Africa Enterprising articles part 2
The second edition of the Africa Enterprising blog carnival has been published on African Loft. The carnival features some very engaging content from many of the African blogging community The posts touch on topics such as trade vs aid in Africa, entrepreneurship in Africa, business and investment in Africa, and universal business tenets. Head over to Imnakoya’s African Loft for links to an inspiring collection of ideas.
The Conversation gets louder
As you all might remember I recently co-authored a dynamic book called The Age of Conversation. Based on the concept of how new communication tools facilitate conversations and shape communities, the book features multiple authors’ insights. I’ve gotten word that the book will be available for purchase a week from today with a special cover design by David Armano. Here are the particulars with more info to come real soon:
Launch date: Monday, July 16th
Formats/Prices:
Hardbacks $29.99
Paperbacks $16.95
E-book $9.99
Authors:
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, Luc Debaisieux, 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, Robert Hruzek, Rishi Desai, Phil Gerbyshak, Peter Corbett, Pete Deutschman, Nick Rice, Nick Wright, Michael Morton, Mark Earls, Mark Blair, Mario Vellandi, Lori Magno, Kristin Gorski, Kris Hoet, G.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 Polinchock, 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, S. Neil Vineberg
Who’s doing business in Africa?, Trade Forum Magazine update
Not long ago I highlighted a feature in Trade Forum magazine called “Changing Brand Africa”. It turns out they’ve updated their site with a new section called “Who’s Doing Business in Africa?”. The new section complements the previous feature with six new stories:
- Creating an African Business Superpower
- Rwandan Coffee Goes from Ordinary to Star(bucks)
- CSR(Corporate social responsibility): A Must for Big Firms in Africa
- New Markets for an Ancient Heritage
- CyberTrackers of the Kalahari
- Tunisia’s Boom in ICT (Information and Communications Technology)
In all, the six sections give a well rounded view of the various opportunities to do business on the continent. A good read.
The articles below are a collection of inspirational models that reflect the new “Brand Africa.” It is the second in the series of stories about Changing “Brand Africa” to be featured on the Trade Forum site.
From an African media mogul in South Africa, we go to the founder of a home furnishings firm in Ethiopia. A coffee supplier outlines Rwanda’s rapid improvement as a coffee producer, and a Tunisian businessman shows how his country is embracing information and communications technology with a passion. We also look at trends in corporate social responsibility, a “must†for businesses, as practiced at Shell, and at how modern technology used by bushmen opens new job opportunities. – Trade Forum Magazine
Hip-hop’s African ancestry at Odyssey Awards
Last Saturday I attended the 5th Annual Hip-Hop Odyssey (H2O) Awards, held at BB Kings in New York City. Organized by the Hip-Hop Association, the awards ceremony recognized today’s hottest Hip-Hop filmmakers, industry professionals and pioneers. The event always features appearances and performances by Hip-Hop heavyweights. This year’s event, as usual, was packed with many of the individuals who have played a major part in shaping the hip-hop landscape including, artist/entrepreneur/hip-hop personality Fab 5 Freddy (that’s him in the picture standing in front of me as we listen to DJ Beverly Bond speak about YO! MTV Raps’ late producer Ted Demme), Ice-T (who gave an excellent acceptance speech about staying true to oneself), Dana Dane, Grand Wizard Theodore, (Dr.) Roxanne Shante, Ralph McDaniels (Video Music Box), The Cold Crush Brothers, Chubb Rock and much more.
One thing I’ve always enjoyed about the awards and the preceding H2O International Film Festival, is how the organizers (Martha Diaz, Rolando Brown etc) make a conscious effort to show the influence of African (and international) cultures on the growth of America’s hip-hop/urban culture. A few years back, besides the performance by the Nomadic Wax Global Hip-hop All-stars’ Chosan (Sierra Leone) , Eli Efi (Brazil) , and El Gambina (Korea), the festival grand prize went to Hip-Hop Colony, a film about the African hip-hop explosion – now on DVD. This year Hip-Hop Colony’s Kenyan director, Michael Wanguhu, was on hand to present an award. To further encourage the hip-hop generation to connect with Africa, this year’s awards was sponsored by and involved a presentation by popular DNA lineage identification company African Ancestry Inc. Some of you might remember that African Ancestry Inc. was the company behind VH1’s Spike Lee-directed February (Black History month) spot which promoted a stronger connection between African-Americans and the African continent through DNA swab testing. African Ancestry’s President, Gina Paige, was on hand at this year’s H2O Awards ceremony to present the evening’s host, Paul Mooney, with his personal DNA test results. Upon revealing that Paul Mooney’s lineage goes back to Guinea-Bissau (I don’t remember which specific ethnic group was cited), Gina Paige presented Mr. Mooney with a folder containing the details of the tests as well as a t-shirt with a Guinea-Bissau logo. A very nice touch.
