Tag: Travel

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UNICEF: Mudfaced African children need your help!

UNICEF Germany mud Africa adsIf 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.

More coverage:

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Is there an African culture code?

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.

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“Africa:The Next Chapter” videos premiere

The good folks at TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) have debuted the first videos from the powerful TEDGlobal 2007 conference held in Tanzania earlier this year. Called “Africa: The Next Chapter”, the conference featured talks from many of Africa’s current innovators.  The first few uploaded videos include South African investment banker Euvin Nadoo – who I met at the Harvard Club in New York in April – describing a continent poised to light up, Ghanaian economist George Ayittey’s lacerating criticism of Africa’s “hippo generation” to inspiring appeal for the “cheetah generation” to arise, former Finance Minister of Nigeria Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala showing how the different pieces of the aid vs trade argument could be reconciled, and finally 19-year-old Malawian inventor William Kamkwamba who won a standing ovation for his shy 3-minute interview, revealing how as a 14-year-old he solved his parents’ energy needs in a village which had no electricity. These first videos are a window into the minds of Africa’s growing entrepreneural class. I can’t wait for the other speakers’ videos.

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African countries on 2007 list of 50 most desirable outsourcing destinations

Dakar buildingsBusinessWeek’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)

Other factors which add to a countries’ attractiveness are language and education skills and the reliability of a nation’s telecommunications infrastructure. But the the key underlying factor for many African countries’ successful bid for new business is the lack of infrastructure. While the African digerati are continuously ramping up their skills and making themselves available for business they continuously run into infrastructural limitations. But who is to blame? Is it the governments who are overrun with bureaucracy? or the people themselves, who often do not hold their leaders accountable?

Offshoring upstarts are making so many inroads, in fact, that by 2012, they’ll significantly dilute India’s dominance, says consultancy Gartner (IT). The consulting firm says that by 2010 about 30% of Fortune 500 enterprises will outsource to three or more countries, from less than 10% today. “So many governments have realized what an opportunity this is and there’s a lot of effort being spent in promoting their countries to the market,” says Johan Gott, manager of A.T. Kearney’s Global Services Location Index.

…Kenya, for instance, is trying to become a destination for business process and IT outsourcing. The Kenyan government has worked in recent years to liberalize its telecom sector, which has lured more operators and helped drive telecom services prices down by 70% in a short time, according to the World Bank. Yet the country relies on satellite connections to link to the rest of the world. That makes it costly for outsourcers to do business.

(photo source)

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African ideas: links

I was catching up on some of my favorite African bloggers and thought I’d share some of their inspiring ideas. Here are some good posts from some very insightful African bloggers:

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African migration to Europe

African migrantThe BBC has put together an informative feature about African migration to Europe. The feature outlines the economic attraction of Europe, routes and methods taken, numbers of Africans immigrants in europe, effects on Spain – the closest European country to the African continent, and how much money the African immigrants contribute to their home country’s gross domestic product (GDP). The feature is full of statistics and analysis from the UN and the World Bank as well as various articles of migrant stories. Though some of the information is a few months old, put together, the feature gives a view of why and how Africans migrate. One topic the feature does not touch on though is how much the migrants contribute to their host country’s GDP. Hmmmm.

Africa Europe Migration Routes

Migrant contribution to GDP

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Careers in Africa Recruitment Summit

Here’s some information about a business summit that looks very promising. Set you calendars.

Global Career Company is pleased to announce the Careers in Africa Recruitment Summit scheduled to take place in Houston, Texas on 16-18 November 2007. The Careers in Africa Summit is a unique recruiting event, enabling leading companies to attract and interview internationally based African professionals, for their operations across Africa. This invitation-only event will feature pre-scheduled interviews, presentations and networking sessions with leading multinationals operating across Africa. Companies that have already confirmed to attend the Summit are:

  • Anglo Platinum
  • Barloworld
  • Chevron
  • Coca-Cola
  • SABCO
  • Cisco
  • Eskom
  • Heineken
  • Intercontinental Bank
  • Lafarge
  • OPS
  • Orascom
  • SAB
  • Shell
  • Toyota
  • United Bank for Africa

This list continues to grow. Available career opportunities range from entry-level graduate openings to senior management appointments and cover a variety of functions. Read more about the event, and review the attending company profiles at www.globalcareercompany.com/ciaus.

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The Paris Hilton effect on Africa’s development

Paris Hilton Vanity Fair africaWe 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.

