‘When China met Africa‘, a new documentary film produced by Marc Francis & Nick Francis and Miriana Bojic Walter, tells the story of China’s entrance into Zambia and the cultural and business relationships surrounding:

A historic gathering of over 50 African heads of state in Beijing reverberates in Zambia where the lives of three characters unfold. Mr Liu is one of thousands of Chinese entrepreneurs who have settled across the continent in search of new opportunities. He has just bought his fourth farm and business is booming.

In northern Zambia, Mr Li, a project manager for a multinational Chinese company is upgrading Zambia’s longest road. Pressure to complete the road on time intensifies when funds from the Zambian government start running out.

Meanwhile Zambia’s Trade Minister is on route to China to secure millions of dollars of investment.

Through the intimate portrayal of these characters, the expanding footprint of a rising global power is laid bare – pointing to a radically different future, not just for Africa, but also for the world.

Watch the trailer below:

Trailer: When China met Africa (documentary) is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

• Notes from Columbia U’s 2010 Africa Economic Forum
• Designer Ozwald Boateng on dressing President Obama and his Made in Africa wealth initiative
• “Africa:The Next Chapter” videos premiere
• The Paris Hilton effect on Africa’s development
• Urban explosion and African youth’s global influence
• Microsoft chairman plots Africa’s tech revolution (video)
• Top 100 global thinkers of 2010
• Trending Africa Nov. 18, 2009: Jay-Z, Will Smith produce Fela! musical, China’s $10bn for Africa, Dinosaurs in Africa
• Maker Faire Africa edition 2009 (video)
• Growing middle class and Africa’s demographic opportunity

Western Union has announced a partnership with M-PESA, the popular Kenyan mobile cash-transfer service. This deal opens up Western Union’s huge money transfer network to the Safaricon-owned “mobile wallet” service. The parnership will allow customers in US, UK and other countries to transfer money to a Safaricom/M-Pesa user’s account and the receiver will receive an SMS message from M-PESA notifying them that the money is available in their account.

Kenyans living abroad can now send money to their relatives back home through Safaricom’s mobile money transfer service, M-Pesa.

This is after Safaricom and Western Union signed an agreement, which enables Kenyans living in 45 countries in the US, Asia, Europe and Africa to access the now world famous M-Pesa service.

Although they can send up to Sh35,000 per transaction, limits per day, per month or per year will depend on the country the money is sent from, following the link-up that is likely to give the NSE listed firm a head start in the increasingly competitive mobile telephony market.

“Through this partnership, our customers and their friends and families will benefit from affordable, faster and more convenient international remittances,” said Safaricom chief executive officer, Bob Collymore.

Mr David Yates, of Western Union, applauded the service as an impressive adoption of the mobile channel.

“Cash payout through M-Pesa is projected to go up from 23 per cent to 40 per cent, as the traditional cash payout will take the rest,” Mr Yates said.

The transaction is similar to a traditional cash-to-cash money transfer, except that the sender specifies the recipient’s mobile phone number at the time the funds are sent.

Western Union partners with M-Pesa for international mobile money transfers is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

• Insights on mobile banking & advertising in Africa (videos)
• Africa’s digital revolution (video)
• Kenya’s first Sci-Fi film hits Sundance
• Growing middle class and Africa’s demographic opportunity
• African Presidents need Blackberries
• Obama and Hillary Clinton visits a boom or bust for African business
• African markets in top 20 as mobile advertising continues strong growth in Q2 2009
• Kenyan engineering students build bicycle-powered cellphone charger
• Annansi Notes: Fall Out Boy, Mandela, Clint Eastwood, African babies, Facebook in Kenya
• Africa Enterprising articles part 3

Indian IT company Infosys Technologies is continuing its entrance into the African continent. It said in a statement Friday morning that it believes Africa is a market for long-term IT services and hopes it will be able to implement an investment strategy.

In an interview with the Times of India, Infosys CFO V Balakrishnan said that Africa has great potential and populations are demanding an improvement in IT services.

