I hear this a lot: “We are in unprecedented times.” Actually, to borrow from author and motivational speaker Simon Sinek, we are not. We have been through tough business situations like this before. This is not the first time and it may not be the last, but the context of what we’re going through may be a lot more shocking and sudden than we’ve previously experienced.



It’s easy to fall into a state of fear and panic. It is human nature to brood and worry – and none of us are immune from these impulses in extraordinarily challenging times. However, I urge you to take a different viewpoint of our current circumstances. I’ll start by reframing our context. Did you know that half of the companies currently listed on the Dow Jones were born in recession? Those companies understood the opportunities that disruption and tough periods offer and created something new from them.&nbsp;



Simon Sinek talks about the Infinite Game – and if you haven’t heard about him and this concept already, I urge you to watch his YouTube videos on the topic. The Infinite Game says that the players change, but the game doesn’t. It’s not about competing and being ‘the best’. Rather, it’s about asking, ‘how can I make myself, and my organisation, a better version tomorrow than today? By constantly striving to be better tomorrow than we are today, we free ourselves from the fixed mind set of, ‘I know it all’ and embrace the growth mind set of lifelong learning, opening ourselves up to the possibilities that come from uncertainty and change.&nbsp;



The Covid-19 pandemic has forced a mass digital transformation and shift to 4IR. Some organisations – including huge multinational corporations – have been unprepared for this transformation. Business models are already changing, so the challenge for us is to rethink and reinvent our business moving forward. Organisations that cling to the status quo, who focus their energies on preserving their current state, are going to find themselves in trouble when we reach the other side of this dark tunnel we’re currently in – no matter how much money they have. Talking about pay cuts and indulging in short-term thinking will not save them. Now is the time to think big, and think boldly, to shift our behaviour.



I urge you to set aside your fear and embrace the unknown. This disruption is opening up opportunities, and organisations who identify these, and approach them with a growth mindset, will be poised to seize that opportunity. We will invest in the skills sets we need to not only survive, but to thrive. I am intent on ensuring that every employee has the right skills for the challenges ahead. We have the chance to ask ourselves, how will we prepare ourselves for the change that is coming? My view is that those that are the most prepared are going to come out stronger.&nbsp;



I am not talking about thinking about how we take advantage of the situation or milk the crisis to our own benefit. Let’s rather look at how we can differentiate ourselves as an organisation, helping the citizens of South Africa and across the globe, and leading the way through the darkness of this uncertain time, into the light at the other end of it.



Let’s begin to explore what new ways of work and opportunities we can find coming out of the crisis we’re currently in. Importantly another conversation we must have is our embrace of the digital mind set. This is the new norm for us right now, and the new way of work. The dark side of this is, of course, digital fatigue – or even digital burnout – from a constant rotation of online meetings and work expectations. I heard President Cyril Ramaphosa comment that he is currently spending 18 to 20 hours a day in meetings. None of us are in quite the same position as the President, but we face great challenges with our time and mental resources. When work and home are one and the same, it’s easy to blur or forget the boundaries. I want to reinforce to you that our culture at SAS is one of trust – I don’t need to see all of you 24 hours a day to feel confident that you are engaged in the necessary work of the day.&nbsp;



Your emotional and physical wellbeing is of utmost importance. I want to encourage you to set appropriate boundaries and to take care your mental health and wellbeing at this time. These may not be unprecedented times, but they are for many of us, the most challenging times we have faced in our lifetime. Take care of yourselves, strive to find some work-life balance and let’s move calmly and assuredly forward with a sense of renewed purpose and excitement about the opportunities that lie ahead.



SAS’s Country Manager, Akesh Lalla.

Akesh Lalla_Country Manager_SAS_South Africa

COMMENT: COVID-19 – Yes, there is disruption, but also, opportunity

Report by Kathleen Elkins



Self-made billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates doesn’t recommend many business books.



“In my experience, it is rare to find one that really captures what it’s like to build and operate an organization or that has tips you could really put into practice,” he writes on his blog, GatesNotes.



But there’s a new business book that, unlike most others, is actually worth your time, he says: “The Ride of a Lifetime” by former Disney CEO Robert Iger. Gates has already suggested the 2019 memoir to a handful of friends and colleagues, including current Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.



Iger, who took over Disney in 2005 and retired in 2020, “does a great job explaining what it is like to be a CEO,” writes Gates. He’s “able to take you inside the workings of a massive media company and show how he thought about building on its strengths and shoring up its weaknesses.”



Even if you don’t have any interest in the business world, it’s entertaining and worthwhile, he adds. “I think anyone would enjoy this book, whether they’re looking for business insights or just want a good read by a humble guy who rose up the corporate ladder to successfully run one of the biggest companies in the world.”



While Gates praises it as “one of the best business books I’ve read in several years,” it’s not his No. 1. His all-time favorite remains “Business Adventures” by John Brooks. “Whenever someone asks me to recommend one book on business, that’s the one I suggest most often,” Gates says. 



A lot has changed in the business world since the 1960s, when the book was originally published, but the fundamentals of building a strong organization have not, says Gates. Brooks’ insights are just as relevant today.



This article was first published on CNBC Make It <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/31/which-business-book-is-bill-gates-recommending-to-colleagues.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/31/which-business-book-is-bill-gates-recommending-to-colleagues.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

The business book billionaire Bill Gates wants you to read right now

By Miyelani Mkhabela



Covid19 an unprecedented humanitarian challenge&nbsp;for all countries. Weeks of South Africa national lockdown have given time to make a concerted effort to flatten the pandemic’s curve. South African Coronavirus pandemic spread was at 42 % and it was controlled to 4% three weeks in lockdown, which portrayed good decision making and leadership.



South African health conditions are ranked lower at&nbsp;(118th), based on World Economic Forum Global competitiveness index 2019, which is not conducive to tackling the Coronavirus pandemic. Our infrastructure and systems are not at a state to manage the complexities, we are being saved through sustainable decision making from public sector leadership at the moment.



We have observed leaders weighing up the value of life versus the value of a functional economy and trying to strike the right balance between the two, in order to ultimately protect the population from the virus, while at the same time ensuring that the economy does not suffer irreversible harm. This requires critical and analytical thinking, with high mindfulness and reflections about the life’s that can be lost overnight, when good decisions are not taken by both public and private sector leaders.



The benefits will be measured in infections avoided and in lives saved. The future incomes of those spared to continue productive working lives will be measured as part of the economic benefits realised.



Now that the attention is shifting to reopening the economy, while containing the virus, &nbsp;the challenge arises from multiple stakeholders as they are thinking for their businesses not to be wiped out from the market , while employees also want to go to work to save their jobs. South African socioeconomic imbalances are the main drivers on the context of our thinking and how we would like to do things, based on history of the country. Macroeconomic stability are lower in South Africa and our corporates and small businesses are not resilient to manage the vulnerabilities and uncertainties of Covid19.



