Africa: More Good News For Those Considering Its Many Markets

If one believes the U.S. mainstream media's current stories originating in Africa, you might think that the entire continent is simply one big war zone. We have not done any quantitative analysis to prove it, but our off the cuff theory is that if you were to receive only the same types of stories from the United States, you might also conclude it is one giant war zone. The point is that there is a lot more good and a lot of opportunities across Africa for savvy businesses looking for new markets. We have provided a few of these stories for you here.

1. Japan's PM to Pledge $14B to Africa - During his week long visit to Africa, PM Shinzo Abe is expected to pledge $14 billion in various aid and trade deals. Types of funding include a geo-thermal plant in Ethiopia, investments into Mozambique's recently discovered oil and gas discoveries, and some undisclosed projects in Cote d'Ivoire. Last Year PM Abe pledged $32B in aid, as he believes Africa to be the source of global economic growth in the coming years. That is a big statement - the source of global economic growth in the coming year.

2. Sub-Saharan Business Titans Take on the World - While foreign and even South African companies drag their feet at entering sub-Saharan markets, local businesses have thrived. Some have grown from humble beginnings into large conglomerates. These businesses were able to grow because many competitors felt the markets were and still are too risky. Take a look at the picture that shows the number and size of these local conglomerates and really reconsider the stigma about the risks. There are still plenty of opportunities for those willing to get beyond the stereotypes.

3. Water Companies Investing in Africa - Danish companies Grundfos and Kamstrup, consider to be the most sophisticated water technology companies in the world, continue to invest and grow in what they believe to be one of the faster growing regions on the planet - Africa. Both companies state their are committed to being in Africa and investing heavily. These investments hold the potential to further increase the infrastructure stability across the continent. Overall, these two companies are showcasing the potential for companies that are willing to go local in Africa.

4. Emerging Middle Class Spurs Retail Growth in Ghana - The development of shopping malls will begin to take center stage in Ghana as retailers see a boon in the middle class. Demand has created an increase in the retail markets with the expectation that demand for modern retail space will double over the next two years. Presently, South African retailers are expected to see the largest growth as a result. Growing retail demand should open up additional opportunities for companies to find new markets or increase their market reach.

5. African Oil Servicing Industry to See Over $200B Increase in Spending - For companies that provide service to oil rigs, ships, and other equipment, spending in these areas is expected to rise by over $200B through 2018. Needless to say, that is a big market opportunity in Africa for the numerous companies in this industry.

6. 2013 Saw Dramatic Decrease in Somali Pirate Attacks - Recent anti-piracy measures have been responsible for the number of attacks to plummet along one of Africa's most vital sea lanes. Providing security measures do not lax, this will open up even bigger opportunities for both goods and services providers.

These stories are only a small representation of the progress being made across the continent daily. We hope they help to illuminate the good going on across the continent. If your organization wants to blaze a new trail, consider Africa. If you need a hand, Contact Us to see how we can help your organization evaluate these opportunities.

Africa: This Week's Growth & Development Insights

Take a look at some of the interesting movement in different areas of Africa that showcase the potential for growth in the budding and swooning economies across the continent.

1. A $145M Africa Venture Capital Fund seeks solid companies to invest $20 to $30 million within the communication infrastructure markets. They are interested in companies within Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, Rwanda, South Sudan, and others. This could present an opportunity for your organization to step into the market or grow further if this is your organization's market-sphere. For those in different markets, the coming improvements to the communication infrastructure could signify a solid time to make additional investments or to seriously consider the viability of these markets.

2. A power super-grid could be on the way for Sub-Saharan Africa. The Eskom CEO called upon Sub-Saharan African countries to work together in the establishment of a power super-grid that would boost the electricity supply to the region; more good news for apprehensive companies considering the risk-reward tradeoff for the area.

3. Ethiopia aims to create new generation of entrepreneurs through the state-run entrepreneur training program called the Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP). The Ethiopian government hopes this UN sponsored initiative will boost the economy. The success of the program further highlights the growing economic position of many of the countries in East Africa and the increasing desire to foster business growth around the continent.

4. Tanzania opens access to capital for start-ups through a new Dar es Salaam stock exchange platform designed to introduce smaller businesses to potential investors. The hope is that this new program will cater to start-ups and other SME's that get left behind in the funding world by larger institutional investors, such as commercial banks. The increase in access to funding could result in further economic booms in an area of Africa that has been experiencing growing amounts of consumer disposable income.

