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Africa In Focus
Africa In Focus: "The mainstream thinking now is that Africa is different and we could get it right if we want. The choice is fully ours, and it is now time for us to define what we want."
African Development Bank (AFDB) President, Dr. Donald Kaberuka.
VENTURES AFRICA- Global social network company, Facebook, has
established its first sales office in Dubai to strategically connect
North African countries.
The company says that its aim is to attract more ad sales by targeting
the 45 million users that Facebook says it has across the Middle East
and North Africa.
The establishment of the new office came after investors complain on
the company’s fallen share price. The office is expected to attract
potential advertising interest from the northern parts of Africa.
Facebook’s Vice President and Managing Director for Africa, Europe
and the Mideast, Joanna Shields; confirmed that the decision to lay down
roots in the region was purely commercial.
“People on Facebook … use it to organise rallies for all kinds of
elections around the world,” she said. “We’re humbled by that and we are
happy that we can facilitate. But we always downplay the (site’s) role
because it’s really the people there who came together and did what they
did.”
“In an open and connected world, more and more companies are
realizing that Facebook is the place where they can build strong
connections with their customers. We are here to share our experience
and learn from the many talented, creative people in this part of the
globe,” she said.
Executives however declined to say how much revenue the region currently generates or what their goals are for the future.
Facebook, a popular social networking site with 901 million monthly
active users, became more popular in the northern part of Africa
following its role as the catalyst for the protest and revolution that
swept over the region last year. The company is listed on the US NASDAQ
stock exchange.
The company had earlier team-up with Cairo-based advertising company
Connect Ads to enhance its reach of advertisers in the region.
The office is starting with three employees in Dubai’s Internet City –
a business park popular with tech firms including Microsoft Corp. and
Google Inc.
Head of Global Marketing Solutions, Middle East and North Africa at
Facebook , Jonathan Labin, who will be heading the company’s operation
at the new office expressed delight in the new venture.
He said: “I am thrilled to be leading the team in Dubai. We already
have strong partners in the region that are using Facebook in innovative
ways to achieve real results. I look forward to working with many more
businesses to help them extend their reach and realize the power of
social.”
Dubai is a city considered as a regional hub for the geographical
footprint spanning the North African Levant to the west, South Africa to
the south, various Arab states to the north, and the sub-continent
& beyond to the east.
VENTURES AFRICA- On the continent, South Africa is the Most Valuable
African Nation Brand. This was revealed by Brand Africa in conjunction
with Brand France at the Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya last
Friday. The event, which was hosted by Brand Kenya was organised by
Brand Africa’s secretariat, Brand Leadership Academy and Africa
Practise, an investment and development communications advisory
practice.
The Most Valuable African Nations Brands presented by Brand Africa,
are derived from Brand Finance’s Global Nations Brand League, now in its
fifth year, which covers a global sample of 138 nations, including 36
African nations.
Africa Nation Brand list now in its second year features new entrants
like Ethiopia, which replaced Libya on the tenth spot. While the rest
of the countries remained in the same position as last year’s rankings,
the Nation Brand list this year shows a change in position between Ghana
and Kenya as Ghana replaced Kenya in the ninth position while Kenya
moved one spot up.
The Global Nations Brand League is based on Brand Finance’s
comprehensive analysis of the impact that a country’s reputation and
image have on foreign consumers and investors. It combines a range of
economic, demographic and political factors, and is based on in-depth
research by Brand Finance’s global network of offices.
At the end of the exercise, which features the use of multiple
methodologies that includes qualitative, quantitative and secondary
research; each nation brand is given a brand rating – a summary measure
of the financial potency based on their strength, risk and future
potential, as well as brand value.
Founder and Chairman of the Brand Africa, Thebe Ikalafeng, said,
“More than half of the world’s fastest growing economies are from
Africa, paving the way for Africa to transform itself from being a net
importer of goods and services to being self-sufficient and a
contributing rather just a consumer member of the global economy… The
Top 10 Most Valuable African Nations are without question among the most
dynamic African nations at the forefront of re-inventing the Africa’s
image, reputation and competitiveness.”
The top ten Most Valuable African Nation Brand for 2012 are:
Ranking Country Brand value Brand rating
1 South Africa 218 A
2 Egypt 109 A-
3 Nigeria 88 BBB
4 Morocco 48 A-
5 Algeria 45 BB
6 Angola 31 B
7 Tunisia 24 A
8 Kenya 19 A-
9 Ghana 18 A-
10 Ethiopia 12 BBB
VENTURES AFRICA- For reasons of funding difficulties and political
risks, South Africa based-company; Illovo Sugar has withdrawn from the
2.6 billion rand ($310 million) sugar project in Mali.
The project, Markala Sugar project, was a proposed private-public
partnership between the Mali government and Illovo Sugar. It was
expected to produce 1.5 million tonnes of cane per year.
Illovo Sugar Managing Director, Graham Clark, said, the company stopped
negotiation after the government failed to finalise funding and complete
undertakings with regard to infrastructure development.
Illovo is Africa’s biggest sugar producer with operations in South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia.
With the company now extending its interests to other Africa country,
Graham told Reuters that Illovo will channel its interest to countries
in the East and central Africa.
“On the African landscape, West Africa has … increased in risk
profile and therefore other regions, such as east Africa and central
Africa would come to the fore once again. We are focusing across the
region. Those would be areas where you have the best fundamentals to
grow cane and attractive markets” Clark said.
However, the decision to pull-out of the Mali sugar project did not
deter the profit of the company as it recorded a 31 percent increase in
operating profit for the year to March. The company’s profit increase
resulted from a strong commercial performance despite lower production
levels.
Clark however stated that the European Union market remains
significant to the company as it allows for duty and quota-free exports
for producers in developing countries.
“Europe will stay a much higher priority for us compared to the world market, which tends to be pretty volatile,” he said.
At the end of March, Illovo’s sugar exports into Europe topped 400,000 tonnes.
