form of security sought by banks, was taken from us by colonisation. ”

The founders of Pamodzi were the first black people to rent property in the Johannesburg CBD taking on the prestigious Carlton Centre initially through a lease contract entered into by a Jewish friend.

“The owners of the property would never have rented out to black people directly in those days,” he recalls.

Issues of race and t r a n s fo r m a t i o n have remained close to Ndaba, as evidenced by

his presidency of the Black Business Council (BBC). He took the reins of the organization in 2012 from fellow entrepreneur billionaire and mining magnate Patrice Motsepe. The BBC considers itself a non-racial, progressive and pro-black membership-based business organization.

“We have challenges in the advancement of our people, both here and across the continent. Some stem from our own way of thinking. For instance, people buying and selling vegetables by the side of the street are entrepreneurs but they remain small. They do not want to scale up by getting premises and paying rent or forming corporations and paying taxes yet these would improve infrastructure to do business and one can also benefit from tax breaks.”

NDABA NTSELE SA’S BEST ENTREPRENEUR AND PRESIDENT OF THE BLACK BUSINESS COUNCIL

“Africans and black people in general have allowed a certain inferiority complex to creep in. We must challenge conventional norms. Friday the 13th is viewed as an unlucky day and yet I have signed many successful deals on this day including one for $1.3 billion dollars...”

11


Ndaba also believes that Africans and black people in general have allowed a certain inferiority complex to creep in. He cites the use of black suits for funerals as an example of how the colour has been used to inculcate negativity.

“We must challenge these conventional norms. Friday the 13th is viewed as an unlucky day and yet for me it is a lucky one as I have signed several successful deals on that particular day. The most memorable was when I met Hans Mende to convince him to invest in a local fund. He asked me to quote a figure and I took the chance of asking for $1.3 Billion as we were meeting on a Friday the 13th. I expected a negotiation thereafter but he immediately accepted stating that he was born on the thirteenth day of the month.”

Ndaba continues to explain that he has a knack for going against the grain. “When people all thought that Nike would never work in Africa, I took up the challenge of bringing it to the continent which included re-entry to apartheid South Africa. And when others shied away from construction in townships due to political upheaval, we saw it as an opportunity and set up a building materials enterprise as a joint venture partnership with Murray & Roberts.”

Other memorable achievements for Ndaba include the acquisition of agro-

processing giant Foodcorp in 2004. In his address at the launch of this black empowerment deal, the then Minister for Trade and Industry Mandisi Mpahlwa described the two billion rand deal as the largest secondary leveraged buy-out in the country’s history.

“Leveraging is using borrowed capital and expecting the profits to be made to

be greater than the interest payable. My advice is that if you have the opportunity to borrow, you should borrow as much as possible. Business is like a game of marbles, the boy who pitches up at the game with many marbles is more confident than the one with only a few he is worried of losing.”

Pamodzi boasts a diverse bag of marbles ranging from the technology industry where the group has invested in NamITech - the IT arm of Nampak Ltd and Altech’s IT division Altech data to the financial services sector where it holds a significant investment in Westbank’s First Auto - the country’s largest fleet management solutions company. In addition, the group merged with Thebe Risk Services to form Indwe Risk Services, SA’s largest personal lines broker.

The brand has investments in Sodexho and Foodcorp which provides

the group with a strong presence in commodity foods while Pamodzi Resources owns the rights to explore the Petrex surface on the Witwatersrand through its single asset, the Middelvlei Project.

Pamodzi also owns the luxurious Tinga Private Game Lodge as well as a 49% stake in Andre Dreyer Motors, one

of the top BMW dealerships in the country.

C o i n c i d e n t a l l y (or maybe not), Engineering News reported in 2007 that the BMW 7 series is Ndaba’s

favourite car. KC ROTTOK

“My advice is that if you have the opportunity to borrow, you should borrow as much as possible. Business is like a game of marbles, the boy who pitches up at the game with many marbles is more confident than the one with only a few he is worried of losing....”

12

FLIGHTS DAILYFROM JOBURG

3

No one knows and covers Africa better than Kenya Airways. With the the most extensive African network and onwards to a total of more than 60 destinations, our truly world-class airline adds the genuine warmth of true African service. Even more so in our comfortable, relaxing Premier World business class. Little wonder we’ve earned the reputation of ‘The Pride of Africa’.

For more information call +2710 205 0000, visit us at www.kenya-airways.com or call your preferred travel agent.

All that hard work deserves a reward.

Kenya Airways Business Class.

FLIGHTS DAILYFROM JOBURG

3

No one knows and covers Africa better than Kenya Airways. With the the most extensive African network and onwards to a total of more than 60 destinations, our truly world-class airline adds the genuine warmth of true African service. Even more so in our comfortable, relaxing Premier World business class. Little wonder we’ve earned the reputation of ‘The Pride of Africa’.

For more information call +2710 205 0000, visit us at www.kenya-airways.com or call your preferred travel agent.

All that hard work deserves a reward.

Kenya Airways Business Class.

15

DONOVAN CHIMHANDAMBACEO OF THE ARKEIN GROUP

Not many people in their early thirties can speak of cutting million dollar deals in a

company they manage and co-own. Despite this, Donovan Chimhandamba (34) - CEO of the Johannesburg headquartered Arkein Group - cuts a fairly modest figure at his interview with The African P r o f e s s i o n a l magazine.

A r k e i n apparently signifies leadership in the Greek dictionary, a trait exhibited by Donovan from an early age as the first born in a family of four who lost their parents in subsequent years when he was nine in rural Mashonaland, Zimbabwe. The late Chimhandamba senior was an engineer in the copper mining industry and mineral processing industry as well as a good golfer who passed away from cerebral malaria at the young age of thirty-three. Today his eldest son is the holder of a B.Eng (Hons) in Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering and boasts a mid-teen handicap in an office where professional staff play the sport two to three times a week. Other than the obvious motivation drawn from his late father, Donovan was also inspired by Dr. Francis Chiwora-Chimhandamba, his much older cousin.

“He rose from a needy environment

to become a top surgeon and businessman in Zimbabwe. This made me believe you can achieve anything despite where you come from” he says. “In the later years of my career, I have been very fortunate to have a mentor and close friend in Vusi Mavimbela,

who has played a significant role in the decisions I have taken.”

After completing his five-year degree from Zimbabwe’s National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in 2003, Donovan re-joined Engen in Durban where he had done his in-service training the previous year. His stint at the company did not last long as he joined the listed entity PPC a year later as an operations performance engineer at their Picketberg plant in the Western Cape.

“I believe that is where my ability to see the entire picture of the industrial business was nurtured as

I was effectively the shadowing the general manager. My primary role was managing productivity across all departments.”

In spite of the profound learning opportunity that this role presented,

Picketberg was a remote lonely place. Donovan had previously met the love of his life Hazel who is now his wife, mother of his two sons and Head of Group Sponsorships at Standard Bank.

“She was based in Johannesburg so I sought a position at a company here. I joined Vesuvius I n t e r n a t i o n a l as operations general manager

responsible for over 400 people. I was an ambitious aggressive 24 year old and I think the company placed me in the position as I would bring a fresh approach to processes that were not working.”

His appointment did not go down well with everyone. One of his subordinates told him to his face that he had been doing things his way for nineteen years and was not prepared to change for someone who was still an infant when he started working.

