Going back to Africa

This is an exception to the posts here recently and harks back to my time in Africa, but The Atlantic had a long article about elephant poaching that is worth a perusal.  The article in parts evokes anger at massive illegal killing, but then at other parts the emotion turns to myopic hysteria.

What resonated for me: the scale of the poaching, some of which I heard about from a doctoral student at a lodge in Kenya.  The majesty of watching these animals up close.  The impact of China's partial colonization of East Africa, and the realization by many there that, in the end, they signed a Faustian bargain with China.

What turned me off: the not-even-veiled contempt for hunters and those who would argue for market-based plans to preserve the animals.  At one point he explicitly muses that hunters may be more vile than poachers.  Say what you will about hunters and their motivations, they are at least willing to respect the law and are killing only what governments let them, and the governments are entirely in control of this side of the equation.  The entire problem with poachers is that, by definition, they do not respect the law and kill en masse, and use fearsome tactics.

Which leads me to the biggest thing I found missing from the article: a focus on corruption.  He discusses corruption here and there, but I think the real problem here (like for many other issues in Africa) is rampant corruption.  It limits resources for legitimate protection of animals, it makes it easy to smuggle ivory, it lets imported Chinese workers do whatever they will, and ultimately it makes governments in Africa loathe to invest the resources to do something.

I do like the author's point that "one-time" sales are not read as "one-time" by buyers, and each one whets the appetite for more.  The biggest hope here, I think, is that that appetite is starved back to returns to its dormant state -- hopefully made easier by the fact that this is not an addictive substance.

Perhaps the summary of it all

One thing you quickly learn in new cultures is that “knowing” is not the same as “comprehending.”

Below is a link to an excellent article that sums up a lot of things about South Africa that I know, but – like the author, it seems – do not comprehend.  I highly recommend it, and hats off to the author for his work in putting the article together.



Here is the article itself.

Here is an accompanying video.  Note the content warning.


I think it does a great job bringing into focus lots of threads in South Africa: poverty, xenophobia, corruption, muthi and mixed superstition/Christianity [side note: the article refers to the ZCC], complete breakdown of the family, Bible-laced political speech, and a culture that can be so seemingly callous – like nurses barricading hospitals while on strike – that I just can’t understand it despite seeing it repeatedly.

One time he refused to intervene when a mob set a man on fire after compelling his “confession” by making him swallow sewer water. “If I see burning now, if I see raping, I look the other way,” he said huffily back then.

"A man and a morass" - a must-read on Nigeria

A great Economist article on Nigeria, the recent elections, and the hope and hurdles facing Nigeria.  A taste:

Many frustrated businessmen—some unpaid for years—think the situation is hopeless. Yet Nigeria’s recent past suggests that small changes can bring vast benefits. The appointment of Attahiru Jega as head of the election commission last year produced the first credible poll in a generation. Telecoms privatisation has reduced phone prices by 99%.

Nigeria is reformable, but it needs the right sort of leader. Its presidency is more powerful than its American equivalent. Favours are bestowed and punishments meted out by “the man in the villa”, as some Nigerians call the occupant of the presidential palace. But he must assert himself over advisers, ministers and godfathers—the visiting regional bosses who lobby him. Many supported Mr Jonathan, who was formerly vice-president, during his 12-month interim presidency after his predecessor, Umaru Yar’Adua, died in office. Now they expect payback. IOUs will be cashed. This is the point where every civil-service reform in the past has failed.

"Geez, I'm only married to her!"

I mentioned once before that about every month there is some big corruption story in SA.  This month it comes courtesy of the wife of the Minister of State Security, whose wife was convicted of running a drug smuggling ring.  Oh, and Minister Cwele was previously the chair of the Standing Committee on Intelligence.

Of course, he claims he had no idea what his wife would be doing.  But if he couldn't figure out what his wife was doing during his time as head of intelligence, does anyone really want him heading up State Security?

One of the two people carrying drugs for her was caught and is in a Brazilian jail where she is allowed two phone calls per year.  I'm pretty sure Mrs. Cwele won't be too deprived in jail.

In other news, Malema is the firebrand as usual.  At a rally with President Zuma he had some choice words for white "criminals" and DA "monkeys" and called for nationalization.  While people expect this of Malema, the more telling point is that Zuma did not rebut this in his speech immediately after and that he leans on Malema to energize his voting base.