VENTURES AFRICA – South Africa is partnering with Australia and New
Zealand to build the world’s biggest and most advanced radio telescope
complex.
The countries will work together on the Square Kilometre Array (SKA)
project, which may reveal whether there is life beyond Earth. The SKA
member countries that decided that both of the shortlisted candidate
nations should host the project made public the news about this
initiative on Friday.
The SKA telescope project, which is expected to be completed by the year
2024 is the most advanced scientific project in recent times.
When completed, the telescope will be made up of 3,000 dishes, each 15
metres wide, together with many more antennae, that will altogether give
a receiver surface area of a square kilometre.
According to the SKA website, the telescope will be 50 times more
sensitive while giving more opportunity to be able to survey the sky 10
000 times faster than any existing radio telescope. It will also allow
astronomers study the formation of the first black holes, stars and
galaxies.
Apart from this, the telescope will be able to observe complex molecules
on distant planets, raising the possibility that it may detect life in
another galaxy. It will also be able to collect signals from the origin
of the universe when it’s completed.
The two biggest components of the SKA will be built in Africa, while
one will be built in Australia – about 70 percent of the facility will
be built in Africa.
The majority of the first phase dishes will be built in South Africa,
which is considered a “preferred site”, SKA group affirmed.
The decision to split the location of the $2 billion “Square
Kilometre Array” followed intense lobbying by the two leading bidders,
South Africa one side and a joint bid from Australia and New Zealand on
the other. South Africa accepted the decision to share the e1.5 billion
(R11bn) project.
“Factors taken into account during the site selection process
included levels of radio frequency interference, the long-term
sustainability of a radio quiet zone, the physical characteristics of
the site, long distance data network connectivity, the operating and
infrastructure costs, as well as the political and working environment,”
the SKA Organisation said.
Director-General of the Manchester, England organising body, Michiel
van Haarlem, said “It’s an international, global project and one of the
important things we seek to achieve is the broadest possible support for
it.”
“In 2024 we expect to be able to look back at the first stars and
milky-ways formed in the universe,” Van Haarlem said. “We’ll look for
extraterrestrial life and try to uncover the role of magnetic fields in
the forming of stars.”
“This hugely important step for the project allows us to progress the
design and prepare for the construction phase of the telescope,” said
Michiel van Haarlem.
“The SKA will transform our view of the universe; with it we will see
back to the moments after the Big Bang and discover previously
unexplored parts of the cosmos.”
On winning the deal, the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma said,
“Africa is indeed rising. South Africa is confident that the country
will deliver on the expectations of the continent and world.”
He acknowledged that this vast achievement was possible because of
the African Union endorsement and support from partner countries,
namely, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Namibia and
Zambia.
The SKA is more than just a scientific bauble. Global tech companies are
already earmarking development funds linked to the project, which will
rely on computing technology that does not even exist yet to process the
flood of data it will collect. Scientists estimate that the SKA will
need processing power equivalent to several million of today’s fastest
computers, a report from MSNBC said.
Five years after its broadcasting stint as a
Pan-African broadcasting media, CNBC Africa has opened another office in
Maputo, Mozambique following an agreement with Mozambique State
Broadcaster – Televisão de Moçambique (TVM).
The new bureau at Maputo is the seventh CNBC office on the continent.
Other CNBC offices are in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi, Lagos,
Abuja, Windhoek, Libreville and Lusaka.
CNBC Africa is an affiliate of CNBC International owned by Africa
Business News (ABN). Its country bureau representative will be Sunnyboy
Mshengu.
Although the link between Maputo and CNBC Africa’s Sandton
(Johannesburg) studios is currently being tested; it is expected that by
June 25, the coverage testing should have been finalized for coverage
of Mozambique’s National Independence Day.
The conglomerate also plans to open offices in over twenty African countries by the end of 2014.
According to Roberta Naidoo, Managing Director of the ABN Group;
establishing a CNBC Africa presence in Mozambique represents an
important milestone in the channel’s continental expansion strategy.
“While we have significantly increased our coverage of African
business and finance news over the past five years, our expansion
strategy is accelerating significantly in order for us to attain our
target of a presence in twenty African territories by the end of 2014.
Clearly, in terms of which countries to target first, we have to focus
on the continent’s economic hotspots – and Mozambique is certainly one
of the hottest. I’m consequently very excited about the advent of our
Maputo bureau, which will provide our audience with even better, more
in-depth and more relevant business news coverage,” Naidoo says.
The establishment of an office in Mozambique came after the
performance appraisal from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which
recorded that Mozambique has grown tremendously over the years. The
monetary agency expects the country to experience a rapid growth of 6.7%
and 7.2% in 2012 and 2013 respectively – a far cry from growth
prospects in the developed world, particularly Europe.
It believes that future growth will be anchored on prudent macroeconomic
management, low inflationary environment, exports, and robust Foreign
Direct Investment inflows.
ABN Group’s Vice President for business development, Sid Wahi, says
it makes perfect sense for CNBC Africa to establish a permanent presence
in Mozambique.
“Since 2001, Mozambique has been one of the world’s top 10 countries
for annual average GDP growth. This is a country that has overcome a
decades-long civil war and tackled massive socio-economic challenges, to
become one of the most exciting economies globally,” Wahi affirms.
“It is therefore quite clear that in order for CNBC Africa to fulfill
its mandate as the continent’s leading source of accurate, reliable and
actionable business and finance information; it must have its finger
firmly on the pulse of the Mozambican economy.”
CNBC Africa is a pan-African financial and business channel
established on the 1st of June 2007 by media conglomerate ABN 360. It is
reportedly the first and only real-time Africa financial and Business
news network. The channel covers business and financial markets news
from three regions across the continent, and can be described as a forum
where the news of Africa’s business world is announced and debated
while presenting a view of the continent.
On June 1, 2012; it will celebrate its 5th year anniversary of continental business broadcasting across Africa.
