Economic growth = women

“I am very happy and proud” at being a female entrepreneur, she said. “When I was young, they said: ‘A woman is a woman — a man should take care of you.”’

“But women are actually contributing a lot more than men. We always find ourselves multitasking,” she said, between working and raising a family. “If it could be equated in terms of currency, it would be 80 percent of the economy.”  - Women Entrepreneurs Drive Growth in Africa

Funny line

The Economist had two interesting articles that are focused on South Africa, the first was about Avon being an employment opportunity to women in SA, where unemployment is at 25%  and this one on "Consumer good in Africa - A continent goes shopping." The one big questionable thing in this article is the definition of the middle class, but this is probably due to my lack of experience in the region and knowledge . I am becoming increasingly fascinated and interest in looking at the supply chain issues in emerging markets, which is probably due to my interest  in untapped opportunities and people.  I especially enjoyed the the last line from "Consumer good in Africa - A continent goes shopping":  

Still, the corridor chatter at sub-Saharan conferences these days is cheerful. Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, says that cynicism about Africa has turned to optimism. “We have a sense that things are really getting better,” says Mr Braeken. Africa is not only about mining and oil any more. But, he says, the continent still needs to overcome what George Bush, in another context, called “the soft bigotry of low expectations”.