₦airaland Forum

Those countries are not rich, the reason why they grouped themselves as a community is because they have been classified as terrorists by America, including Nigeria. South Africa will never become a family nor member of such nations.

solomon111: stop saying what you don't know.
South-africa is not qualified to join the D-8.
Iran,turkey,and pakistan are far wealthier nations than south-africa.

. Sorry, Pakistan is not richer than South Africa, period. Pakistan is a poor country my friend. I have been there before and people find it hard to make ends meet there my friend.

I have read all the reasoning that you have brought forward about your unhappiness with MTN network, but none of them could convince me so far. I think this is just simple, if you are unhappy about MTN throw the SIM away and don't try to convince others to do likewise, since that is your own baby to feed. Beside, MTN is one of the best networks in the world, like it or not it will prevail. MTN you are the best.

solbil: dont mind the juvenile. If stats do not support his sentiment, then they must be conspiracy.but when they support him, then they are true.

. Google is called a "search tool". When you type in " Who is the richest man in Africa" it will take you straight to the Forbes website. The problem is that I do not believe in anything that Forbes says or writes about Africa, the so called dark continent. The only Africans in Africa who appear to be resilient and politically resistant to the forces of the west are black South Africans and Zimbabweans. The heaven knows that those people are the only ones who suffered atrocities in the hands of the caucasians. Now that they suffered harshly for many centuries they have come to develop special cognitive abilities of mastering the modus operandi of the west. I say again, DE BEERS operated for more than a century (100) exploiting diamonds and even extended further by establishing their sister's company Anglo American, which owns Gold and Platinum mines in South Africa. I wonder if you have any knowledge of how does a mine look like and how much profit does it generate a day. A single platinum mine can hire up to 100 000 employees and generate a profit worth $150mil a day. America is as big today because of the gold mines in that country. China's economy is booming today because of the gold mines in that country, where it even overtook South Africa as the world's number one gold producer. Of cause, this wealth will always be protected by the west. I do not support the west and neither do I want to look white as many of you suggested. I support the cause of African nationalism, that Africans should also have their hands on Africa's natural resources and enjoy the riches of their father's land. I personally do not have any grudges with Aliko and I congratulate him for a work well done on his achievements, but still whites in SA are making a big fortune, yet their companies are listed as family and corporates. Africa for Africans, Aluta continua, Ilizwe lethu, Mayibuye i Afrika, Amandla!!!

solbil: i was only debunking your supercilious and arrogant ignorance and your fake "i am better" sentiment.

And talking about better unis. We all know that the educational institution (no matter how good)attended by a student contributes less than 20percent to his intellectual development. The rest lies in the individual himself. No wonder wole soyinka, from a school in the third world is better known than his mates who did the same course in schools in the developed world.

Come to think of it. I bet you dont know nothing about nigerian unis. You have not even being to anyone before and yet you know yours are better than ours. If you are educated as you would have us believe, then you should also know that you dont judge something you hardly know. You only rely on the deluded nigerians on this forum to get an idea of the country. You also forget that what comes out of the mouth of a fraustrated man cannot be trusted without research and verification.

. Google best universities in Africa.

De Beers has said a group led by its sister company Anglo American has made a formal takeover offer that values the world's biggest diamond producer at $17.6bn (Ł12.1bn).

The bid, which has been approved by De Beers' board, is worth $43.17 a share.

This represents a 31% premium to the closing price of De Beers shares on 31 January - the day before De Beers said a deal might be on the way.


⁠

The takeover is backed by South Africa's wealthy Oppenheimer family, which founded both Anglo American and De Beers, and the Botswanan government, which has a joint venture diamond mining operation with De Beers.

Oppenheimer: Flew to Davos to get Mbeki's approval

Cross-holdings unwound

A deal will unwind a complicated network of cross-shareholdings among the companies that other investors have blamed for the lacklustre performance of their shares.

It will also entail the delisting of De Beers from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange - a big blow to the prestige of the market.

De Beers chairman Nicky Oppenheimer said he had concluded the only way to lift the share price was to take the company private.




You could argue the offer is not generous given the prospects for De Beers

​

De Beers shares moved to a record high of 330 rand ($41.95) in trade in Johannesburg on Thursday.

