Africa’s chief attraction is that it has been growing while richer regions have stalled (see chart 1). Its demographic prospects are promising, too. As America, Europe and China age, Africa can expect a bulge of workers in their productive prime. Though skills are in short supply, they are becoming more abundant. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, the consulting firm’s research unit, in 2002 only 32% of Africans had secondary or tertiary education, but by 2020, 48% will have. The continent can call on degree-laden expatriates such as Mr Ndiaye and Uyi Stewart, the Nigerian chief scientist of IBM’s Nairobi lab.  Article

Carly Fiorina discusses giving a leg up to women.  Video

From a brewery to a car wash, women like start ups and feature down to earth financial planning with special attention to the well-being of their employees.  Article

The first thing to say is that Bangladesh has an energy problem the scale of which tends to be, like the country as a whole, hugely underreported. According to the World Bank, there is no country where businesses find it more difficult to get electricity than Bangladesh. In its latest “Doing Business Survey”, the bank ranks Bangladesh an unflattering 185 out of 185 in this category.  More than 60% of people do not have access to electricity. Article

Caterpillar has just written off $580 million after acquisition of Chinese company turns sour.  In a statement, Caterpillar said an ongoing investigation launched after the deal closed “determined several Siwei senior managers engaged in deliberate misconduct beginning several years prior to Caterpillar’s acquisition of Siwei.”  Philip Anshutz, the mega US billionaire, has pulled out of ownership of stadiums in China because he could not get his profits out of the country.  Buyers beware.  Article

Entrepreneur Magazine introduces women to watch:  Read about them.

At a meeting of European Women’s Management Development, speaks called for more women in more positions of importance in world finance.  Their mission: transparency and to bridge the gap between poor and rich. Susanne Meier article