Or can indigenisation be an empowering influence in a sea of uncertainty? In a country needing capital and investment it certainly seems so.

Meikles initial indigenisation efforts failed a few years ago, but this time around there appears to be momentum and this is being communicated to investors very clearly. The text below is from Meikles on the status of their indigenisation initiatives:-

In accordance with the requirements of the Indigenisation Act, Meikles Limited lodged its application with the Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment for their consideration. The parameters within which full compliance is to be achieved have been agreed with the Ministry and are now in the process of being implemented.

The establishment of the, Meikles Limited Employee Share Ownership Trust is one of the parameters and this has now been established through the passing of the special resolution at the EGM of 18 August 2011.

The Staff Share Purchase Scheme which constitutes 10% of the company’s equity, enables the company to have an indigenous shareholding of 51% in compliance with the Act. Of the 10%, workers participation is pegged at 95%, with management taking up the balance.

A supporting requirement was the designation of Mr. Bisset Chimhini, Managing Director of TM Supermarkets, as Employee Share Scheme Representative on the main board.

Secondly the Company was required to reorganise its board of directors to achieve compliance of what the Act refers to as the “governing body”; this has also been achieved. The board will be further restructured in the future to meet King III requirements vis-a-vis independent members of the board.

In relation to the above forward looking statement, suffice to say that all necessary approvals have been received for the exchange of the Group’s investment in Cape Grace Hotel, for equity in Mentor Holdings. Mentor Holdings is a significant private equity group being established to invest in Africa and emerging markets.

The third parameter, which has been agreed in principle, is that Meikles will assist in the creation of a vehicle for 10% of the Company’s equity to be held by a consortium comprised of executive management and indigenous participants. Funding, to the tune of USD6-7 million, at current market rates, for purchase of shares from the market, could constitute the only hurdle to implementation of this parameter.

A collection of parameters which can broadly be described as empowerment transactions related to Cotton Printers’ former employees, for which implementation is at advanced stage, and other groups are in the process of being implemented and full indigensation status is considered imminent.

“The attainment of full indigenisation status and the raising of equity and debt financing to both refinance the Group’s subsidiaries and to invest into new projects are the current pillars upon which the Group expects to add shareholder value in the future,” reported John Moxon, Executive Chairman, at the company’s AGM last week.

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Is Web Video an IR Silver Bullet? Streaming Video Could Be Stellar Conduit for Reaching Retail, Analysts and Others Says MOSAID IRO Brian Pittman’s exclusive interview this week: Michael Salter, Director of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, MOSAID Technologies

Still having trouble separating fact from fuss when it comes to social media and IR? Leery of falling victim to “Shiny Object Syndrome”? Seeking more model best practices for integrating social media into traditional IR programs?

Then consider the case of MOSAID, which has successfully incorporated Web video into the company’s recently launched IR Channel. Specifically, “Web video has become an indispensible tool here for reaching retail investors,” says MOSAID communications and IR director, Michael Salter. “I think we are going to see a dramatic increase in the use of video for IR in the coming years.”

It just makes sense, he explains: “People are consuming more and more information via video, and eventually it’s going to seem very natural to be able to view a video of the management of the company you are investing in. Using video is inherently democratic. At present, meeting top management is a privilege that’s largely reserved for institutional investors,” says Salter, who works with Web video platform and provider Investor Candy to deliver no-nonsense, high quality online IR focused video.

With video, “IR professionals can essentially extend that offer to everyone,” he continues. “And that’s a key reason we implemented a dedicated investor channel, because it creates a new kind of experience for investors.” Salter adds that the videos on the company’s IR channel can be viewed on an iPhone, Blackberry and other smart phone with Wi-Fi capability.

But the MOSAID Investor Channel is about far more than video, Salter stresses. “We see it as a powerful communication platform that is going to allow us to work with the sell-side to extend our message into new communities of investors.” In addition, the Investor Channel includes administration software that allows Salter to track video viewing, downloads, account set up and so on. “The response has been very good,” he says.