5. Ethiopia's experiencing a renewable energy revolution. Ethiopia has been leading Africa in the use of renewable energy, and on November 30, 2013, the government of Ethiopia announced new deals to increase the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources. This is yet another area where countries in Africa are making great strides that still go unnoticed by foreign businesses.

6. IBM opened its first African technology research laboratory in Kenya back in November 2013. Take a look inside. This is another great example of forward looking companies that see the market potential on the continent.

All in all, these are only a small snippet of the strides being made all around Africa. Numerous opportunities exist for companies that make the choice to explore them. Yes, the main stream media can make it sound like a scary place, but your organization does not have to do it alone. Contact Us if you want to see how we can help your organization seize the opportunity.

3 Steps to Growth in 2014

At the beginning of the New Year, it feels appropriate to discuss growth. Unfortunately, the growth conversation often lacks the levity it once did with the world economies still struggling to fully recover. Rather than focus on that, we want to offer that growth can still be fun and less perplexing than it seems; however, it may require changing strategy, direction, or even primary market focus.

Most people start off the year with resolutions, and we recommend that growth finds itself at the top of the list. We understand the desire to simply sustain when the markets are tough, but we advise taking the successful stock market approach - invest when the market is down. While it can be tough to swing, it can result in nice payoffs, especially if your competition takes the sustainment route.

With that said, we suggest three steps to promote growth into 2014.

1. Have Fun with the Idea Phase - As we stated, growth does not have to be a dreaded conversation. Have fun thinking about ways to grow. Get into it, create competitions, foster creativity in this phase, and most importantly do not discourage ideas by allowing negative feedback. Your organization's best path to growth may be hiding in the idea someone was afraid or discouraged to voice.

With that said, create a flexible box for the ideas. We know, that notion might be considered blasphemous in certain circles, but we suggest this approach because certain, flexible boundaries keep the ideas focused to those that account for key company strengths - not necessarily the obvious ones though - and it prevents devolving into an Anything For Money (AFM) strategy. It is important to have fun, but not to lose all semblance of focus. For example, here at Res Rei Development, we love creative growth ideas, but would exclude things like self manufacturing our thoughts on the next greatest widget simply because it falls way out of bounds of our core strengths. Have fun, but be mindful when outside of the box causes you to chase unrealistic opportunities.

2. Set Manageable Goals - How original of us right? We know, goal setting advice by a consulting company seems about as original as a celebrity rehab stint or the lack of innuendo in music these days, but its importance and neglect never seems to fade. We find it not all that uncommon to find relatively small companies with goals like "$1 million increase in year over year sales" when their three year average annual revenues are under $5 million. Think about that logically. That is a 20% increase in a single year. Yes, for some companies and some industries, they can manage that, but that does not make it manageable for everyone.

Additionally, unattainable goals for companies, just like for people, can leave a feeling of discouragement and hamper further growth efforts. Set those manageable goals, post them for everyone to see, encourage your personnel, create incentives, and reward them when you hit them. Now, manageable goals does not equate to underachieving goals. Make sure they will require dedication and effort.

3. Don't be Afraid to Ask for Help - Whether you ask your own group of friend-advisors or bring in outside specialists, it is okay to ask for help. Okay, we'll admit, that is a little self-serving, but, we didn't say you had to ask us - although, we'd be happy if you did - and the advice still holds validity. Getting additional perspective or help in creating a growth strategy can help cut through the noise and get your company moving towards those growth goals. Sometimes solutions can elude those that are too close to the problem. Regardless of the size of your organization, it is acceptable to ask for help. The bigger mistake is hitting a wall and not considering asking for help. It is the continued growth of the organization that is the goal. As the saying goes, "if you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got."

Denis Leary’s Hidden Business Lesson No One Heard?

Sixteen years ago, Denis Leary went on one of his famous, comedic rants about “coffee flavored coffee.” Rather than butcher it, watch the video below to hear him discuss the frustrations of finding a cup of coffee flavored coffee and beer flavored beer. Warning, it contains adult language, but it makes the point.

