I am just from watching the eye opening documentary of the above title and was frankly shocked at first. It took me a while to compose myself and get my thoughts together after seeing such a shocking documentary about something going on quietly in South Africa today that I frankly wasn’t even aware of until one week ago when I read a relatively shocking headline which at first I thought was one of those bad internet jokes circulating on social media. The headline was suggesting that the South African government has begun the process of expropriating land from white farmers and redistributing to black South Africans.

I thought it was a joke because we all know what happened in Zimbabwe. To put it mildly, it did not work. However, when I watched a report by Tucker from Fox News, then I knew it was serious. But what I did not bargain for is what the Afrikaners are calling “Plaasmoorde” or Farm Murders which have been ongoing for almost 20 years. The saddest thing is that these murders have increased in frequency to almost one every day. They target rural isolated farmers and commit some of the most barbaric acts in the murder of these poor white South Africans.

I then took some time to watch all the various news reports from different sources about the situation. And I must admit that it hasn’t really gotten the attention one would expect. But then, if one thought about it, neither does the xenophobia which still goes on today in South Africa, though not at the wide spread rate as we saw a while back.
Back to my topic, it was in all this that I then chose to watch this seemingly well researched documentary that was posted on YouTube about the same terrible plight of Farm Murders going on I South Africa today. And with President Cyril Ramaphosa responding to a “threat tweet” from the master of Tweeting his mind, President Donald Trump, this makes for a very fresh and relevant topic.

After taking time to let her documentary “sink in” so to speak, I then now had the time to respond to some of the points she raised and also give my views on this documentary.
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I have given the link here so that more can watch and see for themselves what is going on in South Africa today, which is rather sad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_bDc7FfItk&t=11s

​But even after sharing the link, I must hasten to add that Miss Southern glosses over so many things and leaves out so much in her documentary that I would be doing terrible injustice to your readers if I did not highlight the pros and cons of this documentary.

I have also chosen not to label any attacks on her as an individual, or even speak about her "controversies" surrounding her brand of "activism" as these are honestly beyond the scope of this blog and will just muddy the points I am raising here, besides, objectivity dictates I stick to the topic and not the person, and that is what I do here.

Below is my take on the same. Read on.

1# I must commend Lauren for coming out in a precise way about what is going on with the Farm Murders. Something that is very unfortunate and terrible to say the least. Hearing some of those stories truly brought tears to my eyes. No human being whether white or black deserves this form of brutality going on in those farms against white farmers.

2# The attitude by those in authority is scary to say the least. And what is even scarier is the fact that there is so much sentiment for expropriation at whatever cost that no one is thinking beyond immediate satiation of a long standing issue. Indeed that gentleman from the ANC interviewed put it bluntly that the bureaucratic processes are too slow and they need to act fast, but at what cost?

3# If you push any people against a corner, the result is that they will push for self-defense, and with the Suidlanders advocating for civil war readiness, who can blame them?

​4# Watching those squatter camps for white people who cannot access welfare on account of their race is appalling to say the least. Surely in this day and age, if government has the means, why not assist?
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In spite of Miss Southern doing a splendid job with this documentary, she also pushed some downright scary notions in her documentary that cannot go without mention.
1# Her video has an agenda, pushing for apartheid all over again. She closes this documentary by suggesting Orania (a stronghold for Afrikaans and the Afrikaner identity by keeping their language and culture alive which welcomes anyone who defines themselves as an Afrikaner and identifies with Afrikaner ethnicity to live there) as a great option and even equates it with “Tribal Homelands”.

That is frankly an insult to the intelligence of all Africans who know the history behind those homelands or Bantustans as they had come to be known. Native South Africans were forcibly taken there to ensure they do not live in the city save as workers there. The conditions were economically backward, and this forced many to seek employment in the cities. This in itself posed a major challenge as many had no rights including travel, owning of property, movement and were paid very low wages. This is the history behind the rise of squatter houses or shanty compounds. Their history and background are very sad to read about.

Many nations including my own (Zambia) paid very heavy prices in terms of lives to see South Africa become free. The South African government sponsored the massacre of many Africans north of the Limpopo including Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, Namibia and even Tanzania. We lost thousands of people through letter bombs, outright raids by the South African Defense Forces and mercenaries and even abductions which always led to torture for the purpose of extracting information on the works of the ANC. The price paid was very high.
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As for South Africa itself, we can never forget Sharpeville Massacre (21st March 1960), Soweto Uprising (16th June 1976), the thousands of men, women and children of all races with the majority being blacks who were killed in many terrible ways by the government. She cannot gloss over such appalling things in the name of this agenda she is now pushing here.

2# To suggest the lack of crime is apparent is a blatant albeit veiled way of suggesting the presence of blacks is the reason for crime anywhere! That is such a low blow. I was actually quite shocked by her covert way of putting this across. Perhaps the irony cannot be lost when you realize that this documentary is being presented by a blonde white young female which fits the stereotype of the white savior complex. Anybody remember Louise Linton?

3# She highlights correctly the terrible crime of white farm murders, but then blatantly leave out the horrendous xenophobia that took place twice in South Africa and continues even now without being reported. She knows very well about the horrendous killings that were perpetrated by black township gangs who went about destroying, looting, raping, killing and necklacing so many black Africans of neighboring countries. She knows that even the SAPS (South Africa Police Service) literally stood by and watched without doing a thing until it became a continental and world embarrassment to all. Who would have imagined a day when South African blacks would turn on their very brothers and sisters who stood by them during the liberation struggle?
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They say a picture speaks a thousand words; the worst example of such is the picture below. To imagine a member of the South African Police Service grimacing as an innocent Mozambican burns to ashes after being necklaced by an angry mob is nothing short of shocking.