“I understood that I was not going to win them over by trying to engage them on technical know-how and worked


deal for Basil Read, ZAR120 million acquisition of a 32% shareholding in SA Airlink, ZAR215 million acquisition of a 26% shareholding in Continental Coal and the construction of Urban Hotel Kathu.”

The Arkein leadership sort to diversify their operations and therefore set up Arkein International Limited chaired by Dr. Gil Mahlati with an office in Mauritius. It is a Pan-African

investment holding company which seeks to invest in early stage projects within mineral processing, oil and gas and power and energy sectors. Currently the company has

operations and developing projects in South Africa, Zambia and Rwanda. The founding duo still has majority shareholding in this company with the rest held by employees as well as local and international investors.

“We identified a niche in investing in early f e a s i b i l i t y studies seeing as banks and large finance houses only appear to be interested once the project is deemed bankable. Our South African p r o j e c t s include our flagship project

community trust set up by Kumba Iron Ore. The mandate included applying the Trusts’ funds to economic investments. ACP was formed as a management company/fund manager with Donovan and Quinton Zunga holding 74.9 percent of equity and the Trust owning the balance. Quinton, prior to co-founding Arkein, was a Director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch SA and head of its Debt Capital Markets for sub-Saharan Africa.

“We work well together as we combine different skills seeing as I have an engineering background and Quinton is a former investment banker. Within 16 months of its formation, ACP had concluded deals worth ZAR1.2 billion including a ZAR521 million BEE

towards creating an environment that would enable them to excel. The role helped me refine my business skills as it included among other things motivating for capital expenditure which gave me exposure to finance. I also completed an MBA at the Gordon Institute of Business Science during the three years I was at the company which has helped tremendously.”

After Vesuvius, Donovan started his own company c h r i s t e n e d Mhandas Group which did not take off mainly due to a restraint of trade from his former employer. After a tough eight months, he shut down the entity and joined the National Empowerment Fund as a Senior Investment Associate and was later promoted to Head of the Strategic Project Fund. Under his leadership, the fund grew from zero to 27 project companies invested in which was projected to be in excess of ZAR25 billion at financial close and construction.

In 2011, Arkein Capital Partners (ACP) was formed following an approach from the Sishen Iron Ore Company C o m m u n i t y Development Trust (SIOC-CDT), a

“It is a Pan-African investment holding company which seeks to invest in early stage projects within mineral processing, oil and gas and power and energy sectors. Currently the company has operations and developing projects in South Africa, Zambia and Rwanda....”

16

us more confident about our future.”

When asked about Zimbabwe, Donovan admits that his home country is not entirely out of their thoughts. “As a Zimbabwean, I would be doing a disservice to my homeland if I don’t contribute to the industrialisation of Zimbabwe while we champion this everywhere else in Africa,” he asserts.

Donovan cites Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote, Russia’s Vladimir Lisin and India’s Lakshmi Mittal as some of the industrialists he looks up to.

“It is my desire to be an industrialist and so far through the company I feel we are headed in the right direction. We are not anywhere close to where we

want to be yet but I believe a suitable platform has been established through Arkein to achieve our vision and dreams of contributing in a significant manner to the industrialisation of Africa.”

KC ROTTOK

ability coupled with years of corporate experience. This has helped in

ensuring that we are not just dreamers and not aloof to the challenges and complexities in the details of implementing our plans and has made

called Nyanza Light Metals, an entity that has secured a titanium resource on which we are conducting feasibility studies and plan to build a ZAR4.5 billion (USD450m) titanium dioxide pigment plant. Also in South Africa we have Arkein Trading, which does contract mining of iron ore on behalf of Evraz Highveld Steel and own 26% of Chemquest, which trades ZAR400 million in mineral processing chemicals across Africa.”

In Zambia, Arkein is developing jointly with Konkola Copper Mines a ZAR250 million (USD25m) plant that will produce copper concentrate by reprocessing slag dumps from their Kitwe refinery, while in Rwanda they are exploring g a s - e x t r a c t i n g o p p o r t u n i t i e s around Lake Kivu with the intention of building a gas-to-power and a gas-to-liquids plant.

“What we have done well quite early is to bring on board experienced executives like Rob Mhishi (COO), Ian C a m e r o n (CFO) and Joe Khumalo (CMO) who are also significant shareholders in the business. The underlying s t r e n g t h a m o n g s t the team is entrepreneurial

17

“Not many people in their early thirties can speak of cutting million dollar deals in a company they manage and co-own. Despite this, Donovan cuts a fairly modest figure...”

18


ISAAC NKAMA QUIETLY FACILITATING BUSINESS IN AFRICA

19

When you walk into Isaac Nkama’s office, his passion for and knowledge

of the African continent is evident from the many photos of his personal interactions with different African Presidents and influential business leaders.

He enjoys an extremely close personal relationship with Kenneth Kaunda (“KK”), and spends a lot of time with him. His late father, Moto Nkama, was a freedom fighter who participated in Zambia’s i n d e p e n d e n c e struggle under KK’s leadership and subsequently served as a Minister and Ambassador in his Government.

Unlike his late father, Nkama chose a business career. Since the mid-1990’s, he has held senior positions in various organisations including Spoornet and Reunert. He was Boeing International Corporation’s Business Development Director (Africa region) for eight years until December 2008. While at Boeing, he taught on the ‘Doing Business in Africa’ component of the ‘Globalisation Programme’ at the Boeing Leadership Centre in St. Louis, Missouri every quatre.

Outside of his formal career, Nkama has served on a number of key committees in SA, including

the National Council of the South African Institute of International Affairs since 1998, the Executive Committees of the Presidential Black Business Working Group and until recently – the Steering Committee of the Black Business Council. He formed Facilitation Africa in

2009 which advises and facilitates for South African companies seeking to enter or expand into the rest of the African continent. The company has strategic partners in various parts of the continent.

He is of the view that SA has a lot to offer the rest of the continent technically and financially in many sectors but faces several challenges.

“South African companies are usually more experienced in dealing with western cultures, leading to an often Eurocentric approach on the continent. This clash in cultures can lead to early misunderstandings from both sides. Many executives are reluctant

to familiarise themselves with cultural aspects of the rest of the continent and that results in the lingering of very common negative perceptions,” he says.

Nkama believes that the inability to interpret the general environment

is common, often missing out on the real picture. This he says is often the case in countries where the informal sector is bigger than the formal sector especially in countries recovering from recent conflict.

“A negative experience in one country resulting from such causes as the selection of

wrong partners should not define your appetite for the rest of the continent. In addition, not having an appropriate Government Relations Strategy can be detrimental as Government plays a bigger role in most African countries and take a negative view of companies interacting with them only when they have a problem.”

Nkama finds that joint ventures with Government owned entities work well if properly structured but many South African companies are averse to this type of arrangement.

“Often, there is a need for a particular type of service but the Government either doesn’t have the


stake in the end result. This gives clients confidence as I have a beneficial interest in ensuring success.”

He likes to take his clients to visit the countries to give them a firsthand appreciation of the business culture, political environment and social structure.

“Philosophically speaking, what KK told the late Harry Oppenheimer (of the De Beers and Anglo American dynasties) many years ago still stands: ‘In the West, you do business first – and eventually become friends. In Africa, you become friends first – and eventually do business.’ The statement

was so profound that when I took Harry’s grandson Jonathan for a courtesy call on KK a few years ago, he recounted the story as having been told to him

by his grandfather on many occasions. Understanding this philosophy is fundamental to succeeding on the continent.”

