Colonial Borders - Retarding African Development

It really baffles me at how our political leaders celebrate independence of the African nations and yet we still abide by the laws set forth by the colonial masters.
A typical example is that of the way the African countries are segregated on imaginary lines drawn in the soil to keep us from working together to develop the continent. One statement Mr. Aliko Dangote made to a Zambian government official was 'why do I have to go through so many immigration formalities when coming into Zambia, yet my British employees simply walk into the country?' (Para phrasing). The laws on immigration in Africa are especially punishing for African business men, because they are the key to unlocking Africas economic potential.
From personal experience, cross border trading is simply difficult. I have been exporting various agro produce to Malawi which is to the east of Zambia, one constant is the extreme delays at the border, mainly on the Malawi customs side. Despite Zambia and Malawi being considered 1 country, we have trivial problems such as citizens of either country requiring a passport to go beyond the border towns. I personally witnessed the deportation of Malawian citizens at the border, simply because a they were a few kilometers away from home, in Chipata, doing odd jobs that Zambians are not interested in. In fact, before 1970 post colonial Zambia did not have such a law, granted Malawi and North Rhodesia were already split up by the masters, but we had freedom on movement, we were one people. However, In the 70's our founding fathers, under instruction from their masters, decided that they were not brothers anymore and imposed the masters rules to stop free movement. This led to villages being split into 2, half Zambian and the other Malawian, siblings had to declare either been Zambian or Malawian. Now we prosecute and punish our siblings based on what the westernized world expects from black Africans 'the House Nigger'.
Today has clocked one month since I was contracted to deliver a considerably small tonnage of agro seed to a company in Malawi. They felt that in order to boost their self sustainability, the should buy seed to plant in the coming rain season. I helped source the seed, have it treated, tested and certified (according to the rules set in Zurich because Niggers with degrees are still just NIGGERS). After doing everything required, I proceeded to the border, which we cleared on the Zambian side, after inspections and assessment of paper work, 1 hour process. Then we enter no mans land and hand over to the Malawian authority. Unfortunately on this side, time slows extremely down, there's really no need for clocks in Malawi, the authorities literally can't tell time! The system is to send the paper work to a centralised system 1000 kilometers away, because they know that their border staffs are extremely corruptible or that they are not able to read the docs intelligently and make a decision, further dullness, they don't have a power back up system, hence the documents they are supposed to upload to the central system cannot be processed until public individuals organise themselves to contribute diesel to power the cutoms office gen set, then after sending the docs, we have to wait at least 4 hours for the slightly more intelligent HQ people to assess the docs, in our case 24 hrs, only to have load shedding as the approval from HQ comes through for us to cross.
Now really, what kind of spell in Africa under where we make it so difficult for our own to thrive and celebrate donor aid. We are excited to receive goods from else where and frown upon our children's works.
It is time we burned down the colonial barriers!
CEO Tapera Industries Zambia| BiofuelsExpert | MWF 2014
Skype: toba851

www.taperabio.biz

Work for Experience!

