Make African Business Become Big

13/03/2017

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07/03/2017

Doing Business in Democratic Republic of Congo
Doing business in the DRC is extremely difficult, with the country often considered to be one of the most challenging business environments in the world. Despite a wealth of natural resources, years of corruption, mismanagement and conflict have left the country impoverished and there is still much work to be done to rebuild the DRC. That being said, there are also many opportunities for foreign companies to do business in the DRC.

Kinshasa - Doing business in the DRCThe dominant sectors of the Congolese economy are agriculture, fishing, mining and forestry. There is also some manufacturing, particularly of textiles, cement and wood products. The main centres of business are the capital, Kinshasa, and Lubumbashi, in the mining district of Katanga.

In the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Survey for 2016, the DRC was ranked 184 out of 189 countries, reflecting the poor business environment that expats are likely to encounter. This ranking marked only a slight improvement from its 2015 ranking of 187, placing it among the worst countries in the world to do business in. Factors in which the country scored particularly poorly included trading across borders (187), resolving insolvency (189), protecting monitory investors (174) and getting electricity (174).

Fast facts

Business hours
Business hours are typically Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm, with a two-hour lunch break taken some time between 12pm and 3pm.

Business language
French is the language of business in the DRC. Local languages such as Swahili and Lingala are also widely spoken, particularly in more rural areas.

Greeting
A handshake is the usual greeting between business associates. It’s not unusual for Congolese people to touch each other on the shoulder or arm while talking to those they are familiar with. When shaking someone’s hand with their right hand they may also hold their right forearm with their left hand.

Dress
Lightweight suits are best.

Gifts
A gift is acceptable when visiting an associate’s home, but with the prevalence of bribery and corruption, expats should consider their gift-giving carefully.

Gender equality
Congolese culture is still traditional when it comes to gender roles and there are very few women in senior positions within the corporate sector.

Business culture in the DRC

Expats doing business in the DRC will find the Congolese to be friendly and welcoming. They generally take pride in their work and are hard working. Appearance is also important and Congolese dress smartly, but modestly.

Status is important in Congolese culture, including in business, and elders and those in authority are respected. Likewise, business structures in the DRC are hierarchical. Although the ideas of the team are generally welcomed, the final decisions are normally made from the top. However, expats doing business in the DRC have often cited a lack of transparency in the decision-making process as a frustrating issue that can hinder potential business dealings.

Communication style may be direct but direct eye contact is usually avoided. Expats should adapt an attitude of patience when undertaking business in the DRC. The decision-making process can be a drawn out one and it’s not unusual to have meetings rescheduled or even cancelled at short notice.

French is the language of business in the DRC and expats will do well to learn at least some French in order to effectively communicate with Congolese associates. An interpreter may be required for business meetings. Other local languages such as Lingala and Swahili are also widely spoken, especially in more rural areas.

Corruption
Bribery and corruption are every day realities and often cited as the biggest constraints to doing business in the DRC. Although efforts in recent years have gone a long way in diminishing the problem, corruption remains a real issue across all facets of business in the DRC. Expats working and doing business in the country should tread carefully when it comes to negotiating and the need for gifts or special favours.

Dos and don’ts of doing business in the DRC
Do be punctual for meetings, even though Congolese associates may not view punctuality as a priority
Don’t be surprised if meetings are cancelled at short notice
Do learn French in order to effectively communicate with Congolese colleagues. Otherwise, an interpreter may be required, especially for business meetings.
Don’t ask about someone’s ethnicity or discuss the civil war. Politics should also be avoided as a conversation topic.

07/03/2017

Facebook CEO looks for more ‘likes’ from Africa
Facebook’s exponential growth in Africa is attracting international attention. Last September Facebook’s founder and chief executive officer, Mark Zuckerberg, visited Kenya and Nigeria, two countries that are among the top five Facebook users on the continent.

Given that 16 million Nigerians and 5.5 million Kenyans are active users on Facebook as of June 2016, according to the Internet World Statistics website, it is no shock that Zuckerberg would make extraordinary efforts to visit the hotbeds of technological innovation in Africa, where young tech entrepreneurs draw inspiration from the social media mogul’s success.

During his surprise first trip to sub-Saharan Africa, he met with “Afropreneurs” – bright young African entrepreneurs bursting with innovative ideas and a passion for change, who are quickly gaining popularity for using creative means to solve Africa’s problems. Many of these Afropreneurs took his visit as proof that they were making an impact on a global scale. Zuckerberg visited some of the most notable tech centres in Nigeria and Kenya.

