Engaging Zambia's school drop-outs

Changing the way people engage with education has become the life's work for Zambian teacher and entrepreneur Rozious Siatwambo.

He is the founder of the Great North Road Academy, an independent school in Zambia's capital Lusaka.

The school encourages "drop-outs" of any age to return to education. 

Rozious Siatwambo with a student

Projectors are installed in classrooms to encourage interactive learning and students unable to attend classes can enrol in distance learning at home through DVDs and CDs recorded at the school. 

Mr Siatwambo had a fairly conventional start in education - he gained a degree in education from the University of Zambia but after graduating he decided that he was not going to follow his peers.

"I didn't want to join the government. I didn't want to join anywhere. So what I had to do is, I had to now search my heart, search what I'd learnt at the university and then I started using those skills to come up with something," he told the BBC's series African Dream. 

With his passion for education and determination to be his own boss, he identified a gap in the independent school market. 

"If you look at most of these private schools, most of them are not run by teachers, most of them are just business persons, so I wanted to come up with something different which would have an education attached." 

'Growing of ideas'

 Mr Siatwambo reached out to the public to sell his idea.

 

"I started printing some flyers and also calling some people and I remember during the initial stages, sometimes I'd leave the office, I'd go on the streets," he told the BBC's Mutuna Chanda. 

For Mr Siatwambo it is these early stages and the "growing of ideas" which enabled him to visualise how the school would work and how it would stand out from other independent schools.

"We started looking at where we can come out different from these other schools and we started bringing in new ideas such as modernising our system, ensuring that even those who didn't come here got the best services they could ever get. And this is what has seen rise us to this level," he said.

However, not many people seemed to have much faith in his plans. 

He says he wrote to about 50 banks and organisations and received only rejections. But he describes this as an important lesson. 

"I learned that you don't need to depend on others or even other organisations. You can still do it on your own. I find it sometimes cumbersome where I have to do all this paperwork so I would rather stand on my own." 

He turned to friends who backed him to the tune of $15,000 (£9,700). This plus his own personal funds enabled him to put some money behind his idea. 

Within the first month the school had enrolled more than 30 pupils. Today it has around 700 pupils and more than 30 employees.

Hijacked books

So given the large injection of capital he had, what is his response to those who might say they do not have the same financial advantages? 

"You don't start a business with money, you start with an idea. And that idea it has to be grown," he says.

"So the idea is the one that is going to lead you to where money is. I had to grow that idea. Upon growing that idea, that's when my brain would tell me to say now can you source some money to fill the gaps. 

"Running a business doesn't actually take money, it is the brain." 

Mr Siatwambo has now turned his attentions to producing exam guides.

In 2006 he had the idea for Exams Made Easy and went about getting it published. To keep his costs low, he had the book published in China. 

"After printing quite a number of copies [50,000] let me just say it was quite challenging because locally it was quite expensive to have a book printed," he says.

"There was one major challenge I faced when the books were being shipped to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania," he remembers.

"The ship that was carrying the books had been hijacked in Somalia and you can imagine there were only two weeks before the launch and I'd invited all the people, ministers and other people, so now what was I going to do? Abandon the launch? I just went ahead with the launch through just a few copies that I'd printed locally." 

He now has plans to build on the book and to expand his Great North Road Academy.

"I have now converted the book into a DVD. My intention is to expand the school into a university in the next three or four years. 

"I've already acquired some land. We wanted to construct a complex which will house a primary school, a secondary school and also a university. Now we are just looking at financiers to finance the work. Hopefully by 2015 all of the structures will be in place." 

Source: BBC

Lybia needs Entrepreneurs to Grow its Economy

A seven-storey apartment block on Tripoli Street is riddled with bullet holes.

Its walls have been blackened by smoke and a large chunk has been ripped out of its roof by a tank shell.

On the ground floor, what was once a shop is now a mess of twisted metal shelving, broken glass and the burnt remains of whatever the store used to sell.

This is typical of the buildings that line Misrata's main road, a long, wide avenue that was home to the city's main shops and businesses until they were destroyed during the war.

Months after the end of the conflict in Libya, it is still uncertain what will happen to the main street of the country's commercial capital.

At least half the buildings will have to be knocked down, according to Professor Mohammed Sassi, an engineer from Tripoli University.

"We have to test all the columns, the roofs, the walls. We will then decide what to rebuild or demolish," he says.

"Most supermarkets and all the social affairs were mainly on Tripoli Street.

"We are looking forward to make it better than it was before."

Looted

The occasional business is managing to reopen.

Shopkeeper Esidene Sawesi has scraped together the 7,000 dinars ($5,500, £3,600) needed to repair and restock his convenience store on the ground floor of an otherwise badly damaged block.

