EcoInshore

DOUALA CAMEROON: FROM THE EYES OF AN EXPATRIATE WIFE- 2

2013-08-18T21:10:00.001+01:00

ACCOMMODATION

Housing in Douala, is certainly a tough option. The possibility of a camel moving through the needles eyes is almost certain than getting a good house in Douala, especially if you are not prepared to stay for about three months to have your choice. The demand for accommodation in the areas of choice far surpass the properties that are actually available. Getting a prospective house include the need for heavy renovations that may be tantamount to re-building the property . House after house, we experienced complete dissatisfaction. Those that were good enough, were already taken.

It took an average of 3 months before we could get a good accommodation which required certain refurbishment which were more structural and design related than repairs. Most of other buildings we were shown were old and dilapidated. Areas in Douala include Bonanjo, Bonaprisso, Akwa, Deido, Bonaloka, Bonamousadi, Bonaberi , Bassa, Ndokoti etc. For expatriates, choices are restricted to Bonanjo, and Bonaprisso because it's safer, its where most expatriate lives and where good restaurants are located. Other recommended area is Akwa, a central business district and residential area.

Property Patrons (Landlords) in Doula do not maintain their properties in the least way imaginable. They leave it in a state of disrepute and abandonment and this liability is inherited by prospective occupiers who are most often than not desperate to make the best out of the bad situation. The rent is also quite high, as most of them capitalize on the competitive demand for the houses. A service flat can go for as high as 2milion CFA per month while a Duplex (non-service) can b e between 2.5 -3.5 million CFA depending on the facilities such as playing space, swimming pools, Garden etc.

Most building walls are covered with tiles and it was easier to erroneously take this as a show of wealth or a difference in cultural believe. However my first hand experience of the humidity level created quite an impression. It was something of a compulsive choice considering the high level of humidity in Cameroon. The humidity level in Douala is so high that if you travel for a couple of weeks, you will need someone to help open your house periodically to allow some fresh air in, otherwise everything will mildew before you arrive. Utility bills especially for electricity is very high. You pay as much as 300,000.00 CFA if you live in a whole house or about 160,000.00 CFA if you live in a flat. Water bills are a bit more manageable but of course if you live on bottled water for drinking, it’s a lot more expensive

DOUALA CAMEROON: FROM THE EYES OF AN EXPATRIATE WIFE- 1

2013-08-13T22:23:00.000+01:00

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Landing at the airport about 10 months ago presented a bouquet of mixed feelings. Although the first fear I nursed was that of the language but luckily many people here are bilingual, a rare opportunity for a first-timer like me in a French colony. As we moved through the airport, I asked myself, an airport or an airstrip? But I soon realized several constructions were ongoing so it was a good sign that some significant development was certainly in the offing. This first impression is particularly true as you drive into the town which details the level of improvement required for the country to meet the west.

A complete juxtaposition of the old and new, albeit the old building sharply dominating the new ones. There are new high rise apartment sprawling just close enough to old one-story dilapidated duplexes.

Living in Douala especially as an expatriate requires some preparation and advice from ''veteran expat'' who have had a taste of the baptism. Adjusting to Life in Douala can be initially tough because of language barrier (if you don’t speak French), cultural shock and life style. However when well settled, living in Douala can be quiet, serene and peaceful especially if you have just exited a busy city. Although so much for first Impressions, many were proven true.

THE PEOPLE

Douala gave me an unexpected level of cultural shock. Of course I knew I would have to make some adjustment, but I assumed more common behavioural pattern. Though there are few similarities, the differences are enormous.

One of the most striking differences is our attitude to work. An average francophone guy is laid back, motivated by the food he needs to eat in the immediacy other than future plans; and is not aggressive about moving with speed. They are slow and can’t be bothered. People who sell can also be a bit hostile when dealing with customers. A typical French shop closes from 12noon to 2.30pm, that's the French break! Resumption is at will across several organisations.

Another shock was also the level of single motherhood in Cameroon especially among young girls who are barely working. Having children out of wedlock is almost a certainty at late teens Expectations are not very high on getting married. The conflict between the Anglophone Cameroon and francophone Cameroon has been inevitably extended to Non-Cameroonians who speak English as their first language. Once you speak English, you are prone to certain doses of hostility.

Foreign Entrepreneur Describes The Highs and Lows of Doing Business in East Africa

2013-08-11T19:23:00.000+01:00

BY DINFIN MULUPI: culled from howwemadeitinafrica.com

After 30 years working in the IT industry, Roly Adlam decided to call it quits. The British entrepreneur packed his bags and moved to Kenya. He eventually decided to start Rift Valley Leather (RVL), a company that designs and manufactures leather bags and accessories.

RVL operates two stores in Nairobi and has exported to 15 international markets. The manufacturer also sells to camps, hotels and restaurants and corporate organisations in the region. Although its products are niche and costly, the business has been considerably successful.

“You only have to look at the roads to see the very expensive cars. Where the money comes from I don’t know, but the money is here,” said Adlam. “We aim at the middle class and the higher echelons of society. Half of our customers are Kenyans and the other half are foreigners and expatriates.”