Nigeria’s regulatory body this week echoed similar statements when it said that mobile phone services in the country are sorely lacking adequate customer service and infrastructure. Infosys could capitalize on this exact issue, said Ahmed Gabr, an IT specialist based in Nairobi.

Read more at itnewsafrica.com

IT giant Infosys seeks African market expansion is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

• Trailer: When China met Africa (documentary)
• Top 100 global thinkers of 2010
• Notes from Columbia U’s 2010 Africa Economic Forum
• Designer Ozwald Boateng on dressing President Obama and his Made in Africa wealth initiative
• Maker Faire Africa edition 2009 (video)
• Branding Africa with a new domain
• Forget aid and money, Africa needs IDEAS!
• Climate change threatens Ghana’s economic future
• Is there an African culture code?
• Africa Enterprising articles part 3

In the video featurette below, CNN’s African Voices highlights Cheick Diarra, the Microsoft chairman for Africa who has been trying to make technology more accessible on the continent. In the video Mr. Diarra talks about tech affordability, connectivity, and training in Africa, and also comments on combatting software piracy by developing the local software development community, Before joining Microsoft in 2006, Cheick Diarra spent 10 years working for NASA as its first African astrophysicist.

The latest chapter in his career has seen him return to Africa, where he has been heading Microsoft’s operations since 2006, trying to make technology more accessible on the continent…’This is a unique opportunity because somebody like me, who is known for his scientific achievement, being able to have the opportunity to use, to leverage a company like Microsoft to really put the technology-access issue at the middle of the table,” he says….However, Diarra is quick to point out that access to technology will do little to accelerate Africa’s economic and social development if it is not accompanied by investment in the continent’s most important resource — its people. – CNN African Voices

Microsoft chairman plots Africa’s tech revolution (video) is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

• Trailer: When China met Africa (documentary)
• Notes from Columbia U’s 2010 Africa Economic Forum
• Designer Ozwald Boateng on dressing President Obama and his Made in Africa wealth initiative
• “Africa:The Next Chapter” videos premiere
• The Paris Hilton effect on Africa’s development
• Urban explosion and African youth’s global influence
• Africa’s wealth and consumerism draws big brands
• Growth and spending of African consumers (video)
• Top 100 global thinkers of 2010
• ‘Fela!’ musical lands 11 Tony Noms; Chiwetel Ejiofor cast as Fela in biopic

The Wall Street Journal is currently running an in-depth interactive series on the rapid development and potential of the African consumer market. The first installment of the series includes a wealth timeline of foreign investment in Africa, consumer profiles, an insightful article on multinational brand perspective and more. It’s a must read. I’m looking forward to reading more in this series.

There’s a new gold rush under way for the African consumer, a campaign that spans the continent and aims to reach an emerging middle class. These are the people who have begun to embrace cellphone messages, restaurant meals and trips down supermarket aisles.

In Kenya, a battle between units of Britain’s Vodafone Group PLC, and India’s Bharti Airtel Ltd. has driven down the consumer’s cost of a text message to a penny. Yum Brands Inc. of the U.S. recently said it wants to double its KFC outlets in the next few years to 1,200.

And Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to pay nearly $2.5 billion to buy 51% of South Africa’s Massmart Holdings Ltd., with plans to use the discount retailer as a foothold for continental expansion. Andy Bond, Wal-Mart’s regional executive vice-president, describes the potential as a “10- to 20-year play.”

Some analysts believe a billion-person continental market already has arrived. Consultancy McKinsey & Co. says the number of middle-income consumers—those who can spend for more than just the necessities—in Africa has exceeded the figure for India. The firm predicts consumer spending will reach $1.4 trillion in 2020, from about $860 billion in 2008. – Read more on WSJ.com

Africa’s wealth and consumerism draws big brands is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

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• Growth and spending of African consumers (video)
• ‘Fela!’ musical lands 11 Tony Noms; Chiwetel Ejiofor cast as Fela in biopic
• African youth and the African brand (presentation)
• NY African Film Festival opens, celebrates World Cup and independent Africa
• Notes from Columbia U’s 2010 Africa Economic Forum
• FELA! musical hits Broadway with rave reviews

If you’ve been following this website or been engaged in any recent conversation about Africa’s future, you can’t have missed a mention about mobile technology innovation and it’s impact in Africa. For the curious or uninitiated, here are a couple of videos which focus on the trend and give some insight particularly in the banking and advertising industries.

