SOUTH AFRICA’S ECONOMY - Why President Zuma is wrong on the state of the economy

SOUTH AFRICA’S ECONOMY

Why President Zuma is wrong on the state of the economy


South Africa is in a structural decline rather than a cyclical decline

Stes de Necker

While Zuma has claimed that it’s not all “doom and gloom” when it comes to the state of the economy in South Africa, new Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data suggests something entirely different.

 According to Zuma, local economic growth is expected to increase to at least 3% over the next three years. Last week it was announced that South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted 1.3% in the second quarter of 2015 over the previous quarter.

According to Elna Moolman, an economist at Macquarie Group, South Africa’s economic growth is now expected to be only 1.5% this year, and nothing better next year.

The GDP decreased of 1.3% in the second quarter means there is now a very real danger that the economy will slip into a recession resulting in further job shedding in South Africa, destroying the prospects of employment for the 7.6 million people looking for work in South Africa . The recent wage disputes in the gold and coal industries, which will inevitably result in more strikes and more lost production, does not assist the already dire situation.

The economic slowdown means that the projected economic growth falls far short of the 5.4% economic growth envisaged in the Government’s National Development Plan, which, in turn, will impact negatively on revenue collection in South Africa. Thus far the South African Revenue Service had already fell R2.94 billion short of the revenue collection target for the first quarter of 2015. 

Instead of courting China, Zuma and the ANC Government should rather be tackling the fundamental roadblocks to economic growth, including policy uncertainty, the energy crisis, inflexible labour laws, failing State-Owned Enterprises, and red tape which is stifling small business. 

The ANC is looking at the wrong countries as partners to boost the South African economy.

South Africa is in a structural decline rather than a cyclical decline, which raises the question whether the ANC Government has the foundation and skills to make this country grow.

China still tolerates the ANC’s incompetence and corruption because it suits them to get a threshold on South Africa. 

No Western country would do that. 

China’s “Confrontational” Move Succeeds - Global Markets Are Plummeting

China’s “Confrontational” Move Succeeds

Global Markets Are Plummeting

Stes de Necker

Stock market watchers were horrified on Monday morning 24 August 2015 as the Dow Jones Industrial average dropped precipitously over 1,000 points just after the opening trading bell.

Though there were roller coaster-like efforts at recovery throughout the day, the market ultimately closed down by 588 points, which came on the heels of several days in a row of major market losses last week. 

The massive Monday dip is largely being blamed on China’s market correction of more than 8.5 percent, along with the European markets slipping into a full-blown bear market, causing the Volatility Index, or “fear index” to spike by nearly half.

The crashing global markets have resulted in plunging prices for commodities, including crude oil, which looks good at the gas pump, but creates dangerous ripples that can adversely affect other parts of the economy.

Possible reasons for the crashing markets include a major slowdown in China’s economy, financial uncertainty in Europe, most notably Greece, as well as the ever-present threat that the Federal Reserve will finally raise interest rates, something they have refrained from doing for too long.

According to Business Insider, Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid said Monday, “We’ve long felt that the only thing preventing another financial crisis has been extraordinary central bank liquidity and general interventions from the global authorities which we still expect to continue for a long while yet.”

Reid added, “So when policy changes, risks arise. The genesis of this recent sell-off has been the threat of the Fed raising rates next month, but China’s confrontational move two weeks ago and the subsequent knock-on through EM have accelerated us towards something more serious.”

Speaking of China’s “confrontational move,” conservative radio and TV host Glenn Beck recently addressed the issue with a financial expert last week, saying the deliberate devaluation of China’s currency could mean “all-out economic warfare” against the West, according to The Blaze.

“They’ve launched all-out economic warfare,” chief economic researcher Jason Buttrill said. “China devalued their currency, kicking off the biggest fall in over two decades.”

He went on to explain how a weak currency helps China, due to their economy being largely based upon cheap exports, but notes how their move could lead to a “tsunami of deflation” in western economies.

He further explained how China’s move to deflate Western economies could allow them to shift from a cheap export-based economy to a more consumer-centered one, like that of America.

“Here’s the second part, and this is crucial,” he concluded. “China is trying to destroy the dollar.

They want to be the world reserve currency, and if severe deflation kicks off a depression in the Western world, the opportunity will be there for this to actually happen. … We’re seeing the beginnings of a dangerous, non-conventional war.”

The global economy is most certainly in flux right now, and China’s deliberate devaluation of their own dollar is proving to be one of the more dangerous aspects of the volatile uncertainty right now.

WHY INVEST IN GOLD AND/OR SILVER

WHY INVEST IN GOLD AND/OR SILVER

Stes de Necker

INVESTING IN PHYSICAL GOLD AND SILVER IS THE ONLY OPTION LEFT TO INVESTORS IN ORDER TO PROTECT THEIR ASSETS FROM THE DEVALUATION OF CURRENCIES AND A POSSIBLE ECONOMIC MELTDOWN

Why Invest in Physical Gold

Gold is the only form of money that has not been destroyed through 5,000 years of History.

