By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/jordan-novet/">Jordan Novet</a>



Elon Musk’s ambitious brain-computer start-up Neuralink is looking to start trials on humans next year. Musk talked about the project at an event in San Francisco that was <a class="" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-vbh3t7WVI&amp;feature=youtu.be">streamed live</a> — with an eye toward recruiting more talent — late on Tuesday.



Neuralink aligns with a broader trend of technology minds seeking to merge their approaches with the world of in healthcare.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=FB" class="">Facebook</a>&nbsp;has previously devoted resources to exploring computer systems that people could&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/19/facebook-building-8-working-on-controlling-computers-from-brain.html" class="">communicate with simply by thinking</a>.



The start-up envisions drilling holes into the brain with a custom machine to embed thin threads that connect to a tiny processor, which can then be connected to a smartphone over Bluetooth. Over time it would like to make the installation process as simple as laser-eye surgery.



The company is seeking U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to begin clinical trials as soon as next year,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-17/elon-musk-s-neuralink-says-it-s-ready-to-begin-brain-surgery" class="">Bloomberg</a>&nbsp;said, and Musk said the start-up wants to have its first human patient equipped with the technology before the end of 2020.



“It will take a long time, and you’ll see it coming,” Musk said at Tuesday’s event. He said in the future there could be an “app store” for different programs that could tap the technology.



Neuralink has operated in relative secrecy ever since Musk, the CEO of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=TSLA" class="">Tesla</a>and a co-founder of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=PYPL" class="">PayPal</a>, laid out the ideas for the start-up in an lengthy article on Tim Urban’s blog&nbsp;<a href="https://waitbutwhy.com/2017/04/neuralink.html" class="">&nbsp;“Wait But Why”</a>&nbsp;in 2017.



“We are aiming to bring something to market that helps with certain severe brain injuries (stroke, cancer lesion, congenital) in about four years,” Musk told Urban.



Musk believes the technology could eventually assist in cognitive capabilities like speech and sight, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/technology/neuralink-elon-musk.html" class="">New York Times</a>. Applications include helping people control computers with their brain activity or restoring the ability to speak, Philip Sabes, senior scientist at Neuralink, said at Tuesday’s event.&nbsp;



Musk said people could communicate with one another using the technology through a kind of telepathy.&nbsp;



He has a larger ambition, though. He said on Tuesday that he hopes to “help secure humanity’s future as a civilization relative to AI,” or artificial intelligence.



Last year, one media outlet reported that Neuralink had been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/28/elon-musk-brain-start-up-neuralink-applied-for-animal-tests-report.html" class="">looking to conduct tests on animals</a>. The New York Times reported that it saw a demonstration of a computer receiving information from a rat in a company lab. And a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6204648-Neuralink-White-Paper.html" class="">new paper</a>&nbsp;attributed to Neuralink and Musk describes some of the rat research.



“All animal procedures were performed in accordance with the National Research Council’s Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and were approved by the Neuralink Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee,” the paper states.



At Tuesday’s event Musk also talked about work with monkeys.



“A monkey has been able to control the computer with his brain,” he said.



Last year he&nbsp; talked up the project during&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/07/elon-musk-discusses-neurolink-on-joe-rogan-podcast.html" class="">an appearance</a>&nbsp;on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. “I think we’ll have something interesting to announce in a few months &#8230; that’s better than anyone thinks is possible,” he said.



Musk, a co-founder of Neuralink, has invested $100 million in the company, the New York Times said.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/17/elon-musk-brain-machine-startup-neuralink-plans-human-trials-in-2020.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/17/elon-musk-brain-machine-startup-neuralink-plans-human-trials-in-2020.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Elon Musk’s latest project shows first step toward mind-reading brain implant

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/elizabeth-gravier/">Elizabeth Gravier</a>



Richard Branson is used to shooting for the stars.&nbsp;



Last week,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/09/richard-branson-space-unit-virgin-galactic-plans-to-go-public-wsj.html" class="">Virgin Galactic</a>&nbsp;announced its plans to become the first publicly-traded space tourism company. It’s a bold feat, and one that Branson credits to dreaming big – and out loud.



“One of my most enduring (and hopefully endearing!) habits is talking about plans that are yet to come to fruition,” Branson writes in&nbsp;a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/talking-ahead-yourself" class="">recent blog post</a>. “Whenever I come up with an exciting new idea or hear a thrilling new proposal, I want to tell the world about it straight away.”



He calls this habit “talking ahead of yourself.”



“Far from being a problem, talking ahead of yourself can actually be very useful,” he writes. “By setting yourself future goals that many people deem unrealistic, you actually bring them closer to reality.”



And Branson’s optimism has paid off. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/profiles/richard-c-branson/" class="">self-made billionaire</a>&nbsp;has made a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/richard-branson/#2bf6c8286ff5" class="">fortune</a>&nbsp;creating separate ventures all under the Virgin brandname, including Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Galactic,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/06/richard-branson-wept-when-he-sold-virgin-records-for-a-billion-dollars.html" class="">Virgin Records</a>(which he sold for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/06/richard-branson-wept-when-he-sold-virgin-records-for-a-billion-dollars.html" class="">$1 billion in 1992</a>) and most recently&nbsp;<a href="https://www.virginvoyages.com/" class="">Virgin Voyages</a>, a cruise business launching in 2020.



He writes that the practice of talking about future ideas out loud incentivizes Virgin employees to reach goals, but it also turns restless energy and ideas into real action. “If you start planning ahead for when you do have the exciting new line, the growing profits and the new staff, you’ll be better prepared for success.”



Branson takes inspiration wherever he can find it, but he credits April Fool’s pranks – an annual tradition at Virgin – as a surprising source of ideas. As a prank, he once wrote about new&nbsp;<a href="https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/virgin-launches-glass-bottomed-plane" class="">glass-bottomed Virgin Atlantic planes</a>, and the idea was so popular that he is now considering installing giant windows in the roof of the planes for stargazing (a decision made after realizing the luggage at the bottom of the plane would block any type of view through a glass surface.)



“Sometimes the most far-fetched schemes are the most plausible,” Branson writes. “Often sensible plans go out of the window. You have to be ready for anything. If you talk ahead of yourself, your team will be ready for it too. You’ve got to have a dream before you can go about making it come true.”



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/15/why-richard-branson-talks-about-his-big-goals-publicly.html?forYou=true">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/15/why-richard-branson-talks-about-his-big-goals-publicly.html?forYou=true</a> and is republished with its permission.

Why billionaire Richard Branson talks about his goals before he has any idea how to accomplish them

<figure>
 <img decoding="async" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283647/original/file-20190711-173366-1yxkn7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=45&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;fit=clip" />
 <figcaption>
 The Central Bank of Kenya has financial inclusion in its stewardship of the financial system.
 Shutterstock
 </figcaption>
 </figure>

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/danny-bradlow-168878">Danny Bradlow</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-pretoria-1645">University of Pretoria</a>

Many central banks are rethinking their approach to the environmental and social impact of their operations. This is because their decisions can affect access to housing, healthcare, education, work, to adequate food and water and the security of their pensions.