Banking revolution saving lives in Africa (CNN)

According to the Bureau of International Information Programs at the U.S. State Department, around one million of Tanzania’s 41 million inhabitants use mobile phone technology to carry out financial transactions and save money.
At the same time, only 12% of the population have a formal bank account, while almost half of them own a cell phone.

M-Pesa: Kenya teaches the developed world about the mobile wallet (BBC)

In developing world countries like Kenya, the technology to do this has been around for several years – and you do not need a bank account to use it. M-Pesa launched in 2007, and there are now nearly 100 services like it around the world, mainly in developing countries. Can the developed world learn from Kenya’s experience with the mobile wallet?

Mobile Advertising in Africa (A talk by Ankit Rawal of InMobi)

Ankit Rawal, Head of Advertising, Africa, InMobi speaks about the state of mobile advertising in Africa at iHub in Kenya.

Insights on mobile banking & advertising in Africa (videos) is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

• Trailer: When China met Africa (documentary)
• Top 100 global thinkers of 2010
• African youth and the African brand (presentation)
• Notes from Columbia U’s 2010 Africa Economic Forum
• Designer Ozwald Boateng on dressing President Obama and his Made in Africa wealth initiative
• Growing middle class and Africa’s demographic opportunity
• Branding Africa with a new domain
• “Africa:The Next Chapter” videos premiere
• African migration to Europe
• The Paris Hilton effect on Africa’s development

South Africa has been formally asked to join the BRIC group of major emerging markets, comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China, bolstering its position as Africa’s champion.

Chinese President Hu Jintao wrote a letter to his South African counterpart, Jacob Zuma, to inform him of the decision and inviting him to the BRIC’s third heads of state meeting in Beijing next year, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said in a statement on his ministry’s website today.

South Africa, which has a population of 49 million compared with China’s 1.36 billion, is betting on raising its clout on the world stage by joining BRIC, while strengthening political and trade ties within the bloc. The country accounts for about a third of gross domestic product in sub-Saharan Africa and will offer BRIC members improved access to 1 billion consumers on the continent and mineral resources including oil and platinum.

Joining the group is “the best Christmas present ever,” South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane told a reporters in Pretoria today. “We will be a good gateway for the BRIC countries. While we may have a small population, we don’t just speak for South Africa, we speak for Africa as a whole.”

More at bloomberg.com

South Africa formally invited to join BRIC group of emerging global powers is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

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• L’Oreal sets sights on African women
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Here’s a very  informative video interview on African consumer growth, spending and attitudes. Courtesy of ABN Digital.

Growth and spending of African consumers (video) is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

• The Paris Hilton effect on Africa’s development
• Urban explosion and African youth’s global influence
• Africa’s wealth and consumerism draws big brands
• Africa’s digital revolution (video)
• African youth and the African brand (presentation)
• 42 country, 100 exhibit Africa Pavilion unveiled for 2010 Shanghai World Expo
• Notes from Columbia U’s 2010 Africa Economic Forum
• Top 6 African business and culture trends to watch in 2010
• Morocco’s desert region a widescreen backdrop for Hollywood films
• Designer Ozwald Boateng on dressing President Obama and his Made in Africa wealth initiative

Foreign Policy Magazine has named their top 100 global thinkers of 2010. The list, which I’ve outlined below, is a mix of policy makers, advocates, and media professionals among other global influencers. A special congratulations goes out to Rosa Whitaker (#53), Ory Okolloh (#59), and Ethan Zuckerman (#81), all of whom  I’ve had the pleasure of connecting and sharing ideas with. View the full list below, and read the full story on the Foreign Policy website:

Beginning with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates (1), who teamed up to prove that even in tough times great new ideas can emerge, to forecasting economist Nouriel Roubini (12) to political leaders Barack Obama (3) and Angela Merkel (10), FP presents more than just their big ideas. Once again we took a unique survey of this very smart crowd. Nearly two-thirds participated to give you insight into their thinking on everything from how Obama’s doing to their preference in new-age reading device (iPad, by a lot). But don’t take our word for it — take the same questionnaire we sent to our FP 100 and see how your answers match up against theirs. – Foreign Policy Mag.