Gold is becoming money again :

For 2000 years, money was made of gold and silver coins. Since 1971 and the end of the Gold Exchange Standard by President Nixon, we have been living a currency experience of paper money.

 As all previous experiences in the past, this experience will fail.

Gold is undervalued :

Adjusted from the real rate of inflation (not the one published in the media), gold should be much higher, some say around 10 000 dollars, to take into account the trillions of dollars that have been printed since 2008. The Dow/Gold ratio is a good indicator of the fact that gold in undervalued.

The current gold price (as on 28/8/2015) is $1133.80

The end of the dollar as the world reserve currency is unavoidable. In view of the inflationist monetary policies of all the governments, the purchasing power of the dollar is destroyed. Countries with big dollar reserves know that, and are literally fleeing the dollar and investing in tangible assets to protect themselves.

Other international currencies (euro, yen, swiss franc) are no alternatives. All these currencies are based on “paper money” and follow the same long-term fate as the US dollar, which is going back to its intrinsic value of zero.

The true impact of the derivatives has not yet been experienced.

Warren Buffet called the derivatives “weapons of mass destruction” and, in the coming years, this market will implode, triggering a domino effect that in turn will destroy our monetary system based on fiat money.

Investment demand from investors is just starting to rise. Few people own gold today so it’s impossible to speak of a gold “bubble” when this asset is under-owned.

Investors are realizing that Gold ETFs are not the safe haven they're supposed to be.

Gold ETFs are not backed by 100% physical gold. Owning Gold ETF shares doesn’t necessarily mean investors own physical gold.

ONLY invest in physical gold.

The production of gold by mining companies can’t rise, because the credit crunch made structural investments nearly impossible and gold is becoming harder to mint. So  physical gold offer is stable and thus is not pushing the price down.

Central banks are not selling gold any more. To the contrary, a lot of Eastern and Middle East central banks are actively buying gold in order to limit their exposure to the devaluation of their dollars and Euros reserves.

The gold market is very small. All the gold ever produced during History represents a 20 (66 ft) on a side (equivalent to 8000 m3).

Gold has proven during centuries its capacity to hold value and to protect against inflation.

Why Invest in Silver

Silver is even more undervalued than gold. 

Throughout History one ounce of gold used to buy 15 ounces of silver. Today you can buy around 43 ounces of silver with one ounce of gold, meaning that silver is extremely undervalued based on historical valuation against gold.

Silver shoud be at 120 dollars an ounce today just to catch up with this ratio of 1/15.

The latest silver price (28/8/2015) is $14.66 per ounce

Silver is driven by monetary and industrial demand :

Silver is used in many products as well as in the industry for a lot of applications. When silver is used it’s merely destroyed.

Silver is the second commodity in the world in terms of uses and applications.

Industrial demand is not going to fade when silver price skyrockets because silver is used in very small quantities in all these different products (computers, cameras and so on).

Even If the price of silver goes very high, industrial demand will still be there.

As gold is becoming more and more expensive to buy, people are turning to silver to protect themselves against inflation.

In Asia for instance, people only have the option to buy silver in view of their salaries. This huge demand for Asia didn’t exist during the last bull market in the late 70’s.

On the silver paper market, huge short positions will have to be covered one way or another by the bullion banks. This short covering will send the price of silver to very high levels.

Besides, it’s said that for each once of physical silver in existence, bullion banks have sold 100 times more silver in the form of paper certificates.

Now when all the silver investors will try to convert their silver certificates into physical silver, ETFs will go bust and physical silver will skyrocket.

This huge offer of “paper” silver has driven the silver price down for many years by creating a fake offer in the market.

People are now waking up to this fact and are investing more and more in physical silver.

Economic Meltdown 2015 - Preparing for an Economic Collapse in 2015

Economic Meltdown 2015

Preparing for an Economic Collapse in 2015

Stes de Necker

If some economists are to be believed, 2015 will be the year when all the chickens will come home to roost. Most prominent among these theorists is David Levy, whose grandfather had correctly predicted the Great Depression of 1929.

David Levy, who is the chairman of The Jerome Levy Forecasting Center in New York, is of the opinion that 2015 will mark the start of another major recession that will last for a considerable amount of time.

Levy is not the only economist who is predicting an economic collapse in 2015, Professor W. Thompson of Indian University also projects that the economies world over will see a downturn in 2015.

Aftermath of an economic collapse and how you can survive it. Events that may certainly happen in the aftermath of an Economic Collapse. 

Martial law: 

Considering the widespread impact of a collapsing economy on the sentiments of people, it is expected that all governments will use all available legislation to its advantage.

Travel restrictions: 

An economic meltdown can trigger travel restrictions, including suspension of passports. It will also cause travel restrictions to be put in place.   

