The Art of the Conversation

Surprise: Australian Women Scams Nigerian Con Artists

Following her visit to Nigeria, Sarah Lacy, a former TechCrunch writer charactrizes them as masters of their own universe. 

Sarah Lacy writes about how so-called '419 Boys' extract monies from unsuspecting individuals  seeking 'easy shortcut in money or love.'

Yet, in Sarah Jane Cochrane-Ramsey, Nigerian scammers seem to have met their match.  The Courier Mail in Australia reports that Jane Cochrane-Ramsey pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated fraud for scamming Nigerian con artists out of $33,000.

That is unusual: Nigerians consider themselves leaders in conning people out of their own money. The Cochrane-Ramsey case is indeed a blow to these con stars that masquerade as consultants ready to offer one service or another and pay for it by credit card.

In Jane Cochrane-Ramsey's case, she was required under the terms of the contract with Nigerians to pocket 8 per cent of her collections from  "dodgy account on a popular car sales website," according to the Courier Mail.

Posted via email from Mutimba's Posterous

Sata's First Cabinet Reshuffle: All About Fackson Shamenda?

As far as we all know, Fackson Shamenda is a strong advocate for workers rights. During his tenure as president of the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), he establised himself as a voice for the voiceless worker.

Then there's Chishimba Kambwili, the (now former) Foreign Affairs Minister: he exudes an aura of authority and forcefulness and stands his ground.

Despite all that, president Michael Chilufya Sata is making the first changes to his Cabinet since coming to power: Given Lubinda, the Information and Tourism Minister is moving to Foreign Affairs; Chishimba Kambwili is moving to the Labour Ministry and Fackson Shamenda, who has indicated he won't do any bunjee jumping, has been moved to the Ministry of Tourism, Information and Early Childhood.

All these reshuffles are shining the spotlight on Fackson Shamenda, a strong advocate of decent wages and fair work practices.

Yet some feel he may not have done enough to project the Government in good light since coming to power, especially after the expiry of the much-talked about '90 day' delivery window in which Zambians waited for not only 'more money in their pockets' but also reduced taxes and more jobs.

The former Japanese Prime Minister Yatsuhiro Nakasone famously said,"Japan is a supertanker; it takes effort to change the direction of a supertanker."

I hope the PF government is not a supertanker!

Posted via email from Mutimba's Posterous

Zambians Take To Facebook To Protest AirTel's Poor Service

It's been a week or so, and for others even longer. AirTel's netowrk seems to be failing the mobile telecommuincations company, a fact they admit, saying people hacked into their server.

To restore connection, AirTel say they had to restart the system.

Now, AirTel is facing anger and a barrage of criticism since it's network started giving subscribers problems. For many, topping up credit has not been a problem.

[]

However, anger seems to be coming from the users' inability to benefit from the company's loyalty program, the most popular being 'Magic Number' which lets customers enrol to speak to a maximum of two numbers for a stated duration.

Now, people are taking to Facebook in droves, demanding the mobile telecoms company improve its services or get shut.

By about 9am Zambian time, over 14,900 Zambians had joined called 'Boycott AirTel for 9hrs on Wednesday.'

Among other things, customers are demanding that AirTel revert to K2 per second for the 'Magic Number' promotion; that AirTel be faithful to its loyalty programs.

In addition to that, there's a demand that AirTel deliver 3G internet and allow users to utilize proper internet speeds.

If customers stick to their 9hrs of boycott, that means they will be unreachable until 5pm.

 

 

 

Posted via email from Mutimba's Posterous

Hon. Lubinda, there's Something Called Conflict of Interest

If news that Joe Chilaizya is the new Director-General of the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation turns out to be true, this country will find itself on a path 10 or more steps backwards, not only in terms of media reforms but also development.

[]

As a minority shareholder in QFM, it is ethically wrong to have him run a public broabcaster.

As a Director-General of ZNBC, Mr. Chilaizya has a formal responsibility to serve the public. Yet his interests in QFM totally and undoubtedly jeopardise his judgement, objectivity and independence.

It is something the Information and Tourism Minister Honourable Given Lubinda could have looked into during the vetting process.

Posted via email from Mutimba's Posterous

Steve Jobs Is Dead

Steve Jobs, the man who came out from the back to build Apple into one of the world's most profitable technology companies, has died.

[]

Below is a statement posted on Apple's website:

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us that have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor.  Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

Stepping aside to hand over the reigns to his second lieutenant, Mr. Jobs acknowledged that 'Apple's brightest and innovative days' are ahead of it.

The challenge for Tim Cook and his team lies in transforming the late Job's vision into profitable reality.

May His Soul Rest in Peace.

Posted via email from Mutimba's Posterous

Facebook Groups is Good News for Online Marketers

News coming out is that Facebook is rolling out a feature that puts friends into groups.  That is something I saw coming: celebrities and politicians have had to convert from being merely people to pages in order to continue attracting followers.

That is not all; conversation streams on the newsfeed on wall were definitely getting saturated with updates, so much that some friends fell out and were no longer visisble in these conversation streams.

While Facebook's update is welcome, it will have little or no impact. The only way to make the groups system relevant is by regionalizing them: let all my Facebook friends in South Africa be in one group, the same for those in the UK, Brazil and others.

