Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, back at the helm after prolonged sick-leave, said he was delighted by the way Africa’s biggest economy was improving after briefings from ministers and the central bank, his office said on Monday.
Nigeria, the continent’s most populous country, is in its second year of recession and has been contending with a currency crisis and dollar shortages brought on by low oil prices, which is the OPEC member’s mainstay.
But oil prices have risen since the low prices of 2014, leading to increased receipts and peace talks have this year halted the attacks on energy facilities in the southern Niger Delta which in 2016 cut crude production by more than a third.
The statistics office on Monday said annual had slowed for a sixth straight month in July, easing to 16.05 percent. [nL8N1LE19B]
And Nigerian stocks rose to a nearly three-year-high in August, largely on the opening of a market-determined FX trade window by the central bank in April that has prompted some foreign investors to return. [nL8N1K140P] [nL5N1KU55D]
Buhari, who last week returned to Nigeria after three months in Britain on medical leave for an unspecified illness, was briefed by the finance minister, central bank governor and minister of budget and national planning for nearly two hours about the economy and monetary policies.
“A delighted president declared that he was pleased with the progress being made on different fronts,” said the presidency in an emailed statement issued by Buhari’s spokesman Femi Adesina.
Buhari, who took office in May 2015, told the officials “reviving the economy was one of the major planks on which the campaign of his party, the All Progressives Congress, was based” and “expressed gladness that things were looking up after two years”.
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Reporting by Ulf Laessing and Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Chijioke Ohuocha and Richard Balmforth
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Nigeria’s Buhari delighted that economy is improving

&nbsp;
By Ayanda Khumalo, acting chairman of the Free Market Foundation
The Free Market Foundation (FMF) has for forty-two years been working for freedom and prosperity for all. All these years later the FMF continues to argue for government policies that will benefit all South Africans. The FMF is nonpartisan and its major focus is on putting forward policies that will improve the lives of all South Africans, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable members of the population.
Civil society organisations have been very active during the past year. Increasingly, they are demanding that government adhere to the principles set out in the Constitution and adopt policies that will lead to peaceful co-existence. Given the happenings in the country, more people are coming to understand the moral philosophical and economic underpinnings of the FMF’s work. Perhaps this understanding is not as widespread as we would like it to be but I do believe it is growing. Founded in 1975 to oppose apartheid and work for freedom, the guiding philosophical principles adopted by the FMF in 1975 are:
Perhaps this understanding is not as widespread as we would like it to be but I do believe it is growing. Founded in 1975 to oppose apartheid and work for freedom, the guiding philosophical principles adopted by the FMF in 1975 are:
<ul>
<li>All people have the right to life and the right to conduct it as they see fit, provided they do not impinge upon the similar rights of any person.</li>
<li>Amongst the most fundamental rights of all persons is the right to own and control property and the product of their own efforts and to dispose of it as they see fit.</li>
<li>No person or group has the right to initiate violence or the threat of violence against any other person or group.</li>
<li>The only economic system consistent with the above mentioned fundamental rights is a market economy, in a free unfettered market in which all persons are at liberty to deal with their property and conduct their affairs according to their own individual needs and motives.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Established as an opponent of apartheid</h4>
These guiding principles established the FMF as an opponent of apartheid or any other system of government that violated the sanctity of individual liberties. The apartheid system was characterised by authoritarian domination over the entire population. Black South Africans were compelled by force to live under full socialism (no rights in the conduct of their lives, constantly subjected to violence and the threat of violence, no right to own property in land, with black and white citizens told the lie that the system they were living under was “free enterprise”.
Under the circumstances, it was understandable, as FMF director, Temba Nolutshungu, explained, “We wanted the opposite of what we had. If apartheid was free enterprise, then we, tragically, thought that socialism would be our saviour! We did not realise that we were living under authoritarian socialism, which was the cause of our grief!” Temba went on to warn that, “Freedom is indivisible, you cannot have freedom for some and not for others in the same country”. That is a truth that should be taken to heart by all South Africans.
Unfortunately, fundamental rights continue to be abridged by legislation and regulations in our country today. It was possibly too much to hope that South Africa would transform in easy steps from authoritarianism to freedom. If we look at the world we find that it is in the freest economies that the poor are better off and not in countries in which the greatest forcible wealth transfers occur.
<h4>Economic freedom is about respeciting the rights of the people</h4>
Economic freedom is all about governments respecting the rights of the people. If their rights are respected, the people are free to utilise their talents to best advantage, are most productive, and consequently, earn higher incomes.
The issue of economic freedom receives the constant attention of the FMF because of its potential for bringing about high economic growth, increased incomes throughout the economy, and reduced unemployment and poverty. In the year 2000, South Africa, at 42nd, was ranked in the top 30% of the world’s freest economies and looked set for high economic growth.
Sadly, the economic policy options adopted since then have brought about a decline in our economic freedom ranking that has taken the country to 105th and into the bottom 35% of the economic freedom rankings.
<h4>Stop corruption and reduce red tape</h4>
If we had kept going in the policy direction that made our country the 42nd freest economy in the world, our GDP per capita would arguably have been at least 50 per cent greater than it is today. Returning to the 2000 policy formula would require that government significantly reduce its role in the economy, change its stance on property rights and foreign investment, improve policing and the integrity of the legal system, stop corruption, and reduce red tape.
The FMF’s Khaya Lam (My Home) Land Reform Project cooperates with municipal governments and with financial assistance from generous donors, to transfer fully tradable title to municipal rental properties to registered occupants, at no cost to the households. A major objective of the project is to demonstrate the benefits of property titling and to encourage municipalities and groups of people across the country to become involved in
A major objective of the project is to demonstrate the benefits of property titling and to encourage municipalities and groups of people across the country to become involved in titling the homes of people who were denied ownership rights by the 1913 Land Act and still do not have titles to their properties. To date the Khaya Lam project has, in total, presented 1,294 titles to deserving families and is in the process of transferring a further 3,409 and motivating for the transfer of another 2,000 in various areas of the country.
<h4>Transfer of properties to low-income families</h4>
The total amount donated to the project to date is R7.44 million, resulting in the transfer of property worth at least R470 million to low-income families. Legislation adopted in 1991 gave ownership to an estimated five million families but they do not have title deeds to prove it. The Khaya Lam project, participating municipalities and generous donors, are working on rectifying the situation.
The FMF’s Health Policy Unit promotes private provision and funding of healthcare for those who can afford it and the utilisation of taxpayer resources by the State to provide high-quality care for the poor. Government’s NHI plans aim to nationalise private healthcare provision and funding.
The HPU proposes the opposite: to improve health care for everyone, including the poor, the best option will be to allow private healthcare services to grow as rapidly as possible with the end goal of serving the entire population, with the government increasingly purchasing quality care for the poor from competing private providers.
<h4>Rule of Law Project set to have positive influence on laws</h4>
The FMF’s Rule of Law Project, chaired by former Judge of the Supreme Court, Rex van Schalkwyk, is set to have a positive influence on the laws of South Africa. The fact that the rule of law is incorporated in the Founding Provisions of the constitution has been largely, or almost entirely, overlooked in the drafting of South Africa’s legislation and regulations.
The Rule of Law Project seeks to correct that oversight. More than twenty pieces of legislation have already been found to contain provisions that conflict with the rule of law and are therefore unconstitutional.  Many laws that contain constitutionally dubious provisions granting excessive regulatory powers to ministers and/or government officials are in need of rectification.
What is clear is that everyone will be better off with a thriving, well-functioning economy, which will be achieved only if the private sector of the economy (small and large business) is assured of an investment environment that is stable, certain, and conducive to long term planning. Most importantly, it will be achieved in an economic environment in which consumers get the best service and the best value for their money.
&nbsp;
Ayanda Khumalo is acting chairman of the Free Market Foundation