A lot of times when I tell my story, I leave out a part that seems to surprise a lot of people. Some think that I came up from a privileged up bringing or inherited a whole lot of money. I had a rich and wonderful upbringing, the kind of riches one can lament on not the money kind lol. After completing my diploma in Aeronautical engineering at college, I had no experience in the aviation sector and had sort of lost interest in aviation after NASA refused my eligibility to work there.
However my interest in biofuels had already peaked and I had decided in 2006 that it was my destiny. Using my knowldege of engineering principals, I started to research biofuels and biofuel technologies. At a certain point in my research, I realised that I didn't have the expertise to lead an engineering or production unit and I didn't have any money to pursue my dream. So I decided to join the 'tamanga' industry, street hustling, peddling imported goods. I did it for a few months, and was good at it, but there was a void I felt constantly, I felt that it was beneath me to join the simple business of trading, I had become a mere sales man, running after customers to nuy what some genius is making in his own comfort, it just didn't feel right. This made me work harder to realise my dream, so I started to invest in my goals with whatever profit I had made, which eventually led to my first back yard biodiesel production.
I had the technical side of biodiesel production down to science and was happy to sell it to a few mates who were brave enough to throw it in the fuel tanks. But something was still missing, I didn't know how an engineering production line worked. One day in 2007, I saw an ad in the newspaper, the local Airline was recruiting aircraft technicians. I had no experience but all the right paper work, so I dusted off my blank CV, and wrote an application letter. The application was denied, I had no experience, luckily I was granted an audience with the technical director, he was a really negative fellow, short and skinny behind his desk of magnificence and power. In that moment, I remembered my college instructors words 'doesn't matter at what level you enter the industry, as long as you're in'. I looked at the TD and said ' I'll work for free!'. That was an unexpected twist, simply because, our generation feels deserving of the good life, without knowing the value of work we want to reap the benefits.
I worked for 3 months without pay, only lunch in the company canteen. Most young people who hear this exclaim at the impossibility of working for free, and I get it I mean, we were brought up to believe that hard work is meant for poor people who have no option because of lack of education. But I was privileged to have gone to college in the UK, where hard work takes precedence over endless doctorates and wealthy backgrounds. Granted that these attributes help a lot when it comes to gaining access to certain privileges, but starting from the bottom is one of the most powerful assets anyone can have. In the 3 months I worked for free, I had a chance to work with a wide array of gifted technicians, met brilliant accountants one of whom became a shareholder in my business, made contacts through working with other professionals, learned admin systems that I still use to date. So many benefits but no monetary gain.
In whatever you do, look for the #silverlining.
WashingtonFellow2014 | BiofuelsExpert | Zambia
Skype: toba851

Parable of the talents!

Ever wondered which selection of progreSsive people you fit into? Whether one is religious or not, the parable of the talents from the bible applies to everyone, it goes something like this:
14 "For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants[a] and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents,[b] to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' 21 His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.[c] You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' 23 His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' 26 But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' Matthew 25:14-30
Now sometimes we wonder at why some have more while other have nothing, some say bad luck, others just have 'it'.
We are all born with talents, whatever it is we all have it, whether God given or honed over the years, we have the ability to generate some kind revenue, and can potentially grow that revenue to riches. When one looks at what they have, they would rather compare their potential to another's work, without knowing the advantages or disadvantages, will succumb to fear of failure and give up.
The majority of us are like the last servant, at a chance to progression in our lives, we run away simply because the thought of failure is greater than the dream of success. The first servant, had a lot more to lose but his dream of success was greater than the though of failure. And like in the parable, the biggest risk takers, are usually the biggest winners. In real life, the biggest risk taker is the one who takes a chance on the smallest of opportunities, with no way of knowing if he'll survive the hit if it came.
Life can be a wicked master, but if you put in the extra 1% effort more than everyone else, you will be 1000 steps ahead everyone else in whatever you want to do.
Focus on the prize, not the process. #silverlining
WashingtonFellow2014 | BiofuelsExpert | Zambia
Skype: toba851

ENEMY'S OF DEVELOPMENT! The impact of gross procrastination...

(PICTURES: some of the beneficiaries of Tapera Industries jatropha project)

