After all, I had no money, knew few people, and although I was certainly competent technically I was never going to be a Larry Page. Breaking new ground and creating awesomeness is not easy for me, I tried being an artist but didn’t get very far. I’m a zoologist you see, I analyse and optimise, always within the constraints of an ecosystem which has rules and flows. I don’t regret not being a proper zoologist yet, there will be time for that one day.

So here I am 3 years later and what a rush it’s been

Kindo loves MyHeritage

Full story on the Kindo blog.
Seen on Techrunch UK, VentureBeat, Techcrunch US, paidContent and PHP Kitchen to mention a few of the 130 odd posts thus far.
Here is the official press release.

Along the way, I’ve managed to learn many new things, grow with some fine people, evolve as a person, adapt to changing situations, and almost break myself in the process. Looking back it was brute force until recently. Now I get by on smarts. Hopefully it’ll stay that way.

This is the chair it all started on, back in my bedroom.

I’ve been wondering what this post should be about for a while now, as so much blood, sweat and many tears are tied to this, but I’m pretty sure that getting too personal is not really interesting to most people. Those that know me know what I’ve been through and why it’s something I could get emotional about. Instead I think I’m going to thank the people that have been involved along the way, and leave it at that.

Malcolm – thanks for believing in me right at the beginning, truly, truly appreciated.

Joseph – thanks for all the time we’ve spent discussing things dude, you’re a legend.

Rachel – thanks for all the work you did with me, it’s made a massive difference. I’ll be grateful to you for as long as I live…

Fraser and Cliff – thanks for the first lessons you imparted, your support, and the opportunities you’ve given me.

Debora, Georgie, Andrew, Katherine, Leo – thanks for being so good at what you do, being human, and letting me grow in my own lunchbox.

Alistair, Nick, Tom, Tim and Ido – thanks for taking a chance, I hope you guys are realising the benefits of the stuff we did for you.

Ryan, Gill, John, Dustin, Erin, Peter, Ed, Andy, Hash, Dave, Chris - you guys have given so much support and understanding when I couldn’t find that anywhere else.  More than anything, you understand.  We’re all older and wiser now, lets do some cool stuff, shall we

Stephen – I don’t know what you were thinking when you carried on past the first weeks of working with me back in the Summer of 2006, but I think we’ve come a long way since then. Thanks for being so reliable. Thanks for your sense of humour. Most of all, thanks to the Hoff. Looking forward to company 3…

Andrew – like Stephen, you’ve stuck around through thick and thin, which for me is both a compliment and a wonder. Thanks for your calm head, and experienced hand. Looking forward to company 4…

Demian – I’ve learnt much from you, and have enjoyed the benefit of your experience, it’s almost unbelievable we made it through that cold office and into 38k profiles a day

Stan, Dmitri, Julien, Thomas, Ali, James, Damon – You’re all great hackers, it’s been a pleasure working with you, even when the office felt like a pressure cooker at times.

Ryan, Adam, Andy – You guys gave us the designs that made us stand out and look the business. You’re all great to work with, and it’s been awesome. Hope we can work together more in the future.

Nils – I was doubtful at first, ‘cos I couldn’t see through your calmness, but now I’m a believer. It is a pleasure, and I’m looking forward to the next chapters. Onwards and upwards.

Mario, Martin, Julia, Alberto, Fabien, Sophiane – Guys, we couldn’t and wouldn’t have done it without you. So many startups forget that the human (read: marketing / pr) side of things is actually what makes progress in the real world. All the code in the world doesn’t matter if people can’t find you. So, thanks for the long hours, dedication and hard work, I hope you guys become giants when you’re grown up

An awesome bunch of people, would go with you anywhere.

Saul, Robin, Stefan, Taavet, Eileen, Peter – Thanks for believing in us, the help and guidance you’ve given, and ultimately what’s rubbed off onto us. I/we couldn’t have asked for a better group of people for backing.

Sarah – thanks for being there when things got tough, I’m gutted you’re not around now ;-(

Marisha – your honesty, perspective and values are appreciated more than you know or will admit to… Thanks!

Tina – thanks for your hard work in the sale process, enough said

Siobhan – thanks for the advice, even though we didn’t work with you guys…

Morgs – thanks for being so patient, and for putting up with so much of me being unavailable as a brother, and for not throwing my laptop out the window when it would have been expected to do so. You’re the best, almost like a Gillette razor

Mom and Dad – where do I start? How do I begin? Everything I call a virtue has been instilled by you, so what else can I say?