4# She also glosses over the terrible crime rates in South Africa today. Yes the white farm murders are terrible, but when you contrast them with car jackings (that lead to murders), robberies, rapes, bank heists, highway heists and township murders, these PALE IN COMPARISON. The numbers of people being killed daily in SA at the hands of criminals is mind staggeringly huge. So, what she did was focus on a very small number and not contrast it with the reality the authorities are grappling with on a daily basis. This is skewed journalism.

5# Apartheid was a horrible system whose aim was to disenfranchise the black man. And it certainly did. The system ensured that black township kids never got the right education, were always second class, had no means to really advance and were most times under curfew or the watchful eye of the SAPS who patrolled their townships regularly looking for “troublemakers”. The few that tried were under immense pressure from peers and so many never advanced in education. Contrast that with exiles that had the privilege and opportunity to complete their education and so be better placed to take advantage of the later introduced Black Empowerment Program.
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What we now see in SA today is the backlash of such a terrible system. When you oppress and kill hundreds of thousands of people systematically over almost 50 years, when you teach them repeatedly that they are second class human beings, inferior to white people, when you enforce that through repressive tactics, then this is the result.
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Unfortunately, many of our South African brethren have seemingly gotten a reputation of carrying a “chip on their shoulders” and seeking “what is their right”. This is better known as an entitlement mindset. It is so bad that any South African whether white or black who is middle class, and entrepreneur or business man will readily admit (though not openly), that they would rather hire blue collar foreigners any day over their own fellow citizens. This is a tragedy.

So, yes Lauren has done a great job in highlighting such a terrible plight against these white farmers, but her documentary is seriously skewed and one sided and only highlights in a very focused way that ignores the greater picture purposely, the plight of one group of people (whose number is really small) in comparison to the gargantuan problems of crime and murder plaguing the entire nation of South Africa.

Let me say this here, any human being that can tie up a three year old white child to a table, repeatedly rape that child and then kill that child by wrapping them with newspapers and pouring fuel on the papers and burning that baby is worse than an animal. Any human being that can forcibly drown a twelve year old boy in hot boiling water is worse than an animal. These are demon possessed evil human beings with whom no words can describe their levels of brutality. I was very heartbroken to hear the case of the poor woman whose husband was shot dead at point blank range and even after the perpetrators were arrested, they were finally sentenced to 15 years! Fifteen years!? That is pure injustice at its worst. :'(
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South Africa is a cauldron of simmering issues. I believe Nelson Mandela and De Klerk did their best under very very difficult circumstances to balance what were seriously opposed forces pushing for more radical approaches and solutions. Against all odds, the wisdom of Mandela prevailed. Today, a number of people advocate that Mandela was a sell out, a position I find very sad because if this man had taken any other position, who knows where South Africa would be today? It is this author’s belief that the wisdom that Mandela exhibited as a president is what led to what South Africa is today, a prosperous middle income nation.
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Yes we admit that there are many challenges, but one must never forget where they are coming from, the complex social and economic challenges it faces and the daunting task faced by every government that comes in on how best to solve these challenges.
May we see the hand of God prevail in that nation and see the best of it shine through so that it continues to be a proof of a thriving democracy with institutions of governance that actually work – in Africa.

​This is part of a series on 5 Reasons Why Africa is Poor (#1 Weak Institutions, #2 Culture, #3 Religion, #4 Geography and #5 Poor Governance) of which this one looks at the fourth reason, that being our geographical location and its real implications on wealth creation and retention.

Definition

According to Wikipedia, Geography is a field study of the lands, the features, the inhabitants, and the phenomena of Earth. Thus, modern geography is an all-encompassing discipline that foremost seeks to understand the Earth and all of its human and natural complexities—not merely where objects are, but how they have changed and come to be. Geography has been called “the world discipline” and “the bridge between the human and the physical science”. Geography is divided into two main branches: human geography and physical geography.

Based on the above, we can see that Geography relates to four key areas of which we shall briefly study.

Natural and Human Analysis – This is the concept that allows for detailed study of various phenomena with relation to distribution and statistics. This discipline helps explain many occurrences and studies even assist in understanding better the patterns behind animal migration, disease spread and concentration, patterns and flow.

Places and Regions – This is a discipline that studies people, areas and seeks to understand the factors affecting sociology, cultural diversity, climate and even emigration.

Human and Land Relationship – How human settlement and migration happens and how land and natural resources play that role in bringing about these occurrences. Included in broad strokes are history, politics, sociology and nationality.

Earth Sciences – An all-encompassing discipline that combines physics, planetary science, biology, chemistry, geology and other scientific branches to bring about a greater understanding of how earth came about and is evolving even now.

Having looked at the full definition of what geography is, let us now see how this plays a role in perpetuating poverty.

For those who are avid readers and find the subject very interesting, I would also highly recommend reading the Pulitzer Prize winning book “Guns, Germs and Steel” by Professor Jared Diamond that carries this argument further.

The Challenging Factors

Our greatest challenge that we face and isn’t just common to Africa but other regions in the world (Latin America) has got to be location. The fact that we are located in the tropics isn’t without its great challenges, the results of which we are still battling with fully.

Our first greatest challenge lies in the environment. This is seen most certainly in the inability to keep and rear domesticated animals. A quick study of the temperate countries shows that domestication and mechanized farming was in fact the first step toward wealth creation and sustenance.

With domestication, that meant more could be harnessed for food, which then created value that fed their local communities. The regular precipitation meant that you had long periods of wet and moist ground which translated into more food security, better crops, less disease and abundance of food.

In the tropics this did not happen at the pace it did in these lands.  Frankly, life is much harder here. Below are some factors that bring about the hardness of life.

​Disease for Livestock

One of the most dreaded vectors that plague livestock is the Tsetse Fly.
Tsetse flies are regarded as a major cause of rural poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa because they prevent mixed farming. The land that is infested with tsetse flies is often cultivated by people using hoes rather than more efficient draught animals because nagana, the disease transmitted by tsetse, weakens and often kills these animals. Those cattle that survive produce little milk, gravid cows often abort their calves, and manure is not available to fertilize the worn-out soils.