For example, 36 central banks and banking supervisors, participate in the central bank and supervisors <a href="https://www.banque-france.fr/en/financial-stability/international-role/network-greening-financial-system">network</a> for greening the financial system. The list of central banks includes Australia, Canada, China, England, France, Germany and Mexico. 

The network’s focus is on climate change. But this pushes them to pay more attention to other environmental and social considerations. 

The precise mandates of central banks vary. But one thing they all have in common is responsibility for maintaining price stability. Their primary policy tools for achieving this objective are interest rates, the capital and reserve requirements for banks, and trading debt instruments in financial markets.

Central banks also act as a lender of last resort to the banking system or more generally to the financial sector. They regulate and supervise the activities of banks and other financial institutions. They manage the country’s payment system, maintain financial stability and manage the country’s foreign exchange reserves. In some countries, the central bank can be given additional responsibilities such as promoting development finance or financial inclusion.

To fully understand the risk that climate poses to price and financial stability, central banks need to consider how changing weather patterns will affect a number of variables. These include food production, migration patterns, and people’s access to food, water, housing, and jobs, and how these, in turn, influence aggregate demand, credit allocation, inflation and government deficits.

In other words, as I explain <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/why-central-banks-need-take-human-rights-more-seriously/">in more detail in this article</a>, central bankers are being inexorably pushed to reconsider the relationship between central banking and human rights.

<h2>The connections</h2>

The mandates, powers, and governance arrangements of all central banks are established by law. They must comply with all the applicable law including the constitutional and international legal obligations of their home states. In principle this means that central banks are bound by the international human rights commitments of their sovereigns.

Historically, central banks have been able to avoid dealing with human rights issues. This is because the political leadership determines the price stability goal for the economy and then lets the central bank decide how to meet this inflation objective.

This arrangement suggests that the central bank’s independence is limited to the technical issues relevant to achieving the goal set by the government. In addition, it assumes, at least implicitly, that the social and environmental implications of the country’s monetary and financial goals are the government’s responsibility.

However, in reality central banking is not a purely technical function. For example, the social and environmental impact of its decision to change interest rates will vary depending on how it implements the decision. If the central bank decides to change interest rates through open market operations the social and environmental impacts will depend on which instruments it chooses to trade – and in what proportions. On the other hand, these affects will depend on the decisions of banks if it implements the decision by changing the reserve requirements or the interest rate it charges banks for short term loans.

There are some noteworthy examples. The central banks of <a href="https://www.centralbank.go.ke/bank-supervision/">Kenya</a>, the Netherlands and the <a href="https://www.frbsf.org/community-development/">Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco</a> consider factors such as community development and financial inclusion in their stewardship of their financial systems. And the Dutch central bank now has a mandate to include <a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/GranthamInstitute/news/from-mission-to-supervision-putting-sustainable-prosperity-on-the-agenda-of-the-dutch-central-bank/">sustainability</a> in its decision making. The <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-17/with-climate-losses-rising-central-banks-push-greener-finance">Chinese central bank</a> has been authorised to take climate considerations into account in its monetary decisions.

Central bank operations, therefore, cannot avoid affecting human rights. 

<h2>The human rights responsibilities</h2>

The unavoidable impact of central banking operations on human rights means that central banks have to develop a better understanding of their human rights responsibilities. The applicable law is the starting point. But the relevant law and jurisprudence is unlikely to provide detailed guidance on how central banks should interpret and implement their human rights responsibilities.

A good reference tool for the central bank is the <a href="https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/un-guiding-principles">UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights</a>. These principles stipulate that all businesses should have a human rights policy. The policy should be publicly available and should be applicable to all the business’s operations and decision-making. 

The Principles also state that businesses should conduct adequate human rights due diligence before and during their decision making and implementation process. This requirement means that they should conduct human rights impact assessments of their proposed operations. They should also take steps to avoid or mitigate the identified adverse human rights impacts.

Central banks will face particular challenges in meeting their human rights responsibilities. Their instrument independence means that their human rights policy will need to be respectful of the central bank’s independence and its mandate. 

At the same time, the central bank needs to be cognisant of the fact that its human rights policy may have implications for other state entities and for the country’s political leadership. These considerations complicate but do not render impossible the task of drafting a central bank human rights policy.

Their ability to conduct detailed human rights impact assessments will be complicated by the relative speed and discretion with which they must often operate. This does not, however, make it impossible for them to assess their impact on human rights. Instead, it suggests that central banks need to develop and maintain a sufficiently detailed general and ongoing understanding of the actual impact of their operations on human rights. This is so that they can make informed judgements about the likely effects of their proposed monetary decisions on specific communities.

This disaggregated approach should provide central banks with a detailed and nuanced understanding of how their policies actually affect different sub-groups of their society. By doing this it should enable central banks to determine the true costs and benefits of their policies and actions. This should improve their decision-making.

<h2>Conclusion</h2>

This analysis demonstrates three key points. First, it is becoming untenable for central banks to avoid incorporating their human rights impacts into their decision-making and operations. Second, a human rights approach offers central banks a new tool for understanding the true costs and benefits of their operations. Third, central banks can meet their human rights responsibilities without compromising the independence they need to meet their monetary and financial responsibilities.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120192/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/danny-bradlow-168878">Danny Bradlow</a>, SARCHI Professor of International Development Law and African Economic Relations, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-pretoria-1645">University of Pretoria</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-central-banks-need-to-take-human-rights-more-seriously-120192">original article</a>.

Central banks need to take human rights more seriously, here’s why

JOHNNY CLEGG 1953 &#8211; 2019 Johnny Clegg who was diagnosed with stage two pancreatic cancer last year has tragically died. In 2015 he did this interview with CNBC Africa in which he shared his incredible story after more than 40 years in the music industry.



<iframe loading="lazy" width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CzoQSaF--y8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>



  



<table class="wp-block-table"><tbody><tr><td>Statement from Roddy Quin, Manager, friend and family spokesman It is with immense sadness that we confirm that Jonathan (Johnny) Clegg, OBE OIS succumbed to pancreatic cancer at the age of 66 on the afternoon of 16 July 2019 at his family home in Johannesburg, South Africa. Johnny leaves deep foot prints in the hearts of every person that considers him/herself to be an African. He showed us what it was to assimilate to and embrace other cultures without losing your identity. An anthropologist that used his music to speak to every person. With his unique style of music he traversed cultural barriers like few others. In many of us he awakened awareness. Johnny was born on 7 June 1953 in Bacup, Lancashire England and moved to Johannesburg, South Africa with his Rhodesian mother when he was 6 years old.  His exposure to Zulu migrant workers during adolescence introduced him to the culture and music. His involvement with black musicians often saw him arrested during Apartheid.   At the age of 17, together with Sipho Mchunu they formed their first band called Juluka.  At the age of 33 in 1986 during the height of Apartheid he partnered with Dudu Zulu to form his second inter-racial band called Savuka.  Clegg also recorded several solo albums and enjoyed international success selling out concerts wherever he performed.  Apart from lecturing at the Universities of the Witwatersrand and Natal respectively, Johnny studied anthropology and combined his studies with music.  He was awarded by a number of local and international bodies for his contribution to music and society notably by the French Government in 1991 with a Knight of Arts and Letters, and in 2015 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.  In 2012 he received the Order of Ikhamanga from the South African government. He was awarded a number of Honorary doctorates by the Universities of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), Dartmouth College in the USA and the City University of New York.  He authored and published the book &#8220;UkuBuyisa Isidumbu&#8221; (1981, Ravan Press), and presented papers on &#8220;The Music of Zulu Immigrant Workers in Johannesburg&#8221; in 1981 at the Grahamstown International Library of African Music and &#8220;Towards an understanding of African Dance: The Zulu Isishameni Style&#8221; in 1982 at Rhodes University.  Johnny was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2015 but despite fighting cancer continued to tour and perform around the world to pay homage to his fans worldwide.   Johnny is survived by his wife of 31 years, Jenny and their two sons Jesse and Jaron. His passing has left us numb and we request that the family&#8217;s privacy be respected during this trying time.  The family will be holding a Private funeral service and we ask you to please respect the families wishes. There will be a service for public to pay their respects and the details hereof will be announced in due course.   </td></tr></tbody></table>