Inspired by the ground-breaking success of Kenya’s M-Pesa – the mobile money system that allows users to store money on an account on their phones and make payments via secure text messages – Zuckerberg visited iHub, a Nairobi-based innovation hub for the technology community where entrepreneurs can build and test their ideas.

At the iHub he met with two engineers who had developed a mobile payment system called PayGo Energy that is used for buying cooking gas. According to the Facebook owner, the engineers, Fausto Marcigot and Mark O’Keefe, are an inspiration to the rest of the world in thinking about how mobile money can be used to build businesses and help communities.

Boosting Afropreneurs

In Lagos, Zuckerberg sat down with developers at Andela, a start-up that trains software developers and offers them full-time placement with international companies, to discuss the obstacles faced by African software designers and how to connect the young tech developers to companies around the world. Andela received a US$24m donation from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) in June 2016.
We live in a world where talent is evenly distributed, but opportunity is not. Andela’s mission is to close that gap,” Zuckerberg said in Lagos.

Since it was founded two years ago, Andela has trained more than 200 engineers selected from a pool of 40,000 applicants. The start-up has pledged to train 100,000 more engineers over the next 10 years, chief executive Jeremy Johnson told Entrepreneur, an America-based business magazine.

In an effort to further engage African entrepreneurs, Facebook created Express Wi-Fi to deliver quality, affordable wifi to underserved communities while empowering African entrepreneurs. Through Express Wi-Fi, African entrepreneurs will be provided with equipment and software to sell internet data, earning 15% in commissions.

“Mark’s visit was a much-needed external validation of the sweat and immense efforts, mostly unsung, of the young Nigerians who have kept at it,” Idris Ayodeji Bello, a Nigerian self-proclaimed Afropreneur, told CNN.

07/03/2017

How this Tanzanian beauty queen started her own furniture business
Jacqueline Ntuyabaliwe is a 38-year-old former Tanzanian beauty queen (Miss Tanzania) and musician. More recently, she has achieved success as an entrepreneur.

Ntuyabaliwe is the founder of Molocaho, a Tanzanian furniture manufacturing company, which designs and manufactures quality made-to-order furniture, furnishings, designer fabrics, lighting, decor, garden furniture and rugs.

All Molocaho’s products are manufactured using locally-sourced, sustainable materials. Molacaho has a factory in the heart of Dar es Salaam as well as a showroom. The company employs more than 30 Tanzanians, and is looking to start exporting its pieces to Europe.

We caught up with Ntuyabaliwe recently to chronicle her transition from musician and beauty queen to furniture entrepreneur. She also told us her plans for Molocaho in the near future.

Briefly walk me through your journey from musician to beauty queen to furniture maker.

Music was one of my childhood dreams, so when I got the opportunity to join a famous Tanzanian band I was very excited. That’s how my musical career begun. I went on to record two albums during the period of around eight years.

Becoming a beauty queen was an exciting experience, as a young girl it’s always a dream come true to be crowned. During my reign I learned a lot about my country, made some friends and had the opportunity of representing Tanzania to the Miss World contest.

As a child I used to love to draw, and as I grew older I discovered that I had a special appreciation for interior design and that’s what made me study interior design. Making furniture came after I had launched my interior design company. Furniture designing begun partly because I saw an opportunity and also because I found designing very challenging but the reward of seeing the final work is well worth it.
Did you undertake formal training in college or within the industry, or did you find your way into crafts via a different route?

I studied interior design and so I had an idea about making furniture.

What would you say are your main influences when conceiving a piece of work?

My main influence, especially with this first collection, has been nature. There’s so many colours, shapes and forms that I found to be very interesting and had an influence on my designs. I have a piece that was inspired by the ocean waves, for example, and another inspired by a baobab tree.

What would you most like to make that you haven’t so far?
I’m currently sketching up some ideas for a couture furniture collection which I’m very excited about. Other than that I would like to make a bigger selection of furniture, and spoil our clients with more options to choose from.

How do you choose your materials, and what type of materials do you prefer to use?

I use a lot of wood, but I also use printed fabric which I often print in-house. The quality of the materials we use is very important so I make sure that we source the best available materials.

Walk me through the process

First I come up with ideas, which I usually sketch. I walk around with a small sketchbook which I fill with all my ideas. Then I work on the drawings before consulting with my design team together with the carpenters to see how the design can be implemented.