Statistics South Africa reported that, five in six businesses surveyed experienced a drop in turnover over the reference period. 85,4% of businesses surveyed reported turnover below the normal range. Respondents in the construction, real estate and other business services, and transport industries were the most affected by lower than expected turnover.



The report further shows that 42,2% of respondents indicated that they are not confident that they have the financial resources to continue operating through the COVID-19 outbreak. When asked how long business can continue without turnover, 54,0% of respondents indicated that can survive without turnover between 1 to 3 months. The industries reporting the highest percentages of temporary closure or paused trading activity were construction, manufacturing, trade and mining. An Industrial risk mitigation is needed for winter.



 South African corporates never followed a process in reopening the economy and this will pose more macroeconomic stability challenges in the future, key industries such as Mining; Manufacturing and agriculture and it’s agroprocessing needed to quarantine workers for fourteen days; make them work for 30 days and release them for a month holiday, that will include a 14 days quarantine before going back to work as a rotating system. The industrial business continuity management approach enables the economy to keep producing while managing the complexity of Covid19 impact not to take much from the $94 billion from our top ten export products and saving the life’s of people’s or worker’s at all.



The country might be unable to maintain price stability because of future anticipated imports with high import costs that can affect the general price increases.



Business chambers are expect to provide corporates guidance to mitigate risk by introducing an industrial business continuity management reliable to avoid closing production again in between May and July 2020, by chance Coronavirus hit the nation as predicted.



Studies have shown that 40 percent of businesses struck by a serious disaster never resume operations, says Doughty. What&#8217;s more, he adds, over&nbsp;25 percent of those that do manage to reopen their doors again are so weakened that they close down permanently within three years.



Looking ahead, four considerations may shape a suitable BCM approach for South Africa



<ul><li>South African corporates mainly in Mining, Industrial Development &amp; Manufacturing and agriculture must adopt an Industrial business continuity management (BCM) approach of 14 days quarantined, 30 days work and 30 days off, rotational.</li><li>The selected industries must have a camp system to ensure no externals to the BCM teams. &nbsp;</li><li>The industrial BCM approach is a system to mitigate risks and also planning ahead should the country decides to get back to level 5 lockdown again.</li><li>Advance training is needed to South African workforce as 2020 can be a full virtual work system’s.</li></ul>



Strategy is, of course, not the only factor determining a company’s success or failure. The competence of its managerial leadership is significant as well.



Miyelani Mkhabela is an Executive Director of Antswisa Transaction Advisory Services.

miyelani mkhabela

COVID19: How we can manage business to save lives and the economy – opinion.

By Miyelani Mkhabela



The COVID-19 crisis is disrupting supply and demand at the same time, with severe financial consequences. To not only survive the crisis but also rebound swiftly, companies must protect their liquidity position and focus on their core competencies and businesses



Leaders can better prepare for the next shock by observing lessons emerging from the current crisis. Shutting down was hard, but opening up is going to be harder. Your workers are always your most valuable asset and it’s not the best times to lose them during the crisis, as rebuilding your operations is going to be even more difficult, you want to maintain your ability to rehire your best workers when the world is open for business again.



&nbsp;Statistics South Africa reported that Four in ten businesses feel that they cannot continue to operate: When asked about financial resources, 42,2% of respondents indicated that they are not confident that they have the financial resources to continue operating through the COVID-19 outbreak and 54,0% of respondents indicated that they can survive without turnover between one to three months. The doors of Tourism &amp; Hospitality; Sports; education, Retail; Entertainment are closed while manufacturing; Mining; Cargo and Logistics will also suffer in 2020.Small businesses based on their investments cannot manage the complexity of Covid19; large corporates are also struggling, yet risk can be minimized.



To set the scene, large numbers of small businesses have shut down and laid off huge numbers of workers; most are extremely cash strapped. The majority think they will be able to reopen by the end of 2020, but others are less certain. Small businesses disagree, a lot, about how long the crisis will last. Small businesses needs business continuity management, adaptation to technology and talent retention



&nbsp;It will be years before we fully comprehend the economic impact of the coronavirus, but one thing is painfully clear right now: Small businesses across South Africa and the rest of Africa markets are facing an existential threat. It will get a lot worse before it gets better for the African continent.



Here are a few tips for survival:



1. Carefully the prospective impacts of government plans to help small and medium enterprises (SME).



2. Help the business by deciding how to work with customers.



3. Regularly reassess credit worthiness: companies should continuously monitor the financial health of all but the safest customers.



4. Strictly monitor supply inventory through support functions to assess the cost of supplies and support functions that have access to a digital marketplace.



5. Recommendations to business on how to adjust the product offering. Companies should aim to deliver fast-selling products to priority customers for as long as possible, but they should also assess their product offering.



6.&nbsp; Investment and credit will be attractive



7. Adoption of an active operations management systems



8.&nbsp; Figure out how the needs of your customers needs have changed.



9. Don’t rush your decisions, but do make plans.



Finally, this is a time to be more client centred. Small businesses are highly required to meet customer expectations or satisfactory levels, while operating virtually has many disadvantages and misunderstandings, however, client’s service delivery standards still needs to be achieved. Generosity during a crisis can make a relationship far stronger. Small businesses are facing unprecedented struggles, and banks and policymakers must step up to help SME&#8217;s.



Miyelani Mkhabela is an Executive Director of Antswisa Transaction Advisory Services.

Nine ways you can try to save your small business post COVID-19.

By Chris Bishop.



President Cyril Ramaphosa urged South Africa business not to throw in the towel in the face of COVID-19 for fear that it could many other send companies under.



Several times in his speech, President Ramaphosa referred to the damage COVID-19 is doing to an economy already reeling from a down grade to junk by Moody’s last week. This week, the South African Reserve Bank warned that the lockdown could cause 370,000 people to lose their jobs and force 1,600 businesses to go under.



“I would like to appeal to all&nbsp; large businesses not to resort to &nbsp;force majeure and stop paying their suppliers and rental commitments , as such practice has a domino effect on all other businesses dependent on that chain,” says President Ramaphosa in a broadcast to the nation.



President Ramaphosa said cabinet would be working towards a comprehensive support plan for the economy during the lockdown that has been extended to the end of April.



For now, the government is trying to pour tranches of cash into the economy to try to keep money in workers’ pockets and food on the table.



President Ramaphosa applauded employers who continued to pay salaries during the lockdown and said R40 billion was in the UIF – unemployment insurance fund – to help workers who had lost income. He said R356 million had been paid out since the lockdown.



Small businesses could claim from a R500 million relief fund and R1.2 billion would be put up to help small scale farmers survive the lockdown, in which the food supply is a huge concern.



The Solidarity Fund – set up at the lockdown by the President – gathered R500 million in its first week and has now raised R2.2 billion. &nbsp;It has spent a billion Rand on gloves, test kits and will set aside R400 million to help poor households.



