Forbes Africa 2013 February (e-magazine full)

w w w . z e n i t h b a n k . c o m
275mm[h] x 210mm[w], with 5mm bleed all round
FEBRUARY 2013 FORBES AFRICA | 1
VOLUME 3 NUMBER 1
CONTENTS — FEBRUARY 2013
8 | EDITOR’S DESK // Chris Bishop
12 | BRIEF 360°
FORBES FOCUS
28  THE TIDE TURNS
Namibia’s ruling SWAPO (South West Africa People’s Organization) has signaled a break with liberation-era politics by
electing the pro-business, trade and industry minister Hage Geingob as their next presidential candidate.
BY John GroBler
30  MANGAUNG UNPACKED
It was a erce and emotional battle over who would lead Africa’s biggest economy into the future.
There were heated exchanges and cries of corruption.
BY VuYo MVoko
LIST
35  THE 20 YOUNGEST POWER WOMEN IN AFRICA
Here are some of the young African women, who have left their footprints on Africa soil in the last year.
CoMpiled BY Farai Gudan
COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY KElECHi AmAdiOBi-OBi FOR FORBES AFRiCA;
RETOuCHinG BY THE VAnillA RAin CREATiVE
“We did very badly, but that failure was very
useful to me because it taught me a lot about
what not to do.”
— Hakeem Belo-Osagie
Chairman of Etisalat
paGe 14
“I knew what this would mean for me: wealth
destruction, business destruction and family

destruction.”
— Carl Bates
Author of: The Laws of Extreme Business Success
paGe 22
“What it really is, is an investment in
leadership and an investment in the future
of a country.”
— Oprah Winfrey
American talk show titan
paGe 64
FORBES
A world of
potential in Africa
A world of
potential in Africa
To create new opportunities you have to start looking at the world a little differently. With shifting economic powers,
developing nations on the rise and socio-political change happening across the globe everyday – South Africa is
looking beyond conventional thinking.
With abundant natural resources, human potential and growth prospects, Africa
holds the key to truly global prosperity in the future. South Africa is leading the way
with modern infrastructure as well as working with financial institutions to help fund
development across the continent – unlocking Africa’s potential.
9794 Delegates DPS r4B.indd 1 2013/01/23 6:06 PM
A world of
potential in Africa
A world of
potential in Africa
To create new opportunities you have to start looking at the world a little differently. With shifting economic powers,
developing nations on the rise and socio-political change happening across the globe everyday – South Africa is
looking beyond conventional thinking.

With abundant natural resources, human potential and growth prospects, Africa
holds the key to truly global prosperity in the future. South Africa is leading the way
with modern infrastructure as well as working with financial institutions to help fund
development across the continent – unlocking Africa’s potential.
9794 Delegates DPS r4B.indd 1 2013/01/23 6:06 PM
6 | FORBES AFRICA FEBRUARY 2013
VOLUME 3 NUMBER 1
CONTENTS — FEBRUARY 2013
ENTREPRENEURS
40  THE RIONGE PERSON TO ASK FOR A BRIBE
She stood up to 17 men demanding a bribe and is now reaping the rewards.
by Pete Guest
43 | AdVoice
sirdar south africa
RESOURCES SUPPLEMENT
46  MOZAMBIQUE’S STARTLING TRANSFORMATION
The transformation has been such that Beira port’s marketing manager, Felix Jaime Machado,
does not recognize the city in which he grew up.
by Julie bain
52  STEEL YOURSELF FOR THE WORST OF TIMES
Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita has enough spirit to tackle the tough times in South Africa’s steel sector
but the CEO wishes the country could nd its mojo once again.
by Julie bain
59 |AdVoice
eXXaro
LIFE
60  NIGERIA’S NIGHTINGALE
Nneka sticks her neck out to sing about corruption, oppression and life in Africa,

while everyone wants to hear about love.
by clair MacdouGall
72  GLIDE THROUGH COPENHAGEN FOR FREE
Copenhagen is one of the greenest capital cities, which makes sightseeing a breeze.
by Kristin Palitza
TECHNOLOGY
78  THE RETURN OF THE TECHNOCRAT
Taiwo Otiti, who runs IBM in West Africa, is back home and sitting pretty at the helm.
by thebe raMMutle
INVESTMENT GUIDE
82 | MAKING MONEY, MAKING HISTORY // Tshepo Tshabalala
SPORT
92  KILLER PASSES AND PRESIDENTIAL POWER IN THE GLORY OF ‘96
As the Africa Cup of Nations plays out, FORBES AFRICA looks back on a fairy tale that saw champions born on an
emotional, rainy afternoon in Johannesburg.
by chris bishoP
THIS IS AFRICA
96  MADE IN CHINA
FORBES
8 | FORBES AFRICA FEBRUARY 2013
FORBES
EDITOR’S DESK — CHRIS BISHOP
“Carpe Diem”
Got somethinG to say? Write to us

