Many critics have been questioning the benefits to South Africa of the 2010 World Cup, but there is no doubt of the enormous benefit that will accrue to the tourism industry. these critics question whether the World cup 2010 should have taken priority over other social priorities, and if there will be any financial benefits to the country. there is a general agreement that the government will break even on its capital outlay. The President, Jacob Zuma, told a recent conference in Cape Town that the government is satisfied that the 2010 World Cup has been an economic success, with a good return on the investment of R33 billion spent on transport infrastructure, telecommunication and stadiums. this had created an estimated 66 000 new construction jobs and the ZAR1.3 billion spent on safety and security included the permanent addition of 40 000 new policemen and women. South Africa’s Minister of Finance confirmed that the World Cup will add ZAR 38 billion to their country’s economy.

Whilst many argue that the funds could have been better spent on housing or a number of other social priorities, there is very good reason for the tourism industry to be pleased with the outcome of the World Cup, because of the changed perception of South Africa by the rest of the world. there has been surprise and admiration for the country’s ability to host such a successful international tournament, and it has moved up in the perception of the world alongside the developed nations, shedding its stereotype image as a backward country.

The Internet, blogs and social media are full of positive reports from those who have visited South Africa during this tournament. The positive public relations has been massive, and it is now perceived as a safe, friendly and positive place to visit and to do business. The real benefit of hosting the 2010 World Cup is the showcasing of South Africa to the world which will grow their tourism. The enormous amount of social networking has created a public image that almost no amount of government spending could have created and this has been enhanced by the many influential and public figures who visited during the World Cup, including former US President Bill Clinton who stated in Cape Town:

“South Africa has branded itself in this World Cup in a very special way. Lots of people did not think you can pull it off. South Africa is being given a chance to set standards the world can learn from.”

South Africa has much to be positive about- their stock exchange keeps outperforming most of the rest of the world, and the currency has appreciated some 30% in the past year because of the massive inflows of foreign investment capital looking for excellent returns and interest rates when compared to the rest of the world. The country now has an image of a warm, stable and peaceful society and is also one of the most beautiful countries in the world. The many positive reports by people who had been surprised to find that South Africa is not riddled with crime, unlike the negative image that had previously been portrayed, will help to change many perceptions. South African Tourism did an excellent job of ensuring great international coverage on the TV networks during the tournament when the interest in the country was at an all-time high. a prestigious web based hotel booking portal has released information that reveals that Cape Town rates 9th as the most favored destination for 2010 for their clients.

Danny Jordaan, CEO of the 2010 World Cup Organizing Committee sums it up: “They said we could not build the stadiums in time: we did. They said we could not provide the infrastructure in time: we did. They said we could not deliver the TV broadcast capability to the rest of the world: we did.” there were stories of crime and terrorism and even an outbreak of giant snakes, he said. there was even a rumor that a big earthquake would hit on opening night. All this fear-mongering was aimed at suggesting that South Africa was too unsophisticated to host the games. The fact is, the South Africa World Cup is a huge success, among the best run in history–and possibly the most profitable for FIFA ever.”

Tourism brings in about 4% of South Africa’s total GDP; and is a significant employer for a country with a great deal of semi-skilled labor. Growth in tourism will result in growth in job creation, as is shown in the new tourism strategy released by their Minister of Tourism; which seeks to create up to 225,000 new direct jobs and 400,000 indirect jobs in the tourism sector and increase tourism’s direct contribution to GDP from ZAR R64bn or 3.4% in 2009, to ZAR R125bn by 2015.

The official statistics on visitors for the period show an increase in the number of tourists from most of the traditional markets for South African tourism, but there are new markets evolving as a result of the coverage of the World Cup, such as the USA who appears to have discovered South Africa since they constituted the largest number of visitors from any country. The country should exploit this massive and affluent market as a result of the favorable image portrayed of the country during the World Cup. The tournament has been an unqualified success for South Africa, but the most important benefit will not be the immediate economic benefit, but the on-going growth on tourism, such as Germany experienced with a growth of 30% in tourist numbers after they hosted the 2006 World Cup tournament, and this benefit will spread to a wide section of their economy.