It is a common assumption that there is corruption on the continent when a smaller company beats a larger

neighbours.”

Facilitation Africa has had a number of interesting successes in different sectors in Southern, Central and East African countries. While Nkama is happy to share this with our editorial team, he is reluctant to have them published as he perceives them to be owned by the clients.

“We prefer the results, and not the publicity,” he states.

Nkama describes himself as a person who is commercially trained, but understands the continent politically, socially and commercially.

“I combine these attributes in assisting my clients to realise their full potential on the continent. In working with clients, I do not sell my time or hours, but sell a desired outcome. While there have been some exceptions, in most transactions, I negotiate a small

money or the capacity to raise it. As a result, the financial modelling used on the continent needs to be innovative. Another area of cultural conflict is timeframes; SA companies expect a shorter period to conclude a transaction than what is the norm on the continent. We often work quietly in the background sensitising both sides on their expectations and usually end up with workable compromises,” he reveals.

Nkama indicates that the challenges of business in Africa extend beyond those faced on entry. For instance, the wrong criteria for selecting expatriates may lead to operationally competent executives who are culturally insensitive to being seconded. This leads to more time be spent on management rather than productive operational issues.

“Another common error is the failure to recognize the distinct cultural and commercial environments that exist from country to country. An approach, practices and processes that work in one African country will not necessarily work in the next - even if they are direct

“In the West, you do business first – and eventually become friends. In Africa, you become friends first – and eventually do business. Understanding this philosophy is fundamental to succeeding on the continent...”

20


School of Lusaka and completed high school at Lesotho’s Machabeng International School. All these schools had an average of fifty nationalities at any given time.

He later became a Chartered Marketer and completed an MBA in international business. His academic and professional background has perfectly positioned him for what he does today coupled with the fact that he is fluent in a number of African languages. It is also immensely clear that the firmness of his belief in Africa’s potential is unshakable.

KEITH KUNDAI

competitor to a transaction.

“From my own experiences, this perception is often incorrect. Africans are more likely to do business with those they consider as friends. It is therefore important to not only maintain your relationships, but continuously build new friendships.”

Nkama’s ability to relate to other cultures comes with his background. He has had multicultural exposure from an early age having completed primary school at the Bonn International School in West Germany. He attended secondary school at the International


Arkein International LtdLeading Africa’s Industrialisation

www.arkeininternational.com

8th FloorTower ANo.1 CybercityEbeneRepublic of MauritiusTelephone:(+230) 466-3833Fax:(+230) 466-38407

2nd Floor 10 Melrose Boulevard

Melrose ArchSouth Africa

2076Telephone:+27 11 684 1286/1717

Fax:+27 11 684 1727

Copper Processing Titanium PigmentBeneficiation

Contract Mining

Skyways Advert cc.indd 1 2013/08/06 12:04:42 PM

Kenya has a new High Commissioner to South Africa, Swaziland and

Lesotho. Ambassador Patrick Wamoto took office recently and took time out of his busy schedule to speak to this magazine.

Describe your career leading up to taking this posting.

I graduated from the University of Nairobi in 1983 with a degree in political science and joined the foreign affairs ministry soon after. My academic q u a l i f i c a t i o n s include a post-graduate diploma in diplomatic studies from Oxford University and a certificate in multinational studies from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. I have served at three other foreign missions; as First Secretary in London in the early nineties, as Charge d’affaire in Vienna between 2003 and 2005 and as the Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria for two years from 2006. In 2008, I was appointed Director for the Africa & AU department at the ministry

and thereafter I was promoted to the position of Political and Diplomatic secretary in 2010. I undertook the duties of the permanent secretary for eleven months up to September 2011 when the holder of the position was required to step aside for investigations.

What do you view as the highs and lows so far of your career in the diplomatic service?

As Director for Africa, I had the opportunity to accompany former President Kibaki on his African trips

including those to the African Union. I also got to actively participate in the initiative to have the Kenya Defence Forces Mission in Somalia recognised by the international community through the re-hatting process into the African Union Mission in Somalia. As a young diplomatic officer, I participated in the efforts to bring the Sudan People’s Liberation Army to the negotiating table during that country’s civil conflict. In fact, I was responsible for relocating their leader’s John Garang’s family to Kenya.

Finally, I love to learn first-hand about other cultures and I therefore appreciate the opportunity and exposure granted to me by the many travels in my career as a foreign service officer.

The downside of diplomatic service has been the cultural and relocation challenges. For instance, getting the timing right for my children to join school in Vienna was not easy and I was in Nigeria at a time when the problem of counterfeit medical drugs was quite rampant.


NEW KENYAN AMBASSADOR H.E. PATRICK WAMOTO

23

as well as the anchor state for the crucially important Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).

I also like SA because it is only a few hours away from home.

At this early stage, what plans do you

have as High Commissioner to SA?

I wish to contribute to the bridging of the balance of trade between Kenya and SA which currently is largely in favour of the latter. We also need to continue to boost our bilateral relations as SA is an advanced country in various areas. Our constitution borrows heavily from that of SA and given the advances in the mining industry here, the relationship will be vital given our recent discoveries of oil deposits as well as our unexploited mineral potential.

Having taken part in shaping our Diaspora policy, I am keen to engage

Union heads of mission for a luncheon organised by the South African foreign affairs minister.

How do you view the transition from the foreign affairs ministry to heading a foreign mission particularly South Africa?

I was pleased to be posted here as high commissioner. I expect the position to be more manageable than my work at the ministry. As Political and Diplomatic Secretary, I was responsible for both our missions abroad as well as those of other African countries based in Nairobi. As such, I was the recipient of tons of email and phone calls that would come through even in the middle of the night due to significant time differences. This is a very high priority posting in the foreign policy of Kenya’s new administration given that South Africa is the largest economy in Africa

A very significant low was also the mysterious death of former foreign minister Robert Ouko, a consummate diplomat with whom I worked closely in my formative years in diplomacy.

How has the move to South Africa been for you so far?

So far things are going well; in fact a lot was accomplished in my first week. I arrived on Sunday 2nd June and the following day I was invited to the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) where I had an opportunity to speak on infrastructure in Africa, a topic I am passionate about. On Tuesday, I presented my credentials to the South African chief of protocol and the following day I attended rehearsals in preparation for Thursday when I met President Zuma to present my papers to him. I was very fortunate seeing as most of my colleagues had waited a number of months to present their papers. On Friday, I joined the African

24

“This is a very high priority posting in the foreign policy of Kenya’s new administration given that South Africa is the largest economy in Africa as well as the anchor state for the crucially important Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)....”

the Kenyans here. I believe they are the number one ambassadors of our country and we should view them as a resource that goes beyond remittances. Their skills, knowledge and expertise is important in the realization of Kenya’s Vision 2030.

My predecessor and friend Ambassador Amolo and I joined the Foreign Service at the same time. He

left a well grounded embassy with a good relationship with Kenyans here. That said, I believe that in any institution there is room for improvement and it is my policy to leave any place better than you found it.

What do you do outside of work and

what are your future plans?

Well I pretend to play golf and I am in the process of joining the Pretoria Golf Club. I have always enjoyed

entertaining, a pastime I intend to continue here by being a gracious host to as many people as possible. When I eventually retire, I look forward to farming in my hometown Kitale where I was born and own land.