Confiscation of wealth: 

A catastrophic economic collapse can make governments to take extreme steps, which also includes confiscation of wealth. The laws passed by the European Union give it the authority to confiscate bank accounts through bail-ins.

Although real estate and precious metals are not covered under the rule, it doesn’t mean that they are safe.

Governments around the world have been known to make some difficult decisions whenever their economies are in dire straits, and 2015 can turn out that point of time in history.

Shortage of food: 

An economic collapse can lead to shortage of food in the world. The food industry is expected to take a severe hit as it survives mostly on small profit margins.

These were a few events that are likely to occur after the global economic collapse.

As was the case with previous economic crashes, people who could see the tide coming were not only able to save their fortune, but also use the bearishness of the market to their advantage.

Although the mainstream media will make you believe that the economy is on a solid footing, the ground reality is starkly different.

It is everyone’s prerogative to take the right steps and save prepare for an economic catastrophe.

Here are some suggestions that can help you prepare for an economic crash:

Get out of debt

One of the first and foremost steps you should take to secure yourself is to get out of debt as quickly as you can. I know this is easier said than done, but difficult times call for difficult measures.

Paying off your mortgage in a short span of time might not be possible, but you can at least try to get rid of your credit card debt or any car loans.

The lesser your debts, the better position you will be in to deal with the economic depression.

Save for the rainy day

People who have been contributing to a rainy day fund are better prepared for dealing with the economic crash. If you don’t have enough savings to help you brave the winds of a financial collapse, start today.

You might need to make substantial contributions to compensate for the lack of contribution that you should have made earlier.

Although having a rainy day fund won’t mean that you will see through the crisis without having a steady source of income, it will definitely buy you time after the initial shock.

If you have any liquid investments (financial) now is the time to seriously consider buying gold. Gold will always secure you a safe harbor in difficult times.  

Practice frugal living

To deal with the downturn in economy, you will need to make some major lifestyle changes.

If you have got used to living on credit, now is the time to change that and start living frugally.

From shunning your credit card to brown bagging your lunches, you need to put in an effort to save every penny that you can.

You also need to look for alternatives to the products that you use on a daily basis.

Food prices will sky-rocket and investing in a garden can be a great idea.

Learn new skills

Surviving an economic collapse will require patience and perseverance from you. 

You need to hone your existing skills and learn new ones to improve your chances of gaining employment. 

Learning new skills will also help you compliment your primary source of income.

Research about the winners

In the economic crisis of 2007-08, many investors were not only able to secure their investments, but also make a profit because they were armed with the right information. 

If you don’t want to take any major risks, staying away from the stock market can seem to be a pretty simple idea.

However, if you want to cash in on the downturn in the economy like Warren Buffett, John Paulson, and Jamie Dimon did during the recession of 2007-08, you need to start looking out for stocks that will grow in the next economic crisis.

There is a lack of awareness with most people about the impending financial crisis.

People who get most of their news through mainstream media might not even get to know about the crash until it actually happens. 

It is important that we spread awareness and help everyone prepare for such a catastrophe.   

Prepare for the coming economic storm

Prepare for the coming economic storm

Stes de Necker

Author: Max du Preez

The South African middle classes will have to take note of the imminent economic crisis that could cause much hardship, even destabilisation.

Ordinary citizens aren’t normally much interested in economic analysis and projections, but in this case it is in their own interest to at least understand the basic trends and developments so that they can prepare for the coming storm.

China’s economic growth has been weakening significantly in recent months. This has a direct impact on South Africa, especially because this is driving commodity prices lower – China is the world’s biggest consumer of raw materials. The country is also South Africa’s biggest single trading partner.

The indirect impact of China’s economic woes is that it has a negative influence on the global economy. Already there are predictions of a chain reaction and even a new global recession if China can’t quickly revive its economy. China is the second biggest economy in the world.

Emerging markets such as South Africa usually get hurt most by global economic glitches. Our currency is already weakening to record lows.

Job losses

Lower commodity prices and competition between trade unions that are destablising the labour market can in the months ahead result in about a hundred thousand job losses in the mining, steel and manufacturing sectors.

In the South African reality this could mean that around a million people will be affected, because the typical worker in these industries have up to ten dependents.

The hardship of these people will affect everyone in South Africa, including business.

Analyst and commentator Moeletsi Mbeki famously warned four years ago that South Africa will face its “Tunisia Day” (the beginning of the Arab Spring) when China concluded its minerals-intensive industrialisation phase that had forced up the price of South Africa’s minerals.

We can’t blame China for all our problems, though. South Africa’s economic growth had already faded to less than one percent in 2015 as a result of the severe energy crisis, labour problems, investor reluctance, corruption, maladministration and wrong policies.

If these trends continue, the growth in the economy could decrease to close to zero by the end of next year.

Simmering anger

This economic decline couldn’t have come at a worse time for South Africa. There is a simmering anger among the unemployed, the workers and even the black middle class that poverty and inequality have persisted and that the pace of economic transformation has been painfully slow.

