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COLUMN HABIBULLAH N KARIM

Light in the heart of darkness
There are numerous unflattering epithets for Africa, of course the most prominent of which is the "heart of darkness', from the eponymous novel by Joseph Conrad. The dark history of apartheid in South Africa, the scare of yellow fever in Central Africa, the 60 percent HIV prevalence in Swaziland (highest in the world), the horrific genocides of Tutsis and Hutus in Rwanda, mass starvations in Sudan are just a few headlines that define our perception of Africa - the so-called dark continent". So when a couple of months back I was invited by the International Trade Center (ITC), a Genevabased UN organisation dedicated to promoting exports from developing countries, to attend a services exporters network meeting in South Africa's commercial capital Johannesburg, I immediately accepted. The lure of Africa -- the mystique, the fear, the legacy -- was overwhelming.
Although ITC made all travel arrangements, going there was not a cakewalk. At the last moment I was told that ITC could not arrange visa on arrival for me in South Africa. So 1 had to bother a family-friend in foreign service to request the Indian High Commission in Dhaka to issue a visa to me in a couple of hours so that I could catch a plane to Delhi via Kolkata the same day in the afternoon and then get a visa to South Africa from their High Commission in Delhi the next day and finally fly to Johannesburg. Such last minute travel logistics arc very unnerving, though I have done more than my share of such frivolities in my early life. Once in Johannesburg, after an eight-hour flight from Dubai, I was pleasantly surprised by the airport facilities and the uneventful immigration and customs formalities. The Zulu taxi driver spoke fluent English and was very courteous. The half-* an-hour drive to the hotel, late in the evening, raised the curtain on the solidly built highways and townships along the way interspersed with vast greens attesting to the natural endowments of the land.
The next morning I could fully fathom the beauty and grandeur of the part of Johannesburg where I was staying. The area named Sandton is touted as the most expensive square mile in ail of Africa. At the
Nelson Mandela Square in Johannesburg.
heart of it lies the Nelson Mandela Square --an elevated concrete park with a larger-than-life statue of you-know-who, surrounded by upscale hotels, eateries, watering holes and shopping malls.
Joburg, as the locals call their city fondly, is a large city with wide well-maintained roads and fabulous pieces of architectural beauty all around. After the fall of apartheid in 1990 the city has grown considerably with new investments and renewed confidence in the city's future as the seat of business in SouthAfrica.
A visit to Soweto, the hotbed of antiapartheid struggle in the seventies and eighties, also bolstered the view that a South Africa liberated from the gruesome clutches of apartheid is a land ot immense possibili-
ties. Even the poorest of the poor have a roof over their heads and the social mobility of people there is evident from the large modern houses being built and the Beamers (BMW's) parked in their driveways.
With its diverse demographic mix and a complex history, South Africa has a very rich cultural heritage. The ITC delegates had the opportunity to visit the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, the Uprising Museum in Soweto and three cultural events in the evenings, all courtesy of the City of Johannesburg and the South Africa Department of Trade & Industry. The most striking cultural trait of the Black South Africans, who make up nearly four-fifths of the populace, is the unique animated storytelling tradition that is really an experience
to savour.
South Africa is a geographically large country with a territory of more than 1.20 million square kilometers and a population of around 48 million. It is very rich in minerals -- diamond, gold, uranium - South Africa has them all. Combined with die newfound energy of a fresh democratic nation, the natural resources and the people of this south-hemispheric country is literally lighting up the African firmament for all to see.
Habibullah N Karim is the founder managing director of Technohaven Company Limited and is the current president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) He can be reached at hnkarim@gmail.com.