African Ancestry offers a great solution for African-Americans looking to re-connect with their African heritage. With the DNA procedure gaining popularity and support from African-American celebrities like Oprah, Whoopi Goldberg, LeVar Burton, Chris Tucker, Chris Rock, and Isaiah Washington – who also holds a seat on African Ancestry’s Board of Directors -, and media outlets from ABC’s Good Morning America to PBS championing the efforts, African Ancestry has already begun to solidify the link between African-American and African cultures.
Top African-American talent plan trip to African Union Summit, Ghana
On Friday, June 15th, some of Hollywood’s most influential African-American talent got together at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, California for a panel discussion on promoting African-American interest in Africa. The meeting also served to organize a trip to attend the 9th Annual African Union Summit in Ghana next week. The gathering was organized by designer Ozwald Boateng, and included Jamie Foxx, Chris Tucker, Mos Def, Herbie Hancock, James Mathis, and Isaiah Washington – whose Gondobay Manga Foundation was started after he discovered that he is genetically linked to Sierra Leone’s Mende people. During the African Union Summit, held in Ghana from 25 June – 3 July 2007, 50 influential African-Americans will meet with the 53 attending African presidents to discuss the continent’s future. The African Union Summit’s ultimate goal is of full political and economic integration leading to the United States of Africa. It’s good to see African-Americans playing an active part in planning Africa’s future.
Africa’s next chapter convenes at TEDGlobal 2007
One 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
Vogue, Keira Knightley donate food & Louis Vuitton to African elephant’s rehab
The concept for the June 2007 Vogue magazine cover story is a diary of British actress Keira Knightley’s “vacation in Africa” – more specifically Kenya. While the idea was probably someone’s eureka moment for an interesting feature, the resulting shoot and story is another re-hashing of Out of Africa. The fashion blogosphere has taken issue with one image in particular where the actress is photographed feeding a baby elephant which has been draped with a leather Louis Vuitton blanket.
After lunch at the Giraffe Manor, a hotel near Nairobi where giraffes roam the grounds, Keira donned a chic gray Bottega Veneta frock to visit the baby elephants at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Mbagathi, the only successful project in the world at rehabilitating orphaned elephants into the wild. Her diary entry for that day reads, “Today everyone tried to catch the baby elephants so we could put Louis Vuitton blankets on their backs. I’ve never seen anything more brilliantly stupid. I hope Louis Vuitton like it; they should definitely give the elephant a modeling contract.” – via Style.com
The fashion spread also includes a photo of the actress “roughing it” with some Maasai herdsmen- how original -, and some other shots of Ms. Knightley living out her rugged Africa dreams (circa 1910). I know Vogue is not the most progressive magazine, however you’d think that with all the resources they have the editors can find a creative way to tie in the Africa theme. They could have at least hired a photographer like Andrew Dosunmu, Marc Baptiste, or Stanley Lumax to lend their unique talent to the idea. But it just goes to prove how the perspective of Africa in popular culture is so limited. We can say that the editors at Vogue are at fault but, the true failure of the whole feature is with the Africans involved in the shoot who perhaps felt they had no choice but to offer their resources up to strengthen an image of Africa which ultimately would limit their ability to grow out of the early 1900’s image of the continent. This is why I place so much weight on the shoulders of those of us who live and work abroad to act as ambassadors and communicate our experiences constantly. One might say that the Vogue spread is just poor execution, however, the underlying theme is the real problem. The campaign to re-brand Africa has to take place both on the continent and abroad in order for it to be a success. It’s a tough job but the alternative is worse.
