Digital authoritarianism

How do you tell when an African leader is about to go rogue? The clearest tell-tale sign is when he (there are very few she’s) starts displaying a propensity for engaging in such behaviour as... 

Tom Quinn

This week we profile Tom Quinn, head of content for the Mining Indaba, Africa Oil Week and Green Energy Africa at Hyve Group, one of the world’s largest providers of industry conferences and... 

Sport bans won’t move Putin

As some predicted, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has proved to be a drawn-out affair, a far cry from the swift conquest that the Kremlin powers that be had bargained for when they issued the orders... 

Tafadzwa Chibanguza

This week we profile Tafadzwa Chibanguza, COO of the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa, an advocacy, lobby and collective bargaining employer federation of 18 member... 

Deportation by another name

This week I revisit the issue of migration, which I touched on a few months back in a piece in which I cited Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel, Americanah, where the point-of-view character retraces... 

100-year floods

Growing up in Kwazulu-Natal, I would regularly travel with my father to  far-flung parts of the province as he embarked on community infrastructure projects. On these trips, he would point out the... 

DRC’s move to the east

In a move that will go some way towards the realisation of the dream of an integrated Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) joined the East African Community (EAC) late last month,... 

Bheki Vilakazi

This week we profile Bheki Vilakazi, SVA International, an architectural and urban design firm which, as a member of the Gibb Group of Companies, operates across an extensive sub-Saharan African... 

Silver lining?

A couple of weeks back, I wrote about how, despite being thousands of kilometres away, the Russia-Ukraine conflict would hit African countries hard. But there could be a silver lining, at least for... 

Our underpaid educators

That teachers are an important cog of any society is not debatable. They give children hope, set them up for success as citizens of the world and inspire in them a drive to do well and succeed in... 

Dion Govender

This week we profile Dion Govender, CEO of Digital Industries, an end-to-end operational technology services provider with a technology value proposition spanning four businesses that cover Level 0... 

Collateral damage

South Africa may be half a world away from the war theatre that Ukraine has become since its invasion by Russia on February 24, but the implications of that conflict – which, in my view, will be a... 

Tim Biesemans

This week we profile Tim Biesemans, regional director at Sarens, a crane hire, heavy lifting, abnormal transport and engineered solutions company 

It’s time journalism changed tack

I may not have any survey data to back this up, but I don’t think I would be far off the mark in saying commuter taxi drivers and traffic cops who use the slightest pretext to squeeze a bribe – the... 

Soccer’s double standards

A FIFA World Cup sans Russia, which was a presence at 11 previous tournaments, starting in 1958 is what is in store when the desert nation of Qatar hosts the quadrennial tournament from November 21... 

The gift of the gaffe

Remember former President Jacob Zuma’s 2013 blooper about the state of roads in Malawi, uttered when explaining why his government was introducing urban tolling on Gauteng freeways? His exact words... 

Franz Gmeiner

This week we profile Franz Gmeiner, CEO of Orion Real Estate, a property investment and facilities management company 

What’s in a name?

South Africa’s under-fire top cop goes by the name of Khehla Sitole. But it’s surprising how his last name gets misspelt, with the culprits being not only several of the country’s major media... 

Ugly side of beautiful game

There may be debate as to who coined the phrase ‘the beautiful game’ – some say it’s the man known to much of the world as simply Pele, while others aver it’s the brainchild of English former media... 

Ralf Hennecke

This week we profile Ralf Hennecke, MD of BME, a division of the Omnia Group and supplier of explosives products, related services and technology to the global mining sector 

No cure for coups just yet

One of my ‘go to’ sources of international news is the website of The Washington Post. The credibility of the newspaper – which hardly gets its ‘facts’ wrong and promptly corrects any errors that... 

Prabashini Moodley

This week we profile Prabashini Moodley, MD of Old Mutual Corporate, a leading provider of retirement fund solutions, investments, group risk benefits and consulting services 

Africa’s chronic youthfulness

Planet Earth will be home to more than eight-billion of us before year-end and a further ballooning to 9.5-billion by 2050 is projected as sustained high fertility rates and declining mortality in... 

Francois Marais

This week we profile Francois Marais, sales and marketing director at Pilot Crushtec, which is involved in the manufacture, import and distribution of crushing, screening and materials handling... 

SADC’s elephants in the room

Southern Africa’s political overlords had their first regional shindigs of 2022 early this month. The events, hosted by Malawi, whose new leader offered much hope initially but is proving to be an... 

My 2022 wish list

A repeat of the last two years, when Covid-19 decimated lives and livelihoods, is the last thing anyone would want to see this year. But it appears that the pandemic is here to stay, at least for... 

Chinese debt trap

China has been a key African benefactor for a while, providing financing for all manner of infrastructure and rendering other forms of assistance. Even Mzansi’s Eishkom – as the national... 

An early Second Coming

This week I’m aboard a time machine that has taken me to the year 2121, a century from now. Time is moving ever so slowly. To avoid descending into boredom, I decide to do some light reading. After... 

Migration – the pros and cons

I have a suspicion that Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is an obscure name to many Africa Beat readers. But that’s certainly not the case in the world of the literati. The Nigerian-born novelist is... 

Pulane Tshabalala Kingston

This week we profile Pulane Tshabalala Kingston, CEO of Mirai Rail Corporation, which designs, manufactures and supplies turnouts and turnout components. It also supplies rails as well as... 

New era of the silent majority

The 2021 local government elections have come and gone, and pundits have written column centimetres upon column centimetres about them. But the temptation to also weigh in has been too much for me.... 

Lili Nupen

This week we profile Lili Nupen, director and founder of NSDV, a mining, environmental and construction law and professional advisory company 

I told you so, didn’t I?

Having looked into my crystal ball, I wrote in this column not so long ago that military coups were on the comeback in Africa and that they were poised to become an all too frequent mode of power... 

The neighbour from hell

Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi comes across as someone who is so cool headed that one would expect him to always display diplomatic nous, even in the face of provocation. But that façade... 

Tracey Henry

This week we profile Tracey Henry, CEO of Tshikululu Social Investments, which manages and advises on social investment funds 

Misplaced honour

Presidential elections are due in six African countries next year, namely Angola, Djibouti, Kenya, Mali, Somaliland and Sudan. While in some countries elections have tended to be robust affairs –... 

Frontier stalemate

A key consensus among Africa’s postcolonial leaders is that the national boundaries drawn by the European powers that partitioned the continent in Berlin in 1884 are as sacrosanct today as they... 

Keletjo Chiloane

This week we profile Keletjo Chiloane, senior associate at Mercer Career Consulting, which is part of the MarshMclennan group of companies and specialises in talent strategy, talent mobility, human... 

Brenton Spies

This week we Brenton Spies, MD of Boyco Engineering, which is involved in the design, manufacture and maintenance of specialised mobile heating, ventilation and air-conditioning solutions for... 

Promises, promises . . .

Someone once remarked that football matches are the most heated contests in much of Africa. But in today’s environment, where most countries are doing their best to at least be seen to be abiding...