Op-Ed: Free Market Foundation founded on moral economic principles

JOHANNESBURG  &#8211; A South African model who has said she was whipped with an electric cord by Zimbabwe&#8217;s first lady Grace Mugabe has filed court papers challenging the government&#8217;s decision to grant her diplomatic immunity, advocacy group Afriforum said.
Police had placed border posts on &#8220;red alert&#8221; to prevent Mrs. Mugabe from leaving but South Africa&#8217;s international relations minister said she had granted diplomatic immunity to the wife of Zimbabwe&#8217;s 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe.
Afriforum has given legal backing to Gabriella Engels, the 20-year-old woman behind the assault allegation, and is working on the case with Gerrie Nel. He was the prosecutor who secured a murder conviction against Olympic and Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius.
&#8220;We want to set aside the granting of diplomatic immunity to Grace Mugabe,&#8221; said Afriforum CEO Kallie Kriel adding that it could take months before the case is heard in court and that no date for the hearing had been set.
Mrs. Mugabe returned home from South Africa early on Sunday, but her immunity was widely-criticized in South Africa, where August has been designated Women&#8217;s Month to highlight concerns around gender violence and abuse.
Engels has accused Grace Mugabe of whipping her with an electric extension cable as she waited with two friends in a luxury hotel suite to meet one of Mugabe&#8217;s adult sons.
Harare has made no official comment on the issue and requests for comment from Zimbabwean government officials have gone unanswered.
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Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Richard Balmforth
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South African model challenges Grace Mugabe’s immunity over assault allegation

Jean Twenge | San Diego State University
As someone who researches generational differences, I find one of the most frequent questions I’m asked is “What generation am I in?”
If you were born before 1980, that’s a relatively easy question to answer: the Silent Generation was born between 1925 and 1945; baby boomerswere born between 1946 and 1964; Gen X followed (born between 1965 and 1979).
Next come millennials, born after 1980. But where do millennials end, and when does the next generation begin? Until recently, I (and many others) thought the last millennial birth year would be 1999 – today’s 18-year-olds.
However, that changed a few years ago, when I started to notice big shifts in teens’ behavior and attitudes in the yearly surveys of 11 million young people that I analyze for my research. Around 2010, teens started to spend their time much differently from the generations that preceded them. Then, around 2012, sudden shifts in their psychological well-being began to appear. Together, these changes pointed to a generational cutoff around 1995, which meant that the kids of this new, post-millennial generation were already in college.
These teens and young adults all have one thing in common: Their childhood or adolescence coincided with the rise of the smartphone.
<h2>What makes iGen different</h2>
Some call this generation “Generation Z,” but if millennials aren’t called “Generation Y,” “Generation Z” doesn’t work. Neil Howe, who coined the term “millennials” along with his collaborator William Strauss, has suggested the next generation be called the “Homeland Generation,” but I doubt anyone will want to be named after a government agency.
A 2015 survey found that two out of three U.S. teens owned an iPhone. For this reason, I call them iGen, and as I explain in my new book “iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids are Growing up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy – and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood,” they’re the first generation to spend their adolescence with a smartphone. 
What makes iGen different? Growing up with a smartphone has affected nearly every aspect of their lives. They spend so much time on the internet, texting friends and on social media – in the large surveys I analyzed for the book, an average of about six hours per day – that they have less leisure time for everything else.
That includes what was once the favorite activity of most teens: hanging out with their friends. Whether it’s going to parties, shopping at the mall, watching movies or aimlessly driving around, iGen teens are participating in these social activities at a significantly lower rate than their millennial predecessors.
iGen shows another pronounced break with millennials: Depression, anxiety, and loneliness have shot upward since 2012, with happiness declining.
The teen suicide rate increased by more than 50 percent, as did the number of teens with clinical-level depression.
<h2>A link that can’t be ignored</h2>
I wondered if these trends – changes in how teens were spending their free time and their deteriorating mental health – might be connected. Sure enough, I found that teens who spend more time on screens are less happy and more depressed, and those who spend more time with friends in person are happier and less depressed.
Of course, correlation doesn’t prove causation: Maybe unhappy people use screen devices more.
However, as I researched my book, I came across three recent studies that all but eliminated that possibility – at least for social media. In two of them, social media use led to lower well-being, but lower well-being did not lead to social media use.
Meanwhile, a 2016 study randomly assigned some adults to give up Facebook for a week and others to continue using it. Those who gave up Facebook ended the week happier, less lonely and less depressed.
<h2>What else is lost?</h2>
Some parents might worry about their teens spending so much time on their phones because it represents a radical departure from how they spent their own adolescence. But spending this much time on screens is not just different – in many ways, it’s actually worse.
Spending less time with friends means less time to develop social skills. A 2014 study found that sixth graders who spent just five days at a camp without using screens ended the time better at reading emotions on others’ faces, suggesting that iGen’s screen-filled lives might cause their social skills to atrophy.
In addition, iGen reads books, magazines and newspapers much less than previous generations did as teens: In the annual Monitoring the Futuresurvey, the percentage of high school seniors who read a nonrequired book or magazine nearly every day dropped from 60 percent in 1980 to only 16 percent in 2015. Perhaps as a result, average SAT critical reading scores have dropped 14 points since 2005. College faculty tell me that students have more trouble reading longer text passages, and rarely read the required textbook.
This isn’t to say that iGen teens don’t have a lot going for them. They are physically safer and more tolerant than previous generations were. They also seem to have a stronger work ethic and more realistic expectations than millennials did at the same age. But the smartphone threatens to derail them before they even get started.
To be clear, moderate smartphone and social media use – up to an hour a day – is not linked to mental health issues. However, most teens (and adults) are on their phones much more than that.
Somewhat to my surprise, the iGen teens I interviewed said they would rather see their friends in person than communicate with them using their phones. Parents used to worry about their teens spending too much time with their friends – they were a distraction, a bad influence, a waste of time.
But it might be just what iGen needs.
&nbsp;
This article was first published in The Conversation.