This manifests in increasing aggression, confrontation and even distabilisation.

The state simply can’t afford the plasters any longer that had so far been put on these sores.

We’re not the only country facing an economic crisis, but our government seems to be less able and willing than most others to navigate through the storm.

The discussion documents released by the ANC last week indeed warn against weak economic growth and raised expectations. But they are low on real solutions, mostly arguing for faster “radical economic transformation” and a stronger role for the state in the economy.

At least it appears that some state departments realise the importance of talking with the business and mining sector about ways to ameliorate the impacts of mass lay-offs by providing soft landings, training and alternative job opportunities.

It is high time the private sector tried much harder to get through to government and to play a more pro-active role in dealing with our serious challenges.

Time for cool heads

How should you and I, the ordinary middle class citizens, prepare for the tough times ahead?

It’s definitely not a time to live extravagantly or to get deeper into debt. It is time for consolidation and to get one’s house in order, financially and otherwise.

At the same time, paralysing negativity and wild prophecies of doom won’t help even a little bit. It is time for cool heads and a good understanding of the prevailing dynamics and undercurrents in South Africa’s politics and economy.

Unhappiness in one’s personal life undermines one’s ability to survive trying times. If the boat you’re sailing in is without leaks and has a reliable engine, your chances of getting to the other side of the storm in one piece is much greater.

I think people should start paying extra attention to their personal relationships, family life and friendships; they should ponder the ways they relate with their communities and the rest of society; and they should care about their own physical and spiritual health.

But we shouldn’t retreat so far into our cosy corners that we desist from having our voices heard and push back against those who are toying with our future, whether they are politicians, mine owners or business leaders.

AFRICA QUOTES AND PROVERBS - Africa’s Wisdom

AFRICA QUOTES AND PROVERBS

Africa’s Wisdom

Stes de Necker

There is no continent more blessed with striking beauty and diversity than Africa.  

     

Africans, in their full diversity and folklore, are the natural people of the African landscape.

It is a continent rich in culture and diversity. So diverse that two Africans are more genetically different from each other than a Chinese and a European are from each other.

Africa has 3000 distinct ethnic groups, 2000 languages. Home to the most genetically diverse people on earth
and its people are well versed in the cultural and ethical values of the African society.  

Humans are defined by reference to the environing community . “I am because we are, and since we are, therefore I am.”

Deep rooted African Cultural Values includes:

(i) Sense of community life

(ii) Sense of good human relations

(iii) Sense of the sacredness of life

(iv) Sense of hospitality

(v) Sense of the sacred and of religion

(vi) Sense of time

(vii) Sense of respect for authority and the elders

(viii) Sense of language and proverbs

This is a list of some of Africa’s best known proverbs:  

