- 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 REALLY simple celebrity life
As much as we hate to believe it, Africa is still the charity case of choice for celebrities looking to get public sympathy. Time and time again the African brand gives instant credibility and humanizes the privileged and their brand image. With every case in the news I am reminded of how much work we still have to do to get to a point where the African brand means more than charity. As serious as the work may be, humor is always welcome. (via AfricaBeat)
Branding Africa with a new domain
As the the world goes online by the millions, the possibilities for domain names grows. The internet naming governing body, ICAAN, has been doing a good job so far of keeping up with the demands of online activity and creating standard practices. But while ICAAN considers the creation of non-english domains, Andrew Mack asks, “In a world of .com and .org, why not .Africa?”. Andrew raises a good point as the African continent attempts to attract investment; what better way to reach as many people as possible than organizing around a similar domain. From a business and tourism stand point I can see the .africa domain working as it will help foreign consumers identify services available within countries on the content. Imagine if there was a www.tourism.tz.africa for Tanzanian tourism information instead of the current www.tanzaniatouristboard.com. As Andrew points out, many southern African businesses have currently adopted the .za domain in an attempt to create an association with the strong South African economy and brand. But why not eliminate the regional segmentation and create a continental domain that would aggregate the strengths of the various economies. A .africa domain will also allow the centralization of many African content, business or otherwise, and more accurately reflect the size and depth of content about the continent strengthening the Africa’s brand image. So what do you think? What are the pros or cons of a .africa domain? Would you change your domain? Read more about the .africa efforts at www.dotafrica.blogspot.com.
Tanzania launches first ever US television campaign on CNN
Two weeks ago I attended the African Travel Association‘s Second Annual Presidential Forum on Tourism at New York University. The forum, organized by the ATA – a global travel trade association promoting tourism to Africa – and hosted by NYU’s Africa House, was put together to provide African leaders from Tanzania, Ghana, Cape Verde, Lesotho, Zambia, Malawi, and Rwanda with the opportunity to “present the continent’s rich travel opportunities to almost 200 leaders from government, non-government and business communities, the tourism industry, travel trade media, and education”. As we waited for the Presidents and representatives to arrive, I spoke to Maria Mmari, Tanzania’s Assistant Director of Tourism Development, who told me about her country’s efforts to encourage tourism. Ms. Mmari informed me that the week prior, Tanzania had launched it’s first ever television campaign “Tanzania: Land of Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar and The Serengeti†with an event at at Tavern on the Green. In line with the ATA’s 
current theme of promoting “Destination Africa“, Tanzania’s campaign focuses on positioning the nation as the home of some of Africa’s most recognized destinations, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar and the Serengeti, Speaking to Ms. Mmari, I got the feeling that the Tanzanian tourism board had the right idea about what steps to take to encourage American tourism. As Ali Velshi, CNN senior business correspondent, said during his presentation at forum, “American tourists are concerned with safety, reliable communications, stable governance, reliable banking, and luxury”, and African countries hoping to attract these high-spending tourists need to find ways of alleviating these fears. Though I haven’t yet seen Tanzania’s television spot on CNN, CNN Headline News, CNN Airport and CNN.com where it is currently running, I applaud the Tanzanian government for taking the steps to create a brand association for their country. I would encourage the tourism board to continue their efforts. It’s good to see that African governments are taking branding and marketing seriously. I’ve long argued that African countries needs to work on their brand image at the same time as it is working on it’s other problems. While everything might not be perfect on the ground, there is no reason not to start the process of repairing the global image and get interested parties involved in our successes early on.
Bradford Global Marketing, New York, is handling the campaign, which will run through the year-end holidays on CNN’s airport network. Placement also includes CNN’s “Headline News and CNN.com through next March and resumes again next fall. Budget was not disclosed. The outreach also will include on online training program to train travel agents as destination specialists. The U.S. is Tanzania’s No. 2 source market behind the U.K. More on the campaign at BrandWeek
African family adopts Britney’s kids!, Slate.com
Slate posts a hilarious story on a Malawian family’s adoption of Britney Spears’ children. A must read!