Co-founder and Chairman of CNBC Africa, Zafar Siddiqi, says; Africa’s
business and economic leaders have the opportunity to change the
economic landscape and perceptions about the continent, which will pay
dividends for generations to come. But to do so most effectively, they
need access to reliable, relevant information as it happens.
“For the past five years, CNBC Africa has given them exactly that – and
we look forward to continuing to providing them with this critical news
service for a very long time to come.”
In a recent interview with Business Daily, CNBC Africa co-founder and
Vice-chairman Rakesh Wahi, said the company priority is to create
Africa’s largest media conglomerate for business and economic news.
VENTURES AFRICA- Information and Telecommunication Technology Group,
Datatec, has acquires the 33.1% ownership of its African business,
Weston Africa; through its subsidiary company, Weston Group.
The reason for the acquisition is to have full ownership of the Weston Group.
However, the contract does not include Weston South Africa, which
remains under the ownership of Datatec (74%) and its BEE partner, the
Mineworkers Investment Corporation (26%).
The deal has been effected by agreement with the two minority
partners in Westcon Africa – namely International Technology
Distributors F.Z. (15.9 % share of Westcon Africa) – with $2.45 million
to be settled by the issue of Datatec shares and a deferred cash payment
based on 15.9% of half of the increase in value of Westcon Africa from
31 August 2011 to 28 February 2013.
The group has also settled with Mr & Mrs Paul Moser (17.2% share
of Westcon Africa) through $2.65 million to be settled by the issue of
Datatec shares and a deferred cash payment based on 17.2% of half of the
increase in value of Westcon Africa from 31 August 2011 to 28 February
2013.
“The total additional consideration referred to above which is
payable based on half the increase in valuation of the vendors’ share of
the Westcon Africa businesses from 31 August 2011 to 28 February 2013
is estimated to be $1.5 million based on an extrapolation of the growth
of the business to date,” Datatec stated.
While brands from China, Russia, India and Brazil are now
regular features in the BrandZ Top 100, until this year’s ranking an entire
continent was missing: Africa.
But given that it is a global ranking, it is fitting that MTN Group, the
company behind MTN, the first African brand to appear in the ranking, should
have a vision to be the leading telecommunications provider in emerging
markets.
The South African company, established only in 1994 as the old apartheid
regime was being dismantled, is a mobile operator and internet service provider
with operations in 22 countries, mainly across Africa but also in the Middle
East (including Syria, Yemen and, controversially, Iran) and Afghanistan.
Jennifer Roberti, MTN’s executive, group marketing, admits to having mixed
feelings about the achievement. MTN makes its debut in the Top 100 at 88th,
with a brand value of $9.3bn. “On the one hand we’re thrilled, but there is a
part of me that feels it’s about time,” she says.
With its multinational presence and more than 170m subscribers, Ms Roberti
says she can think of “a lot of western brands that are included in global
listings, and receive a lot of attention, that don’t have the same reach and
magnitude as MTN”.
Ms Roberti is not alone in believing that – in terms of brands and other
respects – Africa’s time has come. Kr Raghu, Unilever’s vice-president for
brand building & marketing operations, Africa, talks of three phases for
brands there.
In the first, until about the middle of the 20th century, companies such as
Unilever were building markets, and big brands became generic terms – so
washing powder was called omo and was called blueband.
Then, he says, came a phase, lasting until about 2005, when many big FMCGs
(fast-moving consumer goods companies) were trying to fit Africa into their
brand, rather than the brand into Africa. Unilever was party to a bit of that
thinking, says Mr Raghu.
More recently, though, things have changed and FMCGs are crafting brands for
Africa.
“Why is this happening now,” he asks. “First, because GDP growth of 8–12 per
cent is very attractive and, secondly, because there is a booming middle class
[numbering more than 300m]. But most important is the combination of this
economic strength with a growth of an African attitude: Africans are coming out
more strongly as being African.”
Shannon Yuill, regional brand director for Guinness Africa (part of Diageo),
agrees. “In terms of what Africa is going through, the ‘African awakening’ fits
really well to what Guinness is about. The brand celebrates people who realise
their potential,” she says.
“At the emotional level the brand’s positioning, and what it stands for,
resonates with Africans. It celebrates being bold, true to yourself and having
entrepreneurial flair,” she adds.”
Some facets of marketing and brand-building are the same the world over, but
others differ from region to region. “Finding the right media and the right
billboards is definitely complicated in our environment,” says Ms Roberti. “We
don’t have the same kind of metrics that other markets have.”
Building brand awareness is not hard, she says. What is hard is building
brand relevance. When it comes to sponsorship, therefore, the aim was to look
for properties that have the right fit with MTN’s brand and also with its
consumers. In Africa, football fits the bill better than anything else.
Over the years the MTN brand has become ever more associated with Africa’s
favourite sport. The company was thinking ahead in 2006, when it became the
title sponsor of the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, where it wasn’t even
present at the time.
“We definitely knew that sponsorship should follow the trajectory of our
business strategy,” says Ms Roberti.
MTN constantly reviews its involvement in football – whether it be at grass
roots level, regional level, or sponsoring a national team. In 2010 it
concluded a three-year agreement for broadcast sponsorship of the Barclays
premier league across Africa and MTN has a special affinity with Chelsea –
crowned European champions last weekend – because of the number of African
players on the west London club’s books, such as Michael Essien and Salomon
Kalou. The company also keeps its name in front of African football fans via
its MTN football website.
The older brands have had longer, of course, to build awareness. Guinness
has long been an iconic brand across the continent, says Ms Yuill, and that
trait has intensified in recent years. “It’s the kind of brand where you buy
the T-shirt and get the tattoo”.
Guinness too, has sponsored football – last year it brought the Argentine
team to Nigeria for a match against the national team. “That created a huge
amount of interest and the feedback we got was that this is something big and
bold that only Guinness can do,” she says.
