SAM JONAH - AFRICA'S BUSINESS LEGEND

Dr. Samuel Esson Jonah KBE, Mining Engineer, International Chief Executive, Diplomat, Management Consultant, Advisor, Entrepreneur, Educationist, Role Model and Administrator

Photo Sam Jonah at the World Economic Forum on Africa 2005

Sam Esson Jonah is a prominent Ghanaian business man. Samuel Jonah was born on the 19 November, 1949 in Obuasi/Adaugi in then British Gold Coast colony(Ghana). In 1969 Sam applied for and won a trainee position with Ashanti’s Ayeinm mine that included an Associateship (ACSM) in Mining Engineering at the Camborne School of Mines in Cornwall, England and subsequently completed an MSc in Mine Management at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London. He rejoined Ashanti Goldfields Corporation in 1979, working in various capacities, including underground operations, and he became the Chief Executive Officer in 1986 at the age of 36. Ashanti started as a single mine (Obuasi) located 180km north west of the capital of Ghana in 1895 and first listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) two years later. The company was acquired by Lonrho in 1968 and delisted. Under his able and dynamic leadership from 1986 until June 2004, when he was the CEO of Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited, he led the transformation of Ashanti from a one-mine operation into a multinational. In 1996, Ashanti, which had listings in London & Ghana, became the first operating African company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

He is the Executive Chairman of Jonah Capital, a private equity fund based in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is the non-executive president of mining giant Anglogold Ashanti Limited, and is also a director of Anglo American Corporation of South Africa and Anglo American Platinum Corporation. Sam Jonah is a member of numerous advisory committees, including South African President Thabo Mbeki’s International Investment Advisory Council and President Kufuor’s Ghana Investors’ Advisory Council. He is the Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Ghana.He also serves on various boards including Lonmin, the Commonwealth African Investment Fund (Comafin), the Advisory Council of UN Secretary General’s Global Compact. As well as his directorships, Mr Jonah is a member of the Advisory Board of the London Business School.

He has been decorated with several awards and honours, among them an honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc) degree awarded jointly by the Camborne School of Mines and the University of Exeter (UK) in 1996. Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain conferred on Sam Jonah an Honorary Knighthood in recognition of his exceptional achievements as an African businessman, a leading business executive from the Commonwealth and an international public figure. The award KBE stands for Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Since Sam Jonah is not a national of the the United Kingdom he cannot use the title 'Sir Sam Jonah'.

Sam Jonah at Ashesi University College 2005 commencement ceremony where he was honored with the degree Doctor of Humanities.

Photo by Ashesi University

SAM IN THE NEWS

According to a recent article in The Economist Magazine Sam Jonah seeks to raise $250m to build long-distance roads across Africa—the lack which is one of the most obvious failures in the continent’s infrastructure. His goal is to find 50 successful African business people, each willing to invest $5m in the fund, and then to use multilateral funds to leverage the money into the billions. “People in Africa, if they come together, can make a big difference,” says Mr Jonah. “What I want to do is put my money where my mouth is.”There is increasingly a pro-African mood in the global business community nowadays, says Mr Jonah. “Access to finance is much better; now when I go to New York seeking a lot of money, I get a warm welcome.”
Sam Jonah is reported as being optimistic in his new venture and acknowledges Africa’s post-colonial difficulties. “People fail to appreciate the huge challenges African countries faced at independence,” he says. “When you think where we have come from, there has been tremendous progress.”

Sam Jonah believes that African companies and governments must be held to international standards but that the southern hemisphere often gets the raw end of trade deals. "Globalization can bring tremendous benefits to Africa," says Jonah. "But there is no level playing field."
By Simon Robinson/Johannesburg CNN

He expresses his disapproval to the help Africa has elicited from foreign agencies as having been the wrong prescription.

"By way of illustration, Mr Jonah points to three once impoverished European countries—Spain, Portugal and Greece—that might have stayed poor had they not been “rescued by their sugar daddy, the European Union.” The point, he says, is that richer European countries invested in these poor countries, “not as charity, but because they saw a win-win opportunity.” The same is now true of Africa, he argues. With a handful of headline-grabbing exceptions, “everyone in Africa is now getting their act together, with free markets and democracy.”