“Los Angeles, where the Federline children have been living, is one of the richest cities in the world, trapped in a seemingly endless cycle of depravity, narcissism, and veganism. Nearly 27 percent of the children in Los Angeles suffer the misfortune of having celebrity parents. Mr. and Mrs. M were stunned by the deplorable conditions these victims live in. Children are subject to verbal abuse via cell phone, and babies are dangled over balcony railings. “Fathers kill mothers, and then put out badly written books about it,” Mr. M said. “And the names these children must bear,” said Mrs. M. “Apple, Fifi Trixibell, Fuchsia, Moxie CrimeFighter, Pilot Inspektor, Sage Moonblood—what kind of future can these poor children have?” – Slate.com
Thanks to Afromusing for the link.
Annansi Notes: Fall Out Boy, Mandela, Clint Eastwood, African babies, Facebook in Kenya
- 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?)
Egypt, Ghana, Kenya among top 10 reformed business economies says World Bank report
The World Bank has released its annual ranking of the ease of doing business in 178 economies. The newly released Doing Business 2008 Project “provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 178 countries. The team works closely with thousands of professionals around the world”. While the report gives a worldwide view on where to do business within various categories including starting a business, registering property, and enforcing contracts, of particular interest are the economies which continue to rise by offering new incentives and steamlining business processes. Of the top 10 reformed economies for 2006/07, three African countries – Egypt, Ghana, and Kenya – show some serious potential. This is particularly good news for Ghana as it will attempt to raise $750m on the international market this Thursday by having the “first ever listing of Ghana’s sovereign bonds on the international capital market”. With a one week listing on the London Stock Exchange beginning Thursday, September 27th, Ghana will be only the second sub-Saharan African nation, after South Africa, to be allowed to issue bonds on the international market as a means of raising funds to finance national projects.
The Doing Business 2008 Report is a great starting point for individuals and companies looking to spread their wings and enter one of the many attractive emerging African markets. The Doing Business website offers in depth explanations as well as an interactive chart where users can specify their region of interest and sort data by business concerns.
Growing African film and African-American talent
In the years I’ve been lending my expertise to the growth of the African film industry I have gotten a chance to understand the complexities that exist behind the scenes. As a moviegoer, I’ve always detested the role Africa plays in film. Working behind the scenes, I have come to understand what drives the movie studios to continue to make these kinds of films. In trying to change the final product (movies), the studios’ bottom lines (financial rewards) plays a major part. Simply put, movie studios are have to see the possibilities of a financial reward in producing Africa-related films the “right way”. While I cannot say it’s an easy task, I am always inspired by the small changes I continue to see. In my opinion, one of the ways which will change the process of making African films for Western audiences is to tie the African film industry to the strong African-American film community. While the film industry at large struggles to make a return on the production costs, with blockbusters not making the numbers they used to, the African-American film community has a great opportunity to align with the African film community and continue to grow professionally and financially. But creativity and authenticity is the real key. One of the first of what is sure to be a slew of African-American/African film projects looks to be the film adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith’s bestselling book “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agencyâ€.
The NY Times gives some background about the efforts to make “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency†in Botswana. With a primarily African-American and African cast including Jill Scott, Idris Elba, and Anika Noni Rose, the film is an example of the African stories which can finance African growth, and breath new life into the American film industry while allowing African-American filmmakers to share in the possible successes.
…in the end the government of Botswana sealed the deal to make “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency†on location and not in a Johannesburg back lot, contributing $5 million to finance it. In return Botswana received not only the economic benefits of housing and servicing a major film but also hands-on training in moviemaking that officials hope will sow the seeds of a film industry. Botswana is also counting on a tourism benefit from the film: the Kgale Hill set that includes Mma Ramotswe’s (the lead character) office is being preserved and will become part of a “Ladies’ Detective Agency†tour for those drawn to Botswana by Mr. Smith’s stories.
Africa Enterprising articles part 4
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)
- Meso Finance: the next area of financing for SME’s in Africa (Nii Simmonds)
- From China to Virtual Africa: How Can Participatory Media Benefit the World? (Alanagh Recreant)
Head over to the Nubian Cheetah blog for the post description and links.
Hilton Hotels brings brand to Ghana
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.