• ·       Wisdom is wealth. ~ Swahili
• ·       Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it. ~ Akan proverb
• ·       The fool speaks, the wise man listens. ~ Ethiopian proverb
• ·       Wisdom does not come overnight. ~ Somali proverb
• ·       The heart of the wise man lies quiet like limpid water. ~ Cameroon proverb
• ·       Wisdom is like fire. People take it from others. ~ Hema (DRC) proverb
• ·       Only a wise person can solve a difficult problem. ~ Akan proverb
• ·       Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand. ~ Guinean proverb
• ·       In the moment of crisis, the wise build bridges and the foolish build dams. ~ Nigerian proverb
• ·       If you are filled with pride, then you will have no room for wisdom. ~ African proverb
• ·       A wise person will always find a way. ~ Tanzanian proverb
• ·       Nobody is born wise. ~ African proverb 
• ·       A man who uses force is afraid of reasoning. ~Kenyan proverb
• ·       Wisdom is not like money to be tied up and hidden. ~ Akan proverb
• ·       Learning expands great souls. ~ Namibian proverb
• ·       To get lost is to learn the way. ~ African proverb
• ·       By crawling a child learns to stand. ~ African proverb
• ·       If you close your eyes to facts, you will learn through accidents. ~ African proverb
• ·       He who learns, teaches. ~ Ethiopian proverb
• ·       Wealth, if you use it, comes to an end; learning, if you use it, increases. ~ Swahili proverb
• ·       By trying often, the monkey learns to jump from the tree. ~ Buganda proverb
• ·       You always learn a lot more when you lose than when you win. ~ African proverb
• ·       You learn how to cut down trees by cutting them down. ~ Bateke proverb
• ·       The wise create proverbs for fools to learn, not to repeat. ~ African proverb
• ·       What you help a child to love can be more important than what you help him to learn. ~African proverb
• ·       By the time the fool has learned the game, the players have dispersed. ~Ashanti proverb
• ·       One who causes others misfortune also teaches them wisdom. ~ African proverb
• ·       You do not teach the paths of the forest to an old gorilla. ~Congolese proverb
• ·       What you learn is what you die with. ~ African proverb
• ·       Instruction in youth is like engraving in stone. ~Moroccan Proverb
• ·       When you follow in the path of your father, you learn to walk like him. ~Ashanti Proverb
• ·       Ears that do not listen to advice, accompany the head when it is chopped off. ~African Proverb
• ·       Advice is a stranger; if he’s welcome he stays for the night; if not, he leaves the same day. ~Malagasy Proverb
• ·       Traveling is learning. ~Kenyan Proverb
• ·       Where there are experts there will be no lack of learners. ~Swahili Proverb
• ·       Peace is costly but it is worth the expense. ~Kenyan proverb
• ·       War has no eyes ~ Swahili saying
• ·       When a king has good counselors, his reign is peaceful. ~Ashanti proverb
• ·       Peace does not make a good ruler. ~Botswana proverb
• ·       A fight between grasshoppers is a joy to the crow. ~ Lesotho proverb
• ·       There can be no peace without understanding. ~Senegalese proverb
• ·       Milk and honey have different colors, but they share the same house peacefully. ~ African proverb
• ·       If you can’t resolve your problems in peace, you can’t solve war. ~ Somalian proverb
• ·       When there is peace in the country, the chief does not carry a shield. ~Ugandan proverb
• ·       When two elephants fight, it is the grass that gets trampled.  ~ Swahili saying
• ·       Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far. ~ West African proverb
• ·       He who thinks he is leading and has no one following him is only taking a walk. ~ Malawian proverb
• ·       An army of sheep led by a lion can defeat an army of lions led by a sheep. ~ Ghanaian proverb
• ·       He who is destined for power does not have to fight for it. ~ Ugandan proverb
• ·       Do not forget what is to be a sailor because of being a captain yourself. ~ Tanzanian proverb
• ·       Without a leader, black ants are confused. ~Ugandan proverb
• ·       He who refuses to obey cannot command. ~ Kenyan proverb
• ·       He who fears the sun will not become chief. ~Ugandan proverb
• ·       A large chair does not make a king. ~ Sudanese proverb
• ·       Because he lost his reputation, he lost a kingdom. ~ Ethiopian proverb
• ·       Where a woman rules, streams run uphill. ~ Ethiopian proverb
• ·       A leader who does not take advice is not a leader. ~ Kenyan proverb
• ·       If the cockroach wants to rule over the chicken, then it must hire the fox as a body-guard. ~ Sierra Leone proverb
• ·       Unity is strength, division is weakness. ~ Swahili proverb
• ·       Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. ~ Bondei proverb
• ·       It takes a village to raise a child. ~ African proverb
• ·       Cross the river in a crowd and the crocodile won’t eat you. ~ African proverb
• ·       Many hands make light work. ~ Haya (Tanzania) proverb
• ·       Where there are many, nothing goes wrong. ~ Swahili proverb
• ·       Two ants do not fail to pull one grasshopper. ~ Tanzanian proverb
• ·       A single bracelet does not jingle. ~ Congolese proverb
• ·       A single stick may smoke, but it will not burn. ~ African proverb
• ·       If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. ~ African proverb
• ·       A family is like a forest, when you are outside it is dense, when you are inside you see that each tree has its place. ~ African Proverb