The disease nagana or African Animal Trypanosomosis (AAT) causes gradual health decline in infected livestock, reduces milk and meat production, increases abortion rates, and animals eventually succumb to the disease (annual cattle deaths caused by trypanosomosis are estimated at 3 million). This has an enormous impact on the livelihood of farmers who live in tsetse infested areas, as infected animals cannot be used for animal traction to plough the land, and keeping cattle is only feasible when the animals are kept under constant prophylactic treatment with trypanocidal drugs, often with associated problems of drug resistance, counterfeited drugs and suboptimal dosage. The overall annual direct lost potential in livestock and crop production was estimated at USD 4.5 billion.

The tsetse fly infests nearly 10 million square kilometers in sub-Saharan Africa and many parts of this large area is fertile land that is left uncultivated—a so-called green desert not used by humans and cattle. This explains why generally you may see tracts of empty land that has not been fully exploited for farming.

Most of the 37 countries infested with tsetse are poor, debt-ridden, and underdeveloped. Out of the 39 tsetse-infested countries, 32 are Low-Income Food-Deficit Countries, 29 are Least Developed Countriesand 30 are among the 40 most Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs). Eradicating the tsetse and trypanosomosis (T&T) problem would allow rural Africans to reclaim areas of their continent and greatly increase food production. Only 45 million cattle, out of 172 million present in sub-Saharan Africa are kept in tsetse infested areas, but are often forced into fragile ecosystems like highlands or the semi-arid Sahel zone, which leads to overgrazing by animals and overuse of land by people for food production.
In addition to this direct impact, the presence of T&T discourages the use of more-productive exotic and cross-bred cattle, depresses the growth and affects the distribution of livestock populations, reduces the potential opportunities for livestock and crop production (mixed farming) through less draught power to cultivate land and less manure to fertilize (in an environment-friendly way) soils for better crop production, and affects human settlements (people tend to avoid areas with tsetse flies).

Tsetse flies transmit a similar disease to humans, called Human African Trypanosomosis (HAT) or sleeping sickness. It is estimated that 70 million people in 20 countries are at different levels of risk and only 3-4 million people are covered by active surveillance. The DALY Index (disability-adjusted life years), an indicator to quantify the burden of disease, includes the impact of both the duration of life lost due to premature death and the duration of life lived with a disability. The annual burden of sleeping sickness is estimated at 2 million DALYs. Since the disease tends to affect economically active adults, the total cost to a family with a patient is about 25% of a year’s income.

​Disease for People

Two of the greatest killers of many in the tropics are Malaria and HIV/AIDS related opportunistic infections and diseases.
We all know how much these two diseases have ravaged the Sub Saharan African continent and robbed it of some of its finest sons and daughters. Statistically speaking, the numbers are numbing.

Malaria is widespread in the tropical and subtropical regions that exist in a broad band around the equator. This includes much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Malaria is commonly associated with poverty and has a major negative effect on economic development. In Africa, it is estimated to result in losses of US$12 billion a year due to increased health care costs, lost ability to work, and negative effects on tourism. The World Health Organization reports there were 198 million cases of malaria worldwide in 2013 alone. This resulted in an estimated 584,000 to 855,000 deaths, the majority (90%) of which occurred in Africa.

The net effect on productivity and output cannot be overemphasized here.
HIV/AIDS is a global pandemic. As of 2012, approximately 35.3 million people are living with HIV globally. Of these, approximately 17.2 million are men, 16.8 million are women and 3.4 million are less than 15 years old. There were about 1.8 million deaths from AIDS in 2010, down from 2.2 million in 2005.
 
Sub-Saharan Africa is the region most affected. In 2010, an estimated 68% (22.9 million) of all HIV cases and 66% of all deaths (1.2 million) occurred in this region. This means that about 5% of the adult population in this area is infected. Here, in contrast to other regions, women compose nearly 60% of cases. South Africa has the largest population of people with HIV of any country in the world, at 5.9 million at 2012 statistics.

When a nation loses so many people to such diseases, the overall effect is decreased production, loss of human resource and ideas. As I have mentioned in a previous article, the wealth of a nation is harnessed from two distinct sources, the first is natural resources which include minerals, soil and agriculture. The second is human resource which mainly lies in the ideas, skills and abilities of a given society.

When large numbers of the populace die through pandemics like HIV/AIDS and Malaria, there is no shadow of doubt the loss that occurs not just to members of the immediate families affected, but their workplaces and society at large.

​This loss can be quantified in terms of income, entrepreneurial exploits, ideas that can better society, leadership, team members, synergy and productivity in various sectors. When this number is compounded over a decade, the losses are staggering.

Hostile Environments

​When the above agricultural factors are added (the human factor) with environmental factors (drought and heat) the overall effect is that we see it get harder for peasants to farm. Subsistence farming is made harder because they have to use hoes instead of ox-drawn ploughs (oxen are often decimated by Trypanosomosis or drought) and thus greatly reduces yield and efficiency.

Furthermore, the semi-arid soils which are over grazed end up becoming poor for production and thus worsen an already bad situation. This means the planting of staples and vegetables becomes very challenging. Most farms will produce between 25% - 50% below expected yields, thus making the effort more than the result. For the peasants this means more dismal living. When this is coupled with an inefficient crop buying process, inaccessibility due to bad transport infrastructure and lack of access to financial services such as banking, the conditions that perpetuate scarcity are fueled.

This leads to dire straits which force many of the rural population to end up migrating into the urban areas seeking better life.

Since the cities are usually already lagging behind in provision of basic services and welfare, the result is shanty compounds (illegal township shacks), strained resources (clean water, sanitation, health care, education, policing etc.) leading to the poverty we speak about here.