Read on for details behind MOSAID’s forward looking IR channel—and Salter’s tips, caveats and roadblocks other IROs can expect to encounter when incorporating social media:

You’ve had a great year, what with earnings up 40 percent. And yet you’re undervalued, according to a recent Business News Network interview I saw posted on your IR channel. How do you deal with that and better educate the market about what you do?

When we say we’re undervalued, we’re looking at it on a price earnings basis in comparison to some U.S. peers and those that do patent licensing. I’m thinking of companies like InterDigital, Tessera and Acacia (Technologies) and Rambus. What we’re looking at is that on an operations metric standpoint, we score highly, and on the valuation metrics side, we score lower. On a P/E basis, etc., we score less than our peers—even though we basically restructured the company back in 2007.

Can you give a quick background on the restructuring and the proxy contest that drove it—and then tie that into your value story to investors?

MOSAID was founded in 1975 and was doing semiconductor design focusing on memory chips. We had a memory chip tester business. Around 1999, we our signed first patent license agreement. And then in the fall of 2006, we had a proxy contest that resulted in a hedge fund called Loeb Partners getting three seats on the board. Then in the following year, we decided to focus on patent licensing only. We sold the chip design and memory test business—and started to bulk up on patents.

So really, you look at our fiscal ’07 revenues and they ticked down as we restructured. In ’09, they grew by 14% and the same in ’10. We’ve been profitable for five years in a row over six years at a 22% compounded annual growth rate. We report Canadian GAAP and use pro forma net income, and have a 35% compounded growth rate in earnings.

Another important thing is that we are one of the few Canadian small-cap technology companies to pay a dividend; it’s about a 4.5% yield and we’ve been paying that for five years. The next important piece to mention is that we continued to grow during the downturn. We delivered that dividend in the worst of downturn and continued to post revenue growth.

So, we have a fairly stable growth story—it’s not hockey stick, but it’s high profit and there’s a real degree of consistency in the patent business.

Getting back to the standpoint of being undervalued, then: We are delivering on results three years into the restructuring, but are still undervalued in our eyes, yes. As a result, we wanted to do something different to tell our stories to investors.

How are you doing that—where did you start?

Well, we started with all the usual things. We started marketing aggressively in ’08 and late ’09 because our results stood up. When you show that in a downturn, people are more interested in the story. There’s no question that when the stock hit a low of $7 Canadian in late ’08 and throughout ’09, we then had a good run peaking at $25 in early ’10. We’ve since given some of that back as of late. The main point here is we think from a valuation perspective, there’s a lot of room to grow.

So, one of the things that IR people normally do in a situation like that is they take the story out and get it in front of more people. We’ve done that by:

1. Increasing analyst coverage. At the lull, we had four and now we have five. I think another two will start to cover us, soon, as well. We took the route of doing more aggressive marketing to get more coverage.

2. Increasing road shows. Twice a year, we just go down and visit analysts for a day, in addition to visiting with investors. We dedicated two days a year to this—and we just got more rigorous in terms of asking covering brokers taking us out to include 25% new names on every trip. We were more insistent around that. We also increased the schedule of events—we basically asked for briefings of the sales desk at brokerages, including retail sales lunches. In 2006, by contrast, we did a road show and just visited buy side clients. But now, a typical day will include briefing the sales desk and a retail broker lunch.

3. Increasing outreach beyond Toronto. Canadian IR tends to be Toronto-centric, so we wanted to break out of that and our geographic trips increased as a result. We made sure we visit Vancouver, Calgary and Montréal on a more regular basis.

4. Increasing financial media relations. Another point tangential to IR is that we have a dedicated business channel in Canada called the Business News Network. In ’06-’07, we weren’t on that at all. I developed our relationship with BNN so we are now on four to six times a year. We can use those interviews as links on our website, which you saw, and then send those to our lists, and so on.

