Writing: 50 Years of Scribbling

From The Early Seventies

Apart from recently published books in the last dozen years, it has been my lot to have been writing almost my entire life – for over 50 years so far. The scribbling began early on in both published and unpublished form, in articles for economics journals from 1970 onwards, initially in the Rhodesian Journal of Economics; and then with several books published on Rhodesian economic conditions, issued by Mambo Press during the early and mid-1970s.

In the mid-1970s more research was conducted and published, with economics pieces scripted for universities. One book was Structural Unemployment in Southern Africa (with Charles Simkins), Development Studies Research Group, University of Natal Press, 1978.

When in Geneva from 1977, it became one task to research and write for the International Labour Office: with a book on ‘economic discrimination in Rhodesia’ published by ILO.

The 1980s Onwards

Other unpublished works followed in the 1980s: on economics in Africa, investment or corporate strategy for various clients, United Nations’ specialised agencies, private entities, international organisations, companies, banks, and firms in Africa’s energy game and the world oil industry.

In effect, I wrote for my crust and became more involved in advisory practice. This was augmented when, founding our firm, engaged in international energy. Then a wide range of unpublished or multiclient reports were written based on research, private meetings with corporate and state players, and on all continents, around strategy and key global themes.

Writing in the 1990s then took on commercial dimensions: in numerous reports, printed and later sold online; in conference presentations across the world; for strategy briefings conducted on Africa and on all continents; and in an expanding advisory practice. This mode was mixed with the usage of graphics, images and visual insights in each briefing.

All this continued and magnified in the 2000s decade. During 2007-2012, four books were written for Profile Books - The Battle for Barrels, Empires of Oil, Africa: Crude Continent, and Africa’s Future - published in London, alongside a heavy diet of unpublished work, commissioned reports, and writing in a mix of advisory, retainer and private mandates.

Allied thereto – from 1985, into the 1990s, and over the 2000-16 era - was research with writing required for a portfolio of speaker engagements: private and public, and in media and press, online, and for presentations to hundreds of worldwide conferences, companies and governments in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, MidEast and North America.

Another book was published on own account, Three Decades in the Long Grass, produced by Jacana in Johannesburg in 2014, as the story of Global Pacific & Partners.

In 1994 and 2010, two films were scripted, produced and ‘made for television’: Born in Soweto on South Africa, and another for CNBC-Africa: Africa: Crude Continent.

By 2016 a shift in paradigm took place as our firm’s sold its assets and an exit was executed.

Writing once more came to the fore: Rhodes’ Ghost: The Conquest of Zambesia the initial outcome. Since its publication in July 2020, writing has continued: on a tome, about the end days of Rhodesia, with The Last Rhodesians: Society Adrift published in April 2022, about the history, culture and identity of Rhodesians, their literature, writings about their society, exoduses and the war, 1964-1980.

Most texts written, 1970-2020, are shown below. Unpublished reports were done for institutions, international agencies and companies worldwide - some in Salisbury or Harare, others in Geneva, Basle, London, Washington, New York, Johannesburg, Paris, Stockholm, Bonn, Arusha, Addis Ababa, Brussels and Pietermaritzburg.

Most writing on the global oil and energy industry was done in Geneva, Sydney, Johannesburg and London for private/state players worldwide.

All unpublished works are shown here divided by broad focus: Africa and Worldwide.

 

Unpublished: Africa

1970s

  • Advisories for Aurora Associates Inc (Washington DC), 1979;

  • Noel Buxton Trust (UK);

  • EEC Development Directorate (Brussels);

  • USAID (Washington DC), 1978;

  • OECD Inter-Futures Group (Paris), 1978-80;

  • UNCTAD, Landlocked, Least Developed and Island Developing Countries: Structural Economic Conditions in Least Developed Countries in the 1980’s, Geneva, 1979;

  • UNCTAD, Agricultural Sector Investments in Least Developed Countries in the 1980’s, Geneva, 1979;

  • SADCC, Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries Sectors in Southern Africa, Ministers of Finance Conference on Southern African Economic Co-operation, Arusha, 1979;