​There is talk about highly mechanized and scientific farming, yes that would be easy if the general conditions and factors were corrected first (strong institutions, effective revenue collection, professional civil service), but the cost of doing this is gargantuan, and since most governments in these African countries have very inefficient and porous ways of collecting revenue, they are left without the means to correct the situation – and therefore the poorest continue to suffer constant lack.

Landlocked Countries

For these countries the situation is made worse by their location as they have to literally import everything. If they do not have high productivity in place and ensure they counter importation with a large export base, they then suffer then net effect of having more expenditure than income.
Transportation, costs for trade and exchange are always inherently harder for these countries. If the regulatory frameworks that govern various stakeholders are not strengthened through stronger institutions, the overall effect is the one we see. (More later)

Natural Resources

You may have never realized it but this is perhaps one of the greatest factors that may either work to increase or decrease the equitable distribution of wealth in a nation.

I have shown that there are two types of resources, natural and human. We have shown how human resource has been affected by the geographical factors. There is no argument that they play a significant role in aggravating conditions that manifest poverty.

Natural resources also play a huge role. They are what are known as “intensifiers”. This then means that if the country has strong institutions, then the resources work to bring about great prosperity and wealth for its citizens. A great example of such is the Republic of South Africa.

They had very strong institutions and systems from earlier on that ensured that the environment guaranteed equitable returns for entrepreneurial exploits. This meant guaranteed growth and development for all and the results were then channeled into all the various social sectors.

You don’t need to be an economist to see the massive development that is in South Africa and their general services compared to other Sub-Saharan countries especially the poor ones.

If on the other hand the country has weak institutions, then this can turn that resource from a blessing to a curse. We can cite examples from the ten poorest countries and see this straight away. The two examples are Liberia and Congo DR.

Liberia has diamonds and we all know the famous film “Blood Diamonds” that showed how these were pivotal in perpetuating a civil war that was mainly about control of this resource. Congo DR has a collection of the most valuable minerals under one nation and yet – they are the poorest nation on the planet.

​Below is a further discourse on the second nation.

The CONGO DR situation

Rubber
Historically, this nation was exploited by King Leopold for rubber. The king turned this entire nation into one large farming estate. He used fear and extortion which included systematic chopping off of limbs as a means of instilling fear and thus had all able bodied men and women work his farms as slaves. The economic exploits of King Leopold can be seen in Belgium. Most of the wealth of that European nation was syphoned out of Congo without any care for the welfare of its citizens. The death toll from his exploits is numbered at about 20 million Congolese. Think of this number. These lives were lost over a fifty year period.

Independence and Military Rule
When Congo became independent in 1960 June 30th, Patrice Lumumba became its first elected Prime Minister and Joseph Kasavubu its president. Unfortunately this only lasted for one month before there was a military coup and he was placed under house arrest. He was captured trying to escape to Stanleyville (now Kisangani) and was tortured badly and finally shot by the leaders of Katanga province (his sworn enemies).

A combination of white mercenaries (Belgian, Rhodesian and South African) helped dispose of his body by dissolving it in acid.

This exacerbated the Congo Crises which lasted until 1965 when Mobutu Sese Seko finally took over and became the absolute ruler. This saw Congo degenerate into the worst run state in the world with its wealth being systematically plundered to zero.

Minerals
Congo is estimated to have $24 trillion (equivalent to the combined Gross Domestic Product of Europe and the United States) worth of untapped deposits of minerals including the world’s largest reserves of Coltan (over 70%) and significant quantities of the world’s Cobalt. The primary resources extracted in the DRC include cobalt, diamonds, gold, copper, and oil.

Coltan is the key mineral used in nano-technology. If you own a smartphone, tablet, laptop, video games consoles or most electronic gadgets, then your gadget is made efficient by this mineral. This makes it the new “gold” as it is critical in ICT. It is however the latest addition to conflict minerals like Diamonds in Liberia.
As one can imagine, if Congo had strong institutions and regulatory frameworks backed by a legitimate government and good governance, there is no doubt it would be the richest nation not just in Africa, but even in the world.

Humanitarian and Economic Crises
In September 2010, the government banned mining in the east of the country, attempting to crack down on illegal organizations and corruption. During periods of violence, resources have been looted from the original collectors by both Congolese and foreign soldiers, and civilians or they are extracted by soldiers, locals organized by military commanders (much of the time Rwandan and Ugandan commanders) and by foreign nationals.

The actual miners who mine this mineral are paid very paltry wages of 20 cents a day (K2) for the work they do. Not only this, they have to leave their homes to work in these open pits. There is very little regulation and so anyone can go work there. The areas are controlled by gun totting rebels who work with local warlords who have the money to buy from the miners. They then supply the middle men who then export to Europe.

The humanitarian toll is appalling to say the least. Between 1994 and 2010, this region has seen over 6 million Congolese nationals killed. Six million! Think a minute about that number.

This is the number of Jews that were exterminated by The Nazi government and the whole world stood still and even made memorials to honor the dead and ensure it never happens again.

Yet, we have 6 million Africans die this way and do you hear this in the mainstream media? No! Even now we see more people being killed each day in these areas but you never hear anything at all. Check the news – nothing!

What are the results of all this?

• The indoctrination and turning of little children into child soldiers
• The promotion of prostitution as a means of living for women that can no longer subsist from the land
• The systematic rape of women as a weapon of war to decimate populations and spread fear and shame
• The mass displacement of people running away from war
• The influx of refugees into neighboring nations
• The creation of factions fighting for a stake in the mineral revenue and
• The ensuing hunger that is a result of mass displacement and inability for people to farm the land.

Conclusion

As can be witnessed, the humanitarian crisis is beyond comprehension. The suffering of the Congolese brings tears to this writer’s eyes because this is all human caused. If greed were eliminated, if people genuinely wanted the betterment of humanity and their nationals, this would not happen.