Catching up on SA reading

I've neglected this blog for a while, though I have been posting quick notes and links to SA news on my Twitter feed.

In case you're catching up, here is some recent news that is noteworthy or provides insight to this region:
-Scary Economist article about attitudes toward democratic accountability in SA
-Another scary set of stats on public private workers in SA.  1 in 8 workers is employed by the government, at an average salary 44% above that of the private sector.  (The latter may be skewed if, as I suspect, government employees on average more-skilled labor.)
-A good article in the NYT about the proper role of plastic.  If you see plastic trash in rural Africa, it is appalling.
-An article on education unions in SA.  In a conversation the other day with a black SA colleague, she talked about the ridiculous cycle of strikes in education.  Teachers go on strike, then when they come back students will go on strike to protest the teachers striking.
-Doctors in Nigeria went on strike, reminiscent of the violent and shocking nursing strike in SA last September or so.
-The ANC government is pretty vocal about supporting unions and working for laborers, except apparently when it gets a donation at the expense of those same workers.  The response of the donor (President Zuma's nephew) is pretty brazen in his disdain for the claims of the workers.
-In another example of what is euphemistically called "industrial action" here, workers at parastatal power company Eskom want a 16% hike.  Remember that inflation is ~6-7% here, and last year they got a 9% increase plus a housing stipend.

Two good links on Nigeria

Read a little bit about Nigeria, oil revenues, bad incentives, and corruption here and here.

SA in the News, Feb 28 - BEE and corporate nepotism

This article has a lot of interesting “flavors of SA” in it.

The overview: a big steelmaker (ArcelorMittal) owned partial mining rights to an iron ore pit. The iron ore miner (Kumba) got those rights in exchange for a promise to sell ore to the Mittal at cost +3%, which is a big discount to the market rate.

Those rights lapsed, and it sounds like someone at Mittal just forgot to re-file. Not sure what happened, but it was a monster mistake. Kumba applied to get the rights for itself. Mittal applied to get the rights again (because it wants the cost+ deal again). A no-name company called ICT, which seems to basically be a shell company with some cash, filed for the rights.

It just so happens that ICT is owned in large part by the son of President Zuma and by a family with close ties to Zuma.

ICT was awarded the rights, and Mittal immediately offered to buy the company for >$100m (with the goal of re-negotiating the contract that previously existed). That’s a very tidy profit for a group of people that, as far as I’m aware, didn’t actually do anything except hire lawyers and apply for a permit.

Oh, and why did ICT get awarded the rights over Kumba? “The [mining/minerals] department judged ICT to have greater black economic empowerment credentials and awarded it a prospecting right, prompting Kumba to cry foul and approach the court last year to set aside the decision.”

And, by the way, the minerals dept will likely force Kumba into the same cost +3% deal with ICT that Kumba had with Mittal. Justification? Kumba played dirty by not reminding Mittal to re-apply: “‘In light of the duty of good faith which Sishen Iron Ore owed ArcelorMittal in terms of the supply agreement, Sishen Iron Ore’s conduct as afore described falls short of the minimum standards of ordinary business ethics which, I submit, apply even in the cutthroat environment of the South African mining industry,’ Mr Nogxina’s affidavit reads.” If Kumba played dirty, wouldn’t it make more sense to… simply give Mittal the rights back? After all, Kumba didn’t do anything to harm ICT.

Oh, and let’s not forget: at the same time ArcelorMittal bought ICT back in August, Mittal made a deal to help its BEE score. “In a separate statement, ArcelorMittal South Africa said it had finalised its black economic empowerment deals with an aggregate value of R9.075bn, transferring 26 percent of its shares to a group of black investors -- including an investment group led by the son of South African President Jacob Zuma -- and employees.” Right… I’m sure that’s completely separate from the deal to buy ICT from Zuma Jr. & Co.

As a disclaimer, I don't know any more than what a few newspaper articles and conversations have told me.  However, there are a lot of signs that things are fishy, even if technically legal.

Coming up to speed: some SA reading for the new year

A few things worth reading.

In big news, South Africa has formally been asked to join the BRIC countries (which will now be the BRICS).  What difference will it make, though, if SA views its membership the wrong way -- as a way to band against Western countries rather than an opportunity to expand trade with them?

South Africa's economic policy is always a bit muddled, and in part it seems like it's because the government doesn't need to have and communicate to the people a clear plan, since the ruling ANC will dominate elections no matter what.  Look no further than Julius Malema, leader of the influential ANC Youth League and huge demagogue (and potential next in line to be President), to see what scares companies considering business in South Africa.

