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Welcome to AFRICABIZ,

Welcome to AFRICABIZ® HTML Email edition. Previous issue available at this link

Dear faithful reader,

- WAR AGAINST TERRORISM STARTS AND ENDS UP WITH BATTLE AGAINST POVERTY

One year ago, on September 11, 2001, the world was astounded and shaken by the airliners suicide bombings on the Twins at New York City and the Pentagon at Washington, DC

The United States of America hit back and rained Afghanistan with bombs to retaliate against the masterminds of the airliners suicide attacks. The bombs and the armada gathered to carry out the military campaign (troops carriers, warships, ammunitions, etc.) represent a lot of money.

We do not know how much yet. Certainly in the range of several billions US$.

We do know now, however, how much the 1991 Gulf war cost to the formidable international coalition built up by president George Bush Sr. to rout out Saddam Hussein troops from Kuwait.

According to the US Department of Defense the Gulf war cost stands at US$ 61 billion. Click here for more. However, the amount released by other sources is higher. On September 28, 2002 Saudi's Interior Minister Prince Naif declared: " The Saudi Arabia had bankrolled the US-led 1991 Gulf war to the tune of US$ 80 billion...." Click here for more.

Owing to the fact that several European Union countries (Germany; France, Italy and the United Kingdom in particular) also contributed significantly to the war financing, one can say that the total cost of 1991 Gulf war is far beyond US$ 100; and likely to be near US$ 150 billion. That's for the direct costs only.

To that one has to add "collateral" damages' costs such the Arabian / Persian Gulf's oil pollution, the repairs of Kuwait's oils wells set ablaze by Iraq. Etc. Iran for instance evaluated the collateral damage caused by the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait to US$ 23 billion, including US$ 15.4 billion in the sector of natural resources, agriculture and fishing, Click here for more.

There are also the formidable social and welfare costs bore by the Iraqi population and the worldwide damages done to the international tourist industry and the insurance sector business to name the few. Etc.

Taking all that into account one can conservatively say that the 1991 Gulf war cost is something in the range of US$ 250 billion.

A staggering amount of money you will certainly agree! What a waste of money. A complete squandering of financial means, which could have been allocated to building a better world for the entire humankind and in the same time stem out the roots of terror.

Indeed reasons for terrorism read as follows: poverty, oppression and lack of consideration. Click here for more.

In order to put an end to rampant terrorism worldwide, to remove the "Robin of woods" charisma, which is the actual umbrella of terror's perpetrators, corrections and durable solutions should be found for poverty, oppression of all kinds and lack of consideration to the less developed of the world.

One year ago, in October 2001 email edition, on the aftermath of the September 11, we wrote: "THERE IS EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN FOR A BETTER WORLD" and showed here that the amount of financial means necessary to lifting an African developing country from the "poverty league" of GNP 300 US$ / year to "bearable living conditions league" of GNP 2,500 US$ / year is only US$ 200 million per year over a period of maximum 10 years.

In other words, the amount of financial means necessary to initiating a development program to stem out poverty and diseases from 48 sub-Saharan African countries and establish an era of general prosperity is far less than the cost of 1991 Gulf war. - approximately US 150 billion over 10 years; that is to say US$ 15 billion per year of well planned and implemented investment thrust.

Click here for per capita GNP boosting from US$ 300 to US$ 2,500 in ten years for an emerging country.

"CONTRIBUTOR'S GUIDELINES" are available here. You are invited to contribute to AFRICABIZ ONLINE MONTHLY ISSUE - with articles related to "How Africa Could Bridge The Developing Gap".

Many thanks for subscribing to Africabiz. See you on November 15, 2002.

Dr. B.M. Quenum
Click here for contact & support console

Business Opportunities

TROPICAL FRUIT INDUSTRY AS INCOME BUILDING POWER FOR AN AFRICAN COMMUNITY / PART VIII: INTRODUCTION TO PINEAPPLE AGRIBUSINESS

Pineapple agribusiness, well planned and organized, can be a tremendous Income Building Power for an African community. Pineapple agribusiness leads to the following non restrictive economic activities:

- Fresh fruit industry. - Dried fruit industry. - Fruit juice industry - Animal breeding. - Soft wine industry. - Textile and knitting industry - Pharmaceuticals. Etc.