What is even more appalling is that this situation serves the rich nations very well. As it was in the days of slavery when great wealth was built off the blood, sweat and tears of poor African slaves displaced from their continent, so is it with this situation that allows for unbridled exploitation of the chaotic mess that exists in Congo.

For greedy corporations that are looking for unregulated operations, Congo is their heaven. For you can remove as much as you want, mess up the environment as much as you want, and then bribe anyone who tries to ask questions. Where these three can’t work, you then sponsor a civil war so that when the humanitarian crisis ensues, you remain with carte blanche, free to do as you please with no repercussions for it.

This is what is going on in the Congo. This is what is happening to many countries where their natural resources have found weak institutions and bad governance.

When next you hear about the poverty of Africa, before you take on a high and mighty stance and wonder why we can’t get our act right, take another look at Congo, see their predicament and then perhaps you may understand and have empathy.

Indeed Geography does play a pivotal role in bringing about the manifestation of poverty, for you can have a nation with potential GDP greater than the most developed nations on the planet, but yet be called the poorest country on earth :’(

​In the final article, we will be looking at Poor Governance, the final major piece of the puzzle that catalyzes the conditions that manifest perpetual poverty due to lack of an enabling environment.

Our third Transformational Power Seminar took place Saturday 3rd February ’18 at our usual venue of Top Floor and saw some prolific info shared with our attendees.

​Our greatest milestone moving forward is the partnership with Atlas Mara and Investment Services Ltd who have come onboard as our partners in the Banking Sector. This means that #TPS has now one key partner from this segment of the financial terrain and we are now seeking to bring onboard long term, partners from the insurance sector specifically, one from Life and another from General.
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We kicked off the meeting with a presentation from Atlas Mara’s Head of Communication and Marketing, Mr. Eric Ngondo who gave a brief history of the bank and its merger between Banc ABC and Finance Bank Zambia which gives them the largest footprint in terms of branches and ATMs in Zambia.
We then had presentations from the Heads of e-channels at Atlas Mara that highlighted the major strides being made in terms of the soon coming app, the internet banking and USSD platform which gives clients access to their accounts and activities in unprecedented ways.

​We then had a presentation from Rev Walter Mwambazi on the 7 Basic Truths About Investing which in summary are…

1. Protect Your Investments
2. Consult Thoroughly
3. Never Overnight
4. Focus
5. Consistency
6. Time Effort & Value
7. Leverage

The icing to this last presentation came from Mr. Nick Kabaso, the Head of Investment Services Ltd, a subsidiary whose core function is investments and money growth. Here the emphasis clearly showed how powerful savings that are grown over a period can be.
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Throughout, delegates had an opportunity to ask many questions and get to understand various aspects of the above presentations with an appreciation and grasping of the same. We will be inviting next month a tax expert who will walk us through the importance of tax compliance and the benefits that come with it in comparison to evading it.

Our next Transformational Power Seminar will be on Saturday 3rd March. In case you haven’t yet, you may register for it by following the link below, if you have already registered and receive our mail, there is no need to register again.

If you are already on our mailing and registered below, then there is no need to reregister. If you haven't, you may do so by following this link and registering at the bottom of the same.

I am so excited to announce to you that our inaugural Transformational Power Seminar (TPS) took place on Saturday 4th November at Top Floor. We had 80 people in attendance (full capacity) and were oversubscribed.

​The first most profound thing for us was the attendance timing. Delegates were seated as early as 07am! Yes indeed. We had over 50% in place by 08:45hrs and when we started at 9hrs we had about 60 people already.
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We commenced with an opening and welcome remark from yours truly (Rev Walter) in which we shared the vision and mission of #ProsperityInsights and the TPS.

​Our Vision is to be the most influential and leading life skills and strategic thinking provider whilst Our Mission is to develop leaders and empower citizens to realize and fulfil their highest potential by providing the most effective life skills and strategies to them.

As such, Prosperity Insights and TPS intends to raise change agents, people who will go out into their communities and bring about transformation, one person at a time!

We also believe and propagate Prosperity for all Zambians with an emphasis on establishing knowledge concerning the three legs of financial security namely savings, investments and insurance.

​Our event was sponsored by Liberty Life Insurance with the support of Keg & Lion, Hot FM, Radio Christian Voice and Destiny Peak Pro (Prosperity Insights).
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Liberty Life Insurance representative Mr. Innocent Mudenda made a presentation on the various products they offer and also handled an extensive Q&A at which many delegates got satisfactory answers concerning the various products and services that they could access from them. It truly was an eye opening experience.

I also made a presentation (the first of seven) on The 7 Principles for Financial Prosperity and also handled an extensive Q&A in which many great questions about business and finance were tackled.

We were also graced with an attendance at the event by Mudson Ng’andu who is also a Peak Performance Coach. He did greet and address the audience.
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We also were supported by musician Tiszah Katowa with guitarist Skillz who performed three beautiful acoustic pieces that wowed the audience. We have a short clip of that performance on this blog.

Unfortunately, Dr. David Nama could not make it as he had a pressing engagement that literally dropped his way on our date. He did send profuse apologies and will be coming to our event in February instead.

This first event was free (no fee at entrance) but a number of delegates indicated that this should not be the case going forward as it is not in order. They instead suggested that an event of this calibre should have a basic charge (cover charge)to attach value to it. As such we will be running a survey in due course to determine what charge we should have for this one. Whatever the case, we will strive to keep it at a very minimal cost.

Overall the event was a resounding success as we had very positive reviews and can mention here that more partners have come on board to run with us and share this noble vision.

If you would like to partner with us in any way through sponsorship of the venue, speaker’s fee, prize giveaways and even seminar materials, we would be most glad to have you join us.

Simply let us know by sending an email to info@destinypeakpro.com and indicate clearly what you would like to contribute, whether be it in monetary or substance form. We also welcome any assistance in time and effort.

