Amebor » Business and Money Matters

Tidjane Thiam: African Star In a Controversial Takeover Bid

T Ihidero — Tue, 18 May 2010 14:56:11 +0000

An visionary leader by any standard

He has become a bull in a china shop, though he wants to expand the reach of the company he heads. He’s always been one of the shining stars of a continent where opportunities are few, with a lot of graduates being unemployed or working for slave wages. Tidjane Thiam, who’s the first black chief executive of a FTSE 100 company and CEO of Prudential has launched a strong bid to buy AIA, the Asian arm of US-based insurer AIG [ Sponsors of Manchester United FC of England ].

Thiam is rallying Prudential’s shareholders together and asking them to stump up for Britain’s biggest ever rights issue. The deal which will cost £14.5bn has been opposed by some shareholders of the Company which is Britain’s largest insurance company. In a bid to woo investors who are yet to make up their minds, the 11-for-2 right issue has been priced at 104p per share. This is a 39p reduction from the set price last Friday. Thiam’s move is a bit risky in the sense that if he fails, he might lose his position as Prudential’s top man. The good thing about his courageous decision is that if he clinches the deal, he will double Prudential’s size, making it the largest life insurer in the world outside China. This means the British Company will have about 80% of its business in Asia.

However, Tidjane Thiam’s confidence could be dealt a severe blow when shareholders meet to approve the deal on June 7, 2010. The Ivorian will go into the meeting with a grin on his face as Prudential has posted strong figures in the first quarter of this year with group-wide sales reaching £807 million pounds. So much for an intelligent African who was a former Minister of Planning and Development in the West African nation of Ivory Coast. Thiam joined Prudential in 2008 as Financial director, and caused a stir when he was named as the first black Chief Executive of the company a year later. 47 year old Thiam studied in France and he’s married to Annette, An African-American. They’ve got two sons who are passionate Arsenal FC supporters.

419 scammer turns gay! | Fail

Jide Ladipo — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 17:37:00 +0000

We have recently been keeping a tab on videos of 419 scammers prank calls. Last week, we bought you two videos of South Africa’s genius prank caller Wackhead Simpson. Well, if you thought Wackhead Simpson’s video were funny, you need to watch this.

How did this 419 scammer go from scammer to pastor who pleads the blood of Jesus to GAY man who is ready to sodomise his victim? We warn the last minutes of the video are very graphic. Simply unbelievable. This has to be the eighth wonder of the world, enjoy!

Internet scam for Dummies : 419 Guys Busted, Now who is the Maga?

Jide Ladipo — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 23:55:36 +0000

Fraudsters get a buzz out of swindling people, but when the cards are turned and the swindlers are prank called, one is bound to laugh. Enjoy two videos recorded by two South African guys who call the contact number left for them on a scam e-mail.

I am sure one out of every one person that reads this article has received an e-mail from some obscure person promising you millions of pounds or dollars. No need talking too much about these videos. Just watch, very hilarious!

Flaunting Africa with “Converse in Commerce.”

Abiola Abiola — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:10:24 +0000

“Flauntertainment” was the word of the night at the Boucarou Lounge on 64 East 1st, NYC, on Tuesday Dec 1st. Flaunt Africa’s first business cocktail, tagged “Converse Commerce” went underway.

Flauntertainment are events that “raise awareness of countless positive developments flourishing” on the African continent in an entertaining manner, the Founder of Flaunt Africa, Uchenwa Njoku explained. For more info about Flaunt Africa, visit FlauntAfrica.org

It was a really refreshing event as entrepreneurs of african descent and/or with business interest in Africa showed up. Business cards were all over the place, exchanging hands back and forth.

There were people from various works of life, finance, fashion, food, entertainment, and new media.

At the end of the night, like many of the attendees I had a pocket full of business cards, useful ones though, so they wont end up spreading the fire in my fire place, lol.

One particular contact that I made that sticks out is that of Akin, – Panla.com. His company provided the food for the event. I almost refused to leave without tasting what they had to offer, because the aroma was just hard to ignore. So if you a looking for a professional caterer in the New York area, who makes mind numbing tasty food – you owe the good folks at Panla.com a call. When you do, tell them Abiola Abiola sent you.

Other people that I meet who stick out in my memory are the following:

Olivier Ametchie of AfroCarib Marketing Group, with whom I had a long conversation on marketing, and connecting African businesses with their target demographics.

Ashley Bendell of Exotix (exotix.co.uk) , they are into investments in sub-sahara Africa.

Debo Folorunsho, Founder of Bamboo3 Communications (The Applause magazine)

Fikisha Cumbo, CEO of CACE Int’l Inc. which is a media company – TV, books, photo, and video productions.

Ella Gorgla of The Khana Group – www.TheKhanaGroup.com

Well, thats about all I can recall off hands – will have to dig through the business cards to put up more.