5. Increasing IR database contacts. We also re-focused on building our IR database of names more proactively using blast emails to update contacts on of all our financial information. Related to this is that we’ve increased our regular communication to our holders.

Good ideas all—what about non-traditional efforts. When did those start?

Beyond putting in place an IR strategic plan, getting more aggressive about marketing and our media outreach, we also started our MOSAID Investor Channel, which went online January, 2010. That’s the big new initiative.

What have the results and feedback been like?

They’ve been excellent. This is not necessarily about reaching a mass audience—it’s the about quality over quantity. So the feedback is more qualitative. That said, the reactions I’m getting are, for example, other IR professionals at a bank saying MOSAID is differentiating itself, a retail broker out in Vancouver saying it’s great because she can now send the videos to her client lists, and that those clients actually get to “meet management” via those videos.

Our chairman Carl Schlachte—a former CEO, and also past president of ARC International, which does configurable processor technology—got it right away. His reaction was, “I wish my guys had this for me. It would have saved me all kinds of time.” What he meant was: How do you do retail outreach?

Reaching retail shareholders has always been a huge issue for IR. That’s because it’s not cost-effective for management to do a lot of retail broker meetings, let alone meet small retail shareholders. So, with our investor channel, it’s not just about video—it’s a communications platform that gives the retail broker an ability to set up a private account that has nothing to do with us and then send video to his client list.

There is software in the Investor Candy platform that lets him see who viewed the video.

So why did you go this route—considering all the trends and tools in social media?

In the context of social media, we looked at Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogs and so on. Essentially, we centered on the use of video as being best suited for our company and IR. I think it hooks into social trends—it meets IR challenges and it’s fundamentally about creating a different kind of investor experience. It’s founded in the idea that a privileged few investors meet management. From a trends standpoint where securities regulators talk about access to management—video suits the bill.

What about triggering decisions to consider your stock—how does video help with that?
It’s not just a simple matter of video. Really, you have to get more people consuming your message. Clearly, video is one way of doing that. Once they’ve consumed your message, that becomes the precursor to considering your stock as an investment. That consideration is a precursor of demand.

Where does this initiative stand now, since you launched in January?

Stage two of this project for us is about working with the broker community and covering analysts to get them to use the Investor Channel as a way to begin engaging their clients. Now that we have it up and running, our goal is to actively educate people about the Investor Channel and engage with retail brokers to see if they’re interested in using it and get feedback as to how we can evolve that tool.

For example, BMO Capital Markets has been covering MOSAID for many years. They are a schedule one Montreal bank with a cross-Canada retail bank network. They have hundreds of retail brokers and have offices in the U.S. They’ve been doing equity research with us for years, and we’ve been a top pick of theirs many times. They’ve seen this channel and like it. We will be asking them how to introduce the channel to their retail brokers. They are reading research reports on us, and now they have video and other tools to help them with their sales kit.

People are using video all over the place online—so what’s the real innovation here? And what lessons for IROs come out of that?

Well, the video you’re referencing is typically advertising or marketing-communications driven. There are sales videos, videos from the trade floor and lots of corporate videos out there. But people haven’t created a dedicated investor channel with a commitment to content over the long term. That’s the innovation.

Our strategy will be to generate a video accompanying every press release MOSAID does. Frequency should be about 12-15 new videos per year. So you would have an earnings video every quarter. If you have a major customer win or contract announcement, there would be a video, as well. In our case, we are involved in litigations on patent licensings, so we’d also do a litigation update video, for example.

Beyond the regular flow of new videos, we also have “strategy videos” about our vision and strategy. These include the CFO talking about how and why we give guidance, for example.

Have you ever seen a video by a CFO on the practice of giving guidance? Probably not. So we have a library of videos talking about the strategy and operations of the company—and those are updated on average about once a year. Then, there’s the regular stream of new content. So, among the challenges is that it can’t be a one-off effort. Video must be a key component of a sustainable IR strategy.