On a very different note, I found this article on art and inspiration to be a very interesting read, though I think the author's rejection of "devotion to God" as a possible motivator means he misses a possible solution.

Growth in SSA in 2011

What are the prospects for Sub-Saharan Africa in 2011, and where will the growth come from? Read a quick synopsis from the Economist.

Big thoughts

Most of what I post here is anthropology/travel guide type stuff -- run-ins with local customs, how people live, etc.

However, there have been more than a few "big thoughts" bouncing around in my head since coming over, some of which I have answers to and some of which I'm still mulling over. A few:
-Someone joked that I'm now an African-American. Does having more African experience than most of the U.S. "African-American" population make me deserving of the title? Am I am American-African?
-What is it that needs to change for someone to "go native"? Is it just a matter of time, or is it an actual conscious mindset shift?
-What are the pros/cons of an "asset-lite" life? What are the downsides of being able to move abroad as easily as I was? (A friend recently forwarded an article I had read a few years ago called Tribal Workers that, judging from it's #1 position in a Google search for the same name, made waves.)
-The pros/cons of South Africa's approach to race, namely the open labeling of people by both other people and by government and the very active affirmative action programs.

What should Dangote do?

Here's a question for you: Aliko Dangote, a Nigerian on the Forbes Wealthiest 500 list and the wealthiest African*, can do just about anything with his money.  But what would help Nigeria most?

Let's assume he can either
a) continue business as usual, invest/grow his company, etc.
b) divest about half of his stake in his companies (worth about $1.25B) and distribute it evenly among all Nigerians.  Pretend there is no corruption/skimming in the distribution.  Each Nigerian would get about $8.33, and Dangote would still be worth >$1B.

If Dangote decided his aim was to help Nigerians as much as possible by doing one of the two above actions, which do you think would help average Nigerians more?

Some reading that is tangentially related to the question:
-Economist article on how international aid is not shifting to match where poverty is
-WSJ article on the philosophy of the world's richest man
-ABC news that has some good quotes pertaining to Africa
-An Economist article on progress toward the Millennium Development Goals

Of course, there is a middle ground that is growing: social entrepreneurship.  I'll give a plug for Tegu, one such company.

*Why the asterisk?  Dangote is the wealthiest African who can show all his money.  It is accepted wisdom that former rulers embezzled billions.  By one count, $400B in oil money has been embezzled since Nigerian independence in 1960.  Today on the radio there was a news item about a former state governor who embezzled $292 million during his time in office.  It is widely assumed that Ibrahim Babangida, a former president (usually called "IBB") who is running to be president again in 2011, stole much of the $12B that disappeared during his time in office.  It would be unbelievable fraud anywhere, but is particularly egregious against the backdrop of average Nigerian life.

The foundation for corruption

From some team room talk this week I got a few more examples of Nigerian government and tribal politics. One person recounted a story from Edo state where a market had burned down. The administrative head of the area wanted it rebuilt in a different area where there were more of his tribe in order to bring the wealth that way. From a business standpoint it didn’t make much sense as there were not as many customers and it was not as well connected. The administrator built a shopping center and offered everyone who moved a free place initially and about $1000. Everyone moved there for about three months in order to claim the money, and then moved back when the repairs to the original center were completed.

You can’t run for certain state government positions here unless you were born in the state. I think a lot of this is linked to a general dislike for non-locals moving in. This may be some regionalism/tribalism, but it is also economics: the majority of state revenues are disbursements from the federal government, so more people in a state means the money doesn’t go as far. I assume that the money is reapportioned periodically by census, but this doesn’t change short-term disparities and no one believes the census count. (Wikipedia, if I remember correctly, has a whole paragraph devoted to the differing counts of the number of people in Lagos.)

Read about Nigeria in the newspaper, both from within the country and from without, and you can’t escape the political patronage. Everyone acknowledges and dislikes the system, but it is self-enforcing – when people get political power, it is “their turn.”

I tend to think that one key problem is that everyone wants to be a politician. Politics pays better than almost any other profession, and not just from corruption – I’ve been told that Nigerian senators make more than U.S. senators, and that in a country where 40% of the population doesn’t have electricity to speak of. When being a politician is that attractive, a lot of people go into politics for themselves, not for altruism.

