Picking up pieces after terror attack

(In the Pic - Family photo - President Mugabe is introduced to Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa by President Zuma). The President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma received his counterpart, His Excellency Mr Robert Gabriel Mugabe, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, who is on a State Visit to South Africa. The objective of the visit is to consult on issues of mutual interest, paying particular focus on bilateral and economic cooperation, including regional and continental matters. The visit will further strengthen the historical, cultural and fraternal bonds that exist between South Africa and Zimbabwe. 08/04/2015, Pretoria, Union Building, Elmond Jiyane, GCIS

(In the Pic - Family photo - President Mugabe is introduced to Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa by President Zuma). The President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma received his counterpart, His Excellency Mr Robert Gabriel Mugabe, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, who is on a State Visit to South Africa. The objective of the visit is to consult on issues of mutual interest, paying particular focus on bilateral and economic cooperation, including regional and continental matters. The visit will further strengthen the historical, cultural and fraternal bonds that exist between South Africa and Zimbabwe. 08/04/2015, Pretoria, Union Building, Elmond Jiyane, GCIS

Published Apr 12, 2015

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While Zimbabwe continues to punch below its weight, Kenya, East Africa’s economic powerhouse, rises above the Al-Shabaab terror, writes Victor Kgomoeswana.

Johannesburg - Time flies in Africa, even when one is not having fun. The statue of Cecil John Rhodes went down at the University of Cape Town. As the sun set on the Rhodes legacy, one star was on the rise in the US in the form of Trevor Noah, who is set to replace Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.

Noah’s story has been on the radar for a while, but this week it seemed to gain momentum when Stewart himself expressly asked his followers to allow Noah to “earn their respect (or not)”.

This will be one export that South Africans will be proud of.

But other goings-on in South Africa included Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe’s state visit to South Africa to talk about “matters of mutual interest”.

After 21 years Mugabe came in from the cold with things back home pretty rough as pressure mounts on his country to repay billions of dollars borrowed from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Zimbabwe continues to punch below its weight because of its uncertain political and policy framework, especially on the indigenisation of foreign companies – just what did Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa mean when he said that the policy was “not a one-size-fits-all?”

I have my doubts about the value of some of the state visits and whether they will deliver anything, but perhaps that is why I’m not running any country. Let me simply say on this note: whatever is supposed to ensue from this visit, I will have to see it to believe it.

Al-Shabaab – the only way for Kenya is forward

On one matter which there is little doubt is the effect of the attack on Garissa University College near the border with Somalia, where 148 people were killed. This has been called the deadliest since the bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi in 1998. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, reportedly saying it was because the “Christian government of Kenya had invaded” their country, Somalia. Why? Somalia has been the base of al-Shabaab, and Kenya decided some time ago to go after the terror group. Other regional efforts, in the form of the AU Mission in Somalia (Amisom) were also mounted. Al-Shabaab took their terror to the countries involved in the mission, including a bomb attack in Uganda during the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa.

We know the other spillover effects of al-Shabaab in the East African region, including piracy off the coast of Somalia, which took international collaborative intervention to resolve. The same is required to address this ongoing crisis. Already, the Japanese have provided $200 million (R2.4m) to address the issue of terrorism. Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed has conceded that Kenya needs more support to stem the tide of terror.

There is no doubt that Kenya has been the hardest hit, which is why it would assume a disproportionately higher responsibility for dealing with the problem. The country is in too deep to retreat now.

Its tourism industry has taken a beating over the past five years. Kenya is still among the top 20 economies of the world on growth prospects, according to a Bloomberg survey and Nairobi has been voted Africa’s most intelligent city by the Information Communication Forum for two years in a row, but it has no choice but to fight fire with fire.

Remember the Westgate Shopping Mall attack of 2013 in which 67 people were killed? And what about the many other bombings in Mombasa and other parts of Kenya?

Kenya, as the largest economy in East Africa and the hub of the economic regional bloc, needs the active support of the rest of the world to deal with this problem. After all, the problems affecting Kenya easily ripple to the rest of the world.

Kenya supplies about a third of the cut flowers sold in Europe, although Ethiopia is catching up.

Kenya’s infrastructure projects, for example rail, road and power-supply initiatives, interconnect the region’s other member countries, such as Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia. Kenya Airways flies to more destinations in Africa than any other African airline.

Through its alliance with KLM and Air France, Kenya Airways links Africa to Europe. This means that whatever happens in Nairobi or Kenya has immediate effects on the rest of the world.

We saw it when the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport caught fire and disrupted air traffic everywhere else in late 2013.

The response by the government of Kenya has elicited mixed reactions from accusations that it was too slow to those full of praise for President Uhuru Kenyatta’s tough talk and for his personal correspondence with the families of the victims. Focusing only on this would be missing the point.