What other challenges are there for IROs considering Web video?

In terms of IR people doing this—there is a learning curve involved. We worked on this a solid eight months before launching it. We had to be sure our key execs were comfortable with video, that the board signed on, and that we were willing to dedicate the time to it. I must emphasize that the time component is more critical than the costs. It’s a reasonable cost—we’re not talking here about $150,000 corporate videos featuring things like cakes and corporate HQ scenes and airplanes. We shoot this onsite against a white backdrop. It’s extremely low-cost compared to traditional corporate video.

It’s not advertising or marcom style video, either. It’s IR/corporate communications video—and that’s a very different style. More important, though, is the management of time and commitment.

So how did you determine the tone and look?

We did a lot of preliminary research determining the look and feel that would work for investors. We did a series of interviews with covering analysts and existing shareholders talking about how management communicates and how we’re perceived. We were aiming for authenticity. We came up with a catch phrase … that people knew us for our “quiet confidence.” We wanted a look and feel that reflected that.

One of the biggest reactions since we launched has been people saying, “These are not commercials.” That’s key—you can’t have anything in it that seems promotional. Also, these aren’t two-minute short videos. They run five to seven minutes. People may say that’s too long—but not for IR. Would you spend five minutes reading an annual report or 10K…yes. So, we’re not trying to be entertaining. It’s information.

What about disclosure issues—how do you address that?

We put the script and the finished video through the same disclosure process as we do for any other publicly released document. In the same way we review MDNA, financial statements, press releases, annual reports and so on—we use a disclosure committee here. We put the video script through the committee and then we review the final video with them. We look at everything from the script to titles to graphics, etc.

Video is a different medium and securities regulators are putting out guidelines for the use of electronic communications. So, we also have the entire channel reviewed by our securities lawyers. For instance, we tweaked the forward-looking statements that run in front of each video.

Any caveats or lessons for others based on your learning curve?

One thing we learned was this: Prior to launch, we were shooting videos and using promotional language such as, “We know you have made an investment in MOSAID or are considering one…” or, “We welcome you as a new shareholder in MOSAID.” Our securities lawyer said if we used promotional language like that, the entire video could be seen as a secondary offering. So we had to go back and scrub all that language. That took us a week of editing to remove that—so that’s a big tip here for readers. Do that review first.

We don’t say, “Here are the top ten reasons for buying MOSAID stock,” and we don’t talk about our thinking of why it’s undervalued. We just talk about our business strategy, our revenue growth strategy, our guidance—just the facts. So we had to learn what’s acceptable and not acceptable in video.

Another example is this: We announced a share offering in late January of 2010, then we closed in February. Our lawyers advised us to shut the channel down during the period that shares were on offer, until the shares had been distributed, because there was a concern that the channel might be viewed promoting the new offering, even though we had it vetted. So we did that to be on the safe side. We had a three-week period where we took it down. Lots of people noticed that and asked for it back.

So, you have to take the time to have it legally vetted and planned out. Take the time to figure out your review and disclosure process.

Can you elaborate on your choice of Investor Candy as your platform?

We are the first client for Investor Candy. We are also the first in Canada to start a dedicated investor based channel, so we’re breaking new ground with them. What I liked about Investor Candy is that Curtis Hollister, the founder, is an entrepreneur. He started and sold a few companies. He is not a traditional IR person or IR service provider. They class themselves as an innovation or ideas company. They are extremely bright and just bring a very different perspective. I didn’t feel I was working with a traditional investor relations supplier. They were bringing me something different.

This wasn’t intended to replace any of the traditional work we do. I wouldn’t stop doing any of the traditional IR efforts. This was about engaging with shareholders differently and creating a different investor experience—that’s what they brought to us.

