Inside SA Home Affairs • Sankofa Insurance’s William Yeboah • Genderlinks Colleen Morna • Baraka Bora’s Harold Olukune • Internations’ Niels Bertschat • Jobs in Africa - backpage!

w w w . e x p a t r i a t e . c o . z a

A f r i c a n P r o f e s s i o n a l s B e y o n d B o r d e r s

Issue 6

Kenya’s Gerald MahindaBrandhouse SA CEO

Sir Sam JonahKnighted African Igniting Africa

9 772218 757007 >60011

Uganda’s Lee KasumbaFrom Y to O

Nigeria’s Wale Akinlabi From Houseboy to Household Name

Ben M’PokoDRC Envoy and Dean of Ambassadors

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ETHNIC+UNIQUE

=79 Hill Street, Ferndale, 2194

www.ethniquedesigns.co.za . 0723468742

o you want to remain

authentically African but

not miss out on the ever-

changing fashion trends of

the modern world? Then Ethnique

Designs, the brainchild of Zambian-

born Ezi Kilembe, situated on Hill

Street in Randburg is the place for you.

“I used to design the clothes

I wore and I started designing for

friends and family as they always

liked what I wore. I was more

interested in completing my BA and

just did it as a hobby. After doing this

for about 10 years, I suddenly realised

that I could turn a pleasurable hobby

into a business and in May of last

year, I opened up shop and called it

Ethnique, a combination of “Ethnic”

representing the fact that while we

are human first, our ethnicity shines

out through our different cultural

backgrounds and the quirky play on

the spelling with “que” represents the

word “unique”, which means we can

all be represented in a modern way.”

Ethnique Designs makes fashion

outfits and accessories for any

occasion. Fabric is acquired from

places as far as Ghana, Nigeria,

Guinea, Mozambique and the

DR Congo. They specialise in

fascinator hats as well.

“We also have a

beauty parlour on our

premises that offers

facials, nails with nail art,

manicures, pedicures,

massages, waxing, eye

lash extensions and

m a ke - u p

application. Our outfits do not only

promote uniqueness in our cultural

expressions through dress, but our

service is also unique in that we offer

a ‘one-stop-shop’ service especially

for events such as weddings as

we not only make outfits for the

wedding party, but also provide the

beauty treatments required as a

package at a cost-effective price.”

Since setting up shop, she has

had the opportunity to learn from

different cultures by interacting

with a variety of racial groups, which

she is thankful for. Some have even

become suppliers by bringing her

genuine pieces from their travels

back home which is important to her

in keeping with her brand promise of

a unique offering.

“We design outfits from scratch.

Some clients come with their own

materials and designs and if we

feel a tweak is needed here and

there to suit their profile, we advise

them accordingly. Finally, we are

also increasing our variety

by bringing on board

other designers. We

are in the process

of creating a shop

where we can stock

African designers

from around

the continent

and anybody

interested can

contact us.”

03

Contents6 Editorial

7 Inside Home Affairs: Charity begins at Home Affairs

9 Buntu Williams: Africa’s chance to redefine capitalism

10 Expat-tivities

16 Sir Sam Jonah: Knighted African Igniting Africa

20 Gerald Mahinda: CEO of Brandhouse SA

24 Sankofa’s William Yeboah: Experience that insures your tomorrow

27 Colleen Lowe Morna: The phoenix of Genderlinks

30 Harold Olukune: Accounting your blessings through Baraka Bora

34 Expat-travel: Conquering The Congo

38 Know Your Envoy: DRC Ambassador Ben M’Poko

42 Wale Akinlabi: From Houseboy to Household Name

45 Senkubuge: Eating, praying and loving

46 Lee Kasumba: From ‘Y’ to ‘O’

49 Hanging on with Hannington: My Pretoria to Kampala Road Trip

50 Niels Bertschat: Internations Johannesburg Host

52 The Last Word: The world is ending, what’s your legacy?

53 Jobs in Africa

06 EXPATRIATE

ell if you had one at our

inaugural Kenya Airways

sponsored Expatriate

Magazine golf day then you need to

tell me how you managed to sneak

him in! Jackal Creek strictly prohibits

the use of a caddie and so all aspiring

Tiger Woods’ reading this will have

had to settle for the use of golf carts

instead.

The golf day is one of four

events in our calendar this year.

It will be followed by The Winter

Women’s High Tea in June, the

Annual Expatriate Dinner and Dance

in September and our Anniversary

celebration towards the end of the

year.

It’s 2012, or as an optimistic

friend recently told me, plenty 12!

We certainly hope that it will bring

plenty your way and that your

dreams are realised. Hopefully the

Mayans got it horribly wrong and

mankind shall continue to exist

beyond their forecasted doomsday

of 12th of December 2012.

Speaking of golf and sports, as

I write this, the replay of Asamoah

Gyan striking the ball in the direction

of the grateful palms of the Zambian

keeper is receiving a lot of airplay on

TV. These scenes have prompted an

on-going debate in bars and social

media platforms as to whether or not

he should be the scapegoat for the

failure of the Black Stars to progress

to the ultimate stage of continental

football: the African Cup final.

True to our propensity for bouts

of selective amnesia, many have

conveniently forgotten the numerous

goals the man has scored to secure

the Black Stars’ place in the semi-

final. In addition, national football is

a collective effort, unlike golf where

one has only him or herself to blame

in the event of a poor showing.

Like football, this magazine is

a team effort and as such I wish to

acknowledge the many who worked

hard to deliver a successful first year

in 2011. Given the stories we have

in this issue led by the profile of an

achiever like Sir Sam Jonah, I am

more than confident that this year

will be “plenty 12” for us as well!

KC Rottok, CA (SA)

Creative & Fin. Journalism (Wits University)

Managing Editor.

WHO’S YOUR CADDIE?

Publisher: The Expatriate Forum andMagazine (Pty) LimitedReg. Number: 2010/012428/07P O Box 4935, Randburg, 2125Tel: +27 11 7917484www.expatriate.co.za

Director: Carol Malonza – carol@expatriate.co.zaManaging Editor:KC Rottok – editor@expatriate.co.za Deputy Editor and Content Advisor: Leah Maina – leah@expatriate.co.za

Publishing Executive: Sheila Lynn Senkubuge

Advertising and Event Enquiries sales@expatriate.co.za or 0822146421

Edition Writers:Keith Kundai, Hannington Kasirye, Yaw Peprah, Andreas Krensel, KC Rottok, Sheila Senkubuge, Carol Malonza

Contributor:Buntu Williams

Art Direction, Design and Layout:Mike Obrienmike@obriendesign.co.za

Photography:Mzu Nhlabati www.creativenation.co.za

Website: Drutech Media (0781121311)

All rights reserved. Excerpts may be used as long as this magazine is credited as the source. Longer versions of our content may only be used with the written permission of the Publisher. Neither the publisher nor the editor accept responsibility for any of the information from edition writers or contributors. Whilst we have taken care in preparing this publication, the publisher/editor does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. The editor retains the right to edit all contributions. Advertisers are responsible for their material.

© Expatriate SA 2011: ISSN 2218 – 757X

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

As verified byAs advertised onAvailable at

Inside Home Affairs

new year has begun and

I hope that it was a good

start for our readers. For

me as a former expatriate,

it is still amazing to see that most

businesses in South Africa shut down

for at least four weeks during the

festive season. This is a period that

falls between the 17th of December

until the second week of January

where everything stops and there is

basically a national slow down.

Although other countries like

France and Italy have a similar

custom in August, it is indeed

difficult to explain this go-slow to

clients from the US, Asia and Europe.

The question I ask myself is whether

this practice is still appropriate

for a country which has in recent

times seen salary increases above

productivity gains. I am confident

that this will be a subject for

debate in South Africa in future.

So, what will 2012 bring from a

Home Affairs perspective?

Well, according to Home Affairs,

we will see a more service orientated,

efficient, friendly, well organized

department which will process all

applications without undue delay

and to the utmost satisfaction of the

public. Of course I cannot predict the

future, but I can assure you this will not

happen; certainly not with the kind

of speed that is being promised here.

What will certainly happen is

a change in legislation. I reported

in our last issue that a number

of modifications to immigration

legislation are on the cards (search

for “Rather apply abroad” on www.

Charity begins at Home Affairs“Another development that we have noted is that the adjudication of permits has become very strict. If one document is not in order, the entire application is quickly refused...”

expatriate.co.za to view that article).

On the date of writing this article,

these changes to the regulations had

yet to be signed off to become law.

We will be sure to keep you posted

on the developments relating to

these proposed adjustments.

Furthermore, according to the

department’s spokesperson, Home

Affairs intends to clear the current

backlog of approximately 46 076

applications in four months. Bearing

in mind that the department

receives approximately ten thousand

applications per month, it is a huge

ask to expect it to deal with the

backlog while attending to the

public’s daily demands.

Although they rarely ever

processed applications within

thirty days, moving Home Affairs

operations from the head office in

Pretoria during the last quarter of

last year aggravated the backlog. It

is good to note that the move was

completed at the end of December

2011. It is also a positive thing

that insiders indicate that no effort

is being spared to complete the

adjudication (finalization) of these

outstanding permit applications with

the view of clearing the backlog as

soon as possible.

Another development that we

have noted is that the adjudication

of permits has become very strict.