Op-Ed: How the smartphone affected an entire generation of kids

LUANDA  &#8211; Angola&#8217;s ruling MPLA party said it would win an unequivocal victory in a parliamentary election as votes were tallied ahead of the expected release of partial results later on Thursday.
Angola, home to sub-Saharan Africa&#8217;s third-largest economy, held a smooth national election on Wednesday with the MPLA&#8217;s former defence minister Joao Lourenco expected to be voted in as the OPEC-member&#8217;s first new president for 38 years.
&#8220;The victory of the MPLA is unequivocal, practically inescapable. We hope that in the next hours we can already start announcing the numbers,” João Martins, MPLA secretary for political and electoral affairs, told reporters late on Wednesday.
Lourenço, a quiet 63-year-old more used to army barracks and the closed doors of party politics than the public spotlight, is expected to secure re-election for The People&#8217;s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), but with a reduced majority.
He would replace veteran leader Jose Eduardo dos Santos, 74, who will remain as head of the party, giving him potentially sweeping powers over decision-making.
Dos Santos, Africa&#8217;s longest-ruling president behind Equatorial Guinea&#8217;s Teodoro Obiang Nguema, steps down after guiding Angola from Marxism to capitalism while embracing Chinese oil-for-infrastructure investment.
His daughter, Isabel, heads national energy company Sonangol, which runs Africa&#8217;s second biggest oil industry. His his son, José Filomeno, is in charge of the $5 billion state investment fund.
The MPLA, which has ruled Angola since independence from Portugal in 1975, has lost some support due to political cronyism, though many Angolans remain loyal to the party that emerged victorious from 27 years of civil war in 2002.
In the early hours of Thursday morning, the National Electoral Commission said that 15 polling stations failed to open on Wednesday due to transport issues and that about 1,300 people will cast their vote on Saturday instead.
The commission spokesperson said the incident would not impact on the release of partial results.
An unofficial result is expected by Friday. But there may be no formal announcement for two weeks as ballot boxes wend their way along pot-holed roads and dirt tracks in a country of 28 million spread across an area twice the size of France.
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Reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Joe Brock and Angus MacSwan
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Angola’s ruling party says victory “inescapable”

South Africa is considering selling its stake in landline provider Telkom to fund a 10 billion rand ($757 million) bailout of South African Airways (SAA), a Treasury spokesman said on Wednesday.
The airline runs one of Africa&#8217;s biggest fleets but is loss-making. It received state funds in July to help to repay debts and also depends on government debt guarantees of about 20 billion rand.
&#8220;It&#8217;s an option among others we are looking into, and nothing has been finalised,&#8221; Treasury spokesman Mayihlome Tshwete said.
Mayihlome was responding to comments by opposition Democratic Alliance party lawmaker Alf Lees, who told parliament Treasury was looking to sell its stake in Telkom to fund SAA.
Minister of Finance Malusi Gigaba told parliament on Aug. 4 the state would not privatise SAA or sell its stake in Telkom to fund bailouts of struggling state firms.
The government holds a stake of about 39 percent in Telkom, while government pension fund the Public Investment Corporation holds another 11.4 percent.
Gigaba has said he would disclose a preferable financing option for SAA at the medium-term budget statement in October.
Deputy finance minister Sfiso Buthelezi earlier on Wednesday told parliament SAA would not be allowed to &#8220;go under.&#8221;
The Democratic Alliance party has called on the government to privatise the airline.
&#8220;We have seen this movie before and we know how it ends – SAA continues to fail and will need more bailouts,&#8221; Lees said in a statement, adding that bailouts of state firms were depleting the state coffers and were also a cause of credit ratings downgrades.
Credit ratings agencies say SAA should be reformed and cite the cost of propping it up as a threat to South Africa&#8217;s credit rating. S&amp;P Global Ratings and Fitch have downgraded South Africa&#8217;s credit to &#8220;junk&#8221; status.
($1 = 13.2013 rand)
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Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo in Johannesburg and Wendell Roelf in Cape Town; Editing by James Macharia and Jane Merriman
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South Africa considers Telkom stake sale to fund SAA bailout: Treasury

Andries Bezuidenhout | University of Pretoria
Do South African trade unions still represent the working class?
The South African labour landscape has undergone massive changes in the past few years that have left the country’s trade union movement almost unrecognisable from yesteryear.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions, still the country’s largest trade union federation, has been bleeding members for a while and has been shaken to the core by the exit of the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa. This exit has led to a new formation, the South African Federation of Trade Unions. Both labour federations still claim to represent the interests of the working class.
Something else, perhaps more fundamental has been changing within South Africa’s trade union movement. The membership base has shifted significantly from one dominated by unskilled and semiskilled workers to one that shows bias towards skilled and professional workers. This is captured in a series of surveys undertaken between 1994 and 2014, before the National Union of Metal Workers’s exit.
The data shows that less than 1% of members within the trade union movement classified themselves as professional in early years of democracy. The picture had changed radically by 2008 with 20% of the respondents classifying themselves as professional. It would therefore seem that South Africa’s trade union federation had become a home for middle class civil servants, rather than a working class federation.
<h2>The evolution</h2>
A group of labour scholars has been conducting surveys of Congress of South African Trade Unions members before every parliamentary election since 1994. The intention of the survey, titled Taking Democracy Seriously, was to study the impact of union democracy on parliamentary democracy.
The data set (drawn from five surveys, with the last conducted in 2014 just before National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa was expelled) tell us much more than just what union members’ attitudes towards democracy is. It paints a complex picture of who trade unions actually represent.
At its high point, the federation had a membership of 2.2 million. This was the result of three waves of unionisation.
The first wave of members comprised of workers who were organised into the initial manufacturing unions that resulted from the militancy of the 1973 strikes.
The second wave started in 1985 with the National Union of Mineworkers – the first to organise black miners and what was to become the largest union in the country – joining the Federation of South African Trade Unions in 1985.
The third wave came with the public sector unions that emerged after 1990. This wave benefited from the Labour Relations Act of 1995 which brought public sector employees under the same dispensation as the private sector in terms of collective bargaining and organisational rights.
In the early years of democracy public sector unions were so marginal to the federation and debates in labour studies that the researchers did not even include any unions from the public sector.
<h2>The professional factor</h2>
From 1994 union members were asked to classify themselves as being professional, clerical, supervisors, skilled, semi-skilled, or unskilled. Less than 1% classified themselves as professional in 1994, 1998 and 2004.
The data reflects a major shift in the last two surveys conducted after the inclusion of public sector unions in the sample. 20% of respondents classified themselves as professional in 2008, and 19% in 2014. This constituted a fifth of federation membership base, certainly a massive shift from the early 1990s.
Those members who classified themselves as clerical remained more or less constant, with those classifying themselves as supervisors increasing slightly from 4% in 1994 to 6% in 2014.
What is interesting though, is an increase of those who classify themselves as skilled increasing from 21% in 1994 to 37% in 2014. Those who classify themselves as unskilled declined from 30% in 1994 to a mere 8% in 2014, almost equal to the members who are supervisors.
This means that while 60% of the federation was made of semi-skilled and unskilled workers in 1994, by 2014 roughly 60% classified themselves as either skilled or professional, a complete inversion.
<h2>Loss of unskilled members</h2>
What explains this major transformation in the federation’s membership composition? We explored three possible explanations.
The entry of public sector unions, representing civil servants like teachers and nurses, into the federation is a major factor. This is confirmed when one breaks down the levels of skill by whether members belong to private sector or public sector unions for the 2014 survey.
The data shows that 78% of union members who classify themselves as professionals is from public sector unions. The unskilled and semiskilled members tend to come from private sector unions.
Its clear that the increase in the number of professionals within the federation was mainly a result of the entry of public sector unions. But this factor does not provide enough of an explanation for the decline in the percentage of unskilled members. We have to look elsewhere for this.
The data suggests that the post-apartheid era facilitated upgrading of skills within the federation. The proportion of members who had Grades 5-7 declined from 15% in 1994 to a mere 2% in 2014. Those with Grades 8-10 declined from 44% in 1994 to 11% in 2014.
Members with Grades 11-12 increased from 31% in 1994 to 45% in 2014 and members with technical diplomas increased from 3% in 1994 to 20% in 2014. Those with university degrees rose from less than 1% in 1994 to 17% in 2014.
Almost 40% of the trade union members in our sample have tertiary qualifications in the form of technical diplomas or university degrees. But the skills upgrade explanation also leaves a bit of a puzzle.
Does the fact that these trade union members now have higher levels of formal qualifications mean that a much smaller proportion of the work in South Africa’s economy is now done by skilled rather than unskilled workers? The labour market data more generally does not support this assumption. We have to look elsewhere for additional explanations.
A significant portion of South Africa’s unskilled manual labour is no longer performed by trade union members. This is due to the rise of non-permanent employment through subcontracting, casual labour, or informal forms of employment.
This means that as the trade union movement was gaining skilled and professional members it was bleeding unskilled manual workers. This leaves the question: has South Africa’s labour movement become a middle class movement, rather than one that primarily represents the working class?
This article is based on an extract from a chapter by Andries Bezuidenhout, Christine Bischoff and Ntsehiseng Nthejane in the newly published volume Labour Beyond Cosatu: Mapping the Rupture in South Africa’s Labour Landscape published by Wits University Press.
This article was first published on The Conversation.