The Briton noted that while US and European economies are currently strained, business is booming in Africa thanks to the growing middle class. “It is clear that East Africa, and Kenya in particular, is a booming [market] in the world at the moment. The modern western world is suffering from the financial indiscretions… [but] it is not adversely affecting East Africa.”

He, however, argued that while many reports are favourable about the prospects of Africa, his experience of doing business in Kenya has not been smooth sailing.

“Had I known how massive the challenges were before I got here, I probably wouldn’t have done it,” he said. “It has been five years of very hard work, huge amount of stress and no commensurate satisfaction. But, it is coming. There are significant challenges and it takes a brave man or woman who knows what the challenges are to even contemplate approaching them. It is a difficult environment.”

The difficulties notwithstanding, Adlam noted that foreign investors should not shy away from doing business in Africa.

“I don’t regret it,” said Adlam. “Africa will boom if trade is facilitated. If you are organised, persistent and patient, you should invest here.”

Adlam cited a lack of raw materials and bureaucracy as some of the challenges he has encountered. “Raw materials are not easy to acquire. There is [a] very long lead time in getting leather… [it] is currently at least four weeks for a substantial order. A leather bag has at least nine raw materials. If you get a job and you don’t have one raw material, you can’t start the job.”

“Kenya may be 50 years old and may be mature in many ways, but it is certainly not mature in terms of doing business [and] facilitating the ease of doing business,” said Adlam. “To put it in perspective, I have to renew my work permit in September. I know this is going to be a monumental headache.”

Cross border trade between African countries is also challenging. “It is more problematic exporting in East Africa than it is exporting to Europe or America. We have exported many times to Uganda and we haven’t had a smooth export yet. It’s not easy.”

Adlam advises foreign entrepreneurs planning to venture into Africa to do thorough research. “Ask questions that you wouldn’t normally have to ask, let’s say in Britain. Don’t make assumptions. You have to religiously research the difficulties of setting up a company and ask questions about the small things that are taken for granted in Europe.”

Adlam added that entrepreneurs should ensure that their business plan is executable within the African environment, employ the right people and keep rigid controls to avoid theft within the company.

“You have got to be pragmatic, have a product that you can sell in the environment, be patient and work a lot harder than if you were an employee. Don’t waste money; really think when you spend money,” he said.

Next year Adlam will be expanding his business to Rwanda, which is often ranked top in East Africa for its ease of doing business.

RVL is also set to open a third store in Nairobi later this year. Adlam is hoping to open two more stores in the region, expand his manufacturing plant in Nairobi and enter into partnerships with other businesses to push the RVL brand.

“It is our intention to become the best sub-Saharan leather design house,” he concluded.

SEVEN FACTS ABOUT GHANA

2013-08-10T15:44:00.000+01:00

1. Ghana is the first country in sub -Saharan Africa to gain its independence in 1957

2. The population of Ghana is over 23 million

3. Ghana formerly known as Gold Coast

4. Ghana's capital city is Accra

5. Ghana is one of the largest cocoa producer in the world.

6. The Lake Volta is the largest reservoir and artificial lake by surface area in the world.

7. The colour yellow in the flag represents mineral wealth, red represents bloodshed for independence, the green stands for its forest and natural wealth, the black star is stands for lonestar of African freedom.

LAGOS THE BEST KEPT SECRET (VIDEO)

2013-08-08T21:42:00.001+01:00

Lagos is a city that never sleeps just like New York city in America. This is however true of the commercial capital of the largest black nation in the world. A city that is full of energy, desire to excel, entrepreneurship and entertainment to talk of few. There are more good in Lagos than crime, contrary to the belief most people have about the beautiful city.

Watch This Video

CONTACT CENTRE AND BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING IN EAST AFRICA

2013-08-03T22:07:00.000+01:00

THE KENCALL STORY

I wrote about the call centre outsourcing business in India and Philippines and why African countries are lagging behind in this regard. Despite Africa's educated pool, strong work ethic, low cost of labour, high motivation to succeed and large pool of young talent waiting to be employed one will wonder why Africa could not benefit from the outsourcing and BPO business until the 21st century.

However, I got a mail from one of the readers of this blog informing me about the rise in contact centre and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) in East Africa. I researched about this growth and i found out that Kenya leads the way. This prod me to write share the Kencall story.

Outsourcing contact centres is a business that has grown to become an increasingly popular option for both large and small companies in recent years with the aim of cutting cost ,companies therefore hire third party firms, BPO companies to handle their interaction functions of their business. South Africa is seen as the hub of contact biz in Africa just as India in Asia.

The Kencall story:

KenCall is the largest contact centre in Kenya providing BPO services to firms worldwide. This is a company that got award for the Best Non European Call Centre at the Contact Centre Focus (CCF) awards 2008.

Watch the Videos

SUDAN AND THE GROWTH OF OPPORTUNITIES

2013-03-24T17:07:00.000+00:00

By Mohamed Elfatih Ismail

Stories about Sudan focuses more on war and poverty but there is hope and future going by this short piece from a friend in Sudan.