The problem of the al-Shabaab attack in Garissa, although seen to be far from most of us, is not a Kenyan problem, but a global one, which requires multilateral efforts to address.

Just as the Somali piracy issue took the international collective to resolve, in the same way that blood diamonds and other conflict minerals are being addressed through international agencies such as the Kimberley Process and the Extractive Industries’ Transparency Initiative, the world needs to get actively involved in the resolution of this matter. Kenya has to lead as should the AU, but for the greater international community to stand back would be sinning through omission.

There is proof that when collective efforts are mounted, even Boko Haram can be weakened. It took the AU’s initiative, starring Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria, to bring Boko Haram under some control.

The result? The Nigerian election happened and there is a new president waiting to take office next month. It is encouraging when Africans increasingly take charge of their own affairs.

The Kenya-Somalia crisis is putting all of Africa and the world to the test. Remember the Rwanda genocide of April 1994 when the world was watching. Let this not be the case with Kenya. The economy is far too important to be left alone.

Even more important, though, is the crucial importance of governance in Africa. By running the economies responsibly, with a focus on empowering the majority of Africans, our leaders will render most young Africans less susceptible to recruitment efforts by terror groups. It is not hard to appreciate that a young African with a job or business to take care of is less likely to join a terror group or to become a child soldier. The same goes for those running businesses across the continent. Their commitment should be to more than simply generating profit but to improving the quality of life of all their stakeholders by adopting sustainable business practices at all times.

Last lap, Nigeria!

Nigeria did well in the first chapter of the election on March 28. Now we know who is going to run the country, it is imperative to complete the next phase of the elections in deciding who will run the states. The new president will have their work cut out for them. The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) have already, in congratulating president-elect Muhammadu Buhari, urged him to address the cost of running airlines in Nigeria.

There is also the long-running process to finalise the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which has to be concluded, if the oil industry in Nigeria is to be transformed for the better. The government has started a great initiative of making agriculture attractive to young Nigerians through different incentives.

Already, Nigeria is a net exporter of cassava, thanks to a successful promotion of agriculture.

Many hurdles remain, such as poor infrastructure, but every step Nigeria takes, such as the successful running of an election, can enhance the image of Africa’s largest economy. It starts with small steps, such as this one, concluding a democratic election as we are witnessing.

Fastjet – my toast of the week

I interviewed Ed Winter, the chief executive of Africa’s newest low-cost airline, Fastjet. He is emphatic that the airline is run to world-class specifications.

The former pilot for the British Overseas Airways Company was my guest because his company had raised just shy of $75m (R900m) to fund expansion of the airline, which already flies between Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

This capital raised through Fastjet’s listing on the Alternative Investment Market in London will be used to fund the expansion to further cement Winter’s anecdote about Africa’s appeal as an aviation market. He told me the upside is irresistible, citing that more than 35 percent of their passengers had not been on an aircraft before Fastjet. Low-cost airlines seem to be the way to go. The ability of Fastjet to raise so much to fund expansion means the elusive concept of intra-Africa trade might be fast approaching if a robust airline industry and affordable air travel can lower the barrier imposed by long distances and poor road infrastructure in most African countries.

Over and above the appeal of Fastjet’s success in raising capital, the chief executive hinted at a possible dual-listing. If this should materialise, it could mean investors in South Africa could one day be able to buy shares in the company.

Lest we forget: African history and icons of inspiration

Rwanda commemorated the 21st anniversary of the 1994 genocide on April 7. About a million people, mainly Tutsis, perished due to an artificial ethnic division between the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa, which led to a hatred among fellow countrymen and women.

The world turned a blind eye, following the death of then-president Juvénal Habyarimana and his Burundian counterpart, Cyprien Ntaryamira, on April 6, when anti-Tutsi sentiment fuelled the ruthless killings of Tutsis and moderate Hutus at roadblocks set across Rwanda. For about 100 days children, women and men were killed in the most gruesome ways.

This continued until just after July 4, when the Rwandan Patriotic Front seized the capital, Kigali, which is now celebrated as Liberation Day in Rwanda. I attended a commemoration service in Joburg where I heard chilling accounts of survivors of the genocide, all punctuated by the “never again” tagline to ensure that such baseless killings never happen again, especially as Rwanda has become the model for triumph over adversity, ease of doing business across Africa and the world. May we never forget how baseless hatred can lead to untold loss of human life.

* Kgomoeswana is author of Africa is Open for Business, anchor of CNBC Africa’s weekly show Africa Business News, and anchor of the daily show Power Hour on PowerFM. He writes in his personal capacity.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.

The Sunday Independent

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