KEITH KUNDAI

26

Getting a Canadian visa was no easy task particularly given that Okoh had a deportation record. He was advised

that it would be beneficial for him to have a clean visa for another country before attempting to seek a Canadian

one. He therefore applied for a South African permit with the intention of travelling here for a brief period and returning thereafter to Nigeria to seek clearance to go to Canada.

“When I told my preacher’s wife that I had got a South African visa,

she let out a sound of celebration and declared that I should come here and possess this land. I believe God was sending me a message through her.”

A Nigerian friend of a friend received Okoh at the Johannesburg airport in September 2000. The man was a business man who owned a barber shop and also sold drugs. He let the young immigrant sleep in his lounge and cut people’s hair at the shop for a small amount of money.

“I refused to sell drugs and

and one day he joined her for a church service where he decided to give his life to Jesus.

“I have never looked back from that day. God spoke to me and called me to His service; I joined a Bible school in Victoria Island and on completing my studies, I tried to get a visa to go to Canada,” he recalls.

If someone told you of a Nigerian who lived a hustler’s life in downtown Johannesburg a decade

ago but is now a millionaire, the thought of drugs would most probably creep into your mind. And if you were told that the same individual has pioneered a large church in the southern part of the city, you would be forgiven for presuming that his wealth was derived from the congregants offering.

Felix Okoh has however defied both stereotypes; that of his countrymen in this country and that of wealthy African preachers.

“By the time I arrived in SA, I was a born again Christian and I had already made money by the time I started House of Treasures ministries,” he says.

But Okoh was not always a man with integrity. After completing an engineering degree in Nigeria, he left the country for England in 1997. He was subsequently deported for engaging in fraudulent activity. His aunt took him in

FELIX OKOH THE NIGERIAN MULTI-MILLIONAIRE WHO DID IT THE UPRIGHT WAY...

“Felix Okoh has however defied both stereotypes; that of his countrymen in this country and that of wealthy African preachers....”

27

this irritated my boss together with the fact that I used to wake up early and pray loudly in his lounge every morning. To make matters worse, I befriended a South African lady called Ada who he had been chasing unsuccessfully for a very long time.”

Okoh wedded Ada in a small ceremony and the couple have three sons. He only had seventy rand when they got married, not enough to even buy a cheap ring but today he is happy to have adorned her finger with a diamond worth forty-five thousand rand.

After leaving the barber shop, he set up a public phone on a street in Rosettenville. Times were tough as the funds generated barely supported his young family. Then one day he asked a lady who had stopped by to use his phone if she knew of any job offerings. She informed him of an insurance company looking for sales agents.

“The company was in Pretoria and I attended a

four month training course. It was an improvement from my previous occupation and it enabled me to buy

my first car. One day I was at the tyre shop and a young Indian man came in driving a very expensive car. I walked up to him and pressed him to tell me what he does.” That man was Desmond Soupen,

a property entrepreneur. He was impressed by Okoh’s courage and believed he would do well with that

kind of confidence. He was recruited into the business and later obtained a diploma in real estate after winning a scholarship from FNB.

In October 2004, he set up his own company christened Kango properties and that was the beginning of fruitful times. He was a successful salesman and hired his own agents. They made

the best of the booming property market by purchasing properties for passive income and earning commissions on sales for third parties.

“Then in 2008, God spoke to me and told me that the recession was coming. I sold our properties and paid off our family home. The market was thriving and I made a lot of money,” he smiles.

The following year, the property market took a terrible dip. Interest rates shot through the roof and a credit crunch ensued. Okoh was

In 2008, God spoke to me and told me that the recession was coming. I sold our properties and paid off our family home at a time when the market was thriving...”

CAPE TOWNtel: +27 21 462 4500fax: +27 21 462 45502nd FLOOR, THE PALMS145 SIR LOWRY ROAD, CAPE TOWN 8001PO BOX 366, CAPE TOWN 8000

JOHANNESBURGtel: +27 11 447 3011fax: +27 86 514 0421318 2nd FLOOR, ROSEBANK MEWS173 OXFORD ROAD, ROSEBANK 2196PO BOX 670, PARKLANDSJOHANNESBURG 2121

BLUE ROUTE MALL, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

BLUE ROUTE MALL, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

GREENPOINT ATHLETICS STADIUM, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

GREENPOINT ATHLETICS STADIUM, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

28

however prepared for it and had surplus cash with which he could pursue deals and purchase a variety of luxuries for cash including a Rolls Royce worth R3.5 million.

“Cars are my weakness. I also like good clothes; I believe I should dress well as I am a public figure and should project an image that others should aspire to. I am not materialistic, I can live without these things and in fact I have given away 11 cars. It is giving that brings blessings. When I was poor, I asked God why he wouldn’t bless me yet I lived a life of integrity while drug dealers were thriving. His response was that I was not tithing consistently and when I began doing so things changed.”House of Treasures was started in September 2011, initially meeting at the Thaba ya Batswana hotel. The church has now purchased a 2.6 acre property in the south of Johannesburg with a membership database of 700 people.

“It is a very big property and we are awaiting planning permission to construct a 3500 seater church towards the end of 2014. We later plan to establish a bible school and shopping complex and establish branches in the rest of the country and as far afield as the US and Canada”

The words of the preacher’s wife still resonate with Okoh, “go and possess that land”.

“It was a vision that is coming to life. Without vision, people lose hope and perish. One must keep hope alive because even God cannot help a hopeless person.”

KEITH KUNDAI

Article pictures courtesy of Felix Okoh

24 KyambaliNo. 1 Springwell AvenueWillawayKyalami 1684

Tel: +27 (0)11 701 5051Fax: +27 (0)86 218 4380Email: [email protected]: www.facilitationafrica.com

Facilitation Africa

Realise Africa’s FullBusiness PotentialFacilitation Africa facilitates,advises and assists SouthAfrican companies seeking toenter, expand into or alreadyoperating on the rest of theAfrican continent

In conjunction with our highlyexperienced strategic localpartners in different parts ofthe continent – we also assistentities from other Africancountries in exploringmutually beneficialrelationships with SouthAfrican corporations

● Advice on Potential Business Opportunities

● Formulation of Country Specific Strategies

● Managing the Process of Structuring the Deal

● Commercial and Political Risk Assessment andAdvice

● Input into the Board/Corporate Africa BusinessDevelopment Strategy

“Exploring AfricanBusiness Opportunities

With You”

30

TAP Talk

killed, accepting a ride from a stranger means you may never be seen again and your husband could kill you while all your neighbours quietly listen and mind their own business, can we truly say ubuntu is our founding principle.

This is not to say that there aren’t people out there who genuinely help, neither is it to say that every person seeking help is a phony. To reach out and help is a human imperative. This is just to say that our social paradigm is one of a distrustful society, a society that hesitates to help, because experience has taught us that ubuntu can be hazardous to one’s health in more ways than one. More and more it seems that “Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu” (“I am what I am because of who we all are”) is acquiring a new and rather unpleasant meaning.