If one document is not in order,

the entire application is quickly

rejected. Although this is formally

correct, it would be better if there

would be a possibility to correct

the mistake instead of refusing the

entire application as a first reaction.

However, as they say with any reform

it will get worse before it gets better.

Officials indicated that the engine

must first run smoothly, before they

will allow any flexibility again.

One would hope however that

the people setting these new higher

hurdles are able to perform at those

standards. Charity has to begin at

home so I can only hope that they

will operate within reasonable

response times, are accountable and

responsible. And maybe investors

can even ask for some efficiency and

adherence to deadlines by the South

African government in 2012.

Andreas Krensel is the owner and managing

director of IBN Consulting in Cape Town. He is

a qualified German attorney with an LLM from

UCT and has been assisting foreign investors

in South Africa for the past ten years. www.

ibncapetown.com

CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES 31MAY 2012

WWW.EXPATRIATE.CO.ZA

CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES 31MAY 2012

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WORLD ECONOMIC FORUMA F R I C A ’ S C H A N C E T O R E D E F I N E C A P I T A L I S M

s the world ponders

the future direction

of capitalism, Africans

should polish up and take

advantage.

The world’s wealthy and

powerful elite have never been

humbler. At their annual January

gathering in Davos, several years after

the markets crumbled, they did the

unthinkable – some soul searching.

Is capitalism failing the world? The

World Economic Forum describes

itself as an independent international

organization committed to improving

the state of the world by engaging

business, political, academic and

other leaders of society. Their brand

of 19th century capitalism refined in

the halcyon days of Wall Street and

the Chicago schools of business of

the 1980’s, has been found wanting

in Africa’s new age of hope – the 21st

century.

As evidenced in two recent

surveys, Africa will, over the next ten

years, be the world’s new investment

destination for the world’s leading

fund managers, pension funds, hedge

funds and financial institutions. It

truly staggered me to learn that

less than 1% of their money is

currently invested in Africa and that

they now plan to up their stake to

around 5% by 2015. So while the

world’s erstwhile capitalists undergo

soul searching, how would Africa’s

own capitalism look with all these

prospects of investor appeal?

A friend pointed out that it is

strange that some of the African

countries earmarked for huge

investment inflows have high levels

of instability and growing threat of

terror attacks. I reminded him that

Africa’s political risk has never before

deterred capitalists.

Capitalism is about to

experience yet another flourish. I

have observed with keen interest the

skilful operations of Asian traders

in our midst. While many consider

them just spaza shop owners, they

are in practise a fully networked

distribution chain. Unlike spazas

run by locals, these traders typically

have everything the neighbourhood

needs including

f o o d s t u f f ,

nappies and

cosmetics. To

gain acceptance,

they have set

roots in the same

areas in which

they do business

in whilst

running massive

warehouses in

the outskirts of

the city. Their

o w n e r s h i p

s t r u c t u r e

conforms to a single operational

purpose of getting your goods to

the consumer via a fully networked

chain of spazas across South Africa’s

townships.

It is an enterprising fusion of

marketing and community service.

It is a well-executed strategy, a

no-nonsense approach to profit

making whilst encouraging the

neighbourhood to see you as one of

their own which is the sort of empathy

corporate entities spend billions to

gain in the form of customer loyalty.

The failure of established retail

merchants to adapt to cost-effective

structures appropriate to townships

has been successfully exploited by a

new breed of entrepreneur imported

from Asia.

Another friend in the executive

search industry sent me some

notes revealing South Africa’s dire

lack of skills to take advantage of

potential growth in capital inflows.

South Africa is sitting with an 800

000 deficit in high level skills! It

is about time we started working

together. A cross pollination of ideas,

backgrounds and reverence for our

common humanity will change how

the continent exploits Africa’s new

age of capitalism.

So while the rest of the world

ponders the future direction of

capitalism, Africa will add a little

more colour to it. As they say, there is

always something new out of Africa.

This time, it’s a chance to redefine

capitalism.

- Buntu Williams is a producer at CNBC Africa.

06

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10 EXPATRIATE

ExpaT-TivitieS

More pics available at www.facebook.com/expatmag

FRIENDS OF GOLF CHARITY GOLF DAY 2011

1 – City of Tshwane Manager Jason Ngobeni. 2 – Event MC Charles Karobia. 3 – Title Sponsors Tectura International Architects Director Nyaga Githae. 4 – Golfers getting ready to tee off, from left Nick Wanjau, Peter Mbugua, Charles Mwaura, Nyaga Githae, Davis Motlhako and Humphrey Gathungu. 5 – FOG Treasurer Henry Kihara introducing the Club’s new website. 6 – Editor KC Rottok (left ) congratulates Remo Moyo of Nedbank, winner of a year’s subscription to the magazine. 7 – FOG Chairman David Nderitu. 8 – FOG League Winner Eric Njuguna congratulated by Kenyan Ambassador Tom Amolo. 9 – Dipuo Mvelase from The Vincent Tshabalala Education Trust

Friends of Golf (FOG) is a social club whose objectives include playing golf once a month, improving members golf, engaging in charitable activities and business networking. The Club held a charity golf day in November 2011 in aid of students from Alexandria Township who are supported by the Vincent Tshabalala Education Trust. For more information, visit www.friendsofgolf.co.za and www.vincenttshabalala.org

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ExpaT-TivitieS

EXPATRIATE MAG 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY

0201

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0403

More pics available at www.facebook.com/expatmag 11WWW.EXPATRIATE.CO.ZA

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1 – Homebaze Restaurant owner Mr. Ken Ayere speaking to the press. 2 – Some of the 288 attendees. 3 – Dr. Agnes Ikatekit (middle) with son and nephew at the event. 4 – The 1 year anniversary cake with pictures of all the 5 covers to date. 5 – Event MC Turas Turise showing off the new issue. 6 – Expatriate Publishing Executive Sheila Senkubuge. 7 – From left, Nigerian High Commissioner H.E. Sonni Yusuf, Mrs. Nosi Kekana-Amolo, Kenyan Ambassador Tom Amolo and Expatriate Mag Editor KC Rottok. 8 – Ladies dressed to kill

12 EXPATRIATE

ExpaT-TivitieS

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MALAWI AND FRIENDS DINNER AND DANCE, DECEMBER 2011

1 – Salad Nthenda conducting a raffle in aid of charity. 2 – Malawi and Friends Founder Martha George. 3 – Former Miss Malawi Anne Sibande makes some opening remarks. 4 – Mrs. Tembo cracking a few Malawian jokes. 5 – Event MC Pastor Gift Muthanyi. 6 – MAFSA 2011 Chair Kennedy Kaposa (in striped tie) in the after dinner dance. 7 – Dr. Peter Mwangalawa. 8 – Malawi High Commission Health Attache Dr. Nedson Fosiko

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More pics available at www.facebook.com/expatmag

13WWW.EXPATRIATE.CO.ZA

ExpaT-TivitieS

EXPAT CLUB EVENTS

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04021 – 4 - ZASA hosts Mafrika and Ozzy. 1 – General Ozzy. 2 – Miss Zambia SA and Miss Zambia Independence. 3 – Mafrika. 4 – From left Mumba Mwakwa from Big Brother, ZASA Chair Edwin Mwitumwa and Combs Muchindu. 5 – 6 - May May Productions Red and White African Affair. 5 – Congo’s Don K 6 – Second from left, Mavis Anim the organiser with some of the ladies in attendance 7 – 8 - Hodari Promotions hosts Mike Rua Mugithi Night.

More pics available at www.facebook.com/expatmag

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ExpaT-TivitieS

1 – Kenya Diaspora Association of South Africa Chairman Chomba Chuma. 2 – Kenyan VP (middle) checks out the latest copy of The Expatriate. 3 – Kenyan Assistant Minister Linah Kilimo.

KEDASA hosts Kenyan Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka

RADIANT FUNCTIONSWhere your party dreams come true!

23WWW.EXPATRIATE.CO.ZA

RADIANT FUNCTIONSWhere your party dreams come true!

16 EXPATRIATE

17WWW.EXPATRIATE.CO.ZA

Sir Sam JonahKNIGHTED AFRICAN IGNITING AFRICA

“Jonah became one of the wealthiest individuals in Ghana as he held lucrative international directorships as well as profitable investments. It was for his contributions as an African businessman and philanthropic work, especially in education, that he received an Honorary Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II.”

regrettably kept Sir Jonah waiting

for an hour as I battled the

notorious traffic on Jan Smuts to

get to his Illovo office. Thankfully,

despite the rushed interview, he

recommended his biography “Sam

Jonah and the Remaking of Ashanti”

by AA Taylor as a source of additional

information.

The book is as much about the

Ghanaian mining giant, Ashanti

as it is about Jonah. The Ghanaian

author wrote it when completing a

doctorate thesis on the company’s

economic history and as such it has

plenty of financial statistics whose

potential monotony is frequently

broken by the often-humorous

intrigues of Jonah’s family, political

and corporate experiences. My brief

interview and reading of his book

provided me with the following

three aspects to Sir Jonah’s profile:

his challenges, his successes and his

character.

Challenges

Jonah’s challenges began when

he joined the Ashanti mine as a

shovel-boy at the age of 19. Plunged

into the deep underground with his

A-level education, other illiterate

miners made his life hell. He went

on to pursue a mining diploma in

England and on his return, steadily

rose to the position of CEO of the

entity whose main shareholders

were the Ghanaian government and

the London Rhodesian Mining and

Land Company (Lonrho).