Tags: South Africa, tourism industry, 2010 World Cup, South African tourism

Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) — Kenya’s shilling appreciated for the first time in three days as the central bank curbed money supply through repurchase agreements.

The currency of East Africa’s biggest economy gained as much as 0.7 percent to 85.60 per dollar and traded 0.3 percent higher at 85.93 at 3:53 p.m. in Nairobi.

Kenya’s central bank sold 250 million shillings ($2.9 million) of seven-day repurchase agreements at 18 percent, after offering 500 million shillings of the securities, Godfrey Putunoi, a trader in the Nairobi-based bank’s money market department, said in a phone interview today.

Tanzania’s shilling weakened for a second day on increased dollar demand from oil importers. The currency of the second- largest East African economy depreciated 1 percent to 1,607.50 per dollar and was trading 0.2 percent lower at 1,594.63 at 3:03 p.m. in the capital Dar es Salaam.

“The shilling has depreciated on a combination of demand mainly from the oil sector and interbank trading,” Hamis Mwakibete, head of trading at Commercial Bank of Africa Tanzania Ltd., said today by phone from Dar es Salaam.

Uganda’s currency strengthened for a fourth day Replica Watches, the longest streak in over a month, on increased dollar inflows from commodity sales and non-governmental organisations.

The currency of the third-largest East African economy appreciated as much as 0.5 percent to 2,369.60 and was trading 0.2 percent higher at 2,378 at 3:49 p.m. in the capital Kampala.

“There are heavy dollar inflows from commodity exports especially coffee coupled with end of month conversions by non- governmental organizations,” Taib Lubega, a currency trader at Stanbic Bank Uganda Ltd. said by phone from Kampala.

The nation’s central bank will offer 100 billion shillings ($42 million) of three-, six- and 12-month bills tomorrow. The 3-month yields at last sale on Jan. 11 were 22.859 percent

“There is anticipation in the market that there will be dollar inflows from offshore players who want to buy Treasury bills tomorrow,” Lubega said.

–With assistance from Fred Ojambo in Kampala and David Malingha Doya in Dar es Salaam. Editors: Peter Branton, Linda Shen

To contact the reporter on this story: Johnstone Ole Turana in Nairobi at

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at

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If you want a vacation in one of the most amazing places on earth that you will remember for years to come, you should definitely have an Africa vacation. Once you decided to catch on the thrill of traveling around the most diverse continent on the planet, there are a few places you must never miss.

Extravagant safari vacation: no flat screen TV can be as mesmerizing as watching a wild animal. People are attracted to proximity with animals usually seen behind the glass.just imagine elephants and lions in the wild; quite aggressive Cape buffaloes; the glimpse of a leopard right in front of you, if the timing is right. when people think of a safari the images of the jungle with all of the animals comes to mind, like a show on the Discovery channel. in some ways it will look familiar, but there is so much more to see in real life that will change you forever.

Victoria Falls, locally known as Smoke that Thunders, is among the world’s tallest and widest waterfalls. Located on the Zambia – Zimbabwe border, it’s been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1989. Until recently most tourists visited the falls from the Zimbabwe side. Reason why, falls are so much more breathtaking and impressive from the Zimbabwe side. However political unrest is steering many to Zambia instead.

Countless island resorts on the Indian Ocean: Zanzibar and Pemba in Tanzania, Bazaruto Archipelago in Mozambique, Seychelles and Mauritius known for the miles of unsurpassed white sand beaches. The waters in these areas are pristine and unspoiled, perfect for diving and sailing.

Hiking four African volcanoes: Kilimanjaro; Mount Kenya – the second highest mountain on the continent; Mount Meru and Ol Doinyo Lengai. This is a very ambitious itinerary so be prepared.

Sahara desert expedition: travel by all-terrain vehicle and camel across the lush oases and immense sand dunes.