Michelle – I’ve only known you a relatively short while, but it’s been great. Thanks for your insight, wisdom, and for hitting me on the head a few times – looking forward to the next few years!

Gilad, Sueli, Uri and Nir – great job on MyHeritage so far, lets build something significant to families around the world!

And last but certainly not least, the good guys that have kept my feet planted firmly on the ground, in no particular order:
Anne, Scurry, Wazza, Georgie, Wagon, Sean, Snorkes, Biff, Cone, Dunners, Tim, Penguin, Pete Z, Worville, Strola, Hobbo, Steel, Deano, Brettie, Mark, Phil, Lazza, Irish, Miles, Richy, Frances, Russ, Hollster, Matt, Trish, George, Brett, Lisa, Jen, Shev, Debsk, Benno, Edge, Jon, Tina, Stoner, Charlie “Heart like fire, Mind like Ice” Reville, Charlie “Richard” Charlesworth, Cookie, Jim “The Legend” Sayer, Badman, B Hanlon, Charlie “Yeah!” Howard, Charlie “C-F” Theux… and more to come as I think of them

“Exclusive”: Katie Couric talks with Gov. Sarah Palin about her foreign policy experience and Alaska’s proximity to Russia.

And I thought South Africa had problems with leadership…

South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and nine other cabinet members are resigning along with President Thabo Mbeki.

The BBC’s Peter Biles says the resignations are a major blow to the ANC government.

Mr Manuel is however ready to serve the new president, his spokesman says. The ANC is divided between supporters of Mr Mbeki and ANC leader Jacob Zuma.

Is this the beginning of the end of the beginning?

Hat tip to Drew

‘Focus on the challenges facing our people’

Statement by ANC President Jacob Zuma on behalf of the ANC National
Executive Committee, 22 September 2008.

The National Executive Committee of the ANC met over the weekend of 19-21
September 2008, to deliberate on various pertinent issues. After careful
debate and discussion the NEC decided to recall Comrade Thabo Mbeki.

This was one of the most difficult decisions the NEC has ever had to take in
the history of the ANC. We fully understand that the decision comes with a
degree of pain to Comrade Mbeki, his family, friends, members of the ANC,
ordinary South Africans and members of the international community with whom
we interact.

Comrade Mbeki has devoted decades of his life to the ANC and our country.
The decision to recall him was not taken lightly, but it had to be taken in
the interests of making the country move forward. The country needs a strong
and united ruling party at the helm of government, capable of galvanising
support for the government’s development agenda.

As the ruling party we need to sustain the confidence of our people in the
ANC and its government. Once this level of confidence is weakened, the ANC
has no alternative but to take action. We appreciate the cooperation of
Comrade Mbeki and the dignified manner with which he has conducted himself
during this difficult situation.

When we met with the President Thabo Mbeki on Friday morning, ahead of the
NEC discussion, he said that as a disciplined cadre of the movement he would
readily accept and abide by any decision of the organisation and subject
himself to its wishes.

The ANC prides itself on having leaders who rise to the occasion, who put
the organisation and the country first, no matter how challenging the
circumstances may be. Comrade Mbeki will continue to be given tasks as a
cadre and one of the senior leaders of the movement. We are united in our
appreciation of the important role that Comrade Mbeki has played in the
organisation and broader liberation movement.

The achievements of government during Comrade Mbeki’s Presidency are
impressive. The ANC government has created conditions for a sustained
expansion of the South African economy since the Second World War with the
rate of growth averaging over 4.5% a year since 2004.

Government also scored several gains in the social arena such as increasing
access to housing, water, education, electricity and other basic services.
Comrade Mbeki also succeeded in placing Africa in the forefront of
international debates. He made his mark in promoting an African renewal as
well as South-South cooperation, between our country and the developing
world.

In addition, our country made history as we joined the UN Security Council
as a non-permanent member. The Mbeki administration, building on the legacy
of our icon President Nelson Mandela, has definitely created a strong
foundation for the ANC to successfully contest next year’s elections.

In light of this weekend’s developments, we will do all in our power to
ensure that stability is maintained in governance and service delivery. The
Speaker of the National Assembly has informed us that she has received the
letter of resignation from President Mbeki.

Working together with Parliament, we will ensure that the election of a new
President takes place as speedily as possible. There is no reason for South
Africans to be apprehensive. The transition will be managed with care and
precision. We will announce the name of our Candidate in Parliament at an
appropriate moment. We have in Cabinet many experienced Ministers including
the Deputy President of the ANC, Comrade Kgalema Motlanthe. I am convinced
that if given that responsibility he would be equal to the task.