The huge differences in living standards and conditions across the continent
oblige companies such as Unilever to use all sorts of ways to communicate about
their brands. Mr Raghu says this could be everything from a wallboard on the
road out of Kinshasa to TV advertising that would work on an old
black-and-white TV screen in Ethiopia, to live digital streaming aimed at
mobile phones (the continent has more mobile phones than the US).
Radio is still very popular, he says, but he predicts explosive growth in
the use of mobiles for interactive communication with consumers, as the mobile
phone is such a convenient tool that they are now very familiar with.
Unilever has worked with Mpesa, the money transfer tool, on several
occasions in connection with promotions for Royco’s (Knorr) range of products,
popular in Kenya, and Omo. The company rewarded consumers with both money and
airtime using special codes in packs.
In such a diverse continent, it is perhaps surprising that some branding
ideas can work well across the region.
Ms Roberti says: “There are times when you think that something is relevant
in only one market, [whereas in fact it has more general appeal] than the other
way round.”
As an example, MTN South Africa ran its own campaign during the 2010 Fifa
World Cup, which was built around the township slang word ayoba
“cool”. This became a rallying cry elsewhere and was even picked up by Japanese
and South American media, she says.
“Marketing sometimes underestimates the power of the good idea to transfer
across borders,” she says.
While MTN has been piloting advertising via mobile phones in some markets,
there is also the strength of the distribution network for raising brand
awareness, says Ms Roberti – be it a roadside vendor wearing MTN-branded
apparel or an MTN umbrella on a kiosk in Ghana or Uganda.
At Guinness, Ms Yuill says that in a continent with so many cultures and
languages, “there is certainly a need to ensure you’ve got the right horses for
the right courses”.
While the brand has the same positioning across Africa, she says, Guinness
wants to ensure that in each country, it does the things, which are relevant to
local consumers. But there are some big platforms it has taken across Africa,
especially if it is a breakthrough from traditional advertising, for example in
new media.
All this talk of new media, mobile telephony and a rising middle class
cannot obscure the fact that there is another Africa where hundreds of millions
live in need, however. So when it comes to building awareness of a Unilever
brand such as Lifebuoy soap, for example, sponsorship of grassroots activities
such as a “global hand wash day” in Nigeria, or working with NGOs on projects
to improve hygiene and nutrition, are all part of the mix.
“We are very passionate about driving hygiene as a habit-building process,”
says Mr Raghu.
VENTURES AFRICA- China has continued to establish itself in the shoe
making industry of Ethiopia. At the Eastern Industry Zone in Dukem, 30
kilometers (20 miles) south of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, it is
typical to see several Ethiopians gluing soles and lace up boots in
Chinese shoe factories.
The presence of Chinese shoe companies marks a distinct
diversification from the traditional investment of China in
infrastructural development and oil sector in African countries.
One of the major investor in the shoe business in Ethiopia is the Huajian shoe factory.
However, China’s investment in the Ethiopia shoe business is not a
one-side affair as Ethiopia also benefits from this bargain by exporting
unprocessed raw materials like leather to far away China. Deputy
Director of the Eastern Industry Zone, Qian Guoqing, said “The two sides
have a commitment; they say ‘you should have something, I should get
something.”
Meanwhile, some analysts stated that having a large scale investment
in Ethiopia has its risks as its financial benefits are uncertain.
Stephan Dercon, a development economist at Oxford University said,
“It’s not a risk-free strategy and it’s not necessarily clear that it
will work.”
“The Chinese … take the opportunities now in Ethiopia where they make
the trade-off between very high rewards. That’s pretty risky in the
first few years of doing this, and we’ll have to wait and see.”
However, to minimise risks and attract investors, the Ethiopian
government is offering four-year tax breaks, cheap land and free
electricity to investors in the industrial zone.
But there may be trouble in paradise as foreigners complain of poor
telecommunications, overbearing bureaucracy as well as the absence of a
port in the landlocked Horn of Africa country.
Huajian’s human resource manager, Paul Lu, also cites cultural
differences, language barrier and poor work ethic among the locals as a
problem. Yet he said the availability of labour and raw materials were
key attractions.
“We came to make shoes and we had to consider the resources — Ethiopia is very rich in leather,” said Paul.
VENTURES AFRICA- Africa’s leading Telecommunication Company, MTN, has
emerged as the first African brand to be ranked on the BrandZ top 100
global brands.
According to the report released by BrandZ, MTN Group ranked 88th with a
brand value of $9.3 billion among other brands in the world. The BrandZ
Top 100 companies have over the years featured companies from other
parts of the world, however this year MTN Group broke the norm to set
the pace for other African indigenous companies.
This achievement came at the heels of the company’s ranking on the Brand
Finance Global 500 survey. MTN was positioned as the 188th most
valuable brand in the world – thereby improving twelve places from its
position on the list last year.
The prestigious brand ranking – BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global
Brands, which is in its seventh year – was commissioned by WPP and
developed by a leading research agency, Millward Brown Optimor. It is
the only brand rankings that include consumer data as a component
element in arriving at the brand value. The rankings surveyed over
150,000 people around the world.
The BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Brands 2012 highlights the
continuing impact of recession, the ongoing rise of technology and the
growing power of emerging markets. In addition, the accompanying
analysis identified a number of themes that have emerged in the last 12
months, and are having a significant impact on brand and business
performance. It identified and ranked the world’s most valuable brands
by their dollar value; an analysis based on financial data; market
intelligence; and consumer measures of brand equity.
It demonstrated the power of strong brands as both a driver of new
business growth and a critical support in hard times. Between 2006 and
2012, the total value of the BrandZ Top 100 rose 66% and is now worth
$2.4 trillion.
Global CEO of brand research company Millward Brown, Eileen Campbell, said “Brands are an insurance policy for businesses.”
“Despite a prolonged period of economic stress, political uncertainty
and natural disasters that buffeted brands across many categories, the
value of the world’s leading brands keeps rising across many categories,
sustaining and nurturing businesses,” She stated.
