THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com
Sunday, February 16, 2014
27
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
How To Start A Company At 35k Feet By Richard Branson HERE is no such thing as a boring perT son: everyone has stories and insights worth sharing. While on the road, we let our phones or laptops take up our attention. By doing that, we might miss out on the chance to learn and absorb ideas and inspiration from an unexpected source: our fellow travelers. I’m reminded of this because Virgin America has partnered with Here on Biz, a new mobile app for business travelers to ‘check in’ to a social network on flights. Instead of leaving it to chance, entrepreneurs can learn who else is on board to connect, chat, and perhaps even start a company at 35k ft. I’ve had my share of purposeful business flights. When Virgin Radio tried to recruit popular British radio personality Chris Evans to join its roster in the 1990s, I jumped on his British Airways Concorde flight to New York in an attempt to win him over. We had just taken BA to court and won against its agressive ‘dirty tricks’ campaign and so taking its premier plane was a big leap for me. With his agent trapped a few rows back and the crew fussing over the two of us, I was able to woo Chris and he agreed a deal on the back of a Concorde napkin. In the end Chris not only signed to do the breakfast show for us, he ended up buying Virgin Radio off Virgin and its partners. This is not to say that stalking is encouraged! If you keep an open mind, inspira-
tion and ideas that change your life are bound to occur while traveling. On a recent Virgin America flight, I met Somaly Mam, a courageous former sex slave who has opened shelters for other sex trafficking victims in Cambodia. She has helped inform my awareness of the terrible global sex trafficking problem. On another flight, I found myself chatting with the CEO of one social network while we
were running a campaign for another: all’s fair in love and social media! A lost bet with AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes meant having to dress as a female cabin crew member and serve drinks on one of his flights. Besides raising money for a good cause, the flight resulted in meeting quite a number of business pitches and making interesting business connections.
If insights or new contacts aren’t happening to you on trips, stay open to the possibility. You never know who you are sitting next to: they might be your next star employee or future partner or someone who shares a powerful insight or idea that changes your life. Have you started a company at 35k feet, on a train ride, or another travel environment? What was the last unexpected thing you learned from a fellow passenger while on the road?
“African Union Foundation” Holds Inaugural Promoters’ Meeting • Foundation Makes First Grant Of $150,000 For Landmark Pan-African Venture OLLOWING the convening of the African Union Heads of Fmeeting State Summit in Addis Ababa, the inaugural promoters’ of the newly established “African Union Foundation” was held. The meeting was led by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Her Excellency Dr. Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini Zuma, who is also the founder as legal representative of the African Union. Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission presented, the objectives of the Foundation for voluntary contributions towards financing African priorities at the Headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In attendance were the Deputy Chairperson of the Commission, Mr. Erastus Mwencha, the AU Commissioners, the former Prime Minister of Jamaica, Mr. P.J. Patterson,and first members of the inaugural council and guests. Established by the AU Assembly in May 2013, the African Union Foundation aims to finance African priorities through voluntary contributions. The mission of the Foundation is to “mobilize resources in support of the African Union’s vision of an integrated, people-centred and prosperous Africa, at peace with itself and taking its rightful place in the world.” To accomplish this mission, the Foundation will focus on five key programme areas in its first five years: 1) skills and human resource development, 2) women’s empowerment and gender equality, 3) regional integration, 4) youth development and entrepreneurship, and 5) advocacy and support for the African Union. “It is time for Africa to mobilize our own resources in support of our development and take charge of our own destiny,” said Chairperson Zuma. The Foundation will strive to more deeply engage Africa’s private sector, African individuals and communities, and leading African philanthropists to generate resources and provide valuable insight on ways in which their success can accelerate Africa’s development. The issue of domestic and alternative sources of funding has been an intrinsic element of the continent’s commitments of the Pan African values of self-determination, solidarity and self-reliance. The AUC Chairperson called on the participants to act as good will ambassadors to the foundation. Selection for membership of the Foundation’s Governing Council was based on clear commitment to African development and philanthropy, the highest caliber of integrity, and prominence in the sectors and geographies they represent. The Foundation’s governing Council is still formalizing its membership, but those selected who have been confirmed include Dr. Dlamini Zuma, Founder on behalf of the AU Commission; Ms. Luisa Diogo, former Prime Minister of Mozambique; President Alpha Konare, former President of Mali and former African Union Commission Chairperson; Ms. Zeinab Badawi, Journalist, BBC; Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin, former CEO of the Ethiopian Commodities