Music legend Johnny Clegg dies, this is his story

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/jessica-bursztynsky/">Jessica Bursztynsky</a> 



Billionaire tech entrepreneur&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/mark-cuban/" class="">Mark Cuban</a>&nbsp;criticized&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=FB" class="">Facebook</a>’s venture into cryptocurrency in a new CNBC interview.



“I’m not a big fan of what they’re doing there,” Cuban said of Facebook’s Libra coin. “I think it’s a big mistake.”



Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and a “Shark Tank” investor, said he’s not so much concerned with the impact on U.S. markets but at a global level.



“I think globally and in countries where there isn’t a lot of rule of law, or a lot of government stability, or currency stability, then it could be dangerous,” Cuban told CNBC’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/deirdre-bosa/" class="">Deirdre Bosa</a>&nbsp;in an interview that began airing on Friday.



“There’s going to be some despot in some African country that gets really upset that they can’t control their currency anymore and that’s where the real problems start occurring,” he explained.



Cuban has joined a series of government leaders and high-profile bankers in criticizing the social media giant.



In a series of tweets, President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he’s “not a fan” of cryptocurrencies and said Libra “will have little standing or dependability.”



He also said, “If Facebook and other companies want to become a bank, they must seek a new Banking Charter and become subject to all Banking Regulations.”



Appearing on Capitol Hill over two days this week delivering testimony and taking questions on the economy, Federal Reserve Chairman&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/jerome-powell/" class="">Jerome Powell</a>said he has “serious concerns” about Libra.



French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney have also questioned Libra.



Last month,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/17/facebook-announces-libra-digital-currency-calibra-digital-wallet.html" class="">Facebook announced</a>&nbsp;its ambitious endeavor to create a digital coin, with launch plans in the first half of next year. Libra will not be run by Facebook but by a nonprofit association supported by a range of companies and organizations, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=V" class="">Visa</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=PYPL" class="">PayPal</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=EBAY" class="">eBay</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=LYFT" class="">Lyft</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=UBER" class="">Uber</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=SPOT" class="">Spotify</a>.



David Marcus, the Facebook executive behind the effort, told CNBC on the day of the announcement, June 18, that consumers should not be worried about the social media network gaining access to their financial data.



The Libra project comes as Facebook&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/18/facebook-david-marcus-on-building-trust-for-libra-cryptocurrency.html" class="">works to rebuild public trust</a>&nbsp;after a series of privacy scandals and admissions that Russia used the platform&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/30/facebook-russia-fake-accounts-126-million" class="">to try to influence</a>&nbsp;the 2016 presidential election.



Facebook did not immediately return a request for comment.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/12/mark-cuban-calls-facebook-digital-coin-libra-a-big-mistake.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/12/mark-cuban-calls-facebook-digital-coin-libra-a-big-mistake.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Billionaire Mark Cuban calls Facebook’s digital coin Libra a ‘big mistake,’ saying it ‘could be dangerous’

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; The group treasurer of South Africa’s Eskom, Andre Pillay, will leave the power utility at the end of August, it said on Monday, the latest high-profile exit after its chief executive quit earlier this year.



Eskom supplies more than 90% of South Africa’s electricity, but has implemented severe power cuts this year and is failing to generate sufficient profit.



It is hinging its recovery hopes on a 230 billion rand ($16 billion) bailout pledged by government in February.



Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Jan Harvey

Treasurer of South Africa’s Eskom quits, what you need to know

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South African retailer Steinhoff reported a 356 million euros ($401 million) half-year loss from continuing operations on Friday, as the damage from a massive accounting scandal drags on.



Steinhoff first flagged holes in its accounts in December 2017 — the warning shot for an accounting fraud since put at over $7 billion — shocking investors that had backed its transformation from a small South African outfit to a discount furniture retailer spanning four continents.



The owner of Mattress Firm Inc in the United States, Fantastic chains in Australia and Conforama in France said the loss from continuing operations came in at 356 million euros in the six-months ended March compared with a loss of 392 million euros a year earlier.



Steinhoff, which is also listed in Frankfurt, blamed the loss on the cost of advisors and professional fees as it cleans up its balance sheet.



Advisory fees for the period amounted to 82 million euros, which included 11 million euros for forensic investigation and technical accounting support, and 30 million euros for creditor adviser fees.



“While every effort is made to limit costs, we expect this to remain our reality for some time,” the retailer said in its 97-page half-year unaudited report.



Net sales from continuing operations increased by 3% to 6.8 billion euros from 6.6 billion euros, with strong contributions from Pepkor Europe and Pepkor Africa.



At 1105 GMT, shares in Johannesburg-listed Steinhoff jumped 4.72%, while in Frankfurt they were up 8.9%.



($1 = 0.8885 euros)



Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Mark Potter and Louise Heavens

Scandal-hit Steinhoff reports $400 million loss in half-year earnings

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) &#8211; South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni aims to table a bill in parliament on July 23 to give struggling state power firm Eskom more money for the current financial year and next, to alleviate its acute liquidity problems.



Mboweni told parliament on Thursday that Eskom presented the biggest risk to the country’s fiscal framework and stressed that there were serious risks to the economy if it collapsed.



Eskom, which supplies more than 90 percent of the country’s electricity but has implemented severe power cuts this year, fails to generate sufficient profit to meet its debt-service costs and has required state cash injections to stay afloat.



Mboweni, a key ally of President Cyril Ramaphosa, added that the government would also provide financial support from its contingency reserve to ailing South African Airways, weapons manufacturer Denel and broadcaster SABC.



“This additional financial support cannot be a blank cheque to these state-owned enterprises,” Mboweni said. “We really and truly cannot go on like this.”



The minister said South Africa’s tax collection was underperforming due to a weak economic environment and the government would focus its short-term efforts on addressing rising debt and on stricter controls on expenditure.



Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Writing by Alexander Winning; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Elaine Hardcastle

South Africa’s Eskom new funding bill expected July 23, what you need to know

By Victor Oladokun, Director of Communication and External Relations at the African Development Bank.