Be Careful What You
Don’t Wish For—You Might Get It
BY CHRIS BISHOP, MANAGING EDITOR
stay, with trade between the two up to

$200 billion in 2012. According to Stan-
dard Bank, 18% of Africa’s imports came
from China, in the first 10 months of 2012.
If you got up this morning and put on your
fancy suit and shiny shoes, watched televi-
sion, played with your children and their
plastic toys, used your cellphone and then
sat down at your laptop, you could have
spent the entire time touching goods made
in China.
On the other side of the
coin, China wants: South Af-
rica’s platinum, iron ore and
rare earth; copper and coal
from Zambia; gold from Zim-
babwe and oil from Angola.
In this resources-themed
issue of FORBES AFRICA
you will read more of the
Chinese hunger for what lies
beneath the soil of Africa.
The state-run companies of
China, backed by huge reserves and safe
in the knowledge of pent-up demand back
home, are making hay while the sun shines
over Africa. They come in with a ferocious
work ethic, keep to themselves, bring in
their own experts and get on with it. Ruth-
lessness is key to man’s accomplishment,
goes another proverb.

Trade with China is very popular in
this part of the world—it is called “south-
south” cooperation, that is, business
between the emerging economies of the
southern hemisphere without the help or
hindrance of the big brothers in Europe
and the States. In return, the Chinese build
D
eep breath everyone, a new
year is here; time to get your
breath back after another
year of squabbles. This conti-
nent appears to be riven by
squabbles with no end. No names, no pack
drill but there are perennial squabbles up
and down this beautiful continent, over
who should run the country, who should
make money, who shouldn’t. The grounds
for these squabbles are,
well, take your pick: politi-
cal, ancestry, geographical
location, skin color, lan-
guage, religion, you name it,
people can squabble about
it. Finger pointing is a game
anyone can play. The name
calling, the investigations,
the accusations—from the
north to the south, there
seems no end.

Just think, while these
squabbles are raging a superpower is very
quietly and eciently cleaning up in Africa.
Yes folks, if it has evaded you so far, China
is growing in Africa, to borrow from a Chi-
nese proverb, like bamboo shoots after rain.
In mines, factories and shops across Africa,
Chinese entrepreneurs are working at cap-
turing business that others either couldn’t
see or couldn’t work hard enough to take
advantage of. Another Chinese proverb:
don’t stand by the water and long for fish;
go home and weave a net. In other words,
while we are squabbling, the Chinese are
fishing.
Make no mistake, China is in Africa to
FebrUArY 2013 FORBES AFRICA | 9
Views expressed by commentators in this publication are not necessarily those held by FORBES AFRICA or its members of sta. All facts printed
in FORBES AFRICA were confirmed as being correct at the time the magazine went to print.
In the December/January article “They’ve Got Angola Covered”, Robert Lewis’ brother is Andrew, not Greg. South Africa’s first online stock
broker was Utrade, not Uturn.
With regards to the “Africa’s 40 Richest People” List. #1 Aliko Dangote: Dangote Cement is expanding to Myanmar and Iraq, not Pakistan. #36
Koos Bekker: Source of wealth should be media, not telecom.
Apologies from the FORBES AFRICA editorial team for any confusion this may have caused.
badly needed infrastructure, for Africa, at lightning speed:
major roads in Kenya, Mozambique’s bright, white, metal,
airport and railways across Nigeria, to name a mere few.
Governments, especially despotic ones, love Chinese
investors because they don’t make conditions nor pontifi-
cate to their hosts on human rights. When was the last time