  • UNCTAD, Money, Finance, Development Division, Monetary, Financial and Banking System in Zimbabwe, and Skills Policies and Problems in Zimbabwe, Geneva, 1979;

  • Economic Commission for Africa, Economic and Monetary Aspects of Southern Africa’s Customs Union Agreement (Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland), 1979;

  • Establishment of Preferential Trade Area in Eastern and Southern Africa, including ECA/Government negotiations in Djibouti, Madagascar, Mauritius, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Ethiopia, ECA, Addis Ababa, 1979;

  • International Aid and Debt in Migrant Labour Exporting Economies in Southern Africa, ECA, Addis Ababa, 1978;

  • Employment Impact of Altered Trade Relations on Migrant Labour Exporting Countries in Southern Africa, ECA, Addis Ababa, 1978;

  • International Labour Supply Trends and Economic Structure in Southern Rhodesia and Zimbabwe in the 1970’s, ILO, World Employment Programme, Working Paper No 20, Geneva, 1978;

  • Foreign Migrant Labour in Southern Africa: Studies on Accumulation in Labour Reserves, Demand Determinants and Supply Relationships, ILO, World Employment Programme, Working Paper No 16, 1977;

  • Foreign African Labour Supply in South Africa 1960-1977, DSRG Working Paper No I, University of Natal 1977;

  • Contract Labour from Rhodesia to the South African Gold Mines, SALDRU, Cape Town, October 1976; Economics for Wage Negotiations, African Congress of Trade Unions, Rhodesia, 1973-76.

1980s

  • Export Credit Finance Facility for Southern Africa: Evaluation, Structuring and Cost/Benefit, for Merchant Bank of Central Africa, Zimbabwe (with Equator Bank, USA), 1984;

  • Corporate Strategy, Financial Advisory and Risk Evaluation in Zimbabwe, Rennie-Grinaker Ltd, Zimbabwe, 1982-84;

  • Investment and Energy Trends (on African economies, and oil industry), for Petrologistics Ltd., Geneve, 1982-85 on: Oil Shales in Africa, Southern African Energy Policy, Petroleum Product Supply in Selected African Markets, Coal Industry Review in Africa, Energy Industry in Zimbabwe, Minerals and Energy in Ethiopia, Energy and Petroleum Review of Mauritius;

  • Money and Finance in Zimbabwe, Whitsun Foundation (with RAL Merchant Bank), Harare, 1983;

  • Agro-Allied Industry Review (Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi), European Agribusiness Company, Geneva, 1983;

  • Angola: Economic & Investment Memorandum, Private Client, 1983;

  • Mocambique Investment Review (Oil & Gas, Electricity, Economic Performance Investment, Minerals), Private Client, 1983;

  • Southern Africa Intra-Regional Trade Financing Facility, Feasibility Appraisal, USAID/IFC, Washington, 1983;

  • Economic Linkages in Southern Africa, USAID, Washington, 1982; 

  • Pre-Feasibility Evaluation, African Inter-Governmental Ministerial Conference, Addis Ababa, Detecon GmbH/ITU, 1982;

  • Strategic Rare Metals in Zimbabwe, Business International/Sandvik AB, Genève, 1982;

  • Economic & Financial Risk Assessments (Libya, Mali, Togo, Ethiopia, Tanzania), Société Internationale Financière pour les Investissements et le Développement en Afrique (SIFIDA), 1982;

  • Trade Policy (Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi), UNCTAD, Genève, 1982;

  • Whitsun Foundation, Zimbabwe: Investment Appraisal for l980s (with Group Economist, Zimbabwe Banking Corporation Ltd), 1981-82;

  • Siemens, Investment Opportunities/Sector Appraisals in Africa: Minerals, Energy, Electronic Infrastructure, 1981-82;

  • Business Consult, Computerised Forecasts on Zirnbabwe’s Economy, Business and Investment Risk, Private Client, 1982-83;

  • Investment Risk Appraisals on Southern Africa, Private Client, 1982-83;

  • Intelplan SA / International Telecommunication Union (Geneve), Pre-Feasibility Technical and Economic Appraisal on Application of Modern Technology for Integrated Rural Development in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1980-81.

