1 Taking Africa up (Jonathan Power in Khaleej Times) Black Africa long went deeply down. Now it is rushing headlong up. But ‘up’ brings problems of its own. A country’s policy makers have to work as hard in successful, speedy, times as they did when they moved painfully from the first rung of the ladder to the second and third.
Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, warned that the planned issuing this year of a total of $11 billion worth of sovereign bonds around Africa could overload economies with too much debt. (This is up from $6 billion a year ago and $1 billion in 2000.) She warned African foreign ministers that “Africa rising” could be “spoilt”. Although Africa needs the money for things like much needed infrastructure, borrowing gives governments “an additional vulnerability”. This is especially so when it doubles the salaries of civil servants, as Zambia recently did.
Part of the problem is that Africa is a victim of its own success, argues Ravi Bhati, regional analyst at Standard and Poor’s. As economic growth accelerates, “countries are sucking in imports causing the current account to post sizeable deficits”. On the positive side much is going on. The African Development Bank forecasts that foreign investment flows into Africa will rise this year to $83 billion, up by nearly a quarter from last year.
Africa is where much of the world’s economic action is. But there has been much criticism of its “cheque book” activities whereby money has been lent to African countries mainly to benefit China’s construction groups, which have built everything from roads to hospitals. There have also been complaints about the poor quality of some Chinese-built infrastructure projects and the use of migrant labour from China rather than using local labour.
Africa and its foreign investors have much to learn and much to be aware of. They must listen to the IMF which casts a disinterested eye. It is often said that Africa has nowhere to go but up. Long may it be so.
http://khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/opinion/2014/June/opinion_June16.xml§ion=opinion
2 Saudi Arabia mulls sovereign wealth fund (Straits Times) Saudi Arabia's Shura Council, an influential advisory body to the government, will discuss a proposal for the country to establish a sovereign wealth fund that would invest some of its vast oil earnings. The National Reserve Fund would "guarantee the financial stability of the kingdom" by investing its reserves.
Details of its investment strategy were not given, but if the proposed Saudi fund is run like the sovereign wealth funds of other wealthy Gulf states such as Qatar and Abu Dhabi, it could mean a change in the way Saudi money flows through global markets.
The country's central bank, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, has traditionally managed the country's investment of oil surpluses abroad, focusing on low-risk assets; it is believed to have placed over half of its foreign reserves, now equivalent to about US$730 billion, in conservative US dollar assets such as US Treasury bonds and bank accounts.
http://www.straitstimes.com/news/business/more-business-stories/story/saudi-arabia-discuss-proposal-sovereign-wealth-fund-201406
3 How women sabotage their careers (Kim Thompson in San Francisco Chronicle) Despite possibly having a successful career with numerous promotions, women can be their own worst enemies by sabotaging their success at work. Women often harbor self-defeating thoughts without thinking about the consequences or the messages they send to others who can influence their career opportunities.
According to a Pew Research Center survey of 2,002 adults, women of all ages, just like men, want a secure job they enjoy, but they are less likely than men to ask for raises or aspire to top management jobs. This can be a result of being a working parent or viewing the workplace as a man’s world.
Here are some points to watch out for: Being overly self-critical. Highly successful women can easily lean toward setting high expectations of themselves by being perfectionists. Difficult in delegating. If not careful, women can assume a care-taking role and instead of delegating workloads, they can assume responsibility for everything. Overwhelmed and overworked leads to fatigue and inefficiency.
Procrastination. Avoiding unpleasant tasks such as giving performance appraisals or making decisions that create conflict unwittingly create more anxiety due to the self-blame it usually creates over time. Misunderstanding politics at work. Corporate politics that are conducted in the right way can simply mean developing good relationships with people throughout the organization. Companies value people who get along well with others even if you have strong interpersonal skills and detest politics your misunderstanding can cause you to miss promotions.
