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 of a “Techno City” that will support 200,000

Kenya’s Billion-Dollar Dash to Become the Tech Hub of Africa is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

At the center of grass roots efforts to keep Nigeria’s notorious election process clean is a small, indistinguishable man armed with a cell phone…Amara, wearing a t-shirt with the phrase “Light Up Nigeria” and with his mobile phone always close by, is perhaps Nigeria’s best-known Twitter activist….But as Amara tours polling stations across Lagos, he is leaving nothing to chance. He uses the internet as a platform to encourage as many people to get involved in the voting process as possible….Nigeria has 43 million Internet users — the largest in Africa — and they are increasingly using Twitter, Facebook and blogs, such as Nigeria’s Saharareporters.com, to access information and make their views heard.

Read more at CNN.com

Using Twitter for Nigeria election reform is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

‘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. Mr Liu is one of thousands of Chinese entrepreneurs who have settled across the continent in search of new opportunities. He has just bought his fourth farm and business is booming.

In northern Zambia, Mr Li, a project manager for a multinational Chinese company is upgrading Zambia’s longest road. Pressure to complete the road on time intensifies when funds from the Zambian government start running out.

Meanwhile Zambia’s Trade Minister is on route to China to secure millions of dollars of investment.

Through the intimate portrayal of these characters, the expanding footprint of a rising global power is laid bare – pointing to a radically different future, not just for Africa, but also for the world.

Watch the trailer below:

Trailer: When China met Africa (documentary) is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

Kenyans living abroad can now send money to their relatives back home through Safaricom’s mobile money transfer service, M-Pesa.

This is after Safaricom and Western Union signed an agreement, which enables Kenyans living in 45 countries in the US, Asia, Europe and Africa to access the now world famous M-Pesa service.

Although they can send up to Sh35,000 per transaction, limits per day, per month or per year will depend on the country the money is sent from, following the link-up that is likely to give the NSE listed firm a head start in the increasingly competitive mobile telephony market.

“Through this partnership, our customers and their friends and families will benefit from affordable, faster and more convenient international remittances,” said Safaricom chief executive officer, Bob Collymore.

Mr David Yates, of Western Union, applauded the service as an impressive adoption of the mobile channel.

“Cash payout through M-Pesa is projected to go up from 23 per cent to 40 per cent, as the traditional cash payout will take the rest,” Mr Yates said.

The transaction is similar to a traditional cash-to-cash money transfer, except that the sender specifies the recipient’s mobile phone number at the time the funds are sent.

Western Union partners with M-Pesa for international mobile money transfers is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

Indian IT company Infosys Technologies is continuing its entrance into the African continent. It said in a statement Friday morning that it believes Africa is a market for long-term IT services and hopes it will be able to implement an investment strategy.

In an interview with the Times of India, Infosys CFO V Balakrishnan said that Africa has great potential and populations are demanding an improvement in IT services.

Nigeria’s regulatory body this week echoed similar statements when it said that mobile phone services in the country are sorely lacking adequate customer service and infrastructure. Infosys could capitalize on this exact issue, said Ahmed Gabr, an IT specialist based in Nairobi.

Read more at itnewsafrica.com

IT giant Infosys seeks African market expansion is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

New wave of Western investment flows to African film is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

The latest chapter in his career has seen him return to Africa, where he has been heading Microsoft’s operations since 2006, trying to make technology more accessible on the continent…’This is a unique opportunity because somebody like me, who is known for his scientific achievement, being able to have the opportunity to use, to leverage a company like Microsoft to really put the technology-access issue at the middle of the table,” he says….However, Diarra is quick to point out that access to technology will do little to accelerate Africa’s economic and social development if it is not accompanied by investment in the continent’s most important resource — its people. – CNN African Voices

Microsoft chairman plots Africa’s tech revolution (video) is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

There’s a new gold rush under way for the African consumer, a campaign that spans the continent and aims to reach an emerging middle class. These are the people who have begun to embrace cellphone messages, restaurant meals and trips down supermarket aisles.

In Kenya, a battle between units of Britain’s Vodafone Group PLC, and India’s Bharti Airtel Ltd. has driven down the consumer’s cost of a text message to a penny. Yum Brands Inc. of the U.S. recently said it wants to double its KFC outlets in the next few years to 1,200.

And Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to pay nearly $2.5 billion to buy 51% of South Africa’s Massmart Holdings Ltd., with plans to use the discount retailer as a foothold for continental expansion. Andy Bond, Wal-Mart’s regional executive vice-president, describes the potential as a “10- to 20-year play.”