It should be borne in mind that Comrade Mbeki led an ANC government. We
therefore expect a smooth transition, as this is not a change of party but
only leadership in government. We call upon all ANC Ministers and Deputy
Ministers, to continue their work and serve the people of our country,
supported by the Public Service, which is not affected at all by these
changes.

We also appeal to all South Africans to support the government and its new
leadership, and work with them to promote access to a better life for all.
Within the ANC we will continue the work for organisational renewal and
unity. We will be sending NEC deployees to all provinces and regions to
brief our structures on the new developments.

We will also brief civil society formations and other key stakeholders to
ensure their understanding of the decision. Most importantly, we will be
hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup. We will support our government to make the
World Cup a huge success for the African continent and the world.

The ANC led by its President and the NEC will now focus energies on
preparing for the 2009 elections and the new administration next year. After
the elections, the ANC will take further the fight against crime to build
safer communities, as stated in our Polokwane resolutions. We will focus
more on improving the quality of health service delivery and the reduction
of diseases such as HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and others.

We will prioritise education and skills development, as well as land and
agrarian reform, as key tools in the fight against poverty. We have decided
to make the creation of decent work opportunities the primary focus of our
economic policies. This means we have to achieve sound economic growth and
development, in spite of the global economic crisis.

Our economic policies will remain stable, progressive and unchanged, as
decided upon in previous ANC national conferences including Polokwane. We
will take forward the transformation of our criminal justice system, to
promote access to justice for all, poor and rich, rural and urban, men and
women.

The rule of law and the independence of the judiciary are amongst the most
fundamental principles in our country’s Constitution, which the ANC will
always protect and defend. We would like to underline that we acknowledge
and accept the ruling of Justice Chris Nicholson and reiterate that we will,
as always, abide by the decisions of this and all courts in our country.

We appreciate the prevailing atmosphere of calmness and maturity that has
accompanied the recall. We have clearly matured as a democracy and we should
all be proud. We have made a painful and difficult decision, and we are
convinced that it will bring about much needed stability in government and
public life and enable us to focus on the challenges facing our country.

———————————————————————

RECALL OF PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA II

‘We will continue to strive to act in unity’

Address to the Nation by President Thabo Mbeki, 21 September 2008.

Fellow South Africans, I have no doubt that you are aware of the
announcement made yesterday by the National Executive Committee of the ANC
with regard to the position of the President of the Republic.

Accordingly, I would like to take this opportunity to inform the nation that
today I handed a letter to the Speaker of the National Assembly, the
Honourable Baleka Mbete, to tender my resignation from the high position of
President of the Republic of South Africa, effective from the day that will
be determined by the National Assembly.

I have been a loyal member of the African National Congress for 52 years. I
remain a member of the ANC and therefore respect its decisions. It is for
this reason that I have taken the decision to resign as President of the
Republic, following the decision of the National Executive Committee of the
ANC.

I would like sincerely to thank the nation and the ANC for having given me
the opportunity to serve in public office during the last 14 years as the
Deputy President and President of South Africa.

This service has at all times been based on the vision, the principles and
values that have guided the ANC as it prosecuted a difficult and dangerous
struggle in the decades before the attainment of our freedom in 1994.

Among other things, the vision, principles and values of the ANC teach the
cadres of this movement life-long lessons that inform us that wherever we
are and whatever we do we should ensure that our actions contribute to the
attainment of a free and just society, the upliftment of all our people, and
the development of a South Africa that belongs to all who live in it. This
is the vision of a South Africa that is democratic, non-racial, non-sexist
and prosperous; a country in which all the people enjoy a better life.

Indeed the work we have done in pursuit of the vision and principles of our
liberation movement has at all times been based on the age-old values of
Ubuntu, of selflessness, sacrifice and service in a manner that ensures that
the interests of the people take precedence over our desires as individuals.

I truly believe that the governments in which I have been privileged to
serve have acted and worked in the true spirit of these important values.
Based on the values of Ubuntu, the significance of which we learnt at the
feet of such giants of our struggle as Chief Albert Luthuli, OR Tambo,
Nelson Mandela and others, we as government, embarked, from 1994, on
policies and programmes directed at pulling the people of South Africa out
of the morass of poverty and ensuring that we build a stable, developed and
prosperous country.

