Hong Kong, China (CNN) – An average 30-year old who’s eaten three meals a day since birth has consumed more than 30,000 meals to date. Even if you’ve only eaten half that much you have to admit this: you’ve let some of that breakfast, lunch or dinner go to waste.
And it turns out we’re all to blame for this gut-wrenching fact: 30% of all food produced in the world each year is wasted or lost. That’s about 1.3 billion tons, according to a new report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
That’s the weight of more than 8.6 million full-grown blue whales, the largest creatures on earth. That’s the weight of more than 2.3 million Airbus A380s, the largest commercial planes in existence. That’s as if each person in China, the world’s most populous country with more than 1.3 billion people, had a one ton mass of food they could just throw into the trashcan.
It’s almost unfathomable isn’t it?
Breaking apart that big number, we find the people with the most money are the ones who waste the most.
When Africans talk about what they want for their continent, the chatter is varied and often contradictory. We need jobs! We need roads! We need aid! We don’t want more aid! We want trade!
What does Africa really need to achieve if African children are to come of age in a continent that offers them more opportunity?
From Cape Town to Cairo, there is an underlying consensus that it is African children themselves who form the basis of the continent’s future.
It’s estimated that by 2050, Africa’s youth will make up nearly 30% of the world’s youth population.
Some economists and analysts say this “youth bulge” is a positive trend because Africa’s people are its most precious asset.
Others worry that the critical issue of educating and employing millions of young people will be the most challenging aspect of Africa’s future.
Education is woeful in many parts of the continent. Even here in South Africa, the continent’s most developed economy, there is a worrying failure to educate the young.
One economist regularly repeats this statistic: Of the estimated one million children who start school in South Africa every year, only 9,000 of them will finish school, 12 years later, with a “distinction” or B+ in Mathematics. So each year, there is a pool of only 9,000 students who could potentially qualify for maths-based university courses.
If South Africa can’t churn out enough architects, engineers and economists then imagine the challenges faced by teachers and their hapless students in Gabon or Congo or Mozambique.
I often listen to government ministers and their advisors pontificate about various “pillars” of growth, without including education as a major priority. Look at how Asia’s extraordinary growth in recent decades was fuelled by a determination to invest in “human capital.”
It is widely understood that Africa’s children will not own the 21st century until their leaders put more emphasis on educating them. Poor, barely literate 18 year olds in a rural area cannot compete for jobs. Neither can they take advantage of the investments being made on the continent.
It seems the critical investment of this century will be how Africa’s children are equipped to prepare for the challenges and chances ahead. There is no time to waste.
Hong Kong, China (CNN) – China’s consumer price index (CPI) number eased a tenth of a percent from March to April – down to 5.3% – but that’s nothing to boast about. It means living costs will stay high and China’s citizens will feel the continued burn in their wallets.
It also means frustrations will continue to simmer online – until quietly being deleted by China’s censors, as so often happens.
CNN's Beijing producer Helena Hong trolled China’s internet for what I like to call “grumble gems.” These are a few of what she found on China’s popular Sina Weibo, the country’s version of Twitter (which, like many other western social networking sites, is blocked in China):
(CNN) – When China's Vice-Premier Wang Qishan appeared Monday on "The Charlie Rose Show" with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner during a two-day round of political and economic talks, Wang was asked what misperceptions the American public has about China.
“It is not easy to really know China because China is an ancient civilization and we are of the Oriental culture,” Wang told Rose on public television, according to a transcript. "The United States is the world's number one superpower, and the American people, they're very simple people," he said.
What did Wang mean by “simple”? Sounds dangerously close to "dumb" to American ears.
Producers from CNN's Beijing bureau weighed in, saying “单纯 is simple and pure, in a good way. Sometimes we translate it into “innocent ,” meaning their thinking is very straightforward, not complicated.” Another producer said “depending on tone, it’s (somewhere between) neutral to patronizing.”
But in the context of the conversation, Wang seemed to be pointing toward parochialism in the average American’s view of the world.