CHIONESU SAKUTUKWA

Twitter: @chiovictoria

that challenged our society’s humanity and sense of ubuntu in a middle-class Johannesburg suburb. POWA placed a young man in a townhouse in a complex. He practiced enthusiastically on his set of drums and in minutes angry neighbours called the guards. They informed him in strong terms that such inconsiderate behaviour would not be tolerated. A few weeks later in the same house, complex and at the same time, the young man played a recording of a violent domestic dispute that was over an hour long. The woman in the recording screamed in agony and for help repeatedly, there were sounds of breaking glass and the heavy thud of blows. Not a single neighbour stirred despite his playing the recording three different times. The video went viral on YouTube with the tagline “every year 1 400 women are killed by their partners”. How many of us can honestly say we would have done something?

At its worst, Ubuntu could get you killed. In March 2013, the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court sentenced a man to life imprisonment for using a young teenage girl to lure a 27-year-old woman to stop her vehicle. He then hijacked, robbed and murdered the woman who had been moved to stop and help a seemingly stranded young girl.

More and more it seems like we are damned if we do and damned if we do not show our spirit of ubuntu. In a society where a beggar cannot be trusted, picking up a hitchhiker may get you

Ubuntu is an African ideal or philosophy of Nguni Bantu origin that loosely translates

to humaneness, morality or human kindness. It envisages a socially kind society where one drops a few coins in the cup of the beggar at the robot; donates towards feeding a hungry child; or assists a stranded motorist.

This description does not fully define the term because as Justice Yvonne Mokgoro said, “defining an African notion in a foreign language and from an abstract, as opposed to a concrete approach, defies the very essence of the African world-view and may also be particularly elusive…”

The word Ubuntu is often thrown around in this country by lawmakers, trade unionists and public speakers alike. It is clearly the ideal to which this country aspires. The reality in which we survive, however, could not be further from the concept.

In our reality, ubuntu, at its best, will earn you disappointment. Who can forget the recent revelation that the legless beggar who was a regular sight on Glenhove Road, Corlett Drive and Riviera Road in Johannesburg in fact has a working pair of legs? He folded his legs everyday and hoodwinked motorists for a very long time until a security guard from a nearby building who had had enough used his cell phone to record a video of the act. After this, it will be very difficult for most motorists to feel sympathetic to crippled beggars.

In 2010, People Opposing Women Abuse (“POWA”) conducted and recorded a powerful social experiment

UBUNTU IDEAL VERSUS REALITY

@Soil_Child Soil Child Clothing

32

imaginary world while reflecting on reality and trying to understand the different meanings at play.

Nnedi Okorafor is a Nigerian - American author, who has successfully published several science fiction and fantasy stories that have received numerous creative literary awards and nominations. This review is based on her book, “Who fears Death”, published

a few years ago and which will soon be adapted into a movie directed by Wanuri Kahui - an award winning Kenyan filmmaker/producer passionate about Afrofuturism and science fiction in Africa.

“Who fears Death” presents the imagined reader with an Africa never seen or experienced before. It is a mixture of magic, technology and the mystical. Set in post-apocalyptic Africa, the author heavily engages elements of fantasy, magic and science fiction to examine and interrogate gender relations and social systems. There is a delicate movement between history and the

“ThePalm-wine Drinkard”, or watched Nigerian movies notoriously known for their ghost narratives. When tracing the history of such stories in Africa, the creative works of Okorafor help locate the growth and (re) constructions of fantasy and science fiction. The author skilfully enthrals the imagined reader with her vivid descriptions and simple language. Such spectacular stories allow us to immerse ourselves into an

Just for a few minutes, let us engage our imaginations and be entertained as we journey

into different dimensions. Have we watched and loved the movie Avatar? For the young, the young at heart, or those raising the young, have we heard of J.K Rowling (the author of Harry Potter series), or J.R.R Tolkien (Lord of the Rings Trilogy and The Hobbit), or C.S Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia series)? Whether or not we know these incredible western epic fantasy stories, it is now time for us to familiarize ourselves with science and fantasy fiction set right here in Africa! The works of Nnedi Okorafor are a good place to start.

M y s t i c a l stories are not new in Africa. Many of us were brought up listening to folklore, myths and legends filled with magic; stories where animals talked and ogres existed. These stories were intended to discourage bad behaviour and encourage and reward ethical demeanour. Some of us may have read books such as

WHO FEARS DEATHNNEDI OKORAFORSCIENCE AND FANTASY FICTION IN AFRICA

33

TAP Book-Review

future performed under the beam of the present. Admittedly one may find it tricky to box this book into a specific genre and this simply adds to its splendidness.

The story is centred on Onyesonwu, a girl whose name means “who fears death”. She is conceived through a violent encounter between her mother and a rapist, and is born a gifted child who matures into a passionate powerful wizard with shape shifting abilities. While growing up, she is stigmatised by many and secretly admired by few because she is different. The story is about her turbulent journey to avenge her mother and save a world plagued by genocide: a war being executed under the leadership of her biological father, the rapist (lest we forget) and powerful magician.

What makes this book even more compelling are the heavy social evils that it addresses; weaponised rape, war, identity crisis, female genital mutilation, race, genocide, and patriarchy. All these are a burden (or have been) for many African states and cultures. Okorafor deliberately chooses a female protagonist to question and challenge social inequalities and evils, and further harnesses the mystical to correct them.

This magnanimous quest is creatively blended with narratives of love, lust,

solidarity and true friendship. The book is a page-turner and the story mind-

blowing!

It is the kind of book that will have your heart racing, eager for events to unfold (if you fancy science fiction and fantasy

stories). It should come as a warning that there are some graphic portrayals

in the story, which may take readers to dark spaces and some may find this to be a little disturbing. Nonetheless, one will discern such renderings to be necessary as they do blend in well with the development of the story.

So the next time you are in search of an-out-of-this-world mental experience, grab this book as you wait for the release of the movie. This African magical story will surely tickle your imagination.

WANJIRU WAICHIGO

Wanjiru Waichigo is an MA (Literature) graduate from the University of Witwatersrand. She currently works with CIET in Southern Africa as a researcher and programme manager.

“Who fears Death” presents the imagined reader with an Africa never seen or experienced before. It is a mixture of magic, the mystical and technology….”

An Identity Embraced, An Ideal Personified.

An Identity Embraced, An Ideal Personified.

SO YOU NOTICED THIS PAGE, HUH? SO DID THOUSANDS OF OTHERS WHO READ THIS MAGAZINE.

Advertise your business here at very affordable ratesEmail us at [email protected] for further information

35

TAP Immigration:

Many expatriates come to a point in their lives where they are faced with the

question of whether they would like to settle down in SA and change their legal status to that of a permanent resident. This decision is influenced by a range of factors that vary depending on the individual situation. However, what motivates most expatriates is the security of the legal status, less bureaucratic hurdles, and greater independence in terms of the activities they are able to pursue while in the country.

Permanent residence allows the holder to stay in SA indefinitely and removes the pressure of frequently renewing the temporary residence permit. It also gives the holder a secure legal status as the conditions for temporary residence are often subject to change at very short notice and one may not be able to qualify for temporary residence on the same grounds as before. Finally, it enables the expatriate to apply for a local ID, the possession of which lifts many of the bureaucratic restrictions usually applicable to foreign nationals.

Immigration law has various categories, each with different requirements to qualify for permanent residence. The categories of permanent residence available include the following: continuous employment for a period of five years, possession of a permanent offer of employment, exceptional skills, business, financial independence, retirement, spousal relationship or first step of kinship with a South African citizen or permanent resident.

