Category: Business

3 reasons WeChat, Chinas biggest app, hasn’t taken over globally

Fast Company reports: There are a lot of market-specific reasons if you do a deep dive. But broadly…there are three big mistakes Tencent made with WeChat in its overseas expansion, and—not coincidentally—they’re mistakes that Chinese companies make a lot when they launch internationally. Late to expand internationally #China-first approach Poor localization Read more on Fast…
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Brazil’s luxury consumers are weary

The #Business of Fashion reports: …while Louis Vuitton’s Cruise 2017 runway extravaganza last weekend seemed to suggest otherwise, make no mistake: the current state of affairs in Brazil is having a serious effect on the country’s appetite for luxury goods. “Nobody knows what’s going to happen here politically — that’s the truth. It’s a very strange…
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Is Africa “impoverished” or “rising”? The competing media perspectives

Journalism Professor Suzanne Franks writes: In more recent years it looks as if the single story has shifted gear. Instead of the relentless negative image of suffering and impoverished victims there is a new narrative, ‘Africa Rising’. Suddenly the continent is brimming with mobile phones and energetic businesses. In May 2000 there was a famous…
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Nigeria & Kenya consumers fueling African music sector

Billboard magazine writes: PricewaterhouseCoopers has forecast consumer spending on recorded music revenues to hit $43 million and $19 million for Nigeria and Kenya respectively this year. Both markets are undergoing shifts also seen elsewhere in the world, meaning digital gains will roughly offset physical losses. PwC expects Nigeria’s physical market to decline $3 million to…
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Nigerian internet usage skyrockets. Government begins smart cities initiative

Ventures Africa reports Nigeria’s Ministry of Communications Technology has initiated a Smart States initiative aimed at reducing Right of Way (RoW) fees and standardizing state levies and taxes on information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure. By eliminating arbitrary charges and eradicating multiple taxations across the country, the initiative is expected to spur infrastructural development across…
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Africa Trends Roundup: Internet-Anywhere, Smart cities, & Jobs creation

Getting insights from the noisy coverage of Africa can be very hard. We’ve sifted through all the news and views and identified these recent stories which more accurately indicate what Africa’s cultural, and business ecosystems might look like in the near future. Read on and continue to stay one step ahead. Made In Kenya, Assembled…
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Business success in Africa is all about relationships

Carlo Regueiras, Africa Sales Manager at Altech ISIS explains: Despite the fact that doing business in Africa has changed significantly over the past few years with the continent’s business environment maturing, there are still many continent- and country-specific adaptations that are required for a company to be successful. The only way to achieve an effective…
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Kenya’s Billion-Dollar Dash to Become the Tech Hub of Africa

Bloomberg reports: Nairobi, Kenya has become the tech hub of Africa, a niche that could be worth more than one billion dollars to the country in the next three years despite its 40% unemployment rate. Kenya is throwing all their eggs in the tech basket as they build a multi-billion dollar infrastructure in the form…
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Trailer: When China met Africa (documentary)

‘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.…
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Western Union partners with M-Pesa for international mobile money transfers

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…
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