Sudan is one of the war torn countries that is showing signs growth as indicated by its GDP growth rate for some years now. This growth was gained by relying on the oil resources discovered at the end of the last decade. According to Ernst and Young, It was ranked in 2010 as one of the five largest economies in the African sub-Saharan countries. In addition, Sudan has tremendous resources that can be utilized to enable the country to take its position in the regional and the international scene. Although, the referendum results have broken our hearts and ended up shrinking our budget as Sudan now is facing a severe economical downturn (the 2011 GDP growth rate had plummeted by more than -4%), the telecommunication sector is still potential for the existing rivals as well as new entrants.

The telecommunication sector, along with other services, has contributed with nearly 43% of the GDP, with a total investment amounted to more than $5 billion. It has grown by far faster than any other economical sector which is apparently indicated by the Tele-density (number of Telecom users/100 inhabitants) that has risen from 2% in 1995 to more than 50% in 2011 with a growth of 5% from the first half of the year 2011. Mobile customers and internet users have reached more than 22 million and 11 million, respectively, however, the Sudan population (after the secession) is 32 million which clearly portrait the telecom market as unsaturated.

Many economists have emphasized the chain reaction effect of the telecom sector on other economical aspects such as growth, productivity, and job creation. On one hand, Sudan has reaped some of these fruits by the proportionally increasing contribution of the telecom sector in its economy. On the other hand, some hindering challenges need to be tackled. In 2010, the revenue growth was 9.8% while subscribers’ growth was 17.8% which indicted clearly that new users don’t add proportionally equal revenue.

Such decline needs to be handled by introducing new services and triggering innovative content providers to stimulate users’ usage. A thorough market researches and surveys should be conducted so as to create new services that absorb the actual needs (In Japan, for instance, they found out that the animated picture and location-based services are highly demanded) of the developing countries like Sudan. E-health, E-learning, and weather forecasts and crops prices for farmers would be some of services that need to be tapped.

The Challenges and Opportunities in Africa: Story of Ola Orekunrin MD Flying Doctors

2012-11-13T19:53:00.000+00:00

''... I was able to learn a great lesson-when you need something people tend to avoid you but when you don't need anything and seem to be making profit, they tend to become your best friend.''

I have seen many young Africans living outside the continent always complaining about the lack of infrastructures, security and all sorts in Africa but never thought of taking a step and seeing the opportunity in the difficulty.

I love every bit of this sentence, when I listen to Ola Orekunrin's interview; because it is something I usually say to people around me, ''be a person of influence'', anyway that's by the way.

I have this feel that anything healthcare is definitely going to be expensive so the more I think of what this lady has done, the more I'm thrilled by her achievement. The truth is, the excitement of entrepreneurship is in solving problems; but wanting to solve a capital intensive problem without having no-money or little money sure wouldn't even be close to exciting.

So what has Dr. Ola Orekunrin done with Flying Doctors , they basically provide air ambulance service in Nigeria conveying critically ill patients to where they can get suitable level of care, the closest air ambulance Nigerians could get before now, was either from South Africa, Kenya or Uganda. Which is quiet surprising bearing in mind the wealth in Nigeria.

To venture into this, you need many things going for you, after crossing the capital hurdle, you will need the personnel to make this functional, and most of all, the patronage. Convincing companies and the government is definitely no mean feat, talk less of convincing moderately wealthy Nigerians- which when it comes to do with health, they do not like taking chances, they prefer going with trusted hands.

Ola Orekunrin has a touching story of the inspiration that led to Flying Doctors, she said her sister fell ill while she was on holiday in Lagos, and they needed an air ambulance service to take her back to England, and they closest one they could get was in far away South Africa and while it was getting organized her sister died. After discussing with a couple of friends she decided to go ahead and set it up, seeing it was lacking in Nigeria. This explains why, even with the difficult conditions, she has still ventured into this, and achieving good success.

As many will know, starting a business in Nigeria isn’t for the faint-hearted. Ola Orekunrin, and in 2009 at 23 years of age, she started by selling off her few belongings, and in no time she ran out of money, but she still weather the storm, and was able to secure license for operation,, get the leases for aircrafts, and was able to setup a team of people to work with; a team of people that weren’t paid salary, but just believed in the dream and worked based on sheer inspiration.

Note To Self: This is one of the lessons I’ve learnt in business, to always work with people who believe in my vision). When she started they were doing 1 flight every 3 months, which wouldn’t have meant there wasn’t enough income to run the business. But has more people became aware of Flying Doctors, the frequency of patronage increased to around 2 flights every week, and now they have moved into their own place and now rented a hangar and they aren’t even 3 years in operation yet.

Ola Orekunrin believes one of the keys to running a business is to be blessed to have the right people around you that can help translate your vision to reality.

Deolu Adesanya: Shares the opinion of an enterprising mind. He believes in Africa. Most of all, He believes in YOU. He loves o regularly speak and write about the private sector and sustainable development countries. he is a PHD researcher in Entrepreneurship at the University of Leicester. He also carries out business consulting services. He is a Christian. He blogs regularly for CreativityTurf.com

The Imbalance Reports On Africa By Major Media Firms In Europe

2012-10-28T15:15:00.000+00:00

I have a great passion for the continent of Africa to grow and become the envy of all. We all know that there are challenges like bad leadership and all sort but the focus of only strife, war and poverty by media firms in Europe makes me fractious.