Op-Ed: Has South Africa’s labour movement become a middle class movement?

Mike van der Westhuizen and Nishlen Govender | Citadel
&nbsp;
Recent Bitcoin mania has raised a heated debate as to what the world’s largest cryptocurrency (by market capitalisation) is actually worth. Until recently Bitcoin garnered attention from mostly computer science boffins and the criminal underworld, but the 350% price rise since the beginning of the year has started turning heads around the world.
As the famous Wall Street saying goes: “When even shoeshine boys are giving you stock tips, it’s time to sell.” Is this adage warranted in the case of Bitcoin?
Bitcoin’s appeal centres on the fact that it operates independently of any central bank. As such, it is seen as the new age of global currency and payment methods. Of the roughly US$100 billion total cryptocurrency universe, Bitcoin comprises just under half. And although it is prominent now, it has in fact been active since 2009.
Bitcoin’s rapid price acceleration has been attributed to:
<ul>
<li>Japan’s adoption of the currency as an official medium of payment. As well as, possibly, the removal of high-value bank notes in India and Venezuela or even the continued devaluation of the Chinese yuan.</li>
<li>Its potential as a hedge to global market uncertainty.</li>
<li>A relatively smooth “hard fork” – basically a permanent divergence in the (Bitcoin) blockchain which would essentially mean that Bitcoin splits into two different “coins” [Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash], and hence potentially only one of those would be of real value.</li>
</ul>
The technology/algorithm behind Bitcoin, namely blockchain, is a far more powerful platform than Bitcoin itself, in our view. A fintech specialist describing the technology on question-and-answer site Quora said: “Blockchain technology creates a decentralised digital public record of transactions that is secure, anonymous, tamper-proof and unchangeable. Instead of a bank or other intermediary maintaining a private database of records, blockchain technology makes all records public.” Disintermediation is blockchain’s biggest advantage: removing the middle-man ensures that users of the blockchain are in control of their information and transactions, data integrity is affirmed and, in theory at least, transaction times and transaction costs are minimised.
Uses of blockchain technology in the real world include making payments (the most commonly known); supply-chain management (for example, tracking your food at every step from farm or sea to table); smart contracts (including land registries); cloud storage; online voting; trade settlement and payments of grants. Being a relatively new technology there is still much potential to be unlocked in blockchain, and many large corporations are exploring potential uses.
But how should Bitcoin be valued? A key factor is to determine whether it is an asset class and, if so, what the appropriate valuation criteria to assess it might be. There are significant stumbling blocks here as there are no underlying fundamentals that allow us to price or value Bitcoin.
If we assume that Bitcoin is a currency, we would try to ascertain a long-run fair value by using various models: relative purchasing power parity, inflation differentials or interest rate differentials. But these values are impossible to ascertain for Bitcoin given the lack of central bank involvement, the absence of a domiciled area or, indeed, any linking economic fundamentals. If we treat Bitcoin as a basic security, then there are no fundamentals that we can use to assess it, leaving us unable to reach an appropriate valuation assessment.
Despite this stumbling block, there is no doubt that Bitcoin has done exceptionally well. A fact which is clearly evident if you merely consider the performance of the cryptocurrency in recent months (see Figure 1).
<div id="attachment_282021" style="width: 548px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-282021" class="wp-image-282021 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Citadel.CryptoCurrency-Graph.png" alt="" width="538" height="263" />Figure 1: Price appreciation over a two-year period (Source – Bloomberg)</div>
If we cannot estimate value using traditional criteria, we can still assess a tradeable asset based on its supply and demand. For Bitcoin, we can break down participants into two broad spheres: those using Bitcoin for trading and those who are speculators. We know from anecdotal evidence that Bitcoin still isn’t widely used as legal tender, based on the lack of vendors accepting it and the relative charges from third-party providers that link consumers with vendors. Additionally, as a store of value, it is extremely volatile and an unlikely source for long-term wealth preservation.
There is also a vast portion of trade that could be based on unreported illicit activity, but without further information it is difficult to understand the supply/demand dynamics from those users. We do believe that cryptocurrencies will be used much more in the future but, at present, this represents only about 0.12% of global trade.
If the only way we can value Bitcoin is based on supply and demand, and if those using Bitcoin practically as legal tender comprise just a small part of its demand, then we are left with a large portion of the current demand for Bitcoin being speculative.
With no viable way to determine what price Bitcoin, or any cryptocurrency, should be trading at based on usual valuation criteria, should demand slump it could result in spectacular losses along the lines of those seen during previous bubbles (something which is true even in Bitcoin’s relatively short history).
To fully understand how important underlying fundamentals are, consider the fact that Figure 1 above does not represent Bitcoin but rather BlackBerry from the period 2006 to mid-2008, a time when the brand (within the company RIM), was absolutely soaring: it rose 525% in under three years. Since that peak the stock has lost 92% to its current price. Just consider whether you would have bought or sold the stock during the period in 2008 when it traded at a lofty price. You would consider any number of factors, including the company’s underlying fundamentals, its strategic positioning and the overall competitive landscape.
We believe that the hype and price appreciation of select cryptocurrencies belies any of the underlying traits that we would look for in a sound investment, and rather feeds on optimism regarding the future of cryptocurrencies. We cannot tell you if these currencies are expensive or not, but we believe that without this knowledge it is impossible for us to invest in an asset class that seems to trade purely on momentum and sentiment.
In addition, there are some headwinds which – at least at this stage – could prevent Bitcoin being rapidly and widely accepted. These include:
<ul>
<li>Bitcoin’s transaction processing is relatively slow, handling up to seven transactions per second, whereas service providers like Visa and Mastercard can handle thousands per second.</li>
<li>The size relative to the global monetary base is tiny.</li>
<li>Without acceptance from regulating authorities, involvement in cryptocurrencies by large institutional players and governments will remain limited.</li>
<li>It is unlikely that Bitcoin will replace money in the near to medium term because governments have far too much to lose from this move.</li>
<li>Although Bitcoin can be used pay for goods and services, its heightened volatility negates the definition of a currency as a store of value.</li>
</ul>
Ultimately, Bitcoin is just a mathematical algorithm. There is no doubt that the technology behind bitcoin (blockchain) is revolutionary, bitcoin itself requires much wider acceptance and continual improvement in order for price moves like we’ve seen to be sustainable. Other than its pure (but declining) dominance, Bitcoin has no distinguishable competitive advantage over other cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin is to cryptocurrencies what the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X was to mobile phones. The first of its kind is not necessarily always the best, and technological innovation changes rapidly. As there is no clear way of accurately valuing any cryptocurrency, it does not instil confidence in making any kind of rational investment decision.
Momentum is a powerful force, and while the price can continue to run, the biggest risk is not missing out but rather in waking up to the realisation that Bitcoin isn’t the chosen one. Just ask BlackBerry.

