VENTURE CAPITAL POST

The late Nelson Mandela's economic legacy in South Africa will be challenged as the country has yet to reduce its high unemployment rate and inequality in races.

The respect for the late politician and ex-president of South Africa Nelson Mandela was evident in the business sector, as trading and banks postponed their businesses to acknowledge Mandela's passing.

Industry observers believed that the late Nelson Mandela contributed greatly to not only the political environment in South Africa, but the local business sector as well.

Although Nelson Mandela was best known for his role in ending apartheid in South Africa, a report from Businessweek highlighted the economic legacy left by the late leader.

Here are some important dates and events in the life of former South African President and anti-apartheid fighter Nelson Mandela, who died on Thursday aged 95 today.

"Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is people who have made poverty and tolerated poverty, and it is people who will overcome it." - on being named Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience, 2006

Nelson Mandela, the first black president of South Africa and hero of the country's anti-apartheid struggle, has died aged 95 after a recurring lung infection. The announcement was made by the country's president, Jacob Zuma, on Thursday.

Nelson Mandela celebrated his 9th birthday on a hospital in Pretoria today.