At the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, the visual imagery of  almost empty stadiums is a powerful narrative. But not the kind that African sports, African football, or corporate sponsors deserve.



The empty seat syndrome in suggests
that football fans are voting with their feet, or better still with their
backsides. Fans are choosing not to watch live football events, and instead are
opting in increasing numbers&nbsp; for the
&#8216;intimacy&#8217; of their crystal clear digital flat TV screens, or not all.



Before Egypt&#8217;s stunning 0-1 loss to South
Africa in the round of 16, the host country was the only team able to attract
70,000 fans. Other than when Mo Salah and the Pharaohs have been on the field,
most stadia across Egypt have at best attracted an average of 5,000 to 7,000
fans.



Official broadcast camera crews have done a
creative job minimizing the visual gaps of empty seats. But wide camera angles
reveal the obvious &#8230; a lack of attendance and public enthusiasm, in spite of
the presence of some of the biggest names in world football on the field.



In European football leagues, where many of
the stars in Egypt ply their trade, fans pay mega bucks to see the likes of
John Mikel Obi, Ahmed Musa, Sadio Mane, Ryahd Mahrez, Nicolas Pépé, Wilfred,
Zaha, and Kalidou Koulibaly.



Which is why the empty seats in Egypt are
both stunning. 



Admittedly, Egypt bailed CAF out and should
receive well-deserved credit for coming to the rescue and hosting the African
Cup of Nations, with barely 6 months notice, when the original hosts were
sanctioned due to shoddy preparations.



Nevertheless, the lack of attendance in
Egypt speaks volumes high ticket costs; the timing of matches bang in the
middle of work days; the difficulties faced by national team supporters in
obtaining entry visas to Egypt; and challenges with the Confederation of
African Football&#8217;s complicated online ticket purchasing system.&nbsp; 



It should not be so. This after all, is the
most important event in Africa&#8217;s sports calendar. At least, it used to be
before England&#8217;s Premier League, Spain&#8217;s La Liga, Italy&#8217;s Serie A, and
Germany&#8217;s Bundesliga captured our collective imaginations.



The end result is that where once 30,000 to
70,000 fans a week watched highly competitive domestic football leagues across
Africa, the empty seat syndrome has been&nbsp;
the norm for almost two decades. It is not unusual to have less than a
thousand fans in a stadium that seats 30,000.



The lack of fan attendance has obvious
economic and financial implications across the sports value chain for team
owners, sports federations and confederations, players, sponsors, advertising
and marketing agencies, merchandisers, vendors, and local communities who once
counted on fan attendance to boost fledgling economies.



What&#8217;s responsible for the increasing
slide in fan attendance?



1. Poor facilities



2. High ticket costs



3. A lack of reliable transportation
to and from venues. As well as sufficient and secure parking.



4. Increasingly crude behavior and violence
at event locations.



5. Technology. Mobile phones
and Apps that carry events live as well as a plethora of entertainment
alternatives. In other words, once big events are no longer the main gigs in
town.



So, what can be done to reverse the
trend? Here are 5 quick suggestions.



1. It can no longer be business as
usual. Africa must run sports as a professional business. This includes
the right infrastructure, training facilities, attractive pay scales for
professional athletes who now consider anything less than a European league
appearance, a professional failure. 



Regrettably, as with Africa&#8217;s overall
propensity to simply export raw materials instead of adding value to what we
produce, we are doing the same with football and many other sports. Africa has
a tremendous abundance of potential talent that for the most part (with the
exception of South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia) we add little or no value to.
Instead, millions of genetically blessed athletes are simply waiting or begging
to be &#8216;found&#8217; on the cheap by European and American sports teams. Why? Simply
because we fail to see diamonds in the rough and because we are unable to add
value to the potential of what for now seems to be rough stones.



2. Modern and professionally
maintained facilities: In sizzling hot Africa, we must invest in
covered stadia. When I can sit in front of my big screen TV in my air
conditioned living room, why would I want to subject myself to temperatures
that I swear have gone up a number of notches in recent years?



3. Sport is a spectacle. This
includes everything including pre-event and half time entertainment to keep
fans with short attention spans upbeat and engaged.



4. Give back to the fans:
Essentially, engagement in the 21st century must change. Its time to give something
back to fans rather than fleecing them at every opportunity with sub-standard
services and products. It would seem to me that sports teams could offer
something as simple as raffle draws that reward fans with extra game tickets,
signed player jerseys, visits with select players, or products from local
sponsors. Professional marketing firms can come up with an endless list.



5. Make sports big and make it a
win-win proposition. 



Real Madrid F.C. and Barcelona F.C. for
example, are not owned by a few rich individuals. Instead, they are owned and
supported by thousands of shareholders known as &#8216;socios.&#8217; Across Africa,
it&#8217;s time to change the numbers game &#8211; in ownership, money, and attendance &#8211; by
giving fans a seat at the table.



These are just a few quick ideas. However,
the running of sports in general and football in particular as a business and a
brand proposition, will require honest analysis, political and financial will,
and a collective approach.



It must be if Africa is to unlock potential
and turn millions into billions.

Op-Ed: Sports as a business and a brand in Africa

NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya has ordered telecoms firm Safaricom to stop processing payments for sports betting companies, potentially shutting down a lucrative source of revenue for the company.



Online sports betting companies such as SportPesa have grown rapidly in the East African nation in recent years, riding a wave of enthusiasm for sports to achieve combined revenue of 204 billion shillings ($2 billion) last year.



However, that has sparked concern in the government about the social impact of betting. In May, the country introduced new gambling regulations, including banning advertising outdoors and on social media.



The gaming companies rely on Safaricom’s market leading network to take bets, communicate with users and process payments on the company’s popular M-Pesa mobile cash platform.



Each betting firm is assigned a unique number, known as a pay-bill, which is used to process payments from users who place bets on their mobile phones and to pay off those who win.



Customers using basic feature phones rely on short codes assigned to each betting company.



Liti Wambua, the acting director of the regulator Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB), told Safaricom in a letter seen by Reuters on Thursday that licences for all 27 betting firms had not been renewed, pending the outcome of an ongoing inquiry about their suitability to operate in the country.



“Consequently, we request you to suspend their pay-bills and short codes until otherwise advised,” Wambua said in the letter.



In a response, through its lawyers, Safaricom said it required time to carry out the order since abrupt implementation would result in shutting millions of users out of funds already deposited in the gaming wallets of the various betting firms.



“The directive by the board will impact over 12 million customers,” Safaricom said.



It added that two of the gaming companies had also obtained court orders allowing them to continue their operations without a renewed licence, further complicating the situation.



Safaricom executives have told Reuters in the past that the betting industry, through text messages and M-Pesa, has become a significant part of its revenue in recent years.



The betting firms defend their activities.



“SportPesa is a law-abiding corporate citizen that upholds all tax and regulatory requirements,” said SportPesa, one of the biggest online betting and gaming companies.



($1 = 102.8500 Kenyan shillings)



Reporting by Duncan Miriri and Humphrey Malalo; Writing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Mark Potter

Kenya has ordered Safaricom to shut down betting payments, here’s why

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; The South African Reserve Bank is likely to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percent next week as a slowdown in the economy during the first three months of the year could turn worse if left unchecked, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday.



