Another approach on camel milk entrepreneurship

In “A Present from the Desert”, I tried to make a statement about how camel milk can be both a model grass root project supporting the marginalized people in this world and a business opportunity.

I took a look at it from the local communities-part, Bedouins and farmers in their countries of origin selling it on local markets. On the other hand was the Western consumers’ point of view; diabetics, autistics, Alzheimer patients, lactose intolerant and an even wider range of people profiting from the milk’s healing properties.

Delivering riveting talks by remarkable people

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Africa, Business, design, Information technologies, Society, Telecommunication

They have according to Sebastian Lindstrom, experienced traveler and guerilla film maker, “become a worldwide movement for sharing ideas and innovations taking place at the local level” and seem as he says “like a great fit”.

The offshoot of TED do not deliver the inspiring talks of former presidents or Nobel Prize winners. However, from Baghdad to Bogotá, Harare to Hanoi, they bring TED-like experiences to the local level.

Now, here comes… The most recent TEDx conference took place in…

Don’t be afraid of Information Technology!

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Business, Comparison, Information technologies, Society, Telecommunication

Well, after all of last week’s ruffle about our new enemy Information Technology, what can I write to make an approach to answer the initial question (Friend or foe?) from a different approach?

It is to some extent unfair to denounce this whole stuff as worthless and evil as it has its benefits.

Let us first think of the Arab spring that was supported to such an enormous extend by modern means of communication.

Information Technology – Friend or Foe?

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Business, Information technologies, Society, Telecommunication

From computers to laptops to touchpads; phones, mobile phones, smartphones; text messages, emails, voicemails; e-papers, online news, Google, YouTube, facebook, twitter, WordPress; online sales, e-commerce, online banking, … What can I say? I must admit I am far from being the first to touch this topic; it is actually one of those that might have been discussed often enough.  However, it is something that weighs heavily on my mind.

For me, it has never been that much of a big deal, cause I had always thought I could handle it. Facebook is normal. Google it, before you open an encyclopedia. Locate and navigate it via internet, before you buy a map or ask your way through Berlin. I grew up with a certain amount of technology that already the generation of my parents is not used to. And that was okay. I did not think much about it, because no one forced me to use it.

A Present from the Desert

The Bedouins of the world call it the „white gold of the desert“: Camel milk. They claim to be able to live more than two weeks solely on this exceptional substance and dates. In this world, there are around 20 million camels in over a hundred countries. Since more than 3000 years, the milk is well known for its health and curing qualities mostly in the Arabic and African region.

Up until recently it has not really reached our circles of latitude, however, it is actually a great business opportunity.

Kenya: The triumphal march of mobile phones

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Africa, Business, International, Telecommunication

What was last week’s blog conclusion? Right, stories from Africa are rarely about success, prosperity or innovation. Although there is so much opportunity for successful business. Today’s blog post is supposed to deliver an example of proof: Successful business in Kenya.

Before starting, hold on for a moment and sort your thoughts: Keyword Kenya – what comes to your mind?

African Business – the future is bright

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Africa, Business, International, Society

Tell me, Papa Dembo, tell me, what is the color of Africa?

Africa, little Chaka?

Africa is black as my skin, red as the soil,

White as the light at noon, blue as the shadow in the evening

Yellow as the big river, green as the palm tree fans.

Africa, little Chaka, has all the colors that life knows.

 

[from” Africa, Little Chaka” by Marie Sellier]

 

Africa is colorful. Unique. Not uniform. Over one billion people. 54 independent states (as recognized by the UN). Almost 3,000 languages. Three times the size of Europe. A continent, not a country – sadly, a fact you have to emphasize. Only with the greatest simplification, for the sake of convenience, we can say “Africa”.

From entrepreneurial spirit and “No 99 cents chocolate”

In Economics class, we learn that a business that is not willing to grow, is not a healthy one. It is against the economic concept of growth, against shareholder value, against entrepreneurial spirit to stagnate and stay where you are when everything is working out so well that you could expand business.

Josef Zotter does not want to grow. He runs a company whose maxim is not profit maximization. Whose annual turnover is 14 million euro, though. Upward tendency. Harvard Business named its case study on his business “Living by chocolate”. Living, not more, not less.

Josef Zotter is considered as a pioneer in the organic and fair-trade chocolate movement. Not even a decade before he was granted this title, his confectionary shops went bankrupt.

Zara: Copy and …

Zara: Copy and Paste. Fast Fashion.

Science is the world’s brains, art is its soul.

– Maksim Gorki

Incredible that there were times when art was considered the uppermost in life. Great and eminent, placed in the center of society. The German poet and philosopher Friedrich Schiller detected that “a human being is a human being only when he plays”. It is in our nature to play: To be creative, impulsive, to be passionate. Art lifts us up to into higher spheres. It belongs in the center of society, connecting people with each other, holding things together.