• ·       A united family eats from the same plate. ~ Baganda proverb
• ·       A family tie is like a tree, it can bend but it cannot break. ~ African proverb
• ·       If I am in harmony with my family, that’s success. ~ Ute proverb
• ·       Brothers love each other when they are equally rich. ~ African proverb
• ·       Dine with a stranger but save your love for your family. ~ Ethiopian proverb
• ·       There is no fool who is disowned by his family. ~ African proverb
• ·       Home affairs are not talked about on the public square. ~ African proverb
• ·       If relatives help each other, what evil can hurt them? ~ African proverb
• ·       He who earns calamity, eats it with his family. ~ African proverb
• ·       Dine with a stranger but save your love for your family. ~ Ethiopian proverb
• ·       The old woman looks after the child to grow its teeth and the young one in turn looks after the old woman when she loses her teeth. ~ Akan (Ghana, Ivory Coast) proverb
• ·       When brothers fight to the death, a stranger inherits their father’s estate. ~ Ibo proverb
• ·       Children are the reward of life. ~ African proverb
• ·       To be without a friend is to be poor indeed.  ~ Tanzanian proverb
• ·       Hold a true friend with both hands. ~ African proverb
• ·       The friends of our friends are our friends.  ~ Congolese proverb
• ·       A friend is someone you share the path with. ~ African proverb
• ·       Show me your friend and I will show you your character. ~ African proverb
• ·       Return to old watering holes for more than water; friends and dreams are there to meet you. ~ African proverb
• ·       Between true friends even water drunk together is sweet enough. ~ African proverb
• ·       A small house will hold a hundred friends. ~ African proverb
• ·       A close friend can become a close enemy.~ African proverb
• ·       Bad friends will prevent you from having good friends.  ~ Gabon proverb
• ·       Make some money but don’t let money make you. ~ Tanzania
• ·       It is no shame at all to work for money. ~ Africa
• ·       He who loves money must labor. ~ Mauritania
• ·       By labor comes wealth. ~ Yoruba
• ·       Poverty is slavery. ~Somalia
• ·       One cannot both feast and become rich. ~ Ashanti
• ·       One cannot count on riches. ~ Somalia
• ·       Money is sharper than the sword. – Ashanti
• ·       A man’s wealth may be superior to him. ~ Cameroon
• ·       The rich are always complaining. ~ Zulu
• ·       The wealth which enslaves the owner isn’t wealth. ~ Yoruba
• ·       The poor man and the rich man do not play together. ~ Ashanti
• ·       Lack of money is lack of friends; if you have money at your disposal, every dog and goat will claim to be related to you. ~ Yoruba
• ·       With wealth one wins a woman. ~ Uganda
• ·       Dogs do not actually prefer bones to meat; it is just that no one ever gives them meat. ~ Akan
• ·       A real family eats the same cornmeal. ~ Bayombe
• ·       If your cornfield is far from your house, the birds will eat your corn. ~ Congo
• ·       Money can’t talk, yet it can make lies look true. ~ South Africa
• ·       One cannot count on riches. ~ Somalia
• ·       Money is not the medicine against death. ~ Ghana
• ·       He who receives a gift does not measure. ~ Africa
• ·       Much wealth brings many enemies. – Swahili
• ·       There is no one who became rich because he broke a holiday, no one became fat because he broke a fast. ~ Ethiopia
• ·       What you give you get, ten times over. ~ Yoruba
• ·       Greed loses what it has gained. ~ Africa
• ·       You become wise when you begin to run out of money. ~ Ghana
• ·       If ten cents does not go out, it does not bring in one thousand dollars. ~ Ghana
• ·       You should not hoard your money and die of hunger. – Ghana
• ·       Wealth diminishes with usage; learning increases with use. ~ Nigeria
• ·       Wisdom is not like money to be tied up and hidden. ~ Akan
• ·       Having a good discussion is like having riches ~ Kenya
• ·       Knowledge is better than riches. ~ Cameroon
• ·       You must act as if it is impossible to fail. ~ Ashanti
• ·       Do not let what you cannot do tear from your hands what you can. ~ Ashanti
• ·       One who plants grapes by the road side, and one who marries a pretty woman, share the same problem. ~Ethiopian Proverb
• ·       Beautiful from behind, ugly in front. ~Uganda Proverb
• ·       The skin of the leopard is beautiful, but not his heart. ~Baluba proverb
• ·       Ugliness with a good character is better than beauty. ~Nigerian Proverb
• ·       A beautiful one hurts the heart. ~African Proverb
• ·       Anyone who sees beauty and does not look at it will soon be poor. ~Yoruba Proverb
• ·       The surface of the water is beautiful, but it is no good to sleep on. ~Ghanaian Proverb
• ·       If there is character, ugliness becomes beauty; if there is none, beauty becomes ugliness. ~Nigerian Proverb
• ·       You are beautiful, but learn to work, for you cannot eat your beauty. ~Congolese Proverb
• ·       The one who loves an unsightly person is the one who makes him beautiful. ~Ganda Proverb
• ·       Having beauty doesn’t mean understanding the perseverance of marriage. ~African Proverb
• ·       You are beautiful because of your possessions. ~Baguirmi Proverb
• ·       Every woman is beautiful until she speaks. ~Zimbabwean Proverb
• ·       Three things cause sorrow to flee; water, green trees, and a beautiful face. ~Moroccan Proverb
• ·       A beautiful thing is never perfect. ~Egyptian Proverb