you saw a Chinese business type in the newspapers calling
for free elections? More importantly, when did you see
Chinese business types in the newspaper for any reason?
Chinese investors, unlike the colonialists of old, did not
ride into Africa with flags fluttering and drums beating.
They come not to rule, control, nor set up post oces and
government departments—merely to work and extract.
My point is that the infrastructure and price for this
extraction should be bargained for as hard as the amount
of work the Chinese put in. Recently, there has been a lot
of noise made by politicians about keeping the value of Af-
rica’s resources by refining at home rather than exporting
raw materials and allowing profits to be made elsewhere.
This hardball with the Chinese requires not only clear
policy but a united, committed front. This can only come
about when the squabbling is done. Surely, any political or
social argument is worth less than the wealth and security
that could come from a more fruitful deal with the Chinese,
from whom Africa could learn so much about the art of
successful money making. There are many paths to the top
of the mountain but the view is always the same, says the
Chinese proverb.
The cost of failure could be high. A missed opportunity
that could leave Africa short changed yet again. It will be
too late to lament, maybe, in 30 years’ time when our chil-
dren will have children of their own. In the words of a final
Chinese proverb: Tears cannot put out a fire. Think about
it.
‘When elephants fight, the grass gets trampled’
is a Swahili proverb that is used to describe positions of power being used without

respect. The abuse of dominance is regulated by the Competition Act and the
Werksmans competition team has the expertise and experience to advise both
dominant and non-dominant businesses on competition law compliance - both in
South Africa and elsewhere in Africa. So, if you need legal advice to give your business
a competitive edge, keep us close.
Visit www.werksmans.com to find out more about our competition law and
African expertise.
Wapiganapo tembo
nyasi huumia
THE CORPORATE & COMMERCIAL LAW FIRM
JOHANNESBURG +27 (0)11 535 8000 CAPE TOWN +27 (0)21 405 5100
www.werksmans.com
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10 | FORBES AFRICA FebrUArY 2013
MANAGING EDITOR
Chris Bishop
GENERAL MANAGER
D
avlynne Lidbetter
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Vuyo Mvoko
SUB-EDITOR
I
ga Motylska
B
DM - EAST AFRICA
Govenor Makhubela
B
DM - WEST AFRICA

Radithebe Rammutle
ART & DESIGN DIRECTOR
Lieria Ferreira
PRODUCTION C
O
-ORDINATOR
Shanna Jacobsen
DISTRIBUTION C
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-ORDINATOR
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JUNIOR JOURNALIST
S
Lerato Seko, Mpho Raborife
FORBES
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AFRICA IN BRIEF
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ZOLANI MARALI: PHOTO BY CHRIS TOWNEND \ RAILA ODINGA: CHRIS JACKSON/GETTY IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES/GALLO IMAGES
PREDICTABLE KENYA WITH UNPREDICTABLE ELECTIONS
Kenya takes to the polls on March 4 in the most unpredictable election in its history. Kenya’s electoral
body, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will have one week to report results.

In the event of a run-o, it will take place within 30 days from the announcement, that is if there are no
disputes.
There are two major coalitions: the Jubilee Alliance led by Uhuru Kenyatta (Deputy Prime Minister)
and CORD led by Raila Odinga (Prime Minister), which makes the outcome dicult to predict.
The Jubilee Alliance consists of the United Republican Party (URP) of William Ruto and TNA of Uhu-
ru Kenyatta, amongst others. Both left their government posts as minister of education and minister of
finance respectively, due to the ongoing International Criminal Court investigations into their possible
involvement in the 2007/8 post-election violence. CORD mainly constitutes of Orange Democratic
Movement (ODM) led by Odinga and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka of the Wiper Democratic Move-
ment (WDM) along with smaller parties. Other coalitions include the Amani Coalition led by Deputy
Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi and Eugene Wamalwa (minster of justice) of the New Ford Party.
Due to political anxiety and the history of post-election violence, private sector investment spending
is expected to slow down. This will remain short-lived before spending starts picking up again to push
the GDP growth towards the overall 5% mark for the year.
ROCKY WINS
AGAINST THE
ODDS
Zolani Marali—who
FORBES AFRICA called
the ‘Rocky of Africa’ in its
November issue—defeated
Ali Funeka in a WBF light
welterweight world title
fight held in East London
in November. The victory
marked the rebirth of the
Mdantsane Township-born
fighter who had previously
been written o before
Alan Toweel took him