Throughout the numerous game preserves and national parks, where you will see nature at its best, are also some of the finest accommodations in the world. you should know that Africa has many of the top ranked resorts and hotels in the world – eleven in the top 100 according to Travel and Leisure Magazine. these resorts are world renowned for their entertainment, casinos, golf, spas and activities.

From the deep blue ocean to the desert and jungle, to the mountain tops, you will feel the power of Africa, so unique that it cannot be found anywhere else in the world

With the country’s wildlife continually depleting and with very little, if any, corrective measures being taken to stop the lawlessness that has seen their numbers dwindling to unprecedented levels, we might soon be forced to bid farewell to one of the nation’s chief national resource. Wildlife has long been Zimbabwe’s pride and is the reason why many tourists have often viewed the country as a worthwhile destination. Besides the unstable political environment that prevailed the last decade in the country, the dwindling numbers of wildlife must have also greatly contributed to the decline of the tourism industry.

The situation looks set to get worse if the current trend of lawlessness and malicious profiteering at the expense of the country’s wildlife is allowed to go on unabated.

Reports from Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF) indicate that of the more than 2 000 rhinoceros the country was blessed with in 1993, only about 450 are left.

Last year alone, the country is reported to have lost 40 black rhinos to poachers. Although there have been incidences of poacher arrests, these have been far between with most of them apparently going scot-free.

Officials with the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority said it was increasingly becoming difficult to track down the poachers as they were continuously devising ways to evade the law enforcers.

To avoid detection through gunshot sounds, the poachers are now reportedly poisoning animals, mostly elephants, and by the time the carcasses of the animals would be discovered, the culprits would be long gone.

Asked what his organisation was doing to safeguard wildlife in communal lands, Michael Njonga, director for Communal Areas Programme for Indigenous Resources (Campfire) maintained that although they had problem areas, their programme was proving very viable. He cited Mbire district which he described as a “classic example”.

There are however conflicting reports coming in, that Mbire district, which used to be wildlife-infested, is losing much of the  wildlife to poachers .Of immediate concern however are the current ongoing invasions of conservancies and wildlife parks by the so-called “new farmers” under the guise of empowerment.

In the meantime, the responsible authorities whom we had hoped would take corrective measures still seem incapacitated to take any decisive action to curb the invasions.

Market for poached horns

The poachers are mostly targeting the rhinos and elephants for their horns and tusks, which many reportedly sell to the Chinese and the Arabs. the Arabs for instance use rhino horns to make dagger handles, which they value greatly in their culture and being oil-rich, many of them are said to be willing to pay ridiculously high amounts for them.

Besides rhinos and elephants, animals like zebra, giraffe, leopard and cheetah are in equally grave danger as they are in demand for their skins. the skins are said to have a ready market in neighbouring South Africa where they are used to make curios. Smaller animals like kudus and antelopes are often killed for the pot.

Invaded land was meant for wildlife

What is mind boggling is that most conservancies like the Chiredzi River Conservancy (CRC) which was invaded last year, lie in climatic Region Five, areas not favourable for agricultural activities but rather more suited for wildlife habitation.

What is even more vexing is that after having been given land under the land reform programme, most of the “new farmers” have since abandoned these lands, most of which now lie barren after having been cleared of trees and wildlife, with soils badly damaged through bad farming practices.

With so much land that would have been more suitable for agricultural activities lying idle, one cannot help but wonder what plans these people have for the conservancies and parks. Having paid serious consideration to evidence on the ground, it is clear that agriculture is furthest from the invaders’ minds as their eyes are more fixated on get-rich-quick schemes, like trees and wildlife poaching.

According to Jonny Rodrigues, chairman for ZCTF, of the 70 elephants that were sheltered at the CRC upon the start of the invasion last year, just 40 now remain.

Former National Parks director Dr William Nduku disputed the misconception that everything was under control as there are reports that the country has a big number of elephants. Nduku, now a director at Wildlife and Environment Zimbabwe, asserted that elephants that keep adding to our depleting numbers often migrate from Botswana where they escape the hot and dry conditions.