Twenty-four of 30 economists in the survey taken over the past three days said the repo rate would be cut by 25 basis points to 6.50% on July 18. Two expected a cut of 50 basis points. The other four said rates would be left unchanged.



“Conditions in South Africa have been shifting in favour of a rate cut for some time,” said Razia Khan, chief economist for Africa and Middle East at Standard Chartered Bank.



Economists assigned a median 60% probability rates would be cut on July 18, even though inflation is expected to average 4.5% this year, the centre of the Bank’s 3% to 6% target range.



The median forecast for economic growth was 0.7% for this year. That is 0.1 percentage point higher than last month’s median, when economists lowered their forecasts because of a quarterly 3.2% contraction when the year began.



South Africa’s private sector has been shedding jobs recently, including in the interest-rate-sensitive banking industry, where banks have already cut or announced plans to cut staffing.



Khan — who predicted a 50-basis-point cut next week — said the daily drip-feed of retrenchment headlines should, in theory, make little difference to the SARB because it is the economic outlook that matters to it.



“The reality, however, is that it does impact psychology and people expect – especially with inflation well-behaved – that the SARB should be in a position to react to their perception that the economy is weak,” Khan said.



Senior officials in the ruling African National Congress party have argued in recent months over whether the Reserve Bank’s mandate should be broadened to explicitly include job creation and economic growth alongside price stability.



Joblessness rose to 27.6% in the first quarter, official data showed in May, underscoring the task faced by President Cyril Ramaphosa after the ANC, his party, won re-election last month.



An expanded category of unemployment, including people who have stopped looking for work, rose to 38% in the first quarter from 37% in the previous quarter.



This trend is also affecting services. Local banks have been automating their services to clients, cutting the number of face-to-face interactions and digitising services.



Khan said monetary policy will not be able to reverse structural trends like automation, nor should it even try to.



However, economists said growth would accelerate to 1.4% next year, in line with last month’s poll.



“Looser policy will help to boost growth in South Africa in 2020,” said John Ashbourne, a senior economist at Capital Economics.



Still, gross fixed capital investment continues to dampen the outlook for growth. One economist predicted a 0.2 economic contraction for the full year as they don’t expect private-public infrastructure spending to show up soon.



(For other stories from the economic outlook polls:)



Additional polling by Khushboo Mittal in Bengaluru, editing by Larry King

South Africa’s Reserve Bank expected to cut rates, what you need to know

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/kathleen-elkins/">Kathleen Elkins</a> 



Before wealth manager and author <a class="" href="https://davidbach.com/">David Bach</a> made his first million, he was a brand new financial advisor in his early twenties, he tells <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/make-it/">CNBC Make It</a>: “We had someone come and talk to our training class, and as he walked out the door, he handed us this chart.”



Ultimately, the chart “changed my life,” Bach says.



The chart shows two different scenarios:



<ol class="wp-block-list"><li>You start investing at 19 and contribute $2,000 to your account every year until you reach 27. From 27 to 65, you contribute $0.</li><li>From 19 to 26, you don’t invest anything. You start investing at 27 and contribute $2,000 to your account every year until you turn 65.</li></ol>



In the first scenario, you’re only saving and investing for eight years; in the second, you’re saving and investing for 39 years. Still, the person who starts at age 19 would end up with more money in their portfolio in the long run.



Assuming a 10% rate of return, the first person would have $1.02 million by 65, while the second person would have $805,185, a difference of more than $200,000.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/cnbc-picture-1110x539.png" alt="" class="wp-image-340296"/></figure>



As the chart shows, the sooner you can start putting your money to work, the more you’ll benefit from <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/11/how-compound-interest-works-and-how-it-can-help-you-save-money.html">compound interest</a> and the less you’ll have to save to reach your retirement goals.



In terms of where to set aside your dollars, “You have to have this money invested for growth,” Bach says. “You cannot put this money in a money market account or a CD, where it grows at 1% or 2%. You’ll never build wealth.” Instead, Bach recommends putting your money to work in a tax-advantaged&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/09/definitive-guide-to-retirement-savings-accounts.html" class="">retirement account</a>, such as a 401(k), Roth IRA or traditional IRA, where it will grow over time.



Retirement-specific accounts offer tax benefits, but there are other ways to invest your money: You can look into low-cost&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2014/05/06/what-is-an-index-fund.html" class="">index funds</a>, which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/14/index-funds-are-the-smartest-way-to-invest-your-money.html" class="">Warren Buffett recommends</a>, and online investment platforms, such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ellevest.com/" class="">Ellevest</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.betterment.com/" class="">Betterment,</a>&nbsp;known as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/13/man-vs-machine-how-to-figure-out-if-you-should-use-a-robo-advisor.html" class="">robo-advisors</a>.



No matter how you choose to invest, the most important step is to open at least one account and start contributing to it consistently.



“Start investing today,” says Bach. “Because the miracle of compound interest starts working the day you put it in place — but the key to compound interest is that it takes decades. It doesn’t get done in days. When you try to get rich quickly, you stay poor forever. This is about building wealth for your lifetime.”



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/08/self-made-millionaire-david-bach-a-chart-changed-the-way-i-think-about-money.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/08/self-made-millionaire-david-bach-a-chart-changed-the-way-i-think-about-money.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Self-made millionaire: A simple chart changed the way I think about money

DAR es SALAAM (Reuters) &#8211; President John Magufuli urged Tanzania’s women to “set your ovaries free” and bear more children as a way to help boost the economy into a regional powerhouse, a step critics said would instead worsen inequality and poverty. 



“When you have a big population you build the economy. That’s why China’s economy is so huge,” he said late on Tuesday, citing India and Nigeria as other examples of countries that gained from a demographic dividend.



“I know that those who like to block ovaries will complain about my remarks. Set your ovaries free, let them block theirs,” he told a gathering in his home town of Chato.



Since taking office in 2015, Magufuli has launched an industrialisation campaign that has helped buoy economic growth, which has averaged 6-7% annually in recent years. But he has said a higher birth rate would achieve faster progress.



Tanzania has sustained relatively high growth, averaging 6–7 percent a year, over the past decade. At the same time, the East African nation of 55 million people already has one of the world’s highest birth rates &#8211; around 5 children per woman.



Data from the U.N. population fund UNFPA shows Tanzania’s population is growing by about 2.7 percent a year while most public hospitals and schools are overcrowded and many young people lack jobs.



UNFPA says about a third of married women in Tanzania use contraceptives, but Magufuli has criticised Western-backed family planning programmes implemented by the health ministry.



Last year Magufuli said curbing the birth rate was “for those too lazy to take care of their children”, and the health ministry barred broadcasting of family planning ads by a U.S.-funded project. [nL8N1W64BB]



While Tanzania’s poverty rate &#8211; people living on less than $1 a day &#8211; has declined to about 26% as of 2016, the absolute number of poor citizens has not because of the high population growth rate, according to the World Bank.



Opposition leaders in Tanzania have criticised Magufuli’s stance, saying the country’s already rapid population growth is a time bomb, and disapproving remarks surfaced on social media.