Going through the website of one of major media firms in Europe, I found out that the only time I see them put any news about Africa on the first page or as breaking news on their website is only when bad event occurs in any of the African countries. Many of these foreign correspondents covering news about Africa have little knowledge of the culture, tradition or even language that makes the continent dynamic, they and their superiors already have a stereotype image about Africa and also I particularly believe their superiors will tell them ''Bring negative news because that's what people want to read about them''.

Events like poverty , the problem in Somalia, the shooting of mine workers in South Africa, the bomb blast in Nigeria, the problem in Ivory Coast and lots more.

The question that comes to mind: Is it that there is nothing good coming out of the continent outside poverty, war and corruption to be reported?. Now I am of the opinion that their focus is on strife and not the rebirth of its cities.

Africa And The Opportunities

2012-10-27T18:03:00.000+01:00

Previous post on my views on Africa received many commendation from readers of this blog. This gives me the zeal to shine more lights on this emerging market in a challenging world.

''I don't think Africa will ever come out of the dungeon till will build the generation of Africa entrepreneurs that will define the jobs, create income, create revenue and build people and sustaining business that will pay the taxes to grow Africa''. Particularly impressed with these words of Kola Karim and I think it's worth sharing the video.

All have been said about the challenges and problems this continent face but no matter all that we said we can only move the continent forward through zeal, and entrepreneurship that will build the people. The key factors for the developed economies are Infrastructures, financial system and consumer goods.

The drivers of these advanced economies will also be the key drivers of Africa that we all want. The limiting factor in the growth of Africa is the aforementioned drivers also here lies the opportunities for entrepreneurship.

The reality is that Africa is the future of opportunities and the time is now.

Watch the video!!!!!!

Africa And The Growth Of Call Centre Outsourcing Business In Asia

2012-10-24T19:42:00.000+01:00

Customer satisfaction is seen as the backbone of any business all because of the obvious reasons. If you treat them well they become loyal to the brand and come back in their hundreds.

Many large corporations in the UK and America moved their call centre to Asia most especially India. Its relatively cheaper for them in terms of remunerations for call agents and not to forget that better infrastructure and well plan business processes are put in place in this countries. Many large corporations also want to enhance their market share in the Asian pacific countries.

In the past few years, India has been call-centre capital of the world with many companies taking their call centre arm to the country which was particularly based on cost reduction strategy by these firms. Last year, Philippine took the leadership position as call centre hub in the world with estimated 400,000 call centre agents compared to 300,000 in India. Philippine took the position not only because it was becoming difficult for some Americans or British to understand the Indian accent but also of the close affinity of Filipinos to America (they have decent American accent).

Though India may have lost some of these business to its neighbours, the outsourcing of this centres to India has created lots of entrepreneurs in India in the area business process , creating customer focus IT Solutions, businesses that focuses on better pronunciation of English words and also export some of the lesson learnt to other Asia countries to mention a few.

AFRICA:

Lots of African countries speak good and clear English not only that UK colonize many of them its however surprising why none of this corporation never look at Africa as a place to outsource some of these call centres. France also colonize lots of countries in Africa and those guys speak good french. Why many of these large firms never look at Africa at all for any of these business is however shocking.

Countries in Africa have the manpower , knowledge and the skill to excel in this small arm (call centre) of a large corporation. This countries and firms always see Africa only has a continent that lives in abject poverty and all they think they need do is just to send financial aids and give lectures on political process and corruption not for business.

Bringing business to Africa not financial aids will emancipate the people and also create entrepreneurs and eventually reduce their so called financial aids.

Jeff Bezos Classic Strategy For Amazon: “We're Going To Be Unprofitable For A Long Time. And That's Our Strategy”

2012-09-13T18:58:00.000+01:00

I have personally noticed a trend that; when a successful company courts too much attention, one way or the other it will come back to affect them, even if the fundamentals and operations of the company still remains strong. Take for example, IBM, Microsoft, Yahoo, MySpace, even Google and more recently Facebook (even though nothing has changed between the time the company went public and now, but the value of the company has halved).

Look at the mighty success Apple, with the release of the iPhone 5, when you read what the critics have to say about it, the iPhone 5’s undoing is that Apple is such a success, that although this particular iPhone meets our extremely high expectations for it, it didn’t beat our extremely high expectations hence the disappointment (What an overly successful company/product has caused for itself). I think what the PR guys at Apple should do, is to lower the expectation of the market, then they would always stun us.

The Amazon Story:

Here in lies the love I have for Jeff Bezos; Amazon is one company that is doing absolutely great, without courting any attention from the public. I will tell you the truth, a person that decides to sacrifice current revenue in order to reap higher profits in the future, is sure a wise person. Info has it that, Jeff Bezos has been subsidizing the cost of the Kindle Fire for as much as $50 on each sold, in order to gain a foothold in the market for tablets, and in doing this he expects an initial loss. And it is working; everybody on the train when I’m commuting back home is seen reading something on his or her kindle, (I suspect they are all reading “Fifty Shades of Grey” though).