What does this have to do with business, money and Africa’s opportunities? Everything, I would say. One of the biggest problems Africans have with getting their stories told particularly in the media is that we still do not really understand how western media works. Take the picture of Paris Hilton to the left. Paris Hilton who represents, the epitome of America’s celebrity culture – and hence influence – holds a Vanity Fair Africa issue with Oprah – another more talented and influential American celebrity – on the cover. While the whole scene was definitely staged by Paris’ pr reps, it’s a classic example of the role celebrity plays in American culture. Follow me for a moment. Bono campaigns for more money to go to African aid. He recruits Oprah Winfrey, among others, to draw attention to the cause. Bono then sells the the idea to the Vanity Fair editors who stand to have multiple celebrities in one issue (celebrity faces sell glossies, especially fashion ones) and the issue is produced. Paris Hilton, then picks up the issue in her attempt to clean up her post-jail image, and in turn further sells Bono’s Africa campaign to insecure suburban teen-aged girls everywhere. Suburban American families, (with disposable income) then put money into Bono’s Africa campaign. This is the power of celebrity in American economics. While we Africans argue merit and talent, Bono continues to play the celebrity game to influence the flow of money. Many of us argue there should have been more Africans on Vanity Fair’s covers, but while Wole Soyinka is a talented man with accolades to boot, he has no influence over the people spending the money, and so he is regulated to a group feature towards the end of the magazine.

Further evidence of the power of celebrity, can be seen in the media coverage of the recent TEDGlobal conference in Tanzania. In her excellent piece about the event, Jennifer Brea, writes about the circumstances surrounding Bono’s heckling of Andrew Mwenda. The fact that Bono can have so much power as to bump George Ayittey‘s presentation of his perspective, heckle another presenter AND practically be the only one of 50 or so presenters over the 4 day African conference covered widely in the press illustrates the power of celebrity. The same issue about the difference between western and African celebrity was raised on the Africa media blog, with a reader asking

“Given the advances in technology that now allow citizens of any country to directly access the popular culture of another country (e.g. music, films, art), why do people living in the global north continue to receive more information about situations in Africa from the few Western celebrities “caring about Africa” than from the many African ones trying to push the same message? (Why do people seem to be more influenced by their similiarity with the source than the source’s actual level of expertise/connection with the cause?)”.

To this Melissa Wall of the Africa Media blog answered, “The West or North dominates global media structures and flow (much research has documented this). More specifically, reporters often have to go with the easiest-to-access sources. A Western celebrity with an entourage of handlers and PR flaks is a lot of easier to get a juicy quote from. Enlarging the Rolex is difficult.”. It all boils down to familiarity, which translates to celebrity which in-turn motivates spending. So if we Africans want access to the money which brings the opportunities we need, we have to do a better job of understanding the power of celebrity from the western perspective. As important as talent is – and it IS important – celebrity trumps talent. Sad but true.

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African super-rich grow richer, move to Richistan

Porsche in Dakar trafficAs part of my research on the African brand, I interviewed a Nigerian Hollywood public relations professional recently. Though his clientèle doesn’t consist purely of Africans, being a Hollywood connector he frequently encounters Africans with a bit of money looking to use his services for something or another. As we talked, the topic of money came up and the gentleman expounded on the different groups of Africans with money and their attitudes towards wealth. What I found interesting was how the Nigerian connector classified the groups: hustlers, who will do anything for a buck, and dignitaries, whose source of wealth is questionable. In his experience these were the two types of people who make up the affluent African class. Of course I found his tales of the affluent African a little disheartening, but it brought to light the issue of options for African wealth. We all know that the continent is rich with resources, however the access to those resources and who benefits from it’s potential revenue is another story.

The Wall Street Journal’s Informed Reader points to the recent release of Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini’s 2007 World Wealth Report which reveals:

Globally, the HNWI (High Net Worth Individuals) population grew by 8.3% in 2006, to a total
of 9.5 million individuals. HNWI population gains were particularly strong last year in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, advancing by 12.5%, 11.9% and 10.2%, respectively, and outpacing more developed nations. These gains came amid these emerging markets’ attempts to solidify their infrastructures and become more developed economies.

While this means there is more African representation in Robert Frank’s Richistan, many of us in lower to not-even-close Richistan, are beginning to ask even more questions about what role Africans play in the scramble for Africa’s resources. A BIG question raised in the conversation about African billionaires on Forbes’ list was, where are those billionaires getting their money? The wealth report hints that,

China has been an active player in Africa, investing heavily in various sectors and showing particular interest in mining. Taken together, these factors bolstered the continent’s HNWI population, helping it grow by 12.5 percent in 2006 and increasing its wealth by 14 per cent.

While this seems like a good answer, I’m not sure many Africans will buy it. But I don’t want to be labeled a “player hater” so I will point you to this statement by the Informed Reader:

So when it comes to business and markets, the firms that cater to the top of the high end will continue to do the best in the coming years. Think megayachts instead of yachts, beachfront estates instead of McMansions, and Bentleys and Maybachs instead of Mercedes and BMWs.

Paul Redfern adds, “The report says much of the income is spent on luxury items, art collections, jewelery and charitable causes.” Maybe this growing area will give enterprising Africans such as my Hollywood connector friend a green card to Richistan. As another hustler friend of mine said, “Don’t hate, participate” – legitimately of course.

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