Top 100 global thinkers of 2010 is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

• “Africa:The Next Chapter” videos premiere
• The Paris Hilton effect on Africa’s development
• Hip-hop’s African ancestry at Odyssey Awards
• Africa’s next chapter convenes at TEDGlobal 2007
• Changing “Brand Africa”, an International Trade Forum magazine feature
• New magazine changing image of African women
• Africa’s Inconvenient Truth
• Trailer: When China met Africa (documentary)
• Celebrity colonization of Africa (infographic)
• Notes from Columbia U’s 2010 Africa Economic Forum

click to view larger

The above infographic gives an overview of Africa’s changing trade partnerships. The infographic comes courtesy of The BRICA Group, a new collaborative venture in partnership with Larry Ossei-Mensah of myglobalhustle.com. The BRICA Group’s mission is to serve as an advocate and catalyst for the development of innovation and creativity in emerging markets. We have more research and information efforts coming very soon. Visit http://www.theBRICAgroup.com for more.

Africa’s New Trade Frontier (infographic) – The BRICA Group is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

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Recently I was honored to have been able to attend The World Business Forum, an annual business conference featuring some of today’s most influential business and leadership luminaries. The event, held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, featured 18+ speakers – including Al Gore, Jack Welch, Vijay Govindarajan, and Charlene Li – covering a range of business topics from social media to innovation to government. As a featured blogger – along with writers from The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post – I watched and listened for two days as global business leaders shared their insights on stage. I’ve outlined portions of my speaker notes for you to read below. You can also read through the archive of on-the-spot tweets from myself and fellow attendees in the #WBF10 Twitter stream for more context.

Jim Collins on sustaining great results

- The 5 levels of leadership

• The highly capable individual
• Contributing team member
• Competent manager
• Effective Leader
• Level 5 executive

- Leadership only exists if people have the power to not follow

- To much opportunity can kill a company more than a lack of opportunity

- Good executives must have the abiity to pick the right people for the right seats

- Most overnights success are 20 years in the making

Bill McDermott on winning in the new reality

- You need compelling vision for business

- You can tell everything about a CEO by their executive secretary

- The best run businesses have connected enterprise (IT)

Jack Welch on management

- The team that owns the best players wins

- The internet is the Viagra of big business

- Companies spend too much time with the bottom 20% achievers than the top 10%

Carlos Brito on building a performance culture

- Great people = Great companies

- Great people like meritocracies

- Without meritocracy, great people will leave because they have opptions, and weak people will stay because they don’t

- Create a culture of owners

Charlene Li on social networks

- You can’t have a strategy about Facebook

- Social technologies are about relationships

- We overvalues things we can measure, and undervalue what we can’t

Martin Lindstrom on marketing

- Removing a logo is just as powerful

- 83% of brands communicate with only one sense

Joseph Grenny in influence

- Grenny’s law of leadership: No strategy is so brilliant that people can’t render it useless

- Culture and behaviour are a good way to influence business success

- Influencers succeed because they overdetermine success

- Six sources of influence

• Influence of pain or pleasure of behaviour
• Influence of skill
• Influence social networks
• Influence with power of crowds
• Influence of cost and incentives
• Influence with environment

David Gergen on leadership

- Blogs make it harder on Washington

- General Petraues is a good leader; combines accessibility with a chain of command

Steve Levitt on freakonomics

- The Best ideas are the simplest

- Regression analysis help economists see patterns

- Microeconomics in business can be important

- In a complex world, if you set up complex rules, people will game it

- If you want to succeed and you have no special talent, find the most niche topic and become an expert in it

Joseph Stiglitz on the economy

- During economic downturn, the poeple who needed to fix the economy probably too vested in maintaining it