On top of this, Vodacom has given 20,000 cell phones to health workers to help them use an app in the fight against COVID-19. The Industrial Development Corporation has set aside R3 billion to buy essential medical supplies. &nbsp;



President Ramaphosa also pledged that his deputy, ministers and their deputies, plus the provincial premiers, would all give a third of their salary for the next three months to the Solidarity Fund.



“We shall recover. We shall overcome. May God bless South Africa and protect her people,” concluded Ramaphosa as he concluded his speech announcing the two week extension to the lockdown. &nbsp;



Certainly, South African business is likely to welcome all the help it can get.

ArcelorMittal South Africa fined R3.64 million over hydrogen sulfide emissions

Why business should not throw in the towel in the face of COVID-19

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mtn_-_flickr_1-1024x682.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-86362"/><figcaption>The company said its board would find a new CEO during the year to enable a seamless handover. </figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; MTN Group Ltd, Africa’s largest mobile network by subscribers, said on Wednesday Chief Executive Officer Rob Shuter would step down from his role at the end of a four-year term in March 2021.



The company said its board would find a new CEO during the year to enable a seamless handover. 
Shuter, a former head of Vodafone Europe with a background in banking, took over from Sifiso Dabengwa in 2017, who resigned after Nigeria imposed a $1.7 billion penalty on the company for its failure to deactivate unregistered users. 
During his tenure, Shuter overhauled the telecom firm’s governance standards and is in the middle of a strategic revamp of MTN to hunt for returns in everything from financial services, music to video games. 
The company also said headline earnings per share (HEPS) rose 38.9% to 468 cents for the full-year ended Dec. 31 on the IFRS 16 accounting basis. On a like-for-like IAS 17 accounting basis, HEPS rose 61.7%. 



Revenue rose by 9.7%, while service revenue grew by 9.8%. 
“The group’s results were supported by double-digit growth in service revenue by both MTN Nigeria and MTN Ghana, while economic pressure, new data usage rules and a reassessment of recognition criteria for roaming revenue from Cell C impacted our performance in South Africa,” Shuter said in a statement. 
MTN, which competes with rival Vodacom Group, said it raised 14 billion rand ($876.70 million) from asset sales within the first 12 months of its three-year 15 billion rand divestment plan aimed at simplifying its portfolio. 
The company said it currently does not anticipate a material impact on its near-term network rollout plans due to the coronavirus outbreak and was developing contingency plans to mitigate the impact. 
Shuter said on a media conference call that due to the outbreak MTN had restricted non-essential travel a few weeks ago to some countries, including Iran, where it has operations. 



“We don’t really want people travelling in and out unless there is an absolute emergency,” Shuter said.

MTN Group CEO Rob Shuter to step down in March next year

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<script src="https://players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.min.js"></script>
South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa joined us for an exclusive 60 minute interview earlier today to discuss business, economics and the direction of Africa’s most industrialised nation. Joining CNBC Africa to unpack this interview is Jacques Nel, Economist for Southern and East Africa at NKC African Economies and Peter Worthington, Economist at Absa.

President Cyril Ramaphosa: What the future holds for SA & Africa

<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/gettyimages-652617766-594x5941.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-347815" width="709" height="518"/><figcaption>AUSTIN, TX &#8211; MARCH 12: Businessman Mark Cuban speaks onstage at &#8216;Mark Cuban &amp; Tech Execs: Is Govt Disrupting Disruption?&#8217; during 2017 SXSW Conference and Festivals at Austin Convention Center on March 12, 2017 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by JEALEX Photo/Getty Images for SXSW)</figcaption></figure>



By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/tom-huddleston-jr/">Tom Huddleston Jr.</a>



A little self-reliance can go a long way for&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/make-it/entrepreneurs/">entrepreneurs</a>.



That’s according to tech billionaire Mark Cuban, who&nbsp;<a href="https://onairwithryan.iheart.com/featured/ryan-seacrest/content/2019-10-10-mark-cuban-slept-on-the-floor-prior-to-becoming-a-billionaire-listen/" class="">told</a>&nbsp;Ryan Seacrest the “biggest mistake” an entrepreneur can make when launching a new business.



“I think the biggest mistake people make is once they have an idea and the goal of starting a business, they think they have to raise money,” Cuban said on Thursday’s episode of Seacrest’s podcast “On Air.”



“And once you raise money, that’s not an accomplishment, that’s an obligation,” because&nbsp;“now, you’re reporting to whoever you raised money from.”



Cuban says entrepreneurs who rely on outside funding can become too beholden to the interests of their investors, who might have a different idea of how to grow the business.



“If you can start on your own … do it by [yourself] without having to go out and raise money,” Cuban tells Seacrest.



Business experts and entrepreneurs often argue the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.inc.com/craig-bloem/5-reasons-why-i-always-caution-entrepreneurs-not-to-self-fund-their-startups.html" class="">pros</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://about.crunchbase.com/blog/bootstrapping-business/" class="">cons</a>&nbsp;of raising outside money to start a business versus self-funding (aka “<a href="https://hbr.org/2016/03/why-every-startup-should-bootstrap" class="">bootstrapping</a>”), the latter of which can typically involve sinking the founders’ personal savings into a new venture and can result in slower growth if the business is reliant on slowly increasing revenue in order to expand.



While fundraising injects much-needed capital into a nascent startup, taking on outside investors can also bring pressure from those investors to grow the company faster than might be healthy in the long-run in order to create an immediate return on their investment.



In Cuban’s own case, the billionaire owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks started his first business after moving to Dallas with only $60 in his pocket in 1982. Called MicroSolutions, the company was a computer consulting business that he&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/mavericks/2018/07/07/flashback-36-years-ago-today-mark-cuban-arrived-in-dallas-flat-busted-broke-and-the-rest-is-history/" class="">launched with money</a>&nbsp;he and his roommates made throwing keg parties and charging guests $20 apiece for entry.



Cuban, who&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/05/how-mark-cuban-became-a-billionaire.html" class="">had recently been fired</a>&nbsp;from a computer software store at that time, marketed his new company to his former clients from his previous job and built it into a successful business that he would eventually sell to CompuServe for&nbsp;<a href="https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-mavericks/mavericksheadlines/2011/04/15/how-mark-cuban-went-from-beer-stained-floors-flat-broke-to-billions" class="">$6 million</a>&nbsp;in 1990.



So what’s Cuban’s advice?



“Try to find something that you can make, or that you can buy yourself, and sell to people around you and then ask for referrals and grow the business that way and you can turn it into something enormous,” he tells Seacrest.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/11/mark-cuban-biggest-mistake-people-make-when-starting-a-business.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/11/mark-cuban-biggest-mistake-people-make-when-starting-a-business.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Billionaire Mark Cuban: This is the ‘biggest mistake’ people make when starting a business

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya’s private sector activity grew for the fifth straight month in September, boosted by an increase in new orders for businesses, a survey showed on Thursday.



The Markit Stanbic Bank Kenya Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing and services rose to 54.1 in September from 52.9 in the previous month. Any reading above 50 indicates growth.



