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About
I am Oz. I write about the things I love: Doing Business in Africa, Micro-finance, Social Entrepreneurship, SME's, Innovation, Technology and other assorted randomness. My profile on LinkedIn. Add me on @Twitter. Never miss an entry, subscribe to Mootbox by Email. You can also subscribe to the RSS here
Best Ole School Sentence I Read Today
“[T]he old concept that the owner of a business had a right to use his property as he pleased to maximize profits, has evolved into the belief that ownership carries certain binding social obligations. Today’s manager serves as trustee not only for the owners but for the workers and indeed for our entire society… Corporations have developed a sensitive awareness of their responsibility for maintaining an equitable balance among the claims of stockholders, employees, customers, and the public at large.”–David Rockefeller, president of Chase Manhattan Bank, gave a speech to the American Philosophical Society. 1962 (Time)
Makes 1962 feel like 200 years ago. Have a great weekend.
Speedlinks: Nigeria 48 Years Of Self Rule
October 1st is Nigeria’s independence day. Below are a few notes on 48 years of self rule. Read More
Speedlinks 09302008
Brilliant marketing in Nigeria - Naijagal
Do Development Agencies Need To Look More Like The Private Sector? - Poverty To Power
Decent interview about emerging economies - FT
5th Annual Conference of Social Entrepreneurs at NYU - Social Edge
I,Woz
Off topic Alert! I just read the little book, I,Woz by Steve Wozniak the co-founder of Apple Computers. I tend to drop a note or two upon reading a book cover to cover.
One: Steve counsels entrepreneurs to work alone on novel ideas. This is a tough lesson I have learned too. I wholly agree with Steve on this one. At least, until a tangible product can be presented to peers.
Two: On the flip side many great ideas fail because the geek in question is clueless about how to make money off of sound ideas. There is a lesson for VC’s here. Investors ought to be less hasty and a bit kinder to entrepreneurs that aren’t experts at making killer presentations. I tend to question the popular culture that has hijacked the idea behind the 30 second elevator pitch. Everybody ought to be given a fair chance at failing.
I would not recommend the book because my expectations were not met. It was written in a blog format.
My Note On The Note From Economist Regarding The Financial Crisis
When I heard about the note from Economists around the country regarding the financial crisis was on TV. Since I could not reach a computer for a few hours I had to sit quietly while I tortured myself about the content of this notes. My preconceived notion about Economist goes as follows; Read More
Accountability For Social Entrepreneurs
Enterprises that measure their bottom line by their impact on people, planet and profit and not just profit alone finally get an metric by which their performance can be measured. Keep in mind that some social enterprises are nonprofits, while others seek a return on investment one can begin to appreciate the challenges encountered when measuring performance. An index that is easy to understand, meaningful and fair is complicated. It is like comparing a basket of apple, oranges, and mangoes to another basket of apple oranges and lemons and still lemons, apples and pineapples, challenging huh! The folks at Acumen Fund, Salesforce.com Foundation, Google engineers, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Skoll Foundation have worked for two years to develop The Portfolio Data Management System (PDMS) which will focus on so-called social entrepreneurs, or groups trying to bring about social change while also functioning like a business. Read More
Africa - More Reform Than Ever Before
Buried by the news of the current credit crisis in the United States is a bright patch. African countries have undergone more reform in the past year than ever before . According the the World Bank business report this reforms were the result of the continents recent prosperity. The ease of entry and cross border trade remained the top criteria for African economies. It is noteworthy that the smaller African countries (population) seem to be outperforming the larger countries in the implementation of financial and political reforms. Ghana is 88 and Nigeria 118. The full report is here (pdf) and a quick summary is at the Business Action for Africa blog. Read More