into his gym. “He boxed
bravely, like a warrior and
all judges gave the fight to
Zolani,” says Toweel.
NEWS LINES
DIED: John Nkomo, vice president of Zimbabwe died on January 17 at
St Anne’s Hospital in Harare, aged 79.
MALI: Government troops recapture key central town of Konna, on
January 18, after days of fighting.
SHOT: Somali Islamist group al-Shabab suspected of killing five and
wounding four in Garissa, in eastern Kenya, on January 16.
DEMAND: Liberia’s jailed former president, Charles Taylor, demands
an annual state pension of $25,000.
KICKED OFF: The 2013 Afcon tournament kicked o on January 19 in
Johannesburg with South Africa versus Cape Verde.
RESIGNED: Rio Tinto boss, Tom Albanese, resigned on January 17
amid news that the company will write-down $14 billion in its African
assets, including its Mozambique coking coal operation.
CONFESSION: Disgraced Tour de France cyclist Lance Armstrong
admits to Oprah Winfrey that he used performance enhancing drugs
since the 1990s.
FILM: Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim
Hetherington premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20.
The documentary is about a British war photographer who was killed,
aged 40, while covering the revolution in Libya.
16%
of Africans use the internet.
Source: Open Data for Africa
FEBRUARY 2013 FORBES AFRICA | 13
360°

The Good
Gabon will host peace talks between
the Central African Republic’s
government and the Seleka rebel
coalition, who control a northern
portion of the country. The rebel
group has demanded that President
Francois Bozize step down as part of
the agreement and have vowed not to
attack the country’s capital, Bangui.
Makera and Usu, villages in Zamfara state
in Nigeria, saw 10 people hacked and shot
to death. Zamfara police suspect gangs
of Fulani herdsmen. In the town of Song
four people died when a police station
burned down. The gunmen involved are
suspected to be a part of Boko Haram. The
islamist militant group has not accepted
responsibility.
The president of SAFA, Kirsten Nematandani,
and four other ocials, who were allegedly
involved in the match-fixing scandal at the
end of 2012, have been reinstated. This, weeks
before South Africa was to host the Africa
Cup of Nations. Investigations will continue
after AFCON. “The issue will not be swept
under the carpet,” says SAFA spokesperson
Dominic Chimhavi.
The Bad And The Ugly
PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES/GALLO IMAGES

1time might Fly AgAin
Fastjet have signed an option agreement to buy provisionally liquidated airline 1time. The
Tanzania-based, low-cost carrier is looking to expand its business with interests in East Africa,
Ghana, Angola and South Africa. 1time shares will cost Fastjet R1 ($0.12). The deal is set to go
through once the liquidation papers arrive in February. Fastjet, founded by businessman Sir
Stelios Haji-Ioannou, launched its maiden flights on November 29, from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza
and Kilimanjaro.
mAhAmA inAugurAted
despite ClAims OF rigging
Following the December 10 elections, John
Dramani Mahama was inaugurated as Gha-
na’s president at Independence Square in
Accra on January 7. Mahama beat New Pa-
triotic Party (NPP) opposition leader Nana
Akufo-Addo by 50,7% to 47,7%. Akufo-Addo
claimed election results were rigged due to
technical glitches during the voting process.
He has challenged them in court. Members
of the NPP boycotted the inauguration.
mAli link tO AlgeriA hOstAge
drAmA
France deployed around 1,700 troops to Mali on Janu-
ary 11 with the launch of its military oensive, which was
reinforced by some 400 troops from Nigeria, Togo, Chad
and Benin. The West-African country has been under siege
from Islamic extremist alliance groups, who have occupied
the northern part of the country since last year. The ter-
rorist alliance is made up of al-Qaeda’s AQIM, splinter
group MUJWA and Malian rebel group Ansar Dine. French
President Francois Hollande has vowed that troops will not

leave the former French colony until a stable, democratic
government is established.
In apparent retaliation, 40 Al-Qaeda-linked gunmen
attacked a BP-Statoil- Sonatrach gas plant at Tigantou-
rine, near In Amenas in Algeria, which is Africa’s largest
natural gas producer. Six hundred and eighty five Algerian
workers and 107 foreigners were freed by Algerian forces
during a military operation on January 17. Three hundred
Algerian and 41 foreign workers—from America, Britain,
Norway, France, Romania, Japan, Malaysia and the Philip-
pines—were taken hostage. The death toll of militants and
their captives reached 80 on January 21, with some people
still missing.
The hostage-takers accused Algeria of refusing Malian
refugees. They demanded the release of Islamists held
in Algerian prisons and that France withdraws its troops.
France has sent in an additional 300 troops into Mali, with
the number expected to grow.
tOp 20 BrAnds On
sOCiAl mediA in
AFriCA
Due to an oversight FORBES
AFRICA would like to amend the
Top 20 Brands On Social Media
In Africa list, which was featured
in the December January issue.
The number one position should
be held by NTV Kenya, which has
45,522 YouTube subscribes and
117,608,388 views. NTV Kenya is