- The White House doesn’t hate business, see the bank bail-outs

A.G. Lafley on customer centric growth

- Inventions are not innovative until it becomes commercial

- Essence for creative innovation

• Openness
• Curiosity
• Connecting
• Collaboration
• Courage

Renee Mauborgne on strategy

- Management should spend more time on creativity rather than productivity

Vijay Govindarajan on innovation

- The 3 boxes of management

- Manage the present

- Selectively abandon the past

- Create the future

James Cameron on creativity

- His creative process

• Do story treatment
• Get graphic designers to visualize story
• Write script
• Cast actors
• Produce and edit movie

As I mentioned before read through the The World Business Forum tweets archive for more context to my notes. You can also view some video highlights of the conference and read what some of my fellow bloggers wrote at the official Bloggers Hub. Hope to see you at the 2011 edition of the World Business Forum.

Notes: leadership and innovation at 2010 World Business Forum is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

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On April 27, 2010 the popular website Mashable ran a post titled 1MillionShirts Leverages Social Media to Help Clothe Africa. The post was about a new charitable campaign launched by a pair of US-based social media marketing professionals whose goal was to get everyday consumers to “Help us send one million t-shirts to the people of Africa”. As the Mashable author wrote

The 1MillionShirts project, launched this month, is asking for used (but decent) T-shirts to be sent in with a one dollar bill to help with container costs. The shirts will then be shipped to Africa to help clothe folks in need.

The mis-guided campaign team set out to use social media tools to spread the word,  encouraging supporters to use the #1millionshirts tag in comments about the campaign on Twitter. Within hours of the #1millionshirts tag appearing on Twitter a heated debate ensued between the marketers and the African development and aid professionals with both sides writing online, talking on Twitter, and even getting on an international conference call. In 24 hours what started out as a typical American-lead Africa aid charity campaign had fueled a full blown debate on the merits of such efforts, and how campaigns such as these negatively affect African communities and the aid industry.

To further the open discussion, and educate other would-be Africa aid campaigners, I have tapped the wisdom of the crowd to produce a case-study document titled “No Tees Please: Why Africa aid campaigns #FAIL”. The contributors to the eBook have shared their perspectives on this and other Africa aid campaigns and the hard lessons which can be learned when they miss their mark.

Feel free to download and distribute the eBook embedded below freely to anyone you feel can learn from the diverse perspectives on smart aid and foreign-lead African development initiatives. A special thanks to the numerous contributors and my co-editor Raquel Wilson for helping get this project out the door in a short period. Leave your comment below or follow me on Twitter (@GKofiAnnan) to join the ongoing conversation.

No Tees Please: Why Africa aid campaigns #FAIL

If you can’t see the embed above go here to view or download

Why Africa aid campaigns FAIL (free ebook) is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

• The Paris Hilton effect on Africa’s development
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• Hip-hop’s African ancestry at Odyssey Awards
• Top African-American talent plan trip to African Union Summit, Ghana
• This week in African Style 4/7 – 4/13/07
• Jay-Z’s Rocawear South Africa ads
• African diamond facts according to Russell Simmons
• Russell Simmons returns from African trip
• FELA! musical hits Broadway with rave reviews
• Microsoft, GE look to emerging markets for reverse innovation and profits

Recently, Paris-based Cameroonian photographer, Mauro Epanya, created a layout of what a possible African version of the trend-setting fashion glossy, Vogue Magazine would/could look like. The images, though creatively done, have sparked a debate about the merits of an African version of Vogue. In a well thought out analysis, Uduak at Labybrille Magazine, outlines the reasons why an African Vogue is not a good idea:

• VOGUE Does Not Need to Validate Africa Before Africa Becomes Fashionable
• The Internet has Created an African Fashion Media Revolution, So Why the Continued Need for Validation with a VOGUE Africa?
• VOGUE Africa is Bad Business For Africa
• VOGUE Africa Will Not Eliminate Racism in VOGUE’s Fashion Pages

For her part in the debate, Vanessa Raphaely, editor of Cosmopolitan South Africa and editorial director of Associated Magazines (Marie Claire, O, the Oprah Magazine, etc.) also writes an insightful commentary on her blog.