​I am also challenging you to join us and become a change agent by committing yourself to this process by personally inviting three people within your circle of influence to attend this meeting! We can change this nation one person at a time and that happens when you take it upon yourself to invite and have others come with you.

Lock down our next event which is slated for Saturday 2nd December at 09hrs sharp. As always registration is at 08:30hrs and we are already seriously oversubscribed, so it’s strictly by registration (details to be given soon) and on a first-come-first-served basis.

Click below to register if you haven't yet.

​The digital age revolution is coming. And it is coming fast. And if you are not ready, it is going to leave you a casualty. It is critical that you prepare to adapt to it.

​Enter Disruptive Thinking

The new digital age is going to upset the cart and disrupt virtually every industry you can fathom. We already have examples of industries that have been disrupted immensely.

Take for instance the camera and film processing industry. One of the most known names for that industry was Kodak. In 1998 Kodak had 170,000 employees and sold 85% of all photo paper worldwide. Yet by 2003 Kodak had gone bankrupt. Today photo processing using photograph paper is virtually non-existent as all use digital printing instead.

Interestingly, digital photography was invented in 1975, but back then the pictures were only 10,000 pixels (10kp or 0.01MP!). The average high end phone today has back cameras that can take pictures with 20 megapixels! These pictures are way superior than photographs today and most importantly is that they can be instantly accessed.

​Technology brings one factor to the table that everyone must recognize; convenience! Software is disrupting every major industry as we speak, and it shall do so exponentially.

Uber does not own any taxis, but they are the biggest taxi cab service in the world. AirBnB does not own any hotels, but they are the biggest hotel and lodging chain in the world.

As we speak, there are four key areas that are transforming all industry (and for students of eschatology, they are especially interesting) namely Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Bio Tech and Nanotechnology.

I won’t delve much into these ones today and will instead focus on the disruptive nature of technology and its implications on those reading this.

The combo of the four is disrupting traditional businesses faster than one can imagine. And don’t forget that technology increases exponentially. In short, when you see certain technology at the beginning, it is restrictively expensive because investors are recovering their investments in R&D (Research and Development). But within three to five years, most money is recovered and better still, generic versions of the technology quickly start to pop up in the market. These generic versions are usually the result of reverse engineering research (common from the Japanese and Chinese today).

In short, if you see some fancy tech today, within three years generic versions will show up in the market and take the market share as they will be cheaper than the prototype.

Mobile Phone Industry
About 12 years ago Nokia, Ericcson and Blackberry were leaders in the mobile phone industry. They did not anticipate the power of the smartphone and its disruptive nature. Apple and Samsung invested heavily on the Smartphone Touch Screen Tech with one exceptional strategy; open up the market and allow apps and developers to work further by developing a phone with a platform (iOS or Android), and allow outsiders (the techie community) to build and develop apps and most importantly, monetize those apps!
You know what happened to the companies I mention. They are no longer leaders and in some cases, have even been sold and absorbed by the bigger innovators.

There is another company that has taken on this platform strategy to a whole new level – Facebook!

It’s a website but does not generate any content (that’s user driven instead) including games, apps, events, pictures, videos etc. Yet they have monetized and made a killing with this, making its owner the youngest billionaire in the world!
YouTube is by far the largest source of video content in the world! Yet it’s not generated by them, but its users instead.

The Automobile Industry
The automobile industry is about to face major disruption in the form of computerized cars. These will work with GPS so that they can drive themselves. The implications is that in the next 30 years owning cars will no longer be necessary as one will only need to call a car and it will take them where they need to go at a fraction of the current costs.

The first driverless trucks are being introduced in the UK next year. Over the next 5 years they will become the alternative to drivers.

Remember, they never ask for breaks, pay rises, leave or even have work stoppages let alone health insurance and pensions. These are no-brainers for shareholders. That means an entire industry is disrupted!

Computers on wheels mean traditional cars are going to disappear within a generation. Think I am exaggerating? Where is the landline today? It’s virtually extinct. And it will be in the next 10 years!

Mobile Phone Service Operators
Speaking of telephones, the big network operators no longer make money from voice calls or even internet anymore. This is a fact. The price of both will keep dropping further. As we speak, Google is investing in technology that will allow internet to be transmitted from space! Think of a large Wi-Fi accessible from anywhere in the world (kind of like satellite TV).

As we speak analogue signals will all be switched off completely by the end of this year!

This is why the mobile service providers are now making their money using value added features or services such as “hello tunes”, “sports updates” and many more. They have realized that the money is in the services and like Facebook, they need to just build a large network and then lease that like real estate to users who then “rent” their platform and place their virtual products there!

Cyberspace – The Next Real Estate
Speaking of real estate, the next real big boom is in cyberspace – not physical ground! Those that invest and position themselves in the virtual world of cyberspace shall stand to become millionaires in the near future. I kid you not!

Take Mwebantu Media for instance. They now have a following that is inching toward 1 million. They have started monetizing their platform by providing advertising for those interested. They simply worked hard to build a massive platform of followers by providing value for them (news that is deemed balanced and objective). Once they did so, they have since been monetizing. Next time you visit them, check their wall and you will notice advert postings!

Positioning is everything! Building a list is paramount! Creating a massive following is the secret sauce to monetizing effectively! If you are active in business today but are not building a list – you are insane! You will go bankrupt.

The Energy Sector
Another area that is going to see massive changes is the energy sector. Fossil fuels are disappearing. Solar is taking its place instead! As we speak, much money is being spent on R&D for alternative energy. So, solar will become cheaper, bio energy will grow. Electric cars are the way of the future. Driverless cars are coming. This means less people will need to own cars within the next 30 years.

A time is coming when people won’t even bother to learn how to drive because such cars won’t exist anymore! And yes a time will come when that entire industry will be disrupted.