As the first African CEO of a

company in an industry dominated

by white male leadership, Jonah

‘felt the weight of his colour on

his shoulders’. Even his own father

Thomas had previously declared that

the day a black man runs Ashanti

would be the day he (Thomas) would

leave town.

Jonah and his CFO Mark Keatley

made a judgement call that gold

prices would continue to drop and

used hedging instruments as a result.

An unexpected move by European

central bankers changed gold prices

dramatically which thrust Ashanti

into a debilitating financial crisis. The

then Ghanaian president, J.J. Rawlings

(who the book states held a personal

grudge against Jonah), shareholders

and journalists accused Jonah and his

team of mismanagement. Minority

shareholders weakened the Ashanti

board through a case in the Ghanaian

courts and a group of American

shareholders sued Jonah individually

for compensation of financial loss.

Jonah had this to say about the

ordeal: “It was character forming

and called for every experience I had

gone through in my life. The lessons I

learnt are too many to recount.”

Pic by: John Jones

Successes Jonah’s Master’s thesis was

instrumental in the drafting of

Ghana’s Minerals and Mining

Law of 1986. He became the first

African General Manager

of the Obuasi mine and

under his command the

resource produced the

best quarterly results in

five years. He managed

the significant reduction

of the injuries per million

working hours as well as

improving the organisation’s

environmental focus. Jonah

was the first African to sit on

the Lonrho board.

Under his tenure as CEO,

Ashanti became the first

African company outside of

South Africa to list on the

London Stock Exchange.

The company was the first

African operating company

to list on the New York

Stock Exchange which also

allowed them to join the

stock exchange in Toronto,

dubbed the mine finance

capital of the world. The

takeover of Cluff Resources

marked the first time an

African company had taken over a

listed British company.

Jonah steered the company

through an expansion programme

that saw an addition of new

resources in Ghana, Zimbabwe,

Guinea, Australia and Tanzania. As a

result, he was awarded an honorary

doctorate by the Camborne School

of Mines.

The book states that Jonah

became one of the wealthiest

individuals in Ghana as he held

lucrative international directorships

and profitable investments. It goes on

to assert that he managed to silence

friend turned foe President

J.J. Rawlings by financing

opposition candidate John

Kufuor’s successful bid for

the Ghanaian presidency.

With the help

of financial experts, he

managed to steer Ashanti

out of the crisis and the

friendship he had with SA’s

largest mining entity’s CEO

Bobby Godsell set the tone

for discussions leading to

a successful merger that

brought him to Johannesburg

as the Executive President

of the merged entity Anglo

Gold Ashanti.

“Moving here

was a good experience for

me as the country is world

class. My experience in

employing and being an

expatriate is that sometimes

we are judgemental and

fail to understand that we

should show sensitivity to socio-

cultural differences because after all

we are guests and must therefore

show respect to the people whose

hospitality makes it possible for us

to be here.”

I asked him what it is about his

management and leadership style

that has made him so successful.

“I believe in a consensual

management style that encourages

the free flow of ideas because

wisdom does not reside in the head

of one person. I take active interest

in the development of people and

understand that they may make

mistakes. I am very passionate about

what I do and try to instil the same

passion, work ethic and discipline

in the people who work for me. It

is important to get their buy in and

align them to the vision which then

allows you to step back and delegate

as I often do.”

18 EXPATRIATE

19WWW.EXPATRIATE.CO.ZA

Character

Jonah is undoubtedly hard-

working and often descends to the

ground level to get things done. This

is what earned him the respect of

fellow miners as a boy and made him

achieve phenomenal success as a

mine manager. As an African pioneer

in the corporate space, he does not

shy away from challenging the status

quo and can be credited for changing

some of the perceptions of Africans

in management.

The author observes that

“Jonah was determined to build a

‘First’ World company, to dispel the

unspoken belief that coming from

the ‘Third’ World implied that he

would be a third-rate businessman.”

Jonah also seems to understand the

limits of his ability. The book notes

that he twice turned down an offer

of the vice-presidency of Ghana,

a move which also illustrates his

humility.

“Part of the problem of political

leadership in Africa is that everyone

thinks that they can be president,”

he said to me. “I do not believe that

the skill set I possess as a business

leader is necessarily applicable to the

political arena. I have been available

to a number of African heads of state

for consultation but taking up a

political role has never been part of

my calculations.”

His modesty is further

demonstrated by his pushing for the

merger even when it appeared as

though his role would be diminished

as a result thereof.

Loyalty and trust are also

fundamental to his management

style. He defended his CFO Keatley a

number of times when other players

were happy to have him sacrificed as

a scapegoat for Ashanti’s financial

difficulties. Sir Jonah’s ability to stay

strong during this turbulent time,

when others were noted in the book

to have experienced strokes and

hypertension, also shows his physical

and mental strength in times of

adversity.

Jonah also gives back. It was for

his contributions as a businessman

and philanthropic work, particularly

in education, that he received an

Honorary Knighthood from Queen

Elizabeth II.

“That was a humbling experience

and so was receiving The Star of

Ghana which is my country’s highest

award. It imposes a certain obligation

on you to stay on course and

motivates you to bring others along

as others did for you as management

is certainly not a one man show.”

It is in this spirit of bringing

others along that he now chairs

Jonah Capital, the entity he founded

following his retirement from Anglo

Gold Ashanti in 2005 after 37 years

of service. It is based in Johannesburg

with a second office in Ghana

and is geared towards igniting the

economic progress of the African

continent by acting as a viaduct to

increase foreign investment. Jonah

continues to serve on the boards and

advisory councils of many prominent

entities including Standard Bank.

- KC ROTTOK

20 EXPATRIATE

erald Mahinda is a busy

man. It comes with the

territory when you are

charged with managing

over a thousand employees at South

Africa’s second largest brewer –

Brandhouse. I was therefore quite

fortunate to secure a twenty minute

conversation with him on his way to

the Brandhouse sponsored Pitch and

Polish Entrepreneurship competition

at Melrose Arch in

Johannesburg.

Briefly tell us

about your

b a c k g r o u n d

leading up to your

current position.

I completed

a Bachelor of

Commerce degree

at the University

of Nairobi and soon after qualified

as a Certified Public Accountant

in Kenya. After a few years at a

security firm where I worked as a

graduate trainee, I joined a multi-

national insurance company where

I was, for six years, working in the

department responsible for Kenya,

Uganda and Zimbabwe. I later

joined Standard Chartered where I

worked as finance director for five

years. Prior to moving to South

Africa, I was Managing Director (MD)

for East Africa Breweries (EABL), a

beer company operating in Kenya,

Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi

and Southern Sudan.

How did you find the change

from being a financial director to

managing director?

I took a decision early in my

career that my accounting studies

would only be a stepping stone to

specialising in other areas. I believe

my strengths now lie in change

management. The only constant in

business is change. When I was at the

bank, we went through a significant

automation process. During my

stint in insurance, we had to amend

the way we do things in a bid to

become the leading underwriter in

our region. At EABL, we transformed

the company from a government

owned entity with no marketing

function to a profitable brand driven

business. We moved from having 24

sales representatives to having 160

overnight. I believe that if you are not

mindful of change, somebody else

will overtake you. At Brandhouse,

over 60% of our employees are

under the age of 35 and they are

engrossed in new technologies such

as social media. I cannot handle them

the same way I handle the older

executives and we must therefore

structure the organisation in a way

that accommodates all age groups.

Having been an expatriate in many

parts of the continent, what is

your view of

its economic

prospects?

I actually do not

like the term

‘expatriate’. It has

this connotation

of a person who

doesn’t change; a

person who comes

from a different

country to impose

how things are done there in a new

environment. When I went to Nigeria

for a year, I did not go there just to

share the skills I possessed but also

to learn. It was a two way process as

I widened my knowledge of business

in West Africa. 20% of Africa’s

population is sitting in Nigeria and

it is said that Nigerians are some of

the happiest people on earth. The

country is also the seventh largest

oil producer and as governance

improves, wealth is going to filter to

all of its people.

In East Africa, where I began my

career, oil reserves are being

21WWW.EXPATRIATE.CO.ZA

GERALD MAHINDAB r a n d h o u s e S o u t h A f r i c a M a n a g i n g D i r e c t o r

“We have invested over 400 million euros in SA which is the ninth

largest beer consuming country in the world.”

uncovered in most countries in the

region. The total population rivals

that of the United States of America

and I believe the wealth is in the

numbers as they indicate the size

of your consumer base. In ten years’

time, North Africa is likely to be

democratic. In Southern Africa, if you

look at what is happening in places

like Zambia, Angola, Mozambique

and South Africa, you cannot

help but be optimistic about the

continent. I think the fears that some

investors have regarding the African

continent like political tensions, poor

infrastructure, lack of electricity and

corruption are just excuses. In a span

of ten years with these challenges,

we shifted EABL from a market

capitalisation of $180 million to $2.5

billion and increased profit by ten

times.

How did you end up at Brandhouse

and how has the experience of

managing the company and moving

to South Africa been?

Diageo is the largest premium

drinks company in the world and

also a 50% shareholder of EABL.