IR communications tends to be conservative and should be. I don’t think IR should be leading the charge on communications practices. I report to a CFO. Company finances are supposed to be conservatively managed. Yet, there’s no doubt we’re a television culture now. YouTube is popular for a reason. This is about how to use video as a communications platform within investor relations, and how to do it in a planned, strategic way.

So, they’re an innovative company, and we love their platform. But beyond that, the innovation here, again, is the dedicated nature of the channel and the commitment to produce videos on a regular basis—not having this mistaken as marketing communications. This is video for investors. If you think about an investor meeting where you’re talking about growth rates, expenses, margins, total available markets, ratios of all kinds and so on—a lot of people will look at these videos and say they’re boring. That’s fine. Our model is to create an investor relations video genre—and then to work with the investment industry to learn how to extend the reach of these videos via their networks. That’s where we are now. That is the big job for the next six months or year. Internally, we made a two-year commitment to this to fund it. You can’t start it and let it run out of steam.

What other social media tools are you looking at?

These days, analysts and investors are using these tools, so you should be there, too. On that note, using Twitter may be fine for a company with a lot of PR activity—that’s right for them. But you have to figure out what social media tool is right for you and your particular needs. Previous to this, I worked for a company that did a press release a week. Here, I do half that. So de facto, there is less to “Tweet” about. It’s the same with blogging. There is frankly just less for MOSAID to blog about. We’re a patent licensing company, and we are prevented from discussing or disclosing those contracts or details.

So when we were doing our analysis of how to respond to social media—we realized we don’t have a lot to blog about. Another thing I’ve noted from IR people and others is they run out of stuff to talk about. There just isn’t that much they can talk about—so they end up talking about trends in the industry, etc. But every single video here is about our business. A core principle about corporate communications and IR is to approach everything by asking, “How does this help my business?” A CEO blog on some business trend isn’t really about his or her business. But these videos are about our business, our strategy, our operations and our investor story. Other tools didn’t fit us and our circumstances at MOSAID.

In IR, the question is, “How does this help you get people interested in your shares?” That’s it. Video answers that for us.

Is it easier to incorporate this stuff from an IR perspective when you hold a dual IR/PR role?

I would think so. At a company with 50 employees, I’m responsible for IR, corporate communications, media relations and the Web. I can see overlapping roles potentially creating issues at larger companies concerning who would have responsibility for implementing an investor channel.

What’s your advice to other IROs in terms of being strategic about integrating social media in general?

It starts with an analysis of your company’s communications challenges and which tool you think furthers your objectives. There is a feeling that if you say no, you’re not “with it.” So counter that by rigorously analyzing this, conducting a communications analysis of your own situation—frequency, what you can say and not say—and your industry sector’s business model.

For us, video fit our situation and strategic needs. We knew we were coming out of meetings with buy-side clients and they were saying that patent licensing is hard to understand—but when our execs speak, it’s credible, strong and clear. We were having success when people met management. So, this is an extension of that, because management had a lot of credibility coming away from face-to-face meetings. This became a great way to introduce management to shareholders and talk about a business model that few public companies are engaged in.

Video leverage is one of your best assets if management is a strength for you as an IRO. You can have tens of thousands of people meeting management this way, whereas in an average year, you as an IRO might be doing up to eight trips. There are only so many people who can meet management via traditional road shows. This takes it all to the next level.

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There is an article below that misses a number of points about African stock markets. It is so generic as to be meaningless. I have submitted my comments below the text of the article (forgive the acerbic tone):-

Africa has ‘too many bourses, too little liquidity’ , June 28, 2010, By Ellis Mnyandu

Submit your comment

Africa should consider rationalising the number of securities exchanges that are on the continent in order to boost the appeal of Africa’s markets as a viable investment destination.

