Archive for the ‘Emerging Markets’ Category
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
Leader of the pack
Last July, Kenya became the first sub-Saharan country to launch an open data government site enabling its citizens to gain access to vital information. After only six months, Kenya’s Open Data Initiaitve (KODI) is still a work in progress, but it’s already reshaping Kenya’s culture of government.
When KODI was launched, Kenya was only the 22nd country with an open government portal. Today, 30 countries have live, open government sites, though dozens of other countries are in some stage of developing their own. Kenya’s early adoption is due in large part to the efforts of open data advocates both within Kenya’s government and among its influential technology community.
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Tags: gov2.0, government 2.0, iHub, Kenya, Kenya Open Data Initiative, KODI, Ndemo, open data, open government, open source, opengov, Ushahidi
Posted in Emerging Markets, Innovation, Sub-Sahara Region, Uncategorized, What's Next? (WILD CARD) | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011
Booming São Paulo
The West and the Rest
This is a tale of two economies with interlocking features. One has excess supply; the other has gnawing demand. In the West, economic growth is slowed while emerging markets are busting at the seams. An explosion in the number of urban, middle class consumers and related factors is powering growth in emerging markets.
The World Bank estimates that, on average, emerging nations will grow by 4.7 percent – double that of developed countries — through 2025. That growth isn’t only evident in the so-called BRIC nations, but in Turkey, Indonesia, South Korea, and across the developing world. Some of the fast growing regions are in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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Tags: "emerging", BRIC, developed marker, developing market, emerging economies, Emerging Markets, Indonesia, macroeconomics, market entry, market entry strategy, multipolar, Sao Paulo, South Korea, Turkey
Posted in Business Model, Economics, Emerging Markets, International Business, Market Entry, MetaPlanning, Service design | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, September 13th, 2011
An African Narrative
The misdeeds of Africa’s despots get plenty of media attention because they fit a Western “plug-n-play” narrative about the region. Conversely, the work of Africa’s exemplary leaders is often overlooked.
I’d offer the story of an extraordinary African leader determined to improve the quality of life in her nation. She is Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who was recently appointed Nigeria’s Finance Minister.
During a previous stint in that role, she compiled a stunning record of economic reform. She was the first woman to serve as her country’s Finance Minister and as its Foreign Minister.
She’s an inveterate disruptor of the status quo who is guided by a vision for what’s possible and a zeal for instigating change.
Stories like hers give rise to an emergent narrative that’s being written by Africans. As she puts it, “This is the Africa of opportunity. This is the Africa where people want to take charge of their own futures and their own destinies.”
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Tags: africa, Biafra, Delta State, Goodluck Jonathan, Iweala, Minister of Finance, Nigeria, Okonjo-Iweala, West Africa, World Bank
Posted in africa, Emerging Markets, leadership, Sub-Sahara Region, West Africa, What's Next? (WILD CARD) | 3 Comments »
Sunday, July 17th, 2011
Nairobi Skyline
“This is the future of African technology, and if you blink, you’ll miss it.” ~Erik Hersman
On the ‘Silicon Savanna’
Last month in Nairobi, Kenya, a conference called Pivot25 connected 25 promising mobile app developers from East Africa with investors and venture capitalists. Events like this one, based on the Y Combinator model, give aspiring developers a rare chance to pitch their ideas for possible seed capital.
What’s intriguing about Pivot25 is the attention that it drew from outside the region. TIME Magazine ran a piece about the conference from the standpoint of Nairobi’s contribution to global technology. CNN’s Global Public Square covered the event, too. Why so much attention?
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Tags: #ict4d, @whiteafrican, africa, East Africa, Hersman, ICT, Kenya, m:labs, mobile, mobile app, mobile services, mobile technology, Nairobi, open data, Pivot 25, pivot25, Silicon Savanna, TED_fellow, Y Combinator
Posted in africa, Emerging Markets, ICT, Sub-Sahara Region, Tech4dev, Technology from Developing Regions, Telecommunications | 4 Comments »
Sunday, December 19th, 2010
Turning the page…
Another interesting year is rapidly winding down. This year, I had the chance to work with many gifted business and tech leaders, but it was particularly satisfying collaborating with innovators in developing regions — the Sub-Sahara, the Middle East and South Asia.