The company also has a 52% stake

in Guinness Nigeria and is a major

shareholder of Brandhouse in South

Africa. When the opportunity came

to move within the group, I wanted

to stay in Africa because I believe

that the future of business is on this

continent. SA is the ninth largest beer

consuming country in the world and

as such it is a significant prospect.

My team and I have overseen

growth in employee numbers from

200 to over a thousand. We have

invested about 410 million Euros in

establishing an operational brewery

in Johannesburg. Brandhouse boasts

a fine team of executives as well

as a good organisational structure.

My family has also settled in quite

well in Cape Town and as such I will

probably be here for the foreseeable

future. - KEITH KUNDAI

“I think the fears that some investors have regarding the African continent like political tensions, poor infrastructure, lack of electricity and corruption

are just excuses.....”

South Africa office - Pamoja Capital (Pty) Limited, The Forum Building, Maude Street,Sandton, Johannesburg

Tel: +27 11 234 7641 Fax: +27 11 234 7643E-mail: info@pamojacapital.co.za

Kenya office - Pamoja Capital Limited, Executive Business Suites, 3rd floor, K-REP Centre Wood Avenue, Kilimani, Nairobi

Tel: +254 20 238 6842/3 or +254 71 102 9100 Fax: +254 20 801 14502E-mail: info@pamojacapital.co.ke

wireless connectivity, fax, scan and print

With an on-site restaurant, 24-hour front desk service and airport shuttle services, One World

Hotel offers warmth, convenience and tranquility…more than just ‘a place to lay a weary

head’. Located in Kempton Park just 3kms away from OR Tambo International Airport and

2kms away from the Rhodesfield Gautrain Station, One World boasts modern, tastefully

furnished rooms with: private bathrooms, air-conditioning, flat screen TV’s, reading desks and

sofa’s, safes, mini-bars, high speed WiFi access, as well as tea and coffee making facilities.

One World Hospital ity Group. 26A Albatross Street Kempton Park, Johannesburg. Telephone: +27 11 394 2300, Cellphone: +27 82 836 7680. For rates information or bookings, contact: Coryn Kamatu or Godfrey Kamatu on kamatu@oneworldtours.co.za/reservations@oneworldhospital itygroup.com

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KELE

LE 0

06

• Staff Strategic Retreats and Teambuilding • Conferencing facilities• Honeymoon packages and Adventure tours

SERVICES:• Accommodation• Air-ticketing• Packaged Tours and Safari’s

elow are the responses from

our recent interview with

Sankofa Insurance Brokers

director and co-owner

William Kwaku Ayim-Yeboah.

Tell us about yourself and your

career leading up to this point.

I was born in Ghana in 1966 and

left the country at the age of two. Our

family moved to Zambia where I did

my early schooling and, in 1983, we

relocated to Umtata which is where

I wrote my insurance examinations.

I worked for Transkei Insurance

Brokers before moving to Cape Town

as a regional director for Thebe Risk

Services. I was later head-hunted

by Glenrand MIB in Johannesburg

where I was responsible for sales and

marketing nationally and in the rest

of Africa until 2009 when I left to start

Sankofa. I have several professional

qualifications including membership

of the Institute of Directors and the

Institute of Risk Managers of SA.

What does Sankofa mean and

what relevance does the name have

to an insurance brokerage firm?

Sankofa is a concept that comes

from the Akan people of Ghana. It

teaches us to reach back and gather

the best of what our past has to teach

us and apply it to the present so as to

have a better future. It is our business

philosophy as our team brings to the

firm a wealth of experience acquired

over several years to not only provide

an informed service, but also utilise

the relationships that we have

developed over the years to run our

own business. We have an extensive

range of industry experience having

also been exposed to specialised

insurance products such as crop

and aviation insurance. It is also

consistent with insurance as one

applies the knowledge of the losses

one has seen others experience in

the past to take out insurance in the

present so as to safeguard assets

from losses in the future.

What services does Sankofa

offer and what are the benefits of

choosing them?

We provide short term insurance

cover for individuals, small businesses,

large corporate enterprises and

the public sector with a client list

that includes the National Home

Builder Registration Council, the

Polokwane Airport, African Romance

and a number of companies and

municipalities. My fellow director

and shareholder Gugu Mkhize has a

finance background and handles the

bulk of the company’s compliance

issues as well as assisting with the

personal lines cover department.

We have two other consummate

insurance professionals in Mike

Gumenge and Elizabeth Mandizadza.

Direct insurers would rather deal

with clients directly; they create

the perception that this is cheaper

for you when in fact this is cheaper

for them. They do not take the

time to understand your profile and

individual needs but instead focus

on selling you one standard product.

All you base your decision on is

price which frequently is not the

best indicator of a good deal. When

things go wrong, they have deep

pockets for legal teams to deal with

you as a lonely voice. On the other

hand, given our relationships with

numerous underwriters, not only

may certain disputes not necessarily

end up in litigation, we can also seek

a competitive quote.

As Sankofa is fairly small, we

are able to provide a personalised

service to our clients by tailoring

the cover specifically for their assets

and liabilities. Our clients are our

partners and in the event of a claim,

we take on the burden to minimise

the discomfort that our partner is

already experiencing. The client ends

up retaining us and as a result we get

continuous referrals. We also have a

lower cost structure than the larger

broking firms meaning that we can

offer lower premiums to our clients

from the same insurance companies

that these firms deal with.

What are the challenges you

face as an insurance broker?

Despite being a very sensible

product, insurance is viewed as a

grudge purchase. Moreover, many

people do not understand the role

that we play and confuse us with

insurance agents who act on behalf

of the insurance company. If an

agent makes a mistake, it is only

the insurance company that you

can sue. We however act on behalf

of the client and therefore require

professional indemnity cover as we

could face a lawsuit in the event of a

dispute.

Another challenge is getting

people to trust a small insurance

broking entity. They should in fact

not be concerned seeing as we co-

operate with other brokerage firms

SANKOFA’SWILLIAM YEBOAHEXPERIENCE THAT INSURES YOUR TOMORROW

26 EXPATRIATE

to compete with the best out there.

Our offering rivals any of the big

name service providers in the indutry

today.

What is the state of the insurance

industry today?

We provide short term

The industry is transforming very

slowly; there are still very few 100%

black owned insurance brokerages.

Most insurance companies are

going the call centre route where you

deal with multiple people depending

on the matter in question. That is

one benefit that we bring to the table

as we eliminate that hassle from our

clients from the time we originate

the claim through to our provision of

advice and attending to claims.

The big insurance broking firms

are also consolidating and putting a

lot of skilled individuals out of work

and it is small businesses like ours

that are actually employing some

of these professionals and helping

in the national objective of easing

unemployment.

What are the future plans for the

company?

Given our strategic location in

SA, we plan to expand our footprint

from here through partnerships with

similar entities across the continent

to become a fully-fledged African

firm. Internationally, we already have

business partners in Arthur Gallagher

as well as access to Lloyds of London.

- KEITH KUNDAI

011 025 6566www.sankofaib.co.za

“Direct insurers would rather deal with clients directly; they create the perception that this is cheaper for you when in fact this is cheaper for them.....”

COLLEEN LOWE MORNA T H E P H O E N I X O F G E N D E R L I N K S

ounding CEO of the South

African Commission for

Gender Equality (CGE)

Colleen Lowe Morna did not

have much of a childhood. Born on a

mission in Zimbabwe (then Southern

Rhodesia) to self-exiled South

African parents, she was caught in

the vicious war that surrounded

Zimbabwe’s independence struggle

in 1975. Soon after neighbouring

Mozambique became independent,

half the students at Chikore Mission

Secondary School where Colleen

and her siblings were the only white

students left to join the Zimbabwe

National Liberation Army. The school

became the target of the Rhodesian

security force venom

with the Lowes

becoming the subject

of much suspicion.

“It was a

harrowing period,”

she recalls. “We

lived under curfew with bombs and

landmines going off regularly. It was

quite common for dead bodies to be

ferried onto the school grounds.”

Just before Colleen finished

high school, the white minority

government shut the school and

stripped Colleen’s parents of their

citizenship. The family moved to

Botswana where she completed high

school and they only returned to

Chimanemani, Zimbabwe soon after

independence in 1981.

Colleen got a scholarship to the

well-known Waterford Kamhlamba

School in Swaziland where she

was classmates with the likes of

Zinzi Mandela. Continued excellent

academic results earned her another

scholarship, this time to the Ivy

League Princeton University in

the United States where she met

husband Kofi Morna in very odd

circumstances.

“He was the president of the

African Students Association and

spearheaded the Association’s

protest of my scholarship. They did

not understand how a scholarship

meant for an African could be given

to a white person. As fate would

have it, Kofi and I both worked in

the kitchen and we inevitably began

talking. He was very surprised that

I knew a lot about the continent

including his native Ghana. Shortly

thereafter, I received a call from the

Association saying they had deemed

me worthy of membership. ‘Thanks,

I’m so flattered’, I said!”

Kofi and Colleen got married in

1983 in Zimbabwe and both of their

daughters were born there. She took

a position at the Commonwealth

Secretariat as a senior researcher and

was sent to SA in 1991 in anticipation

of the country’s first democratic

election. She became a South African

citizen by descent in 1994.