Finally, a big congratulations to the organizers for a successful event. I personally hope to see more of such cocktails. Till then, it’s me your humble correspondent Abiola. (Follow me on Twitter @AbiolaDreams)

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO START A BUSINESS (anywhere in the world)

Jide Ladipo — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:29:39 +0000

For most people the temptation of starting a business seems irresistible. Most of us dream of running our own thing. In most cases, we dream of a perfect situation where you determine what time you start work and finish. But in reality, running a business is more complex than most people think. In fact running a business could take more of your time than you envisage. I say this because unlike working for someone else, you tend to make a lot of decisions and also you carry a lot of responsibility on your shoulders. With all these been said, what does one need to know to be in business? I have some well researched tips to help you answer this question.

KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SELLING
What are you selling? You will be surprised how many people can’t answer this question. No profit is made without a sale and understanding what you are selling is essential in helping you making a sale. Are offering a service or a product? Is it a combination of both? Is it a premium priced or economy priced? Knowing what you are selling is essential and it is very important in increasing sales.

UNDERSTAND YOUR MARKET
In essence, what this means is: Is there a market for what you are selling. You will be surprised the number of people that go into business and don’t know their market. I suspect this is due to lack of research. A business research should be the first thing to be executed before you write a business plan. Understanding your market segments and customers helps see how you can serve them better and how you can provide additional services or products to your chosen market or customers.
HAVE A BUSINESS PLAN IN PLACE
It is common in the business world to have a debate whether you need a business plan or not. Some people think you don’t need it and some people think you do. My own opinion? I think you do. A business plan can act as a blue print for your business and in my experience it helps you discover more about your initial idea. Having a business also shows that you have done your research and that you are not just coming up with unfeasible or vague idea.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE FINANCE IN PLACE
The good book, the bible says Money answereth all things. So cliché? More like so true. Time and time again, we have seen the best ideas get crippled because finances are not in place. In most cases no matter how good an idea is, it still needs money to take off. Potential business owners, depending on the amount of money required, need to look at different sources for finance. Local grants, Government funding, Loans and business angels are a list of sources to look at.

TAKE TIME TO SPEAK TO PROFESSIONALS
If you need specific business advice, then contact a professional like accountants and solicitors. Solicitors for example can help determine your business structure, Tax advisors can help on the kind of structure that offers the best tax advantage and accounts can help in putting your books to order. In most cases, you can get these professionals locally or online at very affordable prices.

UNDERSTAND WHY YOU ARE IN BUSINESS
Why are you going into business? In other words, what is your motivation behind starting a business? What are your goals? What are your mission and objectives? As you answer these questions, you will discover that you become more goal oriented and the business will make more sense to you now and in the future.

“Converse for Commerce.” | Free African Business Cocktail NYC.

Amebor Staff — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:58:37 +0000

Date: Tuesday, December 1st, 2009.
Time: 6:00pm
Venue: Boucarou Lounge 64 East 1st.

Conver$e for €ommerce, is a night of cocktail and networking that presents an opportunity to mingle and establish relationships with over 200 eminent business people, entrepreneurs and young professionals while exploring business opportunities. Guests at this event will be treated to a cultural setting of African music and food provided by renowned caterer Panla.com.

The event will equally highlight and feature more than 20 participating local African businesses. Our cocktail embraces the ideal of ONE; a unified Africa in the Motherland and in the Diaspora, exemplified here by Africans finding each other and African businesses serving Africans.

We have also prepared an attractive package for featured businesses of our cocktail. Our featured businesses will have an added marketing advantage during event to strengthen and promote their company brand. Other partners for this cocktail are African student organizations.

You can also find more information about Flaunt Africa on our website www.flauntafrica.org.

The “Before Party” | Africa Business Forum

Amebor Staff — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:05:09 +0000

Last week, Nov 6, in the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia. The prestigious Wharton School of Business brought in Royalty Lifestyle and Afripro to host the Africa Business Forum Cultural Concert After Party.

The Location was the swanky Marathon Lounge on 10^th & Walnut. With a Beautiful Brick wall background and a Bar with Plush Wood accents it was the perfect Location , Meeting grounds for the caliber of folks coming in for the conference. At about 10.15 the doors opened to the sounds from DJ Zimo’s turn tables. And as you’ll expect, beautiful Intellectual ladies flocked in, and naturally, Gents weren’t far behind. First slowly and then in Droves, It was apparent that the folks at RL had put the call out and the people responded!

A couple of hours in, Marathon Lounge looked like the scene of an expensive movie. 250 + people rocking – the complimentary background music. It seemed like the perfect start to a wonderful, Lesson filled conference. The Royalty Lifestyle Experience in full effect. Let me tell you, if you haven’t been to one of their soiree’s please put it on your to do’s for your bucket list.