There is no doubt, in view of above listed economic activities, that pineapple agribusiness, well planned and integrated into the development scheme of an emerging country, will play a major role in activating the economy and significantly contribute to the Synergetic Impact Factor.

- DOOR TO ENTERING THE MARKET IS PERMANENTLY OPENED

In year 2000, tropical fruits export value worldwide (98% originating from developing countries) was about US$ 36 billion.  For a global 61.4 million metric tons of production, mango accounted for about 36 percent of output, followed by pineapple at about 22 percent, papaya at 14 percent and avocado at 4 percent. Data for year 2001 indicate an estimated 4 percent increase in world output of tropical fruits to reach 63.4 million tons. Furthermore, according to statistics compiled by the FAO, the international market of pineapple is expected to rise by 35% over the period 1995-2005

The European market is the leading market, with 40% of total imports of fresh and canned pineapple, followed by the United States and Japan. Main suppliers to the European market are Cote d'Ivoire and Costa Rica. Ghana is developing marketing efforts to enter the European market. The country tripled its supply between 1993 and 2000 from 10,500 metric tons of fresh pineapple to 35,000..

The main hindrance for pineapple originated from Africa to grab a biggest market share worldwide - and particularly in Europe - is the cost of transportation from producing countries to the European marketplace. Ship / cargo transport is normally the less costly dispatching mean to Europe. However, it is difficult for African exporters to book cargo shipment to Europe. They are obliged to opt for air freight, which is more expensive.  Even then they cannot book for large shipment.

Therefore. African producers need absolutely to concentrate on the management of  the costs of production. They need to produce at less cost in order to compensate for the high cost of air freight. 

To be competitive on the international marketplace they have to produce high volume yields of fresh pineapple for less operational costs (they have to establish good balance of hands and machinery equipment; perform strict control of purchasing cost and per hectare utilization of fertilizer; put in place efficient irrigation system; select good brand of pest control products and make moderate use of them. Etc.)

In next investment estimate to establishing one hectare of pineapple plantation will be described.

- This is a real niche opportunity for an international investor or African country to improving its foreign exchange balance. It is also a perfect Economic Catalyst

Control Your Desktop

SOMETIMES INSTALLSHIELDS PERFORMS BADLY? WHAT TO DO TO SOLVE THE MATTER

Sometimes ago, I tried to re-install a software I have deleted because one of the DLL (Dynamic Link Library) was corrupted. InstallShields apparently behaves correctly. and indicates that the installation was successful. However, when I rebooted the system and tried to load the new installed software, it was nowhere to be seen. That's was the first time I encountered that kind of  problem. I redo and redo again quite five times. Still no software installed.

Then, I thought about removing all files linked to said software from the system  in order to perform a clean installation. I used SYSTEM MECHANIC and InstallShields was then capable of installing the software.

More on SYSTEM MECHANIC is exposed here.

Freebie Of The Month

TRACK SPAMS AND CARD CROOKS

Here is a little utility, which is useful to take control of your privacy. Indeed, sometimes you really wish you can trace back the domain name of a spam! Some of the stuff coming from adult sites and bulging your mail box are just plain nuisance and keep on infringing into your privacy. Sure, you can stem them out with a powerful filter utility like ePROMPTER. But enough if enough! If you really feel like knowing about the origin of the "attacker" and take appropriate action with his ISP, IP LOOKUP from Softnik Technologies is a perfect tool to start your investigation.

You just need to enter an IP Number and IPLookup will retrieve all available information including the name and address of the ISP or the organization that owns the IP block.

Furthermore, if you are in e-Commerce, this utility will help you locate the country of origin of an online order and detect any card fraud attempt. You will be well equipped to control if  ordering country really matches country of destination or shipping address. 

Click here to get IP LOOKUP.