Golden Gate National Park

Nothing to do with San Fransisco's most famous bridge...But 2 weekends ago, amidst the hectic time at work, I offered myself a most invaluable gift: 3 days in pure nature, where the individual seems to merge with the eternal...The Golden Gate National Park is only 3 hours south of Johannesburg, close to the border with Lesotho. It's one of the oldest rock formations in Africa, and thanks its name to the colour of the rocks when the rising or the setting sun shines of it. Pure gold it seems...

The hotel at the base camp has recently been renovated, and there is a camping ground and traditional hut village, but I opted for the new adn more secluded Highlands Mountain Retreat up in the mountains. Six small and 3 large wooden cabins, all built ecologically, the flat roofs topped with natural grass, to ensure an unspoilt view for every cabin. A world class service also, with the daily delivery of 2 bags of wood for the open fire, daily cleaning, and a Weber braai on the private balcony.

Wind was the most present element the first night, and I could oversee how certain parts of the park far away were set voluntarily on fire to ensure the fertility of the ground. I kind of missed the sunrise the first morning when I woke up to do my yoga exercises, but still, the sky was just spectacular. Five hours of walking on the different trails ensured a healty appetite the second night, and now the sky was totally open and the milky way highly visible. An even more spectular sunrise the next morning, and time to pack and start the return trip, batteries loaded, and spectacular images in my mind...I tried to capture some of the beauty of the park, click on the slideshow to the right to go straight to my picasa web album. Enjoy!

Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire

Abidjan, or "the Paris of Africa" as it was once called. Ten years of civil war and political unrest have unfortunately hampered the incredible rise of this lovely country. But somehow, the private sector did not come to a standstill - a sign of a certain maturity as indicated by Chimere, a Senegalese business man based in Tanzania and working towards "making Africa a better place to do business", who sat next to me on the Nairobi-Abidjan flight yesterday continuing to Dakar. And yet, despite the relocation of certain multinationals and difficulty of local companies to operate successfully given the political climate, the resilience shown by the private sector makes Cote d'Ivoire still the most important economic player of the region, contributing 40% of the UEMOA's GDP (the West African Economic and Monetary Union, with a single currency, the Franc CFA, pegged to the EURO). As the world's biggest cacao producer, with important palm oil and coffee plantations, and recent findings of oil and gas around its shores, Cote d'Ivoire has every thing (and every resource) to make the country a success. And with the date for the presidential elections finally now set for the 31st of October, most analysts believe that the political log will be resolved.

I arrived yesterday, the heat and humidity a surprisingly nice change from Joburg's cold nights and the beginning of my allergies - which go hand in hand with spring time. Driving towards the hotel, I was submerged by the incredible smell of "warme choco" (hot cocoa), which triggered a nice conversation with the hotel shuttle driver, who told me how he received this box of the best chocolates ever - Belgian off course - from this lady who could not find her friend at the airport which made his lucky day. And I remembered the tour I had of the Barry Callebaut factory in 2008 , when I was still a consultant working on a feasibility study in Abidjan.

Dramatic cloudy skies, wind and the occasional downpour of rain are on the menu today. Staying at the Novotel, I just had a lovely breakfast with Nadine, a French girl, who sat at the table next to me. She works for a US company that provides IT solutions to maritime ports, and we were exchanging our notes on how to do business in African countries. She "fled" France and lives in Brussels now, telling me how she was no longer proud of her home country and certain right-wing policies that have culminated now in the expulsion of the Roma with a 60% approval rate by the population. I joked that politics were not necessarily in a better state in Belgium, but we agreed that it is still a nice place to live.

It's Sunday, but I'm working on a proposal for expansion to Latin America, and preparing for this week's meetings. Objective: to find USD 3 million worth of local investments for our SME Fund, and start the legal incorporation of our organization...Wish me luck!