Keith Bright, Fedsure Asset Management

Anglo American shares - quoted in London - were up 71 pence at 4,501p by early afternoon.

Cash release

Anglo American chief executive Tony Trahar said a deal would help the company achieve a number of strategic objectives.

"It will eliminate the cross-holding between Anglo American and De Beers, release around $1bn in cash, improve transparency in our business and increase our interest in the diamond sector, one of our core holdings."

Analysts said the deal would be good for De Beers shareholders in the short term but was more questionable in the longer term because the company's shareholders would become shareholders in Anglo American and find their exposure to the diamond business diluted.

A lot of potential

"I think it is a fair offer, but you could argue that it is not generous given the prospects for De Beers," Fedsure Asset Management analyst Keith Bright said.

"It is early days, they have had a restructuring of the company and they are getting into the retail market and there is a lot of potential there.

"But how much value you put on that potential at this point is very difficult to evaluate. You will get a lot of people saying they see a lot more potential in the share than $43.17," he said.

BNP Paribas mining analyst Charles Kernot said the deal would leave Anglo American as the strongest of the big three UK-based mining groups and one in a position to lead further consolidation in the sector.

However, Barnard Jacobs Mellett analyst James Allan said the deal could yet run into shareholder resistance.

Mbeki approval

De Beers said in a statement the transaction with Anglo American would result in the immediate inflow of $2.9bn to South Africa.

South African president Thabo Mbeki told parliament he sincerely appreciated "the confidence in the new South Africa demonstrated by a group and a family that have played a major role in our country's economic growth and development for more than a century".

Mr Oppenheimer and De Beers managing director Gary Ralfe had in January flown to Davos where Mr Mbeki was attending the World Economic Forum to secure his approval for the deal, De Beers said.

LVMH tie-up

For more than a century, De Beers has sold uncut - or rough - diamonds for cutting and polishing.

Last year, De Beers had sales of $5.67bn or about two thirds of the global market for uncut diamonds.

However, analysts have long been critical of the group for not realising its full potential.

If the De Beers brand is expanded to other luxury goods, as has happened in the case of Gucci and Chanel, it will be worth billions of dollars, they say.

Earlier this year, De Beers made a move in this direction, announcing a $400m tie up with the French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH.

Under the deal, branded jewellery under the De Beers name is to be sold in "a small number" of stores in prestigious locations.

Stockpile

The move to make more use of the brand follows a strategy shift last year billed as the biggest shake-up at De Beers since the 1930s.

That change saw the company focus on actively selling diamonds rather than, as has historically been the case, underpinning gem prices by mopping up excess supply.

The strategy had left the company with a $4bn diamond stockpile which the firm has sought gradually to deplete.

Anglo American already owns 32.3% of De Beers, which in turn has 35.4% of Anglo.

De Beers said the Anglo American offer comprised $8.3bn for the diamond business and $9.3bn for the stake in Anglo.

The bidding group is a 45:45 venture between Anglo American and the Oppenheimer family, with Debswana, a joint venture of the Botswanan government and De Beers itself, having a 10% interest.

The deal is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.

Anglo American - due to announce results for 2000 on 14 March - said the anticipated outcome for the year remained in line with management expectations.

solbil: this msauza of a man continue to delude himself with his "i am better than you" attitude that has come to characterize him

imagine him come on this forum to imply that we know nothing and are not educated.

When we started being educated, your people were still busy fighting aparthied. Infact many of your people came here to get educated at that point in time. Our professionals were their models. We even gave scholarship to many of your intellectuals.

This man obviously knows nothing about nigeria. Thats why he underated our intellectual prowes. The likes of chinua achebe, elechi amadi, wole soyinka, chimamanda adechie, cyprain ekwensi, Ngozi okonjo iweala, sanusi lamido sanusi, philip emegwali, chukwuemeka soludo, ekwenzili, etc are not black SAs

so you see, we don go too far before you people stated learning how to write.

. By studying in Naija, did it mean that SA did not have better universities? Where did Mandela study?

Godogwu: Nahh it isn't... This is forbes. Just face facts, dangote is worth $12b, nicky is worth $6.5b. Dangote is the richest man in Africa and the richest black man alive. #nuffsaid

. Are you aware that Nicky's DE BEERS is not always included. Why?

miredia: with this I am compelled to inquire of your age. When did having an intimate relationship with a caucasian become a benchmark for achievements. I give up...