Failing to prioritize personal goals. Women are often compelled to take care of others, the needs of the department, team members and projects before they take care of their own personal development goals. Learning how to prioritize your time and invest in your growth is important in maintaining career longevity rather overcommitting by attending every meeting and participating in every company event.
http://blog.sfgate.com/gettowork/2014/06/05/five-ways-women-sabotage-their-careers/?cmpid=hp-hc-jobs
Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, warned that the planned issuing this year of a total of $11 billion worth of sovereign bonds around Africa could overload economies with too much debt. (This is up from $6 billion a year ago and $1 billion in 2000.) She warned African foreign ministers that “Africa rising” could be “spoilt”. Although Africa needs the money for things like much needed infrastructure, borrowing gives governments “an additional vulnerability”. This is especially so when it doubles the salaries of civil servants, as Zambia recently did.
Part of the problem is that Africa is a victim of its own success, argues Ravi Bhati, regional analyst at Standard and Poor’s. As economic growth accelerates, “countries are sucking in imports causing the current account to post sizeable deficits”. On the positive side much is going on. The African Development Bank forecasts that foreign investment flows into Africa will rise this year to $83 billion, up by nearly a quarter from last year.
Africa is where much of the world’s economic action is. But there has been much criticism of its “cheque book” activities whereby money has been lent to African countries mainly to benefit China’s construction groups, which have built everything from roads to hospitals. There have also been complaints about the poor quality of some Chinese-built infrastructure projects and the use of migrant labour from China rather than using local labour.
Africa and its foreign investors have much to learn and much to be aware of. They must listen to the IMF which casts a disinterested eye. It is often said that Africa has nowhere to go but up. Long may it be so.
http://khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/opinion/2014/June/opinion_June16.xml§ion=opinion
2 Saudi Arabia mulls sovereign wealth fund (Straits Times) Saudi Arabia's Shura Council, an influential advisory body to the government, will discuss a proposal for the country to establish a sovereign wealth fund that would invest some of its vast oil earnings. The National Reserve Fund would "guarantee the financial stability of the kingdom" by investing its reserves.
Details of its investment strategy were not given, but if the proposed Saudi fund is run like the sovereign wealth funds of other wealthy Gulf states such as Qatar and Abu Dhabi, it could mean a change in the way Saudi money flows through global markets.
The country's central bank, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, has traditionally managed the country's investment of oil surpluses abroad, focusing on low-risk assets; it is believed to have placed over half of its foreign reserves, now equivalent to about US$730 billion, in conservative US dollar assets such as US Treasury bonds and bank accounts.
http://www.straitstimes.com/news/business/more-business-stories/story/saudi-arabia-discuss-proposal-sovereign-wealth-fund-201406
3 How women sabotage their careers (Kim Thompson in San Francisco Chronicle) Despite possibly having a successful career with numerous promotions, women can be their own worst enemies by sabotaging their success at work. Women often harbor self-defeating thoughts without thinking about the consequences or the messages they send to others who can influence their career opportunities.
According to a Pew Research Center survey of 2,002 adults, women of all ages, just like men, want a secure job they enjoy, but they are less likely than men to ask for raises or aspire to top management jobs. This can be a result of being a working parent or viewing the workplace as a man’s world.
Here are some points to watch out for: Being overly self-critical. Highly successful women can easily lean toward setting high expectations of themselves by being perfectionists. Difficult in delegating. If not careful, women can assume a care-taking role and instead of delegating workloads, they can assume responsibility for everything. Overwhelmed and overworked leads to fatigue and inefficiency.
Procrastination. Avoiding unpleasant tasks such as giving performance appraisals or making decisions that create conflict unwittingly create more anxiety due to the self-blame it usually creates over time. Misunderstanding politics at work. Corporate politics that are conducted in the right way can simply mean developing good relationships with people throughout the organization. Companies value people who get along well with others even if you have strong interpersonal skills and detest politics your misunderstanding can cause you to miss promotions.
Failing to prioritize personal goals. Women are often compelled to take care of others, the needs of the department, team members and projects before they take care of their own personal development goals. Learning how to prioritize your time and invest in your growth is important in maintaining career longevity rather overcommitting by attending every meeting and participating in every company event.
http://blog.sfgate.com/gettowork/2014/06/05/five-ways-women-sabotage-their-careers/?cmpid=hp-hc-jobs
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