Esidene Sawesi's convenience store

"The building was hit by tanks and cannon. It was then taken over by Gaddafi's troops. They stole everything in the shop. They even broke the shelves when they left."

Now the store has had a complete re-fit.

Boxes of toothpaste and cigarettes are neatly stacked on new glass shelves behind the counter.

"Fixing everything up took longer than it should have done because there was a shortage of some of the building materials," Mr Sawesi explains as he shovels dried beans into a plastic bag.

"I had to pay for it all myself. It was difficult for me to fund this. But we're standing on our own two feet again."

With no other general stores nearby, he seems to be doing brisk business.

But such a quick recovery is the exception.

Banknote shortage

At the huge two-storey Alqudra market on the edge of Misrata, 10 shops have reopened.

It had 750 traders before it was taken over by Colonel Gaddafi's army.

The sewage, electricity and phone systems still need to be fixed.

But repair work is taking a while, partly because of a shortage of banknotes.

"It's having a huge impact," says the market's chairman, Mohammad Algwail.

"Unfortunately, unless this problem is resolved it will be an issue that will confront everyone who wants to do something in Libya, regardless of the size of their project."

Banks have introduced a monthly limit on the amount of cash people can withdraw.

That should ease when the central bank receives more of Libya's foreign assets, which were frozen by international sanctions.

It will then be able to get enough Libyan dinar notes to meet demand.

"We're told this will be resolved very shortly," says Mr Algwail, who hopes to be able to reopen fully soon.

Armed rebels

At the entrance to the market, two young men are sitting in the shade holding machine guns.

Parked next to them is a civilian pick-up truck with heavy artillery bolted on the back.

The men are former rebel fighters. They are standing guard, and they look bored.

There are thousands like them across Misrata.

Many are unemployed or gave up their studies to fight against Gaddafi's troops.

Rida Zaroog, 20, dropped out of university in order to fight.

Over a meal of spicy lamb, boiled rice and vegetables, he says he is now back on his course and has high hopes for his future - but he has still got his gun.

"Before, everything was controlled by Gaddafi himself and his entourage. Now, everyone will stick together and help each other and it will be a wonderful new country," he says.

Pay rise

Mr Zaroog's father, Taher, says the family is already seeing improvements in their living standards.

"Before I had to work sometimes three different jobs in one day. Now I feel the government is supporting us. My salary has increased," he says.

But he is nevertheless concerned that food prices might rise if the interim government - which is strapped for cash at the moment - decides to cut back on food subsidies.

Libya imports most of its food. Indeed, the country imports pretty much everything it consumes, apart from oil.

The all-important oil industry is ramping production after it was reduced to a trickle during the fighting.

One of the new government's biggest challenges will be to diversify Libya's economy away from oil, and so create jobs for the many young, unemployed former rebels.

Diversify economy

In Misrata's port, a massive yellow crane is loading containers onto a rusting black ship.

When the boxes arrived from Turkey they were full, but they are being sent back, totally empty.

The man running the port, Jalil Hamid El-Gamal, wants that to change.

"Libya has no exports except for oil," he says.

"As for imports, we see plenty of cargo arriving, such as flour, general goods and construction materials."

"We hope Libya will be an exporter, and not just of oil."

That will depend on what the private sector does. Libyans were not encouraged to set up businesses or get rich under Gaddafi.

Even so, some did, such as Mohamed Raied, the chairman of Al-Naseem dairy, one of the biggest private sector companies in Libya.

A container ship at Misrata port, being loaded with containers

Mr Raied says Libyans could easily set up firms like his.

"Libya is a very big country, with a lot of raw materials, a lot of facilities, a lot of people who like to work, a lot of capital also," he says, standing next to a bombed-out warehouse at his factory complex in Misrata.

"There are a variety of fields to do business - tourism, industry, agriculture and services."

He says the future could be very bright for Libya's economy .

But he says his company has lost a lot of money this past year as it was not able to sell its ice cream, yoghurt and milk to 90% of Libya during the war.

He seems unconcerned, though.

"Our profit is removing Gaddafi," he says.

Source: BBC

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Young Ghanaian professionals, industry experts to converge in Accra

The Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra will on Wednesday, December 28, play host to business networking meeting for young Ghanaian professionals home and abroad and industry leaders.

Dubbed Re-Connect 2011, the networking event aims to redefine and strengthen the connection as well as deepen engagement between young Ghanaians at home and abroad.

Organizers tell Myjoyonline.com the event will give young professionals an opportunity to engage with one another alongside industry experts as a two-way exchange to foster the development of Ghanaians seeking opportunities for career and academic growth locally and internationally.

“It is also designed to encourage participants to exchange information and ideas, interact socially, promote their businesses, foster partnerships, and build on common interests,” explained Ms Stephanie Dei of S&M Consultancy, one of eight businesses (committee) putting the event together.