. My friend, that was not the first time I went out with white chicks. I had a several relationships with Afrikaner and SA English girls, one of whom (Afrikaner) is the mother of my child. I live in a white upmarket suburb in Sandton, Jhb. Black people are very few where I live and I only get to meet them when I go shopping.

Godogwu: And with all the natural resources (diamond and all) , he is barely worth half of Dangote's fortune... How nice

. That's a propaganda.

miredia: . I thought some Patrice guy had a phenomenal trade interest in diamonds and made striding leaps off it.

. My friend, Patrice Motsepe is one of the luckiest chaps who were pushed by the ANC,s BBBEE policy, that is Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment to own stakes in one of the SA mines. The man is hardly ten (10) years in the business but he already amassed R18 billion worth of wealth. How about whites who have been on this business for over 30 years?

miredia: . I thought some Patrice guy had a phenomenal trade interest in diamonds and made striding leaps off it.

. My friend, Patrice Motsepe is one of the luckiest chaps who were pushed by the ANC,s BBBEE policy, that is Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment to own stakes in one of the SA mines. The man is hardly ten (10) years in the business but he already amassed R18 billion worth of wealth. How about whites who have been on this business for over 30 years.

Wallie: I’m happy that you got the chance to study with Americans through your exchange program but the preference of one or two Americans does not automatically equate to that of the country.

Just so you know, studying law in SA or almost any other course for that matter, is almost guaranteed to send you to the back of the undergraduate line if you want to work in the US professionally. SA trained lawyers? Do they exist outside SA boarders?

Lastly, when and if you finish your apprenticeship you might get the wherewithal and standing to question me but for now, I can only communicate with your “white” masters and I’m a BLACK (Nigerian)! My firm actually represents some SA companies in patent litigation here in the US.

I know you find it hard to believe that blacks can be at par with whites but you might want to take a trip to the US to see for yourself, if you can get a visa!

. For you information, I have never studied with one or two Americans. I had opportunity to study with plenty of them, black and whites and even had the opportunity to be romantically involved with one of them. Every year of my academic study at Wits we used to welcome over 50 students from America and nearly 100 British. Furthermore, I have been to USA in many occasions.

[quote author=Wallie]I’m happy that you got the chance to study with Americans through your exchange program but the preference of one or two Americans does not automatically equate to that of the country.

Just so you know, studying law in SA or almost any other course for that matter, is almost guaranteed to send you to the back of the undergraduate line if you want to work in the US professionally. SA trained lawyers? Do they exist outside SA boarders?

Lastly, when and if you finish your apprenticeship you might get the wherewithal and standing to question me but for now, I can only communicate with your “white” masters and I’m a BLACK (Nigerian)! My firm actually represents some SA companies in patent litigation here in the US.

I know you find it hard to believe that blacks can be at par with whites but you might want to take a trip to the US to see for yourself, if you can get a visa! For you information, I have never studied with one or two Americans. I had opportunity to study with plenty of them, black and whites and even had the opportunity to be romantically involved with one of them. Every year of my academic study at Wits we used to welcome over 50 students from America and nearly 100 British. Furthermore, I have been to USA in many occasions.

@ Willie, why would you be proud of America, a white men's land. Aint you ashamed about yourself
? What about Nigeria? Your fathers land. It would be rather better to make your own little America in Nigeria, than to stand proud with imperialists.

UncleJJ: Ha ha, another loyal south african slave fighting for his master.

Economic degree have nothing to do with "real time" business expansion , strategy and market domination at least not in this nigerian market.

Mr. S'A ur nothing but a bean counter thats why Aliko has all the money and you have all the degrees.

Ur S'A gods sell precious stones and metals, a heavily regulated market, not only in SA but around the globe. Do you think he can sell his goods as fast as Aliko.

The diamond trade is a monopoly that cannot grow than it is, and with the current economic crises such businesses would be having issues selling thier commodities while guys like Aliko only need to ship em bag em and tag em.

Aliko and debeers is kinda like china and the us, one does high volume low cost business the other does low volume high cost business...we know how America is doing. Am sure debeers has cut down on production and just riding out the economic depression, cos aint nobody buying those things his selling.