Amazon.com was founded in 1994, when Jeff Bezos decided to quit his lucrative and secure job to own his business. He said he wrote the business plan for Amazon.com after making a cross-country trip from New York to Seattle. After which he decided to invite 300 friends and acquaintances to test the site, he was satisfied with their feedbacks. Jeff Bezos decided to take the site live and, within the space of a month, the company had sold books in all 50 states in America and in 45 countries. Within two months of starting, he had sold books worth over $20,000 a week. The success of the new start-up Amazon.com had ruffled a few industry leaders like Barnes & Noble and Borders, and they fought back, using their ready presence in the industry to muscle the small company out of the online book market. But Jeff Bezos disclosed his strategy to Inc in 1997: 'we're going to be unprofitable for a long time. And that's our strategy’.

Very few people are ready to leave their comfort zone, as the saying goes “no risk, no reward”. I will advice you take that daring first step today, the first step is usually the hardest but you just have to believe yourself and take the step, if Jeff had stayed back at his job, let say he even rose to become the CEO, he sure wouldn’t be worth up to $1 billion, (even the very famous GE CEO Jack Welch’s net-worth isn’t up to a billion) but Jeff Bezos is the 26th richest person in the world, with a staggering $21 billion to his name.

If one person can read this and be spurred to take that step, then I would have achieved what I set out to do, which is to inspire/push/guide/encourage you, to be daring and take that step to become who you want to be.

Deolu Adesanya: Shares the opinion of an enterprising mind. He believes Ideas and Innovation change the world. He believes in Africa. Most of all, He believes in YOU. He loves to regularly speak and write about the private sector and sustainable development in developing countries. He is a PhD researcher in entrepreneurship at the University of Leicester. He also carries out business consulting services. He is a Christian. He is also fashion conscious. He blog regularly at CreativityTurf.com

The New Lumia 920 Is It A Game Changer For Nokia?

2012-09-07T14:05:00.000+01:00

The launch of the new Nokia Lumia series may have come too late but still a step forward. The Finnish company has been living in the shadows of Apple and Samsung for a long time now with no innovation or entrance into the Smartphone market which is the crave of many phone users around the world.

The Features:

1) A full screen of 4.3-inch

2) 1.5 gigahertz

3) Dual-core processor and 8 megapixel camera

The Lumia 920 can be recharged wirelessly and has a touch screen that is very sensitive. It also gives tap on buildings to reveal names of restaurants and shops in the building. I think this is absolutely the best so far in terms of feature (hardware) in the market.

The question been raised now is that can this actually save the Finnish company? It also surprising that this launch did not excite shareholders or the market because few hours after, Nokia shares fell almost 13%.

If the Lumia phone do not win over some customers of Apple and Samsung who have around 85% of the Smartphone market, this may eventually be the demise of the great Nokia company.

Africa The Place of Abundance

2012-09-04T16:39:00.000+01:00

Following up on yesterday's post on doing business in Africa, this is an interview granted by the richest man in Africa and the 51st richest in the world according to Forbes list 2011 valued at $13.8billion. He is a self-made billionaire out of Africa and not wealth acquired through inheritance.

A note to Africa sceptics this man Aliko Dangote the chairman and CEO of Dangote Group has 100% of its business in Africa and built it until becoming the 51st richest man in the world.

Africa The Destination

2012-09-03T16:29:00.000+01:00

Stories written about Africa and doing business in Africa are full of misconception without proper understanding of the prevailing business environment. It is however funny when many Africa countries are classified as third world nations while the continent itself is classified as emerging market what a contradiction.....

The Africa that I know has abundance of opportunities and untapped potentials with very few foreign companies taking advantage of these potentials. Over 70% of the continents population are under 40 years of age with vibrancy, energy, talents and drive to excel which is what every firm will love to have in its workforce. This is the continent that has 7 out of the 10 fastest growing economy in the world. Governments in Africa are working really hard to make the continent the destination for investors despite negative reports about the continent.

Investing in Africa will not only cushion the effects of the Euro crisis on companies balance sheet but it is also massive consumer market.

Why Africa:

a) It is the only continent that is rich in natural resources with countries like Nigeria, Angola, Libya and recently Ghana in oil, Platinum and diamond in South Africa, cocoa in Ivory coast and many more.

b) IMF has predicted that the continent will grow more significantly in the coming years. With many African countries working to enhance the business environment and making it easier to do business.

c) Africa is the fastest growing telephony market with over 600 million subscribers still growing and over 50% of the population not connected and waiting.

d) Africa is the only continent apart from some part of Asia that grew during the global economic recession in 2009 and even get better in 2012.

e) When the spending power of Europeans and Americans are falling, the spending power of Africans is increasing with increase in the middle class of over 250 million people.

The Testament:

Lots of multinational firms took advantage of this abundant opportunities and have never looked back since then or regretted taking that investment decision.

Guinness Nigeria a subsidiary of Diageo Plc UK is the second largest market in the world is expected to outperform United Kingdom market by 2014 according to research carried out by Renaissance Capital in 2011. In addition more than 45% of the company's global sales is from Sub -Saharan Africa. In recent announcement from Diageo Plc, Nigeria is the biggest market for Guinness foreign extra stout in the world overtaking the home country Ireland with the country having 6% of its global income.

PZ Cussons manufacturer of healthcare products and consumer goods started its African subsidiary in 19th century and now Africa is its largest market. The consumer spending in Europe is falling while the consumer spending is ever increasing with lots of places in Africa yet to be invested into by the firm.

