Annansi Chronicles

I recently started reading a new book Beyond Translation; The Marketer’s Field Guide to Understanding Today’s Transcultural Consumer and so far am impressed by the perspective of the author Valerie Romley. Having only “met” the author online, I was interested to find out what marketers are beginning to think about diversity and multicultural marketing. What’s interesting so far about the book is the fact that the author calls for marketers to go beyond the usual census-based demographics data and focus more on doing their own research to understand the cultural norms of their target market. Though I haven’t quite gotten to the core of the book’s message yet, I am hopeful that the beyond translation message is something that more companies and marketers adopt in 2008. As someone who continues to follow the growing African market, I can see so many benefits for companies changing the way they develop products and market them. Gone are the days when a company need only market to the dominant culture and all others followed suit. Particularly in areas like the USA and Europe, the browning of the dominant culture is now the norm and new segments continue to emerge. Economists can point to many reasons for the rapid development for these new markets, but the bottom line is consumers now have many more choices, and the product/company they choose will be the one which genuinely speaks their language and is invested in their community’s growth.

In the December 2007 issue of Ebony Magazine actor Don Cheadle says:

One thing (African people) need is better p.r. If people in (the USA) think of Africa as a place with kids and flies swarming around their heads, then they won’t understand that these people are you and you are them

Entrepreneur Magazine has chosen to feature me and my company in the December 2007 issue. The article in the Doing Good section covers my outlook on Africa’s brand dilemma and how I am using my expertise to help solve the problem and encourage business. You can read the article in the issue on newsstands or online at Entrepreneur.com. Thanks to JJ Ramberg for the good conversation.

Recently, MTVU, the university station of MTV, organized a visit by best selling author Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking) and Ethiopian-born American musician Kenna to a University of Pennsylvania sociology class. The class was in the process of studying the chapter “Kenna’s Dilemma” from Gladwell’s book Blink and the two men made an appearance to discuss the dilemma Kenna faces as an artist who, though heralded by many in the music industry as the next big thing, has yet to connect with a large enough fan base.

• Fall Out Boy head to Africa….Uganda really (What’s a rock band’s image without an African charity connection. Shout out to director extraordinaire Alan Ferguson) )
  
• Clint Eastwood will direct Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon in a new Nelson Mandela movie “The Human Factor” (The Hollywood/Africa trend grows. They should expect a call from some concerned Africans real soon.)
• Facebook is the new office fashion in Kenya (Rupert Murdoch needs to get the Myspace/Wall Street Journal thing sorted out fast)
• Actress Mary-Louise Parker adopts a child from Africa (Can all these African childrens’ biological families get visitation visas now?)

The 4th edition of the The Carnival of African Enterprising has launched at Nii Simmonds’ Nubian Cheetah blog. As with the previous 3 installments of ideas, this edition highlights some of the best posts from the African business/entrepreneurship blogosphere. I’m happy to see that as the carnival continues, there are new names and perspectives being added. This edition covers Blogging Trade & Investment Forums, Business in Africa, Entrepreneurship in Africa with posts on:

• TED Global 2007: Afterglow (David McQueen)
• Idea Exchange: sponsors & links (Bankelele)
• TED Global, Africa: The Next Chapter (Jen Brea)
• Vote to add Africa 2.0 panel to SXSW festival schedule (G. Kofi Annan)
• IBM Thinks Africa (Benin Mwangi)
• Hear IBM Vice President’s view on Africa’s present market opportunities (African Path)
• Kenyans in the Diaspora Conference Final Thoughts (Joshua Wanyama)
• Planting Seeds: TED Global (Emeka)
• The Power of a TED Talk (Erik Hersman)
• Tanzania diminishes chances of regional integration (Ken Teyie)
• In the media: Khartoum, the Dubai of Africa (Africaincorp)
• Want Financial Freedom? Start your Own Fashion Business (Uduak Oduok)
• Ideas to grow the informal sector in Africa (Nii Simmonds)

Inc. Magazine alerts us to an announcement by Hilton Hotels that it will open its first property in Ghana in early 2010. Named The Hilton Accra Airport City, the 186-room property will be located in Airport City, a new mixed-use development in the heart of ‘upscale’ Accra. This makes Hilton Hotels one of the first upscale international brands to operate in the capital city of Accra. Owned by Grand Real Estates and Company Limited and managed by Hilton Hotels Corporation, the new property will become Hilton’s ninth property in Africa joining hotels in Morocco, Algeria, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Cameroon and South Africa. Additional Hilton properties are under development in Africa in Equatorial Guinea (Malabo) and Uganda (Kampala).