It’s time for Western multinational companies — especially those in the customer-facing sectors — to enter developing markets where consumer-led growth is robust but capital and resources are in short supply.
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Tags: "disruptive innovation", Business Model, Collaboration, collaborative, consultancy, consulting, developed markets, developing markets, disruptive, emerging market, Finikiotis, frontier markets, Innovation, innovators, m-money, middle east, prahalad, south asia, Sub-Sahara
Posted in africa, Business Model, Business Practices, Collaboration, Emerging Markets, International Business, Sub-Sahara Region, Telecommunications, West Africa, What's Next? (WILD CARD) | 2 Comments »
Thursday, October 28th, 2010
India’s top mobile carrier, Bharti Airtel, is bringing its ultra low-cost services to the sub-Sahara. Can it adapt its managed services model to penetrate Africa’s under-served, low-income markets? What are the implications?
Out of the East
Asia’s growing influence in Africa is receiving worldwide attention. China’s investment in Africa will top $100 billion dollars this year making it the continent’s biggest trading partner. There are 800 Chinese companies with over 4 million Chinese people living and working there. China’s impact on Africa, as author Richard Dowden observed, is the biggest economic shift of the twenty-first century.
Now, the story of Asia’s push into Africa is being revised to highlight players from India. In June, Bharti Airtel, India’s largest mobile carrier – the 5th largest telecom in the world – bought Kuwait-based Zain’s operations in 16 African countries for $10.7 billion in cash.
Bharti has been eager to grab a piece of Africa’s growing mobile market for some time. In 2009, it tried to buy MTN, Africa’s largest carrier, but the deal failed due to regulatory roadblocks. Undeterred, Bharti pivoted quickly setting its sights on Zain. By June, Bharti bagged its African trophy, though some analysts thought it paid too much for Zain’s assets.
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Tags: bharti, bharti airtel, bharti enterprises, Finikiotis, ibm, mtn, osprey, Richard Dowden, spanco, tech mahindra, zain
Posted in africa, Business Model, Emerging Markets, International Business, Sub-Sahara Region, Telecommunications, West Africa, What's Next? (WILD CARD) | 3 Comments »
Friday, September 3rd, 2010
The swift and agile
A recent Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation study revived the term “gazelle companies” to describe the young, rapidly-growing U.S.firms that are producing the majority of new jobs in the U.S. The report recommends that policy-makers nurture Gazelles to stimulate job growth at a time when unemployment is high.
I’m interested in another class of companies—agile, well-run firms in emerging regions like the sub-Sahara. Like their Western counterparts, they’re creating a disproportionate number of jobs. But these young African companies are playing a more crucial role than gazelles do in driving market growth.
To belabor the metaphor, I call them Impalas, after the lean, swift gazelles indigenous to Africa. Impalas provide technology-enabled and outsourcing services to a growing number of multinational (MNC) service providers – mobiles, airlines and banks – in Johannesburg, Accra, and Nairobi, etc. They share many of the characteristics of gazelles, but there are some notable differences.
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Tags: africa business, african economy, competency gaps, connected markets, Ewing marion Kauffman, gazelle, gazelle companies, Impala, Kauffman Foundation, MNC, multinational, service providers, skills gaps, talent gaps
Posted in africa, Business Model, Business Practices, Emerging Markets, Sub-Sahara Region, Technology from Developing Regions, Telecommunications, West Africa | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
The World Comes to Africa
As the World Cup gets underway this week in South Africa—the first ever to be held on the African continent—the world media is turning its attention there.
Typically, coverage of Africa by the international media is limited to stories about intractable problems—disease, war, famine, and corruption. Many of the World Cup stories are taking a similar tact. Stories about the South Africa’s five new stadiums underscore the nation’s mounting debt while other pieces highlight its security concerns.