Investors Guide:

Doing business in Nigeria: Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission

Doing Business in Ghana: Ghana Investment Promotion Centre

Doing Business in Kenya: Kenya Investment Authority

Barclays Bank Second Investigation

2012-08-30T12:35:00.000+01:00

Barclays bank after being investigated and fined over £290m in the Libor scandal case and have to pay over £450m on mis-selling products to customers have find itself in another pitfall over its transaction in 2007. This latest investigation is about the funds raised from investors in Abu Dhabi and Qatar sovereign wealth funds just after the financial crisis.

The previous LIBOR investigation claims some causalities which includes the CEO Robert Diamond and the Chairman which will leave soon. This probe is about disclosure of the fees the bank intends to pay the Qatari authority. The 7 billion pounds raised from the middle east helps it to weather the storm in 2007 and eventually avoided any bailout funds from the UK government.

The bank however has appointed Antony Jenkins who runs Barclays Retail and Business Banking has the new chief executive with a basic salary of £1.1m and a performance bonus of up to 250% of his salary. The new CEO takes over at a very difficult time when the bank is facing a running battle with regulators as well as its reputation been damaged.

This series of investigation into the banks will however have a significant impact on its profit for the second half of the year.

The Sacking of Founders by Shareholders

2012-08-23T14:27:00.000+01:00

by Michael Durwin

This is also a huge reason why so many companies falter: you've just replaced the visionary leader. It almost every case of a founder-CEO being replaced, it is at the behest of the shareholders and board. Why? Greed. They simply want the company to get bigger and make money. Unfortunately, once you removed the visionary, you remove the vision. You replace him with, as the article says, ''An individual skilled to manage the growth''. Why does this person need to replace the founder? Let's call this guy the Growth Manager.

The growth manager wasn't smart or clever enough to come up with the business, he didn't have the [passion to grow it from nothing into a successful company. His only skill is his ability to squeeze out profits and manage resources issues' great skill, but not one that will lead to real , long term growth, just immediate dividends. Look at two recent turnovers: apple and Twitter.

All the founders are out of leadership roles at Twitter or out all together Instead they have Dick. What has Dick overseen? Censorship, advertising ,sponsored links and recommendations, and mass user departures.

Apple ousted Steve Jobs and replaced him with a bean counter named John Sculley because they wanted to ''limit (Jobs) ability to launch expensive forays into untested products''. What happened? Disaster one of those expensive forays was a new operating system which Jobs launched at NEXT. Once Apple's board smartened up and brought Jobs back, he continued to launch expensive forays into untested products'' which became the iPod, iphone, iPad, MacAir. Now the company is bigger than Exxon.

Does a start-up need a Growth Manager once it gets big enough? Absolutely but that person should be an advisor and partner to the visionary that gave birth to the company. That person has special skills and experience that the founder-CEO does not. But to replace a visionary leader with a visionless business manager is to remove the Soul from the company, without which it will die. It's a far smarter move to teach the visionary how to manage growth and take on managerial responsibilities to let the CEO do what he has always done best: envision, inspire and lead.

If Mark Zuckerberg is ever ousted from Facebook, you will see a rapid decline within the first year. The same goes for Richard Branson. He may not be managing the companies day to day but his vision and charisma make it one of the coolest most successful brands around.

Culled from Inc.com

Open Forum: Why do Private Firms Go Public?

2012-08-22T14:41:00.000+01:00

Looking at a catalogue of companies like Facebook, Groupon, Vonage and Pet.com going public after much hyped but eventually did not live up to the expectation. Why then do founders/entrepreneurs go public apart from raising more funds which can still be raised without going public.

Let us discuss this.

Going Public a Blessing or Curse for Facebook?

2012-08-21T09:52:00.000+01:00

Having spent the weekend reading through the whole story about facebook shares downward trend since going public. The thoughts that comes to mind now is that going public a blessing or curse to Facebook? The raising of IPO by Facebook about 3 months ago came with lots of pump and pageantry with every investor hoping to get their grip on the shares while some investors also expressing their concerns about revenue and sustainability of the social media company. Their fears is becoming reality going by the constant fall in its shares since the 'public show'.

The first phase of lock up period was over last week which allowed the (institutional) investors to hold or sell their shares. It is no more news that after lock up periods ends, most company's share price usually goes down which is also evident in the case of Facebook Inc. and making Facebook the second worst IPO performer in history after lock up period ends with a sharp decline from $38 down to $19.87after lock up.

I overheard a discussion about the impact of share prices on the performance. I think in the real sense there is no significant impact of the company's share price on a company performance if the company keeps making profit and does not run out of cash but having said that, a constant fall in share price makes it easier for the firms to be a target for hostile takeovers or a rival company to buy up the shares and offer irresistible deal to the shareholders of the target company.

Another problem of a fall in share price is that it can affect the rate at which Facebook can borrow money if the need arises. Creditors looks at the company valuation before deciding on the rate of interest and the ability of the firm to payback upon maturity. This is the major reason why companies ensure that their share prices is considerably stable to fend off this potential treat.

October and November later this year is another phase of lock up period for the social media firm. We will keep you informed on the trend of share price and the revenue of the firm.