Be on the Lookout for an opportunity to be part of what they refer to as the RL experience. Email solo.nnanna@royaltylifestyle.com for an updated schedule of upcoming events

Shout outs to Solo and his Royalty Lifestyle Staff as well as the folks at Afripro – Philadelphia for inviting us to be part of this event. We had a Blast.

And now the pictures! Enjoy!

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WAAW Foundation 2010 Scholarship

Amebor Staff — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:30:16 +0000

WAAW which stands for Working to Advance African Women is a foundation committed to empowering a future generation of African women leaders through projects that promote education in science, technical, engineering, math and computing fields. Our objective is to inspire more African girls and women to explore careers in technology, engineering, science and computing by making STEM education more accessible. We invest in innovative support programs that facilitate sustainable and transferable advancement among African women by strengthening her capacity for economic self help and community impact. WAAW foundation leverages the strong culture of hard work in African nations to achieve its objectives via sponsoring programs including academic scholarships, micro-finance schemes, STEM summer girls camps, female disease testing and counseling, leadership and entrepreneurship training and support, character and ethics building, and social responsibility awareness programs. Our goal is to translate investments in practical resources for African women into African innovation, jobs and economic growth in Africa.

WAAW foundation is pleased to announce the second round of the scholarship program which opened up on October 1st, 2009, offering $500/year for need-based female African students admitted to a University, College or institute of higher learning in Africa. Scholarships are renewable annually, following proof of the student’s continued academic performance.

Eligibility

Female students of African origin, living and studying in Africa.

1. Female student of African Origin
2. Currently enrolled in undergraduate degree program
3. Studying in a university or college in Africa
4. Able to demonstrate financial need
5. Excellent Academic Record

For more information including the online application form, please visit
http://waawfoundation.org/education.html

More information about WAAW can be found at http://waawfoundation.org

State of The Nigerian Nation Forum & Mixer | M

Amebor Staff — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:18:14 +0000

The “State of the Nigerian nation” forum took place on Thursday at the Gallery Lounge, in Maryland. In a social setting, people sat and gathered around each other to discuss issues affecting Nigeria and come up with different possible solutions using different scenarios.

The open dialogue weighed in on various topics including:

*POLITICS – LOOKING TOWARDS THE 2011 ELECTIONS
*LIGHTUPNIGERIA PROJECT (LightUpNigeria.org)
*CORRUPTION – ADVANCE FREE FRAUD AKA 419
*MIGRATION – MASS MOVES TO & FROM NIGERIA
*CHARITY / CAUSES TO SHOWCASE & SUPPORT
*BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP
*ADVANCEMENT OF THE LIBERAL ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

As a community, we need more of such event to help move in theight direction as a people.

The event was absolutely free for everyone!!!

Thanks to the Planners, Media, Sponsors and Advocates: Mr.Dele Momodu, Publisher of Ovation Magazine, Quadril Oridedi of The Zone TV, House of Naija Media, Live Afrique Magazine, Afrijamz Radio-Don Xzibit live mix show, Toyin Awesu CEO. Press Room Media Group, Mr. & Mrs. Lawal of Fells Point Subway Store, Suya Master, Ronke Oke, founder od Discover, Naija DJ’s Coalition, Nigerian Artistes, Musiliu Oradami Bigmoose, Yemi Eleniyan Falusi, Pa J (Artiste), Ogom Ememwa (Ogee) of Ogee’s place/Artiste, African Chamber of Commerce, Genesis Age Entertainment, SoSo Selective Entertainment, PartyAddicts Worldwide and of course AMEBOR.COM

The rest of the night was fun as we danced to the tunes of DJ Don-x on the ones and twos. Check out the pics here:

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SONY Apologizes After Nigerian furor

Amebor Staff — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:34:08 +0000

The following is the response to an email sent to SONY by one of Amebor correspondents.

My name is Devon from Sony Style.com and I manage our feedback form. I wanted to reach out regarding your submission relating to one of the PS3 advertisements. I’d personally like to apologize and I shared your feedback onto the PlayStation team. This team recently released an announcement regarding your feedback that I wanted to pass along. This message is also being posted on the PlayStation website.

“It has come to our attention that a recent TV advertisement for PlayStation may have offended some members of the Nigerian community. We never intended to create a situation that would upset anyone, and we have taken action to immediately remove the advertisement from the air. We apologize to anyone this may have offended.”

I appreciate you taking the time to come to SonyStyle.com and share your thoughts.

Here’s a statement released by the senior director of corporate communications at Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), Patrick Seybold.

“It has come to our attention that a recent TV advertisement for PlayStation may have offended some members of the Nigerian community. We never intended to create a situation that would upset anyone, and we have taken action to immediately remove the advertisement from the air. We apologize to anyone this may have offended.”

Here’s the infamous Ad

Here’s the New Ad