A lot of the coverage reflects the world media’s skewed view of Africa as a monolithic place that’s plagued with tragedy. Severe challenges do exist, but many African societies are quietly building their institutions and infrastructures. It’s time the outside world views Africa through a broader, more accurate lens. (more…)
Tags: africa, African diversity, FIFA, Finikiotis, football, John Reader, osprey, Richard Dowden, soccer, South Africa, World Cup
Posted in africa, Emerging Markets, International Business, Sub-Sahara Region, West Africa | 2 Comments »
Saturday, April 24th, 2010
Invest time in languages and intercultural awareness. Focus on becoming part of global citizenry. In exchange for the opportunity to participate everywhere/anywhere in the world you have the obligation to do something productive, which will improve the world. ~C.K. Prahalad
Distinguished scholar and visionary
The distinguished business scholar, C. K. Prahalad, died unexpectedly last week of a lung ailment at the age of 69. His contributions to the pursuit of business strategy and innovation are unparalleled. He’s had an enormous influence on my work and that of my peers.
Dr. Prahalad was more than a celebrated management guru, he was a visionary. He redefined the way that a growing number of global businesses deal with developing markets, and he helped to shape a new economic paradigm.
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Tags: base of the pyramid, C. K. Prahalad, Gary Hamel, Hindustan Unilever, inclusive capitalism, low income consumer, nano, philanthrocapitalist, poor consumers, prahalad, reverse innovation, Social Entrepreneur, Tata Motors, trickle up innovation
Posted in Collaboration, Emerging Markets, Innovation, International Business, leadership, N=P, R=G | 6 Comments »
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
Downtown Cape Coast, Ghana
Pulsating business scene
I spent the last couple weeks on assignment in Accra, Ghana. On this trip, I’ve seen more growth than any time since my company started working there in ’07. This is a period of unprecedented business activity and promising new projects within and beyond the mobile sector. Meanwhile, new competitors from around the world are streaming in. This corner of Africa’s business scene is pulsating.
Astute businesses here are taking steps to preserve their client base and deepen relationships with their customers. We’re privileged to work with a new generation of African business leaders with the courage and determination to transform their offerings to meet the needs of an emerging class of consumers.
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Tags: accra, africa, Analytics, customer intelligence, ECOWAS, empowerment, ghana, strategic alliance, Sub-Sahara, West Africa
Posted in Analytics, Business Practices, Collaboration, customer experience management, Emerging Markets, Social Entrepreneur, Sub-Sahara Region, Technology from Developing Regions, Telecommunications, Uncategorized, West Africa, What's Next? (WILD CARD) | 3 Comments »
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Evening at Cape Point on the tip of South Africa
While the business world is preoccupied with the global economic recovery, a mobile revolution is quietly reshaping the marketplace in the developing world. In Africa, mobile phones are providing access to communications for millions of people who’ve never had fixed communications let alone cell phones. I’ve written before about the impact that such ‘leapfrogging’ is having on African business. Now, we’re beginning to see exciting and substantial commercial projects taking shape, particularly in the service sector.
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Tags: african innovation, african mobile, international telecommunications union, itu, leapfrog, Leapfrogging, m-banking, m-commerce, m-pesa, mobile revolution, mobileindustry
Posted in Emerging Markets, ICT, International Business, Sub-Sahara Region, Technology from Developing Regions, Telecommunications, Uncategorized, West Africa, What's Next? (WILD CARD) | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
News from Port-au-Prince
It’s been a week since the Port-au-Prince earthquake and images streaming in are helping us to grasp the region’s boundless misery and desperation. Hundreds of thousands have perished, and despite our best efforts, more will die and suffer for myriad reasons including the inability to deliver relief where it’s needed.
Despite the gut-wrenching news, it’s heartening to learn that determined, inventive people are finding ways to alleviate the suffering and, in some cases, save lives.
One of the more interesting stories is about an open-source project called Ushahidi which takes its name from the Swahili word for “testimony”. The software, developed during the post-election violence in Kenya in 2008, enables text messages to be mapped by time and location. Anyone with an internet connection, regardless of the device they use to access it, can send a text message, an image or an email. Ushahidi can also store data offline for later synchronization.
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Tags: 4636, @whiteafrican, Atlanta crime, disaster relief, Earthquake, earthquake relief, first responder, FrontlineSMS, Haiti, Indian elections, Kenya, Pakistan, Port-au-Prince, SMS, Ushahidi
Posted in Emerging Markets, Problem solving, Social Entrepreneur, Social Media, Telecommunications | 9 Comments »
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
The Wall Street Journal/MIT Sloan Management Review published a disturbing paper on why Western companies are failing to transform the Bottom of the Pyramid into a booming consumer market. The author argues that the base of the world’s economic pyramid – where people live on $2 a day or less – isn’t panning out as a market because potential consumers “haven’t been conditioned to think that the products being offered are something one would even buy.”