Again, I heartily recommend the Financial Times report on Nigeria at 50 and the McKinsey report on Africa as primers.

Happy(?) 50th anniversary, Nigeria

As noted previously, this past Friday was the 50th anniversary of Nigeria gained self-rule from Britain. The Financial Times had a great 20-odd page special on Nigeria at 50, which I highly recommend. It gives a very good overview of the politics and the current election, problems with the power grid, the oil and mobile phone economies, etc., all with better research than I have access to.

I had already planned a trip to Munich when I found out, and I considered canceling my trip to stick around and see the celebrations. However, I asked around and found out it wasn’t a big deal. Only one person I talked to planned to go to any events that day, and they were going to a church event. The general apathy was striking.

When I asked why, I got a lot of answers along the lines of, “what do we have to show for 50 years?” This was a common theme in newspapers, too. Columnists openly questioned whether Nigeria has moved forward as much as was anticipated 50 years ago.

I’ve talked about Nigerian optimism, and some of these same comments came from people that I thought of as generally patriotic/optimistic about Nigeria. Perhaps the answer may lie in a more nuanced view. People are optimistic about Nigeria’s people, its resources, and its economic opportunities. But everyone recognizes that government is currently a drag, not an enabler. The 50th anniversary is seen as a political anniversary and closely tied to the government, and no one thinks the government is doing a good job. I suspect that if there were some private celebration of economic progress and power, it would be much better subscribed.

One event served to highlight lingering political problems rather than progress. There were several car bombings in Abuja (the capital) very near the hub of the celebrations, and 7 or 8 people were killed. A Delta independence movement claimed responsibility.

Obama in Africa

I’m not in the States, but it sounds like Obama is slipping in the polls. If you took a poll over here in Africa I don’t think you would find the same thing. There is a prominent poster as you leave the Abuja airport declaring a presidential candidate to be “the Nigerian Obama.” (There's no big health system to revise, so what exactly would that mean? He would get an Igbo and a Hausa to have a beer together with him?) In Kenya I saw people wearing Obama t-shirts, and you could buy Obama curios in a Nairobi market – though the latter may say more about U.S. tourist shopping predilections than Kenyan political leanings.

(Almost) everything I've learned about Nigeria in one story

This was forwarded to me today (by a Nigerian) and the governance part/cultural commentary is funny because it is so true.  The only difference is that in real life there would be more tribal politics. 


Once upon a time, when Baba (Obasanjo) was in office as the president, he got an invitation from the Queen to come for a visit to England. After all the banquets and carriage rides and what not, Baba finally got the quiet moment he had craved all day in order to have a one on one chat with her majesty. After the usual small talk, Baba quickly popped the question. He asked her what the secret to her success was. You know Nigerians, we think everything is a secret…the President’s health status is a secret, his whereabouts is a secret, reports of the various panels of enquiry set up by govt to investigate the causes of different crises around the country are kept secret, we even have secret registries in every government agency in d country. Maybe we are a secretive people, we love secrets.

Anyway, back to our story. So Baba asked for the SECRET to the Queens’s success and she told him that she relies on her people a lot and therefore she makes certain that only the intelligent get to positions of authority.

She decided to show him exactly what she meant and so she phoned Tony Blair. "Now listen carefully, Mr. Obasanjo. I'm going to ask Mr. Blair a question to determine his intelligence.”

Queen: "Hello Mr. Blair, I have a question for you: your mother has a child, and your father has a child. This child is not your brother and is not your sister. Who is he?"

Tony Blair replied instantly, "It's ME Your Majesty!"

Queen: "Correct! Thank you and goodbye"

"You see Mr. Obasanjo?" said the Queen.

"Yes”, he replied “and thanks a lot, I'll definitely be using that!"

Once back in Nigeria, he decided that he had doubts about Mantu’s level of intelligence and he decided to test him. He arranged a meeting with him and asked him:

"Mantu, I have a question for you; your mother and father have a child. The child is not your brother and is not your sister, who is he?."

Mantu thinks...... and thinks………and thinks, and finally says, "Em, Mr. President, you must give me more time to think about it."

And Mr. Obasanjo gave him 2 weeks to come up with an answer. That afternoon, Mantu called a meeting of all his aides, advisers and assistants to discuss the question, but NOBODY knew the answer. So he decided to take it to the floor of the Senate. After a heated debate the Senate President thought it wise to clear out the gallery and go into a closed session as he believed the revelations that might result could be damaging to the family and reputation of the distinguished Senator Mantu.