Emerging Markets : Focus on Singapore

2012-08-17T16:15:00.000+01:00

Image: destination360

Singapore formerly a British colony which became fully independent in 1965 with approximately 5 million people with almost 60% Chinese. Singapore is one of the major hub for investments in the Asian pacific because of its cosmopolitan nature with different cultural background. Many foreigners find Singapore as their new home because of the peace and tranquillity and co existence of people of diverse culture and religion.

One of the reasons that makes Singapore to rise is the creation of Economic Development Board (EDB) which facilitated companies like HSBC, MAYBANK, ASCOTT to have their regional headquarters in Singapore. The general knowledge that economic growth solves social problem and the realisation of the small domestic market with the understanding that there is no natural resources to rely on made Singapore government to invest in its people to have the required knowledge am be able to compete well with the foreigners.

The government created possibilities for export by opening up its borders for foreign direct Investment unlike other countries they have always been outward looking.

Singapore Stats:

Ranking	Quality of Life	Economic Activity
1	London	London
2	Singapore	New York
3	New York	Hong Kong
4	Geneva	Shanghai
5	Sydney	Singapore
6	Hong Kong	Beijing
7	Paris	Dubai
8	Vancouver	Paris
9	Miami	Tokyo
10	Dubai	Frankfurt

Figure 1: Quality of life

Ranking	Data 2010	$ US	Expected 2050	$ US
1	Singapore	56,532	Singapore	137,710
2	Norway	51,226	Hong Kong	116,639
3	US	45,511	Taiwan	114,093
4	Hong Kong	45,301	South Korea	107,752
5	Switzerland	42,470	US	100,802
6	Netherlands	40,736	Saudi Arabia	98,311
7	Australia	40,525	Canada	96,375
8	Austria	39,073	UK	91,130
9	Canada	38,640	Switzerland	90,956
10	Sweden	36,438	Austria	90,158

Figure 2: GDP Per Capita (2010 PPP US$ )

( Figure 1& 2 according to The Wealth Report 2012 published by Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank)

The Attractions:

The above stats might give you small indication about the growth and prospect of Singapore. Let us look at some of the attractions

Closeness to China: Singapore's closes to China which is the second largest economy in the world has definitely impacted on her growth going by this shows a direct relationship between the two economies.

Free trade: Singapore government has always been one of the foremost advocate for free trade and this preaching is paying off on the level of influx of foreign companies. Singapore has the busiest port in the world. it is also a key factor in its economic development.

Tax advantages: Singapore opened up its borders by allowing Investors and companies to benefit from the double taxation agreements with other nations. Start ups can gain tax advantage for the first 3 years if certain conditions are met. Angel Investors Tax Deduction Scheme (AITD) this like (venture capital) will also enjoy 50% tax deduction when they invest in start-up companies

Real Estate : The property business is booming with the abundant opportunities and also the policy that allows investors to own property in their name which is not common in the Asian-pacific.

Low Business cost: Investors are drawing towards Singapore also because of the low cost of doing business which is evident when the World bank ranks the country as the world's easiest place to do business in its report (Doing Business 2011 report). It takes just two procedures to register a company in Singapore with maximum of two days timeline.

The challenges:

The multi cultural divide might be used to disrupt the economy by some politician when they fill threatening. There are also barriers for foreign companies to operate in some sectors like legal services.

Emerging Markets : Focus on Asian - Pacific Countries

2012-08-16T12:51:00.000+01:00

Having noticed that lots of multinational firms and investors see the Asia, Latin America as well as some African countries a safe haven in this time of financial crisis coupled with major European countries struggling to overcome the Euro debt crisis, we will be focusing on some Asian- pacific countries that are attracting these investments and also discuss why these countries have become the toast of investors.

In our previous post, we have featured some large financial firms in Europe who find succour in the Asia, Latin America and Middle East, like Banco Santander, Standard Chartered bank and HSBC etc.

Looking at the responses and emails we have got from this part of the world, we have decided to write about some of these countries like, Singapore, Malaysia, Honk Kong, Indonesia and host of others in the next few days . We will focus on why these countries attract investors and the potential challenges.

Why Standard Chartered Bank Operates Outside UK

2012-08-11T08:48:00.000+01:00

Standard Chartered bank is a UK bank with its headquarters in London the assumed hob of financial activities in Europe. Standard Chartered bank has little commercial activities in UK compared with the financial activities in Asia, Africa and some part of middle east.

The question that comes to mind is why did Standard Chartered moved? or why don't they have considerable presence in the UK or even EU at large? Our submission at EcoInshore is that, there has always been contagion effects in the UK banking sector where the problem with one financial institution affects the other this is because of the exposure of trading of these other banks in the same market, the risk of one will ultimately affect the other.

The British banks that operates and realise more than 60% of their business activities in the UK like Lloyds banking group , Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) fell victim of this contagion effect predominantly caused by the Euro crisis which eventually affects their balance sheet position and profits. The unwillingness to diversify and enter into the emerging markets in other to hedge their risk exposure to Euro lead them to government bailout. This is evident because the UK government had to use tax payers money to bail out both Lloyds bank and RBS with the government having 43% stake and 83% respectively.