Some analysts believe a billion-person continental market already has arrived. Consultancy McKinsey & Co. says the number of middle-income consumers—those who can spend for more than just the necessities—in Africa has exceeded the figure for India. The firm predicts consumer spending will reach $1.4 trillion in 2020, from about $860 billion in 2008. – Read more on WSJ.com

Africa’s wealth and consumerism draws big brands is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

Banking revolution saving lives in Africa (CNN)

According to the Bureau of International Information Programs at the U.S. State Department, around one million of Tanzania’s 41 million inhabitants use mobile phone technology to carry out financial transactions and save money.
At the same time, only 12% of the population have a formal bank account, while almost half of them own a cell phone.

M-Pesa: Kenya teaches the developed world about the mobile wallet (BBC)

In developing world countries like Kenya, the technology to do this has been around for several years – and you do not need a bank account to use it. M-Pesa launched in 2007, and there are now nearly 100 services like it around the world, mainly in developing countries. Can the developed world learn from Kenya’s experience with the mobile wallet?

Mobile Advertising in Africa (A talk by Ankit Rawal of InMobi)

Ankit Rawal, Head of Advertising, Africa, InMobi speaks about the state of mobile advertising in Africa at iHub in Kenya.

Insights on mobile banking & advertising in Africa (videos) is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

Watch out Silicon Valley. Chinese and Indian Entrepreneurs Are Eating America’s Lunch is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

South Africa has been formally asked to join the BRIC group of major emerging markets, comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China, bolstering its position as Africa’s champion.

Chinese President Hu Jintao wrote a letter to his South African counterpart, Jacob Zuma, to inform him of the decision and inviting him to the BRIC’s third heads of state meeting in Beijing next year, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said in a statement on his ministry’s website today.

South Africa, which has a population of 49 million compared with China’s 1.36 billion, is betting on raising its clout on the world stage by joining BRIC, while strengthening political and trade ties within the bloc. The country accounts for about a third of gross domestic product in sub-Saharan Africa and will offer BRIC members improved access to 1 billion consumers on the continent and mineral resources including oil and platinum.

Joining the group is “the best Christmas present ever,” South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane told a reporters in Pretoria today. “We will be a good gateway for the BRIC countries. While we may have a small population, we don’t just speak for South Africa, we speak for Africa as a whole.”

More at bloomberg.com

South Africa formally invited to join BRIC group of emerging global powers is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

Growth and spending of African consumers (video) is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

Foreign Policy Magazine has named their top 100 global thinkers of 2010. The list, which I’ve outlined below, is a mix of policy makers, advocates, and media professionals among other global influencers. A special congratulations goes out to Rosa Whitaker (#53), Ory Okolloh (#59), and Ethan Zuckerman (#81), all of whom  I’ve had the pleasure of connecting and sharing ideas with. View the full list below, and read the full story on the Foreign Policy website:

Beginning with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates (1), who teamed up to prove that even in tough times great new ideas can emerge, to forecasting economist Nouriel Roubini (12) to political leaders Barack Obama (3) and Angela Merkel (10), FP presents more than just their big ideas. Once again we took a unique survey of this very smart crowd. Nearly two-thirds participated to give you insight into their thinking on everything from how Obama’s doing to their preference in new-age reading device (iPad, by a lot). But don’t take our word for it — take the same questionnaire we sent to our FP 100 and see how your answers match up against theirs. – Foreign Policy Mag.

Top 100 global thinkers of 2010 is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

click to view larger

The above infographic gives an overview of Africa’s changing trade partnerships. The infographic comes courtesy of The BRICA Group, a new collaborative venture in partnership with Larry Ossei-Mensah of myglobalhustle.com. The BRICA Group’s mission is to serve as an advocate and catalyst for the development of innovation and creativity in emerging markets. We have more research and information efforts coming very soon. Visit http://www.theBRICAgroup.com for more.

Africa’s New Trade Frontier (infographic) – The BRICA Group is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

Recently I was honored to have been able to attend The World Business Forum, an annual business conference featuring some of today’s most influential business and leadership luminaries. The event, held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, featured 18+ speakers – including Al Gore, Jack Welch, Vijay Govindarajan, and Charlene Li – covering a range of business topics from social media to innovation to government. As a featured blogger – along with writers from The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post – I watched and listened for two days as global business leaders shared their insights on stage. I’ve outlined portions of my speaker notes for you to read below. You can also read through the archive of on-the-spot tweets from myself and fellow attendees in the #WBF10 Twitter stream for more context.