a television brand of the Nation
Media Group owned by Aga
Kahn, one of the world's richest
royals. The group is the largest
independent media house in East
Africa.
3,000
Number of African ethnic groups.
Source: Africa: ‘A Biography of the Continent’
FORBES
PHOTOs BY KelecHi AmAdiOBi-OBi FOR FORBes AFRicA
14 | FORBES AFRICA FEBRUARY 2013
Forbes Focus
Hakeem belo-osagie
T
ales of entrepreneurial success
are usually based on events or
circumstances that define and
distinguish each story. At times,
these relate to the individual’s
planned or fortuitous foray into a business
venture; the painstaking process of building
same, a bruising setback or a stroke of fate
that leads to the game-changing break. The
interplay of these elements is what makes
each entrepreneur’s story unique, and in the
case of Hakeem Belo-Osagie, the Nigerian
entrepreneur and chairman of the mobile
telecommunications company Etisalat, the
chemistry between these elements is as

vivacious as ever.
After more than a decade of running UBA
and overseeing a transformation of its fortunes,
Hakeem, or Keem as he is widely referred
to, shifted his focus to the telecoms industry.
Two prior unsuccessful attempts to obtain a
license were followed by a successful third bid
with the Mubadala Company of Abu Dhabi.
The new player, Etisalat Nigeria, rolled out its
services six years after the first mobile operator
had launched in the Nigerian market. Etisalat
became the fourth operator alongside MTN,
Glo and Airtel.
“I had made two attempts to get into the
telecoms industry before. The first time was
when we had the first bid for GSM and there I
was a partner to Orascom. Four licenses were
given and we were fifth, so we just missed it.
AfricA’s UnAssUming giAnt
Hakeem Belo-Osagie, veteran entrepreneur worth $400
million, on catching up with Nigeria’s telecom market
leaders and the rise of Africa.
By chArles idem And theBe rAmmUtle
With the second attempt, this time working
with Orascom again to buy NITEL, we won, but
we were told that our price was too low. I thank
God that we were rejected because I think that
it would have been very dicult managing
NITEL. And then the third time, this time I was
not working with Orascom, I was working with

a company called Mubadala, which is one of the
sovereign wealth funds of Abu Dhabi, and this
time we were successful in getting a license and
that is the foundation of the company called
Etisalat.”
Experts and skeptics predicted a rough ride
for the company due to its late entrance into
the industry. But since its commencement
of commercial operations in October 2008,
Etisalat has surprised with its solid growth
and achievements. The newcomer had two
million subscribers in its first year and gained
the reputation of being the most innovative
telecoms company in Nigeria. By 2011, it had
12 million subscribers, despite the intense
competition in Nigeria’s telecoms sector.
As mobile penetration continues to increase
in Africa’s largest telecoms market—with
recent figures showing that the aggregate
mobile subscriber base has surpassed 100
million—telecom infrastructure continues to
mushroom across the country. Etisalat has
invested more than $2 billion in building and
expanding its network. Of the estimated 20,000
cell sites scattered across the country, Etisalat’s
infrastructure accounted for around 15% in
february 2013 FORBES AFRICA | 15
16 | FORBES AFRICA february 2013
2011. Belo-Osagie points out that the expansion of the
company’s network will continue.

“We had some gaps in our network in the South-South
and South Eastern part of Nigeria and we are now in the
process of filling those gaps, right now we have something
in the range of just over 4,000 base stations. We are very
happy with our rollout because we think with this number
of base stations we can cover the whole country. However,
our objective over the next few years is to double that
number and get to the range of about 8,000 base stations.”
By October, Etisalat had surpassed its target for the year
of 14 million subscribers.
“What we are particularly happy about is our 3G data
oering, which we think is universally accepted as the best
and the fastest in the market. As a company, we are going
to continue to pioneer innovative solutions as we seek to
distinguish ourselves from our competitors.”
True to his words, Etisalat is stealing a march on its
competitors in the mobile banking race with its recent
introduction of an innovative SIM application called ‘Easy
Wallet’. The application, which comes pre-loaded on every
Etisalat SIM card, encourages the adoption of mobile
phone as the preferred means of conducting basic financial
transactions. Belo-Osagie promises that the coming months
will see more such mobile money products.
“Well, I think we are very proud of the fact that our
partner Etisalat indeed won a prize for having one of
the best mobile applications in the world at the recent
telecommunications conference. In addition to that, we’ve
built on the strengths of Mubadala, which is a sovereign
wealth fund very much in the area of finance. You will
notice that many of the Nigerian directors have, at one time