Bitcoin, blockchain and bubbles: cutting through the hype

LUANDA  &#8211; Angolans voted in a parliamentary election on Wednesday expected to usher in the ruling party&#8217;s defense minister as the first new leader for 38 years.
Joao Lourenco, who has pledged to boost growth and fight corruption, would inherit an economy mired in recession as gaping inequality, soaring inflation and high unemployment squeeze poor Angolans who have benefited little from a decades-long oil boom.
Polls closed at 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Wednesday, but in some remote areas where voting started late, polling station were allowed to stay open a little longer.
An unofficial result is expected by Friday. But there may be no formal announcement for two weeks as ballot boxes wend their way along pot-holed roads and dirt tracks in a country of 28 million spread across an area twice the size of France.
The People&#8217;s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which has ruled Angola since independence from Portugal in 1975, is expected to remain in power but with a reduced majority.
Its support has waned due to political cronyism, though many Angolans remain loyal to the party that emerged victorious from 27 years of civil war in 2002.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve been following the party all my life. I grew up with it,&#8221; 33-year-old bakery owner Telma Francisco told Reuters outside a polling station in the capital.
&#8220;The other parties don&#8217;t have the capacity to govern.&#8221;
Lourenco, a quiet 63-year-old more used to army barracks and the closed doors of party politics than the public spotlight, voted at the Luanda state university, stopping only to praise a smooth electoral process.
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Questions have been raised as to how much power he will have if he wins, given veteran leader Jose Eduardo dos Santos, 74, will continue as head of the MPLA and have potentially a sweeping say over decision-making.
His daughter, Isabel, heads national oil producer Sonangol and his son, José Filomeno, is in charge of the $5 billion state investment fund.
&#8220;Even if he wanted to, Lourenco may find it difficult to free himself from the control of dos Santos,&#8221; said Julia Westbury, Africa analyst at West Sands Advisory.
&#8220;Large-scale political change is unlikely, and the long awaited democratic reforms needed to turn Angola&#8217;s struggling economy around are unlikely to materialise.&#8221;
Lourenco has dismissed suggestions he would be a puppet president, saying he would focus on leading an &#8220;economic miracle&#8221;, possibly with the help of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and would prosecute corrupt politicians.
<h3 data-reactid="57">&#8220;CONDITIONS TO BRING CHANGE&#8221;</h3>
The MPLA&#8217;s main opponent is its former civil war foe, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), while young voters have been lured by CASA-CE, which was formed in 2012 on a promise to disrupt 50 years of two-party politics.
&#8220;Today is a day of festivities, happiness, peace and of responsibility and I trust in the Angolan people that we have the conditions to bring change,&#8221; CASA-CE presidential candidate Abel Chivukuvuku said prior to casting his vote.
Angola has been largely peaceful since the end of a Cold War-era conflict between the MPLA, backed by the Soviet Union, and UNITA, supported by the United States and South Africa.
More than two-thirds of Angolans are below 25 so many people will be voting for the first time.
&#8220;We&#8217;re voting for change,&#8221; said 19-year old Joao Costa, who like most people who oppose the authoritative MPLA declined to say who he voted for.
There have been concerns about how fair the vote can be after the government cracked down on recently planned demonstrations. UNITA has said it will lead protests if it believes the MPLA has manipulated results.
Angola&#8217;s electoral commission said the vote went smoothly.
&#8220;It&#8217;s an example of how democratic elections should be carried out in any part of the world,&#8221; its head, Andre da Silva Neto, told reporters, adding that some hard-to-reach polling stations had opened late and some delegates from political parties had been denied initial entry to observe the vote.
Dos Santos, Africa&#8217;s longest-ruling president behind Equatorial Guinea&#8217;s Teodoro Obiang Nguema, steps down after guiding the OPEC-member from Marxism to capitalism while embracing Chinese oil-for-infrastructure investment.
Loyalty to his party runs deep for many voters.
&#8220;The opposition is a joke,&#8221; said out-of-work decorator Francisco, 32, declining to give his surname.
&#8220;The MPLA is the only party that can change things and with a new candidate for president I think he can do a better job&#8221;
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Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Robin Pomeroy
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Angola to usher in a new leader in 38 years

LAGOS  &#8211; Dangote Group, controlled by Africa&#8217;s richest man, Aliko Dangote, plans to invest $450 million in a sugar cane project in its home country Nigeria, the company said on Wednesday.
It signed a memorandum of understanding with the Niger state government to produce raw sugar cane on 16,000 hectares of land, the group said in a statement.
Dangote already operates a sugar refinery and a sugar cane plantation in Adamawa state.
Reporting by Ulf Laessing and Emma Farge

Nigeria’s Dangote Group plans $450 million sugar cane project

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) &#8211; Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell has started gas production from the second phase of the Gbaran-Ubie project in Nigeria&#8217;s Niger Delta, the company said on Wednesday.
The project is an expansion of the Gbaran-Ubie development, which opened in June 2010.
Shell, through its Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria subsidiary, said the project would reach peak production of around 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2019.
Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria is the operator of a Nigerian joint venture between state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Total E&amp;P Nigeria and ENI subsidiary Nigerian Agip Oil Company.
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Reporting by Karolin Schaps, editing by Louise Heavens
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Shell says starts gas production at expanded Nigeria project