Then there’s the nuts and bolts of the business: Magazines generally follow where the cosmetic and fashion industry lead. On this continent, there are only two Vuitton stores. They are in Jozi and Cape Town, not in Gaberones, Brazzaville, Dar es Salaam or Libreville.

There is no High Street to speak of in Africa (not even in South Africa,) there is not a proliferation of shopping malls and high end international clothing giants littering the Sahara, North, Central, Western or East Africa,  ergo, little demand for advertising pages.

In South Africa, the powerhouse of the region, local manufacturing is floundering due to a failure to compete with Asia and The Far East with regard to price.

That is why there is, to date, not even a South African Vogue. While fashion magazines like Marie Claire and ELLE are both well-established in the country, neither has the advertising riches to thrive that their sisters in the more developed parts of the world enjoy.

Both, it can be argued, require less very high-end advertising than Vogue to achieve the expectations of their European principals.

It’s not rich pickings here on the wild frontier.

So, even though it irks me to be so pedestrian, I have to ask: who would advertise in this Pan-African Vogue?

In the short term, a Vogue Africa would get many people excited and even generate a bit of revenue. Soon enough though, the novelty will wear off and the realities of organizing, producing, and shipping an African glossy in a global economy which has not been kind to print media will take hold. From platform (print vs. digital) to talent (African writers vs. Western writers) to business strategy (South Africa headquarters or not), there are different factors to think of when planning Vogue-type content for Africa; and corporate accounts will not ease the pain. That’s not to say an African fashion and style magazine cannot exist, but rather the strategy to launch and maintain one would need to take into account certain factors which aren’t an issue in the West.

One of the side-effects of the marketing and advertising activity around the upcoming World Cup is that in an effort to  cash in on the African renaissance multinational corporations are again attempting to transplant their business models to a continent that lacks the same context that made those strategies successful in the West. They are looking to what their western experiences dictate and overlooking the unique opportunities that Africa has to offer – mobile  proliferation being one of them.

If major publishers like Vogue/Conde Nast want to enter African markets they should look to partner with “local” businesses who have already dealt with the challenges and figured out what African audiences want and need. As I said in the comments section of the Ladybille Magazine blog, there are many many African media and content creators whose efforts are still being overlooked because their success is judged by Western perspectives. It’ll do Africans and global partners well to recognize and capitalize on what makes African stories, contexts, and perspectives unique.

Read more on the debate:

VOGUE Africa? No. Thank you Very Much I’ll Pass!

Is the World Ready for an African Vogue?

Fashion Enthusiasts Ponder Vogue Africa

Vogue Africa Creator Mario Epanya Responds to Critics

Do we need an African version of Vogue Magazine? is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

• Hip-hop’s African ancestry at Odyssey Awards
• The Independent names 50 best African artists
• African Design Competition: Design a Uniform, Shape a School
• Africa’s next chapter convenes at TEDGlobal 2007
• New magazine changing image of African women
• Design Made in Africa exhibit opens in NYC
• Designer Ozwald Boateng on dressing President Obama and his Made in Africa wealth initiative
• Video: Ozwald Boateng Fashion Show at African Union Summit, Ghana
• Live modeling Adidas’ Materials of the World
• Vogue, Keira Knightley donate food & Louis Vuitton to African elephant’s rehab

A BIG congratulations to the cast and crew of ‘FELA!’ The musical as they have just received 11 Tony Award nominations including Best Musical. The Tony Awards is the leading awards which honor Broadway productions that opened during the 2009-10 season. Along with the musical ‘La Cage aux Folles’, ‘Fela!’ has received the most nominations. ‘Fela! is nominated in all major categories including Best direction, Best performance by a leading actor, Best performance by a featured actress, and Best choreography. The 2010 Tony Awards show will air June 13 on CBS.