THE ISSUE IS NOT THE NUMBER OF STOCK EXCHANGES BUT THE QUALITY OF THE EXCHANGES. YOU TRY TAKING AWAY A NATIONAL ASSET – THAT’S HOW THE MARKET WILL VIEW IT. THIS IS WHY THE AFRICAN STOCK EXCHANGES ASSOCIATION HAS NOT ACHIEVED ANYTHING AT ALL. THESE STOCK EXCHANGES ARE NOT CO-OPERATING FOR GOOD REASON. THEY HAVE NO NEED TO.

This view was expressed by Maria Ramos, the group chief executive of Absa – South Africa’s largest retail bank.

“I think we probably need to rationalise the number of stock exchanges on the continent,” she said during a panel discussion at the Fortune Global Forum in Cape Town. “We are currently sitting with 23. Looking at these markets there is not enough liquidity to sustain all of them.”

WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE LISTED IN GABON OR JOHANNESBURG THE LIQUIDITY / FREE FLOAT WILL REMAIN  THE SAME. YOU MAY SAY BUT ACCESS TO BIGGER BETTER MARKETS WILL ASSIST – THIS CAN BE ACHIEVED TO THE SAME EXTENT IN DOMESTIC MARKETS ALL IT NEEDS IS VISION AND MANAGEMENT. THE EXCHANGES WILL NOT BE SELF FUNDING – SO WHAT? NEITHER WILL THEY BE WHEN FOREIGN MARKETS EXTRACT THEIR RENTS.

Ramos said there had been an ongoing dialogue for quite some time about what needed to happen to integrate financial markets on the continent. But so far there had been no discernible steps to turn the dialogue into tangible real action.

DID SHE SAY WHY? THE BEST THING THAT THE JSE COULD DO IS OFFER A FREE INFO DISSEMINATION PLATFORM TO LISTED COMPANIES IN AFRICA – THIS WOULD BUILD A COMMUNITY AND ENABLE EXPERIENCES IN THIS AREAS TO BE GLEANED OVER A NUMBER OF YEARS. THEN THE ISSUE SHOULD BE REVISITED.

The call for integration comes at a time when developing markets are under the spotlight as the global financial crisis pushes investors to look for investment returns elsewhere to offset sluggish returns in the slow-growing developed world.

Developed economies like the US and Europe have bore the brunt of the global financial crisis, putting developing economies such as South Africa, Brazil, China and India on investors’ radar screens.

But a key hurdle for investors looking to put money into Africa is the continent’s disparate securities exchanges, some of which barely see meaningful trading in each of the days that they are operating due to a lack of liquidity. MANY LISTED COMPANIES SHOULD NOT BE  LISTED – THE FAULT OF THE REGULATORS HERE. EITHER YOU HAVE A PROPER MARKET OR NONE AT ALL.

Although an integrated operational framework might bring such benefits as transparency for investors (IMPLICITLY AGREEING THAT THE INFORMATION DISSEMINATION PRACTICES OF THE EXISTING EXCHANGES ARE POOR), a key challenge might come from regulation.

There would also be an issue of regional harmonisation – bringing east Africa, southern Africa, west Africa and north African bourses under a single framework. Currently some exchanges have tended to band together by each region.POLITICS – WHY DO PEOPLE CONTINUE TO FLOG THIS HORSE? A FRAMEWORK OF WHAT – REGULATION SETTLEMENT, INFORMATION DISSEMINATION?

Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies echoed the call for integration, noting that Africa had rather small domestic markets in individual countries. There was a long-standing observation that there was a larger potential with markets that had groups of countries behind them, he said on the sidelines of the forum. RHETORIC REGURGITATED FROM THE PREVIOUS 10 YEARS EXPERIENCE. LETS COME UP WITH SOMETHING NEW! DEAR MALAWI – YOU HAVE A “RATHER SMALL” MARKET!!