The Insurance Sector
Take insurance for instance, with no drivers and very few accidents, premiums will drop to really low levels, thus wiping out the very sector that general insurance thrives on currently. It is a sector that has numbered days within a generation (roughly 20 years)!

This is not the only challenge with the digital era. The bigger nightmare lies in companies that have never been traditionally termed as “experts” that will take on business from the “traditional players”.

Diagnosis and Consultancy
Take law for instance. IBM’s Watson can give legal advice 20% more accurately than a human lawyer can. If you are studying law the only way you will succeed is to specialize and unfortunately, within a generation new students may need another profession!

Health diagnosis is changing as we speak. Quantum analysis is improving exponentially. Within a very short time (less than 5 years) apps will work with your smartphone and wearables such as your smart watch to measure your blood pressure, sugar and other biometrics and even transmit such info to a data centre that can immediately recommend treatment and where to get it.

The insurance industry is already seeing non-traditional players in their industry (banks tackling life assurance). This will also extend to travel, household, home and health insurance.

The Banking Sector
Banking is now seriously moving away from the model where you had large workforces to service the population. Instead internet banking, ATMs, self-service banking are the new model that is replacing them. This means more convenience for the user and threatens the personnel more as we will see the teller virtually disappear. Within the next 15 years all ATMs will be able to accept cash and checks plus do a myriad of other functions. Coupled with smarter apps there will come a time when even opening a bank account won’t require that one go into the bank to do so. The banks will make more money with fewer personnel.

Electronic Platforms
We are already seeing this in traditionally slow and bureaucratic places like ZRA, PACRA, ZPPA, NAPSA and even the government where e-business, e-registration, e-pay slips is changing the landscape.

As we speak ZICTA is working very closely with all leading stakeholders to create a switch that will allow all these technologies to “see” each other. This will be coupled with what will be a “super identity number” that is given at birth and will be unique and the key life identity throughout. The implications are that within a generation, you will be able to initiate all your needs from your phone or computer anywhere in Zambia.

This kind of disruptive innovation is happening everywhere.

The Agriculture Sector
Agroponics, hydroponics and even aeroponics are completely revolutionizing the agricultural sector. Here in Zambia we have already seen it happening. Fish farming, chicken rearing and incubation is standard features. This means the price of fish is going to drop as more fish farms come around. This has already happened with the chicken (anyone remember that 30 years ago chickens were the most expensive forms of protein right?). Incubation technology is more readily available than ever and thus means now more food will be made available in cheaper and more efficient ways.

The above has serious disruptive implications.

​This is the reason why Apple, Tesla, Google and other tech companies are always on the cutting edge of innovation and spend millions of dollars in R&D to stay ahead and promote disruptive thinking!

Parts of this section were inspired by an article written on the French website slate.fr and are used here with permission.

As I had hinted earlier in this article, Robotics is going to make a significant impact. When combined with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Nanotechnology, these technologies are expected to bring about the most momentous transformation of the labor market since the industrial revolution, warns Forbes Magazine.

And the extent of the economic and social shock that the arrival of intelligent robots will bring is far from being measured yet.

According to a survey conducted in the United States by the Pew Research Center, 80% of Americans believe their jobs will probably or surely still exist in its current form in the next 50 years. Big mistake! And be careful, the jobs that will be taken first by the intelligent robots are not only manual or low-skilled.

You all know very well that whatever starts in the developed world is certainly going to trickle down to us all in the third world. There may be a few differences but the major impact is still going to be felt.

​This revolution is already underway. To be convinced, just look at these recent forecasts from the IDC (Institute of Democracy and Cooperation) and the 7 types of jobs are particularly threatened and are not necessarily the ones that first come to mind.
Please bear in mind that the statistics here are all based on the developed world and may not immediately impact the third world.

#1 -Truckers
There are now 3.5 million truckers in the United States. If McKinsey’s forecast is correct, in less than ten years, 33 % of the trucks on American roads will be driverless trucks. That means: more than 1 million jobs killed…

#2 – Construction workers
SAM (Semi-Automated Mason) is two to three times more productive than a human bricklayer, by being able to lay, per day, 1,200 bricks (compared to a human with a number between 300 and 500 per day). And it’s only the beginning!
Bulldozers and cranes will also become driverless.

#3 – Legal Advisors
According to a report by Deloitte, 39% of jobs in legal services will be automated by 2020. Sectors directly concerned: legislative research, contract analysis and auditing.

#4 – Medical staff and doctors
Medical robots are rising. Watson, the medical robot designed by IBM, is already working with medical teams to detect and treat cancers and robots should soon be actively involved in diagnostics and surgical procedures. The Tricorder from Star Trek is not very far from becoming a reality.

#5 – Accountants
Running accounting software, preparing balance sheets, financial balances, checking records, calculating profitability, measuring stocks, are tasks that robots will do better than humans. Financial analysts are in the same boat as accountants. Artificial Intelligence Driven Machines are already able to make predictive analytics and detect trends more quickly and accurately than humans do.

#6 – Editors
Novelists still have a future, but financial writers or those who write all kinds reports have a limited future. It’s right now the beginning of AI Machines that are able to write increasingly readable factual texts.

#7 – Sellers
As consumers increasingly switch to e-commerce and will use software to accurately determine the type of products, prices and availability, many forms of vendors will disappear.

If these evolutions seem frightening, it is necessary to remember the lessons of history. Many professions have disappeared and many have been created. The destruction/creation process is still at work. None of our grandparents were an application designer, a data scientist or a drone pilot.

​But then, how many jobs will be created compared to those that will be killed off? Will it be more or less? And what are the social implications on low-skilled people and middle class personnel?

