Blog Profile / Annansi Chronicles
| URL : | http://annansi.com/blog | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | Local Interest / Africa | |
| Posts on Regator: | 96 | This blog is retired. |
| Archived Since: | August 11, 2008 | |
Blog Post Archive
Kenya’s Billion-Dollar Dash to Become the Tech Hub of Africa
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 [...]Show More Summary
Using Twitter for Nigeria election reform
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 [...]Show More Summary
Trailer: When China met Africa (documentary)
‘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. [...]Show More Summary
Western Union partners with M-Pesa for international mobile money transfers
Western Union has announced a partnership with M-PESA, the popular Kenyan mobile cash-transfer service. This deal opens up Western Union’s huge money transfer network to the Safaricon-owned “mobile wallet” service. The parnership will allow customers in US, UK and other countries to transfer money to a Safaricom/M-Pesa user’s account and the receiver will receive an SMS [...]Show More Summary
IT giant Infosys seeks African market expansion
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 [...]Show More Summary
New wave of Western investment flows to African film
In recent years, though, there have been signs that a shift is under way. A wave of Western investment in African cinema has focused on sustainability and long-term growth. Rather than using Africa as a picturesque backdrop for big-budget studio productions, filmmakers from outside the continent and various fests are looking to cultivate a new [...]Show More Summary
Microsoft chairman plots Africa’s tech revolution (video)
In the video featurette below, CNN’s African Voices highlights Cheick Diarra, the Microsoft chairman for Africa who has been trying to make technology more accessible on the continent. In the video Mr. Diarra talks about tech affordability, connectivity, and training in Africa, and also comments on combatting software piracy by developing the local software development [...]Show More Summary
Africa’s wealth and consumerism draws big brands
The Wall Street Journal is currently running an in-depth interactive series on the rapid development and potential of the African consumer market. The first installment of the series includes a wealth timeline of foreign investment in Africa, consumer profiles, an insightful article on multinational brand perspective and more. It’s a must read. I’m looking forward [...]Show More Summary
Insights on mobile banking & advertising in Africa (videos)
If you’ve been following this website or been engaged in any recent conversation about Africa’s future, you can’t have missed a mention about mobile technology innovation and it’s impact in Africa. For the curious or uninitiated, here are a couple of videos which focus on the trend and give some insight particularly in the banking [...]Show More Summary
Watch out Silicon Valley. Chinese and Indian Entrepreneurs Are Eating America’s Lunch
…India’s and China’s successes aren’t due to their education systems, but despite them. You’ve probably heard of Indian outsourcing hotspots like Bangalore and Chennai, but it’s not just call centers and software sweatshops Americans now need to worry about: Technology entrepreneurship is booming all over in China and India, and is beginning to innovate; these [...]Show More Summary
South Africa formally invited to join BRIC group of emerging global powers
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 [...]Show More Summary
Growth and spending of African consumers (video)
Here’s a very informative video interview on African consumer growth, spending and attitudes. Courtesy of ABN Digital. Growth and spending of African consumers (video) is a post from Annansi Chronicles - African business and culture trends Subscribe to the comments for this post? Tweet This! Share this on Facebook Ping this on Ping.fm Share this [...]Show More Summary
Top 100 global thinkers of 2010
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 [...]Show More Summary
Africa’s New Trade Frontier (infographic) – The BRICA Group
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 [...]Show More Summary
Notes: leadership and innovation at 2010 World Business Forum
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 – [...]Show More Summary
European, Asian, U.S. business schools launching Africa campuses
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 onShow More Summary
Wal-Mart plans Africa debut with $4.2 billion buy of S. Africa’s Massmart
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 [...]Show More Summary
Join me at the 2010 World Business Forum
This October, I’ll be attending the 6th Annual World Business Forum, an annual global business summit held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The World Business Forum brings together an incredible lineup of speakers, specifically tailored to provide you with the latest insights on three overarching areas critical to the success of [...]Show More Summary
Trailer: Warner Bros’ World Cup-inspired film ‘Africa United’
via youtube.com SYNOPSIS: “Africa United” is the extraordinary story of three Rwandan kids who walk 3000 miles to the Soccer World Cup in South Africa. Using a sack load of ingenuity and sass (and a World Cup wall chart for a map), our pint-sized protagonists set off through the endless horizons of Africa in pursuit [...]Show More Summary
Bob Geldof to front $750 million private equity Africa investment fund
Mr Geldof, who has long campaigned against poverty in Africa, has been planning to launch the fund for several years but his efforts were delayed by the onset of the financial crisis. He is expected to use his knowledge of African development to source deals for the fund, although sources close to the situation insisted [...]Show More Summary