forbes focus — Hakeem belo-osagie
FORBES
“I do think though that with the correct strategy we can become
the number two [telecom] company in Nigeria.”
This is not a tablet.
It’s a library.
Welcome to the New World.
We’re partnering with organisations and individuals who are as committed to our communities as we are.
Every day, we’re developing and launching products and services that make sure that everyone who has a
mobile phone has access to books, e-learning and other innovative educational facilities. It doesn’t matter
where you are, everywhere you go, you can learn something new with MTN.
MetropolitanRepublic/9723/E
forbes focus — Hakeem belo-osagie
FORBES
18 | FORBES AFRICA february 2013
or another, been involved in banking. We felt that it should
only be natural that we be a leader in the area in which
telecoms and banking cross each other.”
Being the resolute operator that he is, Belo-Osagie wants
Etisalat to rise to the second position in the industry.
“I do think though that with the correct strategy we can
become the number two [telecom] company in Nigeria. We
focus very much on the youth market. We focus very much
on the data market and we focus very much on the quality
of services. I think we are also helped by the fact that we
have two very financially strong shareholders, Mubadala and
Etisalat, and we have funded our rollout, so the amount of
debt that we have on our books is relatively small. I believe
that with the strategy that we have, especially one that has
avoided a lot of changes of management which Airtel has

gone through, and the depth of management we have in
comparison with Glo, I think that we will eventually get to
the second position in the market place.”
He describes the challenge of catching up with the market
leaders as “a management and intellectual challenge,” which
he enjoys. With an air of confidence that is almost palpable,
he oers a concise analysis of the industry.
“Realistically, I don’t think that any company can beat
MTN in Nigeria because the gap is very large between
MTN and everybody else. And while I think that MTN
can improve its quality of service, I think that it has a
strong management; there is a real commitment to Nigeria
from MTN, and they’ve also done a lot in terms of the
development of local sta.”
Belo-Osagie’s childhood fantasies had nothing to do with
running businesses. His early ambition was to become a
mathematician. Later, while studying at a sixth form college
in Wales, he developed an interest in public service and
went on to study politics, philosophy and economics at
Oxford University. He obtained a law degree at Cambridge
University before undertaking the Harvard MBA program.
While at Oxford, he obtained work experience as an intern
at the OPEC headquarters in Vienna.
His graduation from business school would coincide with
the enactment of a policy by the Nigerian government that
permitted federal ministers and the president’s advisers to
employ aides. Through much more than a stroke of luck,
Belo-Osagie was appointed as an aide to the president’s
adviser on petroleum. He would go on to hold the position
for six years, despite a coup d’état that led to the arrest and

incarceration of his initial boss. Following another coup,
which occurred when he was getting married, he made the
decision to abandon the precarious public sector to pursue
opportunities in the private sector.
He set up a consulting firm which advised international
companies that sought to play in Nigeria’s oil industry. The
venture was a resounding success and after a few years and
millions of dollars in the bank, his entrepreneurial instinct
sparked the hunger for another venture. This led him to
cast his attention to the financial sector and, as fate would
have it, the Nigerian government decided to privatize
banks established by the British, which were still under
government control.
Sensing the opportunity, Belo-Osagie cashed in and
acquired UBA in a landmark transaction. The consequent
modernization of the bank, which he spearheaded, led the
bank to remarkable achievements. The UBA acquisition
would become the transaction that cemented his reputation
as an astute and dogged entrepreneur.
Before the triumph with UBA, Belo-Osagie tasted his
share of failure. He set up a financial services company
called KMC in the early 1980s.
“We did very badly, but that failure was very useful to me
because it taught me a lot about what not to do. One of the
things that I believe is that setbacks are a very vital part of
life because setbacks strengthen you. You learn lessons from
them; you learn to be tough; you learn to be bold. Therefore
learning the lessons from the failure of KMC, I, with a group
of others, set up First Securities Discount House, which was
a great success.”