Accordingly, among many things we did, we transformed our economy, resulting
in the longest sustained period of economic growth in the history of our
country; we introduced an indigent policy that reaches large numbers of
those in need; we made the necessary advances so as to bring about a
developmental state, the better to respond to the many and varied challenges
of the transformation of our country.

This is, of course not the occasion to record the achievements of
government. An additional critical few are however worth mentioning. They
include our achievements with regard to many of the Millennium Development
Goals, the empowerment of women, the decision to allow us to host the 2010
FIFA Soccer World Cup and our election as a non-permanent member of the UN
Security Council two years ago.

Despite the economic advances we have made, I would be the first to say that
even as we ensured consistent economic growth, the fruits of these positive
results are still to be fully and equitably shared among our people, hence
the abject poverty we still find coexisting side by side with extraordinary
opulence.

Importantly, we had an obligation to ensure that democracy becomes the
permanent feature of our lives and that all our citizens respect the rule of
law and human rights. This is one of the cornerstones of our democracy,
which we have consistently striven to protect and never to compromise.

We have also worked continuously to combat the twin challenges of crime and
corruption, to ensure that all our people live in conditions of safety and
security. We must admit that we are still faced with many challenges in this
regard.

Work will therefore have to continue to strengthen and improve the
functioning of our criminal justice system, to provide the necessary
resources for this purpose, to activate the masses of our people to join the
fight against crime and corruption, and to achieve new victories in the
struggle for moral regeneration.

With regard to the latter, our successive governments from 1994 to date have
worked consistently to encourage the entrenchment in our country of a value
system whose observance would make all of us Proudly South African, a value
system informed by the precept of Ubuntu - umuntu ngumuntu ngabanye. Among
other things this means that we must all act in a manner that respects the
dignity of every human being.

We have sought to advance this vision precisely because we understood that
we would fail in the struggle to achieve the national and social cohesion
that our country needs, as well as the national unity we require to enable
us to act together to address the major challenges we face.

Fellow South Africans,

Since the attainment of our freedom in 1994, we have acted consistently to
respect and defend the independence of the judiciary. For this reason our
successive governments have honoured all judicial decisions, including those
that went against the Executive. This did not mean that the Executive did
not at times have strong views which we would have publicly pronounced upon.
The central approach we adopted has always been to defend the judiciary
rather than act in a manner that would have had a negative impact on its
work.

Indeed, on the infrequent instances when we have publicly expressed views
contrary to those of the judiciary, we have done so mindful of the need to
protect its integrity. Consistent with this practice, I would like to
restate the position of Cabinet on the inferences made by the Honourable
Judge Chris Nicholson that the President and Cabinet have interfered in the
work the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

Again I would like to state this categorically that we have never done this,
and therefore never compromised the right of the National Prosecuting
Authority to decide whom it wished to prosecute or not to prosecute. This
applies equally to the painful matter relating to the court proceedings
against the President of the ANC, Comrade Jacob Zuma.

More generally, I would like to assure the nation that our successive
governments since 1994 have never acted in any manner intended wilfully to
violate the Constitution and the law. We have always sought to respect the
solemn Oath of Office each one of us made in front of the Chief Justice and
other judges, and have always been conscious of the fact that the legal
order that governs our country was achieved through the sacrifices made by
countless numbers of our people, which included death.

In this context it is most unfortunate that gratuitous suggestions have been
made seeking to impugn the integrity of those of us who have been privileged
to serve in our country’s National Executive.

Compatriots,

Again, as you know, we have often pointed to the fact that our liberation
movement has always been pan-African in its outlook and therefore that we
have an obligation to contribute to the renaissance of the African
continent. All of us are aware of the huge and daunting challenges that face
our continent. In the short years since our freedom, as South Africans we
have done what we could to make our humble contribution to the regeneration
of our continent.

We have devoted time and resources to the task of achieving the Renaissance
of Africa because this is what has informed generations of our liberators,
even before the ANC was formed in 1912. We have done this fully
understanding that our country shares a common destiny with the rest of our
Continent.

I therefore thank the many dedicated compatriots - men and women - who have
made it possible for us to contribute to the resolution of conflicts and the
strengthening of democracy in a number of countries including the Kingdom of
Lesotho, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Comoros,
Zimbabwe, Sudan and elsewhere. We have also done this work conscious of our
responsibilities as a State Member of both SADC and the African Union.

