Annansi Chronicles

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)

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

Trained as a visual communicator, I have always held communication in the highest regard. Communication, to me, is at the center of everything we do, especially in today’s world. Whether you are an individual or an organization, it is most important to be able to communicate your ideas and be a part of conversations which, through the growth of technology are already shaping the world we live in. No-one is immune from the power of the conversations today. Through the advances in technology the playing field is being leveled in all industries, and it is most important for Africa to understand and take advantage of the change. For years we’ve struggled to be heard both at home and abroad and participate in the conversations which determine the development of our communities. But today, we are faced with the opportunities to broadcast our own conversations and chime in on others. Never before have we been given the opportunity to directly affect others a world away. And never before have the major players been so focused on the every-day person’s opinion for direction. As individuals we wield a great power, and how we communicate and build on conversations is more important than it ever was. The new book “The Age of Conversation” taps some of the most brilliant thinkers in today’s conversation-driven world. I have authored a chapter titled From Aid to Opportunity: Afri-Activism transitions into a new consumer market. You can read more about the book “The Age of Conversation” in the new Books & Products area of this site or at AgeOfConversation.com. Buy the book as an e-book, a paperback, or a hardcover at Lulu.com/ageofconversation. 100% of the profits from the book will go to a children’s charity.

We live in a celebrity-powered society. I don’t like it, but it’s the truth. Whoever said everyone will get their 15 minutes of fame, was way off. It seems like the expiration date on fame is being extended longer and longer. Fame in itself is not a bad thing, however, the individualism, it comes with in today’s society is another story. With all the reality show mania and with reputable organizations paying talentless people like Paris Hilton ridiculous amounts of money for an appearance, the American culture of celebrity and individualism is playing an even bigger role in how and where money is spent in business. But if this the nature of the world we live in, where do Africans, and our culture of community and modesty, fit in?

Certainly all African’s are not so modest. However, our definition of celebrity and entitlement is definitely different from the West. Many would argue that the American definition of celebrity is based on fantasy while the African definition is based on reality. Where western celebrities are celebrated apart from the community, African celebrities are celebrated for their effect within the community. Is either definition right or wrong? Who knows, but when one dominates the other in global influence, a problem arises.