Patrice Motsepe
Among the black businessmen who have prospered from South African government policies, no star shines more brightly than Patrice Motsepe, the 47-year-old head of the African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) mining group. Forbes magazine estimates his personal fortune at $1.3bn, an amount that makes him one of Africa’s most powerful figures.
Like most black South African tycoons, Motsepe, the son of a small shopkeeper, owes some of his prominence to the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policies that have led mainly white corporates to hand over some R500bn ($67bn) in equity to black consortia. Back in the 1990s, with legislation favoring greater black control over business in the wings, Anglo American, the international mining conglomerate, helped finance a deal that transferred ownership of underperforming gold mines to a small mining company Motsepe had established in 1994. He used this good fortune to cut costs and increase productivity in the mines, before using the proceeds of a stock market flotation to liquidate debt. Read the rest of this entry »
South Africa’s decision to block a $23 billion merger between MTN Group Ltd. and India’s Bharti Airtel Ltd. may indicate President Jacob Zuma favors more state involvement in the economy to protect jobs and local industries. 