Today 07 April 2015, I woke up to work as usual, after waiting for the really long weekend to end (I hate bank holidays, I have a career) I did all the preps to make sure the day is accomplished as planned: get fumigation certificate, get phytosanitary certificate, get export permit, load 30 ton truck, deliver crop to client, smile all the way to the bank. Simple plan, no hustle, I did all my pre preparations over the weekend, what could possibly go wrong?
So I call the fumigator, he's at church, and I think, religious man, trustworthy. So I ask, ' what time will you be here' his response ' I'll have to inform the phyto inspector and get back to you', me baffled, because the phyto inspector is supposed to verify by seeing that the pests are clear of stock. I say 'OK, get back to me when done consulting'. Fumigator calls and says ' the inspector doesn't have transport, can you pick him up?' Reluctantly I say 'YES' it only 15kms away after all. I jump in my truck, don't even have breakfast, straight shot, I drive down to Zambia Agric Research Institute, Musekela. I proceed to locate the inspector, and he says 'oh, you're here, when do you intend to unveil the fumigation?' Politely I say 'Now!', when do you intend to export?' He asks, 'uhm, tomorrow.' Ok he exclaims, 'I'm hosting a field day and can't leave just yet, I can be available after an hour and I'll find my way to the inspection site' All sorts of profanities rattling in my head and I say 'thank you boss, we'll wait your arrival'. That's 09:11 am Tuesday morning.
I proceed back into town to wait, do some errands, make some follow up calls, and really just watch time waste away like a starving child watching the food network. Finally after pressing this gentleman with calls, he shows up at 04:00PM! Signs the simple phytosanitary certificate.
So my 6 step plan reduced to 2, get fumigation certificate and phyto certificate. Because of the 8 hour delay to perform a 5 minute act of verification and certification, the consequences are:
1. the trucker I hired decided to proceed without my cargo, since there were more 'serious' clients ready to go,
2. the export permit process has to be done the next day,
3. the pre clearing arrangement I'd organised at the border has been delayed so our truck will have to join the queue
4. international banking practices take 2 working days to take effect, so will receive payment next week for a consignment delivered tomorrow.
It may seem trivial, especially if you're not in the business world, but here's how the greed of one individual can affect many:
1.Tapera industries employs 3 contracted workers and 15 commissioned workers in eastern province.
2.We work in 5 major districts and buy energy crops from 300 small scale farmers who survive on the cash flow from jatropha sales during the farming off season.
3. We pay company tax and when export, we pay export taxes.
4. When we export, we bring in much needed FOREX into the economy.
5. The energy crops we supply are processed into a biofuel that not only saves the environment, but reduces the cost of living through increased savings on the cost of doing business.
It is common in Zambia for a govt official to frustrate a simple process in order to get one to pay a bribe, to get the officer to do their job more efficiently, maybe coming to 20 USD. But the real impact of todays procrastination was 18 employees won't get paid on time, over 300 households will desperately wait for the Tapera truck to return, revenue services won't get taxes on time to implement government projects, much needed FOREX will be stuck else where, cost of living for thousands of people won't improve.
Consider this situation for millions of business across africa, how government officials can frustrate a simple process so they can eat petty money for a day while they watch the world decay in the filth of corruption.
I'm just 1 business man, let's say no to procrastination and corruption!
WashingtonFellow2014 | BiofuelsExpert | Zambia
Skype: toba851

30 Tons and counting

The last month has seen a leap in energy crop aggregation for my team and I. Tapera Industries has made strides in fulfilling an obligation to our clients Bio Energy Resource Limited, who process the energy crop into biofuels and organic fertilizer.
With this growing demand for energy crops, It can only be positive outlook for the SSF's who will have an alternate income instead to waiting for the food crop harvest season.
With my team, we managed to pull together 30 Metric tons of jatropha seed from over 300 farmers working with us.
We expect to double that tonnage by the end of April.
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Toba
WashingtonFellow2014 | BiofuelsExpert | Zambia
Skype: toba851

My version of poverty alleviation...

