Tag: Charity

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Africa’s next chapter convenes at TEDGlobal 2007

Chris Anderson and Emeka Okafor at TEDGlobalOne of the most important events for Africa’s technology, entertainment, and design industry development, TEDGlobal 2007, is in full swing in Arusha, Tanzania. Coming from vacation I have been reinvigorated by all the developments coming out of this seminal event. Now in it’s 3rd day, the conference has already given me more than enough insight into innovative ideas behind Africa’s next chapter. With all the information and idea sharing at this event, the African blogosphere is sure to be fueled for a long time to come. Below are some important resources for keeping up to date with the happenings in Tanzania. I’ll be watching and listening closely as I hope you all are.

Live updates:
Soyapi Mumba is Twittering TEDGlobal
Ethan Zuckerman of My Heart’s in Accra is live-blogging

Other bloggers at TEDGlobal 2007:
TEDFellow Erik Hersman, of White African
TEDFellow Rafiq Phillips at WebAddiCT
DNA
David McQueen
Africa Beat, by Jennifer Brea
Bankalele
Mental Acrobatics
AfroMusing
TEDFellow Mweshi
TEDFellow Fran Osseo-Asare, of Betumi: The African Food Network
TEDFellow Soyapi Mumba
TEDFellow Ramon Thomas, of NETucation
Ndesanjo Macha, who writes Digital Africa, in English, and Jikomboe, in Swahili
Fifthculture
Ellen Horne at Radio Lab in Tanzania
ClassV
Sam Ritchie
Harinjaka (in French)
Kenyan Pundit, by TED Conference speaker and blogger Ory Okolloh
Timbuktu Chronicles, by TEDGlobal conference director Emeka Okafor
and of course you can get official updates at the TED blog site

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Commerce & charity? Annansi asks Russell Simmons

Inc Magazine June 2007While catching up on my culture and business news, I came across the June 2007 Inc Magazine feature with a brief (1 question, 1 answer) Q&A between myself and entrepreneur/mogul/author Russell Simmons. The Q&A focuses on one of my favorite topics : mixing charity and commerce in business. As I’ve mentioned here before, I admire Mr. Simmons’ ability to constantly mix the two, even though I don’t always agree with his choices. Mr. Simmons’ answer is quite insightful. Read the short Q&A in the new issue of Inc Magazine in bookstores or online here.

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Inspiring the journey

FastCompany.com: Sibusiso Vilane climbs MT Everest
The main reason I began this blog was to provide inspiration for those people who see the success of Africa as a success for us all. I for one find inspiration in hearing about Africans who are making an impact in the world we live in. Here are two people who are doing what others seem to think is impossible:

Thanks to Benin and John for the inspiration. A good way to start the week.

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Changing “Brand Africa”, an International Trade Forum magazine feature

International Trade Forum magazine: Changing The recent issue of the quarterly magazine International Trade Forum, published by the International Trade Centre (ITC), has some great articles on the cover story Changing “Brand Africa”. The online edition of the print publication, delves into the different areas that the ITC sees are integral in re-branding Africa through trade. Of particular interest is the In Pictures: Changing “Brand Africa” article which touches on various areas where change is occurring on the continent. The areas are A Stronger Role for Women, Services: A World of Potential, Upgrading Traditional Products, and Foundations for Prosperity. Articles titled Made in Africa, Investment in Africa: The Challenges Ahead, Facts & Figures: Africa’s Trade, and ITC’s Programme for Africa, join the In Pictures: Changing “Brand Africa” article, in what looks to be a promising, growing informational feature. The site says, “The articles below, from ITC, UNCTAD and IMF contributors, are the first in the series of stories on Changing “Brand Africa” that will be featured on this site.”

In tourist offices, the most frequent images of Africa are those of safari animals. In the news, the tragedy of several conflicts lingers. On film screens, African conflict diamonds take centre stage in a Hollywood movie.
This image of Africa does not reflect its economic diversity, entrepreneurial aspirations or the optimism that goes with rising investment, growth and greater stability. “Brand Africa” is in need of a change if Africa is to take its rightful place in world markets.

Check out the site features here, and you can also order the print publication. The International Trade Forum magazine focuses on trade promotion and export development, as part of ITC’s technical cooperation programme with developing countries and economies in transition. The magazine is published quarterly in English, French and Spanish.

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Africans on TIME’s 100 most influential people list

Youssou Ndour TIME influentials 2007TIME magazine has released it’s annual picks of the 100 most influential men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world. The list is broken up into groups of Artists & Entertainers, Scientists & Thinkers, Leaders & Revolutionaries, Builders & Titans, Heroes & Pioneers. Here are the Africans who made TIME 100 most influential people list. The African country represented and the categories they appear in are in parentheses.

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From aid to opportunity in the conversation age

Sometimes, I wonder why I do it to myself. Over the past couple of years, I’ve developed a pension for trying to do more with little. Maybe it’s because I feel guilty for partying my college years away or maybe because I really believe that I’d rather do it all while I’m still young(ish) so I can bask in the African sun sooner than later. But at times like this when my days are filled with family and work-related deadlines, I feel the most energized. And as I meet each deadline, I feel a sense of accomplishment.
In my 1 week absence from posting here, I finally finished my chapter for the Conversation Age e-book. I planned to write about “the Age of African conversations” but as I put pen to paper, the focus of the chapter began to shift. I never realized how little 400 words were and how difficult it is to put all your thoughts into one paragraph (I DO tend to be long-winded). I’ve gotten used to writing here on Annansi Chronicles, and writing for my own business materials (mission statements, press releases, business plan etc.), but writing for a book is a lot harder. And to think I was looking to get into authoring soon. So after the 10th edit, late nights collecting my thoughts, and numerous discussions with members of the debate team AKA the Annan family, I’ve settled on penning a piece tentatively titled “From aid to opportunity: Afri-activism transitions into a new consumer market”. If you can’t tell from the title, the chapter is about how, if approached through conversation with Africans, the Africa aid movement can and does help develop the African consumer market. The chapter has been signed, sealed, and delivered to the two publishers, however I would like to hear your opinion on the topic anyway. Can Afri-activism – strategies where a person, group, or company engages Africa through aid and charity – be used to grow the African market? Is it too weighted in negative presumptions to allow market growth?