I would like to thank my colleagues, the many Heads of State and Government
on the African continent whose abiding vision is that Africa must be free;
that all our countries, individually and collectively should become
democratic, developed and prosperous, and that Africa must unite. These
African patriots know as I do that Africa and Africans will not and must not
be the wretched of the earth in perpetuity.

Similarly we have worked to contribute to the achievement of the aspirations
of the countries and peoples of the South, conscious of the need for us to
act in solidarity and in unity with the billions with whom we share the
common challenge to defeat poverty and underdevelopment.

Accordingly, I depart the Office of President of South Africa knowing that
this country has many men and women who have dedicated their lives to ensure
that South Africa, Africa and the countries of the South will, in time,
manage to ensure a better world for all of humanity.

I depart this Office conscious that the sterling work done by the
Presidency, the Ministries and departments, the provinces and local
government structures will continue, driven by the determination to achieve
the goal of a better life for all.

I am convinced that the incoming administration will better the work done
during the past 14-and-half years so that poverty, underdevelopment,
unemployment, illiteracy, challenges of health, crime and corruption will
cease to define the lives of many of our people.

I have received many messages from South Africans, from all walks of life,
through e-mails, telephonically and through cell phone text messages as well
as those conveyed through my colleagues. I thank all of you, fellow South
Africans, for these messages.

To everyone, and responding to these messages, I would like to say that
gloom and despondency have never defeated adversity. Trying times need
courage and resilience. Our strength as a people is not tested during the
best of times. As we said before, we should never become despondent because
the weather is bad nor should we turn triumphalist because the sun shines.

For South Africa to succeed there is more work to be done and I trust that
we will continue to strive to act in unity to accelerate the advance towards
the achievement of our shared national goals.

In this regard, it may be worth repeating what I said during the
inauguration of the President of the Republic in 1999. Using the metaphor of
the Comrades Marathon, I said then that:

“Those who complete the course will do so only because they do not, as
fatigue sets in, convince themselves that the road ahead is still too long,
the inclines too steep, the loneliness impossible to bear and the prize
itself of doubtful value.”

Once more, I thank you most sincerely for affording me the opportunity to
serve you and to serve the people of Africa.

Thank you, Ngiyathokoza, Ke ya Lebogang, Ndo livhuwa, Ndiyabulela, Ndza
khensa, Baie dankie, Ngiyabonga.

———————————————————————

This issue of ANC Today is available from the ANC web site at:
http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2008/at37.htm

To receive ANC Today free of charge by e-mail each week go to:
http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/subscribe.html

To unsubscribe yourself from the ANC Today mailing list go to:
http://lists.anc.org.za/mailman/listinfo/anctoday

In short, unfortunately I/we weren’t able to raise enough money through sponsorship to cover enough of the costs needed to make the financial risks tenable, which effectively means no conference this year. The majority of responses were along the lines of “we’ve already allocated our budget for this year”, or “it’s not our business focus so we won’t spend money on it”.

*** Please spread the word ***

So, the obvious course of action is to try get into next years budgets; and keep plugging away at people to get at least a yes/no. Based on that, it’s either a yes for sometime in 2009 / 2010; or give up on the idea having tried, failed and learnt from it. I’m not convinced that giving up is the only option just yet though!!

That said, a few good things have come from the efforts so far, and they are:

1. a few people have stepped forward to offer sponsorship in the last week or two, unfortunately it’s not enough to cover costs, but it is a good sign.
2. word seems to be spreading, I’ve been amazed at how many emails have come in every day, from all over.
3. Most of the speakers have committed to staying involved, which means that we’re still able to speak to sponsors with such a great lineup

Bottom line:

1. My sincerest apologies to you all.
2. If you have any questions or comments, please comment.

You can read the blog post and comments here.

Thanks, and will be blogging soon with more news!!

_ AskNot.co.za » Blog Archive » What defines a great nation

South Africans have been facing many challenges for a long, long time now. We seem to be a people defined by the challenges we face. It is remarkable that we have come this far, through as many challenges as we have faced. Yet the road ahead seems as challenging, if not more so, than the years behind us.

Certainly, during the years that have passed, we have narrowly avoided disaster, largely thanks to the leaders as we have been blessed to have, such as Nelson Mandela, FW De Klerk, and many others.

But who will be our leaders for the future?

Nice one dude

Earlier this year I did a panel entitled Building a Startup You Love (is Hard) - download pdf - which I think went down pretty well. So for next year, I’m hoping to expand on things by going into more detail and adding a bit more content.