To support his argument, he cites the case of PUR, a low-cost water purification system developed by Procter & Gamble. The product provides the obvious benefit of affordable clean water where the risks of drinking contaminated water are high. But curiously, PUR* achieved low market penetration rates in test markets.
Why would consumers reject a product as salient as PUR? The author contends that Western companies simply haven’t created demand among low income consumers. “Companies must create markets—new lifestyles—among poor consumers,” he insists. His prescription is that Western businesses need to do a better job “conditioning” low-income people to be better consumers. Really?
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Tags: Chipchase, cross-cultural, Emerging Markets, go-to-market, market research, MIT Sloan, mobile, P&G, Procter & Gamble, PUR, telcecommunications, Wall Street Journal, water purification, WSJ
Posted in Business Model, Emerging Markets, Sub-Sahara Region | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
Information’s pretty thin stuff unless mixed with experience. ~Clarence Day
Nearly every day, I work with colleagues who are eight or more time zones away. I’ve been doing this, with few interruptions, since the ‘80s. Back then, “geographically distributed” projects were run only by multinational corporations. Times have changed.
Global markets have become more interdependent, and collaboration across borders is now commonplace, even at smaller companies. Businesses know that they have to team up with companies in other regions to compete in the global “value creation” race*.
But a lot of companies struggle with this. In a June, 2009 survey by TMA World, 82% of respondents rated the performance of their company’s “global, virtual” teams as either ‘moderate’ or ‘poor’. Yet nearly all of those surveyed said that global teams were ‘very important’ to their organizations.
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Tags: developing regions, global, International Business, international experience, international seasoning, R = G, seasoned leader
Posted in Collaboration, Emerging Markets, International Business, leadership, R=G | 15 Comments »
Friday, July 10th, 2009
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Over the coarse of the eighteenth century, the Gold Coast produced more than a million slaves, about 15 percent of the total shipped from West Africa… ~Marcus Rediker, The Slave Ship
The first African-American President of the U.S. landed in Accra, Ghana last evening. His first trip to the Sub-Sahara has symbolic significance for many reasons. Many Africans believe that Barack Obama represents the ascendancy of Africa on a global stage, reversing the despair and hardship that’s plagued the continent during the post-colonial era. They hope that his visit will call attention to the steep challenges and promising opportunities the continent faces.
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Tags: accra, Cape Coast, Cape Coast Castle, Fante, Marcus Rediker, Middle Passage, slave castle, slave ship, slavery, the door of no return
Posted in Emerging Markets, leadership, Sub-Sahara Region, West Africa | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
Paris Urban Pattern
I’ve recently noticed a subtle but perceptible attitude shift among Americans working in foreign markets. My overseas colleagues are noticing, too. American business people, they say, are displaying more thoughtfulness than usual. U.S. companies operating overseas seem less inclined to approach global business as though its epicenter is in New York or Palo Alto.
It’s too soon to call this a new Zeitgeist, but change is in the air. The global economic crisis, which has its roots in the U.S., may be partially responsible. I think the new vibe is also influenced by Washington’s new tone in its approach to global affairs. As an American doing business abroad, this is promising.
Historically, many American firms have approached business from a decidedly ethnocentric perspective–more so than many of our European rivals. U.S. companies have missed opportunities as a result.
Things seem to be moving in a better direction now.
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Tags: cross-cultural, International Business, Osprey Associates, Post-American World, Rise of the Rest, Rules of Engagement
Posted in Business Practices, Collaboration, Emerging Markets, International Business, Relational competency, Sub-Sahara Region, West Africa, What's Next? (WILD CARD) | 1 Comment »
Thursday, March 5th, 2009
Today, there are more than 3.3 billion mobile-phone subscriptions worldwide, which means that there are at least three billion people who don’t own cell phones, the bulk… found in Africa and Asia. --Sara Corbett, author “Can the Cell Phone Help End Global Poverty?” (NYT)
I’ve been optimistic about the continued growth of mobile services in emerging regions, even through this downturn. If that happens, it’s good news for those who appreciate what connectivity is doing for new subscribers in the developing world. The nascent mobile sector is an enabling engine for other industries in the developing world notably health care, agriculture, banking, and goverment services.