Top officials from China and the United States are meeting in Washington this week –- for the third annual Economic and Strategic Dialogue (E&SD). It’s a two-day session for the two powers to speak face-to-face about issues at the heart of their relationship.
But will anything groundbreaking come out of it? If history is any judge (and China has 5,000 years of it), don’t hold your breath. Beijing is in no hurry to rush reforms. Its fear is that sudden moves, as demanded by some hard-line U.S. critics, would destabilize the status quo it knows. Basically, the fear of the unknown is greater than any current fears it feels now.
On Monday, the dialogue started out candidly but fairly positively. In opening remarks, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner outlined the well-known laundry list of bilateral economic issues - but also praised China for its past achievements.
Assessing attractiveness can be a subjective undertaking.
However, an international company has used objective data to examine Africa’s “attractiveness” as a place to do business.
Ernst and Young launched its “Africa attractiveness survey” at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town. It makes for interesting reading if you want to understand the perceptions surrounding business in Africa.
The firm polled 500 companies from around the world, as well as Africans themselves, and found that - no surprises here - Africa is becoming increasingly attractive to international investors.
Importantly, emerging-market investors were more positive about Africa’s long-term prospects than developed-world investors, which obviously points to stronger and deepening relationships between the BRICS countries and the rest of Africa. Ernst and Young note that the mining and manufacturing industries, in particular, experience a strong capital influx from emerging-market economies.
What will cheer many within the continent is the huge optimism Africans feel towards business opportunities in their own backyard. Africans themselves are leading the growth in investment.
This is key. There is a growing self-confidence amongst Africans, as well as a growing awareness that regional barriers need to be broken down so that intra-African trade can be increased.
So while reports like these - and there were many at this year’s World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town - make for happy reading by Afri-optimists, it is worth putting a sobering note on the assessment.
Significantly, three quarters of foreign direct investment was in just 10 countries, out of a continent of more than 50 states. Why are the 40 other Africa nations considered to be the “ugly sisters?”
There are many reasons - beyond political instability - like bad infrastructure, red tape and a lack of skills, that are cited as common reasons for a lack of investment.
Mostly, though, there is a lag between the optimism directed towards Africa and capital flows. Foreign direct investment is still relatively low when compared on a global scale and African intra-trade is woeful.
Although beauty is in the eye of the beholder, many would like to see more tangible benefits to Africa’s growing attractiveness.
When I walked into the Jaguar super secret press conference Friday morning, I was stunned to see Frank Williams and Adam Parr, the Chairman of Williams F1, on the podium next to a Jaguar muscle car.
You can forgive me in the mean time if I thought Jaguar was getting back in Formula 1. So many car companies have gotten out of high performance racing due to the costs involved (think Toyota).
While were we promised a 'major announcement' as part of Jaguar Land Rover's massive redevelopment under Tata Motors, I thought this would be a huge and expensive gamble. The young ladies on the marketing team, all wearing matching black dresses with Jaguar pins, were friendly but would not give us press releases until after the press conference and the embargo was lifted.
Alas, Jaguar is not getting back in to F1. Its just decided to sell a $1 million dollar supercar with Williams technology.
Oh, and it will be a hybrid with two electric engines under the sleek gray body.
Jaguar promises will be do 0-60MPH in under 3 seconds.
Jaguar also promises it will only sell 250 vehicles – not a year, but in total. So, hurry up if you want one!
Carl-Peter Forster - the German CEO in charge of two famous British marques now owned by India's Tata – says the company will easily make money on these supercars, dubbed the C-X75. And he tells me Jaguar Land Rover came out of the recession quite strong.
With dozens of upgrades in the pipeline, a rumored Jag crossover SUV and Land Rovers starting to be assembled in India, the company is clearly bullish on the luxury end of the market.
But a $1 million car? Forster says it will be a collectors item and he suspects some owners won't even bother to have their new toy registered, as they could just be used on closed tracks – and not on the road.
If you did want to use it on the road, it will go "in excess" 200 MPH, if need be.
No comments:
Post a Comment