Jim Collins on sustaining great results

- The 5 levels of leadership

• The highly capable individual
• Contributing team member
• Competent manager
• Effective Leader
• Level 5 executive

- Leadership only exists if people have the power to not follow

- To much opportunity can kill a company more than a lack of opportunity

- Good executives must have the abiity to pick the right people for the right seats

- Most overnights success are 20 years in the making

Bill McDermott on winning in the new reality

- You need compelling vision for business

- You can tell everything about a CEO by their executive secretary

- The best run businesses have connected enterprise (IT)

Jack Welch on management

- The team that owns the best players wins

- The internet is the Viagra of big business

- Companies spend too much time with the bottom 20% achievers than the top 10%

Carlos Brito on building a performance culture

- Great people = Great companies

- Great people like meritocracies

- Without meritocracy, great people will leave because they have opptions, and weak people will stay because they don’t

- Create a culture of owners

Charlene Li on social networks

- You can’t have a strategy about Facebook

- Social technologies are about relationships

- We overvalues things we can measure, and undervalue what we can’t

Martin Lindstrom on marketing

- Removing a logo is just as powerful

- 83% of brands communicate with only one sense

Joseph Grenny in influence

- Grenny’s law of leadership: No strategy is so brilliant that people can’t render it useless

- Culture and behaviour are a good way to influence business success

- Influencers succeed because they overdetermine success

- Six sources of influence

• Influence of pain or pleasure of behaviour
• Influence of skill
• Influence social networks
• Influence with power of crowds
• Influence of cost and incentives
• Influence with environment

David Gergen on leadership

- Blogs make it harder on Washington

- General Petraues is a good leader; combines accessibility with a chain of command

Steve Levitt on freakonomics

- The Best ideas are the simplest

- Regression analysis help economists see patterns

- Microeconomics in business can be important

- In a complex world, if you set up complex rules, people will game it

- If you want to succeed and you have no special talent, find the most niche topic and become an expert in it

Joseph Stiglitz on the economy

- During economic downturn, the poeple who needed to fix the economy probably too vested in maintaining it

- The White House doesn’t hate business, see the bank bail-outs

A.G. Lafley on customer centric growth

- Inventions are not innovative until it becomes commercial

- Essence for creative innovation

• Openness
• Curiosity
• Connecting
• Collaboration
• Courage

Renee Mauborgne on strategy

- Management should spend more time on creativity rather than productivity

Vijay Govindarajan on innovation

- The 3 boxes of management

- Manage the present

- Selectively abandon the past

- Create the future

James Cameron on creativity

- His creative process

• Do story treatment
• Get graphic designers to visualize story
• Write script
• Cast actors
• Produce and edit movie

As I mentioned before read through the The World Business Forum tweets archive for more context to my notes. You can also view some video highlights of the conference and read what some of my fellow bloggers wrote at the official Bloggers Hub. Hope to see you at the 2011 edition of the World Business Forum.

Notes: leadership and innovation at 2010 World Business Forum is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

Businessweek reports on the growing trend of Asian, European, and American business schools establishing campuses on the African continent.

Over the last few decades, Western business schools have increasingly turned their sights on Africa, with dozens of leading schools launching faculty-exchange programs, sending classes on tours of sub-Saharan Africa, and forging partnerships with local schools. Now a handful of European, Asian, and U.S. schools are taking their involvement in the African management education scene a step further, setting up their own campuses, helping the continent’s emerging economies develop executive MBA and other degree programs, and setting up academic research centers. The efforts come at a time when the management education scene in Africa has started to heat up, spurred by a growing middle class that is demanding a more Western-style business school experience, says Guy Pfefferman, chief executive officer of the Global Business School Network, a nonprofit formed by the International Finance Corp. to improve the quality of business education in emerging markets.

via businessweek.com

European, Asian, U.S. business schools launching Africa campuses is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

The Guardian reports that USA-based Wal-Mart , the world’s biggest supermarket, is planning into Africa with a $4.2 billion bid e to buy South Africa’s third-largest retailer MassMart. Massmart has 290 shops, mostly in South Africa, with 24 stores in 12 other African countries including Botswana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Nigeria and Ghana. It manages eight wholesale and retail chains under various brand names. The group reported sales of $6.1bn last year.

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is planning a major move into the fast-expanding African market, announcing today that it is in talks to buy South Africa’s third-largest retailer, Massmart.

The move, which would be worth $4.2bn (£2.65bn), will be overseen by Asda’s chairman, Andy Bond, who is responsible for operations in Africa. Wal-Mart is offering 148 rand (£13.40) a share for Massmart, which is nearly 10% higher than its last closing price.

The acquisition would be Africa’s biggest deal in more than a decade, and Wal-Mart’s largest since it bought the UK supermarket chain Asda in 1999. In May, it agreed to acquire 194 stores in the UK from the Danish discount chain Netto for nearly £800m, although competition regulators are forcing it to sell 25% of the shops.

via guardian.co.uk

 

Wal-Mart plans Africa debut with $4.2 billion buy of S. Africa’s Massmart is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

Join me at the 2010 World Business Forum is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

Trailer: Warner Bros’ World Cup-inspired film ‘Africa United’ is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends

Bob Geldof to front $750 million private equity Africa investment fund is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends