Call to Nobel Laurete-Wangari Mathai

The renowned 2004 Kenyan Nobel laureate Wangari Mathai recently lost Party of National Unity (PNU) nominations to pursue the Tetu Parliamentary seat. This did not come as surprise as she has met several politically significant blows ever since her winning the prestigious award and being appointed a paltry assistant minister in the Ministry of Environment!

Yesterdays KTN Programme hosted by Linus Kaikai confirmed what the public has all along been calling her to do: quit politics, as she is way above that political seat and it is certainly hoped that she will heed call. It is hoped that as a private citizen she will not be partisan and or limited by party policy but will act selflessly in defending the environment -the core duty that landed her the Nobel accolade. But the question is will she heed that voice of reason?

There is so much ahead of her including a shot at becoming the first African woman secretary general of the United Nations, but politics can certainly muddle that ambition.

Take for example, after having banned the cultivation of crops in forested areas, in an apparent attempt to win the electorate votes in the upcoming 2007 December polls, the Government through minister for Environment and Natural Resources, Hon David Mwiraria announced on November 1st 2007 that Non-residential cultivation system of certain forests will soon be reintroduced with new rules for implementation after a 8year ban. No doubt this will result in massive logging to create space for planting. It is certainly challenging for her to continue to be part and parcel of a system that negativates the gains made in pursuing ecologically sound principles! It therefore stands to reason that she should dedicate more time to her Green Belt Movement, re-energize it and adopt more policies and programmes that are sustainable in the long run and sensitize the public, the Diaspora and the continent on the same. A feat that will definately demand more time than she can currently give juggling both interests at the same time.

Infact it is a mark of greatness to delegate and handle that which one can more effectively handle, take for example the fact that Jesus said his disciples would do more than he could be able to accomplish in his three and a half year ministry! Indeed he could not by himself reach the whole world but he helped and trained his apostles who would eventually through word of mouth and other means reach the whole world(Acts 1 :8).That is a classic mark of Greatness and is certainly hoped many will heed it!

The Google March in Africa

Africa is rapidly developing to be an emerging market for many multi national corporations!IBM has just announced about a mentorship program in conjuction with many sub saharan universities with intent to develop an employee base when the company launches a major initiative in Africa.On the otherhand Google recently launched its first African office in Nairobi in July this year.Question is,what is in the offing with these new entrants in our domestic markets.

Generally, Googles mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.In attempting to reach that goal locally, Google intends to optimise the use of Google applications in the African,Middle East and Asian region . Further,in order to get more users in the sub saharan market Google is willing to go to the extent of buying international bandwidth and make it affordable to the locals so that they don’t have to pay the curent high premiums prevailing in the african market. Google also intends to develop their Maps product to make sure it has a more relevant appeal and contains local information that is searchable and useful.Thirdly,Google wants to help local webby's monetize local content. Lots of people have done local content but most times it’s flopped. By doing so,google intends to generate more jobs and work especially for the ailing African economies.

That is definately good news for African bloggers who feature local content but cannot effectively monetize since most African companies are yet to grasp and utilize the power of internet advertisement which is a multi billion dollar industry in the developed countries.Most of the top notch advertisement companies have no strategic plans to usurp and exploit this rapidly developing market.Groups such as Ogilvy and Mather,Ayton Young and Rubicam,Lowe Scanad Group,Adopt A Light... etc in Kenya tend to capitalize on print media,outdoor and television advertising and neglect the internet as a medium of massive advertisement perhaps due to the fact that a staggering majority of the African populace lack access to the internet or the computer.

But despite that vein of argument,the recent launch of NTV(a local Kenyan television channel) on Youtube attracted a massive 500 ,000 hits.This indicates that there is a ready market for local content both within Africa and in the diaspora that needs to be tapped.

Google is also set to join the mobile market this is evidenced by their recent stategic dalliance with Sprint Nextel and Cingular Wireless in the United States .Locally, Google in patnership with Safaricom, a leading mobile services provider in Kenya is offering the locals free internet access which obviously is a strategic move to ensure that of the more than 2 million safaricom subscribers get access to google search on the go and remain users of google products especially as it chats its way through the mobile market.It also a preparatory stage for googles attempt at being and remaining the leading search provider in the world.The mountain view based company recently unveiled a free cell phone software package,which it intends to use to more easily peddle ads and services to people who aren't in front of a PC. Thus Google is set to dominate the mobile web market as part of its expansion programe.It is hoped that phones running the new software will be cheaper hence more accesible and affordable to users.

For along time google has been indexing web pages with intent of having the largest database.This will make google eventually the leading and most comprehensive information portal.Due to this vision being championed by Larry Page (founder),Sergey Brin(co-founder) and Eric Schmidt(C.E.O Google inc.) critics have labelled google as "googzilla" and perhaps this fear of monopolization of the information market may be the driving force behind the stalling of googles bid to buy ad tracker Double Click,the leading visual advertisement content provider by regulators in Europe and America.At the same time many rights activist have raised concern over googles attempt to provide books online terming it as attempt at copyright infringement and an abuse by the company.

Their rescent third quarter financial statements(September 2007) are a proof that emerging foreign markets are proving to be the core revenue generating sources for MNC's and microsoft Corp is indeed taking cue from this.Googles revenues from outside of the United States totaled $2.03 billion, representing 48% of total revenues in the third quarter of 2007, compared to 44% in the third quarter of 2006 and 48% in the second quarter of 2007. Thus the foreign revenue curve can be seen to be exponentially growing for this company founded in a stanford university dorm and which is hardly a decade old!The example of Google portends the growth and potential that the emerging markets have and the short duration wherein profits can begin to be harnessed !If only local investors could take cue.

The march of Google in Africa will definately yield alot of benefits especially for the local information and technology industry.Their entry into the markets and attempts in creating a presence through launching products with alot of media presence bear evidence of googles attempt at exploiting the opportunities available in emerging foreign markets .This bear evidence to what this investment markets have in store for multi nationals that are willing to take the leap and who will be pleasantly suprised at the opportunities Africa has to offer.

Flavoured Straws Hits The Market

Couldnt help but post on this exciting product courtesy of strawtech that has just cropped up in the domestic market-granule packed flavoured straws!

Do your kids hate drinking healthy milk!do they frequently need much persuasion inorder to drink their milk,Then straw tech has just come up with an inovation that will leave them going gaga-flavoured straws!I must say that is ingenuous !Think of it ,the straws come in different flavours from strawberry,to banana,chocalate ...etc all made from natural ingredients.The straws are packed with granules and when one drinks normal healthy milk it is instantly flavoured. The sugar content in the straws is negligible hence the straws are diabetic friendly.And as a parent you need not fear your childrens teeth getting messed up as the straws delinver the milk to the back of the mouth .Truly bespoke dental compliant!When it comes to the environment,the straws are made from recyclable material hence the environmentally conscious need not fear.

The innovation is credited with an australian baby boomer and will be produced in Kenya by strawtech Limited ,the patent holder in conjunction with HACO Industries.The local director of Strawtech Mr Andrew Robson was quite enthusiastic in a radio interview this morning about the product launch and promises that the product will soon venture into the East African market.For now i cant wait but get my son and nephews their flavoured straws from the local hypermarket!