September 2011
10 posts
How brain drain can stimulate brain gain
Is brain drain always bad for the country from whom the brains are being drained? Not necessarily. Consider the Philippines which exports a lot of human capital to the US and elsewhere in the form of trained nurses. And yet the country does not go wanting for nurses. To the contrary, the Philippines today has more qualified nurses per capita than the UK. Ian Goldin,a Global South African based...
WatchA banner for Heritage Day.
Step aside, Oscar, for the Golden Rhino
John Irvin, the British-born director whose credits include Hamburger Hill, The Dogs of War and the BBC adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, is driving the launch of a new festival devoted to South African film. The Mapungubwe Festival, set to debut in London in February, will offer its own set of awards to be known as Golden Rhinos. The first jury was announced at a gala dinner in London...
WatchA pamphlet setting out the basic pillars of the South African brand.
Unmissable Malva
We had the great good fortune to run into Kari Mansfield on September 19 at the South African Association of Business Communities charity golf tournament at Castlewood Country Club in Pleasanton, California. You have not tasted malva pudding until you have tasted Kari’s malva pudding. It’s available at Whole Foods and other fine stores on the West Coast. She shipped a batch to...
South Africans in the US -- the numbers
How many South Africans now reside in the US? The 2000 Census put the number of people born in SA living here at 63 560. The 2010 figures haven’t been released yet. Happily, the US Department of Homeland Security publishes figures by nationality of people receiving green cards. In 2010, the figure for South Africans was 2 758, bringing the total for the decade 2001-10 to...
Help us brainstorm a new pay-off line for Brand... →
We’re working to distill the essence of the distinctive promise South Africa makes to the world as a nation brand and we need your input. Click on the headline to take a quick survey.
WatchIf you’re in Maputo for the 10th All-Africa Games, don’t miss the Ekhaya Hospitality Centre Brand South Africa and its partners have set up for Team SA and its supporters.
WatchIf you’re going to be Wellington for the Rugby World Cup, stop by the Ekhaya Hospitality Centre Brand South Africa and partner have set up as a base, watering hole and business centre for Team SA and its supporters.
July 2011
1 post
Kenya to issue diaspora bonds →
Could SA do this?
June 2011
1 post
“In a world where so many people now have access to education and cheap tools of...”
– “Carlson’s Law,” posited by Curtis Carlson, the C.E.O. of SRI International, in Silicon Valley. Quoted by Tom Friedman in his New York Times column today.
May 2011
4 posts
Calling all Maties
Stellenbosch Rector and Vice Chancellor Russell Botman is visiting the US and spoke to alumni at the National Press Club in Washington this week. Very inspiring, not just for alumni, but for anyone who wants to see South Africa succeed. The university’s Hope Project, with its focus on teaching and research that can have a real impact on poverty, is particularly impressive. Here’s a...
Change of domain
A housekeeping note. We have morphed from an .org into a .net, and since we’re really a network rather than an organisation at this point, that is probably not such a bad thing. The change was not intentional, however. It was forced upon us by an oversight. We weren’t paying attention and our ownership of the globalsouthafricans.org domain expired. At which point it was promptly taken...
WatchAlways Something New
November 2010
1 post
Harvard likes South African equities →
This is a link to the Harvard Management Company’s latest filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The company manages the university’s $27.6 billion endowment. As of the end of September, its fourth largest holding, then valued at $70 million, was in an index fund of South African equities. It also held Sasol, Anglogold Ashanti and Gold Fields ADRs. Its top three...
October 2010
7 posts
Going Solar →
An item broadcast on America’s National Public Radio about plans to build a 5 GW solar power plant on the edge of the Kalahari Desert. More here.
Land of Opportunity →
Paul O’Riordan, a Dublin born graduate of Harvard Business School, moved to South Africa in 1995 to open an office for McKinsey. He decided to stay on and launched his own biotech company, Synexa Life Sciences, in Stellenbosch in 2003, recruiting scientists locally. Cape Town, he says, is a good place to be an entrepreneur. The company is thriving and has plans to establish satellite...
Internet radio
I am considering the creation of an internet radio station that will serve as a platform for South Africans living here and abroad, to communicate with their family and friends. Should this be of interest to you, I look forward to hearing from you. www.radio-worx.co.za
Not your father's MK →
Denel which once made weapons to fight Umkhonto now makes a missile called Umkhonto.
Lights! Camera! Action! →
Cape Town as film industry hub.
WatchSouth Africa Now on Scribd.
South Africa in the Washington Post →
Here’s background on South Africa Now which was published with Washington Post on October 6.
The supplement’s message is that South Africa is a country of smart, creative people who have their own ways of doing things and who are making a difference globally.
September 2010
12 posts
4 tags
Walk on a side that isn't so wild these days →
The BBC’s man in South Africa, Andrew Harding, discovers the pleasures of downtown Johannesburg. “I like the lazy pavements of Little India, the hustle and optimism around Braamfontein, the Ghanaian bars of Yeoville, the slick transformation of old buildings around Arts on Main, and the outdoor cafes sprouting around Newtown and the financial district.”
Happy Heritage Day from Washington →
A Heart Grown Fonder
As a South African cabin crew for a Middle Eastern airline getting a Joburg flight is on my Top 10 list of favourite things. Flying all over the world is exciting and fun, yes, but sittting in my jumpseat looking out of the window waiting to land onto SA soil far outweighs landing anywhere else.
The moment I step off the aircraft I can just feel it — I’m home! The smell of the air,...
The Year of Doing Good →
Julie Cunningham, editor of SA The Good News, rejoices in South Africans rising to the occasion.
Your input requested on planned Brand South Africa... →
Brand South Africa, aka the International Marketing Council, wants to know what you think. Please take a moment to complete a simple survey.
