A growing middle class means Angola’s Ghost Town is filling-up, but it still isn’t enough.

When Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos made an election pledge to build 1,000,000 new homes for Angolans in 2008, it was assumed that new-found peace, oil, and chinese cooperation would make for a fairly straightforward textbook task of post-war reconstruction. Luanda, originally designed by Portuguese town-planners to hold 300,000 people, now holds one-fifth of the population of Angola, around 5 million people. Overcrowding, largely caused by Angolans seeking refuge from the mine-fields in the countryside during the civil-war, has made the situation in Luanda desperate and it is widely believed this pledge swung the final election result in his favour.

The jewel in the crown of Angola’s new urban strategy was to be Kilamba city, 20 miles from central Luanda. With its own substations for water and electricity and wide boulevards, it was designed to overcome the issues of power shortages, poor sanitation and traffic jams which blight Luanda. The new town was built with Chinese labour as part of a ‘homes for oil’ deal with the Chinese State-owned enterprise Citic Construction Co. Ltd It was designed to finally accommodate 500,000 people, setting the standard for mass-home-building in Africa. Unfortunately for President Santos, it soon gained international infamy as a ghost town.

In 2011 it was reported that only 220 units out of 2,800 had been sold, most remaining completely out of the price-range of even skilled white-collar workers. One scathing critic described it as a ‘natural savanna destroyed to build a human desert’.

Since February, however, an oil boom has seen an increase in buyers for Kilamba. This has been seen largely as a sign of a growing middle-class in Luanda and also that the government has recognised the empty project’s potential to put foreign investment off. A number of buy to rent schemes had been introduced as well as prices being capped at a maximum of $190,000 from $200,000 for larger apartments and $75,000 from $125,000 for smaller ones. It has meant that the development is now popular enough that people queue to make their applications and the private company hired to conduct sales struggles to process 1,200 applications per day.

New buyers are not only attracted by the affordability, they are attracted to the clean living of the complex. The overall layout of the project is reminiscent of early modernist housing designs in the West and has the same air of utopian promise that many developments in war-ruined cities in Europe had after the 2nd world war. The soviet-era potential of the blocks, however, has been largely kept at bay by architectural interventions such as the use of bright colours which strive to give the blocks an identity. There is also the curious use of faux-balconies to give some visual relief, inaccessible to the inhabitants of the apartments, following the Chinese proverb of ‘The Facade of the House belongs not to its owner’. It has mercifully made an effort to encourage retail units and a street scene, something which many gated developments lack, and which can make the streets on the outside of blocks empty and therefore dangerous.

Although Kilamba has grown in population over the last 2 years, it is still only inhabited at a fraction of its final capacity. Despite growing, Angola’s high disparity of wealth has left the country with a tiny middle class, leaving apartments such as these mostly unaffordable for the poor and undesirable for the rich and ex-pats. The government’s recent intervention has staved off embarrassment for the time being, but until several more Kilambas are built, supply will continue to be low enough to keep similar developments prohibitively expensive for most. Any government intervention to help buyers would therefore become unsustainable.

Angola is an exciting place for architects and town planners, a dynamic tabula rasa with money from oil which can be used to experiment and build further. In the meantime, however, until poorer people can begin to afford the prices of apartments such as those in Kilamba, the president could consider much more simple and cheaper forms of social housing to fulfill the spirit of his electoral pledge.

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Charity is a big deal in South Africa. The amount that South Africans contribute to charity has increased 9% since 2013. Charity can be performed in a number of different ways. Volunteering one’s time to help others is a form of charity. So too is philanthropy. The most common form by far is individuals raising money, and these funds being pooled, and used by charities to fund their projects. In a international charity event, all of these forms have been united. And the result has been incredible.

The CEO Sleepout is an event held each year. It takes place in multiple cities around the world, including New York, London, and Sydney. On the night of the 18th of June, the annual series of charitable events began in Johannesburg, South Africa. The aim of the event is to encourage businesses and their leaders to look beyond profit as the only measurable positive outcome.