“Citizenship is what is in your

heart. I was born in Zim, exiled in

Botswana, studied in Swaziland,

graduated in the US, worked in the

UK and settled in SA. This year I

celebrated the thirtieth anniversary

of my first visit to my husband’s

country Ghana. I feel at home in any

African country and I am indeed a

citizen of the globe.”

With the birth of SA’s new

constitution came a number of

institutions established by the

document’s ninth chapter. Amongst

this was the CGE headed by Colleen

who was required to work with a

number of full time commissioners,

an arrangement that did not work

out well.

“The CGE, like the rest of

the Chapter 9

institutions, was not

well structured. As

the commissioners

were retained on

a full time basis,

they frequently

crossed paths with

the administrators and as head of

administration I was frequently

drawn into these conflicts.”

The unpleasant relationship

culminated in Colleen parting ways

with the CGE and subsequently

taking the Commission to court

for unfair labour practices. She

was victorious and used part of the

compensation she received to start

a non-profit organisation known as

Gender Links which today addresses

gender issues across Southern Africa.

“Our first staff member Zohra

Khan described Gender Links as the

phoenix bird that would rise from

the ashes that were my CGE ordeal.

We gave the organisation that name

as we believed that there are various

“Citizenship is what is in your heart. I was born in Zim, exiled in Botswana, studied in Swaziland, graduated in the US, worked in the UK and settled in SA..”

27WWW.EXPATRIATE.CO.ZA

22 EXPATRIATE

ExpaT-TainerS

bits of energy working together to

address gender concerns and our

purpose would be to link them. We

envision a Southern Africa in which

women and men are free to realise

their full potential in both their

private and public lives.”

Colleen has strong social roots

in issues of justice having been

raised by parents who had managed

to liberate themselves from a racial

South Africa despite being ostracised

by their families. She notes that the

issue of gender inequality has always

been placed on the back burner of

the social agenda and celebrates the

organisation’s ten years of redressing

this.

“Our major footprint has been

the campaign for the adoption of

the SADC Protocol on Gender and

Development. Since 2005, about 40

organisations campaigned for this

protocol which has 28 points to be

achieved by 2015. We produce an

annual barometer measuring the

progress of the protocol.”

Attending to this protocol is one

of about 16 Gender Links projects.

The organisation has offices in

ten Southern African offices with

numerous interns and 26 members

of staff. In addition, the entity

recently set up a 20-room guest

house in Observatory Johannesburg

that employs a further 10 people.

She concludes by telling us more

about the guest house.

“The GL Cottages is part of our

strategy to diversify. Most of our

funding comes from donors but we

would also like to generate some of

our own income as this will better

enable us to further our vision. GL

Cottages is also ideal for cost saving

as we were spending a lot of money

each year on conference facilities.

Guests to the Cottages enjoy the

warm hospitality of the wonderful

staff, and they can leave knowing

that their patronage is an investment

in social justice.”

- KC Rottok

araka Bora in Swahili means

more or better blessings. This

is the name conferred upon

the accounting and financial

services company in Houghton

founded by Harold Olukune.

“I thought it had a nice ring

to it,” Olukune recalled when we

met recently to discuss his road to

entrepreneurship.

“The name also captures three

important elements. My Kenyan

roots, my Christian upbringing and

finally the fact that we perceive

ourselves as adding value to clients

enabling them to do ‘more’. They can

focus on their core competencies

while we take over their financial

services function. Our vision is to

be the trusted accounting, financial

management and high level tax

service provider and advisor for the

entrepreneur. We are not your typical

accountants who love to operate in

a controlled environment; we thrive

even where there are minimum

controls to provide comprehensive

financial reporting while assisting in

improving processes.”

Olukune arrived in South Africa

soon after completing O level studies

in Kenya. He earned a matriculation

exemption after a year at Capital

College in Pretoria and joined Rhodes

University to pursue a Bachelor of

Commerce degree.

“Rhodes was a wonderful

experience. I was president of the

Weights and Aerobics Club and was

also one of the founders of the East

African society. There were a lot of

foreign students like myself who

“One entrepreneur I met

through a friend was Modise Motloba

of Quartile Capital. He needed

assistance within the accounting

processes of one of his companies.

I did this on a part time basis and

impressed by my work, he requested

me to provide additional services to

the Quartile Group.”

On the back of this assignment,

Olukune managed to leave EY in 2009

to focus on Baraka Bora on a full time

basis with fellow EY alumnus Thabiso

Madiba joining him as partner in the

assurance services division of the

new company. He credits wife Grace,

an engineer at Eskom, for supporting

him in his move away from a regular

salary to self-employment. From just

two people in the business, Baraka

Bora has now grown to a team of 13.

“I have a great team that provides

a variety of services to small

and medium sized enterprises

including book-keeping, financial

management, tax, financial and

process strategy, corporate finance

and internal and external audit. We

also do valuations, due diligences and

assist with corporate restructuring.”

The company has a flat structure as

opposed to a hierarchy which allows

for open communication. Olukune

said that he manages his team with

an open door policy and thrives in

delegation. He believes that being

an expatriate has its challenges such

as battling with conversations in the

corporate environment conducted in

local languages as well as occasional

xenophobic tendencies. He however

also views being a foreigner as a

positive thing.

provided good company and some

became close friends.”

One of the close friends Olukune

made at Rhodes is Samuel Mokorosi

from Lesotho. He was the best man

at Olukune’s wedding and is now a

director of one of the Baraka Bora

Companies. Samuel and Olukune

lived together in Johannesburg when

the latter got a job at Ernst and Young

(EY) in 2003.

“EY recruited me while I was

still at Rhodes and I decided to

pursue my Honours degree part

time while pursuing a training

contract with them. I was placed in

the Financial Services division of the

Audit department which I loved as

I wanted to join the Treasury team

and things like financial derivatives

fascinated me. I was stationed at

ABSA and my knowledge of financial

instruments grew to the point that I

was called upon to provide training

to younger trainees in this area and

was frequently called into treasury

product debates at the firm.”

On completion of his articles,

Olukune was retained at EY as an

assistant manager. He struggled with

the first part of the South African

Institute of Chartered Accountants

(SAICA) board examinations

which he is still pursuing through a

Chartered Institute of Management

Accounting (CIMA) qualification. This,

together with seeking SA permanent

residency status, was one of the

primary reasons why he stayed on at

the firm. He was also interacting with

a lot of entrepreneurs and decided

that he would only leave EY when he

was ready to become one himself.

Harold Olukune Accounting Your Blessings Through Baraka Bora

30 EXPATRIATE

“We are not your typical accountants who love to operate in a controlled environment; we thrive even where there are minimum controls to provide comprehensive financial reporting while assisting in improving processes.”

31WWW.EXPATRIATE.CO.ZA

“The fact that you come from a

different culture enables you to see

things from a different perspective. In

addition, being an expatriate pushes

you to go the extra mile as you

are mindful of your status and can

therefore not take the opportunities

you have been presented with for

granted.”

Olukune is also a pastor at His

People Church, Johannesburg. He

believes in the will of God and that

the destiny of Baraka Bora is to

become a global organisation that

will cover much more than what the

entity currently offers. The company

has also been registered in Kenya

and hopes to commence operations

there in the near future.

“I have this vision of myself

standing in New York surrounded by

friends and colleagues cutting a red

ribbon to mark the opening of our

offices there. I am inspired by the

likes of Brian Joffe of Bidvest who

turned a personal project into an 80

billion Rand empire through smart

investments and diversification.”

- Keith Kundai

32 EXPATRIATE

“A Russian pilot descended and walked gingerly aside to puff a cigarette and take a couple of sips out of a bottle he had tucked into his back pocket. A few minutes later, we sat on wooden benches as he powered down the stony runway and commandeered the old machine into the sky.”

CONQUERING THE CONGO

34 EXPATRIATE

ExpaT-TraveL

CONQUERING THE CONGO

35WWW.EXPATRIATE.CO.ZA

ExpaT-TraveL

Shutterstock.com

bout a third of the way

from Nairobi to Kinshasa,

the pilot comes on the

public address system

interrupting the soothing music that

I was listening to.

“Dear passengers,” he begins

with a concerning tone, “We have

noted that the cabin pressure

appears slightly abnormal and we

will therefore have to return to

Nairobi to change aircrafts before

resuming our journey. This is just for

safety reasons; you

should have no cause

for alarm.”

On returning to

Kenyan airspace, his

now familiar voice

returns.

“Ladies and gentlemen,

unfortunately the aircraft is full of

fuel. It is difficult to land the aircraft

when it is this heavy and we therefore

have to fly around the Ngong Hills in

a circular motion to combust some

fuel before landing. We apologise for

any inconvenience caused.”

I shut my eyes to avoid feeling dizzy

as the plane does several laps around

the hills I once climbed as a boy.

Twenty minutes later we touch down

at our original point of departure.

There are several confused looks

from the Congolese passengers who

do not have an adequate command

of the English language to have

grasped the pilot’s commentary.

Those who do, explain the situation

to their fellow countrymen who have

a late introduction to the unfolding

drama.

Bottles of mineral water are

passed around as we board a different

aircraft which proceeds uninterrupted

to Ndjili Airport Kinshasa. The

diamond mining company that has

retained the services of my employer

have sent someone (and a few ten

dollar bills) to escort me out of the

airport.

Our journey to the city

encounters a small glitch when our

green Landover is stopped by some

hungry looking policeman. The driver

explains something to the officer

in Lingala before pointing at me.