In related news Golden Globe nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor (Kinky Boots, American Gangster, Inside Man) has been cast to play Fela in the feature film biopic about the iconic Nigerian musician/activist. Deadline New York reveals:

(The) Focus Features movie about the African musician and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti now officially has its leading man. Chiwetel Ejiofor is formally attached to play Fela in the film that will be directed by Steve McQueen, the British artist who made his helming debut on Hunger, the drama about the Irish hunger strike that starred Michael Fassbender.

When I revealed the project last year, Ejiofor seemed the obvious choice, but Focus Features wouldn’t confirm. Ejiofor sure has been taking it seriously on his end. In between his work on the upcoming Angelina Jolie-starrer Salt, he has been learning to play piano and saxophone to prepare for the role. I’m told he’s gotten quite good.

When I first heard about the biopic some months ago many people on Twitter, including myself, put in their vote for Ejiofor in the lead role. It seems the producers were thinking as we did. Though the two projects are unrelated, I can’t help but think the musical helped solidify production plans for the film. I, for one, am excited for both projects. Go see Fela! The Musical.

‘Fela!’ musical lands 11 Tony Noms; Chiwetel Ejiofor cast as Fela in biopic is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

• FELA! musical hits Broadway with rave reviews
• “Africa Rising” festival brings JAY-Z, Rihanna, Alek Wek to Nigeria & Washington DC
• Cultures collide: Souja Boy African Remix
• The Paris Hilton effect on Africa’s development
• Africans on TIME’s 100 most influential people list
• Africa’s wealth and consumerism draws big brands
• 42 country, 100 exhibit Africa Pavilion unveiled for 2010 Shanghai World Expo
• Celebrity colonization of Africa (infographic)
• NY African Film Festival opens, celebrates World Cup and independent Africa
• Notes from Columbia U’s 2010 Africa Economic Forum

One of  the most dynamic, engaging young creative talents coming out of the African continent recently is Ivorian photographer/creative director Paul Sika. After being introduced about a year ago by a mutual friend, I was impressed by his creative vision and passion. Paul’s use of color and juxtaposition of characters in his photo and video creations expose a new way of looking at contemporary African life, culture, and style. A true entrepreneur, Paul has put together an upcoming book titled “At The Heart Of Me …” featuring his intricate work and concepts. As I mentioned in my earlier post “Top 6 African business and culture trends to watch in 2010“, Paul Sika is one of the African creative class making an impact this year. For more about Paul Sika and his upcoming book, visit PaulSika.com

Trailer for the book “At The Heart Of Me …” by Paul Sika

CNN Inside Africa’s Isha Sesay talks to Ivorian photographer Paul Sika about his vibrant images, filled with eye-catching colors.

If you can’t see the videos above, go here to view

Africa in vibrant technicolor, Paul Sika talks to CNN is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

• NY African Film Festival opens, celebrates World Cup and independent Africa
• Hip-hop’s African ancestry at Odyssey Awards
• The Independent names 50 best African artists
• Trailer: When China met Africa (documentary)
• Microsoft chairman plots Africa’s tech revolution (video)
• Africa’s wealth and consumerism draws big brands
• Do we need an African version of Vogue Magazine?
• ‘Fela!’ musical lands 11 Tony Noms; Chiwetel Ejiofor cast as Fela in biopic
• 42 country, 100 exhibit Africa Pavilion unveiled for 2010 Shanghai World Expo
• Notes from Columbia U’s 2010 Africa Economic Forum

via mobihealthnews.com

Microsoft Chairman and philanthropist Bill Gates recently sat down at UC Berkeley to discuss the need for personal computers versus cell phones in so-called developing markets.

Bill Gates: Mobiles not PCs for global health in developing markets is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

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Radio Netherlands Worldwide features a short video on Africa’s digital revolution. The video, highlights the use of digital tools, online and mobile, by young Kenyans to bridge the learning and economic gap. A key observation when watching the video is the underlying shift from formal organized education to informal individual education as a result of Kenyan youth’s access to technological tools. Watch the feature below featuring Mark Kamau of Nairobits and John Karanja of Whive.

Nairobi is buzzing! There is an energetic and innovative vibe in the city. A young generation has risen to take matters into their own hands.