“The debate is about how we get there,” Davies said. THE DEBATE IS ABOUT HOW WE MAKE MARKETS MORE LIQUID:-

- BETTER REGULATION

- BETTER SHAREHOLDER EDUCATION

- DE-LIST NON-COMPLIANT SHARES

- BETTER INFORMATION DISSEMINATION

In South Africa the JSE Limited operates Africa’s largest bourse, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, which is among the top 20 securities exchanges in the world and its size dwarfs that of other African bourses such as those of Malawi, Libya and Mauritius.

INTERESTING INSIGHT HERE

The 11th annual Fortune Global Forum, which ends today, brought together heads of state, ministers, and the chief executives of the world’s biggest companies to discuss business, economic and social opportunities arising from the increasing role of emerging markets in the global economy.

It is the first time that the forum has been held in Africa.

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Participation in the call is subject to invitation.

An audio transmission of the event will be placed online after the call, you can dial into a number to re-listen to the call and a written transcript of the call will be placed online for download. This is a highly transparent and immediate way of communicating and much appreciated by the professional investment community.

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Conversely commercial banks are in a particularly strong position to benefit from an online investor and stakeholder relations function for a number of reasons:-

• Brand outreach is key because of the competitive nature of the banking industry
• Customer / stakeholder communities are large and widely spread around the World
• Communications corporate governance and reporting complements prudential governance compliance
• Market confidence is critical – a good website adds to corporate reputation. For banks “Online Corporate Reputation” or OCR is a growth area enabling differentiation from peers
• The diverse nature of banking operations provides opportunity to cross sell products and services

View BancABC’s new investor relations website here

View African banking sector annual reports here

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The other trend we have seen is for excessive fees to be charged by website vendors. Call them and ask them how much a corporate website costs – “oohh it depends they say”. Companies are forced to sign up not knowing what the final costs are. Changes are done on a per minute charge out rate basis, or if its something VERY IMPORTANT like the annual report then the charge goes up because the file size is bigger. Some vendors charge on a per file basis.

These higher charges are a result of the absence of skills. Fair enough but here is the thing. The technologies out there now are so cool and progressive that if the owners of these website businesses took some time off to find out about new technologies they would realise there is a whole new way of doing business online. Bring down the charges, do more proper websites and dont “do websites” as a business, “use websites as a business” to offer clients what they want.

We use corporate websites to communicate to the investment community. It doesnt work. Because all stakeholders use our interactivity to communicate with companies not just investors. In truth we offer a stakeholder community communications platform but I am not going to admit that online.

By the way I do this blog all by myself and I am an accountant (by qualification, not in spirit).

The nice people in the picture you saw, the ones with smiles on their faces are the website vendors by the way. The ones that charge silly prices.

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The best part about the newsletter is Dilbert.

Let me ask you one question: if God were to appoint one set of people to take up the reigns of bringing good investor relations practices to Africa who should it be?. You can only give one answer:

• - the regulators
• - listed companies
• - investors /  pressure
• - the politicians

Read our second edition of the African Online IR Newsletter here.

Subscribe to my blog articles by email here.

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Overview

The IoDSA Accelerated Directorship Programme (ADP) addresses all aspects of directorship. The programme is designed to meet the existing and emerging needs of directors. Through case studies, facilitator knowledge and experience as well as group discussion, the programme is interactive and provides delegates with practical tools for immediate implementation. The ADP promotes excellence in corporate governance and is presented by facilitators who are leaders in their field with local and or international expertise.

Objectives

•       Provides a comprehensive foundation of the roles and responsibilities of a director and issues relating to corporate governance.

•       Overview of strategy and the management of risk from a governance perspective to avoid personal liability.

•       Enable non-financial directors to ask probing questions in relation to the information presented.

•       Understand the financial position and performance of the company.

•       Understand the roles and responsibilities associated with an organisation’s ethics management programme.

•       Consider current issues for directors and boards.

•       Provide opportunity for participants to put their knowledge into practice.

Benefits

•       Understand duties and responsibilities as a director.

•       Act in accordance with corporate governance standards and expectations.

•       Improve effectiveness of the board and add value.

•       Increase confidence in the boardroom.