Of these categories, three are directly applicable to expatriates already employed or wishing to take up permanent employment in South Africa. The first category allows an expatriate to apply for permanent residence if they have held a work permit in the Republic for five years and have received an offer of permanent employment. The second category is applicable to those who have received an offer of permanent employment and whose skills fall into one of the professional categories for which annual quotas are prescribed by the Department of Home Affairs. It is important to note that permanent residence in this category is issued on condition that the holder will remain employed in the field for which the permit was applied for a period of five years. Finally, we have the exceptional skills category which is not clearly defined by the Department. The onus is on the applicant to provide proof that his or her skills are not only exceptional, but will also benefit the South African sector in which he/she intends to work.

Alternatively, an expatriate may also wish to follow one of the other routes for obtaining permanent residence. In order to qualify for permanent residence based on business, the foreign national is required to provide proof that at least ZAR 2.5 million originating from outside SA, is available to be invested as part of the book value of the business and undertake to employ at least five South African citizens or permanent residents. Once the permit has been issued, the holder has to prove to the Department that the financial contribution is still invested in the business two years and three years from issue. In order to obtain

permanent residence in the retired or financially independent category the applicant must respectively provide proof of a guaranteed life-long monthly income of at least ZAR 20000 or a total net worth of at least ZAR 7.5 million. Please note that in the latter case a fee of ZAR 75000 must be paid to the Department upon issue of permit. Furthermore, South African permanent residence can be applied for by spouses, children and parents of citizens or permanent residents. In the case of spousal relationships, this applies to applicants who have been in a relationship with their South African partner or permanent residence holder for at least 5 years. In this case after two years the applicant must provide proof to the Department that the spousal relationship still exists.

ANDREAS KRENSEL

Andreas Krensel is the owner and managing director of IBN Consulting in Cape Town. He is a qualified German attorney with an LLM from UCT and has been assisting foreign investors in South Africa for the past ten years.www.ibncapetown.com

OBTAINING PERMANENT RESIDENCE IN SOUTH AFRICA

36

TAP Lynnsanity

This title should be accompanied by a “grrrrrowl” shouldn’t it?But truth of the matter is that

we are living in a society where it has seemingly become imperative for the good girl to go bad. You might ask why. Well look at the simple fact that when you look back at life, the girl who was loosely termed “the village bicycle” is now happily married with three kids and is posting bible verses as her updates on Facebook! What of the good girl? She is single, with a good career, loads of money and her morals intact, but perhaps, her left ring finger is still empty. Horrifying isn’t it?

As young women we were always raised to believe that no man wants to marry a woman with loose morals “so to speak” that is, a woman who has been around the block a number of times and so on. I can however truthfully say that a friend of mine once met a man who told her, verbatim, “I will never marry a woman who is a virgin. I want to marry a woman who has been around and knows what she is doing”. Shocked? We sure were! We were raised to believe that the virgin girl is the one who will be married, worshiped and adored, while the loose girl who wanted to eat dessert before meal time was over would be the one left standing on the side-lines without a marriage proposal. Well, dare I say that our parents lied. Okay, perhaps I should say, our parents may have got the wrong end of the stick.

I can truthfully say it is a shame that I

have noticed most good girls are still standing around, soon to be placed on the shelf, waiting for the invariable knight in shining armour to sweep them off their feet, while the “village bicycles” are living the white picket fence dream.

Now as I’ve often said, I’m no philosopher or life coach, but it seems that because the bad girls got some early practice in, they are the ones that

are now sorted and ready to play the game. I shudder to think what that says about our dashingly handsome young men of today’s society, but it is what it is.

As life would have it though, it would seem that good girls have no option left but to become bad girls. It may be late in life, but hey, every girl (especially good ones) dreams of that beautiful wedding day with the wonderful prince standing at the end of the aisle waiting for her. And if you find that prince and he wants a bad girl, well not much is left but for the good girl to become bad!

So what’s a girl to do? I guess each to her own, but truthfully, a large majority of good girls have decided to go bad while the bad girls chant “welcome to the dark side” donning

their white dresses, carrying a son on their left hip and standing behind their white picket fence.

It has now become what it is, perhaps our men are the ones with the issue, that they have failed to appreciate what is untouched. Or maybe our women have remained in the Victorian era where we nurse our chastity belts while waiting to hear those white horse hoofs come galloping across the hill, carrying the

knight in shining armour?

Whichever the case, we can only hope that society will one day once again appreciate the best that life has to offer. Not

that I’m saying bad girls don’t deserve happiness too! I think everyone deserves their perfect ending, but here’s to hoping, that a time will come when everyone gets what’s in accordance with the life they have lived and that each of us gets our just rewards! In the meantime...bad girls stay good, while good girls go bad!

SHEILA LYNN SENKUBUGE

Twitter - @lynns95

GOOD GIRLS GONE BAD

“The girl who was loosely termed “the village bicycle” is now happily married with three kids and is posting bible verses as her updates on Facebook! On the other hand, the good girl is single, with a good career and great morals but her left ring finger is still empty....”

38

LOS ANGELES JUST ANOTHER JOHANNESBURG

“If one asks how to get around in Jozi, one will be directed - but in the wrong direction. In LA, the most likely answer will be ‘I dunno’, with a shrug of the shoulders. In both cities, people know very little beyond their areas of operation....”

© Shutterstock.com

39

Having lived in Johannesburg (Jozi as we call it) for many years and now finding myself

in Los Angeles (LA), both large cities in their regions, I cannot help but draw parallels between the two.

Both cities have got significant foreign national or immigrant populations. For Jozi, the foreigners come mainly from the rest of Africa through South Africa’s northern border while for LA they hail from the South American countries and enter the country through the southern border. In the State of California where LA is situated, the second most widely spoken language after English is Spanish and is found on major official documentation and signage in leading stores. I am told chances of getting a job in California are enhanced if one is able to speak both languages the same way it used to be with English and Afrikaans in South Africa a couple of decades ago.

The next notable similarity is the fear of crime in both cities. I have been advised by a number of people not to venture into certain areas of LA on my own. The dangers one is warned of in LA are similar to those we hear of in Jozi. I have encountered people who live just outside the city and never want to venture into its heart just like there are people in Sandton or Midrand that have a phobia for visiting downtown Jozi. I have been told that there are guys in LA that can shoot for no logical reason and that I could be attacked for being in the wrong place, being in the right place at the wrong time or saying

the wrong thing, saying the right thing to the wrong people, or even wearing a the wrong colour. This is not unlike Jozi although I would like to think that it has over time changed for the better. In the outskirts of LA, one usually gets the impression that the city is a no-go area and with my Jozi background, I know very well what this means.

When one visits LA, there is that inner feeling that one may see a film star just like people come to South Africa and ask where Mandela is. The truth of the matter is that LA is vast, everybody minds their own business

and super stars are seen by people who move around their circles. Similarly,

people in Jozi hear of Mandela the same way people in LA or London do.

As for roads, highways, shopping malls, shops, suburbs, airports and other infrastructure, I found that it is pretty much the same in both cities except that they tend to be bigger in LA due to its size. Motorists drive on the left in South Africa and on the right in California, something I am getting used to with much difficulty. The traffic rules are pretty much the same but with one notable difference, one can turn right at a red traffic light in California (and I guess the rest of US) if it’s safe to do so. Also people respect traffic rules to the letter because traffic fines are given without mercy and are unflatteringly steep.