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This week in African Style 4/14 – 4/20/07

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Poll: Does everyone know more about Africa?

Madonna in Malawi againOver 20 years ago, 1985 to be exact, an all-star list of artists – Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Al Jarreau, The Pointer Sisters, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, and Lionel Richie among others – got together to “raise funds to help famine relief efforts in Ethiopia”. Named USA for Africa, the group recorded the colossal hit “We Are the World” and performed the song as part of Bob Geldof‘s televised Live Aid concert. That was the beginning of the Africactivism movement. Some would say one of the biggest problems with the movement at that time was it fed into the image of Africans as helpless people in a country (Africa) which was overrun with famine and starvation. It’s been quite a few years now and with all the talk about Product RED (Bono), Darfur (George Clooney), young girls’ education (Oprah Winfrey), adoption (Angelina Jolie, Madonna), blood diamonds (Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou), and water shortage (Jay-Z’s Water for Life), I thought it would be a good time to take a survey on how Africa is viewed compared to 20 years ago. Please take a moment to cast your vote in the poll located in the sidebar to the right.

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This week in African Style 4/7 – 4/13/07

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The Age of African Conversations

Conversation Age graphicI don’t consider myself a writer or even a journalist, but I will admit that I am opinionated and prone to debate. If anyone ever spends any time with my family you’ll notice that we constantly get into debates, some outsiders say we like to debate for the sake of it. That may be so, but so far that attitude of challenging the things even I know are normal has kept me going for this long so why stop now. A large part of what I enjoy about a good debate is the conversations that are spawned from the different sides. As the old saying goes “Opinions are like A**holes, everybody’s got one”. And the fun of blogging or writing for that matter is sharing your opinion as part of the larger conversations that ultimately can change the world around you.

When I heard about Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton‘s efforts to create a collaborative e-book titled “The Conversation Age” I jumped at the opportunity to lend an African perspective to the project. As Gavin puts it “Far from seeing an implosion, we are living in a time of proliferation — ideas build upon ideas, discussion grows from seeds of thought and single headlines give rise to a thousand medusa-like simulations echoing words whispered somewhere on the other side of the planet. All this — in an instant.” And that is the idea behind the Conversation Age and the e-book which I will be contributing a chapter to. Having never written much beyond this blog, this will be my first entrance into a formal writing project and from the list of current contributors, I’m in great company. So in the next few weeks I’ll be racking my brains coming up with 400 words to express my opinion on what the conversation age means to our growing African community. If you would like to contribute to “The Conversation Age” project please email Drew before the end of day tomorrow (Wednesday, April 11th) with your topic. “The Conversation Age” will be dedicated to fellow blogger CK‘s mother who passed away last week while 100% of the proceeds from the book will go to Variety the Children’s Charity – which serves children across the entire globe. All submissions are due by April 30th.

Update: Here is the final list of contributors to the “Conversation Age” ebook. You might not recognize some of the names but these are definitely authors worth reading.
Gavin Heaton

Drew McLellan

CK

Valeria Maltoni

Emily Reed

Katie Chatfield

Greg Verdino

Mack Collier

Lewis Green

Sacrum

Ann Handley

Mike Sansone

Paul McEnany

Roger von Oech

Anna Farmery

David Armano

Bob Glaza

Mark Goren

Matt Dickman

Scott Monty

Richard Huntington

Cam Beck

David Reich

Mindblob (Luc)

Sean Howard

Tim Jackson

Patrick Schaber

Roberta Rosenberg

Uwe Hook

Tony D. Clark

Todd Andrlik

Toby Bloomberg

Steve Woodruff

Steve Bannister

Steve Roesler

Stanley Johnson

Spike Jones

Nathan Snell

Simon Payn

Ryan Rasmussen

Ron Shevlin

Roger Anderson

Bob Hruzek

Rishi Desai

”Phil Gerbyshak

Peter Corbett

Pete Deutschman

Nick Rice

Nick Wright

Mitch Joel

Michael Morton

Mark Earls

Mark Blair

Mario Vellandi

Lori Magno

Kristin Gorski

Krishna De

Kris Hoet

Kofi Annan

Kimberly Dawn Wells

Karl Long

Julie Fleischer

Jordan Behan

John La Grou

Joe Raasch

Jim Kukral

Jessica Hagy

Janet Green

Jamey Shiels

Dr. Graham Hill

Gia Facchini

Geert Desager

Gaurav Mishra

Gary Schoeniger

Gareth Kay

Faris Yakob

Emily Clasper

Ed Cotton

Dustin Jacobsen

Tom Clifford

David Pollinchock

David Koopmans

David Brazeal

David Berkowitz

Carolyn Manning

Craig Wilson

Cord Silverstein

Connie Reece

Colin McKay

Chris Newlan

Chris Corrigan

Cedric Giorgi

Brian Reich

Becky Carroll

Arun Rajagopal

Andy Nulman

Amy Jussel

AJ James

Kim Klaver

Sandy Renshaw

Susan Bird

Ryan Barrett

Troy Worman