•       Reduce personal and company risk, enhance reputations and improve organisational effectiveness.

•       Discuss boardroom issues in confidence and share experiences with peers.

•       Increase and expand networking opportunities.

Who will benefit from the programme

In South Africa’s rapidly changing environment as companies face increasing competition and ever more regulatory and legal requirements, it is essential that existing directors and new directors can understand and evaluate key strategic issues and trends.

Admission Requirements

Programme Selection Process and Criteria

•       Potential candidates must complete the registration form which includes a letter of motivation.

•       Potential candidates must attach a copy of their CM27.

•       Registrations are put before the IoDSA Director Development panel for acceptance onto the ADP.

•       The panel consists of the IoDSA’s Chief Executive and Department Heads.

•       Potential candidates must hold a current Director / Board position.

Duration

•       Full time: 5 Full Days

Assessment

•       Board Simulation – Delegates participate in a simulated board meeting and will be observed and critiqued by an IoDSA observer. Feedback is provided during the simulation.

•       One Assignment – The Assignment is due after the programme and the due date will be communicated on the first day of the programme.

Certification

Designation

Participants who are members of the IoDSA, who attend all workshop sessions and who complete the ADP assessments successfully, will receive a Certificate in Directorship, hold the designation of the IoDSA Certified Director and will be entitled to use the IoDSA post-nominals Cert. Dir.

Awards received for completion include the ADP Certificate should a delegate complete and be successful on all assessments.

To be awarded the ADP Certificate, the requirements are:

Attendance and Assessment

Attending all sessions on the programme and successful completion of both the board simulation and the assignment within the stipulated time frames.

Grading

Gradings for the Certificate are:

•       Pass with order of merit

•       Pass

•       Unsuccessful on this occasion

Members who have been awarded the Certificate are entitled to use the IoDSA post-nominals Cert. Dir.

Programme Continuous Professional Development Potential

A participant is required to do the following to retain his or her Cert. Dir. designation:

1.     Retain annual membership to the IoDSA.

2.     Attend any 3 IoDSA member events or Director Development Programmes per year.

For further information & registration click here

Portia Gumede

Institute of Directors in Southern Africa
Tel (011)  430 9900   Fax (011)  444 7907

Email:   portiag@iodsa.co.za

Presentation fees

Jhb: IoDSA Members  –  R17 356.50

Non Members –  R20 737.50 (includes a 1 year membership to the IoDSA

Includes: VAT, Course Material, Refreshments & Finger Lunch

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To:                  All Imara Group Employees and Directors

Subject:        Closed Period for Trading in Imara Shares

Date:               29 April 2010

Please be advised that with effect from the close of business on <date>, Imara Holdings Limited will be in a closed period. The closed period will end when audited group results for the financial year ended <> are announced to the public. It is anticipated that this announcement will be in the third week of <> and a notification of the end of the closed period will be made at the appropriate time.

In accordance with group policy and Botswana Stock Exchange Regulations, employees and directors of the Imara Group are prohibited from trading in Imara shares during the closed period.

D E STONE
Company Secretary

________________________________

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“Africa investor Academy, the training institute of the Africa investor (Ai) group, today announced that leading investor relations officers and chief financial officers from African-listed companies will convene for the Ai Investor Relations Master Class, which will be hosted by the Ai Academy, 13 April, Bloomberg Headquarters, London ( http://www.africa-investor.com/ai_academy.asp ).

This master class is designed to give directors and senior management a practical view of the dynamics of the African investor relations landscape and international best practices, as well as obligations associated with engaging domestic and international investors. The master class will give a special focus to case studies and practical approaches to influencing your company’s valuation.

The master class will be led by leading investor relations specialist Lynge Blak, former chairman of the International Investor Relations Federation (IIRF). There will be a wealth of learning material and knowledge that can be implemented within companies immediately.”

To register: http://www.ainewswire.com/?p=906

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