Despite his media shyness, Belo-Osagie is well-known
in business circles locally and internationally. Indeed, he
maintains a good friendship with Daniel Yergin, the Pulitzer
Prize winning author and energy analyst under whom he
authored a special paper on the state of international oil
markets, while at Harvard Business School. His calm and
unassuming demeanour belies a strong intellect and an
uncanny ability to spot lucrative opportunities. This is best
reflected by his status as one of Africa’s wealthiest men with
an estimated fortune of $400 million, which saw him at
number 40 of the ‘Africa’s 40 Richest’ list in December.
When asked about recent calls urging telecoms
companies to list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, he pauses
to gather his thoughts, before explaining meticulously and
systematically the role that the telecoms industry will have
to play in fulfilling Nigeria’s aspirations.
“One way or another, all of us telecoms are going to have
to accept that we are living in a certain country, that the
country has certain communal, social and national interests
and we are going to have to adjust to those interests. I don’t
think that the interest of the company and the interest of
Nigeria necessarily have to conflict. But I think that there
has got to be flexibility on both sides. And I don’t think
“We did very badly, but
that failure was very useful
to me because it taught me
a lot about what not to do.”
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that the telecoms companies will be
successful if they have an attitude
that is inflexible. So for me, sooner
or later the Nigerian companies will
have to list, and I honestly don’t have a
problem with that at all.”
Government and telecoms
companies should be discussing how
the listing process should unfold, with
the question being on the various
policy options for listing, according to
Belo-Osagie.
“Should all the companies be
listed? Should it only be companies
that have been in existence for a
certain number of years, or companies
that have reached a certain level of
profitability?” he asks rhetorically.
He feels that it will be counter-
productive, were government to
compel the operators to list. He
advises that consultation rather than

fiat, should be adopted by government,
so that the healthy atmosphere, which
he believes the Nigerian government,
and to an extent, a lot of African
governments have done good to
create, is sustained.
As the conversation switches to the
subject of the future of Nigeria and
Africa, Belo-Osagie points out that he
is cautiously optimistic about Africa’s
future. He believes that a lot of the
growth in Nigeria and Africa stems
from the dismantling of many of the
barriers imposed by the over extensive
state investment and participation in
the economy, in African countries. In
his opinion, reforms, especially those
in the Nigeria, need to be stimulated.
He observes further that governments
have an important policy role that
needs to be refined.
“No matter how eective a private
sector is, it cannot generate electricity
outside a set of policy measures that
determine how everything works
together.”
Belo-Osagie believes that a crucial
factor to the performance of African
economies in the next few years
is the extent to which the African

public sector is reinvigorated across
the continent. He notes that, Africa’s
success hinges on the paradox that
sees governments relinquishing
control in terms of administering
the economy, while developing and
exercising its capacity to articulate
and implement policies. He expresses
his concerns that the pace of the
policy strengthening across Africa
is not taking place fast enough.
Comparing developments in Africa
with Asia, he says: “Whether it is
Japan, Singapore or South Korea, you
will see the hand of the government
that is pushing, that is encouraging,
that is putting together the
infrastructure, that is ensuring that a
competitive system is established, you
will see them in all of those areas. You
will see them ensuring that things like
airports, immigration, state security,
all have the tools to do well in their
area. The success of each of those
areas is as important to the running
of an economy, as is simply giving
licenses to private companies”.
Outside his business ventures,
the entrepreneur is a generous
philanthropist. As one who had

the privilege to attend prestigious
universities, he is very active in
supporting education. He is one of
the largest donors to the African
Leadership Academy, an advanced
level college in South Africa, to which
he has given more than $1 million. He
announces with pride that the school
has named part of the library after him
and his wife for their contributions.
Keem is also in his third term as
president of the King’s College Old
Boys Association, the college where he
attended secondary school in Lagos in
the 1960s. He also sponsors an annual
scholarship, The Hakeem Belo-Osagie
Scholarship, at Oxford University.
An ardent lover of jazz music and
fan of Manchester United, Belo-
Osagie takes a broad yet simplistic
view of success.
“There is a quotation, which was
adapted from something that John
F. Kennedy said, defining happiness,
which I think is a definition of success
as well. He said it’s ‘The full use of
ones talents, along lines of excellence,
in the life aording one opportunity,
and in the direction towards service’.
I think that one thing that makes