We see continued growth in emerging markets where there are few fixed line communications, low mobile penetration rates, and the arrival of new, highly motivated operators. Look for continued double digit growth (CAGR). Revenue growth (ARPU) will likely lag subscriber growth as companies add more lower-income users. Despite a crowding market, prospects for for growth by incumbent and new operators remains strong so long as they manage their growth with an eye to the future.
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Tags: emerging regions, mobile industry, mobile telephony
Posted in Emerging Markets, Sub-Sahara Region, Telecommunications, West Africa, What's Next? (WILD CARD) | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
Ex Africa semper aliquid novi — Out of Africa always something new. ~Pliny the Elder
This week marks my company’s 3rd anniversary of working in Africa within our emerging markets service practice. Helping companies in the region to understand and serve the needs of their customers has been enriching on a personal level. I’ve had the privilege of witnessing the growth of the sub-Sahara’s nascent service industry and I marvel at its favorable impact on a growing number of people in the region.
The ascendant mobile industry illustrates the point. On a continent where few people have landlines due to the high cost of installing cabling, cell phones are bridging the communications gap. In many sub-Saharan markets, like Ghana where we work, mobile growth rates have been approaching 50% annually. While less than 20% have mobile phones now, hundreds of millions of Africans are expected to get handsets in the next few years. Keep in mind that this is a continent of almost a billion people. That’s a lot of potential new subscribers.
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Tags: ghana, Leapfrogging, Osprey Associates, Sub-Sahara, West Africa
Posted in Emerging Markets, Sub-Sahara Region, Telecommunications, West Africa | 2 Comments »
Monday, November 17th, 2008
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For those interested in delivering their services to emerging markets, BusinessWeek provides an informative piece on Cisco’s EM strategy. The piece provides a glimpse of the company’s ambitious model for expanding its global footprint.
The story doesn’t delve into exactly how Cisco collaborates with emerging players aross geographic and cultural differences, etc. Often cultural disparities plague global alliances. I wondered how Cisco’s people engage their counterparts in emerging markets? Has Cisco developed a collaborative model for bridging the cultural gaps that often hamper global service initatives? These are my questions…
Tags: cisco, economics of emerging markets, Emerging Markets
Posted in Emerging Markets, Gulf (GCC) Region, R=G | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
In the midst of this economic crisis, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has released its annual (’08-’09) benchmarking report about global competitiveness. (Here’s a short video commentary by a WEF economist.)
Despite the shaky underpinnings and dire economic climate, the U.S. still ranks ahead of the other nations in competitiveness, though economists see thorny challenges ahead. On the plus side, the U.S. still brings a lot in the area of production potential, well-functioning labor markets, sophisticated businesses, academic leadership and technological innovation.
While these are sustainable virtues, the U.S. has its work cut out to stay on top as other countries take steps to improve their competitiveness (see Fareed Zakaria’s seminal The Post American World). Globalization is leading to the “Rise of the Rest”. This pattern has been evident to anyone involved in business dealings across markets over the last decade.
The report had few surprises. A notable exception is that the UK slipped (from 9th last year to 12th) due to its heavy reliance on a flagging financial services sector.
Singapore, the Scandinavian nations and Switzerland have been perennial leaders for several years. And it isn’t surprising that the Gulf nations are on the rise due to worldwide demand for hydrocarbons coupled with concerted economic reforms.
Fiinally, some sub-Saharan nations are making headway though, as a region, it still lags behind. These economies have had 5-6% annual growth rates and relatively low inflation in recent years. But their infrastrusctures are fragile and they may be hit hard by a global slowdown.
The WEF report is a lagging indicator of the strengths and weaknesses of global economies. For example, it doesn’t take into account the prospects of a global slowdown which reduces the demand for resources.
The take away is that governments play a substantial role in shaping a nation’s long-term capacity to compete in an increasingly global and crowded world. Good governance rules.
Tags: Competitiveness, Davos, Dubai, Fareed Zakaria, governance, Gulf nations, WEF, World Economic Forum
Posted in Books, Economics, Emerging Markets, Gulf (GCC) Region, What's Next? (WILD CARD) | No Comments »
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