Access to cheap, clean and sustainable energy in rural areas and community based industries. I run a green tech business which has operations in rural Zambia, eastern province. Our primary work there is to collect energy crops from small scale farmers which we transport to major cities for processing into biofuels and biomass energy. Even though the SSF's receive payment for the energy crops, the lack of facilities to provide energy driven products like cheap transportation or cleaner burning charcoal alternatives, leaves the rural dwellers generally in the same economic and social situation that we try to improve upon. The main aggregation hub we work in, Chadiza, has for a long time been exploited by industry for its agriculture food production, as some of the hardest working farmers are in this region. Despite the attention from big city dwellers, the area lacks basic essentials such as transport fuel, bathing soap, cooking oil, which are considered a luxury in most households. Because fuels is scarce in the area, the residents pay upto 3 times more for the same comodity that city dwellers take for granted. The most affected populations in the areas are young and old women because the have to equally work to take care of the family, but go on further to subsidize the male counterparts efforts in covering the costs. 90% of the marketeers are women who have to come together to hire transport to the market, hence have to balance covering the costs of delivering produce to market as well as feed the family.My proposal is to establish small communtiy based industries. When raw materials are harvested from these areas, they are processed in the urban area, and the final product is transported back to the rural area, making it too expensive for majority of houshold. In line with Zambia's 6th National development plan, I would like to setup community based industries to process biodiesel and natural soap from Jatropha oil, sunflower cooking oil from sunflower seed, mango juice from mango fruit.
Jatropha trees in the rural area grow as a perennial tree which contiually produces and oil bearing seed which can be crushed to expel vegetable oils, which can be processed into a diesel fuel supplement as well as natural bath/washing soap. This industry will help reduce the cost of transport to markets and use of diesel powered processing in the area and provide a cheaper source for hygiene in the rural areas from soap production and sales,
The area also boasts of some of the highest yielding sunflower harvests in the country but all the sunflower seed is transported to urban areas and sold back to the rural areas in bottles; localising the processing of the sunflower seed will see the region benefit from the sell of cooking oil locally at much cheaper prices than if transported from the urban area as well as the sell of the high value seed cake for animal farming feed. The combined value of the oil and the cake is 3 times the value of the sunflower seed, asa well as the jobs created around the processing.
Mango trees in the eastern province supply majority of the fruit sold in the major Zambia cities. Despite the large quantites of fruit produced annually, there is still no processing facility in the province, while millions of dollars worth of mango fruit juice are imported every year. I propose to start processing on a small level to suppny the surround ing towns with the juice through the setting up of low cost community based and run processing facilities. This industry will create jobs and an economy in an underutilised inventory, and reduce dependency on traditional cash crops.
My proposal is to establish small communtiy based industries. When raw materials are harvested from these areas, they are processed in the urban area, and the final product is transported back to the rural area, making it too expensive for majority of houshold. In line with Zambia's 6th National development plan, I would like to setup community based industries to process biodiesel and natural soap from Jatropha oil, sunflower cooking oil from sunflower seed, mango juice from mango fruit.
Jatropha trees in the rural area grow as a perennial tree which contiually produces and oil bearing seed which can be crushed to expel vegetable oils, which can be processed into a diesel fuel supplement as well as natural bath/washing soap. This industry will help reduce the cost of transport to markets and use of diesel powered processing in the area and provide a cheaper source for hygiene in the rural areas from soap production and sales,
The area also boasts of some of the highest yielding sunflower harvests in the country but all the sunflower seed is transported to urban areas and sold back to the rural areas in bottles; localising the processing of the sunflower seed will see the region benefit from the sell of cooking oil locally at much cheaper prices than if transported from the urban area as well as the sell of the high value seed cake for animal farming feed. The combined value of the oil and the cake is 3 times the value of the sunflower seed, asa well as the jobs created around the processing.
Mango trees in the eastern province supply majority of the fruit sold in the major Zambia cities. Despite the large quantites of fruit produced annually, there is still no processing facility in the province, while millions of dollars worth of mango fruit juice are imported every year. I propose to start processing on a small level to suppny the surround ing towns with the juice through the setting up of low cost community based and run processing facilities. This industry will create jobs and an economy in an underutilised inventory, and reduce dependency on traditional cash crops.
So far we have worked on aggregating the jatropha seed from the rural SSF's which has seen there incomes rise and there vulnerability to fall into the debt trap reduced. Before I worked with the small scale farmers, they only had their crops to sale at harvest time in may to august, the period from january to may leaves them vulnerable to situations such as contract selling of their produce to briefcase business men, who would buy the crop at less than 25% of the market value simply because the farmers had a need for the money at that particular point.
Through the efforts of my team and I, we now buy energy crops from the vulnerable women during the months of january to june, hence they are not desperate to sale their produce at mediocre prices.
We have also taken an initaitive to start raising funds and look for partners to start the soap processing in one area that we have identified to have the potential commercialise the soap production.
Another project I'm lead on in Zambia is a charcoal from grass project which we have been allocated funds from the US Embassy Zambia Alumni grants. This project will focus on training 30 young men and women on the production of charcoal using locally available resources that are environmentally friendly; whilst generating a sustainable income for the participants.
If this makes sense to you, reach out to mutoban@taperabio.com, let's talk!
WashingtonFellow2014 | BiofuelsExpert | Zambia
Skype: toba851

