Kenya - Unlocking the potential of an emerging market

Imagine vast and beautiful savannah grasslands as two million wildebeest migrate from the Serengeti National Park in the Mara region of Tanzania to the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. This trip is 3,000km in length, and represents, in many ways, the very best of what Africa has to offer the international community. But is this all Kenya puts on the plate? The answer is a definitive “no”. Kenya is moving from a frontier market to an emerging market, and is beginning to attract investment from all over the world.

Read the recent article in How we made it in Africa

 http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/from-frontier-to-emerging-market-kenyas-economic-rise/47379/

Monthly Contribution to Entrepreneur Magazine

www.entrepreneurmag.co.za/advice/growing-a-business/increase-profitability/your-businesss-secret-weapon-talent-retention/

I am very happy to have been asked to make a regular contribution to the South African version of Entrepreneur Magazine

Please click the link above to see the full story.

The first one is titled : Your business secret weapon Talent Retention


Enjoy and Keep Winning

David

Set Your Business Sights on Nigeria: Africa’s Powerhouse

Introduction

If you’re thinking of expanding your business operations into Nigeria, it will definitely help to know certain pertinent points about the country; the first of which is that it’s abounding in possibilities. Indeed, possibilities galore, and before jumping headlong into your venture, there are some very important things to know about the country’s economy, cultural paradigms, and of course its history. The following brief observations touch on some of these points, and might prove well worth a read.

Nigeria’s Economy

Known as the “Giant of Africa”, Nigeria boasts the most populous country on the continent, and is ranked 7^th in the world in population size. The country has a booming youth population, and in 2014 surpassed South Africa as the largest economy on the African continent. This is a noteworthy feat given the historic strength of SA’s economic power. In purely economic terms, this means that Nigeria is now the 21^st largest economy in the world and has a gross domestic product of over USD 500 billion. By 2050, Nigeria is expected to be included in the 20 largest domestic economies in the world. This is surely a very exciting prospect for those who’d like to invest in the economy in a long-term capacity.

Moreover, the country has been identified as an emerging market by the World Bank. With a debt to GDP ratio of only 11%, Nigeria has managed to escape, to a large extent, the sovereign debt incurred by many European countries hit by the 2008 recession. This, in turn, means that Nigeria has quickly emerged as the regional power in West Africa. As such, the country is a member of the Common Wealth of Nations, the African Union, the UN, the International Criminal Court, OPEC and MINT (a BRIC-type organisation).

A major source of Nigerian wealth is reliant on oil exports (a point of political contention and conflict), which accounts for 40% of GDP; but secondary and tertiary activities are expanding at an alarming rate. For example, Nigeria has one of the fastest growing telecommunications markets in the world, and has seen major investment from MTN and Globacom. The country also has a well-developed financial services sector including local and international banks, asset management companies, brokerage houses, private equity funds and all important investment banks.

In terms of manufacturing, Nigeria currently services notable automotive titans, Peugeot and the UK based Bedford (now a subsidiary of GM). The country also boasts a locally produced automotive brand, Innoson Motors, which produces rapid transit transporters, buses, trucks and SUVs. Nigeria, it is fair to say, has embraced industrialisation and also produces locally made electronics devices from tablet PCs to other consumables.

History and Culture

There is little doubt that Nigeria has enjoyed a tumultuous political history, especially in postcolonial times; but these setbacks have not deterred the staggering growth of the country’s economy, especially within the last decade. As is a standard throughout the world, English is the international language of business, and perhaps owing to the influence of English colonisation, English is the official language of Nigeria. To think that English is the only language spoken throughout Nigeria, is, of course, deeply misguided. Other major languages are Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba. Any businessperson wanting to make a good impression should be inclined to learn a few fundamentals about the language of the region they tend to visit. The majority ethnicity in Nigeria is Yoruba, followed closely by Hausa and Igbo peoples. It should also be borne in mind that the country is sharply divided between the predominately Christian south and the Islamic north. If one is looking to commit to business deals, this distinction becomes paramount as each cultural paradigm has their own etiquette.

Nigeria gained independence from the UK in 1960, and was finally declared a republic in 1963. The political history since independence has been complex, to say the least, and from 1970-1999, with brief periods of democratic rule in between, the country has been ruled by militaristic rulers and juntas. Today, however, Nigeria is a federal democratic republic led by the fairly elected Goodluck Jonathan.

If the above commentary concerning the history and economics of Nigeria are taken into consideration, your business venture stands a very good chance of succeeding. Moreover, bearing the above in mind, it should become clear that Nigeria is an African superpower on an unstoppable upward trajectory. Watch out, here comes your business success in Nigeria!

Expand and Amplify

I have had the fortunate opportunity to dive into the deep end, of the Social communications space by meeting what some call a Twitter Guru. I first met Rich Simmonds at my brother in-laws 50th Birthday bash, an event where I certainly did not expect to meet such an influential person.

During our conversation I learned that Rich, had written several books and was a lead influencer in the digital leadership space.