Commenting on the recent accolade, the Executive for Marketing, MTN
Group, Jennifer Roberti, says the recognition by BrandZ is humbling for a
young brand such as MTN. “For MTN, it’s about brand relevance. MTN has
established a number of Foundations to work with our communities to
address socio-economic challenges in our markets. We also continue to
introduce products and services that add value to the daily lives of our
customers and communities alike.”
She posits that the success can be attributed to MTN’s commitment to invest on the continent.
“MTN has been investing in Africa since 1994, making significant
commitments towards infrastructure and products and services unique to
the needs of our customers on the continent. MTN Mobile Money, Pay As
You Go and related mobile-based financial services offerings come to
mind. As a result, MTN views this recognition as another acknowledgement
of the contribution our brand continues to make in touching the lives
of our communities and customers.”
Roberti believes the listing is not only an appreciation of the
socio-economic impact mobile telephony through MTN has on the continent,
but also signifies the growth of our brand over the years.
“We are grateful to our employees for their ‘Can Do’ attitude and to
our customers for their support. Their commitment, loyalty and trust in
our brand go a long way towards making MTN the most admired brand on the
continent. Furthermore, this accolade further inspires us to continue
exploring innovative ways to offer them more value in their MTN SIM
cards,” Roberti stated.
MTN with its multinational presence and more than 170 million
subscribers is a South African company established in 1994 after the old
apartheid regime was being dissolved. It has it tentacles spread
majorly across Africa as well as the Middle East including Syria, Yemen
and Afghanistan.
The telecommunication company is known for sponsorship activities that
are of relevance to its customers. Its sponsorship programmes are
majorly on music and sport, particularly football across its markets in
Africa. Amongst its involvement in football, Africa’s leading mobile
operator sponsors current African champions, Zambia, UEFA Champions
League giant-killers, Apoel FC of Cyprus, four teams in South Africa’s
professional football league, street soccer in Lagos, Nigeria, football
league in Swaziland, MTN FA Cup in Ghana, and is a broadcast sponsor of
the English, German and Spanish leagues on key sports channels on the
continent.
MTN’s music properties include South Africa’s premier music awards, the
MTN SAMAs, MTV Meets…with MTN, the MTN Bushfire Festival in Swaziland
and MTN Project Fame West Africa.
Globally the number one brand for the second year is Apple, which
rose 19% in value and is now worth $182.9 billion. IBM grew 15% in value
to $115.9 billion and overtook Google, which dropped to third place in
the ranking and is now worth $107.8 billion.
Eight-year-old Facebook rose 74% in value, as a result of its advance
in IPO – making it the fastest brand value riser on the ranking. Rated
on the value of $33.2 billion, the social networking company now ranks
19 from its former position at number 35.
The top 10 brands in the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2012 are:
Rank 2012 Category Brand Brand Value 2012 ($M)
1 Tech Apple 182,951
2 Tech IBM 155,985
3 Tech Google 107, 857
4 Fast Food McDonald’s 95,188
5 Tech Microsoft 76,651
6 Soft drinks Coca-Cola 74,286
7 Tobacco Marlboro 73,612
8 Communication Provide AT&T 68,870
9 Communication Provider Verizon 49,151
10 Communication Provider China Mobile 47,041
The report affirms, “Technology has become ubiquitous in all areas of
our lives. Seven of the top 10 brands are technology or telecoms
brands.”
VENTURES AFRICA – Another milestone has been achieved in the Africa
Telecommunications industry, as Namibia becomes the second Africa
country after Angola to adopt 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology.
This feat was achieved courtesy of Namibia’s Mobile Telecommunication
Limited, Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC). The new technology
was launched last Wednesday at the country’s capital, Windhoek.
Angola’s Movicel launched the first LTE technology in Africa in April
with technology from Chinese telecoms equipment markers ZTE and Huawei.
Ghana is also planning to join the league of African countries with 4G networks.
The new technology is expected to cover large parts of Windhoek by July
including those living in the rural areas, about 45 % of Namibian
population. Those in the rural areas are expected to enjoy 4G access by
the end of the next twelve months.
The new MTC Netman 4G is offered via three devices, the Samsung
Galaxy TAB 8.9 LTE tablet computer, the Samsung Galaxy SII LTE
Smartphone and an MTC-branded 4G dongle modem.
LTE is the latest standard in the mobile network technology tree that
produced the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA network technologies. It surpasses
the 3G networks by providing better coverage, faster speed, less latency
and better network quality.
The Fourth Generation (4G) LTE technology is therefore a natural
development of the current 3G mobile communications standards as it
offers higher Internet data speed that is ten times faster than the 3G
network. Apart from this, it better in-door coverage because the
frequency is lower in urban areas, and improved coverage in rural areas
using a much lower frequency, which will give the same data high speed
and coverage as that of voice and SMS (Short Message Service)
communication.
It also assures less delay in the network replying to subscriber
requests while more users will be accommodated in the same base station.
The 4G LTE technology is deployed in more than 1000 kilometers of
fibre backbones country-wide, complete with the latest technology from
the West Africa Cable System (WACS), an undersea cable along the western
coast of Africa.
Speaking at the launch of the product, MTC Managing Director, Miguel
Geraldes, said customers would benefit from a faster speed with no
latency, which is significant for business. It shows “how capable MTC is
as it is only the second operator in Africa to launch the new
technology.”
“Customers will definitely have a much better experience in 4G as the
speed will be tremendously faster and there will be no latency, when
you click the button, you no longer have to wait to get a response from
the network as this will now be instant, which is significant for
business,” Geraldes revealed.
Geraldes assures that the 4G LTE with the tremendous Dense Wavelength
Division Multiplexing (DWDM) 40G technology deployed in more than one
thousand kilometers of optic fibre, complete with the latest technology
from the West African Cable system – an undersea cable in which MTC has
partnered with a consortium of international investors – provides the
company with a competitive advantage as far as information and
communication technology in Africa is concerned.
