Africa

There's no doubt that Nigeria is on the move. With a population of 175 million it is by far the largest nation in Africa, and this year it overtook South Africa to become the largest economy in Africa too, worth more than $500 billion. No wonder it is ranked as one of the MINT group of emerging economies together with Mexico Indonesia and Turkey - the powerhouse economies of the future.

Intertek traces its history back nearly 130 years to a marine surveying company founded by the entrepreneur Caleb Brett in the 1890s to answer a vital need at the time - independent testing and certification of ships' cargoes. Through a long process of amalgamation and acquisition it has since grown to become the global go-to resource for almost every industry sector.

Fire is a friend to mankind - until it gets out of hand: then it can become a formidable enemy, one that can only be subdued by an army versed in both conventional and guerrilla warfare and co-ordinated ground and air operations. As Johan Heine, co-Managing Director of Kishugu (formerly the FFA Group) speaks - always passionately - about the business he founded 28 years ago in 1986, he relies heavily on military imagery.

Have you always liked aeroplanes?
Fraid so! I don’t know where it came from, but for as long as I remember flying has always been a passion of mine.

What’s so special about Aerosud?
I had the privilege of starting Aerosud as a one man company in 1990, albeit in the context of an agreement with my five other partners who would be following me later.

On March 7 this year King Mswati III of Swaziland officially opened the new international airport, also known as King Mswati III. A key component of the Millennium Development goals (MDG) programme, the $280 million project is not unattended by controversy, but is seen as essential if Swaziland is to make the most of its geographical advantages and become a mini hub within southern Africa, providing a complementary role to OR Tambo Airport only a couple of hundred miles to the west.

King Pie is a South African franchise and a member of The Franchise Association South Africa (FASA), just one of a number of fast food brands one might be tempted to think, but KP demands to be taken seriously. It claims to make the best pies in the world, assuring its customers that it really does take pies seriously: “It’s easy to get caught up with cooking trends and cost charts, but we know it’s the basic things that make a good pie – freshness, quality ingredients, and value for money.”

Africa is often referred to as the "dark continent," with internet and telephony penetration rates some of the lowest in the world. That, however, is changing rapidly, with projects like the West African Cable System (WACS) and the South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) being planned and deployed to deliver much-needed connectivity to the continent. Infrastructure these days is not all about roads and bridges and railways.

There’s no arguing with the fundamentals. Growing populations, reduction in arable land, changing dietary preferences, climate change and the escalating demands of emerging economies have placed food security at the top of the political as well as the economic agenda. World population is growing by some 75 million every year. By 2050 almost 9.3 billion people are expected to inhabit the earth.

What motivated you to choose engineering as a career?

CAAZ was established on January 1, 1999 as the civil aviation agency of Zimbabwe. It took over the role of the then Department of Civil Aviation, a direct government entity, and it still operates under the control of the Ministry of Transport, but as an arm’s length statutory body, or parastatal organisation that works as a commercial organisation.