After about two hours of deliberations, the house decided to set up an ad hoc committee to look into the matter and report back to it in ten days. The committee was given the following terms of reference:

1. To come up with a complete family tree of the entire Mantu clan
2. To pay a courtesy call to the traditional ruler of Mantu’s village and the State Governor
3. To interview all living relatives of Senator Mantu
4. To determine if Sen. Mantu’s dad had any extramarital affairs
5. To determine the DNA composition of Sen. Mantu (in Germany of course or Saudi)

On completion of its assignment, the committee was to submit its report to the Senate which would then pass it on to the Senate committee on special duties. This committee would then review the report of the ad hoc committee and come up with a draft “white paper” (whatever that means). This draft “white paper” would then be brought back to the Senate and on approval would be passed on to the President through Senator Mantu.

The Ad-hoc committee then submitted its budget which, of course, was kept SECRET, but included funds for;

a) The immediate purchase of Land Cruiser jeeps for each of the 12 members of the committee. The jeeps would be used to travel to Mantu’s village because, as you know, Nigerian roads are bad and Mantu’s village is remote.
b) Air tickets (first class of course) and hotel accommodation in Jos for committee members and their numerous aides. They’d stay at the Hill-station hotel and drive to Mantu’s village in the morning.
c) Air tickets (again first class) to Germany and back, and hotel accommodation (five star) for everybody.
d) Estacodes and hazard allowances
e) Logistics
f) Miscellaneous

Even though the budget was kept secret, you can easily come up with the figure by taking the actual estimate of the above list and multiply by ten. You’ll only run into problems when you get to the final two items (logistics & miscellaneous) , as these are usually added to cover for all the people that need to be “settled” in order to ensure that everything goes smoothly. Therefore the figures have the tendency of varying widely and so it can’t really be predicted.

Anyway, the money was released and the committee started its assignment in earnest. They finished within the time frame that was stipulated in their terms of reference and they prepared a voluminous report which was to be presented at the senate at plenary. But on the d-day when the chairman of the committee was about to make the presentation, a distinguished senator from the Southern part of the country raised a “point of order”. He argued that the committee was illegal because its composition was lopsided in favor of a certain region in the country. He pointed out that of the 12 members; seven were from the North and only five from the South. Not to be outdone, another senator, this time from the North, raised a “point of order” on the “point of order” that was raised by the senator from the South. He argued that since the committee’s assignment was primarily to investigate the lineage of Senator Mantu (who was from the North), they needed
senators who knew the terrain, who understood the culture of the people and their language.

More points of order followed and after a while the Senate President decided to put a stop to it by subjecting it to a voice vote.

And thus he announced, “All those in favor of the committee being considered legal and thus go ahead to present its report say “AYE””. And the house responded accordingly.

And then he asked again, “All those not in favor of the committee being considered legal and thus should not go ahead to present its report say “NAY””. And the house responded accordingly.

Unfortunately for Mantu, the “NAYs had it” and thus the report was never presented. Now Mantu had a really big problem, because the President was waiting for an answer and he had run out of time. So in one last effort, he decided to phone his very good friend Jerry Rawlings who had always sounded intelligent to Mantu and thus might have the answer to this really difficult question.
"Jerry, your mother and father have a child. The child is not your brother and is not your sister, who is he?."

Jerry answered immediately. "Hey, Mantu, It's me of course, you dumb Nigerian!"
Mantu couldn’t believe his luck and so he rushed to Aso Rock Villa, his motorcade of five cars moving at top speed with sirens blaring. Ordinary Nigerians going about their normal businesses scampered out of the way. When they finally arrived their destination, Mantu literarily ran all the way to the President's office.

"Mr. President, Mr. President”, he called out, breathing heavily. “I know who he is.”
Obasanjo: “Good, so tell me”
Mantu: “It’s Jerry Rawlings Sir! In fact, when he revealed the SECRET to me, I started to see the resemblance between us"

Obasanjo: "Jerry Rawlings ko, Jerry Gana ni. You are such a stupid senator. Olodo rakpata! I'll make sure you don’t return to office after this term. Stupid man, the correct answer is TONY BLAIR!"

And that’s how Mantu never returned to the Senate even though he supported the President’s third term agenda.
This is how Africa is governed.