Inc. Magazine’s Mike Hofman adds “Our latest survey of Inc. 500 companies, to be published in September, shows that America’s fastest-growing firms are currently doing business in at least 12 African countries, led by cosmopolitan South Africa but including such once-hard-luck cases as Uganda, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, and Djibouti.”

This gives us a tremendous opportunity to establish our brand in an African country that is experiencing strong growth. Accra itself is a key commercial and tourism hub for the country, with a real and growing requirement for upscale hotels. Expansion in Africa is key to our development strategy, - Jean-Paul Herzog, President, Hilton Hotels, Middle East & Africa.

If there was any doubt about how ineffective and out of touch old-world charity organizations have become when it comes to Africa(ns), here is an example. UNICEF Germany put time, effort and valuable resources into producing this recent ad campaign which “shows four German kids who appeal for solidarity with their contemporaries in Afrika”. In an attempt at drawing a familiarity between German and African children on the topic of education Jung von Matt/Alster - UNICEF’s ad agency - came up with the brilliant idea of showing typical German children with mud spread across their faces. Taglines for the ads include: “In Africa, many kids would be glad to worry about school”, “Some teachers suck. No teachers sucks even more”, “In Africa, kids don’t come to school late, but not at all”, and my personal favorite “I’m waiting for my last day in school, the children in Africa are still waiting for their first one”.

Needless to say, the ads have caused a lot of controversy. When “help” efforts like UNICEF’s and the eerily similar Giorgio Armani’s Kate Moss cover are so off mark, you know there is a serious need for African intervention at the planning stages. Someone tell these guys to give me a call before they embarrass themselves further and continue to lose money.

Africaincorp relates lessons from the book The Culture Code: An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People Around the World Live and Buy as They Do to the African diaspora.

What makes a Kenyan “Kenyan”, what makes an Ivorian “Ivorian” and what makes an Moroccan “Moroccan” are answers the savvy professional,entrepreneur,investors and executives are actively seeking as we speak.
Businesses and other mediums that are able to provide the answer or at least a lead will make a lot of money along the way. These answers would then be at the core of any product and service development so that customers throughout the vibrant African economies would be offered products that are in line with the codes.

BusinessWeek’s recent article on rising outsourcing destinations highlights what many African entrepreneurs have proposed for years. Outsourcing to parts of Africa can be a win-win situation. The BusineesWeek article refers to consultancy A.T. Kearney’s 2007 list of the 50 most desirable outsourcing destinations worldwide. For the list countries were ranked by a) financial attractiveness, based on such measures as compensation and infrastructure costs; b) a so-called people score, measuring a nation’s people skills, availability of language and educational skills, and the size and quality of the IT industry; and c) their economic/political environment, infrastructure quality, cultural exposure, and IP security. While India remains the top outsourcing destination many African countries are learning from their example. (Note: Scores are in parentheses.)

Rank - Country (overall - financial - people - environment)
#13 - Egypt (5.6 - 3.2 - 1.1 - 1.3)
#25 - Mauritius (5.4 - 2.8 - 1.0 - 1.6)
#26 - Tunisia (5.4 - 3.0 - 0.9 - 1.5)
#27 - Ghana (5.5 - 3.3 - 0.9 - 1.3)
#31 - South Africa (5.3 - 2.5 - 1.2 - 1.6)
#36 - Morocco (5.1 - 2.9 - 0.9 - 1.3)
#39 - Senegal (5.1 - 3.2 - 0.8 - 1.1)