  • Direct/Indirect Economic Benefit of Rural Telecommunications in Rural Africa, ITU, 1981;

  • Telecommunication Economics for Sub-Saharan Africa. Financial/Economic Viability for Africa Satellite Space Segment, Rural Telecommunication in Africa, ITU, 1981;

  • Supply Determinants, Economic and Financial Appraisal of Sound and TV Broadcasting in Rural Africa, ITU, 1981;

  • Financing and Sources of Funds for Sub-Saharan Africa; Economics for Kenya, Zambia, Lesotho, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania; Prognos AG (European Centre for Applied Economic Research and Swiss Bank Corporation), Basle, 1981;

  • Balance of Payments Forecasts, External Sector Appraisals and Country Investment (Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola), plus Advisory on 33 countries (Asia, Latin America and Africa), Prognos AG, 1981;

  • Intelplan SA, Economic Evaluation, International Telecommunication Tariffs for Information Transfer, for UNESCO/ITU, Geneva, 1981;

  • Intecontecs Ltd, Macroeconomic Evaluation in Western and Eastern Africa, Jersey, 1980-81;

  • ITU, Role of Telecommunications in Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa, (Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Niger, Upper Volta, Ivory Coast and Senegal), Geneva, 1981;

  • Electronic Infrastructure Markets in African Countries, Siemens, 1983;

  • Economic Issues in International Telecommunication Tariff Services, Intelplan (Genève), 1981;

  • Intelplan SA, Telecommunications Trends and Development in Zimbabwe, Geneva, 1980;

  • Société Internationale Financière pour les Investissements et le Développement en Afrique, Country Reports: Risk Evaluation and Credit Ceiling Determination: Western, Central and Eastern African Countries, Geneva, 1980;

  • Foreign Policy Study Foundation Inc, OECD Investments & Economic Interests in Southern Africa, New York, 1980;

  • Business International Corporation, Agribusiness and Economic Opportunities in Kenya, Malawi and Zimbabwe, Geneva, 1980;

  • Foreign Companies & International Investments in Zimbabwe, CIIR/Joseph Rowntree, London, 1980;

  • SIDA, Economic Sanctions on South Africa, Geneve, 1980.

Unpublished: Worldwide

1980s - As Author

  • Corporate Oil Strategies & Country Risks: Offshore Western Africa in th 1980s (Petroconsultants, 1984);

  • Corporate Petroleum Strategies in ASEAN in the 1980s (Petroconsultants, 1984);

  • Northeast Asia Oil Strategies & Risks (Petroconsultants, 1985).

1990s - Global Pacific & Partners

  • African Gas Strategies to 21st Century (1995);

  • African National Oil Companies in the 1990s (1992);

  • African Oil Strategies (1996);

  • Corporate Petroleum Strategies (1990);

  • Asian Gas Strategies to the 21st Century (1996);

  • Asian Oil (1996);

  • China’s Oil & Gas Future (1994);

  • Company Strategy & Competitors (1996);

  • European National Oil Companies in the 1990s (1993);

  • Far East National Oil Companies in the 1990s (1991);

  • Global National Oil Companies: Strategic Review (1994);

  • Global Petroleum Trends (2004);

  • Greening of Asia-Pacific Petroleum (1994);

  • Latin American Gas Strategies to 21st Century (1995);

  • Latin American National Oil Companies in 1990s (1992);

  • Latin Oil (1996);

  • Mideast National Oil Companies in the 1990s (1992);

  • National Oil Company Strategies (1998);

  • Pacesetter Strategies: Majors & Independents (1998);

  • Pacific Oil & Energy Insights: Management Strategies (1991, 1992);

  • Southeast Asia’s Gas Future (1992);

  • Southeast Asia’s Oil Future (1993);

  • Strategic Petroleum Insights: Uncertainty, Chaos & Complexity (1992, 1997);

  • Western African Petroleum Opportunities (1997–98).

2000s - Global Pacific & Partners