Fast forward to today. A couple of weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal published an article about whether or not peanut butter Pop Tarts® classify as an innovation. This article harbors zero intent on plunging into that overly opinionated area; however, when one looks at both Denis Leary’s comments and the Pop Tart® article, it raises an interesting question. Did Denis Leary provide a business lesson clearly no one has heard?

For those that did not watch the video, excerpts of the important pieces are provided. "What happened with coffee? Did I miss a f!@#$%^ meeting with the coffee, huh? You can get every other flavor except coffee-flavored coffee! They got Mochachino, Chocachino, Frappachino, Rappachino, Al Pacino, what the f@#$?" He continues about beer. Specifically, he talks about Pete's Wicked Brew, Pete's Wicked Summer Brew, and then asks "Who the f@#$ is Pete, f#$% Pete?"

Profanity aside, he raises a couple of interesting points, especially when you consider peanut butter Pop Tarts®, the 10,000 different toothpastes, and the most recent iterations of the iPhone. Are we as marketers and product developers trying too hard to keep up with consumer trends – real or perceived - that we miss the most obvious, age-old tenet - why mess with a good thing? Let us look at Google's recent YouTube comment system change as one example. Again, this article is not wading into that beaten to death argument. Instead, let us examine it in Denis Leary's context. We have thousands of social media options. We have Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, Myspace, LinkedIn and the list goes on. Would anyone be surprised if there was a social network solely for people's goldfish? Most people use one or a couple of these.

So, YouTube comments worked just fine before, right? Why then did Google decide it necessary to cram Google+ down our throats, much the way Leary alludes non-coffee flavored coffee was crammed down his? How about Gmail? What happened to the email, email systems? With Gmail you can send emails, update your Google Circles, and wire people money now, just to name a few. Before we know it, Gmail will take food orders and control your television. In spite of numerous complaints about these changes, companies still forge ahead making it impossible for people to get the simple product and/or service that they prefer, instead being force-fed a bunch of junk they could care less about.

As seen both in Leary's rants sixteen years ago and in the Pop Tart® and Google examples, this is neither a new trend nor a past problem that has since been resolved. When are the marketers and product/service developers going to take a serious, perhaps quantitative, look at the choice to fundamentally change staples into the newest and flashiest thing around? Do the novelty sales really mitigate the lifetime customer expenditures that are lost from the unnecessary modification? One final thought, how many customers do companies actually lose when they decide to change something solely for the sake of changing it in their attempts to be edgy and innovative? Innovation provides little value when you cannibalize solid products and services and alienate those customers that preferred the simplicity.

Sorry, Mr. Leary, it appears that after sixteen years, nobody's listening.

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This article is part of a new series of basic business lessons hidden in pop-culture

Exelis Mission Systems Retains Res Rei Development

This week Exelis Mission Systems, a division of Exelis, Inc. engaged Res Rei Development to support an international growth and development opportunity.

Exelis, Inc. is a $5B+ global aerospace, defense, information and services company created in October 2011 as a result of the spinoff of ITT Corporation's defense business into an independent, publicly traded company.

RRD personnel will be providing specialized expertise in exporting and tailoring necessary business processes to different countries as well as conducting general business and managing logistics in these locations to support the needs of Exelis' client.

Lacking Execution from your Fresh MBA Graduate Heavy Consulting Firm?

Yesterday, in his article "Strategy Without Execution is Hallucination," Forbes writer Karl Moore states that 95% of MBA strategy classes focus on the process of developing strategy and largely ignore execution. To add to this tale of academic woe, he tells us that in a survey of more than 200 CEO's, it was discovered that reality demands 90% to 95% being spent on execution not on development.

What does this say for the quality of the strategy solutions flooding the markets from the consulting firms that hire large numbers of fresh MBA grads? Are companies being given the best value for their money from the firms that base a large part of their business model on fresh MBA grads that have little to no exposure to execution?

Add this recent discovery to the fact that the most common grade given at Harvard is an 'A,', and it suggests that the top of their class Harvard consultant, with only two months of experience, may not be as good as it sounds.

The end of Micro-Management?

In this Harvard Business School article, the author discusses how increased transparency and too much employee observation leads to a decrease in productivity. Should you give your employees enough autonomy to complete tasks alone, or should you ensure they are always under a watchful eye? We wonder if both business and personal culture play a bigger role than suggested in the article.