VENTURES AFRICA – Charity begins at home. The saying can be likened
to the move made by the Chief Executives of Barclays Bank of Kenya, Adan
Mohamed and KCB Group’s Martin Oduor-Otieno; who have bought
substantial shares from their companies to show confidence in the
financial outlook of their companies.
According to the annual reports of the two banks, both leaders acquired shares from the company last year.
Barclay’s Chief, Mohammed bought 296,000 shares which worth Sh4billion
($47.4 million ), while kCB’s Oduor-Otieno acquired 509,180 shares
valued at Sh12 million ($142,349). This make both of them top
shareholders among the lenders’ Directors and Executives in their
respective banks.
Although, analysts see the insider buys as symbolic, the shares they
both hold pales in comparison to what the CEOs of Cooperative and Equity
hold in their banks. Equity’s Chief Executive, James Mwangi owns 127.7
million shares which equals to 3.45 per cent of the bank, while his
counterpart at Cooperative Bank, Gideon Muriuki, holds 50.1 million
shares or 1.43 per cent of the company.
“Few people are better placed to evaluate a company’s prospects than
those who actually run it, which is why many investors regard directors’
share dealings as a key indicator of future prospects,” an Analyst at
Kestrel Capital said.
“The CEOs of KCB and Barclays Bank were more keen to demonstrate this fact through their share purchases.”
Although it is not clear where the KCB Group’s chief bought his own
shares, Mohamed is believed to have bought the shares through the
Nairobi bourse since the bank does not have an Employee Share Option
Scheme (ESOP).
The move by Mohammed to purchase the company shares came a year after he
expressed his intention to quit the bank on applying for the post of
the commissioner-general of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
Barclays Bank used to be Kenya’s most profitable bank, but it lost its
position to Equity Bank and KCB last year and now Standard Chartered
Bank overtook it in profitability in the three months to March this
year.
VENTURES AFRICA- There is bound to be a change in the order of things
if the proposed Kenya’s copyright law is passed. One of the adjustments
in the law will make provision for Guitarists, Drummers and Dancers to
get equal remuneration from television and radio royalties.
If the move is successful, it will be the first time that Dancers and
Instrumentalists earn such privileged for work they participate in.
Before the Attorney-General of Kenya, Githu Muigai, proposed the
bill, the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) collected royalties on
behalf of composers and singers and left out the bulk of producers and
acoustic players. The producers and performers were denied royalties for
lack of legal backing and this have caused disagreements among
different associations.
The proposed adjustment however comes with a new clause in section 30A
of the Kenya Copyright Act 2001 (No 12 of 2001) – to give music
producers the right to claim an equitably remuneration for sound
recordings and visual works among themselves.
“If a sound recording is published for commercial purposes or a
reproduction of such recording is used directly for broadcast or other
communication to the public performed, a single equitable remuneration
for the performer and the producer of the sound recording shall be paid
by the user through their respective collecting management
organisation,” Prof Muigai told Kenya Gazette Supplement.
This means that radio and television stations or any other music
users such as restaurants and bars will now have to pay producers or
performers of a particular music separately and on an agreed equitable
ration.
In addition, if the new law comes into effect, it will give the Kenya
Association of Music Producers (KAMP) and the Performers Right Society
the legal backing to collect royalties on behalf of their members.
The Chief Executive Officer at the Performers Rights Society of
Kenya, Angela Ndambuki, believes that if the law is passed, it will put
Kenya on par with international best practice. She said the move would
be an advantage to all users of music as they can now play what they
want to play without any restrictions as before.
She asserted, “The equitable remuneration right is actually not about
KAMP and the performers’ society but about the producers and performers
as a whole.”
On the broadcasting tariffs, Ndambuki said that it would depend on what
classifications the broadcaster belong. Based on the use of the music
either for commercial or non-commercial purpose. Under the electronic
system, musicians are paid royalties depending on the amount of air play
they have received from broadcasters, dealing a blow to artistes who
are yet to establish themselves in a market where consumers rarely buy
songs.
In 2011, MSCK unveiled software that tracks all songs played by
broadcasters – a move it said will boost earnings of top artistes.
VENTURES AFRICA- Nigeria’s multi-lateral development investment corporation, Africa Finance Corporation
(AFC) has revealed its plan to raise its investment stakes in Kenya. It
plans to invest about $150 million in the country along with the
capability of bringing in other investors.
Africa Finance Corporation is already investing in Kenya, issuing a $50 million convertible loan to Athi River Mining (ARM).
In an interview with Business Daily newspaper, AFC Chief Executive,
Andrew Alli, said AFC sees great opportunity in areas such as
infrastructure development in Kenya, with Power being a major
opportunity for investment.
“Renewable energy is the main thing because Kenya has a lot of
potential for geothermal and wind power where AFC has a lot of
expertise. We are also interested in areas such as the Lamu port
project, the road and rails, the pipeline for petroleum gas as well as
industrial companies we can work with,” Alli said.
He affirms that AFC sees Kenya as a good launch pad for investing in the region.
“East Africa is a well integrated community and Kenya is a good hub
with a relatively well-developed infrastructure and business
environment.”
AFC is a multi-lateral development investment corporation established
in 2007 to foster investment in natural resources, infrastructure and
energy across Africa. The firm serves as investment vehicle in seven
countries. It was set up as a Nigerian initiative with a pan-African
vision.
Although the finance company is initiated in Nigeria, it plans to
invest in other African countries in order to improve the presence of
African investors in other African countries.
“If a country like Nigeria grows by say one per cent its neighbors
will grow by a quarter of a percentage point. In fact, only 10 per cent
of Africa’s trade in general is with other African countries. In Kenya
for instance, it is only recently that Uganda became the biggest trading
partner — it has been the United Kingdom, which remains the number two.