With such a plan, Facebook can once again be seen as a superb marketing platform that targets audiences by location.  Some will argue that Facebook ads can be customized to target customers by geography. That is not enough; let those ads be targeted at audiences in those countries.

It is a challenge Linkedin will have to work on to bring more relevance to the jobs network. And that is a different subject altogether.

 

Posted via email from Mutimba's Posterous

Steve Jobs' F-Word

Markets are sensitive to any information, be it corporate or otherwise.

And the announcement by Apple CEO that he was leaving the reigns of a company he steered to profitability a few years ago riled markets, wiping over $50 billion dollars off the Standard and Poor's index.

Mr. Jobs was casual in his choice of words; he made demands to the board that were framed as mere requests (the company accepted both). He asked Apple to make Tim Cook CEO. Mr. Cook is the company's Chief Operating Officer.

[]

He also asked Apple to make him Chairman.

This is an day Mr. Jobs looked forward to. "I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know," Mr. Jobs said in his resignation letter. "Unfortunately, that day has come."

The blogosphere suddenly exploded with Mr. Jobs announcement. My Facebook newsfeed, once a repository of news updates about the situation in Libya, was now filled with news about Mr. Jobs resignation.

Even Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's whereabouts became irrelevant; what mattered was that Mr. Jobs had said his 'F' word, the farewell.

From the Wall Street Journal's AllThingsD to TechCrunch, news was not news until it mentioned Steve Jobs.

Such is the end of the career of an iconic man whose innovations transformed the PC business. And this is what it means to be Steve Jobs: you bring the world to a standstill at a time of your choosing.

My advice to him: refuse to retake your job even when the share price tanks! Play the background role that you have promised to play. Leave Tim Cook alone; let him manage successes and failures alone.

Goodbye!

Posted via email from Mutimba's Posterous

A Tab Running on Android, This Time From the Democratic Republic of Congo

As a continent, Africa is knwon for its share of despots and tyrants. According to Professor John Gray, an authority on European Thought at the London School of Economics and Political Science, says in much of Africa, few, if any countries at all, represent a modern state.

His conclusion came after the attacks on the World Trade Center in the United States. In Professor John Gray's opinion, "the ideal of a universal civilisation is a recipe for unending conflict, and it is time it was given up.”

Despite that, Africa is keen to position itself as an economic powerhouse, able to produce, feed and supply its people with innovative ideas and technology.

[]

It is against this background that one wonders how a tablet with an Android operating system 'designed and engineered in Congo' cannot be considered to have been made there.

Infact, the idea of products being 'designed and engineered' in a certain country should not be frowned upon because the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is at the door with an innovation: Barum tyres are famous for being 'engineered in Germany'

For example, Samsung, a Korean conglomerate, can outsource spares for its Galaxy Tab and have it assembled in London or Johannesburg or wherever it chooses.

Mike Arrington, the founder of the technology and news blog TechCrunch,had a similar idea, launching a 'CrunchPad'in association with a Singaporean company called Fusion Garage.

Despite hitting the deadpool, the product would still have been credited to the Americans. In the case of the DRC, a storm is already brewing about whether they are the makers of the Android tablet.  A company called VMK Congo is leading the idea and innovation.

Having a Congolese company design and engineer a product should not be an issue: they have already originated an idea.

Posted via email from Mutimba's Posterous

Whatever Happened to Simplicity! My Posterous Feeds Won't Work

As a blogging platform, Posterous is user friendly.

In addition to that, it offers the much needed simplicity. At a cost, I would say, especially if your intention is to reach a large audiences via the easiest means and platforms possible.

And it is the reason I am still at Posterous. Now comes the hard part: my feeds to Facebook and Twitter.

[]

While I have no problem with feeds from The Art of the Conversation not hitting my Twitter walls, I get particulat when the same happens to Facebook, where my content has chances of reaching a wider readership.

And I hope Facebook engineers and Mark Zuckerberg, in their quest to make the world a better place, let feeds flow without hindrace.

 

Posted via email from Mutimba's Posterous

Ivory Coast Leader Alassane Quattara to Speak at Investment Summit

Ivory Coast president Alassane Quattara will speak at an investment summit in New York. The summit will take place alongside the UN General Assembly scheduled for September 26, 2011.

According to the Africa Investor website, among the summit's objectives is to "allow investment professionals, capital markets experts and corporate leaders to engage each other on a subject that is going to determine the growth in regional equity capital markets."

The summit will attract players from the financial sector including hedge funds, insurance firms and investment advisory firms.

Following the country's controversial elections that saw Laurant Gbagbo step aside, the country suspended payments on its $2.3 billion dollar bond expiring, citing the impacts of internal civil strife on economic stability.

"It is now apparent that the Republic of Cote D'Ivoire will be unable to make any of its scheduled payments of external debt due in 2011 to the Paris Club or holders of its $2,332,149,000.00 Step-Up bonds due 2032," said the Minister of Economy and Finance, Charles Koffi Dirby, in a communique released July 8, 2011.

Members of the Paris Club and other bondholders will be keen on hearing what Mr. Quattara has to say. 

Posted via email from Mutimba's Posterous