The other area one would be concerned about in a city is service. When one is being given service in LA, I found that one receives slightly more

TAP Travel

“It is not uncommon to be asked ‘ you haven’ been to Vegas...? Meeeen.... you gotta go to Vegas!’...”

40

attention than one would receive in Jozi. But in my opinion, service and courtesy is generally poor in both cities and is despised as much in LA as it is in Jozi. London is miles ahead of both cities in terms of public transport and the help one would get when moving around the city. If one asks how to get around in Jozi, one will be directed - but in the wrong direction. In LA, the most likely answer will be ‘I dunno’, with a shrug of the shoulders. In both cities, people know very little beyond their areas of operation.

People around LA will advise you to go to places like San Diego, San Francisco and of course Vegas but never certain parts of LA. It is not uncommon to be asked “ you haven’ been to Vegas...? Meeeen.... you gotta go to Vegas!” Indeed I will, and that will be my story for another day.

Which reminds me, as somebody who hasn’t watched many movies in my life, I’m struggling to understand the accent of the locals here especially African Americans due to the speed of the words. While being dropped at a shopping mall this morning, I was told by the friend who dropped me that the area is called ‘Sanita’. Only when I looked at the signage later that I realised it is Santa Anita.

STEPHEN TWINOBURYO

Twitter - @stwino

TAP Travel

Pics courtesy of S. Twinoburyo

41

TAP Travel

42

On my way to interviewing Stella Makokha Ogema, I had a picture of what direction

the interview would take. Like most expatriate African professionals I have interviewed, she would probably relate a tale of coming to a South African university, getting a job then branching out to start her own business. I wasn’t prepared for an adventure involving dodging police on border patrol, living in a shack in a South African township and other intrigues.

Stella was born in Uganda to a Ugandan father and Kenyan mother. She was the last born and grew very close to her mother whose circumstances she was determined to improve; she was ageing, sickly and lived in a house without running water or electricity.

“Once I completed my high school studies, I did not want to go to university because that would take too long,” Stella explained in the boardroom of her Pretoria offices.

“I needed to complete a quick course in a tertiary institution and make enough money to improve my mother’s standard of living.”

S t e l l a p u r s u e d communication studies at a Nairobi college and also completed a certificate course in travel

and tours in 2001. She landed a job at a travel agency in the coastal town of Mombasa but did not find the salary adequate to fund the big plans that she had at that stage.

“I got desperate because my mother was getting really old. She and I sat down and decided I should leave Kenya for a country with a stronger economy. We looked at the exchange rates in the newspaper and discovered that the Botswana Pula was pretty strong. I figured that even if I swept offices there for a short period of time and sent Pula back to Uganda once converted, the shillings would be adequate to at least drill a borehole in our village.”

Her mother packed blankets, clothes and a lot of toiletries and Stella boarded a bus to Tanzania with only Ksh. 25,000 (approx. USD 300). Her funds had run out by the time she got to Zambia after having to spend a few nights at bus stations waiting for the next one to hit the road.

“Fortunately, I met a Ugandan couple who befriended me on the bus

to Botswana. They were young, rich and naïve and had eloped to start a life together in a faraway land. They were excited to meet someone from their home country and viewed me as an elder sister.”

On arrival in Gaborone, the trio rented a room and went looking for jobs door to door. After two weeks of job-hunting, nothing concrete had come their way but Stella had a fairly cordial engagement with an architect called Motsumi.

“His firm was not doing very well and with my background in tours and travel I was sure he could diversify and use his network to build a profitable business. I briefed him on an idea and he asked me to prepare a proposal which I did. The idea was to organize working holidays for young Tswana’s and we placed an advert under the proposition of “Fly Now, Pay Later” in a local newspaper.”

The firm was inundated with applicants who each paid an application fee giving them instant cash flow. They

proceeded to organize the trips with an agency and it was not long before they had expanded to other cities in Botswana. However a fall out with M o t s u m i prompted Stella to move on. She decided to head

STERLING AFRIKA’S STELLA OGEMA

43


44


across the border to South Africa in late 2006.

“When I got to the border at Tlokweng, I tried to get one of the truck drivers to smuggle me across. But there had been a crackdown and it was difficult to get one who was interested. Eventually one [driver] introduced me to a couple of men and one lady with the same mission. We were paired up into couples and were advised to walk along the fence and slide underneath when the border patrol police were not looking.”

In broad daylight, Stella and her accomplice pretended to be a couple taking a stroll and then at the opportune moment, sneaked through the barbed wire and ran into the neighbouring forest. They had to run as fast as they could then stop suddenly and lie down motionless when they could hear the patrol dogs gaining on them.

“It was dark and scary. We had no sense of direction and had to follow the street lights to find the road. When we did, we tried phoning the truck driver but there was no response. Eventually we saw the truck coming and without stopping, he flung the door open and we had to jump into a moving vehicle with our heavy luggage.”

On arrival in Johannesburg, Stella spent a few nights in a filthy refugee hall while looking for work before taking the train to Cape Town where she rented a shack with no functioning

toilet in Khayelitsha. She got by doing occasional gardening assignments before getting a job as a secretary at a project management company earning three thousand rand.

“I moved to Pretoria in 2007 and in the same year, my mum died. I was devastated and although I did not have a visa to return to SA, I decided that I had to fly home to pay my last respects. Through the contributions of friends, I boarded a plane for the very first time

and attended her funeral. I returned to SA pretty much the same way I entered the first time.”

Stella got a job at a training institute in Pretoria in sales. She was pretty aggressive and exceeded targets leading to her promotion to the position of team leader and subsequently in-house executive. She left the company in 2012 to start her own in the same field.

“I was earning up to R50,000 in basic salary and commissions at the company. However, money does not dictate my life given what I had gone through. I chased money for years to make my mother happy and yet when her time came, she did not wait for it. Now all that money can do is put a beautiful tombstone on her grave. It does not mean much.”

Stella now has a work permit and has been in business ever since leaving employment. Her company is called Sterling Afrika occupying 220 square metres of office space in a prime location in Pretoria and has close to ten full-time employees.

“I called it Sterling because this is an adjective for excellence and value. I want to build a world-class company that exhibits quality and professionalism as well as high standards.”

The company found its niche in developing courses for governments and companies across the continent. Their

role is to research these courses, engage a suitable facilitator, coordinate travel arrangements and hire appropriate venues.

Stella, 32, lives with her partner David Rukanshonga with whom she has two sons David Junior and Darrell. “People ask me how I manage so well as a business person, wife and mother. They don’t know that it can sometimes be very stressful. I am not skinny because of going to the gym; it’s due to many sleepless nights trying to cope with the challenges that come with entrepreneurship. But I remain confident because I have come from far and continue to dream big. After all, dreaming is one of very few things in this world that are absolutely free.”

KEITH KUNDAI

“On my way to interviewing Sterling Afrika’s founder Stella Ogema, I wasn’t expecting an adventure involving dodging police on border patrol, sleeping at bus stations, living in a shack in a South African township and other intrigues…..”

Africa’s Leader in Capacity DevelopmentSterling Africa Training & Consultancy is a capacity building institution.

We specialise in the provision of accredited skilled and introductory trainingmeeting the demand for high quality business management & continuedprofessional capacity development in Africa.

We have grown to meet specific client demands, both locally and internationallybecause of our practical approach into delivering training programs that areproblem-centred, learner oriented and time bound.