Mozambique&#8217;s government plans to set up a sovereign investment fund where taxes paid on sales of the country&#8217;s minerals will be used to finance development projects, state-run AIM news agency said on Monday quoting the finance minister.
Minister of Economy and Finance Adriano Maleiane said the new fund would have capital gains taxes paid on the sales of shares in the country&#8217;s mineral resources as the main source of funding.
AIM reported that the first money to go into the fund would likely be the $350 million in capital gains tax to be paid on the sale by Italian energy company ENI to the U.S. oil and gas giant ExxonMobil.
In June ENI signed an $8 billion deal with government to develop a gas field off the coast of Mozambique, the first of a series of projects that could transform the poor African nation into a major energy supplier to Asia.
The Coral South, field operated by ENI, contains about 450 billion cubic metres, or 16 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas.
Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N agreed this year to pay Eni $2.8 billion for a 25 percent stake in Coral South.
AIM reported Maleiane saying the fund would be managed by an autonomous institution, which is likely to be the National Investment Bank (BNI).
Maputo has been struggling to shake-off an international scandal after the discovery of hidden loans worth $2 billon to state companies led the International Monetary Fund and Western donors to halt support for Mozambique, triggering the collapse of its currency and leading to a debt default.
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Writing by Mfuneko Toyana, editing by Pritha Sarkar
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Mozambique to set up independent fund to invest mineral sales income

South African President Jacob Zuma on Monday signed in to law the Financial Sector Regulation Act, know as &#8220;Twin Peaks&#8221;, which will establish a prudential regulator and a separate, dedicated market conduct regulator.
A statement released by the Presidency said the act aims to achieve a financial system that works in the interests of consumers, and supports balanced and sustainable economic growth.
The &#8220;Twin Peaks&#8221; model will see the creation of a prudential regulator, which will oversee risks taken on by financial firms such as banks and focus on macroprudential aspects of financial stability. It will be housed in the South African Reserve Bank (SARB).
The Financial Services Board (FSB) will become a dedicated market conduct regulator, tasked with ensuring consumers are treated fairly and financial firms&#8217; conduct complies with law.
The act was mooted mainly in response to the 2008 global financial crisis.
The Presidency said the act would also ensures co-operation between the financial sector regulators, the National Credit Regulator, the Financial Intelligence Centre and the central bank.
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Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Toby Chopra
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South Africa’s Zuma signs financial regulation act into law

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The crisis in mining is pregnant with opportunities, such as using the site at Marikana for heritage purposes. The tragedy can be used as a means to create a new reality for Marikana, by immortalising the tragedy in a museum and interpretation centre that will act as a new growth path for the area.
By Unathi Sonwabile Henama 
The tragic events of the 16 August 2012 led to the loss of life in Marikana outside of Rustenburg. South Africa witnessed one of the most tragic post-apartheid events when the South African Police Service (SAPS) shot at armed striking miners, killing 34, and wounding 78. An additional 270 striking miners were arrested at the site of the tragedy. The Marikana Commission of Inquiry was set up to investigate the tragic events and submitted its report.
The South African economy has strong linkages to mining, and the truth is that when mining sneezes, the economy catches a cold. The mining sector has been a perennial jobs shedder in South Africa, destroying the economies of many single-industry rural towns, leading to the emergence of zama-zama’s that have participated in the illegal trade in mining, creating a shadow mining industry, linked to the underworld. Mining disinvestment, jobs shedding and restructuring are the staple news from mining companies in South Africa. Along with policy uncertainty, this has negatively impacted investment on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Mining disinvestment, jobs shedding and restructuring are the staple news from mining companies in South Africa. Along with policy uncertainty, this has negatively impacted investment on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
<h4>Poverty, unemployment &amp; inequality</h4>
The decrease in commodity prices has ravaged the finances of mining companies, further compounding the challenges faced by the industry. The biggest challenge facing South Africa is the growth trap, which has meant that poverty, unemployment, and inequality have remained stubborn. The loss of jobs has been the dominant dividend of democracy, and this must be reversed, to ensure that our economy creates sustainable jobs that will restore dignity to millions of South Africans.
The loss of jobs has been the dominant dividend of democracy, and this must be reversed, to ensure that our economy creates sustainable jobs that will restore dignity to millions of South Africans.
South Africa is a mineral rich country and probably a leading mining country in the world as far as the variety and quantity of minerals produced are concerned. The country is known to be the largest producer of platinum, estimated to hold 87% of the world’s reserves of Platinum Group Metals. In 2009 it accounted for 76% of the world platinum.
Marikana is part of the Bushveld Igneous Complex, found in the northern part of South Africa, which is the world’s largest layered intrusion. The complex plays host to over half of the world’s platinum, chromium, vanadium and refractory minerals. South Africa has been associated with the resource curse, as the rich mineral deposits have not translated into prosperity for the majority of South Africans.
<h4>Crisis in mining is pregnant with opportunities for tourism</h4>
The anniversary of Marikana always captures national attention and usually dominates national discourse. The paucity of government involvement in Marikana anniversary commemorations has been one of the state’s own goals. The reality is that what happened at Marikana was tragic, but the time for moving on has long passed, there is no time to waste time. The crisis in mining is pregnant with opportunities, for using the site at Marikana for heritage purposes. The tragedy can be used as a means to create a new reality for Marikana, by
The crisis in mining is pregnant with opportunities, such as using the site at Marikana for heritage purposes. The tragedy can be used as a means to create a new reality for Marikana, by immortalising the tragedy in a museum and interpretation centre that will act as a new growth path for the area.
The major tourism nodes around the Marikana area include the tourism enclave which is Sun City, which provides employment for thousands of residents around the greater Rustenburg area. In as much as mining remains an ailing industry, it remains important, it must be supported. Tourism growth in South Africa has been robust, achieving a 13% year on year growth in 2016.
<h4>Tourism can alleviate some of the Marikana&#8217;s challenges</h4>
Tourism can be a solution for creating a new economic sector that will alleviate some of the challenges faced by the Marikana area. The heritage of Marikana must be properly packaged to be balanced so that it does not lead to polarisation like the Sharpeville massacre. The yearly commemoration of Sharpeville Massacre, instead of being a major event that attracts tourists from near and far, remains a yearly embarrassment for the government, as the Pan African Congress would conduct its own march in competition to the government programme.
The Pan African Congress feels marginalised by the presentation of the story and heritage of the Sharpeville Massacre. This mistake must not be repeated when the Marikana heritage site finally gets erected.
The Marikana heritage site must be developed for multiple uses, and integrate technology in packaging the museum experience so that the museum experience is digital. The construction of the heritage site is not an end in itself, the site must be developed with the input of the travel intermediaries such as tour operators, to ensure that the planning phase will appeal to the needs of the tour operator clients.
The majority of heritage sites remain white elephants because they are not consumed by locals and international tourists. South Africa with its tragic history, must develop its heritage sites as a way of making money out of heritage, to create labour intensive jobs that will decrease poverty and unemployment.
 