“As a modern woman I can’t believe this &#8230; especially coming from him (the president),” said one Twitter user.



Others said it was simply bad economics for Magufuli to urge Tanzanians to have more babies.



“High population growth in Tanzania means increased levels of poverty and income inequality,” said a rights activist based in Dar es Salaam who asked not to be named to avoid possible repercussions from the government’s ongoing review of registration of non-governmental organisations. “Women’s ovaries should never be used as a tool for seeking economic prosperity.”



Reporting by Fumbuka Ng&#8217;wanakilala; Editing by George Obulutsa and Mark Heinrich

Tanzania’s President urges country’s women to “set ovaries free” and bear more children, here’s why

Press Release: Issued by the Ministry of Finance Date: 10 July 2019 



The Minister of Finance, Mr Tito Mboweni, after consultation with Cabinet, has appointed an Interim Board of Directors (BoD) at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC). The appointment shall be effective 12 July 2019 to 31 July 2020. The Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson shall be elected at the first meeting to be convened by the Interim BoD. The members of the Interim BoD are as follows: 



Ms Sindi Mabaso–Koyana, non-executive director of Eskom and Chairperson of AIH  Ms Irene Charnley, former director at MTN and founder of Smile Group Ms Tshepiso Moahloli, chief director: liability management at Treasury Ms Maria Ramos, former CEO of Absa and non-executive director of AngloGold Ashanti Ms Barbara Watson, chief director of transformation policies at the Department of Public Service and Administration Mr Ivan Fredericks, general manager at PSA Mr Zola Saphetha, General Secretary of NEHAWU Mr Bhekithemba Gamedze, GEPF board of trustees Dr Angelo David Sabelo de Bruin Prof Bonke Dumisa, economist Advocate Makhubalo Ndaba, company secretary of Platinum Hospitality Holdings Dr Reuel Khoza, former chairman of Nedbank and chairperson of Platinum Hospitality Holdings 



RE-APPOINTMENT OF PIC BOARD MEMBERS 



Mr Pitsi Moloto 



Dr Xolani Mkhwanazi 



RE-APPOINTMENT AND APPOINTMENTS AT THE SOUTH AFRICAN RESERVE BANK 



On the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), President Cyril Ramaphosa, after consultation with the Minister of Finance and the Board of Directors of the SARB, has re-appointed Mr Lesetja Kganyago to serve as Governor of the SARB for another five years, effective from 9 November 2019. Mr Kganyago’s current term expires on 8 November 2019. The President has, also after consultation, appointed Ms Fundi Tshazibana and Dr Rashad Cassim as Deputies Governor of the SARB for a period of five years each, effective 1 August 2019. Ms Tshazibana is currently the Adviser to the Governors of the SARB and holds a Master’s of Commerce degree in Economics, while Dr Cassim is currently Head of Economic Research and Statistics at the SARB, and holds a PhD in Economics. 



Minister Mboweni said of the appointments: “We congratulate the appointees and look forward to working with them. We need not remind them of the tough economic and fiscal circumstances facing South Africa at the current moment. They have my full support and confidence that they will take South Africa forward as we move to bring development to our people.”

Improperly appointed boards spell disaster for organisations

New PIC board appointed, includes Ramos, SARB governor reappointed

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/danny-bradlow-168878">Danny Bradlow</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-pretoria-1645">University of Pretoria</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/william-n-kring-771072">William N Kring</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/boston-university-898">Boston University</a>

African Union (AU) leaders will gather in Niger on 7 July for an Extraordinary Summit to discuss the <a href="https://au.int/en/cfta">African Continental Free Trade Area</a>. They will be meeting at a <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/afr/publication/taking-the-pulse-of-africas-economy">critical moment</a> for the continent. Many African countries are experiencing uneven growth and rising debt. All face an uncertain global environment and need the boost that closer and more dynamic continental trade relations could deliver.

In our view the AU leaders should also use their meeting to reinvigorate their efforts to create an <a href="https://au.int/en/treaties/protocol-establishment-african-monetary-fund">African Monetary Fund</a>. This would be used to encourage African states to engage more actively in regional trade by offering them financial support for managing the <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2018/09/sub-saharan-africa-regional-integration-arizala.htm">risks</a> associated with closer regional integration and expanded intra-regional trade.

Over the past 10 years, most regions have developed <a href="https://www.bis.org/review/r120203d.pdf">regional arrangements</a> that can supplement the help that the IMF provides to countries facing balance of payments problems. Ten years ago, US$100 billion was available through these regional funds. Today more than <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dech.12464">US$900 billion</a> is available through these arrangements. Africa is currently the most prominent gap in the <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2692622">evolving global financial safety net</a>. 

The African leaders signed a treaty to establish this fund in 2014. Unfortunately, progress to set it up has stalled. So far the treaty has been signed, but not ratified, by eleven AU member countries. Fifteen must sign and ratify the statutes for the fund to become operational. Once operational, it will have a capital subscription of up to US $22.64 billion and the ability to provide member countries with loans equivalent to two times their contributions to the Fund’s capital.

<h2>Managing the ripple effects</h2>

The free trade area offers states new growth and employment opportunities. But by increasing economic linkages between African states, it could also increase the risk that economic problems in one country can spill over and have a strongly negative effect on growth, trade, investment and employment in others. For example, both positive and negative developments in the US economy will have a powerful impact on Canada and Mexico.

<hr>

 
 
 Read more:
 <a href="http://theconversation.com/more-work-lies-ahead-to-make-africas-new-free-trade-area-succeed-118135">More work lies ahead to make Africa&#8217;s new free trade area succeed</a>
 
 

<hr>


To help mitigate these effects, participants in other regional trade arrangements have established regional financial arrangements. These provide financial support to their members to manage balance of payments crises. 

The <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2128437">evidence</a> suggests that when states have access to this type of financial support they are less likely to take actions that impede intra-regional trade flows. <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2128437">For example</a>, the Latin American Reserve Fund, which provides its members with financial support during balance of payments crises, has helped the recipient countries to maintain their intra-regional trade arrangements. This, in turn, has reduced the risk that the recipient’s problems would cause a crisis in its neighbours.

The failure of an adequate number of states to sign and ratify the African Monetary Fund treaty is an embarrassing challenge to the credibility of the AU’s efforts to promote a more integrated, dynamic, sustainable and equitable African economy. These efforts have been going on for more than 40 years. Steps along the way have included the former Organisation of African Unity’s Lagos Plan of Action for Economic Development of Africa <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/745620?seq=3#metadata_info_tab_contents">signed in 1980</a> and the Abuja Treaty <a href="http://repository.uneca.org/bitstream/handle/10855/3000/Bib-24781.pdf?sequence=3">signed in 1991</a>.

In a <a href="http://www.bu.edu/gdp/2019/07/03/july-2019-summit-of-the-african-union-jump-starting-the-african-monetary-fund/">policy brief</a> published by the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria and the Global Development Policy Center at Boston University, we propose three concrete steps to jumpstart the push for the fund. 