But Britain is in Europe and Uganda is next door,” Alli asserted.
“So promoting intra-Africa investment and intra-Africa growth is
important and I think the authorities that set up AFC saw this,” he
added.
So far, AFC has invested over half a billion dollars in 11 different
countries across Africa but it has operations in about 20 countries with
large investments in Nigeria in the oil, gas and transportation
sectors.
AFC’s work in other African countries includes partnering with
governments like in Cape Verde wind project, a power project in Ghana
and a toll road in South Africa. It also has a presence in Cote
d’Ivoire, Ghana, Zambia with an exposure of more than $100 million and
recently it invested $50 million in ARM , Kenya.
“Kenya is an open economy, which welcomes foreign investors. This is
important as you can move foreign currency in and out with relative
ease,” Alli posits
On investment consideration in Kenya, Alli commended the management
of the economy, which he says has been good. He noted that though there
was obviously an upset last year when inflation went up and currency
fell but the Central Bank and authorities took steps to recover that.
They have shown a willingness to act decisively to maintain macro-economic stability, he said.
On whether his company will be faced by the presence of other
investors like Europe and China who are already established in the
Kenyan infrastructure industry, Alli said that the big part is for the
country to manage the process so as to ensure it reaps benefits in the
end. What the Chinese do is that it provides competition and we have all
been taught that competition is a good thing.
He said AFC would not be deterred by the coming elections in Kenya but plan to stay for the long haul.
VENTURES AFRICA – Vodafone has earned Sh1.9billion ($23 million) from
an agreement pact it made with its associate company, Safaricom,
Kenya’s leading telecommunications company.
Safaricom paid its parent company, Vodafone, through its mobile money
service payment- M-Pesa- in form of license fees as provided in the pact
the two companies signed five years ago at the launch of the mobile
money platform. Vodafone has a forty percent stake over M-Pesa through
Vodafone Sales and Services Limited (VSSL).
Besides the license fees, Vodafone will earn Sh3.5 billion ($41.5
million) in dividends for its 40 per cent stake in the Kenyan associate –
which make a total of Sh5.4 billion ($64.1 million) in the first
quarter of this year.
Having signed the deal in 2007, the five year deal ended on the 22nd
of February. However, the company signed another agreement that extended
the deal for another five years. Bob Collymore, the CEO of Safaricom
affirmed that the contract extension was signed with the Vodafone on a
modified agreement while the license fee remains unchanged.
With the number of M-Pesa subscribers on the rise from 14.01 million
subscribers last year to 14.9 million in March,2012, the payout to
Vodafone moves closer to the lower threshold. Analysts had hoped that
Safaricom and Vodafone would sign a hybrid agreement since M-pesa is now
more profitable than what it was five years ago. Safaricom has been
able to increase the number of M-Pesa subscribers to 15 million since it
launched the service in March 2007.
M-Pesa over the years has been able to sharpen competitive edge of
Safaricom in the Kenya telecommunication market. “The licence fee is the
fruit of an innovation that has turned out well,” said Eric Musau, an
analyst with Standard Investment Bank, adding that in Kenya, mobile
money transfer service has grown faster than in any other market.
VENTURES AFRICA – To improve the use of “Made in Nigeria” products,
the Federal Government of Nigeria has made the move to oust the use of
foreign computers and technology products in public institutions. Thus,
making it an offence to use foreign IT products in public
institutions. This development was revealed on Tuesday at a two-day
retreat on draft guidelines for home grown IT hardware products.
According to the Director-General of the National Information
Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Cleopas Anganye, benchmarking
Nigeria’s IT products against international standards will make them
competitive and marketable globally.
The aim of the policy is to improve the growth of locally-made
Information Communication Technology (ICT) products. Anganye, therefore
declared that the accreditation of computer assembly plants has expired;
thereby making it an offence for Ministries, Departments and Agencies
(MDAs) if they do not patronise Nigerian IT products. Thus, procurement
of non made-in-Nigeria computer by public institutions where certified
local brands exist would be an offence punishable by a prison term and
fine, under the NITDA Act.
The Agency Act also forbids the display and use any non made-in-Nigeria
computers in government offices and for government business, where
certified local brands are available and the use of non made-in-Nigeria
computers in public schools at all levels.
Under its enabling laws, three key actions would be offences punishable
by prison terms, fines or both, if flouted in the emerging dispensation.
The implication of this ban is that it will affect foreign Original
Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) like Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, LG and
Toshiba. They stand to lose their grip on their grip on the country’s
Personal Computer (PC) market. Local manufacturers have thereby
expressed optimism on the development.
The President of the Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association of
Nigeria (CAPDAN), Tunde Balogun, said, “I do not see any reason why our
people shy away from locally made PCs. If you open a locally made PCs
and other foreign brands, you will find the same components in all of
them. We all buy from the same component manufacturer. If given a
chance, we can compete favourably with the foreign brands. We already
have the policies on ground that support usage of locally made
computers. I think the fundamental issue militating against the
development of the industry is implementation of these policies.”
Meanwhile, to ensure compliance to the law, the NIDTA boss who was
represented by the Director, standards and regulation, NITDA, Inye
Kemabonta, said the IT implementing agency would in the next fortnight,
launch a monitoring scheme to ensure compliance by all public
institutions across Nigeria.
Analysts have ascribed the underdevelopment in the Nigeria’s computer
hardware market to poor policy formulation and implementation by
government, as well as the attendant high cost of equipment acquisition
in Nigeria.
However, to benefit from this policy, multinational companies are invited to set up production or assembly plants in Nigeria.
On the use of non- locally made goods in schools, NITDA says it will
seek collaboration of the Federal Ministry of Education to ensure that
the accreditation of schools and renewal of accreditation will depend
partly on the establishment of Information Technology labs equipped with
locally manufactured IT products.