Unathi Sonwabile Henama is a lecturer in the Department of Tourism Management at the Tshwane University of Technology and writes in his personal capacity.
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Op-Ed: The heritage tourism potential of Marikana

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By Arnold Segawa
I recall reading an article in 2013 with an astounding headline &#8211; &#8220;UNICEF: Africa&#8217;s Child Malnutrition Costs $25 Billion Annually&#8221;. If at all the Tropics comprise 40% of the Earth&#8217;s surface area and over 60% of the continent lies in between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, then what could possibly be the reason for agricultural under production and ultimately malnutrition?
The $25 Billion on malnutrition and the $35 billion price tag on food imported annually can leave anyone bewildered. Focusing on the malnutrition front though, the various embodiments of malnutrition from under-nutrition, over nutrition, micronutrient deficiencies have ravaged the continent for decades and the stagnant agricultural growth as a percentage of GDP hasn’t been any help either.
But maybe we’ve been looking at this the wrong way all along; away from producing more and seeing the agricultural sector grow exponentially as was the case for the “Asian Green Revolution” in the 1960’s, I say we focus on value addition as is the Rwandan experiment which has bred Africa Improved Foods.
Rwanda has a land challenged with on average 440.8 inhabitants /km². Any demographer might argue this would stretch the landlocked country’s agricultural output but the East African nation seems to have cracked this one.
<h4>RWANDA’S 1000 DAYS CAMPAIGN</h4>
Upon realizing the $25 Billion price tag of malnutrition across the continent, Rwanda launched the ‘1000 days’ national campaign to combat malnutrition in 2013 with an aim of improving maternal and child health in the country.
Two years later, the Government of Rwanda entered a joint venture with a consortium of RoyaDSM, Dutch development bank, DFID Impact Acceleration Facility and IFC to form AIF Rwanda, a manufacturer of high-quality and nutritious complementary foods.
The investment was definitely a much-needed one as records show that 38% of children under the age of five years were being affected by chronic malnutrition by 2010, resulting in stunting. The figures were worrying by any standard as chronic malnutrition statistics in African were estimated at 34% in 2008.
<h4>TWOFER!</h4>
Africa has about 51 million farms of which 80% are smaller than 2 hectares in size. The number of small farms is increasing in most countries. AIF Rwanda’s model is one that should be replicated across the continent as the factory provides a ready market for more than 7,500 small-scale grain and cereal farmers across the country.
For a small country occupying a mere 26,338 km², the colloquially revered “Promised Land” of self-sustenance is on the horizon. An eye-opening finding from Mario Herrero’s study on “The significance of smallholder farms” showed that Africa wide, farms smaller than 2 hectares produce about 30% of total agricultural output, while farms 4–20 hectares produce another 50%. *
I have come to see this as wearing a belt in an unconventional manner of passing it through two loops on the left and the right simultaneously. For a landlocked country, the import bill would be kept in check; smallholder farmers would have an unquenchable market for their produce; and most importantly, the economic cost of malnutrition which is over $25 Billion annually on the continent would also be kept at bay.
I’m no sharp shooter, but I’m sure that’s three birds with one stone!
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*Mario Herrero is Mario Herrero is Chief Research Scientist and Office of the Chief Executive Science Leader in CSIRO&#8217;s Agriculture Flagship

Op-Ed: Rwanda’s action to counter agricultural under production & malnutrition – a model for Africa

Stephanie Giamporcaro and Xolisa Dhlamini | UCT Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town
Universities are no longer simply institutions of learning. Over the past 50 years, they have also become important players in global financial markets. They have become institutional investors.
Universities have to decide what to do with the pension fund contributions of their staff. They also receive large monetary donations from alumni and other private donors. This money – millions, sometimes billions of dollars – goes into university investment funds. These can be managed internally or delegated to investment managers.
Harvard University in the US has the biggest endowment fund in the world with USD$32.7 billion, while university endowment funds in the UK hold between £2.5 million and £1 billion. Pension funds in the US and UK are even more substantial. For example, the California University pension fund boasts more than USD$70 billion.
University funds in southern Africa are much smaller, but some are still significant. According to our calculations, the universities with the largest endowments are all in South Africa, with the top five representing a little less than USD$1 billion collectively. The pension funds of the top 10 universities in the region come to around USD$3,6 billion.
<div id="attachment_281759" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-281759" class="wp-image-281759 size-medium" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/University_of_pretoria_Wikemedia-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />The University of Pretoria</div>
The question of how universities choose to invest all this money is increasingly coming under scrutiny. In the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand universities’ pension funds and endowment funds are starting to align their investment portfolios with the social concerns of their students and staff.
<h2>Putting assets to work for a better world</h2>
In the 1970s student and staff activists at US universities put serious pressure on their managements to stop investing in companies involved in the Vietnam war or, later on, in apartheid South Africa.
Today climate change is the issue that’s increasingly dominating the activist agenda on university campuses. Since 2012, 350.org, a climate change activist movement, has been pushing for total disinvestment from fossil fuels – with some significant victories . Student activists in the US have also called successfully for disinvestment from prisons.
In 2005 the UN established a responsible investment coalition called the Principles for Responsible Investment. Signatories pledge to invest according to six principles, aiming to achieve long-term sustainable investment returns and benefits for society as a whole. So far over 1000 investment managers have signed up, making it the biggest coalition of this kind in the world.
A few academic institutions have signed up too. Harvard’s USD$35 billion University Endowment Scheme joined in 2014. And at least four retirement funds, endowment funds or foundations linked to tertiary education institutions in the US and Europe signed up this year. As was the case with Harvard, this has often happened under pressure from student activists.
<h2>Progress at South African universities</h2>
So far no universities in South Africa or Africa have signed the principles. But there are signs that the idea of responsible investment is starting to gain some traction – especially within the heightened activism at South African universities.
For example, the South Africa fossil free disinvestment campaign has made significant progress at the University of Cape Town. After a four-year campaign, the university’s convocation of alumni and students this year voted to support a motion to disinvest from fossil fuels.
The Rhodes Must Fall movement also brought the issue of workers’ exploitation into focus. It accused leadership at the University of Cape Town of having blood on its hands for being invested in Lonmin at the time of the Marikana Massacre.
This was closely followed by nationwide Fees Must Fall protests. Protesters called on government to provide free education for all. In doing so, they challenged the idea that universities should operate as businesses according to free market principles. They also challenged the role of the university in society by calling for decolonisation of the institution.
<div id="attachment_281770" style="width: 960px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-281770" class="wp-image-281770 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/UCT_Wikimedia_RZ1.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="616" />The University of Cape Town</div>
Since then the University of Cape Town’s council has agreed to design a responsible investment policy. This makes it the first known Southern African university to do so.
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<h2>Paradigm shift</h2>
For this movement to truly take off in Southern Africa’s universities, there needs to be a paradigm shift at the level of university management.
As stressed by the University of California, becoming a responsible investor is not about giving up on financial returns. Rather it’s about finding ways to achieve these while addressing societal challenges and opportunities. A responsible investor can decide to disinvest from environmentally and socially harmful sectors, but also to support new investment opportunities such as renewable energy.
An institutional investor that takes its responsibility towards future generations seriously should reflect on its values to take informed decisions on how financial returns can be better achieved. Fortunately it’s becoming easier to do this thanks to a surge in innovative investment strategies and funds that seek to achieve both good financial returns and positive social impacts. The African Investing for Impact Barometer – a research project that we run for the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the UCT Graduate School of Business – charts the rise of opportunities like this and shows that impact investing on the continent is booming.
This trend, combined with activism, can persuade universities to become more proactive, creative and responsible investors.
Student and staff activists have clearly begun to interrogate the links between social and environmental issues and their universities’ investment choices. For university management, these questions present an opportunity to think about how their investment portfolios can be used address the social concerns of their students and staff. Universities – being both institutional investors and places of education – can ultimately find improved investment solutions that create a more sustainable future for the generations of learners to come.
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This article was published on The Conversation.