The officer salutes respectfully and

sends us on our way. We had barely

accelerated when I was stunned by

some profound roar of laughter. I

later found out that the driver had

claimed that I was a senior member

of the presidential army.

T h e

following day was

a Sunday and to

pass time, the local

staff took me to a

sanctuary by the

Congolese river for

a rare species of

monkey known as

the Bonobo. It was an interesting

experience, the highlight of it was

when I met these group of women

who had been retained by the Park

to take care of young abandoned

monkeys, each of them acting as the

‘mother’ of two or three of these

creatures.

M o n d a y

a r r i v e d

ExpaT-TraveL

“The pilot stunned us by saying: It is difficult to land the aircraft when it is this heavy and we therefore have to fly around these hills in a circular motion to combust some fuel before landing....”

37

and I was back at Ndjili Airport, this

time to catch a flight to Tshikapa.

No pre-booking required, we simply

reported to a kiosk at the corner of

the airport where dollars changed

hands and we were given receipts

which allowed us through the gate

and onto the runway. The aircraft

belonging to a local airline company

stood in wait in the hot sun and

we were directed to walk into in

through a ramp at the rear of it. The

accountant I was travelling with

explained that it probably was a

cargo plane that had been converted

into a passenger

carrier.

A banana and a

coke later, we arrived

at Tshikapa where

we had to wait a

further three hours

for our next flight to

the diamond mine in

Nsumbula. As we waited, the elderly

accountant expressed his joy at

finally travelling to the mine which is

not too far from his home. He would

finally get to see his mother after

thirty years. The lack of a national

road network in the Democratic

Republic of Congo meant that flights

were the only means to access rural

areas and for three decades the man

had not had adequate finances to

as the birds flew left and right over

the blue brown river.

We eventually land and before I

had time to thank the Lord, we hop

onto an old Landover and struggled

through all kinds of mud to get to

the mine. Darkness descended as

we drove through the gates where

we were met by a tasty meat filled

dinner, a cold shower and a warm

bed.

I had conquered the heart of

the Congo, and this was just the

beginning.

- KC Rottok

pay for a flight home.

Suddenly there was commotion.

All eyes gazed into the sky as the sun

was eclipsed by a cloud of smoke

signalling the arrival of our small

aircraft. A Russian pilot descended

and walked gingerly aside to puff a

cigarette and take a couple of sips

out of a bottle he had tucked into

his back pocket. This as they loaded

barrels of fuel onto the plane and

my companion paid for our onward

journey.

There were only three of us on

a small wooden bench watching

the pilot’s colleague standing close

to the barrels of oil as the Russian

powered down the stony runway

and commandeered the old machine

into the sky. As we flew very low, I

trained my eyes onto the green

canopy beneath me - the beauty of

Africa unconfined

ExpaT-TraveL

“The lack of a national road network in the Democratic Republic of Congo meant that flights were the only means to access the rural area and for 30 years, the man had not had adequate finances to pay for his flight home....”

Briefly tell us about your background

leading up to your current position?

I studied in the USA and hold a

Masters of Business Administration

(MBA) in Economics and a second in

International Finance. I subsequently

worked for Citi Bank in New York

for 12 years and thereafter joined

the World Bank as a consultant for

five years. I then served the UN

Development Programme for 15

years which included moving to SA

in 1995 to open the UNDP offices

here. In 2001, I was appointed DRC’s

ambassador to SA.

What have been the highlights

of your career so far?

When I was at Citi Bank, there

were only four Africans who were

serving in the banking industry at

the level of ‘Vice President’. In that

position, I met quite a number of

world leaders, some of whom wanted

me to be their personal banker. I also

created a special programme at the

bank to train young black South

Africans in anticipation of a free

South Africa. One of the trainees,

Gabi Magamola who now heads

African Bank has written a book in

which I am mentioned.

At the UN, one of my highlights

was meeting Nelson Mandela soon

after his release from prison in 1990.

My senior at the time Ellen Johnson

Sirleaf (now Liberian President) and I

were charged with the responsibility

of speaking to him about whether or

not sanctions against SA should be

lifted. I still remember his response:

“Just because I am free does not

mean SA is free.”

As ambassador, it was a momentous

occasion when my president asked

me to assist in setting up the Inter

Congolese dialogue at Sun City. It is

because of that process that DRC has

peace today.

Finally, I was selected by Prince

Charles to serve on his advisory

board for the conservation of the

world’s forests.

I am ambassador in the country

that has the biggest number of

Congolese in the diaspora anywhere

in the world. We have a large number

of students as well as a varied number

of professionals including geologists,

lecturers and business people. There

are about 500 Congolese doctors

in SA. We also have a number

of economic refugees in the

country. That said, my biggest

challenge is the bridge

between DRC and SA. It

is like a highway with four

lanes heading to DRC and only

one coming back this way. The

challenge is to address this trade

imbalance.

What does being the Dean of the

Diplomatic Corps entail?

The position of dean is

accorded to the longest

serving ambassador in the

country. My responsibility

is to express the common

views of the diplomatic

38 EXPATRIATE

BEN M’POKOD R C A M B A S S A D O R T O S A A N D D E A N O F D I P L O M AT I C C O R P S

“We recently signed an agreement with SA to develop the biggest

hydro-electric dam in the world producing

enough electricity for the continent’s needs.”

Know Your Envoy

39WWW.EXPATRIATE.CO.ZA

Know Your Envoy

community here to the South

African government and vice versa.

It is a challenge because Pretoria

has the second largest diplomatic

community after Washington DC.

It presents a challenge for the dean

but it is also a great opportunity for

each individual ambassador as you

get an opportunity to interact with

people from countries you may not

know much about. The size of the

community also means you can

influence government decisions.

For instance, SA has about 140

envoys while there are only about

60 diplomats in Kinshasa. This

means I can get to interact with a

representative of a certain country

here that is not represented in the

DRC and by sending information

back home, influence my country’s

interaction with that nation.

What investment opportunities are

there in the DRC?

The DRC held its second

democratic election late last year.

Voter registration was high and a

commendable 58% of registered

voters turned out to vote. There

were some challenges particularly

with logistics as it is a very large

country. In addition, there was

not as much support from the

international community as there

was during the first democratic vote

in 2006. The country is now calm

and presents significant investment

opportunities. We have almost

every mineral known to man; in fact

today’s technology has not yet found

uses for some of the minerals in the

country. We have about 80 million

hectares of dormant arable land

that is suitable for agriculture. We

recently signed an agreement with

SA to develop the biggest hydro-

electric dam in the world producing

enough electricity for the continent’s

needs. There are also significant

opportunities in infrastructure and

telecommunication.

What do you do in your spare time?

I enjoy playing tennis, jogging

and fishing. I also spend time

gardening - every vegetable that I

eat in my residence was grown in my

backyard.

- Carol MalonzaExpats Advert2PATHS 11/30/11 2:50 PM Page 1

Composite

C M Y CM MY CY CMY K

Know Your Envoy

Expats Advert2PATHS 11/30/11 2:50 PM Page 1

Composite

C M Y CM MY CY CMY K

LISTEN LIVE ONLINE AT www.planetradio.co.zaContact us at radio@planetimage.co.za or 011 326 4300

Planet Radio reflects the life of lovers of music from across Africa and the world.

Wale Akinlabi From Houseboy to Household Name

“When a hardworking talented Nigerian comes to a place like SA where systems work, he can do very well as long as he adapts his thinking. I am a living example of that....”

s I sit in the lobby of

Planet Image’s offices

in Randburg, I take in

my surroundings while

waiting for the founder of the

company Wale Akinlabi to arrive.

There’s a receptionist on the phone,

a first room that serves as the editing

bay, a second closed door leading to

the unknown, a third door housing

the marketing department, a fourth

that leads to the radio recording

studio and a final door that opens

into the Good Morning Africa

recording area where a few West

Africans are playing a video game.

Wale arrives and leads me into his

office where he asks a couple of

staffers who are watching DSTV

there to excuse us.

“As you can see, this is a very

relaxed environment.” he begins. “I

believe that the office should not

be the type of place where people

spend their time looking at the clock

waiting for five o’clock to arrive.

They understand that as long as they

deliver, they can enjoy themselves as

much as they want.”

Wale’s unusual management

style includes a compulsory prayer

meeting for staff on Thursday’s and

video shooting the Sunday service

at Randburg’s Redeemed Christian

Church of God which his company

does for no fee.

“It is only because of my strong

spiritual walk with God that I have

come this far,” he says.

Wale’s long journey to success

began when he moved to Lagos after

secondary school. His family could

“I realised that I was being

underpaid and requested a pay rise

from my employers. I was earning

about R300 a month and when they

declined to increase it, I decided to

resign. I was fortunate to get a big

crusade shooting assignment whose

proceeds I used to start Planet Image

Nigeria.”

Using the contacts Wale had in

advertising, Planet Image got several

assignments to produce promos

in Nigeria. Everything was going

swimmingly until an intimate friend

forged his signature and he was

stripped of all his possessions.

“Having lost everything, I decided

to move to SA. I had previously met

Gerd Muller and Mario Nicollet at a

film festival and they allowed me to

work for their production company in

Johannesburg for no pay. I used the

experience to understand the South

African market and realised that

in this country, it is difficult to get

assignments without a proven local

track record.”