• ·       Patience is the mother of a beautiful child. ~Bantu Proverb
• ·       There is no beauty but the beauty of action. ~Moroccan Proverb
• ·       Judge not your beauty by the number of people who look at you, but rather by the number of people who smile at you. ~African Proverb
• ·       A pretty face and fine clothes do not make character. ~Congolese Proverb
• ·       Youth is beauty, even in cattle. ~Egyptian Proverb
• ·       A pretty basket does not prevent worries. ~Congolese Proverb
• ·       It’s those ugly caterpillars that turn into beautiful butterflies after seasons. ~African Proverb
• ·       The most beautiful fig may contain a worm. ~Zulu Proverb
• ·       It is only a stupid cow that rejoices at the prospect of being taken to a beautiful abattoir. ~African Proverb
• ·       A woman who pursues a man for sex loses her spiritual beauty. ~African Proverb
• ·       A chicken with beautiful plumage does not sit in a corner. ~African Proverb
• ·       The cook does not have to be a beautiful woman. ~Shona Proverb
• ·       Beautiful words don’t put porridge in the pot. ~Botswana Proverb
• ·       She is beautiful; she has love, understands; she respects herself and others; everyone likes, loves and honors her; she is a goddess. ~African Proverb
• ·       There is always a winner even in a monkey’s beauty contest. ~African Proverb
• ·       Dress up a stick and it’ll be a beautiful bride. ~Egyptian Proverb
• ·       An ugly child of your own is more to you than a beautiful one belonging to your neighbor. ~Ganda Proverb
• ·       Even the colors of a chameleon are for survival not beauty. ~African Proverb
• ·       Beautiful discourse is rarer than emerald ~ yet it can be found among the servant girls at the grindstones. ~Egyptian Proverb
• ·       When a once-beautiful piece of cloth has turned into rags, no one remembers that it was woven by Ukwa master weavers. ~Igbo Proverb
• ·       A woman’s polite devotion is her greatest beauty. ~African Proverb
• ·       There are many colorful flowers on the path of life, but the prettiest have the sharpest thorns. ~African Proverb
• ·       He who marries a beauty marries trouble. ~Nigerian Proverb
• ·       Despite the beauty of the moon, sun and the stars, the sky also has a threatening thunder and striking lightening. ~African Proverb
• ·       Getting only a beautiful woman is like planting a vine on the roadside everyone feeds on it. ~African Proverb
• ·       Greatness and beauty do not belong to the gods alone. ~Nigerian Proverb
• ·       Roosters’ tail feathers: pretty but always behind. ~Malagasy Proverb
• ·       Beauty is not sold and eaten. ~Nigerian Proverb
• ·       She is like a road – pretty, but crooked. ~Cameroonian Proverb
• ·       Why they like an ugly person takes long for a beautiful person to know. ~African Proverb
• ·       If you find “Miss This Year” beautiful, then you’ll find “Miss Next Year” even more so. ~Nigerian Proverb
• ·       The beauty of a woman becomes useless if there is no one to admire it. ~African Proverb
• ·       He who loves the vase loves also what is inside. ~ African proverb
• ·       It’s much easier to fall in love than to stay in love. ~ African proverb
• ·       Coffee and love taste best when hot. ~ Ethiopian proverb
• ·       Where there is love there is no darkness. ~Burundian proverb
• ·       If you are ugly you must either learn to dance or make love. ~ Zimbabwean Proverp
• ·       Pretend you are dead and you will see who really loves you. ~ African proverb
• ·       To love the king is not bad, but a king who loves you is better. ~ Wolof proverb
• ·       A happy man marries the girl he loves, but a happier man loves the girl he marries. ~ African proverb
• ·       If you marry a monkey for his wealth, the money goes and the monkey remains as is. ~ Egyptian proverb
• ·       Love never gets lost it’s only kept. ~ African proverb
• ·       Never marry a woman who has bigger feet than you. ~ Mozambique proverb
• ·       One thread for the needle, one love for the heart. ~ Sudanese proverb
• ·       Love has to be shown by deeds not words. ~ Swahili proverb
• ·       Love is a despot who spares no one. ~Namibian proverb
• ·       Marriage is like a groundnut; you have to crack it to see what is inside. ~ Ghanaian proverb
• ·       Patience is the key which solves all problems. ~ Sudanese proverb
• ·       Hurry, hurry has no blessings. ~ Swahili proverb
• ·       Patience is the mother of a beautiful child. ~ Bantu proverb
• ·       To run is not necessarily to arrive. ~ Swahili proverb
• ·       Patience can cook a stone. ~ African proverb
• ·       A patient man will eat ripe fruit. ~ African proverb
• ·       At the bottom of patience one finds heaven. ~ African proverb
• ·       A patient person never misses a thing. ~ Swahili proverb
• ·       Patience puts a crown on the head. ~ Ugandan proverb
• ·       Patience attracts happiness; it brings near that which is far. ~ Swahili proverb
• ·       Always being in a hurry does not prevent death, neither does going slowly prevent living. ~ Ibo proverb
• ·       However long the night, the dawn will break. ~ African proverb (personal favourite!)
• ·       As porridge benefits those who heat and eat it, so does a child benefit those that rear it. ~Amharic Proverb
• ·       The forest not only hides man’s enemies but its full of man’s medicine, healing power and food. ~African Proverb
• ·       One person is a thin porridge; two or three people are a lump of ugali. ~Kuria Proverb
• ·       The man who counts the bits of food he swallows is never satisfied. ~African Proverb
