economically

South African chemicals, explosives and property company AECI has proposed a number of ways to tackle the country's electricity shortage, including the possibility of generating power from coal or gas at its Modderfontein site outside Johannesburg.

Describing South Africa as "a country enjoying the benefits of high commodity prices, solid growth and low interest rates", a special report by London's influential Financial Times has expressed qualified praise for SA's economic successes.

Mindset Network, a new R225-million multimedia satellite television network, was presented as an 85th birthday "gift" to Nelson Mandela. Mindset uses an integrated multimedia approach to tackle South Africa's key educational and healthcare challenges - issues that are closest to Mandela's heart.

Local and foreign investors looking for black economic empowerment partners in the IT, telecoms and electronics sectors can now consult an online database of information on South African BEE companies, based on a solid, layered definition of empowerment, and growing all the time.