Some things we do very well, and others not as...
The World Economic Forum paints a mixed picture of South Africa in its latest Global Competitiveness Report. Below the fold is its assessment. One finding not highlighted in the summary concerns our relative performance in retaining and attracting talented people. We don’t score as badly as some might think. On a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 meaning that most talented people seek opportunities...
The World Cup has shown us what we can become --...
Like the ball in the Cinderella fairy tale, the 2010 party was bound to end, but it has left a similar magic legacy, former president FW De Klerk told guests at a gala dinner in London last night. The event was organised by Geoff Johnson and raised funds for the FW De Klerk Foundation, the Legal Assistance Trust (UK arm of the Legal Resources Centre), Thuthuka Trust and the SA Business Club...
Vuvuzela Magazine
Adele Heydenrich writes from LA:
Hi,
We are starting a new online magazine for South Africans on the West Coast, called “Vuvuzela Magazine.” www.vuvuzelamagazine.com. Our first issue is set to go online January 2011. We would love to hear from South Africans and readers can sign up for out mailing list on our website.
Best,
Adele
The fight is on to reclaim South African's inner... →
The broken window theory popularised by James Q. Wilson and George Kelling suggested that urban rot could be reversed by fixing the small but creeping signs of decay that are indicative of a broader surrender. The Guardian’s David Smith sees signs that South Africa’s cities have learnt that lesson.
"Look at them, meet them, get to know them; you... →
This is the transcript of an NPR interview with White Wedding director Jann Turner and star Kenneth Nkosi. Listen to it here. Read great reviews here and here.
August 2010
7 posts
Jann Turner: My Normal, Crazy, Mixed-Up Country --... →
Come and meet Jann, the director of White Wedding, at the Landmark E Street Cinema in Washington on October 11. I’m hosting a preview before the movie opens in DC on October 15. We’ll get to talk about the movie and the SA film industry with Jann, and drink a little South African wine, before the show. Should be a good evening. Looking forward to seeing you,
Simon Barber US Country...
A new and stronger and brighter South Africa...
I recently returned to my country of birth after 20 years abroad. I spent my first 19 years living in this great country before traveling and marrying and settling overseas. I had always felt that the world was my oyster and decided to travel just before Madiba’s legacy began and I am truly amazed and happy how far it has come since its birth into its new democracy. The fires of trial and...
“None of this is cause to despair in a teenage democracy that swings from rainbow...”
– A useful reminder in today’s Observer. Yes, there’s a lot to worry about right now in South Africa. The threatened media curbs. The public sector strike. And the struggles within the ruling party of which these things are symptomatic. But remember, this democracy is still a teenager....
World Affairs Journal - State of Play: How South... →
Matthew Kaminski of the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board thinks the dominance of a single party has been a mixed blessing for South Africa, but he remains convinced the country has a lot going for it thanks that an ebullient civil society, a strong private sector and solid economic management. And through the current sturm und drang he sees progress toward a more open and pluralist...
An Apron to Braai For
Calling on Global South Africans in the US. If you’re planning on having friends round for a braai on Heritage Day — that’s Friday, September 24, this year, but Saturday will do just as well — let us know, and we’ll send you an apron like this one do do it in:
Click here for more information.
South Africa Tries to Climb the Industrial Ladder... →
Interesting piece, but the use of the word “tries” in the headline is, well, trying. South Africa is a fully industrialised country with, among other things, a highly developed automotive sector capable of designing and building a competitive electric car.
Barron's: "Investors will miss a huge opportunity... →
“The noisy financial crises in the developed financial markets appear to have drowned out a decade of impressive and sustained economic and institutional progress in sub-Saharan Africa. To many Western investors who don’t look past the stereotypes, Africa is terra incognita. Their ignorance could cost them plenty in lost opportunity.”
So argues the cover story in the latest issue of...
July 2010
13 posts
Welcome to South Africa →
The good and the bad in SA. An Al-Jazeera reporter is robbed in Khayelitsha, but local residents chase the thieves and make them drop their booty. Xenophobia? Yes. But also lots of people coming together in various ways to fight it and protect their neighbours. Money quote:
I have a met a lot of people who are proudly going about making their corner of South Africa a little bit better. And it is...
“For many, South Africa is a land of opportunity and a revelation for the...”
– Dr Daniel Conway, of Loughborough University (he earned his PhD at Rhodes), and Dr Pauline Leonard from the University of Southampton, have launched a research project on British expats in South Africa with funding from the British Academy. The quote is from Dr Conway’s piece on the project...
South Africa crowned sheep shearing champions at... →
We’re on a roll.
Will the real South Africa please stand up -- and... →
Upbeat take on SA from an Australian radio journalist who covered the World Cup. Money quotes:
Not even in America have I seen the flag displayed with the pride it was in South Africa during the World Cup - not blind patriotism, but a genuine pride in their post-apartheid achievements.
Despite the pre-Cup safety warnings (that, in its most extreme, included suggestions to pack a bullet-proof...
South Africa after the World Cup: Is there a lot... →
“THE hosting of the football World Cup has been a triumph. Foreign fans, some of them sceptics when they arrived, have gone home as converts. Long after South Africans saw their own team eliminated from the tournament, they kept up their vuvuzela-blowing, flag-waving, patriotic exuberance across the racial divide. After the final whistle blew on July 11th, an emotional President Jacob Zuma...
The Big Picture - Vibrant Africa beckons investors... →
Key points:
Africa’s level of urbanisation is nearly as high as China’s
Africa’s collective GDP was $1.6 trillion in 2008, equivalent to Russia or Brazil, with combined consumer spending of $860 billion.
Since September last year, African regional investment funds have had 43 weeks of net inflows, totalling $579 million.
African has more middle-class families than India
In...