you happy or successful is to know
that you are operating at the peak of
your abilities. The abilities can be in
the carpenter who takes great pride
in his craftsmanship, making the
great table. It can be the great singer,
the great mathematician. ‘In a life
aording you opportunity’, by that
I mean that to be successful there
must be the opportunities for you to
exploit, and that part of the kind of
society we must create is a society in
which more and more people have the
opportunities to develop those talents.
And in the African societies that we
have today, we are not doing enough of
that. And then we say, ‘In the direction
towards service’, which simply says
that the ends, the objectives cannot be
solely focused on me, me, me. So I like
that definition of success or happiness
because it says a lot which I think is
important.”
For a person who has traveled the
world and been actively involved in
business for more than three decades,
he clearly knows a thing or two about
what success means.

“I think that one thing that makes

you happy or successful is to know
that you are operating at the peak
of your abilities.”
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22 | FORBES AFRICA FEBRUARY 2013
Cobhams asuquo
A TAle Of SOrrOw
And SAlvATiOn
An unexpected phone
call from the other
side of the world
shattered the joy of a
warm African night for
whizz-kid entrepreneur,
Carl B
a
tes. It led to
pain, retribution and
redemption in a small-
town story of sorrow.
by Chris bishop
february 2013 FORBES AFRICA | 23
M
arch 19, 2010. It was a joyful
Friday night in Robertson

in South Africa’s Western
Cape. Wedding guests drove
through the cool breeze of
a warm night on their way back from a cruise
on the river and everyone was merry. The
piercing sound of a cellphone stopped the joy
in its tracks.
“I just knew there was something wrong,”
says Carl Bates.
“I always knew I would get a phone call
from New Zealand late at night. This was at
10:15 on a Friday night. I always thought it was
going to tell me that one of my grandparents
had passed away.”
The voice on the other end of the line told
Bates the bad news: his father had suered
a stroke back home in Wanganui in New
Zealand and couldn’t speak or use the right
side of his body. It was the prelude to a worst
day that would tear at the heart of the Bates
Family.
“I knew what this would mean for me:
wealth destruction, business destruction and
family destruction.”
It was a story rooted in rural Wanganui. The
Bates family was known for its entrepreneurs
in the small town, population 45,000, where
the Wanganui River flows into the sea on the
west coast of New Zealand’s North Island.
Between them they ran a butcher’s shop, a

greengrocer’s, a bicycle shop, a florist and a
concrete plant.
“They were all small businesses. I was
wondering why have none of these businesses
made a whole lot of money? What is stopping
them succeed? This whole learning and
thinking was going on in my brain,” says Bates.
One of the biggest fish in Wanganui was
Mike Bates, the father of Carl, who ran a
plumbing; property; plant and vehicle hire
business.
“I was born on March 13, 1983; dad’s
business was incorporated on August 15,
1983. I had grown up with the business. I had
learned about the business and watched it
grow; I had watched the trials and tribulations,
like when his secretary had stolen his money
from him and when builders had gone
bankrupt and we had not been paid,” says
Bates.
“My dad was fun loving, carefree, a little
bit unreliable but he was clever. He was
determined and stubborn and he was a
winner. People knew who he was; he wasn’t
in everyone’s good books. He was fit and went
to the gym and had played international roller
hockey for New Zealand. He was only 51 when
he suered the stroke.”
Sadly, for Bates junior, in the years leading
up to the tragedy, he had struggled to talk to

his father of the dangers of building a business
around one person. Ironically, passing on this
message to entrepreneurs around the world
was the core of his business. In his late 20s,
Bates built up a R10 million-a-year ($1.16
million) business, Sirdar, which he expanded
to South Africa in 2008 after a chance meeting
over breakfast in Hong Kong. The business
specializes in coaching entrepreneurs through
independent non-executive directors assigned
by the company.
Bates, who entered Massey University,
Palmerston North, aged 16, had a claim to
being a wunderkind of Wanganui. He studied
accountancy and finance, while working
full-time at McDonald’s. At 17, he was elected
chairman in Palmerston North for the Young
National Party; at 18, he became a director
of a private hospital in the city; at 20, he was
a director of Arena Manawatu—the largest
multi-stadium complex in New Zealand.
Little in life could have prepared Bates for
the ordeal he was to suer on March 26, 2010,
as he sat in South Africa and agonized over his
my worst day
FORBES
carl bates
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