VENTURES AFRICA-Some 300 CEOs from all over Africa, together with 100 bankers and investors, and numerous decision-makers from Africa‘s public sector will be gathering in Geneva for two days (20/11/2012 to 21/11/2012) of dialogue and debate.
After more than a decade of uninterrupted growth, Africa
now stands as one of the most promising economic zones of the world,
set against the background of general crisis in Europe and the United
States. Success stories are happening all the time, and new entrepreneurs emerging just as frequently motivated by a desire to conquer new markets beyond their borders and the continent.
The AFRICA CEO FORUM is the first international
conference for leaders of top African companies, high-level executives
of large African, surpassing sectoral conferences and staying off the
beaten track of academic events. It brings together for two days,
entrepreneurs, investors, financial decision-makers, and policy-makers
to promote the success of the African private sector, providing a
platform for public-private dialogue and high-level strategic solutions
to support the development of company and its African markets.
For Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank, co-organizer of the event, the AFRICA CEO FORUM fits perfectly into the AfDB’s mission, which is to foster an environment conducive to business
and private sector development. It will, he says, “highlight the
initiatives of African enterprises, allow entrepreneurs to share their
experiences, and promote regional and intra-African trade.”
Several leaders of the largest African companies are confirmed as participants. Examples include Aliko Dangote, CEO of Nigeria‘s
largest industrial conglomerate, Jean-Louis Billon, president of Sifca,
Cote d’Ivoire’s largest private employer, Issad Rebrad, CEO of Cevital,
the largest private group in Algeria, Terrab Mostafa, CEO of the
Moroccan company, OCP, the world’s largest exporter of phosphates, and
Mark Cutifani, who heads the South African mining group, AngloGold
Ashanti. Leaders of major international groups who have also announced
their attendance at the Geneva meeting include, as Tidjane Thiam, CEO of
top British insurance group, Prudential, and Sunny Verghese, CEO of
Olam, the multinational agribusiness based in Singapore.
All are in support of the launch of the first forum for the African
private sector. They will be sharing experiences and contacts, and
considering how African businesses can develop and contribute to the
economic growth of the continent.
VENTURES AFRICA- Poly Products Plc has revealed plans to delist its shares from the stock market due to the pressure of maintaining the high cost of retaining listed equity status at the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The company’s chairman, Michael Bruce, revealed this during the company’s 45th Annual General Meeting with shareholders, in Lagos.
Poly Products Plc is however waiting for the approval of its
shareholders before tendering its application for the delisting to the NSE and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Bruce explained that apart from the high cost of retaining listed equity
status at the NSE, the company is faced with the lingering economic
depression in the country as well as excessive cost of printing and
distributing annual reports and accounts to its over 11,000
shareholders.
“Various factors, including the general slowdown in the economy, high cost of doing business,
statutory requirements of listed companies, cost of administering the
register, cost of convening AGMs and Annual Reports & Accounts
printing and postage pose difficulties for the company,” Bruce said.
“There are 11,000 shareholders, 10,246 of whom hold less than 10 per
cent of the total equity. The administrative cost of managing such list
is very high and it constitutes a significant drain on the resources of
the company,” he added.
However, a shareholders present at the meeting, Timothy Adesiyan ,
said that the move to delist from the stock market was expected given
the fact that the company’s shares has been dormant for three years. He
implored the management to put investor’s money into consideration
before working out an exit package for them.
But the company’s chairman has assured the shareholders that the company
has not set the exit price. He explained that there are certain
guidelines to follow.
“The price must not be less than the value of the shares on the floor
of the NSE in the last three months. The Nigerian Stock Exchange will
be working with us in this regard to ensure that every stakeholder is
fairly treated,” he revealed.
Meanwhile, Sir Sunny Nwosu, the National Coordinator, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, encouraged the company to consider exit package of N5.00, according to general demand by shareholders.
Poly Products Plc had earlier been suspended for their failure to
submit their financial statements for the year ended, March 2011.
VENTURES AFRICA- Lagos Business School faculty member and Entrepreneurship lecturer, Henrietta Onwuegbuzie, has won the 2012 Emerald and Association of African Business Schools (AABS) Case Study Competition.
The case study “Nike Davies-Okundaye: Building a family social
enterprise” was written on a popular Nigerian Entrepreneur, Nike Davies
Okundaye. It was co-written by Gordon Adomdza of Northeastern
University, Boston, and Fredrick Ogola of Strathmore University, Kenya.
The study on Chief Okundaye’s business
is an intriguing case of a social enterprise inspired by the difficult
experiences of an entrepreneur who, in spite of her sufferings, was
willing to share the little she had to lift others out of poverty.
Case studies are used by business schools to illustrate real-life scenarios for teaching management in the classroom.
“In today’s increasingly capitalist society, the case shows that doing
good can still lead to doing very well financially. It testifies that
creating social value can precede or go along with wealth creation as
opposed to the common belief that amassing wealth should always come
before doing good,” she said.
“Today, this entrepreneur owns and manages the biggest art gallery in all West Africa”, Onwuegbuzie said.
Henrietta is also the winner of the 2010/2011 Emerald/ALCS African
Management Research Fund Award – “Achieving Sustainable Development
through Indigenous Innovation and Entrepreneurship.” Her areas of
interest include strategies for entrepreneurial growth in developing
countries. She is also on the Governing Council of the African forum in
Brussels.
The study contributes to the knowledge of entrepreneurship in Africa and Nigeria
in particular. It was also presented by Onwuegbuzie in January this
year, at the United States Small Business and Entrepreneurship
conference (USASBE, 2012) in New Orleans.
As a reward, Onwuegbuzie, Adomdza and Ogola are awarded US$1,500 .
Michael Goldman with the case study “Growing the Mama & Papas
brand” emerged the first runner-up with the sum of US$1,000 while Dr.
Ellinami J Minja with the case study of “The Umoja Fund Collective Investment Scheme: Preparing for the End of Lock in Period” won US$500 as the second runner-up.
The next competition will be launched in December 2012.