“Private sector activity is showing signs of momentum, although panellists continue to highlight cash flow issues that they face,” said Jibran Qureishi, regional economist for East Africa at Stanbic Bank.



“In addition to the current stock of arrears owed to the private sector, the interest-rate-capping law could also hold back firms from flourishing on a multi-month basis.”



Last week, lawmakers rejected a finance ministry request to scrap commercial lending rate caps that critics say have led to a credit growth squeeze.



The rate of new business orders was the strongest in 13 months in September, the survey found, although output among firms grew modestly due to the cash flow concerns.



Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Catherine Evans

What is fueling Kenya’s private sector activity?

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/kathleen-elkins/">Kathleen Elkins</a>



Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Warren Buffett believes in working with people you respect.



“Try to work for whomever you admire most,” the investing legend told author Gillian Zoe Segal in an interview for her 2015 book,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1419715704/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;creativeASIN=1419715704&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;tag=getti043-20&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;linkId=X6UNEWPT2UNOA7CQ%20%5Ct%20_blank" class="">“Getting There: A Book of Mentors.”</a>&nbsp;“It won’t necessarily be the job that you’ll have 10 years later, but you’ll have the opportunity to pick up so much as you go along.”



It’s advice that served him well: When he was starting his career, well before he made his billions, Buffett took a job with his mentor and hero, Benjamin Graham, without even asking about the salary. “I found that out at the end of the month when I got my paycheck,” he told Segal.



The decision paid off, career-wise. Buffett, who was one of Graham’s students at Columbia Business School, says that his former professor largely <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/10/billionaire-warren-buffett-tribute-to-investor-teaches-how-to-live-a-successful-and-happy-life.html">shaped his career and investment philosophy</a>.



While&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/25/most-employees-dont-negotiate-their-salary.html" class="">salary is an important factor&nbsp;</a>when thinking about your career, “You don’t want to take a job just for the money,” said Buffett, “and you should never work for people who make your stomach churn or who keep you up at night.”



Buffett’s longtime business partner,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/charlie-munger/" class="">Charlie Munger</a>, who has also made a name for himself as one of today’s most successful investors, offers similar career advice. “Don’t work for anyone you don’t respect and admire,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/16/warren-buffetts-partner-charlie-munger-has-3-rules-for-a-career.html" class="">he has said</a>.&nbsp;“Work only with people you enjoy.”



The two billionaires agree that this advice is most effective if you’ve chosen a career path that interests you. “I have never succeeded very much in anything in which I was not very interested,” Munger said. “If you can’t somehow find yourself very interested in something, I don’t think you’ll succeed very much, even if you’re fairly smart.”



Passion pays off, Buffett told Segal: “You want to be excited when you get out of bed in the morning. I tap dance to work every day.”



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/04/warren-buffetts-top-career-advice.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/04/warren-buffetts-top-career-advice.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Before Warren Buffett made his fortune, he took a job without asking what the salary was—here’s why

JOHANNESBURG &#8211; Among the metal shacks and narrow side streets of South Africa’s townships, one of the country’s biggest lenders sees a sizeable market it wants to be first to crack: multi-million-rand businesses operating largely in cash. 



FirstRand, South Africa’s biggest lender by market share, sees enterprises such as Ram Thapa’s, a beauty shop and fast-food outlet with combined annual turnover of 19 million rand ($1.36 million) but no business account, as ripe targets for a host of financial products.



Businesses in townships &#8211; areas designated for non-whites under apartheid &#8211; have largely been ignored by big banks in Johannesburg’s financial district Sandton, even though some have tens of millions of revenue a year, said Mike Vacy-Lyle, CEO of business banking at FirstRand’s retail unit First National Bank (FNB).



“Four kilometres to the right of Sandton is a township called Alex [Alexandra],” he said. “Inside Alex there are massive businesses and business networks that no bank has bothered to open their eyes to.”



FNB has set its sights on the townships as it prepares to defend its No. 1 position from rival Capitec and new digital lenders such as TymeBank and Bank Zero which have shaken up the retail market with cheaper products and are poised to enter business banking.



There are estimated to be up to 5.78 million micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises in South Africa according to a 2018 report by the World Bank, and while there is no recent data on the proportion of those firms which have a bank account, a 2010 survey cited in the report estimated it was less than half.



FNB plans to attract unbanked businesses onto its books by first getting them to use fintech firm Selpal. The bank acquired an undisclosed stake in the company late last year.



Selpal connects local stores with suppliers via software and tablets. Once a customer is using Selpal, FNB will use the data it collects to offer them an account with, for example, an overdraft attached. The bank is launching a business account in October with zero monthly fees though customers will pay as they use a range of transactions.



In order to succeed, FNB will have to overcome a strong attachment to cash-only transactions, general mistrust of banks, paperwork problems and low margins.



Reflecting that challenge, Vacy-Lyle said it could take up to a decade to sign up at least 600,000 companies. By comparison, it took Capitec five years to add more than 600,000 retail clients.



Rivals including Capitec, as well as Absa, Standard Bank and Nedbank &#8211; which together with FirstRand make up South Africa’s big four &#8211; told Reuters they don’t have plans to target unbanked township businesses specifically.



In a statement, Gerrie Fourie, chief executive of Capitec, said its plan was to focus on the SME market as a whole. Michael Jordaan, co-founder of Bank Zero, said it would target all businesses.



Luisa Mazinter, chief marketing officer of TymeBank, said its business offering would initially be targeted at sole proprietors and micro businesses, allowing current account-holders to open a separate account for their business with no extra documents required.



In the longer-term, TymeBank will adapt the offering to appeal to both formal and informal enterprises and aim to introduce its own point-of-sale devices, Mazinter said.



Bongiwe Gangeni, deputy CEO of Absa’s retail and business bank, said a number of attempts over the past decade to target unbanked companies, including with loans and point of sale devices, had not generated enough revenue to justify the costs.



She said the issue wasn’t always about access. “I think some of them choose not to be banked.”



FNB declined to quantify the income it is hoping to generate from township companies.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">CASH STILL KING</h3>



On the face of it, lenders in South Africa are relatively well represented among the general population with more than 80% of adults having access to a current account, according to a 2018 report by FinMark Trust, a Johannesburg-based financial inclusion organisation.



But in many communities, cash is still king. A bank account is often a condition of employment or receipt of social payments, and many people withdraw money as soon as they receive it and just use notes and coins.



Only 24% of South Africans make more than three monthly transactions of any kind through their account, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group in 2017.



Some people are wary of formalising their financial arrangements in case it puts them on the taxman’s radar. Many are also mistrustful of digital methods of payment, as well as the financial sector in general after mis-selling and corruption scandals, and prefer to pool savings in community-based schemes.



In his shop, choc-a-bloc with hair and beauty products and mannequin heads wearing wigs, Thapa said he’d prefer to have a business bank account. Right now, he doesn’t have access to credit and is relying on a point of sale device linked to his brother’s business so he can serve card paying customers.



