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UNITED KINGDOM IC Publications, 7 Coldbath Square, London EC1R 4LQ Tel: +44 20 7841 3210 Fax: Admin +44 20 7713 7898 Editorial: +44 20 20 7841 3211 icpubs@africasia.com www.africasia.com FRANCE IC Publications, 609 BAT A, 77 RUE BAYEN, 75017 PARIS Tel: +33 1 44 30 81 00 Fax: +33 1 44 30 81 11 info@icpublications.com www.icpublications.com

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Member of The Audit Bureau of Circulations. N° DE COMMISSION PARITAIRE 0310 K 89343 Mensuel: Août 2009 Dépôt légal

Contents African Business August/September 2009

14 COVER STORY The Storm Riders

24 Technology Zain’s Tito Alai: Mobiles reach the parts that banks cannot

Editorial 13 Statisticsandotherlies

Cover Story Industry The Storm Riders 14 Makingprofitsdespite  theglobalturmoil 17 Case study 1:Integr8Group 18 Case study 2:SuperfluxInternational 22 Case study 3:K-NetFlowers

Technology 24 Zain’s Tito Alai: Mobilesreach

thepartsthatbankscannot

Spotlight 28 Fleecingtherich

Topic 30China’slonggameinAfrica

Focus Agriculture 34Africa’sfoodcrisis

African Business Awards 39 Aspecial9-pagetribute

50 Commodities Instability now, solid ground ahead

Energy 48Howtohaveyourcakeandeatittoo

Commodities 50Instabilitynow,solidgroundahead

World Cup 54Ajaw-droppingexperience

Letter from East Africa 58 Thecostofdyingiskilling!

Countryfile 60S Africa:Moreholesthanbelt? 62 Ghana:Microlendersgocentrestage 66Malawi:Mutharikashunsdevaluation

Reviews Books 70TheChallengeforAfrica 73 CainePrizemarks10years 74 Music:Guineanauthenticity