For more information, please contact:Stella Makokha OgemaTel: +27 (12) 7713 487Fax: +27 (0) 86 5516 480Cell: +27 76 8444 048Email:[email protected] [email protected]:www.sterlingafrika.com

Unit 5 Parkfield Court1185 Park Street

Hatfield0028

PretoriaSouth Africa

Services offered● Public Training● In-House Training● Oil & Gas Conferences● Short Term Training (1-6 Weeks)● Corporate Events Management

46

The Last Word

article I read the other day, 5% of the population pay 99% of SA’s Income tax. We are increasingly becoming a welfare state which is not sustainable. We cannot afford to have roads built where the toll collection system costs more than the amount spent on the roads or commissioning power stations at exorbitant costs to the taxpayer. We can’t push Secrecy Bills just because we have the majority. There is an apparent arrogance within the ruling party which may result in it ending up as just another African party that lost its way.

And as a people, we should be more concerned about the National Development Plan than a Royal baby, Vavi’s sex life or a store in Hyde Park.

YAW PEPRAH Yaw Peprah is a self employed entrepreneur pursuing interests in business advisory, consultancy and commodity brokering. www.asitissoitis.blogspot.comTwitter - @yawzie

The ANC together with other think tanks brought in employment equity and BEE. There was no alternative, as things could not be left as they were. I attended an event for ex-trainees of a Big 4 Audit firm and only about ten percent of the 300 people there were ‘of colour’. We need to change our mindset. The middle class black person has as much to lose as any white person in this country. The majority poor with few possessions have little to lose. Part of the BEE scorecard is a great section called CSI spend which is an opportunity to make a difference but it is unfortunately treated as a box ticking exercise. We complain about the poor education system yet companies can afford to build schools and train teachers to teach kids instead of shipping its profits offshore.

People scream about how bad Zimbabwe is but I think it will be in a better position than SA soon, given its untapped mineral resources. Because of ‘Crazy Bob’, indigenous Zimbabweans have a say. If you wish to play in their patch, the rules have been laid out and as a result everyone wins including the previously disadvantaged. Just as I owe a lot to the apartheid regime of the past, I owe even more of my current life to the ANC and the struggle heroes. Without them, I doubt I would have received financial assistance at UCT, been employed by a large audit firm or joined a top bank.

According to an

With elections in Zimbabwe and SA’s early next year, a conversation I had with

‘Mariaan’, a lady I share an office with comes to mind. She asked me if I would vote for the ANC in the next elections and then went on about how poor the standards at schools are.

As much as I don’t want to admit it, I owe a lot to the apartheid government, because without them there would have been no homelands which needed to ‘import’ professionals from Ghana where my parents are from. I also doubt there would have been Umtata High School which afforded me a quality education. Mariaan was of the view that what is going on is reverse apartheid. I don’t agree with the term ‘reverse apartheid’ or reverse racism, racism is racism, full stop; furthermore, where have you ever come across a situation where a white person was asked for a dom pass to enter a certain neighbourhood? I am no ANC sympathiser, but we should note that the 43 year apartheid government only made sure it built infrastructure to cater for 2-3million people and now this one has to look after 50.6mil in a period of less than half that time. Added to that, apartheid was so well executed that a lot of its non-white products were brought up with shackled minds.

She then argued that whites can’t get jobs. I smiled. I have friends returning from the UK who get plum positions within weeks of returning, but then we have the products of Bantu education who loiter on Katherine Street daily hoping to earn a daily stipend of R100 if they are lucky.

MORE ELECTIONS, MORE THOUGHTS

• MOTOR & HOUSEHOLD INSURANCE

• SMALL & MEDIUM BUSINESS ENTERPRISE INSURANCE

• CORPORATE BUSINESS INSURANCE

• SPECIALIST INSURANCE

AN INSURANCE BROKER THAT IS TRUE TO ITS AFRICAN ROOTS

Risk affects every facet of our lives, whether you are an

individual, corporate or small to medium business enterprise.

Risk governs our choices.

At Sankofa Insurance Brokers:

• we provide insurance brokering services,

• we provide advisory and claims management services,

• we are your strategic insurance partner as we are not

affi liated to any specifi c insurance company.

Sankofa Insurance Brokers offers a wide range of specialist

services including:

• Analysis, Identifi cation and Evaluation of your insurance

related risks and exposures.

• Market Exercises aimed at fi nding the most cost-effective

means for the widest possible cover.

• Planning, Implementation and Continuous Servicing of your

insurance programme.

• Effective Claims Management from notifi cation through to

fi nal settlement.

• Advice in respect of Risk Management and Loss Control.

If you are a professional, corporate or small to medium

business seeking an insurance broker offering a high level of

service and advice, has a personal approach, grounded in an

African way of doing business; kindly contact us to discuss

your insurance needs.

We will carry out a confi dential review

of your current insurance at no cost or

obligation to you.

SANKOFA INSURANCE BROKERS (PTY) LTD I Tel: +27 (0)11 025 6566 I Fax2email: +27 (0)86 632 3980 I Cell: +27 (0)78 599 1821 I Email: [email protected]

An Authorised Financial Services Provider – FSP No. 44269

Sankofa A4 Expatriate Mag Ad FINAL REV FA.indd 1 2013/07/18 11:15 AM

48

TAP Social

THE AFRICAN PROFESSIONAL 2ND WOMEN’S BREAKFAST

1 - Event MC, Sheila Lynn Senkubuge 2 - Karen Marshman of Western Union gets a glimpse of the new issue 3 - Magazine editor KC Rottok and Prof. Annet Oguttu, a previous interviewee, share a light moment4 - 180 ladies in attendance

2

1

3

4

49

TAP Social


1 - Evelyn Doubell from Consolidated Financial Planning2 - Rhoda Landa and Yvonne Katumbi complete the quiz3 - Sally Kim from Medina Palms4 - Kacey Moore performs a poem

21

3

4

50

TAP Social


1 - From left: Anne Lubuulwa, Paula Kulubya and Lydia Byarugaba pose for a photo during the break2 - Malawi and Friends Association Founder Martha Banda arrives for the function3 - Panelist Sue Nyathi, author of “The Polygamist”4 - Panelist IDC Senior Strategist Dr. Jackie Chimhanzi

2 1

3

4

51

TAP Social


1 - Panelist Former UN Rep to SA, Ms. Scholastica Kimaryo 2 - Panelist Mumbi Odame, Head of Client Experience Strategy at Nedbank3 - Panelist Accenture Director Monica Rubombora4 - Okyerebea Mwaba asks the panelists a question5 - Quiz top 3 winners: From left - Sheila Otieno, Kaswii Omondi (overall winner) and Wanjiku Waithaka

2

1

5

3

4

52

TAP Social

AFRICA DAY CELEBRATIONS AT CHEZ NTEMBA

BRINGING THE WORLD TO AFRICA, TAKING AFRICA TO THE WORLD.

BEST AIRLINE IN AFRICA. AS JUDGED BY THE EXPERTS. OUR PASSENGERS.And they should know – they travel with us every day. So when they vote us Best Airline in Africa for the 11th year running, it says we’re doing something right, and inspires us to carry on doing it.

HA

VA

SWW

855

8/E

the african professional™ magazine

Documents

african professional

arkein ceo

expatriate magazine

sa36 taplynnsanity

bad38 taptravel

chio sakutukwa32 tapbook

african professionalover

upright way30 taptalk