Cash also attracts trouble, he told Reuters.



“You know, this area is very dangerous,” he said, counting the number of times he had been robbed &#8211; three &#8211; on his fingers.



Bureaucracy is a big hurdle for small enterprises looking to tap traditional finance.



A handful of unbanked businesses Reuters found across two townships were, in almost every case, owned by immigrants or asylum seekers and cited a lack of the right documents &#8211; a factor outside of banks’ control &#8211; as the main reason their business didn’t have an account.



“When you want to do things, they want a business account,” said Vusi Coka, a South African running a tavern in Alexandra. He is struggling to get a mortgage because he can’t show banks how his business is performing.



He can’t open an account for the tavern because it belonged to his late father, and the title hasn’t been transferred into his name.



High fees are another barrier. Digital players have been able to make inroads in the retail market with cheaper products because, unlike traditional banks, they are not lumbered with expensive branch networks that push up costs.



FNB is hoping its zero-fee offering will attract price-conscious entrepreneurs in townships, giving it access to data for cross-selling and growing the market for financial products.



With Selpal serving as a “trojan horse”, Vacy-Lyle said the lender is looking to bank 2,500 township wholesalers by 2022, and after that will look to bring in grocery stores, known as spazas, and taverns, as well as firms like hairdressers and auto repair shops.



While making it easier for such businesses to access financial services, especially credit, was a positive, Brendan Pearce, chief executive of FinMark Trust, said there was a question mark over whether they could make informed decisions.



“There’s a financial literacy issue,” he said, adding fintech firms or others with a more specific focus could usually offer better products at better prices.



“I’m not convinced commercial banks have the solution to financial inclusion.”



($1 = 13.9359 rand)



Additional reporting by Onke Ngcuka, Naledi Mashishi and Mundia Sibongo; Editing by Rachel Armstrong and Carmel Crimmins

How do ‘unseen’ businesses in South Africa’s townships catch a big bank’s eye ?

By Victor Oladokun, Director of Communication and External Relations at the African Development Bank.



At the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, the visual imagery of  almost empty stadiums is a powerful narrative. But not the kind that African sports, African football, or corporate sponsors deserve.



The empty seat syndrome in suggests
that football fans are voting with their feet, or better still with their
backsides. Fans are choosing not to watch live football events, and instead are
opting in increasing numbers&nbsp; for the
&#8216;intimacy&#8217; of their crystal clear digital flat TV screens, or not all.



Before Egypt&#8217;s stunning 0-1 loss to South
Africa in the round of 16, the host country was the only team able to attract
70,000 fans. Other than when Mo Salah and the Pharaohs have been on the field,
most stadia across Egypt have at best attracted an average of 5,000 to 7,000
fans.



Official broadcast camera crews have done a
creative job minimizing the visual gaps of empty seats. But wide camera angles
reveal the obvious &#8230; a lack of attendance and public enthusiasm, in spite of
the presence of some of the biggest names in world football on the field.



In European football leagues, where many of
the stars in Egypt ply their trade, fans pay mega bucks to see the likes of
John Mikel Obi, Ahmed Musa, Sadio Mane, Ryahd Mahrez, Nicolas Pépé, Wilfred,
Zaha, and Kalidou Koulibaly.



Which is why the empty seats in Egypt are
both stunning. 



Admittedly, Egypt bailed CAF out and should
receive well-deserved credit for coming to the rescue and hosting the African
Cup of Nations, with barely 6 months notice, when the original hosts were
sanctioned due to shoddy preparations.



Nevertheless, the lack of attendance in
Egypt speaks volumes high ticket costs; the timing of matches bang in the
middle of work days; the difficulties faced by national team supporters in
obtaining entry visas to Egypt; and challenges with the Confederation of
African Football&#8217;s complicated online ticket purchasing system.&nbsp; 



It should not be so. This after all, is the
most important event in Africa&#8217;s sports calendar. At least, it used to be
before England&#8217;s Premier League, Spain&#8217;s La Liga, Italy&#8217;s Serie A, and
Germany&#8217;s Bundesliga captured our collective imaginations.



The end result is that where once 30,000 to
70,000 fans a week watched highly competitive domestic football leagues across
Africa, the empty seat syndrome has been&nbsp;
the norm for almost two decades. It is not unusual to have less than a
thousand fans in a stadium that seats 30,000.



The lack of fan attendance has obvious
economic and financial implications across the sports value chain for team
owners, sports federations and confederations, players, sponsors, advertising
and marketing agencies, merchandisers, vendors, and local communities who once
counted on fan attendance to boost fledgling economies.



What&#8217;s responsible for the increasing
slide in fan attendance?



1. Poor facilities



2. High ticket costs



3. A lack of reliable transportation
to and from venues. As well as sufficient and secure parking.



4. Increasingly crude behavior and violence
at event locations.



5. Technology. Mobile phones
and Apps that carry events live as well as a plethora of entertainment
alternatives. In other words, once big events are no longer the main gigs in
town.



So, what can be done to reverse the
trend? Here are 5 quick suggestions.



1. It can no longer be business as
usual. Africa must run sports as a professional business. This includes
the right infrastructure, training facilities, attractive pay scales for
professional athletes who now consider anything less than a European league
appearance, a professional failure. 



Regrettably, as with Africa&#8217;s overall
propensity to simply export raw materials instead of adding value to what we
produce, we are doing the same with football and many other sports. Africa has
a tremendous abundance of potential talent that for the most part (with the
exception of South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia) we add little or no value to.
Instead, millions of genetically blessed athletes are simply waiting or begging
to be &#8216;found&#8217; on the cheap by European and American sports teams. Why? Simply
because we fail to see diamonds in the rough and because we are unable to add
value to the potential of what for now seems to be rough stones.



2. Modern and professionally
maintained facilities: In sizzling hot Africa, we must invest in
covered stadia. When I can sit in front of my big screen TV in my air
conditioned living room, why would I want to subject myself to temperatures
that I swear have gone up a number of notches in recent years?



3. Sport is a spectacle. This
includes everything including pre-event and half time entertainment to keep
fans with short attention spans upbeat and engaged.



4. Give back to the fans:
Essentially, engagement in the 21st century must change. Its time to give something
back to fans rather than fleecing them at every opportunity with sub-standard
services and products. It would seem to me that sports teams could offer
something as simple as raffle draws that reward fans with extra game tickets,
signed player jerseys, visits with select players, or products from local
sponsors. Professional marketing firms can come up with an endless list.



5. Make sports big and make it a
win-win proposition. 



Real Madrid F.C. and Barcelona F.C. for
example, are not owned by a few rich individuals. Instead, they are owned and
supported by thousands of shareholders known as &#8216;socios.&#8217; Across Africa,
it&#8217;s time to change the numbers game &#8211; in ownership, money, and attendance &#8211; by
giving fans a seat at the table.



