No jobs so let them have IP : intellectual property

The Economist, in an article entitled Sorry no vacancies, why African firms create so few jobs, tells us that companies in sub-Saharan Africa are 'reluctant employers', employing far fewer people than companies elsewhere. The reasons for this apparent reluctance are all too well known to us in South Africa - high labour costs, low productivity, labour unrest and the fact that employing people brings you into contact with officialdom. According to the paper, there's no reason to suppose that things will get better.