Annansi Chronicles

Being the No. 4 sporting-goods brand is tough. But Puma is betting that backing African football (soccer to Americans) will differentiate the brand and win it a significant increase in market share. Continuing with the company’s commitment to African football made during the 2006 World Cup Games, Puma put some serious resources together for product and marketing efforts behind the 2008 African Cup of Nations held recently in Ghana. As a sponsor for 9 out of the 16 African teams, including tournament hosts Ghana and champions Egypt, Puma worked hard to make the brand synonymous with African football, even going so far as buying the Ghana team a top-of-the-line Mercedes-Benz bus for transport between matches. The company began it’s Cup of Nations efforts with a sponsorship deal for Eurosport’s live coverage of the games and then a press conference at the brand new Puma store in Ghana’s Accra Mall. The press conference was held to announce several activities on the ground during the tournament, including a youth exhibition game co-hosted by the Peace One Day charity and edun Live and featuring African football legends Roger Milla and Anthony Yeboah.

A few months ago I asked for votes for a panel idea I had proposed for the upcoming South by SouthWest (SXSW) Interactive Festival. Well I’m happy to announce that with the support of many bloggers and readers, the Africa 2.0 panel has been chosen as part of the schedule for the upcoming SXSW Festival. Taking place on March 9, 2008, the Africa 2.0 panel will bring together a group of African professionals who are all using technology in innovative ways. The panelists for what might be the only Africa-focused panel during the festival will be:
• Erik Hersman (WhiteAfrican.com, AfriGadget.com)
• Uduak Oduok (Ladybrille.com)
• Nii Simmonds (Nubian Cheetah)
• Chosan (Silverstreetz Entertainment)

As the moderator, I will be leading a discussion on how technology is being used to affect change in Africa. The panelists will be discussing how technology factors into efforts in different industries including fashion, entertainment, finance, and marketing. For a perfect example of how technology can affect change in Africa, visit Ushahidi, a collaborative effort by African bloggers to report on the election-provoked crisis currently taking place in Kenya.

• Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie bought Ethiopia. (Not the African country itself, but the island which represents Ethiopia in Dubai’s island phenomenon The World)
• American general seeks to play down fears over new Africa command. (Uhhh… sure. No worries.)
  
• Africa’s nuclear hopes. (Could this be the solution to the electricity shortages?)
  
• MTV begins Africa Music Awards (Viacom knows where the money is)
• More (RED)washing at The Gap (African charity still gets consumers in the retail door)
• Gucci’s African charity Indy bag drops (holidays + African charity = $$$$)
• India eyes Africa to meet rising energy needs (African’s need to refine and accelerate our business models)
• First black (Nigerian) mayor elected in Ireland (A Nigerian Irish mayor. Wow!)

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)

Here’s a good opportunity for African creatives to get some real world projects under their belt:
The African Leadership Academy, a world-class boarding school opening outside Johannesburg, South Africa on September 2008, has launched a pan-African design competition to solicit designs for the Academy’s inaugural school uniform. The competition is open to individual students or groups of students between the ages of 12 and 20 all across Africa. The best design will be decided by an international panel which will include world-renowned African fashion designers, and the winner will be commemorated with a plaque at the Academy. The first round runs until the 15th of November.

For more information about the competition visit the ALA website.

The 3rd edition of the The Carnival of African Enterprising has launched at the White African blog. As with the previous installments, this edition highlights some of the best posts from the African business/entrepreneurship blogosphere. Head over to White African to check out top posts from 5 of Africa’s top blogging/business talent, with a bonus addition from Annansi Chronicles (Big Thanks to Hash).To find out more about the ongoing carnival go here. Special thanks to Benin Mwangi for organizing everything.

I was catching up on some of my favorite African bloggers and thought I’d share some of their inspiring ideas. Here are some good posts from some very insightful African bloggers:

• Why the African Digerati Can Make a Difference by White African
• Old and new states of women’s rights in Africa by Sokari
• The tragedy of innovation: how brilliant ideas are criminalised by Whythawk
• Rethinking Our National Garb… by Omodudu
• Interview With South Africa’s Top Fashion Insider, Renato Palmi by Ladybrille
• Oh Françafrique! by Jen Brea
• Experts Trade Views on US of Africa with Benin Mwangi by Benin Mwangi
• AIDS and the abstinence debate in Uganda - Video by Afromusing
• The news we share: water in Darfur by Ethan Zuckerman
• in the media: What to invest in by AfricaIncorp
• African Content Projects by Kenyan Pundit

Forbes Magazine has put together a list of the “Top Earning Models in the World” according to estimated earnings over the past 12 months. Ranking at #11 is 29-year-old Ethiopian beauty, Liya Kebede, with $2.5 million earned. A ground-breaker best known as the first black model in Estée Lauder’s history, Ms. Kebede, though not as high-profile as her counterparts, has maintained a successful career appearing in campaigns for brands as diverse as H&M, the Gap, Anne Taylor and Givenchy.

Top models like those on our list still bank millions, but only once a multiyear contract is secured. The days of $10,000 runway fees are over. Top models don’t even do runway. It’s considered an internship process for the hundreds of anonymous 15- and 16-year-old foreign girls who swarm the runways of New York, Paris and Milan each season. They do 70 shows in six weeks and are paid about $250 an hour their first season.

A good hardworking model can make $200,000 a season. But chances are that model, once the season is over, will never be seen or heard from again. - Forbes