South African universities need to rethink how they invest their millions

Amanda Gouws | Stellenbosch University
South Africa celebrated Women’s Day on August 9th to mark the day in 1956 when 20 000 women marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to insist on their rights.
Women’s Day provides an opportune moment to reflect on what it would mean for South Africa to be governed by a woman president after the 2019 elections. Three women from the governing African National Congress are running as candidates &#8211; Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Baleka Mbete and Lindiwe Sisulu. Because voters vote for a party, the President is elected by the members of parliament. The ANC holds the majority vote, which means that the president will most likely be an ANC candidate.
All three women are ANC stalwarts who can be considered as part of the exile generation. They were all active in the liberation struggle, and all have contributed to the country since the first democratic elections in 1994.
The question is: will having a woman as president lead to more of the same in terms of the trajectory the ANC has been on since 2007 when Jacob Zuma was elected as President?
And, will a woman at the helm bring a set of feminist values to the table? Women leaders who believe in substantive representation, more than merely numbers in government, will bring a commitment to changing conditions of gender inequality to the position. They are normally influenced by feminist values. Former British Prime Minister Maggie Thatcher, for example, did not care about women’s equality at all, while Michelle Bachelet implemented far reaching gender policies in Chile.
<h2>A woman at the helm</h2>
If South Africans get a woman who will govern in the same way as a man they would have gained nothing but a switch in gender. But because the three candidates also participated in the liberation struggle, they know how difficult it is for women to advance in political parties and how gender equality needs to be taken off the back burner.
Dlamini-Zuma, Sisulu and Mbete are more or less the same age and have long track records as political leaders. In many respects they have similar or better track records than some of the ANC’s male leaders. All three are well educated.
<div id="attachment_7604" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-7604" class="wp-image-7604 size-medium" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/nkosazana_dlamini_zuma-300x190.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="190" />ANC presidential candidate, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.</div>
Dlamini-Zuma holds a medical degreefrom the University of Bristol. She has held three ministerial positions – health, foreign affairs and home affairs. She was also chair of the African Union from 2012 to 2017.
It’s both unfair and sexist to talk about Dlamini-Zuma solely in terms of the fact that she is President Jacob Zuma’s ex-wife as though she has no other credentials.
As Minister of Health she spearheaded policies that made health care free for poor women and children under the age of six.
During her period at the AU she championed gender equality and a gender vision for 2063.
<div id="attachment_281718" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-281718" class="wp-image-281718 size-medium" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/IMG_20170822_0830591-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" />Baleka Mbete: Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa and ANC Chairperson.</div>
Baleka Mbete, holds a diploma in teaching and is the national chairperson of the ANC and the speaker of the National Assembly. She was the Secretary-General of the ANC Women’s League from 1991-1993 and a member of the presidential panel of the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She has not held a ministerial post.
Staining her record was her connection with a scandal involving the misuse of parliamentary air tickets, as well as fraudulently obtaining her driver’s licence.
Lindiwe Sisulu is the daughter of ANC icons Walter and Albertina Sisulu  which is why she’s often referred to as “ANC royalty”. She has a BA Honours degree in history and political studies and is studying for a PhD.
Of the three candidates she has the most experience in the executive. She has held six ministerial portfolios, including defence and intelligence.
What makes her an excellent candidate is the fact that she is not involved in any faction and has a good record of good governance. She will also be able to deal with the rot in the intelligence sector since she worked as an intelligence officer under Zuma when he was head of ANC intelligence when the organisation was banned.
<div id="attachment_132452" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-132452" class="wp-image-132452 size-medium" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Lindiwe_Sisulu_Wikimedia-300x214.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="214" />Lindiwe Sisulu: Minister of Human Settlements, ANC NEC Member.</div>
But what is their relationship with the organised women’s sector?
<h2>The candidates and women</h2>
Mbete was the Secretary-General of the ANC Women’s League at a time before it became a tea club for male leaders. She was also the chair of the women’s caucus in parliament. She understands feminism and was considered a militant member of the women’s league when it returned from exile. At the time she insisted that women should be mobilised to fight for their rights.
But her years as the speaker of parliament have marred her track record. When members of the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) – which included women – were forcibly removed by security guards during Zuma’s State of the Nation Address she stood by as they were manhandled and assaulted.
For its part, the women’s caucus never really took off.
Dlamini-Zuma was a member of the Gender Action Group during the Convention for a Democratic South Africa. But in the first parliament she didn’t stand out as a vocal supporter of feminism in the same way as many other women MPs. These included Pregs Govender and Frene Ginwala.
<h2>The case for a woman president</h2>
I believe that South Africans should support a woman for president. The fact that they’re being scrutinised more closely than male candidates points to the patriarchal assumption that woman cannot possibly be well qualified as political leaders.
South Africa has lost many opportunities to appoint a woman president. Take Phumzile Mlambo-Ncguka, who served as deputy president under Thabo Mbeki. She went on to become the executive director of UN Women where she is doing a sterling job.
What the ANC needs is a candidate who will unite its factions and start to root out corruption. It should be a candidate with a good track record of clean and committed governance and one who is committed to promote a women’s equality agenda.
The fact that Dlamini-Zuma has hedged her bets with the Zuma camp has made her a member of a faction. She’s supported by the ANC Women’s League and the ANC Youth League. But the credibility of both organisations is severely damaged. This may not, however, be the perception of many hardcore ANC supporters and may win her large numbers of votes at the ANC conference due to be held in December.
Support for Dlamini-Zuma could have far reaching consequences. If she’s viewed as representing an extension of Zuma’s patronage networks, her election as his successor could lead to a split in the party, weakening it severely in next year’s general election.
The right woman therefore needs to be supported.
During her term as speaker Mbete used strong arm tactics against opposition parties. Her decisions may have left many voters with a bad taste in their mouth. She is also viewed as a Zuma ally.
That leaves Sisulu, who may be a dark horse. But is she a darker horse than Cyril Ramaphosa, another contender for the presidency?
What is unfortunate is that so far none of the three women have made gender equality the focus of their campaigns.

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