They cross over to Zimbabwe in search of water and then get killed by local poachers, said Nduku, who added that more elephants come from Mozambique, where they are in equally big trouble with poachers there. He said the answer to wildlife mismanagement lay in strengthening national parks’ authority, giving them manpower and money to guarantee their salaries as they were currently paying more attention to looking for money to pay themselves than safeguarding wildlife.

Stephen Kasere, former assistant Campfire director, urged the government to adopt a tougher stance to enforce sustainable conservation strategies to protect wildlife.

One thing is certain, the country’s wildlife is in grave danger and unless the responsible authorities move expeditiously to curb the unlawful profiteering on our wildlife’s expense, we will deprive future generations the chance to also set eyes on these wonderfully created creatures.

Known as the Goualougo Triangle, the 100-plus square-mile dense swamp forest and its unique great ape population was first reported in 1989 by WCS conservationists.

The expansion of Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park completes the legal process of the commitment made by the Republic of Congo in 2001 to protect the Goualogo by annexation to the park, boosting the size of the protected area from 1,492 square miles (386,592 hectares) to 1,636 square miles (423,870 hectares), an increase of more than 8 percent.

“We commend the Republic of Congo for finalizing this critical process to extend the borders of Nouabalé-Ndoki to include the Goualougo Triangle, one of the great wonders of Africa,” said WCS President and CEO Steve Sanderson. “In a world of human use, this extraordinary forest is a reminder of Eden, an untouched gem teeming with chimpanzees, gorillas, and forest elephants. It is the definition of wild nature and must be protected.”

Following the discovery of the Goualougo Triangle and concerned about growing poaching pressures in surrounding areas, the government of the Republic of Congo entered into an integrated partnership with WCS and Congolais Industrielle des Bois (CIB), a private logging company. the partnership implemented an effective buffer zone program in the timber concessions surrounding the Nouabalé-Ndoki Park while protecting the pristine forest. Consequently, CIB gave up its legal right to harvest timber from the Goualougo forest in the interest of leaving the wildlife undisturbed.

Subsequent studies of the Goualougo Triangle’s “naïve” chimpanzee population by WCS conservationists Dave Morgan of the Lincoln Park Zoo and Crickette Sanz of Washington University have produced another major discovery—a diversity of tool sets used for foraging by this population of chimpanzees. Rather than using one type of tool for collecting termites from insect nests, the chimps of Goualougo used two distinct types of tools, a short stick to perforate the nest, and a long “probe” to extract insects for consumption. This tool specialization discovery was the first of its kind in wild chimpanzee populations.

“This invaluable insight into the sophisticated minds of Goualougo’s chimps would have been lost forever if not for the commitment of the government to safeguard the wonders of this forest,” said WCS Executive Vice President of Conservation and Science John Robinson. “These chimps have greatly expanded our knowledge of chimpanzee culture. Continued work to study and protect this undisturbed population is essential.”

With the apes of the Congo Basin facing increasing pressure from hunting, habitat loss, and the potential outbreak of devastating diseases such as Ebola, the protection of this area represents a major step towards ensuring their protection.

“Bringing the Goualougo Triangle into the borders of Nouabalé-Ndoki will help conserve this landscape’s unspoiled richness and provide a safe harbor for these unique apes,” said Dr. James Deutsch, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Africa Program.

Chimpanzee conservation efforts in the Republic of Congo have been supported by the U.S. government through the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) great Ape Conservation Fund and Wildlife Without Borders-Africa Program. Columbus Zoo and Aquarium has also provided support. the U.S. House of Representatives is currently considering H.R. 1760, a bill sponsored by Rep. George Miller (D-CA) that would extend the FWS great Ape Conservation Fund for an additional five years.

To draw attention to the plight of the greater Congo Basin rainforest ecosystem, WCS’s Bronx Zoo opened the Congo Gorilla Forest exhibit in 1999, which has raised millions of dollars from its admission fee for WCS conservation work in Central Africa. CIB and the Government of Congo first agreed to protect the Goualougo Triangle at a press conference held at the Congo Gorilla Forest in 2001.

