Socially responsible investing

This is my favorite topic next to investment in Africa, in fact it is related.
I strongly believe that Socially Responsible Investment in the developed world is very bad news for the developing world. I jsut have not had time and the data to prove it.

There is anecdotal evidence but I need hard data.
In any case, London has promised to establish a Social Stock Exchange in 2013. 

I will watch with interest its development which I am SURE will be amazing for resource laden companies in a position to take advantage of social do-gooders and RUBBISH for companies in the developing world where they are intending to do the most good: the bottom of the pyramid as they like to say.

Hopefully, I can spend some time on this this year.

SADC Tribunal Summer 2012

The SADC Tribunal is still not in session. here is an excellent recap of the history and current status of the SADC Tribunal and its nullification by SADC.

Apparently, new efforts to control land are in the new draft Zimbabwe Constitution. Ben Freeth  is pursuing an appeal to the African Commission on Human and People's Rights. It registered  an application brought by Ben Freeth and another dispossessed Zimbabwean farmer, Luke Tembani, to be heard by the African Court on Human and People's Rights. They seek an order from the Court that will require the SADC Summit to reinstate the Tribunal.   


I think in life, just as in law, time is of no consequence. You hope to outlive your claim but you may not. The important thing is to persevere, whatever that means.


I respect the Campbell and Freeth dispute because they seem willing to die for what is right. Many peole the world over do this. Let's not diminish the effort of these men and women because they are white and living in Zimbabwe. That is intellectually dishonest. 


Instead,  honor their effort to work within the system, however flawed. We women have been doing that, universally, for years.


Shame on you for letting race cloud your insight.


These men and women are civil rights activists just like those in America in the 1960's. 
Honor their sacrifice just like the sacrifice of their black brothers in Zim who threw out the British.


Yes, let that bake your noodle for a bit.


        

Inequality

Joseph Stiglitz is promoting a new book called The Price of Inequality. Here is his interview in the Rolling Stone. He also recently had an interview in Vanity Fair as well.

He is trying to sell a book but what he has to sell is very compelling. My main interest is Education as the go to for government cuts. In California, they have no compunction for cutting Education.

I was in Hollywood recently and learned more about Proposition 38 which is trying to make some corrections to the mistakes from the past cuts in Education. This is the core of the US inequality problem: cutting funding to education. If our children are not our future who/what is??? And yet education is cut first and deep.

This is a good blog on poverty and inequality in the US. My personal observations are this: People continue to lose their houses and jobs here. It is really difficult to find a job and we all rejoice when someone does find one. And the costs of education continue to rise.

The biggest crime is that the cost of education goes up and there is no way students can pay so their parents pay for tuition even when they cannot afford it. And those kids NEED the degree to get a decent job. Everyone has moved back in with their parents.

How can the US run around the world and tell everyone else how to run their economy??
I do not know the answer to that.    

Spain is not Uganda

The London Stock Exchange is partnering with African Banker magazine and Springwood Capital to hold the African Debt Capital Markets Summit on London this week. The Minister of Finance of Uganda is one of the speakers.  

The title of this post refers to statements in the keynote speakers address as well as comments about the Euro zone's difficulties that have been flying back and forth.

Invest in Africa

Invest in Africa  is a partnership between Tullow Oil and Sunderland Football club. Its purpose is to promote  African business and dispel misconceptions about doing business in Africa.

Looks interesting. Check it out !   

Central African Stock Exchanges Handbook 2012

The New Zanj Publishing House has released the 2012 Central African Stock Exchanges Handbook. The handbook provides in depth information on publicly traded company financials, fiscal policy, political developments, regional indicators and stock exchange details for Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

It is a incredibly valuable resource for anyone investing in the Region. It provides company profiles, executive and website information. Additionally, for each company the books includes trading and balance sheet figures as well as an outlook for the year.
    
Please let me know if you would like more information on getting a copy.

  

  

Walking in Africa

I have done lots of writing and lots of walking here in South Africa. On the weekend I walked everywhere and on most streets I was the only white person. I visited the Mall, and walked past the markets and up to the University. Most white people were in cars-small, mostly white ones-and other people walked. I walked too.

Sunday was fascinating in terms of who was on the street and what times they were there and then everyone headed to Church. I went wine tasting via car, a tan Land Rover. The driver told me he was Khoisan. He told me all he knew of SA history. Some of it was very sad and some was amazing. Many things I never knew, how could I? You really have to work hard in the States to learn about Africa. I asked many questions and learned.  Louwtjie was an excellent tour guide and owns the company. I made him work for the money which you MUST do here. Collected me at 9 am, 4 vineyards, lunch (not included) and back at the hotel at 4 pm. R1200, cash, paid upfront the night before (so African)! I think the price was ok.        

The Winelands are magnificent. The mountains and valleys, the vineyards and farms, and the absolutely picturesque buildings. It was spectacular. Murphy's law, of course, only 4 of my 62 pictures of the vineyards came out...the wine was good too.

Today is Monday and I did some more walking and some loitering. I NEVER sit at coffee shops. I just never have. I see people do it in movies and I wonder why I never do. It looks....meaningful. Today, I loitered at a table on the street near a main intersection in Stellenbosch. I just kept ordering tea, read my Cape Times and loitered. I watched and people watched me too. Stellenbosch is a University town so there were students and school children in uniforms. There were ladies lunching and women doing the grocery run. Lots of workers and other shoppers. For my first ever, real loitering gig, I think I did fine. The waitress was happy to see me go. I am not sure it was meaningful but I did come to a conclusion. This place is so very diverse. It does not know how to handle this diversity. This place becomes more diverse all of the time.

So frequently I see similarities with Southern Africa and the US. We, in California, watch senseless drug violence in Mexico and then deal with the immigrant/refugees. We face the decline of the white majority and the growth of all kinds of race mixtures and ethnicities who speak other languages and attend school and live next door and walk the streets. This dealing with the differences never ends, I don't believe. Moreover, it is often not at all pretty.  

My loitering with intention ended and I left the coffee shop and began to walk again. I came across a bookshop that I had previously ignored. In that shop I bought a book call Shoe Shop. The book is part of a larger project developed by, among others, a German writer and curator, Marie-Hélène-Gutberlet. The book followed an exhibit and festival in Johannesburg in May celebrating the migratory nature of South Africans. The book is an anthology of movement, mobility, feet, physicality and shoes. As I purchased the book, the shop-owner and I discussed the effort to understand SA. She said that is even more challenging for those who live here.

Tomorrow, I head back to the bookstore. The shop-owner wants me to read an out-of-print book written by Sindiwe Magona. She is bringing it from home and says I can finish it in one day. I will do that and then leave South Africa for Malawi then Dar es Salaam.