Exchange; Ms. Cheryl Carolus, CEO of Peotonia Holdings; Dr. Asmany Asfour, President of Egypt Business Women’s Association; Mr. James Patterson, former Prime Minister of Jamaica; Ms. Ntombifuthi Mtoba, Chairperson of Deloitte Southern Africa; Dr. Charles Okeahalam, CEO of AGH Capital Group; and Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings. Others who attended the inaugural meeting included Mrs. Wendy Ackerman from Pick and Pay Holdings; Dr. Bheki Moyo from the Southern African Trust and Mr. Enoch Iluenzy, representative of Mr. James Gatera, MD of the Bank of Kigali. In response to his invitation to the Council, Mr. Elumelu
said, “I am honoured to be a part of the Chairperson’s vision for an emergent Africa developed by Africans, and look forward to participating in this effort to change the paradigm of African development.” As a clear indication of that support, the Tony Elumelu Foundation made a $150,000 donation to the start up costs of the African Union Foundation, the first contribution made to the ambitious initiative. At the same meeting, a pledge of $100,000 was made by the Government of Jamaica, represented by Ambassador Carlton Masters, who indicated, “This underscores the commitment of the Diaspora towards African development.” A formal launch of the African Union Foundation and comprehensive awareness and fundraising campaign is planned for later this year.
Coca-Cola Coming In Capsule By Shannon Bond in New York OCA-COLA is served by the glass, can, bottle – and soon, the capsule. The world’s largest beverage company by sales has taken a 10 per cent stake in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, maker of the Keurig single-serve coffee brewer, for $1.25bn. Coke will buy about 16.7m shares priced at $74.98 each, representing the volume-weighted average price over the last 50 days. Green Mountain shares surged 58 per cent in afterhours trading to $128. The companies also signed a 10-year deal that will see Coke’s beverages, which include Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite and Fanta, available in Green Mountain’s forthcoming cold beverage machine. The device, which is expected to launch in 2015, will allow consumers to make cold drinks at home using single-serve capsules, or pods. It will compete with SodaStream, the Israeli company that sells soda flavourings and a machine that carbonates water. “Keurig can do for cold beverages what has been done with hot coffee and tea at home,” said Brian Kelley, the Green Mountain chief executive who formerly worked for CocaCola. “We believe there is significant opportunity to premiumise and accelerate growth in the cold beverage category.” The machine will make both carbonated and still drinks, meaning it can also be used for sports drinks, juices and teas. Mr. Kelley said the deal would give Green Mountain access to Coke’s global distribution system as well as to its range of drinks. Muhtar Kent, Coca-Cola chief executive, said the deal would be an “enhancement” to the company’s bottling system, under which a number of independent companies distribute and, in some cases, produce its drinks. He said the
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bottlers would play a “complementary” role in the Green Mountain agreement. “This is not a zero-sum game, it just provides more opportunity for our brands,” he said. Green Mountain estimates that each of the US’s 120m households drinks 14 beverages a day. Households that have a Keurig machine use it to make just 1 to 1.5 drinks per day. “By tapping into these beverage occasions, Green Mountain hopes to become a major player, with established retail distribution, in the $98bn retail soft drinks market,” said Jonas Feliciano, an analyst at Euromonitor International. The deal with Coke has “potential to be a game changer if they get everything right,” Mr Feliciano said. “SodaStream has to be concerned.” Coffee pods, pioneered by Nestlé’s Nespresso, have become enormously popular in recent years. Green Mountain is the US’s largest coffee company by retail sales thanks to the success of Keurig and its licensed pods, according to Euromonitor. The company has a deal to sell Starbucks-branded coffees and Tazo teas in “K-Cups”, as well as Folgers, Twinings and Swiss Miss drinks. It estimates that 13 per cent of US households with a coffee maker own a Keurig. Mr. Kelley said that as it does with the hot drink machine, Green Mountain would offer a number of brands on its cold Keurig system. He declined to comment on whether he had talked to PepsiCo about including its drinks, such as Pepsi and Mountain Dew. “We will have a number of partners and a number of brands on the system,” he said. Coca-Cola shares were up 1 per cent in after-hours trading to $37.99. SodaStream was down 7.8 per cent to $33. Courtesy: Financial Times