Provided by Wildlife Conservation Society (news : web)

If anyone saw this, they showed amazing game reserves (or at first glance would appear to be) with many species that were unique and/or due for extinction, but not located in Africa. Rather ‘farms’ in Texas (where else… duh!)… but I was almost sick watching. Besides the fact that these farmers had many species (an oryx I’d never seen before and quite beautiful… but many hundreds of them), that have been relocated here, breeded to increase the herds, they’re open for hunters… as ‘income producers.’ some animals can be had for as little as a few thousand dollars a kill, others in the $40-$50K range as the Cape Buffalo. do tell when the Cape Buffalo was near extinction? also seen there were giraffe (believe the reticulated ones). When asked about conservation, unlike the woman who is trying to eliminate this practice, and if slowly, but slowly seems to be accomplishing such practices, all of the ranch/farm owners were insistent that they were preserving the game.. Oh do give me a break… you pay to transport them from whichever country, to save them, breed them and then kill them! while there are pros/cons re hunting, and in some instances understandable (I personally have mixed feeling on this), but can you explain how if someone can afford $40K, they can’t fly to Africa (or other continent) where this is legal, rather than we have ‘farms’ in our own backyard?

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So it’s coming down to the wire now…the very last of the megafauna are going down for the third time, drowning under a flood of jumped-up monkeys with the nerve to call themselves “Homo Sapiens”.

What’s wise about this wholesale slaughter of elephants with automatic weapons?

That’s right up there with hunting from aircraft- point and shoot, done deal, land and pose, fly off with your trophy.

What would a truly wise man do at this point?

I suspect he might build a virus making reproduction into a lottery, with only one in five thousand ovarian cycles remaining fertile; after all, an ovum remains the limiting factor in reproduction.

Just for the sheer puckishness of the act, call it an act of God.

Give it an effective life span of fifty years- just long enough for a nice, big bottleneck.

I’d want that delivered in the Middle East first- it would certainly make those medieval idiots appreciate their women more.

Give it at least a three week latency period and extremely mild collateral symptoms, and it’d be all over the planet before anyone even noticed something unusual was going on.

After all, it’s only appropriate that the cradle of civilization- and the site of the first man-made deserts- should be the place where we finally got a grip on the lethally idiotic and devolutionary impulse to overpopulate.

People get ready, there’s a strain a comin’…..

KRUGERSDORP, South Africa — an anti-poaching event went tragically wrong today when a rhino died during an operation to insert poison into its horn.

Spencer the rhino was shot with a tranquilizer dart and then treated under an experimental procedure developed by conservationists to deter poachers from killing rhinos for their horns.

in front of dozens of journalists and wildlife experts, veterinarians drilled into the sedated rhino's horn, inserting a microchip and a tracking device, as well as pink indelible dye and a toxic compound that would make a human sick if ingested. the idea is to render the horn valueless, and undesirable to poachers.

the procedure at the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve, near Johannesburg, went smoothly, but the sedated rhino failed to wake up from the anesthesia. Instead the animal went into convulsions and died.

More from GlobalPost: South Africa's Kruger park battles rhino poaching (VIDEO)

Veterinarian Charles van Niekerk, who performed the procedure, said he has been involved in hundreds of rhino dartings, and 10 or 20 of the horn treatments, and had never lost an animal.

the animal likely had underlying heart complications, and had a bad reaction to the anesthetic, he said. an autopsy will determine the exact cause of death.

"I don't think our procedure, our technique, contributed in any way to its demise," van Niekerk said. "look, this just happens. from our point of view, if we stop now then the poachers have won."

Lorinda Hern, spokeswoman for the Rhino Rescue Project and whose family owns the rhino reserve, said Spencer was in his early 20s, relatively old for a rhino.

"with every sedation there is a risk," she said, tears streaming down her face.

More from GlobalPost: South Africa: Rhino horns poisoned to thwart poachers

South Afica has seen a dramatic rise in rhino poaching over the last few years. the country is home to an estimated 90 percent of Africa's rhino population.

a record 448 rhinos were killed by poachers last year in South Africa, an increase over 333 rhinos slaughtered in 2010. in 2007, only 13 rhinos were lost to poachers.

