The good and the bad in SA. An Al-Jazeera reporter is robbed in Khayelitsha, but local residents chase the thieves and make them drop their booty. Xenophobia? Yes. But also lots of people coming together in various ways to fight it and protect their neighbours. Money quote:

I have a met a lot of people who are proudly going about making their corner of South Africa a little bit better. And it is working.

We’re on a roll. 

Upbeat take on SA from an Australian radio journalist who covered the World Cup. Money quotes:

• Not even in America have I seen the flag displayed with the pride it was in South Africa during the World Cup - not blind patriotism, but a genuine pride in their post-apartheid achievements.
• Despite the pre-Cup safety warnings (that, in its most extreme, included suggestions to pack a bullet-proof vest), at no time did I feel threatened or unsafe. Quite the opposite.
• Yes, the country still suffers from widespread poverty, but the South Africa I experienced was powering towards a bright future. Optimism and vivacity were as bountiful as the ubiquitous signs of economic development.

“THE hosting of the football World Cup has been a triumph. Foreign fans, some of them sceptics when they arrived, have gone home as converts. Long after South Africans saw their own team eliminated from the tournament, they kept up their vuvuzela-blowing, flag-waving, patriotic exuberance across the racial divide. After the final whistle blew on July 11th, an emotional President Jacob Zuma thanked his compatriots for a “truly inspiring, moving and uplifting month”—which it was.”

2020 Olympics next? 

Key points:

• Africa’s level of urbanisation is nearly as high as China’s
• Africa’s collective GDP was $1.6 trillion in 2008, equivalent to Russia or Brazil, with combined consumer spending of $860 billion.
• Since September last year, African regional investment funds have had 43 weeks of net inflows, totalling $579 million.
• African has more middle-class families than India
• In 2050, while the developed economies age, Africa will be home to 1/3 of the world under 25’s.
• China is investing in Africa’s future.