Additionally, I’ve also submitted a proposal for another panel, which I think is also pretty interesting, given that the web is no longer dominated by English.

Here are the details:
Go to http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ and create an account - 1 minute.

Visit:
Building a Startup You Love (is Hard)
Lessons Learned Building Global Apps with Multi-Cultural Teams

If you think that you’d benefit, please vote for me!

So this is what blogging again feels like? Lol…

From the heroic 300 Spartans of Thermopylae to the Charge of the Light Brigade, history is littered with tales of the bravery of men who knew that death was as likely an outcome as glory.

Such courage has always been recognised as a supreme asset by military strategists — Carl von Clausewitz, the 19th-century Prussian theorist, described it as “above all things . . . the first quality of a warrior”. For biologists, however, it poses a problem: humans simply should not have evolved to be heroic: the dangers to life and limb are too great.

Now, it appears, the solution to this evolutionary puzzle may lie in sex. New research suggests that braver soldiers may ultimately win more sexual partners as well as more battles, and that the extra chances to spread their genes can outweigh the risk of dying in combat.

The construction of a 15,000 km fibre optic undersea cable is on schedule and set to go live in June 2009 in time for the FIFA Confederations Cup.
Images by Gallo Images / www.gettyimages.com The Seacom system will bring affordable bandwidth to East and Southern Africa by connecting South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Kenya, and Tanzania with India and Egypt thereby linking the region with the international cable grid in Europe and South Asia.

According to Seacom, all marine and ecological impact studies have been completed by scuba diving scientists, giving the company the go-ahead for rolling out the undersea cable next month.

Some 10,000 km of cable has already been manufactured in the USA and Japan and Tyco Communications, the project contractors, will begin shipping terrestrial equipment this month.

Seacom President Brian Herlihy says, “We are very happy with the progress made over the past five months. Our manufacturing and deployment schedule is on target and we are confident that we will meet our delivery promises.”

The privately-funded operation is 77% African owned. It will complement communication carriers of Southern and East Africa by providing African retail carriers with equal and open access to inexpensive bandwidth which, at the moment, relies on expensive satellite connections.

Hat tip to Sean

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt blows away the rest of the men’s 100m field to claim the Olympic gold medal and a new world record.

Truly remarkable

MICHAEL PHELPS’ DIET
Breakfast: Three fried egg sandwiches; cheese; tomatoes; lettuce; fried onions; mayonnaise; three chocolate-chip pancakes; five-egg omelette; three sugar-coated slices of French toast; bowl of grits; two cups of coffee
Lunch: Half-kilogram (one pound) of enriched pasta; two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayonnaise on white bread; energy drinks
Dinner: Half-kilogram of pasta, with carbonara sauce; large pizza; energy drinks

Came in via email recently, prety good reading, makes me feel positive

Interesting letter by John Mauldin, one of the US’s top investment advisors - recently voted second only to Warren Buffet as an investment guru

I start this week’s letter somewhere over the Atlantic, halfway through an 11-hour flight from Frankfurt to Dallas. It has been an altogether marvellous 11 days in South Africa, speaking to over 1,000 people at 12 venues, giving a half dozen media interviews, and meeting with many individuals.

This week, I want to give you some impressions of not only South Africa, but talk a little about emerging markets in general.

Finding Value in South Africa

I realized about halfway through my recent trip that it had been sometime since I was in an emerging-market country. I have been to over 50 countries over the past 20 years, but recently most of my travels have been to Europe and Canada, with the occasional vacation trip to Mexico.

As I observed South Africa, it was forcefully brought home to me that there is more to the emerging-market story than China, India, and Brazil. There are any number of countries that are seeing robust growth and contributing to the world economy. It was reported at Davos this year that for the first time the developing world has a larger share of world GDP than the developed world. Today, we focus on an emerging-market country that does not make as much news as it should.

As I mentioned above, the mood among those I talked with in South Africa in the early 1990s when I was travelling often to South Africa was quite pessimistic. The economy was not good, due to international economic sanctions stemming from worldwide protests over the policy of apartheid. Changes and elections were coming, and it was not clear what would happen.

I travelled for (mostly) business into 14 other sub-Saharan countries in Africa. With a few notable exceptions, most countries were not doing well and things had progressed from bad to worse over the previous 10-20 years. It was a tough time to try and do business, but it was a great education.