Afterwards I sit down with my design team and work out the possibilities, possible materials and finishes. When all that is done, then the design goes for production. I always make sure that each and every piece is carefully examined for quality control before it goes out and I try to participate in the check myself most if the time. Good finish and craftsmanship is extremely important to me.

If we are working on a special order for a customer who wants customised design then we have a chat to discuss the options which are usually in terms of sizes and fabric options before we proceed to production.

What part of the process excites you the most?

Two parts of the process excites me, first when the idea comes to my head and then when the piece is done.

What are your biggest challenges to doing business in Tanzania?

Starting a new business is always a challenge because there’s so much at stake and many lessons to be learned along the way but I believe that it’s the challenges that pushes us to work harder at our dreams.

Where do you see Molocaho in the next 5 years?

My dream is build a global brand that will last for many years to come. I see Molocaho being a successful and globally recognised brand, with the pieces being exhibited alongside other world-renowned beautiful furniture brands and our pieces being sold all around the world.

01/05/2016

1. SoleRebels (Ethiopia)

1.1 101 Ways To Make Money in Africa 1Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, 34, grew up in Zenabwork, a poor village in the suburbs of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

She came up with her business idea after she noticed most of the artisans in her community, who made beautiful footwear, remained jobless and poor.

Today, her company, SoleRebels, is one the most popular and fastest-growing African footwear brands in the world! It sells its ‘eco-friendly’ brand of footwear in more than 50 countries including the USA, Canada, Japan and Switzerland.

SoleRebels’ footwear is unique because it is 100 percent made by hand using locally-sourced and recycled materials like old car tyres and hand-loomed organic fabrics.

A few years ago, SoleRebels became the first footwear company in the world to be certified by the World Fair Trade Organisation.

By using local craftsmen, Bethlehem has built a global brand and a hugely successful business that has created jobs and improved livelihoods in her local community. (photo credit: solerebels.com)

Bethlehem started SoleRebels in 2004 with less than $10,000 in capital she raised from family members. Today, the company has more than 100 employees and nearly 200 local raw material suppliers, and has opened several standalone retail outlets in North America, Europe and Asia.

Despite its very humble beginnings, SoleRebels now makes up to $1 million in sales every year, and according to Bethlehem’s projections and expansion plans, the company could be making up to $10 million in sales by 2016.

Buoyed by her success with SoleRebels, Bethlehem recently launched Republic of Leather, a new business that trades in luxury leather products like bags, belts and other non-footwear leather accessories.

Bethlehem was selected as the Young Global Leader of the Year 2011 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and was a winner at the Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship in the same year. Bethlehem and her inspiring success story with SoleRebels have been featured severally on Forbes, the BBC and CNN.

17/12/2015

Strive Masiyiwa
Pause:
Linking Africa directly to the Middle East and Europe.
This week, one of the subsidiaries of Econet Global, a company called Liquid Telecom, announced that it's building a new undersea cable which will run along the East African coast, connecting Africa to the Middle East and Europe.
The company has issued an international tender for companies that specialise in the construction of such systems to make bids. Once the bids come in, they will be evaluated and it’s hoped the winner will start building before the end of 2016. The entire project will take up to two years to complete.
Once finished, the cable will carry data traffic (movies, telephone calls, Internet traffic such as this post) between Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
This project is one of the most ambitious ever undertaken by an Econet company. It's been years in planning, as well as negotiations with regulators, financial and technical partners. Whilst it's not the first undersea cable to be built along that route, it does have some unique features. First of all, it’s been designed to the latest fibre optic technology and is therefore much faster than any cable coming into Africa in terms of data speed and capacity. It also connects ports along the East African coast that were previously left out by other cables.
For me personally, seeing this project being launched takes me back to when we first started Liquid Telecom 15 years ago. At the time, we did not imagine that one day it would become one of Africa’s largest telecoms companies. We were simply trying to deal with a "need for better connectivity" to sea cables for landlocked countries like Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Southern DRC, and Lesotho. This led us to build a fibre network that crisscrosses some 15 countries, connecting them together. In the process, we ended up with the largest terrestrial fibre system in Africa.
As I've said before, having a wonderful vision to do something is not enough. You must be able to attract men and women prepared to join you to execute the vision. Your team must be highly skilled in many different disciplines, highly motivated, and entrepreneurial themselves. Some key people must also be experienced and seasoned managers who know how to organise others, as well as capital, to get the job done.
Recruiting such people is not easy, and is probably the greatest challenge any entrepreneur ever faces. As I've said many times before, the most important battle in the world today takes place over skilled and talented people.
Getting something like this done is not about one person. I may be the face of my organisation, but it's not about me alone. Bringing this project to this stage is the work of dozens of people at all levels in our organisation. By the time it's completed in two years, thousands of others will have been involved. Building a business out of it will require many others.
I'm very proud of the team that has developed this project. The CEO of Liquid Telecom is Nic Rudnick, a Zimbabwean who has been with me for 20 years. His management and technical team include experts from more than a dozen countries. They are passionate about Africa, and its place in the global economy.
This project will ultimately create thousands of jobs in Africa, and also wealth for many, many African nations including those that are landlocked.
Lessons:
# As an entrepreneur, you must recognise early in your business career that you need to develop the skill to attract and recruit the most talented people that you can find. I have spoken about this many times before. In the end it’s the most important job that you ever have to do on a continuous basis.
# Complex projects like this will be become increasingly easy for you to do, but you must first muster the ability to do small projects very well, quickly and efficiently.
The End. https://m.facebook.com/home.php?ref_component=mbasic_home_header&ref_page=MMessagingEntBasedReadController&refid=12