It was then that Wale decided on

a new strategy. He would come up

with ideas, shoot a few episodes and

sell the programme to an interested

network. He returned to Nigeria in

2004 and pitched the show Star Zone

featuring Nollywood entertainers to

the newly launched Africa Magic. The

show was approved and with the

proceeds he purchased equipment

which he used to produce Star Zone

South Africa and Star Zone Ghana.

“With the profit I made with

each show, I reinvested in equipment

and increased the number of

not afford university fees and as a

result he got employed by his aunt as

a houseboy doing such menial tasks

as cooking, cleaning and feeding the

dogs. He was later introduced to the

owner of an audio-visual shop where

he got a job as a trainee.

“Each trainee had a cardboard

box in which he would put his clothes

and store away. Then at night when

the kiosk closed, we would open up

the box and lay it on the shop floor

as a bed. It was not easy but I learnt

a lot about shooting events and

editing. I also managed to enrol for a

part time degree in performing arts.”

Wale worked for two years at

the shop and thereafter was

employed by a couple of other

small industry players while doing

freelance assignments like shooting

crusades. He then applied to the top

professional outfit in Nigeria and

was selected as a digital editor out

of a field of 50 applicants.

“That is where I learnt animation

and how to use a professional camera.

My editing skills improved and as

the company had relationships with

advertising agencies, I did a lot of

work for very big brands like Coca-

Cola and Unilever. I excelled to the

point where about 90 percent of the

commercials shown on a leading TV

station on any particular day would

have been shot by me,” he recalls.

Then a regional director at a leading

beverage company, Mike North

asked Wale to assist him in the

production of a documentary. The

piece won a TV journalism award

and North was promoted as a result.

He gave Wale an editing system as a

show of appreciation.

43WWW.EXPATRIATE.CO.ZA

programmes I had on the channel.

In 2008, I registered Planet Image SA

and we had a variety of programmes

including Chillers, Teenage Rampage,

Africa Weekly and an animation

production for kids called Growing

Time.”

By 2009, the company had

almost 11 programmes on DSTV

with Wale Akinlabi now a household

name as producer. In 2010, Africa

Magic commissioned Good Morning

Africa which prompted Wale to

invest in the studios from which the

company presently operates. In 2011,

he started an internet radio station

streaming from www.planetradio.

co.za .

“I am inspired by the founders

of Multichoice who began their

platform in a caravan. I hope to

continue working with the company

and dream of having my own TV

channel.”

Wale, who recently turned 39,

lives in Blairgowrie Johannesburg.

Although he does a lot of work in

Nigeria, he believes that SA is the

right base for his company.

“Nigeria has a lot of talented

hardworking people but the

environment is not very conducive.

When a Nigerian comes to a place

like SA where systems work and

business is orderly, he can do very

well as long as he adapts his thinking

to the local way of doing things. I am

a living example of that.”

Planet Image employs 17 people

from about ten nationalities and

Wale attributes the success of the

company to their passion and hard

work. He is married to Caroline who

runs a salon in the Johannesburg CBD

and together they have a three year

old son named Abiola.

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or me, the year 2011 was

all about an emotional and

spiritual pilgrimage. The

intention was to find my

purpose in life in the course of that

year meaning that 2012 would begin

with me being a wiser and more

informed member of society. In the

true spirit of the movie “eat, pray,

love” and against all advice from

a number of individuals, I resigned

from my job and took a hiatus from

my postgraduate studies. I lay on my

bed and stared at the walls.

With all the free time I had

afforded myself I had a great deal

of time for leisure including nights

outs, frequent beauty treatments

and reading mostly spiritual novels.

As the year drew to a rapid end, I

realised that spending an entire year

relaxing had not actually brought

me any spiritual enlightenment. I

had eaten and gained a great deal

of weight which I strangely enjoyed,

I loved which is the most important

thing in life and I prayed a great deal.

But I still did not find the meaning of

life.

I realised that life is a constant

journey and where we are unlikely to

find out its meaning. It is likely that

our purpose in this life is to live it to

the fullest. Love deeply, laugh freely

and devour each day you are given. It

is a broad profound experience and to

limit its meaning to a single isolated

Eating, praying and lovingdefinition is cheating oneself of an

enormous experience. A beautiful

quote sums up my year: “We spend

our lives waiting for the ideal path

to appear in front of us, but what

we forget is that paths are made by

walking, not by waiting.”

Travelling was the only thing left

to complete my year and what

better place than my home country

Uganda which I had not visited

since I was five. After being born in

South Africa and living my entire

childhood and young adult life here,

the experience of home was intense.

It was great to be welcomed at

the airport by your people and to

walk in the streets hearing your

home language being spoken widely.

Nothing compares to being around

people with the same mannerisms as

you and even though the roads were

bumpy, the knowledge that they

were travelled by my forefathers was

enough to bring my life full circle.

The most enjoyable part of my

trip was that I didn’t have to spell

my surname even once! And not

once was I asked “you look different,

which country do you come from?”

It gave me a sense of belonging that

I never even knew I lacked. When I

now speak about my heritage, I can

speak confidently, because I have

experienced the sights, sounds and

smells of my country.

I can look back on 2011 as the

best year ever and now it is time

to join the race again and be a

functional part of the wheel that

keeps the world turning. This past

year equipped me to make the new

one even better! Sheila Lynn Senkubuge

“We spend our lives waiting

for the ideal path to appear

in front of us, but what

we forget is that paths are

made by walking, not by

waiting....”

ExpaT-TalK

“I am based in South Africa purely for operational reasons but my work is largely within the entire continent and takes me to areas like East Africa which I feel I have a deep connection with.”

46 EXPATRIATE

LEE KASUMBA – From ‘Y’ to ‘O’

eslie ‘Lee’ Kasumba was

appointed manager of the TV

music portal Channel O Africa

in April 2011. The Ugandan-

born inspiration holds a BA in

Dramatic Arts from Wits University

and was previously a DJ at the youth

station 99.2 Y FM as well as editor

of Y Mag. We caught up with her

before the December break for this

interview at the MultiChoice offices

in Randburg, South Africa.

What is your typical day at Channel

O like?

I really do not have a typical

day. For instance, when I joined the

channel I was asked at short notice to

pack and go to Nigeria and ended up

spending a week there. This is a new

position that was created to manage

Channel O in the East and West Africa

regions. It was a natural fit for me as

I have a passion for the continent and

given my background and the work

that I have done so far in my career,

I feel that I understand the music of

the continent well enough to fulfil

that role. Channel O Africa falls

directly under MNet Africa which is

managed by Biola Alabi and we get

involved wherever there is a music

element. A good example is assisting

with artist selection for Big Brother

eviction shows. Except for say, our

Monday management meetings, my

work is largely dependent on what

is going on at a particular time. For

example we could be doing a piece

on the Tanzanian Independence

Day and I would be responsible for

co-ordinating this with our Dar es

salaam MultiChoice office and local

video jockey (VJ) to get the material

ready to air.

What have been the challenges and

successes for you since you joined

the channel?

The search for VJ’s from each

country was very exciting. The

experience differed from country to

country and it has been amazing to

be a part of making people’s dreams

come true. One successful VJ said

that a long time ago she wrote it

on a piece of paper that she wants

to work for Channel O alongside KB

(Kabelo Ngakane) and with artists

from all over the continent. That

for me is very fulfilling as all I have

always wanted is to be involved in

work that can change peoples’ lives.

I have also enjoyed travelling around

the continent. In fact, I was recently

telling one of my colleagues that

I need to travel again soon! These

eight months have been awesome,

the best part being the people

that I work with. Their passion and

professionalism are things I had not

previously experienced.

One challenge has been coming

to grips with the whole corporate

structure here which I am now very

familiar with. TV is also different

from radio as it takes longer for one

to see the end product of what you

are working on.

What change do you and your team

wish to bring to Channel O Africa?

Channel O Africa focuses on

Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana and

Nigeria. For technical reasons it has

a separate satellite dish feed from

what people would be watching in

Southern Africa. Research has shown

that the audience in these countries

want to see more of themselves in

what they watch and as such we are

keen to address this by airing more

local content.

Our aim is to discover and

showcase new artists while

increasing people’s familiarity with

existing ones. We want to be the

home of African superstars by telling

their stories but not in a tabloid sort

of way. They do this well in places

like America and it has been proven

that the better one knows the artist’s

story, the more likely one is to buy

his or her album or go to his or her

show. We believe that it is time to

ensure that African artists don’t

starve or end up moving overseas in

the search for greener pastures.

Additionally, we want to get

artists to rally behind the continents

issues through the Africa Dreaming

campaign, a good example being

Nonini’s participation in addressing

the misconceptions about albinism

in East Africa.

How many people do you manage

and what is your management style?

I am responsible for the various

VJ’s as well as a number of people in

the different country offices including

those who shoot our material. I like

to have a vision for what we are

aiming to achieve which I put on

paper and share with the team. I

always feel more comfortable asking

the people around me what they

think even when I know what I really

want. It is important for us to weigh

out the pros and cons and that way

the team will be more comfortable

with the eventual direction we take.

47WWW.EXPATRIATE.CO.ZAPic courtesy of Channel O

Lastly, how Ugandan are you?