<h2>Action plan</h2>

First, the creation of the fund must be explicitly linked to the success of the free trade area. The AU leaders can do this by making the case that, just as has happened in other regions, the presence of a regional financial arrangement will support the efforts to boost intra-regional trade in Africa. It will help participating countries mitigate the balance of payments challenges that greater regional integration may cause. 

Moreover, the fund, by quickly providing its members with financial support, can offer them more time to negotiate a larger support package with richer institutions, such as the IMF. In this regard, it should be noted that eight of the AU member countries (Cape Verde, Comores, Djibouti, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, and Somalia) will be able to borrow more resources from the AMF than the IMF. 

Second, one AU member state should become the champion for the fund. This country would become the first country to sign and ratify the fund treaty. It would lobby other AU member countries to ratify the African Monetary Fund. It would advocate for the AU to reconstitute the steering committee created in the treaty and provide it with adequate resources. Since Cameroon is the designated host country for the AMF’s headquarters, it has an incentive to be a champion for the institution.

Finally, the steering committee should develop a plan for overcoming the substantial resource constraints in the region. This will require balancing the fund’s need for sufficient resources to be credible with the limited ability of some states to contribute. This could be addressed by negotiating an arrangement in which richer regional countries and institutions contribute a disproportionate share of their capital contributions up-front. 

These additional contributions will be reimbursed as poorer countries make their capital contributions. It’s important to note that the AMF Board of Governors has the authority to extend the period for a country to make its contribution for up to eight years. To further incentivise small to medium sized member countries to contribute capital, they should be allowed to treat their capital contributions as part of their international reserves. Such an arrangement is not unprecedented and was used effectively in South America. These measures would make an implementation plan more feasible.

Africa has tried valiantly for decades to overcome the substantial challenges hindering the development of robust intra-regional trade. The free trade area agreement is the most recent of these efforts. The credibility of the continent’s leaders and institutions will be influenced by its success or failure. The establishment of the African Monetary Fund would demonstrate the continent’s determination to promote intra-regional trade and development.

Hadiza Gagara Dagah is a co-author of the policy brief, <a href="http://www.bu.edu/gdp/2019/07/03/july-2019-summit-of-the-african-union-jump-starting-the-african-monetary-fund/">Jump-starting the African Monetary Fund </a>, on which this article is based.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119827/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/danny-bradlow-168878">Danny Bradlow</a>, SARCHI Professor of International Development Law and African Economic Relations, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-pretoria-1645">University of Pretoria</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/william-n-kring-771072">William N Kring</a>, Assistant Director, Global Development Policy Center, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/boston-university-898">Boston University</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-african-monetary-fund-is-a-good-idea-and-what-can-be-done-to-get-it-going-119827">original article</a>.

What can be done to get the African Monetary Fund going ?

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Public sector workers in Zimbabwe on Tuesday rejected a government offer of 180 million Zimbabwe dollars ($21 million) in added pay for the July-December period as inadequate in the face of soaring inflation, a union official said.



Zimbabweans are angry as a year-on-year price jump of around 100% has eaten the value of their wages and savings, recalling the horrors of hyperinflation in 2008. Hopes that living standards would soon improve under President Emmerson Mnangagwa have not been realised.



Daily power cuts lasting up to 17 hours and severe shortages of U.S. dollars, fuel, bread, and medicines are bedevilling citizens who had hoped the end of Robert Mugabe’s rule after a 2017 coup would herald a new economic dawn.



Thomas Muzondo, deputy chairman of the Apex Council, a group of public sector unions, told Reuters the government’s offer would see each of the 309,000 civil servants receiving only an additional 97 Zimbabwe dollars ($11.28) a month.



That amount would buy less than 20 litres of petrol at a service station. The lowest paid government worker earns 430 Zimbabwe dollars a month, enough to buy a vehicle tyre.



“We totally rejected that offer so they (government negotiators) will go back to their principals for further consultations,” Muzondo told Reuters.



“It was a total waste of time.”



He said the full Apex Council would meet in the capital Harare on Wednesday to decide its next step.



Civil Service Commission chairman Vincent Hungwe was not immediately available for comment.



Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube told business leaders on Monday that Mnangagwa’s government was ready to raise civil servants’ pay for the second time in three months, citing inflation. [nL8N2491TY]



The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions threatened “mass action” last month after the government made the RTGS dollar the sole legal tender and renamed it the Zimbabwe dollar.



Ncube has said the government is running monthly budget surpluses since January, the first time in years that state finances have not been in the red, and a sign that authorities have cut down borrowing.



Ncube previously promised to cut the budget deficit this year to 5% of GDP from 11% in 2018.



The finance minister told reporters after a cabinet meeting that the national treasury had on Tuesday carried out its first public auction of Treasury Bills since 2008 to test market appetite for the bills.



Five banks had participated in the auction and made bids totalling $20 million for 90-, 180- and 360-day Treasury Bills.



“The purpose of the auction was to test the market in terms of TB (Treasury Bill) appetite and to also enable us to work out a yield curve,” Ncube said.



Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Mark Heinrich

Why Zimbabwe public workers have rejected government’s $21 million pay rise offer

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/jade-scipioni/">Jade Scipioni</a> 



There are only about <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/07/forbes-there-are-a-record-2208-billionaires-in-the-world.html">2,200</a> billionaires in the world — or 0.0002% of planet’s population.



And&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/07/forbes-there-are-a-record-2208-billionaires-in-the-world.html" class="">67%</a>&nbsp;of those billionaires are self-made.



The members of that self-made group generally made their money in one of a few ways: they invented a useful product (think Bill Gates with Microsoft, whose net worth is around&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/">$107 billion</a>); they innovated a new way of solving a problem (think Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky, whose net worth is around&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/brian-chesky/#7feaad8944d3">$3.7 billion</a>); or they are savvy investors (think Warren Buffett, worth&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/">$87.3 billion</a>). Indeed, climbing the corporate ladder will rarely get you into the club (Tim Cook who runs nearly&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/AAPL/history/">$1 trillion company</a>&nbsp;Apple, for example, is worth around&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tim-cook-net-worth-apple-ceo-2018-8">$625 million</a>).



But beyond sharp entrepreneurial and investing chops, self-made billionaires share some traits, according to according to Rafael Badziag, who interviewed 21 of them (including early Uber investor Tim Draper and InfoSpace and Viome founder Naveen Jain) for his book, “The Billion Dollar Secret.” Here are three of the top things they have in common, according to Badziag.



 1. They succeed no matter what the ‘weather’ is



Badziag says it’s clear why most of the general population (he calls them “drifters”) don’t succeed in life: They are waiting for conditions to be perfect before they strike, and often those ideal conditions never materialize so they don’t fully pursue their dreams.



“Self-made” billionaires, he says, are different. Most of the billionaires Badziag interviewed didn’t come from well-off families or ideal situations, but they pursued their dreams no matter the circumstances around them — no matter the “weather outside or inside,” he says.



Take for example, one of the billionaires Badziag interviewed: N.R. Narayana Murthy, who co-founded IT giant Infosys, which is valued at more than&nbsp;<a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/INFY?p=INFY" class="">$45 billion</a>.