​Conclusion

The digital age revolution has one thing in its wake, it’s disruptive in a very positive and negative way simultaneously. The digital age revolution has changed everything we hold dear. Jobs are changing, tech is changing, business is changing, education is changing, and health-care is changing.
​
In the movie “Hidden Figures”the American space program administered by NASA in the 1960s had a number of female African Americans who were called “human calculators” because they were geniuses who could calculate huge complex equations mentally and in very short times compared to ordinary people. They were thus indispensable.

But then IBM manufactured the first computer that was the size of a small room. However, that computer was incredibly complicated to use and required programmers and code generators.

These ladies sensing the changes that were about to happen – at their own expense – quickly went on to learn and acquire the skills required operate this monster computer. Once NASA scientists had figured out how to make the computer work, the ladies could not be fired (mind you their work was rendered obsolete almost instantly) because now this computer needed an operator, and these ladies could do the job better than anyone else.

They read the times, understood the trends and where they were heading to, adapted effectively and transitioned into the new era by remaining relevant!

Even today virtually every sector is changing and this change is going to happen whether we like it or not. So when the changes happen, where will it find you? Will you be ready or will you be a casualty?

We featured the above article as two episodes on my radio show. You can listen to the podcasts below.

 Let me commence with a disclaimer. This article is not targeted at any government, party or ruling class. It is nonpartisan, neither is it condemning nor endorsing any particular party, group or affiliation. This looks at the overall factors and how they play a great role in bringing about the effects we see of widespread poverty in the continent of Africa.


One of the seemingly unjust realities that currently dog our continent is the fact that its citizens are very poor. And when I use the term “very”, I am not exaggerating. It is very true.

In a recent study (carried out by Global Finance Magazine - with data sourced from the IMF), we have the 20 poorest nations in the world. The two graphs tables below show this.

Gross domestic product (GDP) based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP) per capita. Values are expressed in current international dollars, to the nearest whole dollar, reflecting a single year's (2016) currency exchange rates and PPP adjustments.​

​Out of the 20 poorest countries in the world, 19 are located in Africa (95%)

Matthew 24:24 (NKJV)
For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

This spirit is known as the spirit of Kundalini, the term being borrowed from an Eastern belief that equates it to the "primal energy that flows like electricity within the body and brings about greater enlightenment and spiritual bliss". Unfortunately, a FALSE spirit has come manifesting outwardly what the undiscerning would assume is the outward charismatic manifestation of the HS. IT IS NOT!

Here are three common signs of this false spirit that is this very minute deceiving and seducing so many believers and snaring them under her spell.
In recent history God has been moving in a mighty way and pouring out His Spirit in order to empower His people for this latter day dispensation. However, there is also a spirit that PRETENDS to be the HS. This spirit works using the spirit of Anti-Christ (1 John 2:18) to deceive and destroy the children of God (John 10:10)

2.       Manipulation

This is a selfish “personal” style of prayer and worship lifestyle that's all about self-aggrandizement rather than a focus on God’s will and sovereignty. I call it the “me-me-me” devotion.

Examples include "bless me, give me, do for me" without caring for others and their welfare FIRST. Most serious though is the fact that prayer is not according to what Christ taught “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” but instead prayer is “my will be done here on earth in the name of Jesus – by fire and by force”!

This then focuses on the temporal and what is not eternal. It focuses on this life instead of the life to come.

      3.       Carnality

Perhaps this is where the greatest danger lies, for its done subtly and in disguise. The activities and behavior exhibits fruit of the flesh (Gal 5:16-20) instead of the Spirit (Gal 5:22).

Examples include “dangerous prayers” (which are more akin to witchcraft and sorcery than Christian in any way), “back to sender” (which exhibits hatred and not love as Christ has taught us) and worst of all, the undue crediting of the devil for virtually every wrong and misfortune when in many cases will be the consequence of bad individual character traits, wrong choices and decisions, wrath, sloth, greed, lust, envy, gluttony and worst of all, pride.

True Christianity is hinged on these three scriptures (Mark 12:29-31 – The love of God and fellow man, Matthew 5:43-48 – The principles of walking in love throughout, James 2:14-26 – The care of those that are less privileged)


Be vigilant and alert to this subtle but powerfully deceptive spirit of Kundalini and avoid her at all costs.

1 Tim 6:10 (NKJV)
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

In the above picture you see what the world hankers after, money – power – respect – and lascivious debauchery and perversions. These money will facilitate – but at what ultimate price? Unfortunately, its many sorrows and finally death.

There are three key lessons that can be gleaned from the above scripture relating to money and these are
1.      The love of money – This is so because of what money promises those whose values are not centered in Christ namely POWER. It is this power that leads to the corrupting of the individual.
2.      Straying from faith – The Word teaches obedience, humility, subservience and stewardship. When we allow power to corrupt us, it will inevitably draw us away from these virtues.
3.      Greed – When we strive to obtain what we do not deserve, we inevitably become carnal, allowing our base nature to LUST after the things of the flesh.

1 John 2:16 declares “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.” Many have been inadvertently snared by these things and have been slowly drawn away from God, and money facilitates these things.

In a poll carried out some decades back, Americans were asked what they would be willing to do for $10,000,000. Two-thirds of those polled agreed to at least one or more of the following:

• Would abandon their entire family (25%)
• Would abandon their church (25%)
• Would become prostitutes for a week or more (23%)
• Would give up their American citizenship (16%)
• Would leave their spouses (16%)
• Would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free (10%)
• Would kill a stranger (7%)
• Would put their children up for adoption (3%)

Whilst this makes for interesting reading, it also raises major concerns, that money does make people do the strangest of things.

The most fundamental question here is why? Why would someone be willing to kill a stranger for money, even when they have never killed before? What makes money so attractive that people will bend or break their moral conscience to just get a chance at money?

The most obvious answer is that with money, one can acquire a lifestyle they don’t have. It was Al Pacino’s character in the film Scarface that made a statement that sums up totally the driving philosophy behind many people’s quest for money as shown in the picture below.