ED ITO R IA L 7 Is th e IM F lis te n in g? C O V E R S T O R Y 8 M ys te ry of th e j i l t e d rand S P E C IA L REPOFTT: African mining summ it 11 ANC s tan ce causes uproar 12 The G h a n a ia n approach V IEW FR OM T H E C I T Y 1 4 C u rren c ie s under s ie g e C O U N T R Y PROFILE B o tsw ana: T h e jew e l shines brighter 15 The country & the econom y 16 P re s id e n t M o g a e p ro f ile 2 2 New in vestm en ts 2 3 Econom ic outlook 2 6 S ir K i tu m i le M a s i r e p ro f ile 2 7 BDC le ad s g row th charge 2 8 Hi te c te le c om s 3 0 Tourism - enchan ted w i ld e rn e s s D A TE L IN E U S A 31 End of A fr ic a -U S love story? F IN A N C E 3 4 S tru c tu red com m od ity f in a n c e H E A L TH 3 5 M a l a r ia s t i l l p r im e k i l le r C O U N T R Y FILE 3 8 N ig e r ia : H iccup fo r Abuja bourse 4 0 S ie r ra Leone: L i fe l in e budget B O O K S 41 M u s ic in my head 41 The c a ta s tro ph is t 4 2 A fr ic a on the In te rn e t
4 African Business September 1996
September 1998 No. 235
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o n t e n t s
8 COVER STORY
Mystery of the jilte d rand S o u th A f r i c a n s w a t c h e d in d is m a y and som e a s to n is hm e n t as the va lu e o f the rand s l i p p e d s o m e 2 5 % o v e r a v e r y s h o r t p e r io d . A l l s o r t s o f t h e o r i e s h a ve been advanced but m os t d o n ’t make sense. Is it an in te rn a tio na l con sp ira c y to s cu p p e r the e c onom y o r are b ig t im e s pecu la to rs once a g a i n m e s s i n g a b o u t w i t h n a t i o n a l c u rre n c ie s ? W h y is th e rand be in g j i l te d ? Tom Nevin has been in vestiga tin g .
15 COUNTRY PROFILE
Botswana: The jew el shines brighter B o ts w a n a , A f r i c a ’s je w e l in th e c r o w n , is s h in in g even b r ig h te r as the new m i l le n n iu m r o l ls up. A c c o rd in g to The W o r ld Bank, th is s o u th e r n A f r ic a n c o u n t r y w a s th e w o r l d ’ s fas test g ro w in g e c onom y between 1965 and 1 9 9 6 , b e a t i n g t h e A s ia n t i g e r s i n t o th e seco n d a ry p la ces. For o u r specia l 16 -p a g e c o u n t r y p ro f i le , we s en t c o n t r ib u t in g e d i t o r Tom Nevin to tr y and d is co v e r the secret of Bo tsw ana’s success.
35 HEALTH
Malaria: A frica ’s No. 1 public enemy A l th o u g h A ID S has grabbed a ll the headlines, the real k i l l e r in A f r ic a is s t i l l th e m o s q u i to . Every y e a r m i l l i o n s , p a r t i c u l a r l y c h i ld r e n , are b e in g k i l l e d by t h i s v i c i o u s d is e a s e and th e c o s t to A fr ic a n e c o n om ie s is severe. The W o r ld Health O rg a n is a t io n , u n d e r th e new le a d e rs h ip o f Gro H a r le m B r u n d t la n d , fo rm e r P r im e M i n i s t e r of Norway, has vowed to “ ro l l back m a la ria ” as one o f its to p p r io r it ie s . Jessie Banfield reports.