ALSO WATCH
CNBC Africa: East Africa Business Report on Social Media from Moses Kemibaro on Vimeo

If you can’t see the videos above go here to view

Africa’s digital revolution (video) is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

• Growth and spending of African consumers (video)
• Designer Ozwald Boateng on dressing President Obama and his Made in Africa wealth initiative
• Obama and Hillary Clinton visits a boom or bust for African business
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A few weeks ago, I was honored to be invited to Harvard University to give a short talk and participate in the  Rebranding Africa through the Youth panel as part of their Africa Focus series. The panel was a lively, collaborative one with both panelists and attendees providing perspectives on the topic. As a follow-up, I’ve put together a slide deck of my prep notes and am sharing here. Hopefully, the presentation embedded below will allow those who couldn’t attend the event a chance to join in and continue the conversation here and elsewhere. Feel free to download and share the presentation. You can contact me here or on Twitter (@GKofiAnnan) for further info or to discuss. Thanks to the Harvard team, especially Essie Yamoah and Julia Mensah, for having me up.

African youth and the African brand (presentation) is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

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50 African nations and the African Union will present their interpretations of the “Better City, Better Life” theme in Shanghai, China at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo running May 1 to October 31. Along with a number of other countries, African governments and businesses will exhibit at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo in efforts to showcase tourism and trade potential. Of the 50 African nations exhibiting, 42 have joined forces to build the Joint-Africa Pavilion, a 22.6 thousand square meters (243,264.38 sq. ft) exhibit hall with individual country exhibition areas and over 100 exhibits from Africa. Located near a main entrance of the expo, construction for the Joint-Africa Pavilion began in August 2008, and is developed in part with investment money from a $100-million fund set up by the organizers of the expo for the over 100 participating developing countries participating. The remaining 8 African countries exhibiting, including South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria, will rent their own separate pavilions.

The Joint African Pavilion consists of exhibitions provided by 42 African countries including Angola, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Zambia, and Sudan. The Pavilion embraces the theme of “The Great Ballad of Africa”. It aims to represent the cultural diversity, solidarity, and the rosy future of the African countries. Welcoming visitors at the entrance of the Pavilion is “Lucy”, a 3-and-a-half million year old fossil of a female hominid. She was discovered in Ethiopia in 1974.” - CCTV

Of the 191 countries participating in the World Expo in Shanghai, most are investing record amounts to build pavilions., Most world governments will be providing the bulk of investment, with heads of state promising to make special appearances. In an effort to solidify Shanghai as a global city, China itself is spending $4.2 billion on transforming the world’s fair to a blowout extravaganza, surpassing it’s recent efforts on producing the Beijing Olympics. “Compared with the Olympics, the expo will have a richer culture,” said Zhu Yonglei, deputy director-general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination. “It will be more interesting.” An extimated 70 million visitors from the public and private sectors, civil society, international organizations and others will attend the Shanghai World Expo, making it the largest World Expo in history.

More images of the Joint-Africa Pavilion available here and here.

Video: Joint African Pavilion unveils design

Video: South Africa at World Expo

If you can’t see the videos above go here to view

42 country, 100 exhibit Africa Pavilion unveiled for 2010 Shanghai World Expo is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

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CNN’s Inside Africa recently aired a series of features on the growing global demand for contemporary art. View the 3 parts of the feature below.

Part 1

Johannesburg Contemporary Art Fair
The Johannesburg Art Fair recently showcased the works of 400 African contemporary artists, attracting more than 10,000 visitors. – CNN Inside Africa

PART 2

First US-based commercial art auction dedicated solely to contemporary African art
Auction house Bonhams’ recent ‘Africa Now’ auction in New York was first commercial auction dedicated solely to contemporary African art in the United States

Part 3

Ghana’s ancient beads back in vogue
A new generation of Ghanaians are rediscovering their heritage — and rediscovering the appeal of traditional beads – CNN Inside Africa

If you can’t view the videos above go here to watch

African contemporary art having a global renaissance (videos) is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

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