Yesterday my drive through central Manchester took me past the defunct Jowata African Restaurant (pictured). Black wooden boards covered the windows and entrance to the premises – certainly not a heartwarming sight. The Jowata was closed to the public well over eight months ago for reasons beyond my knowledge. While the restaurant never really had [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘Business’
October 1, 2008
Q&A – Margaret Sengwaketse
Margaret Sengwaketse is a Research Fellow at the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis (BIDPA). She is currently undertaking research towards a Ph.D. degree at the University of Manchester. Margaret’s thesis explores three possible explanations to manufacturing growth in Botswana; mineral abundance, the trade policy environment, and the general macroeconomic environment. Margaret was [...]
September 7, 2008
Q&A – Dave Duarte
Dave Duarte is a South African marketing geek – an entrepreneur, educator, internet and mobile marketing consultant all-in-one. He runs his multiple ventures from his Cape Town base and blogs regularly at daveduarte.co.za. I caught up with Dave late last week and he kindly shared some thoughts in response to my questions…
Q>> You’re a [...]
September 2, 2008
Saluting A Brand
I have always had respect for consistently iconic brands. Brands featuring prominently in my estimations include Apple, The North Face, Papa John’s Pizza, Timberland, and a few more. A shortlist of my top African brands would have to include Nando’s, the fast-food restaurant chain.
Originating from South Africa with a Portuguese theme, the Nando’s restaurant chain [...]
August 13, 2008
South African Business Sense
A few years ago, an advert for the Ford Bantam vehicle was aired on South African television networks. It was a humorous take on the socio-cultural dynamics of doing business in South Africa. Opinions may vary with respect to the accuracy of the advert’s racial undertones. Either way, it was the humour [...]
August 6, 2008
Long-Distance Relationships
National Express is one of Britain’s largest public transport operators. Its brand is most popularly associated with its inter-city coach network, but it also operates trains, airport transfers, and local bus services.
Last week, I found myself “parked” in a traffic jam positioned behind a National Express coach (pictured). Upon reading the bold lettering on the [...]
August 5, 2008
Q&A – Kofi Som Atiemo
Kofi Som Atiemo (pictured) is a Ghanaian airline pilot currently flying for Virgin Nigeria. Kofi Som is a graduate of the Oxford Air Training School, the University of Eastern Africa Baraton, and the University of Ghana (having obtained his MBA from the latter). I threw a few questions his way and he kindly [...]
July 30, 2008
Signs That Tell A Story
There are currently four signs on the front lawn of the complex where I reside (pictured). Three of these signs are advertising properties for sale within the complex, while the fourth one indicates that a property has been rented out by the estate agency displayed. Collectively, these signs give a surprisingly accurate snapshot of the [...]
July 28, 2008
“Sunday Shopping Banned in Croatia”
On the 15th of July 2008, The Boston Globe featured a short article on recent developments in Croatia which caught my eye. It was a report on the Croatian parliament passing a law forcing shops to close on Sunday in a concession to the Roman Catholic Church. It got me wondering if this [...]
July 28, 2008
The Future According to Eric Schmidt
Eric Schmidt is the Chairman and CEO of Google Inc. He is widely respected as a business-savvy leader at the cutting edge of our Information Age. Below is a presentation he delivered at the IBM Business Partners Leadership Conference in May, earlier this year. He shares his thoughts about trends in the information technology [...]