Learn to love who you're with!

Every relationship has a cycle… In the beginning; you
fall in love with your partner. You anticipate their calls,
want their touch, and like their idiosyncrasies. Falling in love wasn't hard. In fact, it was a completely natural and spontaneous experience. You didn't have to DO anything. That's why it's called "falling" in love.

People in love sometimes say, "I was swept of my feet."Picture the expression. It implies that you were just standing there; doing nothing, and then something happened TO YOU.

Falling in love is a passive and spontaneous experience. But after a few months or years of being together, the euphoria of love fades. It's a natural cycle of EVERY relationship.

Slowly but surely, phone calls become a bother (if they come at all), touch is not always welcome (when it happens), and your spouse's idiosyncrasies, instead of being cute, drive you nuts. The symptoms of this stage vary with every relationship; you will notice a dramatic difference between the initial stage when you were in love and a much duller or even angry subsequent stage.

At this point, you and/or your partner might start asking, "Am I with the right person?" And as you reflect on the euphoria of the love you once had, you
may begin to desire that experience with someone
else. This is when relationships breakdown.

The key to succeeding in a relationship is not finding the right person; it's learning to love the person you found.

People blame their partners for their unhappiness and look outside for fulfillment. Extramarital fulfillment comes in all shapes and sizes.

Infidelity is the most common. But sometimes people turn to work, a hobby, friendship, excessive TV, or abusive substances. But the answer to this dilemma does NOT lie outside your relationship. It lies within it.

I'm not saying that you couldn't fall in love with someone else. You could. And TEMPORARILY you'd feel better. But you'd be in the same situation a few years later.

Because (listen carefully to this):

The key to succeeding in a Relationship is not finding the right person; it's learning to love the Person you found.

SUSTAINING love is not a passive or spontaneous experience. You have to work on it day in and day out. It takes time, effort, and energy. And most importantly, it demands WISDOM. You have to know
WHAT TO DO to make it work. Make no mistake about it.

Love is NOT a mystery. There are specific things you can do (with or without your partner), Just as there are physical laws Of the universe (such as gravity), there are also laws for relationships. If you know how to apply these laws, the results are predictable.

Love is therefore a "decision". Not just a feeling.

Remember this always: God determines who walks into your life. It is up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let GO!
WashingtonFellow2014 | BiofuelsExpert | Zambia
Skype: toba851

Twas their time...

After an exhilirating discussion with a good friend about the perception of the Zambian about fate, I have begun to wonder why we don't live life to the fullest.
Ever noticed how no matter how hard a person works, their success will be attributed to 'its their time' and not, they are intelligent and patient and made the right moves.
If as a society we stopped blaming our short comings on the 'divine time' and put in the work and did our bit to push society forward, Zambia would be much better off!
Instead we have a bunch of lazies sitting around and waiting for their time.
So guess what, I'm going to work exetremely hard over the next few years so that I can secure time for the next 500 to 1000 years, of course for my descendants, because I'm sure that some dumb ass a 100 years from now will accept that my great great grand kids will be lucky. And that its their time!
WashingtonFellow2014 | BiofuelsExpert | Zambia
Skype: toba851