Other partners include The New Ghanaian, the[ Y] and AXIS and targeted industries range from oil and gas, telecommunications, finance, health, IT, legal and mass communications.

The event will also feature a designated room (Marketplace) to spotlighting emerging and successful entrepreneurs and give business owners the opportunity to showcase their products and services.

“We believe that development of Ghana and the promotion of the work of Ghanaians worldwide starts at home and Re-Connect 2011 promises to promote and encourage Ghanaian businesses and entrepreneurs to develop new relationships while providing the opportunity for Ghanaians to utilize their best resource; each other.” 

Source: Myjoyonline.com 

African Good News Story

The remarkable economic and political progress of Cape Verde is seen as a blueprint for the rest of Africa, writes BBC Today programme presenter Evan Davis after a visit to the tiny island state.

I have to admit, I couldn't have told you three interesting facts about Cape Verde until I was asked to go there for the Today programme. 

I didn't know where it was - 570km (354 miles) off the coast of West Africa. I didn't even know how to pronounce its name. 

And then I found myself sent there on a three-day mission to investigate a startling story: That sub-Saharan Africa is not just a region of starving children and warring dictators. 

The assignment was at the behest of guest editor Mo Ibrahim who strongly feels that the Western media portrays Africa in a monotonously negative light. Could that really be true?

Well, my ignorance of how to pronounce Cape Verde's name is forgivable. (I'm still not sure and have heard it pronounced with and without an "ee" at the end of Verde.) 

But is it forgivable that I didn't know it is one of only a handful of countries ever to have been promoted out of the UN "least developed nation" category (up to "middle income country" status)? And that it is a well-functioning democracy with government alternating between different political parties? 

I should have known these things, and I'm glad to say that my three-day trip more or less confirmed them. 

Young Cape Verdeans can expect far better education than their parents

Contrary to the impression you might have had of African nations, here is one where democracy flourishes; where a president stepped down after two terms in office because that is what the constitution required (take note Mr Putin) and where the opposition freely criticises the government. 

It is a country where economic growth has been strong, where literacy is almost universal and two-thirds of the population have a phone. 

It is also a country that beats many EU countries in the Transparency International Corruptions Perceptions Index. 

Now on a three-day trip, you cannot verify all these assertions but you can get a clear impression. 

I went to a square in the capital, Praia, where I saw a dozen young people poring over their laptops, taking advantage of the free wi-fi available in that and other squares. 

I saw a tourism training college that had been paid for by Luxembourg's aid programme. It functioned well, there were real students there and no money had gone missing into a Swiss bank account. 

I spoke to the founder of a small e-business called Prime Consulting, who spoke highly of the ease with which new business could be established in the country (it takes ten minutes he said). 

Property bubbles
These facts - and my lack of awareness of them - suggest there may be something in Mo Ibrahim's point. We know the bad news about Africa, but not the good. 

And given the sheer volume of bad that emanates from countries in sub-Saharan Africa, we make generalised assumptions about the entire population of sub-Saharan Africa. 

Evan makes use of a free wi-fi hotspot in Praia

Now I don't want to paint a ludicrously one-dimensionally optimistic view of the country. It is no paradise. 

Many people live in slums. The country is covered in them. The national income per head is about a tenth of that of the UK and I didn't even get out of the towns to see the rural poor.

In addition, some of the recent economic growth appears to have occurred on the back of a ridiculous holiday-property bubble. Irish, British and other investors got overexcited and the result is that many unfinished developments litter the main tourist island of Sal. 

But still Cape Verde has come a long way over a short period of time. It is a country that had famines killing tens of thousands of people in the first half of the 20th Century that now worries about property bubbles. 

The most telling conversation I had there was with Samira who told me that while her mother had not been to high school (there weren't enough of them at the time) but she, Samira, now goes to university. 

It is true that Cape Verde is an unusual off-shore example, but before dismissing it as the exception that proves the rule that the rest of Africa is beyond help or hope, it is worth taking a look at the statistics for per capita national income growth of sub-Saharan African countries over the last decade: Ghana 104% growth; Mozambique 103%; Rwanda 119%; Sierra Leone 99%; Tanzania 95%; Uganda 81%, to name just a few. 

I'm not sure these growth rates have made it through to the public at large.

We wouldn't want reporters to act as cheer leaders for a continent and we don't want them to always be seeing glasses as half full. That would perhaps stop us trying fill them to the top. 

But if we only ever see half empty glasses, that can be demotivating too. It can nurture a dull fatalism that assumes doing anything is a waste of effort. 

So whenever you feel the wearisome drag of compassion fatigue, you can at least remind yourself that Cape Verde does suggest progress in that part of the world is not impossible. 

Source: BBC