And, if the west is truly hiding debeers true wealth, he really is not that rich is he. He"s merely keeping the money for the west like a trust fund. Are u sure ur a lawyer, cos it seems someone in the south africa is operating under false pretence.

. A white men considers you a family of the primates and would rather leave you to trade with cement, flour, sugar and salt and instead would gun for oil, diamonds, gold, manganese, iron ore, platinum, etc. My friend, unfortunately you are not from SA and you would have come to the understanding of how expensive are diamonds. Diamonds in South Africa sells like cakes and a 4ct black diamond can buy you 10 000 bags of cement and still build you a mansion. Just imagine if you have ten of those diamonds. Cars, aeroplanes and cellphones are made from a metal that is being mined in SA. Did you ever ask yourself why white SA TIGER BRAND bought Dangote,s flour mills and did you ever ask yourself how much are they worth? Don't underestimate natural resources, it is where the God's given wealth is hidden and a white man would do anything to dissuade you from participating in that business.

@ Willie, what difference does it make, D.Juris is equivalent to LLB. Americans like to over-rate their qualifications unnecessarily. Besides, I have studied with many American citizens and British students through an exchange student programme in Wits, who rather preferred to study law in SA, because they claimed South African trained lawyers are among the best lawyers in the world.

Billyonaire: Bravo! Bravo!! Bravo!!! Let me remind you of who I am. I went to 12 Primary Schools in 10 States in Nigeria. Born of Garri selling mother and Soup cooking father. Which makes me a well-fed son of my parent. I went ahead to struggle in the streets of Lagos Nigeria. I can assure you that conspiracy theories precedes you. I want to enlighten you that there is no natural injunction that a black man can not be wealthier than the white folks. Forbes is not racist as you think. Just as number one man in the world today is a black man. Sometimes people confuse academic knowledge with common sense, oyibo calls it native intelligence. But let me chip in that common sense is not so common, and that wisdom is applied knowledge, so right now, you have acquired too much knowledge and you havent applied it at all. What does that make you ? A conspiracy theorist and an academic boy with no wisdom. Dangote remains Africa's Richest, Nigeria's Pride and my Hero. Take it or Hug the nearest transformer.

. My dear, the truth hurts and it makes you to be completely ignorant, especially where western forces prevails. Many Nigerians know nothing about political education, were never even engaged about communism, radical and militant politics. You need the teachings of Che Guevara and Nkwame Nkruma, the great revolutionaries who engaged us about neo-colonialism. There is nothing about conspiracy theories in what I have just said and if you want the truth ask Aliko Dangote about how much is he worth. I am 100% certain that he would not agree with what Forbes had suggested. White monopoly capital rakes in billions of dollars year after year by owning huge stakes in ANGLO GOLD and ANGLO PLATINUM, yet they are not being rated by Forbes. Forbes in on a mission to protect wealth of white SA by pushing black faces or so to say people of colour to make it look like Africa,s economy is in the hands of blacks. I say it again DE BEERS is worth a net total of over $38B, yet is advertantly left out off its owners wealth. Why? Is it because we Africans believe whatever nonsense a white man says, simply because are inventors of Aeroplanes and cars. What we should ask is what criteria do they use to rate specifically Africans. How many Africans are part of a team that rates wealth of people of colour?

@ Willie, the ( B.Juris) is an outdated version of legal qualifications in South Africa, irrespective of what level, Masters or Doctorate you've achieved. With that kind of qualification, you might not be able to practise as a lawyer in South African judicial mealieu. That qualification has long been phased out and is no longer offered, unless your are some dinosaur of the past generations. Presently, in SA the minimum requirements to practise as lawyer is to possession of an LLB, where you can chose to be groomed as an advocate or attorney.

@ Willie, the ( B.Juris) is an outdated version of legal qualifications in South Africa, irrespective of what level, Masters or Doctorate you've achieved. With that kind of qualification, you might not be able to practise as a lawyer in South African judicial melieu. That qualification has long been phased out and is no longer offered, unless your are some dinosaur of the past generations. Presently, in SA the minimum requirements to practise as lawyer is to possession of an LLB, where you can chose to be groomed as an advocate or attorney.