more images via imnotobsessed
Age, authority and why Africans wear suits
Respect is deeply rooted in African cultures. We’re taught to refer to anyone who is older than us as “auntie” or ‘uncle”, regardless of whether they are even related to you. In the past it was understood that your “uncle” or “auntie” had years of experience and knowledge over you; that translated into respect and authority. When an elder spoke you didn’t argue or question him/her. You, as the younger person, were regulated to taking the elder person on their word. But somewhere along the line that authority model has become one of Africa’s biggest problems. More and more, as we are inundated with information at a younger age, we begin to question authority. Soon a “Because I said so” is not enough in the household. We begin to ask that people prove themselves before we respect them and grant authority. In societies which are individual-centered technology’s effect on the relationship between the older and younger generations is not as drastic; but in African societies where respect for your elders, to this day, is ingrained in all facets of our lives, the barrage of information has created a serious rift between the generations. There is a large communication gap between the older Africans who are used to age and respect-based authority and the younger Africans who are beginning to ask a lot of questions about our current society. In various African communities it’s a standoff of sorts between the older generation who still remember pre-independence Africa and are insistent on the idea of a 3-piece suit and the authority they should get because of it, and a younger generation who believes that the suit doesn’t make the man, the man makes the suit. Unfortunately our understanding on respect and authority is caught between multiple worlds. And that is reflected in the bureaucracy that stunts many African nations’ growth. How do we maintain our values and traditions of respect and authority and use our knowledge to rid ourselves of the practices that are preventing us from moving forward?
Five tactics for selling Africa-based products to non-Africans
I’ve been having discussions about the difficulties of selling African products to non-Africans for years. As I mentioned in my post about African affluence, and Benin expanded upon in his post on advertisers ignoring Africa, there are many hurdles that come with proving the worth of an Africa-focused product of service, especially when it comes to non-Africans. But while many of us can certainly make a good living selling our products to Africans alone, there is also a need to introduce the non-African market to those same products. While I certainly don’t feel all African companies have to pursue non-African customers, there is a strong market for bridge products outside the continent. I’ve compiled 5 tactics that I’ve used in the past in approaching a non-African customer with my products. I use the term non-African consumer/customer, to refer to consumers/customers who would not otherwise engage an African product or service in their everyday life. While some products might not be the most culturally traditional, it is an easier sell to Africans than it is to non-Africans. Keep in mind though, that a product or service cannot be everything to everyone. Look at the Gap’s recent identity crisis and sales slump. If you are thinking about selling to non-African customers here are five tactics that might help.
1. Assume you’re entering hostile territory. Get ammunition.
Just because you are willing to share your African culture and heritage doesn’t mean others are willing to buy into it. They might not even think your product has any relevance to their normal product buying patterns. Instead of arguing why they should embrace a new culture, convince them of how your product fills a need they might already have. Do as much research on the customer’s buying patterns and look for gaps that your product can fill. Research, research, research.
2. Target culture bridge builders first.
A good way of adding non-Africans to your customer pool is to first identify and target cultural bridge builders. Take a look at your customer database ( I assume you have one) and pick out those non-African customers who have already bought your products. Invariably, those non-Africans are people who are already familiar with Africa beyond what they see on the news, and many times they are eager to share their culturally diverse knowledge with others who might not be familiar. With a little research you can find ways of building up that customer base and empowering them to convince other non-Africans why and how to adopt your product.
3. Connect the dots with familiar non-African products.
A large part of the process when it comes to selling African products to non-African consumers is convincing them your product is not so foreign. Many times new customers will resist your product based on unfamiliarity. It’s up to you to guide them into familiar waters, and one way of doing that is to compare your product to a more familiar product. While many of us entrepreneurs like to believe our products or ideas are brand new, in this case, relying on the newness of your product can actually make it a harder sell. When introducing a product that is heavily reliant on cultures that are foreign to your potential target customers, it’s better to play up the similarities rather than the differences to products that are already being used. It takes knowing the pros and cons of your product and forming a relationship with the non-African consumer.
4. Assume nothing, Explain everything.
It seems like a no-brainer, but many entrepreneurs, myself included, get so caught up in our own world that we forget that not everyone is immersed in our product or industry as we are. And when it comes to Africa-related products, we run into a roadblock when we assume others are familiar with any of our cultural references. In my experience, the products that have been able to appeal to more than just Africans, are those that educate the customer then sell to them. If we can all agree that Africa and African cultures are misunderstood, then we should also know that before you get a non-African to buy, you must explain what references are being used. Many times the more you explain, the greater value your product has with the new customer also.
5. Customer service and quality breed sales.
One of the things I learned while working at the Four Seasons and the Hilton back in college, was Americans put a lot of stock in customer service and quality. Those who live in the US know what I’m talking about. The better your customer service, the more likely the customer will buy your product and recommend it to others. Again, your Africa-related product is fighting against strong stereotypes in the customer’s mind, so the more you strive to deliver excellent customer service and impeccable quality, the easier it will be to convince your growing customer base to trust you and your company. We cannot all be perfect, but sometimes a little attention to detail can go a long way.
Do you agree? Do have any tactics to add?