Rhino horns are sent to Asia, in particular Vietnam, where they are ground up and used to treat headaches or as a cancer cure, although experts say the horns have absolutely no medicinal value.

Joseph Okori, head of the WWF's African rhino program, said he attended the rhino horn procedure to learn more about this new method of fighting poaching.

"We must recognize that we are dealing with a crisis on our hands," Okori said.

More from GlobalPost: South Africa: rhino poaching at record high, WWF says

globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/south-africa/120209/south-africa-rhino-killed-anti-poaching-event-spencer

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Neither clip is date-stamped, but the longer one is understood to have surfaced about two months ago in Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

First exposed by tribal rights group Survival International in 2010 and brought to light by an unsettling video uploaded by the Observer last month, dozens of visitors to the remote Andaman Islands — between India and Burma in the Bay of Bengal — queue up daily at dawn to drive through a jungle reserve set aside for the Jarawa tribe. the tourists then toss scraps of food to the half-naked natives, commanding them to dance.

The video footage posted online is the kind of exotic encounter some tourists dream about when they set out on a so-called “safari,” but the practice is both devastating and humiliating for the tribe involved.

The Jarawas are taking their first tentative steps toward a relationship with the outside world, having first made contact in the late 1990s.

Some 400-strong, the Jarawas live in the thick forests of South and Middle Andaman hunting pig and monitor lizard and fishing with bows and arrows. Short, dark-skinned with curly hair, they resemble African bushmen in appearance. They are a nomadic people that live in bands of 40-50 and are thought to be amongst the first people to migrate successfully from Africa to Asia.

When Survival International first encountered the practice of “human safaris” back in 2010, they coerced four of the eight tourism operators to discontinue the tours down the partially closed Andaman Trunk Road.

“The Jarawa people lived successfully on their island without contact with outsiders for probably about 55,000 years, until 1998,” Stephen Corry, Survival's director, said at the time. “Today, a road runs right through their forest home and they risk decimation by disease. They call themselves the Ang, which means 'human being,' yet they are being ogled at like animals in a game reserve.

“The very last member of the neighboring Bo tribe died in January,” he added. “We must not allow the same fate to befall the Jarawa, or the world will lose yet another vibrant, knowledgeable and complex part of humankind.”

The Andaman and Nicobar tropical island chain is home to four other rare tribes — Onge, the Great Andamanese, the Sentinelese and the Shompens, each numbering less than 350 members.

Working with a local organization, SEARCH, Survival has distributed leaflets to tourists arriving at the islands' airport warning of the dangers of using the closed road. Yet, the practice continues as tourists bribe local police with several hundreds of dollars to view the Jarawa.

“I think that a lot of people are aware of the problem now and would actively avoid it,” Survival campaigner Utsa Hazarika told IBTimes. “Having said that, a weekend after the first video surfaced, an Indian tourist from the mainland was arrested for trying to film a Jarawa man. I think that this practice was sort of the thing to do on the island and there will likely be people continuing to do it until the road is closed.”

The Andaman Islands are part of India and the nation has laws designed to protect ancient tribal groups susceptible to outside influence and disease. Photography or coming into contact with the disease-prone Jarawas is, by law, illegal.

Outcry over the practice in the last month prompted India's Home Minister to order an investigation.

“The home minister did visit and he basically didn't say anything,” Hazarika said. “He avoided the issue and no statements were made about whether the road should stay open or be closed. No one is taking action either way.”

Local authorities have downplayed the issue. Senior Andaman policeman Shamsher Bahadur Deol said last month that over 1,000 arrests have been made in the last five years of people trying to make contact with the Jarawas, but that “it's impossible for them to catch everyone.”

Survival called on the public Monday to write emails through its Web site urging the Indian government to take immediate action to stop the human safaris.

“This new video released by the Observer shows current precautions by the Andaman authorities are not working,” Survival's Director Stephen Corry said Monday. “It's time the government got to the root of the problem, which is the road. It must be closed.”

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