Regarding the west backlash against Chinas involvement in Africa Sam notes “...we are amused that suddenly we are getting all this attention from the West,....You must start from the presumption that Africans know what they want,” he says.

The South African The Gibs Review reported Sam as stating “Africa is ready for business and the continent’s much improved business climate is attracting all sorts,” says Jonah, adding that Russia and China are making serious inroads to the African economy.

“China’s heavy presence in all aspects of business throughout Africa is evident and SA companies are running into fierce competition for mineral assets in the Congo, Angola, Tanzania and Guinea.”

Jonah says in the energy sector, China and India are everywhere and are also investing in natural resources, property and infrastructure. “China is currently building a US$200 million resort complex comprising pagoda roofed holiday homes, a golf course, a five star hotel and a helipad in Sierra Leone, as well as constructing three new and renovating two existing stadiums in Ghana for the 2008 African Cup of Nations,” he adds.

More Information:
The Sunny Continent - Africa's optimistic businessmen
Aug 21st 2007 The Economist.com

Foreign investors conquer Africa as SA slumbers- Improved business climate attracting all sorts
The Gibs Review January 2006

Sam Jonah launches Jonah Mining, will soon announce coal division By Mining Weekly South Africa Magazine

Who's Who In South Africa Sam Jonah Resume By 24.com

SAM JONAH BIOGRAPHY

Sam Jonah and the Remaking of Ashanti by A. Taylor

Author: Ayowa Afrifa Taylor

ALL ROADS LEADS TO SOUTH AFRICA FOOTBALL WORLD CUP 2010

Matches for the 2010 World Cup will be hosted in nine South African cities (clockwise from top left): Johannesburg in Gauteng province; Rustenburg in North West; Pretoria in Gauteng; Polokwane in Limpopo; Nelspruit in Mpumalanga; Durban in KwaZulu-Natal; Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape; Cape Town in the Western Cape; and Bloemfontein in the Free State.

The Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg is to undergo a major upgrade for the 2010 tournament, with a new design inspired by traditional African pottery and a revamped capacity for 104 000 football fans. The stadium will hold the final and opening matches, five first-round matches, one second-round match and one quarter-final. (Image: South Africa 2010 Local Organising Committee)

Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg is to undergo minor upgrades for 2010. It has a capacity of 60 000 and will host five first-round matches, one second-round and one quarter-final match. (Image: South Africa 2010 Local Organising Committee)

The Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein, Free State province, is to undergo a major upgrade, with the addition of a third tier increasing its capacity to 45 000. It will host five first-round matches and one in the second round. (Image: South Africa 2010 Local Organising Committee)

Artist's impression of the 30 000-seat Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga province. It will be specially built for 2010 and host four first-round matches. (Image: Mbombela Local Municipality)

Artist's impression of the 40 000-seat Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, Limpopo province. It will be specially built for 2010 and host four first-round matches. (Image: Africon)

The King Senzangakhona Stadium in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, is to be specially built for 2010, with a capacity of 80 000. It will host six first-round matches, one second-round, and one semifinal match. (Image: South Africa 2010 Local Organising Committee)

Artist's impression of the 50 000-seat Nelson Mandela Stadium in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape. It is to be specially built for 2010 and will host five first-round matches, one second-round match, one quarter-final and the third-place playoff. (Image: South Africa 2010 Local Organising Committee)

Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town, Western Cape, is to be specially built for 2010, with a retractable roof and a capacity of 70 000. It will host six first-round matches, one second-round, one quarter-final and one semifinal match.

(Image: South Africa 2010 Local Organising Committee)


SA 2010: Did you know that there are robots on the street corners in SA?
Here are some of the frequent questions SA Info website addressed.