The contrast today is amazing. Before we get into some facts, let me give you a few impressions. First, there are construction cranes everywhere in the four cities I visited: Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, and Cape Town. Twelve years ago the thirty miles from Johannesburg to Pretoria was mostly agricultural land. Today it is one big city, with offices, malls, and homes lining the freeway. There was a significant number of rather nice new housing developments, many if not most being built on speculation all along the freeway.

Johannesburg is a world-class city, on a par with New York or London or any major city in terms of facilities, shops, infrastructure… and traffic. There were new shopping malls all over, and the stores were busy. The restaurants were excellent. The hotels I stayed in and spoke at were excellent and modern. The Sandton area is particularly pleasant.

Durban is a tropical jewel on the Indian Ocean. Again, there was construction everywhere - a green, verdant city of 1,000,000 people, with modern roads and great weather.

I have been to Sydney, Vancouver, and San Francisco. I love all of them. But for my money, Cape Town is the most beautiful city I have been to in the world. Amazing mountains, blue water harbours, white sand beaches, with wineries nestled in among the mountains and valleys. The Waterfront area, where I stayed, is fun and vibrant. Again, an amazing amount of construction everywhere, especially in the waterfront area, as investors from Dubai are pouring huge sums of money into creating a massive residential/business/ retail/restaurant development. There are several similar, quite large developments going up in different parts of Cape Town.

I ate dinner on Friday night at a restaurant called Baia at the Waterfront. I find I really love the better South African chardonnays. My friends know I am something of a chardonnay snob. I like the better California wineries. I was pleasantly surprised to find more than a few South African chards the equal of their US counterparts, but at a third to half the price for the same level of quality. (I should note that a decent chardonnay in London or Europe is twice the US price.) The two of us had the best chardonnay in the restaurant and one of the better meals I have had in a long time, and the bill was less than $100.

The next day my partner Prieur du Plessis informed me that Baia was one of the most expensive restaurants in town. By way of comparison, you can easily spend 2-3 times that at a comparable restaurant in Dallas, and 4-5 times that in New York. Forget London.

I began to ask about the bills for food, drinks, and such for the rest of the trip. The country was uniformly about half what I would pay in Texas for the same quality. I stayed in a very nice five-star hotel (The Commodore) for six nights for less than $1,000, including several meals, laundry, and my bar tab. Their walk-up price was much higher, but clearly you can get deals, and it is tourist season at that. The service was terrific and uniformly delivered with smiles. The exceptionally nice private game reserve (Itaga) we stayed at when I first arrived, trying to get over jet lag, was only a few hundred a night, including meals, wine, and game runs. In short, after having been to London and Europe for my last few overseas trips, South Africa seemed like a bargain.

And it was not just the people I spoke to that were optimistic. Grant Thornton (a large international accounting firm) did a survey in the 30 countries in which they do business. The four countries with the most optimism and confidence were India, Ireland, South Africa, and Mainland China. Why such confidence? I think there are several reasons. The economy has been growing at a reported almost 5% a year for the past several years, which is quite strong. They have had 32 consecutive quarters of positive growth. But the official figures may understate the reality by a significant amount. If you look at the VAT (value-added tax) receipts, as well as other tax figures, some economists estimate the economy may be growing by 7% or more. Why the difference?

There is a large “informal” economy in South Africa. While much of the income may not be reported, when something is bought and sold in the retail sectors, taxes are collected.

The stock market has grown by over 25%, 47%, and 41% for the last three years. Such a bull run is always a boost to confidence. But there are also some real fundamentals underlying the emerging-market Bull markets. South Africa has a strong commodity sector, with numerous commodities and not just gold. JP Morgan thinks that earnings growth for South African companies, even adjusting for some anomalies, will be 20% this year, which should mean another good year for their local markets.

This link between commodities and stock market prices is reflected not just in their stock market, but in emerging markets worldwide. Look at the close correlation for the last ten years between the prices of commodities and the emerging-market equity index. I think this rather clearly shows the link between the recent rise in commodity prices and emerging markets. It is more than just a China story.

Football as an Economic Driver The attention paid to football (or soccer in the United States) is rising to fever pitch in South Africa. And for good reason: they will host the World Cup in 2010. They expect some 3,000,000 fans to show up. The government is using the occasion to spend some 400 billion Rand (a little over US $50 billion) on all sorts of infrastructure projects. They are doubling the size of the major airports, which had already been significantly improved. Walking past the construction at the Johannesburg airport, you have to be impressed with the size of it. New roads and other forms of infrastructure are being added to prepare for the influx, but it will have the added effect of making the country more competitive, just as infrastructure in China has been a boost to that country, and a lack of infrastructure has limited India.