PS: Does anyone know how this Blogger slideshow gadget works? I'm trying to link the pictures that I took in the Golden Gate National Park in SA 2 weekends ago, but it's not working...

2018/2022

Oups, apparently I forgot to publish this one last week when our Red Devils got beaten by Finland...

Should Belgium organize the 2018/2022 soccer world cup together with the Netherlands?

I have read so many analyses lately in Belgian newspapers. One professor comes up with a cost-negative analysis, another one claims that the long-term benefits will far outweigh the costs, readers who clearly are no football aficionados then again claim that they should not be forced to pay up for a tournament that will only cause traffic problems and bring "even more" hooligans in the country. Not to speak about not-much-loved "FIFA-Maffia" boss Seph Blatter and his long wish-list.

Reading all this from a distance, I feel sometimes sorry about my country. But indeed, is a country that is not able to form a stable government, capable of looking farther ahead and aiming for big achievements? Of surpassing the individualistic viewpoint and accountant-type reasoning? Ok, we can't take a decision based only on romantic ideals, but still, as a proud Belgian, I'd love to see our little country raise to the occasion!

Here in South Africa, the post-mortem analyses have begun. Positive, very positive (economically). But beyond this, it has left the country with a positive "can-do" attitude. A pride. And the flags are still flown or adourning many car mirrors. Looking at it from the microcosmos environment of my workplace, representative of the rainbow nation, it was indeed the very first time for some white afrikaans rugby fan colleagues to get excited about football. The football jersey became the official Friday office gear. And all the so-called "white elephant" stadiums that have been built, have no problem finding second use. The famous Soccer City in Soweto, with a capacity of 90,000 visitors, has been sold out for the friendly South Africa - Ghana game, and recently for the tri-nations rugby game against New Zealand. This time I bought 10 tickets right away for the soccer game, as I really wanted to "feel" the Soccer City vibe while I'm here. So I took my colleagues, my friend Laverne and her kids, and Jane and Cornelius who look after my house, and boy, we were not disappointed, not a minute! Some pics...Oh yes, it's winter here!

New York, Newport, Brussels...

Busy day once again, but the video clips below made me laugh out loud. If you have 10 minutes to spare, today or over the weekend, have a look! Nothing serious this time :-)

Alicia Keys became quite popular here in South Africa after performing at the official FiFA concert the night before the opening game of the world cup, and her hit promoting New York with rapper Jay-Z was played on most radio stations. Have a look at the grandeur and 'pompousness' in their video clip first, and then watch the Welsh parody...hilarious! Also below a more serious Brussels version, an alternative promotion clip for this beautiful city of mine.

I'm back! Lead SA!

Surprise surprise...I'm back in cyperspace! My last post was more than a year ago, and yes a lot has happened, and I think that I can finally say that I have settled in in South Africa.

Now, the world cup frenzy is over, and hopefully all of you have been able to see, hear and FEEL what an incredible achievement it was for this first African world cup! Reading the standaardonline and other European-based press, I sometimes felt sorry and disappointed about the focus on crime and the bloody vuvuzelas, while the experience from within was all the opposite! CELEBRATION, it was a 1-month party, laughing faces, chanting, cheering, a people united and proud to be South African! Even I succumbed to the south african flag "window socks", an invention that one of the BBC guys who was staying at my neighbours' guest house called ready to conquer the world.

But so today, after all the craziness, the pride at succeeding in hosting the world's biggest sporting event, the sense of achievement for all the timely completed infrastructure works (maybe Belgium needs to win the 2018 world cup bid to finally get the GEN in Brussels and surroundings built...)...a group of independent media has launched a new campaign, called LEAD SA, calling out to all South Africans to STAND UP and embrace this positive vibe to continue to build a country we (yes I've started feeling a bit South African) can all be proud of. Looking ahead to a future filled with pride. Or to say it in Madiba's (Nelson Mandela's) words:"It is in your hands to create a better world for all who live in it". Check it out on www.leadsa.co.za