The two British banks Standard Chartered and HSBC have significantly diversify their business operations in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Middle east see their businesses not only grow compared to its other UK banks but with no bail out from government.

Standard Chartered bank half year result of 2012 shows Income growth of 9% these growth are based on 2 elements which are not evident in other UK banks like RBS and Lloyds bank.

1. Diversification and multiple income engines with growth rates in double digit : UK and America 26% , China 22% , Malaysia 21%, Indonesia 20% , Korea 13% and Hong Kong 10%.

2. Cost and risk : The Payment Protection Insurance(PPI) provisions have depleted the profits Lloyds and RBS because of their more reliance on the UK increased their cost. Standard Charted have limited exposure to the Euro though but only acts as a bridge to link the Asia ,Africa with Euro

Though some might argue that Standard Chartered bank is not much of a retail bank that is why they do not have much presence in UK, but they understood that doing business in Malaysia, Singapore , china , Indonesia, Africa and middle east has been the best business decision they make because these regions make up 90% of their operating profit in the half year result.

United Kingdom Flat Growth and The Lending Scheme

2012-08-09T17:00:00.000+01:00

Looking at the quarterly inflation report of the Bank of England(BoE) gives indication how dip the euro crisis and lack of willingness of banks to lend money is affecting the economy at large. The BoE in its report reduced the expected growth rate from 0.8% to 0% compared to what it was in the same period a year ago of 2%.

The reasons for this forecast of the growth forecast are obvious to all and sundry which are; the euro crisis , the weather which , the bank holidays as well as government cut in spending.

The Lending Scheme

The new £80bn lending scheme which officially started on 1st of August for drawings is to allow banks and building societies borrow money at a reduced cost from BoE and eventually lend to households and the businesses with the hope that it will stimulate the economy activities in the UK. Banks and building societies will have access to it for a period 18 months and there is no limit on what individual banks can borrow from the scheme but will be able to borrow up to 5% of their previous lending to the real sector as at the end of June 2012.

The banks are to lend to the real sector of the economy but the concern here is that banks might take the loan to boost their profit and balance sheet position rather than lending to the businesses that are struggling with funding. On the building societies perspective, instead of allowing the building societies to decide who to give these funds to, I think BoE should have attached some conditions to it by designating some aspect of the loan to first time home buyers who might not have large initial deposits to finance their mortgages.

Is Islamic Finance The Panacea?

2012-08-07T16:02:00.000+01:00

Image Courtesy: 123rf

The principle of Islamic finance (Non-Interest Finance) focuses more on transparency of dealings, social responsibility through proper equitable distribution of wealth. The crisis in the Euro for the past couple of years with the conventional banks struggling to weather the storm looks promising for the Non- interest financing.

'Musharaka' which I largely believe is the major significant argument for Islamic finance is a financial activity where the bank or investor provides the fund for an enterprise but also participate in the managing of the firm. Profits earned on the venture will be shared between the parties based on the agreed ratio and the losses will be shared based on their capital contribution.

For instance, If conventional banks were required to share the profits and losses of their clients like the 'Musharaka', whether on business investments or mortgages which led to sub-prime crisis in 2008 they would be much more careful. This is because their financial returns would depend more on the performance of the projects that they finance. Interest-based lending substantially divorces financial institution from their customers risks and focuses only on the interest to be earned on the loan deal. In many cases, the banker who brings in the loan deal has already collected his or her bonus and sometimes retired by the time the deal goes bad and eventually causes problem for the entrepreneur and the bank.

Budding entrepreneur with great business idea without collateral often fail to attract finance under the conventional system because of the interest based finance but Islamic finance has bridged this gap through profits and loss sharing.

Despite the prospect of Islamic finance, challenges abound as well. Some school of thought argued that Islamic finance instruments are only an hybrid version of the conventional instrument and that there is no significant difference. There is also shortage of qualified professional who specializes in Islamic instruments and also diversity in the laws and procedure in different countries where it's been practice. I believe if these challenges are eliminated, non interest finance can be the panacea for the financial crisis.

Islamic Finance - My Understanding

2012-08-06T19:30:00.000+01:00

Image courtesy: Capital Business

A friend once asked me is Islamic Finance and banking for only Muslim? This prod me to write this short piece based on my understanding. Many people believed that since the name says 'Islamic' it simply has to do with Muslims. It is a financial system that allows all and sundry to participate irrespective of their religious beliefs.

Islamic finance and banking sometimes called Non- Interest Finance can be said to be financial activities which is based on Islamic principles that forbids interest 'Riba' and financial speculation. It focuses more on risk and profit sharing which is the basic principle.

The major principles :

Non-Interest (Riba) : The conventional banking focuses on taking and giving interest but in Islamic finance, it prohibits any payment above the actual amount of principal been borrowed.

Risk Sharing: It is financial system that focuses on profit, loss and risk sharing as well as participation of parties involved the transaction.

Investment in gambling and dealings in alcohol is prohibited.

Market prices are determined based on the forces of demand and supply and not on speculation.

Finally, non -Interest finance as I like to call it is centred on fair, transparency and risk sharing in all dealings. I will follow up this short piece with my personal opinion on Islamic finance and the financial crisis.