These are just a few quick ideas. However,
the running of sports in general and football in particular as a business and a
brand proposition, will require honest analysis, political and financial will,
and a collective approach.



It must be if Africa is to unlock potential
and turn millions into billions.

Op-Ed: Sports as a business and a brand in Africa

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/jade-scipioni/">Jade Scipioni</a> 



Jeff Bezos started Amazon as an online bookstore in his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/15/photos-inside-seattle-house-where-jeff-bezos-started-amazon.html" class="">garage</a>&nbsp;in 1994. Today, Amazon has a more than $900 billion market cap and Bezos is the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/13/jeff-bezos-launches-day-one-fund-charity-how-he-spends-his-billions.html" class="">richest person in the world</a>&nbsp;with a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/profiles/jeffrey-p-bezos/" class="">$116 billion fortune</a>.



Along the way, Bezos has learned a thing or two about what it takes to be someone who succeeds in business. Here is some of his top advice.



Be a missionary



While there is a debate among billionaires on whether or not you should follow your passion — “Shark Tank” star Mark Cuban says such advice is one of the “<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/16/mark-cuban-follow-your-passion-is-bad-advice.html" class="">great lies of life</a>, ” for instance — Bezos believes its vital to being a successful entrepreneur. In fact, it’s the people who care who win, he says.



“You have got to have some passion for the arena that you are going to develop and work in, because otherwise you’ll be competing against those who do have passion for that, and they’re going to build better products and services,” Bezos said at Amazon’s re:Mars conference in Las Vegas on June 6.



He added that it’s essential for an entrepreneur to “be a missionary,” you “can’t be mercenary,” meaning that you have to mission-motivated, not money-motivated.



“Missionaries build better products and services — they always win,” said Bezos. “Mercenaries are just trying to make money, and paradoxically the missionaries always end up making more money.”



 Embrace risk and failure



To be successful in business, you also must be willing to take risks, and therefore to fail.



“If you come up with a business idea and there’s no risk there&#8230;it’s probably already being done&#8230;[and] being done well&#8230;. So you have to have something that might not work and you have to accept that your business in many ways is an experiment and it might fail,” Bezos said. “And that’s ok.”



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/08/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-boldest-business-moves.html" class="">Bezos is known for making bold moves</a>: For example, skeptics doubted customers would pay $79 a year for Amazon Prime when it launched in 2005; as of April 2018 the service had 100 million subscribers worldwide.



He’s also had some fails, like Amazon Restaurants, which will&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/11/grubhub-shares-jump-amazon-shuts-down-its-restaurant-delivery-service.html" class="">shut down</a>June 24, or the recent demise of Amazon’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-is-closing-all-pop-up-stores-2019-3" class="">pop-up kiosks</a>.



And Bezos continues to encourage risk-taking at Amazon. In fact, the size of the risks and the failures need to grow with the company, he said.



“We need big failures if we’re going to move the needle” — “billion-dollar scale failures,” Bezos said at re:Mars. “And if we’re not, we’re not swinging hard enough.”



Change your mind



Bezos has learned from interacting with the world’s most influential minds that the people who usually get things right are those who listen the most and who change their minds often.



“What I have found that people who are right change their mind even without getting new data. They have the same data set that they had at the beginning, but they wake up and they reanalyze things all the time and they come to a new conclusion and then they change their mind.”



In fact, people who win typically have worked hard to recognize what beliefs or biases they hold and “actively try to look for evidence that disconfirms” them, Bezos said.



Billionaire Ray Dalio is an example. He built Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund in the world, to function as an “idea meritocracy.”



“The greatest tragedy of mankind — or one of them — is that people needlessly hold wrong opinions in their minds,” <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/12/ray-dalio-says-greatest-tragedy-of-mankind-is-people-clinging-to-wrong-opinions.html">Dalio has said</a>.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/13/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-on-how-to-succeed-in-business.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/13/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-on-how-to-succeed-in-business.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

gettyimages-1066734506-594×594

Billionaire Jeff Bezos: This is who ‘always wins’ in business

<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/gillian-zoe-segal/">By Gillian Zoe Segal</a>



It’s no surprise that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/21/billionaire-warren-buffett-says-a-100-dollar-course-had-the-biggest-impact-on-his-success.html" class="">Warren Buffett</a>, the most successful investor in history, came to be known as “The Oracle of Omaha.” But the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/26/money-mistakes-millionaires-like-warren-buffett-bill-gates-google-eric-schmidt-never-make.html" class="">Berkshire Hathaway CEO</a>&nbsp;isn’t just a whiz at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/11/why-billionaires-warren-buffett-and-bill-gates-agree-this-is-the-best-business-book-of-all-time.html" class="">analyzing businesses</a>, he also has a knack for imparting the most essential wisdom in a manner so simple that even a child can understand.



In my new book,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1419715704/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=1419715704&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;tag=getti043-20&amp;amp;linkId=X6UNEWPT2UNOA7CQ" class="">“Getting There: A Book of Mentors,”</a>&nbsp;30 leaders — including Buffett himself — share their unguarded&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/14/deepak-chopra-if-you-want-to-be-a-great-leader-practice-these-3-things.html" class="">stories and secrets</a>&nbsp;to navigating the rocky road to the top.



In his&nbsp;<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Getting_There.html?id=SPDcoQEACAAJ" class="">essay</a>&nbsp;for&nbsp;<a href="https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/GIllian_Zoe_Segal_Getting_There?id=AQAAAIAHlF0USM" class="">“Getting There,”</a>&nbsp;Buffett elaborates on a message that he thinks “is very important to get across to younger people”: Take care of your mind and body.



Sounds simple, right?



But Buffett takes it a step further by offering an analogy: “Let’s say that I offer to buy you the car of your dreams. You can pick out any car that you want, and then when you get out of class this afternoon, that car will be waiting for you at home.”



As with most things in life, Buffett says there’s just one catch: It’s the only car you’re ever going to get&#8230;in your entire life.



“Now, knowing that, how are you going to treat that car?” he asks.



“You’re probably going to read the owner’s manual four times before you drive it; you’re going to keep it in the garage, protect it at all times, change the oil twice as often as necessary,” says Buffett. “If there’s the least little bit of rust, you’re going to get that fixed immediately so it doesn’t spread — because you know it has to last you as long as you live.”



And then, like a bag of bricks, Buffett hits us with a brilliant realization: The position you’re in with your car is exactly the position you’re in concerning your mind and body.



In other words, the way you treat your car should be no different than the way you treat your body.



“You have only one mind and one body for the rest of your life,” Buffett says. “If you aren’t taking care of them when you’re young, it’s like leaving that car out in hailstorms and letting rust eat away at it. If you don’t take care of your mind and body now, by the time you’re 40 or 50, you’ll be like a car that can’t go anywhere.”



Now, you might be wondering whether Buffett practices what he preaches — considering how&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/warren-buffett-buys-breakfast-from-mcdonalds-for-under-3-point-17.html" class="">vocal</a>&nbsp;the billionaire has been about his love for Coca-Cola, hamburgers, steaks and hash browns.



For the most part, the answer is yes.



When a New Jersey nutritional dentist&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/id/32544241" class="">wrote Buffett a letter</a>&nbsp;encouraging him to eat more healthy foods, he responded by saying his diet isn’t as bad as most might think.



“I have a wonderful doctor who nudges me in your direction every time I see him. All in all, I’ve enjoyed remarkably good health — largely because of genes, of course — but also, I think, because I&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/05/amazon-billionaire-ceo-jeff-bezos-ask-yourself-these-12-questions-to-live-a-long-happy-life.html" class="">enjoy life</a>&nbsp;so much every day, ”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/id/32544241" class="">he said in his response</a>.



And back in 2007, when he was in his late 70s,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/id/32544241" class="">he told CNBC</a>&nbsp;that his doctor told him two years before: “Either you eat better or you exercise.”



Buffett chose the latter, which he called “the lesser of two evils.”



Gillian Zoe Segal is the author of <a class="" href="https://www.amazon.com/Getting-There-Gillian-Zoe-Segal/dp/1419715704">“Getting There: A Book of Mentors ”</a>and <a class="" href="https://www.amazon.com/New-York-Characters-Gillian-Segal/dp/0393041964">“New York Characters. ”</a> She received a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She lives in New York City. Follow her on <a class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gillian-zoe-segal-64041021/">Linkedin</a>.



This article was first published by CNBC<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/12/billionaire-warren-buffett-greatest-advice-to-millennials-the-1-thing-in-life-you-need-to-prioritize.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/12/billionaire-warren-buffett-greatest-advice-to-millennials-the-1-thing-in-life-you-need-to-prioritize.html</a> <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/15/paris-notre-dame-cathedral-on-fire-reuters.html"></a>and is republished with its permission.

Billionaire Warren Buffett wants young people to know: Ignoring this is like ‘leaving a car out in hailstorms’

Natasha Turak
Source: <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/22/port-operating-giant-dp-world-slams-chinese-companies-practices.html">Port operating giant DP World slams Chinese companies&#8217; &#8216;predatory practices&#8217;</a>
<ul>
<li>China&#8217;s rapidly expanding footprint in developing countries around the world is facing mounting scrutiny, even as states across Asia and Africa compete for Chinese investment dollars.</li>
<li>Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the chairman of DP World, the UAE&#8217;s state-owned port operator and among the top four largest port operators on the planet by cargo tonnage, is among those critics.</li>
<li>Chinese companies &#8220;have taken predatory practices in something that (is termed) today to be a debt trap, whereby they overextend their debts to countries and eventually take their assets,&#8221; bin Sulayem said. </li>
</ul>
China&#8217;s rapidly expanding footprint in developing countries around the world is facing mounting scrutiny, even as states across Asia and Africa compete for Chinese investment dollars.
Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the chairman of DP World, the UAE&#8217;s state-owned port operator and among the top four largest port operators on the planet by cargo tonnage, is among those critics. Speaking to CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he called out Chinese companies for what he saw as unethical practices in foreign countries.
&#8220;China as a government has great respect throughout the world. Unfortunately, the actions of Chinese companies don&#8217;t reflect that,&#8221; Bin Sulayem said. &#8220;They have taken predatory practices in something that (is termed) today to be a debt trap, whereby they overextend their debts to countries and eventually take their assets. This is something that tarnishes the reputation of China.&#8221;
For Bin Sulayem and DP World, it&#8217;s personal. The company in November of last year filed a lawsuit against China for its role in what it termed an &#8220;illegal seizure&#8221; of port and free zone facilities on the Red Sea coast of Djibouti whose operation had been exclusively granted to DP World. It accused the state-owned China Merchants Port Holdings of unlawfully inducing Djibouti&#8217;s violation of their agreement. UAE authorities also criticized the Djiboutian government for violating its terms with the port operator, an accusation that Djibouti senior officials have dismissed. The East African nation hosts Chinese and U.S. military bases and is seen as economically and military strategic.
&#8220;Unfortunately some of these companies, because they are flush with cash, this disturbs the balance around the world, and gives China a bad reputation,&#8221; the chairman said.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cdn.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/20080312/105342020-1532055235774gettyimages-9923602821.1910x1000.jpg" alt="" height="1000" width="1910" data-licensor-name="YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images"/>
China has poured billions of dollars into infrastructure projects across Asia and Africa as part of its Belt and Road project, providing what many acknowledge is badly-needed investment for developing countries — but what&#8217;s at the same time sunk several nations into deep debt. Analysts point to Beijing&#8217;s offers of cheap loans and then demands of control over infrastructure as compensation when those debts cannot be paid off.
Dangerous debt?
In 2017, Sri Lanka, with more than $1 billion in debt owed to China, handed over its Hambantota port to Chinese state-owned companies. According to the non-profit Center for Global Development, the countries most affected by Chinese debt include Djibouti, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Laos, the Maldives, Mongolia, Montenegro, and Pakistan, with the first three facing national debt at more than 75 percent of their GDP as of March 2018.
&#8220;I would say, you trust the Chinese government, you watch out for the Chinese companies,&#8221; Bin Sulayem said. &#8220;Some of them are good, we have great relations with them. But some of them, unfortunately, they use tactics which are not acceptable in getting market share.&#8221;
Of China&#8217;s approximately 150,000 state-owned enterprises, some 50,000 are owned by the central government, with the rest belonging to local governments, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cdn.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/24140240/104669754-GettyImages-683262962.1910x1000.jpg" alt="China President Xi Jinping attends a news conference at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on May 15, 2017 in Beijing, China." height="1000" width="1910" data-licensor-name="Jason Lee | Pool | Getty Images"/>
DP World is currently expanding its port projects in the disputed territory of Somaliland — which has enraged the federal government in Somalia — as well as in Rwanda, underscoring the growing importance of East Africa not just to China but to the UAE. DP World operates 78 ports in more than 40 nations.
Bin Sulayem isn&#8217;t alone in his view. White House national security advisor John Bolton in December slammed what he called &#8220;the predatory practices pursued by China&#8221; as something that would &#8220;stunt economic growth in Africa (and) threaten the financial independence of African nations.&#8221;
African countries should &#8216;be very careful&#8217; of the Chinese
Ahmed Heikal, chairman of major regional investor Qalaa Holdings, echoed those concerns while speaking to CNBC on Tuesday.
&#8220;The jury is still out on those investments from China,&#8221; Heikal said, when asked about the dominance of Chinese investment growth in Africa over that of the West. &#8220;A lot of those investments are extremely problematic and will end up in total write-offs. And (another) factor people need to be very careful about is that the Chinese — unlike any other government — they tend to convert debt instruments into equity.&#8221;
&#8220;The electricity company of Zimbabwe is now owned by the Chinese,&#8221; Heikal continued. &#8220;The port of Bangladesh is now Chinese. Soon the port of Kenya may end up being Chinese. So whether this is a deliberate strategy from the part of the Chinese government or not, those are investments that are difficult to see through in the short term. But something to be aware of.&#8221;
Egypt-based Qalaa Holdings itself has vast investment projects across the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa, in sectors ranging from infrastructure and energy to logistics and agrifoods. For Heikal, the contribution of foreign investment to development is essential in fostering growth as well as stemming African migration to Europe. But he didn&#8217;t shy away from voicing his disapproval of what many call China&#8217;s model of debt-trap diplomacy.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t think that the Chinese government is aware of the backlash that that may end up causing in the future,&#8221; he added. &#8220;You can do this once, twice, three times — but if it starts being a wave of buying assets for debts, I think it can have a serious backlash and can affect the future attractiveness of Chinese investments down the line.&#8221;

Port operating giant DP World slams Chinese companies’ ‘predatory practices’

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kate-elizabeth-gannon-601360">By Kate Elizabeth Gannon</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/london-school-of-economics-and-political-science-1219">London School of Economics and Political Science</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/declan-conway-434384">Declan Conway</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/london-school-of-economics-and-political-science-1219">London School of Economics and Political Science</a>
Climate change is going to have huge consequences all over the world, <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/">especially in Africa</a>. Harvests will be affected, threatening agricultural outputs. This could hurt farmers and lead to greater food insecurity.
But there hasn’t been much discussion about what effects climate change will have in other areas – like in the continent’s small and medium business sector. This is a worrying oversight.
Our <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/global-sustainability/article/business-experience-of-floods-and-droughtrelated-water-and-electricity-supply-disruption-in-three-cities-in-subsaharan-africa-during-the-20152016-el-nino/4E87FAB6F1703FB2558CB2D0EE9845E2">research</a>, conducted in Zambia and Botswana, revealed that businesses activities faced major disruptions during the 2015/2016 El Niño event. This was a result of drought-related water supply disruption in Botswana’s capital Gaborone, and disruption to hydroelectricity supplies in Zambia’s capital Lusaka.
<a href="https://www.livescience.com/3650-el-nino.html">El Niño</a> is one of the key drivers of variations in global climate conditions between different years. It recurs every two to seven years and it’s typically associated with reduced rainfall and drought conditions in southern Africa.
Reflecting this trend, the 2015/2016 El Niño was one of the <a href="https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/10.1175/BAMS-D-16-0009.1">strongest on record</a>. It brought widespread drought conditions and heat waves to the region.
By impacting urban water and hydroelectricity supplies, this had major consequences for business activities in Gaborone and Lusaka, as our research shows. These cities’ experiences should serve as a warning for others across the continent, and systems should be put in place to protect particularly small businesses from the worst realities of a changing climate.
<h2>Under pressure</h2>
In Botswana, as lake levels in the Gaborone Dam dropped to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017EF000680/full#">historical lows</a>, businesses in Gaborone experienced decreased water pressure. In some cases businesses were completely cut off from piped water supply.
Lack of water for food preparation, butchery, irrigation, laundry, cleaning and sanitation had dire consequences for businesses such as hotels and guesthouses, restaurants, food businesses and other service industries. Hairdressers and car washing enterprises, for instance, came to a standstill as they struggled to provide services to customers or to maintain hygiene standards.
In Zambia’s capital Lusaka, where hydropower accounts for <a href="https://www.hydropower.org/country-profiles/zambia">94%</a> of the country’s electricity generation capacity, low lake levels in Lake Kariba contributed to unprecedented electricity blackouts, often lasting for eight hours at a time.
In Lusaka, activities reliant on electricity such as manufacturing, processing and communications were interrupted as equipment was immobilised. Assets were lost because they couldn’t be reliably heated or refrigerated. In both cities, supply chains were disrupted.
<figure><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Nu5pjijFFa4?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption>A video explaining the authors’ findings.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Infrastructure issues</h2>
Towards the end of 2016, as El Niño drew to a close, more than half of the 135 micro, small and medium enterprises we surveyed in Gaborone and Lusaka told us their profits would be lower than previous years. Almost a third believed that their business was at risk of closing down. Business owners said disruptions to water supply and power outages, in Gaborone and Lusaka respectively, were the greatest obstacles to them doing business.
The two cities’ experiences, alongside the widely reported “<a href="https://www.fin24.com/Economy/will-day-zero-loom-again-for-cape-town-20181005">Day Zero</a>” water situation in Cape Town, South Africa, should sound a warning for businesses elsewhere on the continent. Water shortages in Cape Town began during the El Niño, but extended into 2018 as drought conditions persisted.
<hr />
 
 
Read more: 
<a href="http://theconversation.com/day-zero-is-meant-to-cut-cape-towns-water-use-what-is-it-and-is-it-working-92055">Day Zero is meant to cut Cape Town&#8217;s water use: what is it, and is it working?</a> 
 

<hr />
Climate change events like droughts are only going to get worse – and urban centres where many small, medium and micro enterprises thrive will be in the eye of the storm. The 2015/2016 El Niño highlighted that even fairly moderate changes in rainfall can have major consequences for businesses in African cities.
<a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/urbanization-sub-saharan-africa">More people are moving to cities</a>, setting up businesses and connecting, often for the first time, to water and electricity grids. This increases demand and places pressure on existing water and energy infrastructure.
At the same time, a complex set of factors has limited the development of new infrastructure and the effective management of existing resources. This means cities are struggling to keep up with the increased demand.
These factors, which include under-investment in infrastructure, policy uncertainty, governance challenges and poor municipal service provision, exacerbated the effect of drought in Botswana, Zambia and South Africa.
<h2>Preparing for a new reality</h2>
So what can be done to address these realities?
First, action is needed across sub-Saharan Africa to increase understanding of the vulnerabilities in existing water, energy and urban infrastructure – alongside the effects of increasing urbanisation and a changing climate.
And, second, small and medium sized businesses, which are <a href="https://www.norfund.no/getfile.php/133983-1484571386/Bilder/Publications/SME%20and%20growth%20MENON%20.pdf">key drivers of economic growth across sub-Saharan Africa</a> and provide many people with a livelihood, need more support from governments and policy makers to help them cope with disruption.
This should include better access to information about the timing and severity of anticipated disruption to water and electricity supplies, as well as support to invest in coping strategies such as alternative sources of energy.
Patrick Curran, a policy analyst at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, also contributed to this article.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107373/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kate-elizabeth-gannon-601360">Kate Elizabeth Gannon</a>, Postdoctoral researcher, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/london-school-of-economics-and-political-science-1219">London School of Economics and Political Science</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/declan-conway-434384">Declan Conway</a>, Professorial Research Fellow, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/london-school-of-economics-and-political-science-1219">London School of Economics and Political Science</a>
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/small-businesses-in-africa-will-be-on-the-frontline-of-climate-change-107373">original article</a>.

What are the consequences climate change will have on small businesses in Africa?

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