Images Courtesy of SA Tourism

Why did Fifa award the World Cup to South Africa?
Fifa decided that the 2010 tournament would be hosted by an African country, with five countries - South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Libya - in the running. In 2004 the organisation's inspection committee announced that South Africa had the potential to organise an "excellent" World Cup - compared to Egypt and Morocco's potential to organise "very good" World Cups, Tunisia's potential to organise a "good" World Cup, and the probability that Libya would "face great difficulties in organising a World Cup to the standards required".

Well, what's the place like?
Believe it or not, we have cities. With roads. And skyscrapers. And electric lights. And traffic jams. South Africa is the powerhouse of Africa, the most advanced, broad-based economy on the continent, with infrastructure to match any first-world country.

You can drive on wide, tarred highways all 2 000 kilometres from Musina at the very top of the country to Cape Town at the bottom. Or join over 7-million international travellers who disembark at our airports every year.

Two-thirds of Africa's electricity is generated here. Forty percent of the phones are here. Twenty percent of the world's gold and 77% of its platinum is mined here. And almost everyone who visits is astonished at how far a dollar, euro or pound will stretch ...

Images Courtesy of SA Tourism

South Africa? Where's that?
We're on the southern tip of Africa (that lozenge-shaped continent east of America, south of Europe and west of China), where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. We have nine provinces: Gauteng, the smallest and most densely populated, adjoins Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga in the north; the Northern Cape, the largest province with the smallest population, is in the west; the Free State is in the middle of the country; and the coastal provinces of KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape lie to the south.

Images Courtesy of SA Tourism

And the people?
South Africa is a nation of over 46-million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages and beliefs. Africans are in the majority at 37.2-million, some 79.4% of the population. The white population is estimated at 4.4-million (9.3%), the coloured population at 4.1-million (8.8%) and the Indian or Asian population at 1.1-million (2.5%).

And we're good company. "We can say that the people of South Africa were always friendly, very boisterous and constantly celebrating during our visit to the country," Fifa's inspection team said in their country report. "[They] would stop and show their joy and support of the country's commitment whenever our group passed by."

Should I come even if I can't get tickets?
Of course! The 2010 tournament is guaranteed to be, as we South Africans say, a jol. As in Germany in 2006, public viewing areas accommodating vast numbers of fans watching the games on giant screens are likely to be set up. And you can always watch the tournament and get to know the locals at our numerous pubs, restaurants and sports bars.

Images Courtesy of SA Tourism

What's the beer like?
Cold and delicious. South Africans generally drink bottled beer, although most pubs offer a range of draughts. The major producer is South African Breweries, now a huge multinational doing business across the world. Lager is probably the favourite, followed by pilsener. In and around the stadiums, though, you'll only be able to drink beer produced by Budweiser, an official Fifa sponsor.

Are there lions in the streets?
Um, no. But if you want to see lions - and leopards, elephants, rhinos, buffalos and more - visit one of the many wildlife lodges and game parks across the country, which include the huge and magnificent Kruger National Park.

What benefits will South Africa get for hosting the World Cup?
It's been estimated that the 2010 World Cup will create some 129 000 jobs, contribute around R21-billion to the country's gross domestic product and another R7.2-billion in government taxes, with the 350 000 visitors spending a whopping R9.8-billion.

Images Courtesy of SA Tourism

Are South Africans nice people?
Visitors to the country always remark on how warm, friendly and welcoming South Africans are. We've had a difficult past, so we don't waste time being difficult people. And we're expert at having fun.

Can I use my hairdryer?
Electricity is generally 220/230 volts, 15 amps, and is supplied through either 15-amp three-prong or 5-amp two-prong plugs, in both cases with round pins. If you're bringing anything electrical, bring an adapter – or you could buy one here. Generally, the 110V video chargers work safely on the 220V supply. Television is on the PAL system.

Is it true that there are robots on the street corners?
Yes, there are. In South Africa, traffic lights are known as robots, although no-one knows why. A pick-up truck is a bakkie, sneakers are takkies, a barbeque is a braai, an insect is a gogga and an alcoholic drink is a dop.

All the Information and Text from South Africa Tourism
For More Information
http://www.southafrica.info