Not self-proclaimed and rather humble about it, but being one of the Forbes Africa top social influencers and on a recently published list of the Top 60 social influencers worldwide. Here is the link http://Hereklou.tt/19d3gzslt0owj 

Long story short. I enrolled on his course studied his book "Mug and Tweet" - Social Communication in the Digital Age, engaged with him on several executive coaching sessions and really developed a good friendship within a short space of time. Through our engagements, it became apparent that there are a lot of synergy between the value added by Richard and Uwin Iwin’s business approach. One thing led to another and before we knew it,we decided to venture into a new business relationship together, that will enhance his personal objectives but also add great value to the Uwin Iwin stable of services to help customers accelerate their own growth objectives.

Innovation in our offerings is essential to keep relevant and we achieve this by adapting quickly to the needs of customers within the tumultuous and turbulent market place. Within the digital performance space I believe many brands, have made the move successfully into embracing the new frontiers that social media has created. However a big challenge in this space is identifying a truly powerful way to amplify the digital messaging and reach in terms of relevant audiences for the brand. Expand offers our customers a real solution.

As the digital world evolves, so do amplification opportunities.

If you would like find out more about Expand, feel free to contact Richard on 0824131604 or email him at rich@uwiniwin.co.za or visit http://richsimmonds.wordpress.com/expand-amplification/

Growth in the Hot Zone

I recently spoke at the ThinkSales annual event in South Africa along with an impressive lineup of influential business speakers. As I listened to the presentations from speakers from a diverse range of disciplines, the importance of Sales leadership surfaced as being even more important in today’s dynamic business climate than ever before.

In the developing world context where so much growth potential that exists in seeking out productive markets and developing sales channels that are productive. Business leaders acknowledged the power of having focused and motivated sales people, channels and partners to deliver on the growth objectives of organizations.

Developing energized people who are well equipped to help customers win by providing products, services and solution that deliver results will be a key success factor in business today. At the very heart of the entrepreneurial spirit is the desire to serve up solutions that will make our world a better place, help introduce innovation and creative ideas that will transform society, business, culture and or our planet.

Adoption of these ideas are very much dependent on the consumer testing, trying and understanding the concepts, services and products. This is the domain of today’s sales leader, understanding the needs, the people and the business solutions that add value. They dynamically shift in and out of the hot zone between organizations with the desire to grow and the customer world where the reality of customer needs and challenges are taken care of, or not.

The business that are thriving in the hot zone pay much attention to developing this high performance, professional sales culture that transcends the traditional sales organizations and permeates through the entire business. Producing a winning team that is highly client centered, client attentive and continuously innovative in its approach to growth. 

Keep Winning

A call for Peace, Love and Care

Peace through Tourism

 

Having had a 20 year entrepreneurial career where I have owned and operated several business in the global tourism industry I have come to appreciate how central the industry is to so many key issues that really matter in today’s world. More definitively the business tourism sector that services the growth of multi nationals companies, create the platforms for industry knowledge share and education, facilitate trade and nation to nation exchange, entertains the world through the mega festivals, sporting events, houses, fly’s, feed’s and transports the worlds ebb and flow of business and political travelers. 

All very vulnerable to the ravages of war and hate. It is our place no doubt to also promote Peace, to stand up for what is right, tolerance, non-racialism, democracy and human rights.

I have been astounded recently on all forms of social media about the rise of the radicalized views from people who I would never have expected. Tourism leaders have in my view to embrace and be part of the global call for Peace in our world.

There is no place for planes filled with civilians, educator’s scientists and researchers to be shot out of the sky, no place for hate speech to show up in our dialogue. No space for religious intolerance or racial profiling in our industry.

But a global voice that stands for peace, love and good will.

Born to Win

“You were born to win, but to be a winner you must plan to win, prepare to win and expect to win” - Zig Ziglar

Traveling to Rome for the first time you can’t help being confronted by the powerful drives that exist in the hearts of men and women to win. The Empire that lasted over 500 years and was the first of its kind to globalize its ambitions is immortalized in its art, architecture and legendary superiority. Shown up only by the magnificence and power of the Roman church that is still winning hearts 2000 years later.

Planning to win was the way of the gladiator forced into mortal combat. For those who wanted freedom had to plan and prepare to stay alive for 5 years travel and fight all around the empire. These men were put on show as the ultimate symbol of status, owning and sponsoring a top gladiator was the equivalent to owning a Ferrari or a Bentley today.

Gladiators schooled, trained and expected to win, no chance of survival with self-doubt and a half effort. Talk about focus attention to form and the dream to be free. Today with all the freedoms in our egalitarian fast and free society many lack the ambition to do more than wake up and watch TV.

Make your plan, know what it is you want and go at it like a gladiator, prepare hard, practice as if your life depended on it, and in the moment have the confidence of an expectant winner.

And a final modern twist in this winning tail – if you can win and take people with you, win for mankind or win for the planet. What a glorious victory we can achieve.