I have dual citizenship, Ugandan

and South African. Uganda is home

for me. I was born there and speak

Luganda fluently. Even when we

moved to SA I was surrounded by

the Ugandan community here and

travelled to Uganda at least once

a year. When we first moved here,

white South Africans were very

hospitable to me and I learnt to

speak Afrikaans fluently though I

do have some understanding of the

other South African languages. It

was a challenge on radio sometimes

when people would speak their

languages or about how they grew

up. That is why this position is

perfect for me as it has no restriction

when it comes to a particular region

or culture. I am based in South Africa

purely for operational reasons but

my work is largely within the

entire continent and takes

me to areas like East Africa

which I feel I have a deep

connection with.

- KEITH KUNDAI

CONTACT: RUPERT - 072 449 4134BBM PIN: 224711C4FAX: 086 518 2238E-MAIL: Rupert_west@yahoo.comWEB: www.westsidecomputerden.wozaonline.co.za

Reg: 2007/10858/23

Exquisite Wedding and Event Portraits

My Pretoria to Kampala Road Tripravelling from Pretoria to

Kampala over five days

was a beautiful expedition

albeit very dangerous,

tiresome and requiring immense

preparation for any first-timer.

A colleague and I filtered

through Martins Drift which is the

SA Botswana border post and had

a flawless drive through the narrow

roads that led to the Zambian border.

Unfortunately we arrived shortly

after the 6 p.m. cut off time and had

to join the border post community

for the night. There were over 100

loaded trucks waiting to cross over

into Zambia. I wondered how much

in contraband goods they contained

destined for places as far as Uganda.

Border posts are special. There are

wiry, mean-looking men hanging

around shops and night clubs as their

wives tend cooking pots in make

shift tents. One trucker told me it

is easy to spend a week there before

being cleared.

The following morning we

boarded a ferry that was meant to

take us into Zambia in thirty minutes.

However, we spent over three hours

as the old thing malfunctioned along

the way. Panic-stricken, we found

ourselves stuck on the water with

rain pouring down as we waited for

mechanics to sort out the fault.

Finally we drove onto the land

of the mighty Chipolopolo. It is a

country with a quiet demeanour,

open smiles and an astonishingly

beautiful landscape. I noted a street

named after a former president of

Uganda, Milton Obote. Once in

Lusaka, I found an internet café in

which I updated my Facebook status:

“1800kms down, plenty more to go!”

Zambian girls are pretty and dress

conservatively. I quickly stopped

one pretending to ask for directions.

We asked her to get into the car to

take us to a mall where we could

have fun in the hope that we could

trick her into joining us for the night.

She joined us but after a few hours

she abandoned us after probably

smelling a rat.

After a lonely night, we left for

the Tanzanian border. After about

fifty kilometres, I realized that I had

left my phone at the hotel and we

had to do a U-turn and was ecstatic

to find that it had not been stolen.

Later that day we got to the Zambia-

Tanzania border post of Tunduma

which is infested with thieves who

lay in wait for unsuspecting victims.

As soon as we left customs, we were

tailed by unmistakable thugs

for several kilometres

Hanging on with Hannington

but were fortunate to shake them

off. I suspect that the thugs are

part of a syndicate involving both

custom officials and hotel owners.

The displeasure of being in Tanzania

is compounded by the fact that

this section of the country is

scorching hot, rugged and hardly any

Tanzanians we met could understand

English.

It took us two whole days to

cut across this heated part of the

country and we finally arrived at

the Mutukula Ugandan border post.

Finally things were familiar. Finally, I

was home.

Hannington Kasirye

Istockphoto

Niels

“The platform has grown to build a network of hundreds of thousands of expatriates in over 200 cities. There are about 1700 members in Johannesburg alone.”

B e r t s c h a t

50 EXPATRIATE

nternations GmbH is a German

registered entity that provides an

international social networking

service for expatriates worldwide.

In Johannesburg, there are two hosts

who coordinate the group’s activities

German Johannes von Weyssenhoff

and Dutchman Niels Bertschat.

We got to chat to the latter about

his journey to SA and Internations

Johannesburg.

How did you end up in South Africa?

I used to work for a hospitality

company known as Mise en Place - a

European entity that assists students

with part time jobs in the industry.

The company was involved in the

2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany

and was also selected to assist

Match Hospitality in SA for the

subsequent tournament in 2010. We

partnered with a local professional

services company who assisted

with the training of individuals who

would be engaged to work with us

during the tournament. That is how

I ended up in SA. We trained 5,000

previously disadvantaged people to

attend to all the VIP Suites in all the

selected stadiums during the 2009

Confederations Cup Tournament

and the World Cup in 2010. After the

World Cup I decided to stay on in the

country to continue working with

the local company.

Why did you opt to stay in South

Africa?

I like the honesty of the South

African people. I think, unlike in

Europe, what you see here is what

you get. People here are also very

positive; constantly smiling. I like

the wealth of culture in the country

and the weather is amazing. I was

also doing well with the company

that I was working for which I have

since left to start my own business

along the same lines of career

development. In addition, I live here

with my German girlfriend who has

a contract with one of the big four

audit firms in Johannesburg.

Johannesburg is also not as fast

as Europe. It is at times frustrating

but on the other hand it is less

stressful. I can send a work email over

the weekend and not worry about

following up on a response until the

following Monday. There are also nice

affordable houses for rent in the city.

Tell us about Internations.

Internations was founded

by three German entrepreneurs;

Christian Leifeld, Philipp von Plato,

and Malte Zeeck, and has been online

since September 2007. During their

careers as international consultants

and foreign correspondents, the

founders faced typical expat issues

themselves. Since then the platform

has grown to build a network of

hundreds of thousands of expatriates

in over 200 cities. There are about

1700 members in Johannesburg

alone.

How is the Johannesburg

Internations community doing and

how did you become one of the

hosts?

I was introduced to the

community soon after I arrived in

the country and participated actively

in the monthly meetings. I am also

the organizer of a monthly Dutch

community meeting in Johannesburg

known as the Netherlands Borrel. It

is an informal gathering that was

started by a Dutchman based in the

USA. When the opening to be one

of the hosts at Internations came

up, I was interviewed by a panel at

the Munich office and eventually

selected. It is a voluntary role and our

responsibilities include monitoring

the online Johannesburg forum. We

watch out for inappropriate posts

such as unsolicited advertising.

We also organize community

monthly meetings; so far we have

had Thursday evening gatherings

at various hotels in the Sandton

area. About 100 people attend each

meeting, about a third of them

being South Africans. Other than

Internations Johannesburg, there are

similar groups in Durban, Cape Town

and Pretoria.

- Keith Kundai

Internations Johannesburg Host

51WWW.EXPATRIATE.CO.ZA

52 EXPATRIATE

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Opportunities in Africat the end of last year I

really took it easy and

tuned into the world. I

listened to people and

read what they had to say on blogs,

emails and social networks. It struck

me that many are not happy. They

bear some bitterness towards their

jobs, their parents, their spouses

or some other element of their

existence. They forget that there are

many out there who can only wish

that they had these things in their

lives.

It is about time we started taking

ownership of our lots in life. There

really is no greater power out there

plotting our demise. Sometimes you

rise and sometimes you fall, that is

this thing called life. It’s a rollercoaster

and we just have to ride it.

I believe this is the end of the

world that the doomsayers have been

pointing at. The financial systems are

hanging on by a frail thread. Good for

them! It is greed that got us to where

we are and that had to readjust

itself sooner or later. Societies are

standing up and shouting – the Arab

spring, occupy Wall Street and closer

to home the Nigerians are telling

their government that it is time for it

to be honest.

It is the new world order. This

material world that we live in needs

to be toned down because it is less

human and humane and all about

Christian Louboutins and Ferrari 458

Italias. I am not saying that all those

things are bad or wrong, but the

actions and thoughts that many are

employing to achieve them are what

is causing a profound decay in the

lives we live.

Quite early in the year 2012, I

had a proper lesson of what this life

is all about. Two things happened.

First, I read a book my sister gave

me at Christmas called “The Leader

Who Had No Title”, by Robin Sharma.

It is one of those self help titles and

perhaps not applicable to everyone

but it hit a big fat cord in me. I was

left feeling all positive about life.

The second thing was the passing

on the 3rd of January of a man who

had been close to me for the last 28

years. When I reflected on his life,

I gathered many subtle lessons. I

spent half of my growing life at his

house and just through observation

and the way in which I related

to him and his family, I was

always reminded of what this

life was really all about.

Life is simple! It is

all about being honest,

being humble, treating

each other with respect

and just being there to help

your fellow man when you

can. It is about the depth of

one’s character as opposed

to the depth of one’s wallet.

It is about the soul and the

lessons you leave behind

for the lives you touch

because that is all

you leave.

B e

g r a t e f u l

you are

reading

this. Be

grateful that you have a few months

before the world ends to work

towards being the best you can be.

We don’t know when and we don’t

how, but our days are certainly

numbered. All that will matter in the

end is the testimony to the life that

you have led.

Keep smiling my dear friends,

because whatever it is that you

are going through, good or bad,

it will end. But you on the other

hand, will learn and grow. Yaw Peprah is a self employed entrepreneur pursuing interests in business advisory, consultancy and commodity brokering. www.mondaymail.blogspot.com

THE WORLD IS ENDING, WHAT’S YOUR LEGACY?“In the end, it is about the depth of one’s character as opposed to the depth of one’s wallet…..”

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