• ·       Wine, women and food give gladness to the heart. ~Ancient Egyptian Proverb
• ·       The food that is in the mouth is not yet in the belly. ~Kikuyu Proverb
• ·       You cannot work for food when there is no food for work. ~African Proverb
• ·       The chicken that digs for food will not sleep hungry. ~Bayombe Proverb
• ·       He who eats another man’s food will have his own food eaten by others. ~Swahili Proverb
• ·       Food gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man, but he ends up with gravel in his mouth. ~African Proverb
• ·       No partridge scratches the ground in search of food for another. ~Xhosa Proverb
• ·       The grasshopper which is always near its mother eats the best food. ~Ghanaian Proverb
• ·       Don’t take another mouthful before you have swallowed what is in your mouth. ~Malagasy Proverb
• ·       Rich people sometimes eat bad food. ~Kikuyu Proverb
• ·       The impotent man does not eat spicy foods. ~Congolese Proverb
• ·       You should know what’s being cooked in the kitchen otherwise you might eat a forbidden food. ~African Proverb
• ·       When the leg does not walk, the stomach does not eat. ~Mongo (Congolese) Proverb
• ·       A healthy person who begs for food is an insult to a generous farmer. ~Ghanaian Proverb
• ·       One spoon of soup in need has more value than a pot of soup when we have an abundance of food. ~Angolan Proverb
• ·       Cooked food is not sold for goats. ~Kikuyu Proverb
• ·       The mouth is stupid after eating it forgets who gave it the food. ~African Proverb
• ·       A dog knows the places he is thrown food. ~Acholi Proverb
• ·       One who eats alone cannot discuss the taste of the food with others. ~African Proverb
• ·       Words are sweet, but they never take the place of food. ~Ibo Proverb
• ·       The man who has bread to eat does not appreciate the severity of a famine. ~Yoruba Proverb
• ·       He who doesn’t clean his mouth before breakfast always complains that the food is sour. ~African Proverb
• ·       The hyena with a cub does not consume all the available food. ~Akamba Proverb
• ·       When the food is cooked there is no need to wait before eating it. ~Kikuyu Proverb
• ·       What one won’t eat by itself, one will eat when mixed with other food. ~Bantu & Lamba Proverb
• ·       Man is like a pepper, till you have chewed it you do not know how hot it is. ~Haussa Proverb
• ·       No one gets a mouthful of food by picking between another person’s teeth. ~Igbo Proverb
• ·       It is not the cook’s fault when the cassava turns out to be hard and tasteless. ~Ewe Proverb
• ·       A housewife who complains that there is not enough foodstuff in the market should remember that if her husband adds to what is already available, there would be more for everyone. ~Nigerian Proverb
• ·       A spider’s cobweb isn’t only its sleeping spring but also its food trap. ~African Proverb
• ·       If you watch your pot, your food will not burn. ~Mauritanian, Nigerian, and Niger Proverb
• ·       Those who are at one regarding food are at one in life. ~Malawian Proverb
• ·       Fine words do not produce food. ~Nigerian Proverb
• ·       Even the best cooking pot will not produce food. ~African Proverb
• ·       If I could see your face, I would not need food. ~Amharic Proverb
• ·       If you find no fish, you have to eat bread. ~Ghanaian Proverb
• ·       War is not porridge. ~Gikuyu Proverb
• ·       The best of mankind is a farmer; the best food is fruit. ~Ethiopian Proverb
• ·       Slowly, slowly, porridge goes into the gourd. ~Kuria People of Kenyan & Tanzania
• ·       One shares food not words. ~Somali Proverb
• ·       If you are looking for a fly in your food it means that you are full. ~South African Proverb
• ·       Nature gave us two cheeks instead of one to make it easier to eat hot food. ~Ghanaian Proverb
• ·       A patient that can swallow food makes the nurse doubtful. ~Malagasy Proverb
• ·       If you give bad food to your stomach, it drums for you to dance. ~African Proverb
• ·       A bad cook also has his/her share of the bad food. ~African Proverb
• ·       The forest provides food to the hunter after he is utterly exhausted. ~Zimbabwean Proverb
• ·       Things are to be tried, an old lady cooked stones and they produced soup. ~Zimbabwean Proverb
• ·       You cannot tell a hungry child that you gave him food yesterday. ~Zimbabwean Proverb
• ·       Good music goes with good food. ~African Proverb
• ·       Rich people cook their food in a potsherd. ~Kikuyu Proverb
• ·       However little food we have, we’ll share it even if it’s only one locust. ~Malagasy Proverb
• ·       Water is colourless and tasteless but you can live on it longer than eating food. ~African Proverb
• ·       Eat when the food is ready; speak when the time is right. ~Ethiopian Proverb
• ·       The food eaten first lasts longest in the stomach. ~Kikuyu Proverb
• ·       When your luck deserts you, even cold food burns. ~Zambian Proverb
• ·       Happiness is as good as food. ~Maasai Proverb
• ·       Good words are food, bad words poison. ~Malagasy Proverb
• ·       The goat says: “Where there is blood, there is plenty of food.” ~Ghanaian Proverb
• ·       If you see a man in a gown eating with a man in rags, the food belongs to the latter. ~Fulani Proverb
• ·       They ate our food, and forgot our names. ~Tunisian Proverb
• ·       An abundance of food at your neighbour’s will not satisfy your hunger. ~Bayaka Proverb
• ·        Food you will not eat you do not boil. ~African Proverb