The 72-year-old, who is now worth as estimated <a class="" href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/nr-narayana-murthy/#632698863e05">$2.4 billion</a>, grew up in India in ’50s and ’60s, a poor country that he says was one of the most hostile to free enterprise at the time. As a child, his family was so poor he had to sleep on the floor because they had no furniture.



But despite having no money, Murthy was eager to learn; he would go to the public library in town (he lived outside Karnataka) and read everything he could. From what he learned, Murthy believed software was the future, so in 1981 he and some colleagues got the idea to create a software company. But they didn’t have a computer, and at the time, the Indian government required a license to import one, he told Badziag. So for three years, Murthy back and forth to Dehli by train, 1,500 miles each way, making at least 50 visits to pitch officials on why he should be granted a license. With their computer and phone line (which he says took <a class="" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-12957104">a year</a> to procure), Murthy and his co-founders started Infosys and grew it from an operation with seven employees into a global business and one of the leading technology consulting companies in India.



 2. They don’t do it for the money



Most “drifters” are dying to have big incomes but never quite achieve a high net worth status, or if they do, they lose motivation when they have some good in money in bank, says Badziag. (He refers to it as “the gold digger’s trap.”)



However, Badziag found that the “self-made” billionaires he interviewed aren’t motivated by wealth. Instead, they “have a strong sense of purpose and passion for their work,” and are motivated by a desire to “to grow and learn no matter how big their bank accounts get,” he says.



As Apple founder Steve Jobs once famously said, “I was worth over a million dollars when i was 23 and over $10 million when I was 24, and over $100 million when I was 25. And it wasn’t that important, because I never did it for the money.” Jobs said he started Apple with a simple vision of trying to create a “<a class="" href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197538">computer in the hands of everyday people</a>. ” and they ended up succeeding beyond they wildest dreams.



Murthy told Badziag he was driven by the belief that the only way to solve the problem of poverty was “through the creation of jobs with good incomes and that entrepreneurship was the best instrument for such a solution.”



And French-Syrian businessman Mohed Altrad, who made his now&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/mohed-altrad/#2c128ff45057" class="">$2.7 billion</a>&nbsp;fortune by acquiring a scaffolding company in France in 1985 and growing it into the industrial services giant&nbsp;<a href="https://www.altrad.com/en/home.html" class="">Altrad Group</a>, told Badziag that he doesn’t view money as an objective.



“It’s one of the signs of success. The success of the organization is to be sustainable, in which people are happy, in which humanity finds its foundation,” Altrad said.



 3. They are frugal



“Drifters” love spending money, according to Badziag, often going into debt to spend even more than they have. Even successful people are prone to showcasing their wealth via cars, expensive clothes and lavish vacations.



But the billionaires Badziag interviewed were different: They “get pleasure making money, but don’t enjoy spending it,” he says.



Take for example, Warren Buffett, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/" class="">fourth-richest person</a>&nbsp;in the world with a net worth of around&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/" class="">$87.3 billion</a>. Despite his massive wealth, the 88-year-old still lives in the same modest Omaha house he purchased in 1958 for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-modest-home-bought-31500-looks-2017-6" class="">$31,500</a>&nbsp;(which is around $277,00 in today’s dollars). He also keeps his breakfast budget low, only spending around&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/warren-buffett-buys-breakfast-from-mcdonalds-for-under-3-point-17.html" class="">$3.17</a>&nbsp;a day at McDonald’s to get one of three items: two sausage patties, a sausage, egg and cheese or a bacon, egg and cheese.



And Peter Hargreaves, the founder of Hargreaves Lansdown, one of the UK’s largest financial services businesses, told Badziag a few years back that he was still driving an eight-year-old Toyota Prius. Hargreaves’ net worth is estimated at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/peter-hargreaves/#147ef4b8691c" class="">$4.2 billion</a>.



Hargreaves also told Badziag that his children were frugal too. ”[My kids] drive very modest cars; they both have a car that’s seven years old. They both have quite modest flats. And if they go on holiday, they go with their mates, and they go to the back of the plane,” Hargreaves said.



Of course, some billionaires adjust to their level of wealth. For example, though Bill Gates is famous for wearing a <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/28/two-popular-items-bill-gates-refuses-to-spend-a-lot-of-money-on.html">$10 watch</a>, he recently <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/25/why-bill-gates-younger-self-would-be-disgusted-with-him-today.html">admitted</a> that he also indulges: “Now I take lots of vacation. My 20-year-old self is so disgusted with my current self. You know, I was sure I would never fly anything but coach and you know, now I have a plane,” Gates said last <a class="" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&amp;amp=&amp;amp=&amp;amp=&amp;v=W5g4sPi1wd4">month</a> at a Village Global event.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/02/self-made-billionaires-have-these-traits-in-common.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/02/self-made-billionaires-have-these-traits-in-common.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Special Report

Elon Musk’s latest project shows first step toward mind-reading brain implant

Why billionaire Richard Branson talks about his goals before he has any idea how to accomplish them

Central banks need to take human rights more seriously, here’s why

Music legend Johnny Clegg dies, this is his story

Billionaire Mark Cuban calls Facebook’s digital coin Libra a ‘big mistake,’ saying it ‘could be dangerous’

Treasurer of South Africa’s Eskom quits, what you need to know

Scandal-hit Steinhoff reports $400 million loss in half-year earnings

South Africa’s Eskom new funding bill expected July 23, what you need to know

Op-Ed: Sports as a business and a brand in Africa

Kenya has ordered Safaricom to shut down betting payments, here’s why

South Africa’s Reserve Bank expected to cut rates, what you need to know

Self-made millionaire: A simple chart changed the way I think about money

Tanzania’s President urges country’s women to “set ovaries free” and bear more children, here’s why

New PIC board appointed, includes Ramos, SARB governor reappointed

What can be done to get the African Monetary Fund going ?

Why Zimbabwe public workers have rejected government’s $21 million pay rise offer

3 traits self-made billionaires have in common, according to a guy who interviewed 21 of them

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Special Report

Elon Musk’s latest project shows first step toward mind-reading brain implant

Why billionaire Richard Branson talks about his goals before he has any idea how to accomplish them

Central banks need to take human rights more seriously, here’s why

Music legend Johnny Clegg dies, this is his story

Billionaire Mark Cuban calls Facebook’s digital coin Libra a ‘big mistake,’ saying it ‘could be dangerous’

Treasurer of South Africa’s Eskom quits, what you need to know

Scandal-hit Steinhoff reports $400 million loss in half-year earnings

South Africa’s Eskom new funding bill expected July 23, what you need to know

Op-Ed: Sports as a business and a brand in Africa

Kenya has ordered Safaricom to shut down betting payments, here’s why

South Africa’s Reserve Bank expected to cut rates, what you need to know

Self-made millionaire: A simple chart changed the way I think about money

Tanzania’s President urges country’s women to “set ovaries free” and bear more children, here’s why

New PIC board appointed, includes Ramos, SARB governor reappointed

What can be done to get the African Monetary Fund going ?

Why Zimbabwe public workers have rejected government’s $21 million pay rise offer

3 traits self-made billionaires have in common, according to a guy who interviewed 21 of them

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Newsletters