The World Cup will also be a boost to tourism, already one of the most important sectors of the economy. Cape Town is becoming an international destination for vacations and conferences. The growth in tourism has been strong, showing 20% growth last year from 2005. 2006 was a record year.

Interestingly, 75% of the traffic reported in the tourism growth is from Africa and the Middle East. While a lot of the people are vacationers, I think a goodly portion are businessmen and women from all over sub-Saharan Africa who look to South Africa as a deal-doing financial centre. South Africa has a quite strong, very competent, and growing financial services sector that is a magnet for entrepreneurs from all over Africa seeking to find capital. South Africa also has a strong entrepreneurial class which is the base for much of the new business and development, not just in South Africa but in all of Africa. The rest of the world rightly sees South Africa as the place to launch into the rest of Africa.

Are there problems in South Africa? Of course, and some of them are quite serious. But that is the case in nearly all (I cannot think of an exception) emerging-market economies. While the overall crime rate is dropping, it is still far too high. Some rather high-profile crimes of late have resulted in a strong outcry for serious change.

Corruption is an issue, but that is the case in almost every emerging-market country. The high levels of poverty are evident. Although employment is growing and more and more of the poor are being brought into the economy, there is still a lot of room for progress.

The telecommunications infrastructure is hampered by a lack of serious competition. Access to the internet is limited in many areas, and it is really slow where it does exist. This will improve in the coming years, but it is a serious handicap to business. There are power shortages and the need for more power-generation plants to keep up with the growth.

But all these areas are (mostly) going to improve. I see a lot of opportunity in South Africa in particular and Africa in general. Let’s look at one area where there may be more than a little potential in the future.

I think there is deep long-term value in African (not just South African) farmland. Right now, given the nature of US and European subsidies to agriculture, it is hard for developing-world farmers to compete. But that will change in the next decade.

As I have written before, “Old Europe” the US and even Australia are going to come under intense government budgetary pressure due to the high levels of pension and medical costs they have promised their retiring boomers. Europe is particularly vulnerable. Quite simply, Europe cannot afford to keep the pension promises they have made and pay for any other normal government expenses without raising taxes. Except that they already have economy-stifling high taxes.

Budgets are going to have to be cut in other areas. At some point, sooner rather than later, agricultural subsidies are going to come under pressure, as politicians must decide where to find the money to pay for the promised pensions and health care. There are more voters who are older and on pensions than there are farmers. I can count votes, and it is not hard to predict the result. It will be with a lot of fighting, but in the medium run, the agricultural subsidies in Europe are going to have to go.

When the writing is clearly on the wall, Europe will start to negotiate on those subsidies, trying to get something for what they will have no choice but to give. Part of that will be to reduce US subsidies as well. Africa will become a breadbasket for much of Asia. With China pressed for water and much of its agricultural land being used for development, China will need to import more food. And as the rest of the world becomes more developed, there will be an increased demand for meat, which means an even bigger demand for feed grains for livestock. The growing use of ethanol is increasing demand for corn, absorbing more of the world’s land use for energy corn rather than for food.

The simple fact is that as the world grows more prosperous we are going to need more grain and other foods. Where is the land we are going to need to feed the world There is an abundance in Africa, along with the needed water and labour. And as African countries upgrade their infrastructure, it will improve the ability of farmers to get their grains to market at profitable levels.

There is much to like about emerging markets. That is where a great deal of the real potential growth in the coming decades will be. And South Africa will be one of the better stories. If you are not doing business there already, you should ask yourself, why not?

Home Again, Tulsa

I want to give special thanks to my South African partners Prieur du Plessis and Paul Stewart and the rest of the team at Plexus Asset Management. I have never been treated so well on a trip. They made all the hard work a pleasure, taking care of a thousand small details so I could focus on the tasks at hand. And they did arrange for some fun, relaxation, and great sightseeing. I am looking forward to going back soon. I was particularly impressed with South African Air. Very comfortable business-class seats, impeccable service, and great wines. I have trouble sleeping on planes, but I could actually sleep in these seats. But it still took over 40 hours to get to Johannesburg, rather than under 20, so I was exhausted when I got there. Jet lag this trip was as bad as I have ever had. Coming back has been easy. It is getting late and time to hit the send button. Have a great week and enjoy the ones you’re with.

Your tired but happy analyst, John Mauldin - http://www.johnmauldin.com/.