08/11/2013

08/11/2013

http://www.OnlineAutopilot.ws http://www.OnlineVenture.ws How to Start Your Own Business -- South African Entrepreneurs 799-P1 APS Program In Step 1, you wil...

08/11/2013

Words don't teach... your acceptance, belief & experience of putting them in action, is the teacher! -- william paisley ()

03/11/2013

NOVI (NoviAfrica.com) Young Entrepreneurs Training Program 2013 in Benin, West Africa

10/08/2013

Thirteen Young African Entrepreneurs Compete for the 2012 Anzisha Prize
Finalists come from nine countries and have launched businesses ranging from agriculture and consumer products to energy and technology solutions

Johannesburg, South Africa and Toronto, Canada – August 20, 2012 – African Leadership Academy (ALA) and The MasterCard Foundation are proud to introduce the finalists for the 2012 Anzisha Prize. The Prize identifies and celebrates Africa’s young entrepreneurial leaders between the ages 16 to 22, who have identified opportunities in their communities and launched innovative ventures, which this year range from agriculture and consumer projects to energy and technology solutions.

“The Anzisha Prize finalists demonstrate the unlimited potential of Africa’s youth to shape the future,” said Chris Bradford, Founder and Dean of African Leadership Academy. “It is a privilege to welcome these 13 innovators to South Africa as they compete for the Anzisha Prize.”

The Anzisha Prize has garnered interest from young people across the continent. The 13 finalists were selected from a competitive pool of 270 young entrepreneurs from 23 African countries. Before the Prize Awards, these entrepreneurs will participate in a weeklong entrepreneurship workshop with the faculty of African Leadership Academy’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. At the end of the week, they present their initiatives to a panel of judges that includes the South African entrepreneur Wendy Luhabe; the Mozambican entrepreneur Erik Charas, founder of Charas LDA; Zibusiso Mkhwananzi, Founder and CEO of KRAZYBOYZ Digital; and Jasandra Nyker, the CEO of BioTherm Energy. Three grand prize winners will be announced at a gala event on 29th August 2012, and will share $75,000 in prize money. The Anzisha Prize awards will be presented by Ashish Thakkar, Founder and Managing Director of the Mara Group of companies, who also became an entrepreneur at an early age.

“The Anzisha Prize finalists come from a range of economic and educational backgrounds, and all share one common attribute: a desire to make a difference in their communities,” said Reeta Roy, President and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation. “These finalists represent the entrepreneurial energy and leadership of Africa’s youth that will shape the future of the continent.”

The finalists’ initiatives have received local and international attention and are already making positive impacts in their communities. Eighteen year old Nadege Iradukunda, from Rwanda, led a team to deploy innovative biogas solutions in schools serving over 15,000 students. In Uganda, twenty year old Andrew Mupuya launched a paper bag production company that employs 14 people, ranging up to 53 years old. And in a village in Tanzania, 16-year old Faisal Burhan saw that his school was short on funds for gas for bunsen burners. His response was to design and build a bio-digester that produced gas from the school’s organic waste. From education and media, to energy and finance, the Anzisha Prize finalists have collectively impacted thousands of lives across Africa. Other finalists’ enterprises are in education, finance, recycling, technology, media, and energy.

The 2012 Anzisha Prize finalists are:

Andrew Mupuya of Uganda, 20, foun

12/07/2013

What Are Challenges We face in Our local Businesses According To Our Respective Countries?