The rise of afro-centric design

a The Africa Annual feature From the ‘shack chic’ of Soweto to the bright and bold prints of Nigeria’s Ankara and Lace, fashion design is breaking out in Africa. In this extract from his new book, “Connect with the Continent”, Terry Behan looks at how brands can connect with Afro-chic’s advance.

The complex continent

by Jon Pienaar SA companies wanting to expand into the rest of the continent – beware: you can’t simply transplant your existing, highly successful marketing strategy/campaign to a new territory in Africa. Some SA and global brands have learned the hard way that marketing in each new African territory demands a local approach. It should be obvious.

Not a boom, real growth

By Herman Manson (@marklives) The African continent isn’t quite the growth honeypot ad agencies had been hoping for. That said – it’s certainly a growth market. While it doesn’t match the growth rates in Asia or even Latin America, listed agency networks seem to have decided any growth is good growth given the state of especially their European operations. North Africa remains fragile – ZenithOptimedia forecast only 1% growth in ad revenue in the Middle East & North Africa as political turmoil post the Arab Spring continues to rock the region. The company expects 2%-3% annual growth from 2013 to 2015.

Growth in adspend globally is predicted by ZenithOptimedia to hit 4.1% in 2013 and 5.6% in 2015. South Africa will be one of the top ten contributors to that growth between 2012 and 2015.

South Africa in the South, Kenya in the East and either Nigeria or Ghana in the West of Africa generally gets the most buzz from agencies seeking investment in the region.

The Africa Annual 2013, brought to you by Ornico and MarkLives

The story of economic growth in Africa has been topical globally, with some of the most disappointing reports coming from leading publications. However for us Africans, the glass is definitely half full, with inspiring stories coming from the most ordinary of people. Ornico and MarkLives have teamed up to present our first ‘The Africa Annual’, a compilation of some of Africa’s remarkable stories and resources for businesses; and media, marketing and branding enthusiasts.

Online CPD Courses Psychology Online CPD Courses Marketing analytics software Marketing analytics software for small business Business management software Business accounting software Gearbox repair company Makeup artist