The Johannesburg sleep out was held in aid of Boys & Girls Town, a charity fighting child neglect and abuse. Each event has a fundraising target, and participants ensure that this is met. Each participant is required to donate 100,000 South African rand (around $8000), and individuals are able to donate online to support the cause.

Thursday night’s charity sleep out saw CEOs take to the streets of Johannesburg, and brave the cold to fight child neglect. The fundraising for the event was entirely interactive. Not only could individuals volunteer and donate money online, they could also choose others to do so. People were able to nominate their colleagues or other people they knew to take part in the sleep out. They could then choose to donate money to that person’s cause, or directly to Girls & Boys Town, the beneficiary charity. The abuse and neglect of children is a serious problem in South Africa. Girls & Boys Town was established in 1958 to seriously combat this.

Sponsored by South Africa’s 702 radio station and Sun International leisure group, this was the first year the event has been held in South Africa. It has proven successful. Over 240 CEOs took part, and raised almost 23 million rand, all of which will better arm Boys and Girls Town to fight the issues facing South Africa’s children. 2015 may have seen the inaugural Johannesburg sleep out, but, judging by its success, it is unlikely to be the last.

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Last week, the second Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards were held in Shanghai. These prestigious international business awards are presented to recognise the achievements of some of the region’s most pioneering companies. Each category has gold, silver, and bronze awards. Chinese companies won a total of 24 awards including gold awards in marketing, for MSLGROUP China, and Weber Shandwick. The big winners of the night though were Indonesian companies. Businesses from Indonesia won 33 of the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards. One company took home five.

Indonesian telecommunications giant PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, known as Telkom Indonesia, won five awards across different categories including for customer services, and business-to-business services.

Telkom Indonesia is based in the capital Jakarta, and was founded over a century ago in 1856. It is state-owned, and was part privatised in 1995, with 52.6% of the shares remaining in the government’s hands. Although its services have expanded beyond telecommunications, to business services, media, and even a university, Telkom is still very much the market leader in Indonesia. Telkom Indonesia boasts 1200 business clients, and more than 170 million total users of its mobile and internet connections. With Indonesia’s population at a quarter of a billion, Telkom Indonesia possess a near monopoly over the telecommunications industry. But this may be about to change.

For the eight companies who lay claim to the rest of the market, significant opportunities still exist. Like many emerging countries, Indonesia has more mobile SIMs than its population. It is estimated that SIM penetration is at 133%, and that 75% of the population is connected. This still leaves at least 25% of the market to play for, and this is without taking into account multiples. The dramatic growth of Indonesia’s telecommunications sector is remarkable. A branch of Telkom Indonesia, Telkomsel, has 125 million mobile customers. Indostat, a rival, has 63 million. In 1997, there were only 1 million in the entire country. Internet usage in Indonesia is rapidly rising also.

From only 42 million in 2012, the number of internet users in Indonesia is expected to reach 125 million this year.

Both Indostat and XL Axiata, Telkom’s main rivals in the industry, have seen their users grow significantly over the past few years. Indostat increased its usership by 6.1% in 2014, whereas Xl Axiata gained over 13 million users in 2014 alone. Clearly, the market for internet and cellular services will ensure that the telecommunications industry continues to grow. This presents significant opportunities for Telkom Indonesia’s smaller rivals to continue to expand their user base. Indonesia’s ever-increasing population demand that everyone is covered. It will take more than one company to make sure of that.

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Kawasaki Heavy Industries, a Japan-based robots company, announced that it has signed a deal with an unnamed Chinese company based in Chongqing. The company will set up a new factory in Jiangsu Province as early as this month, and has plans to begin industrial robot production in China. In China, the use of robots in factories has increased rapidly in recent years. In 2014, China increased their usage by 54%, and became home to a quarter of the world’s industrial robots. Inevitably, a rise in the use of robots has lead to a decrease in the human workforce. Foxconn produces Apple products, and plans for 70% of their work to be automated within three years. It is clear that robots are taking over tasks at work. Could they soon be doing the same at home?

The image of robots dashing about the house is not as far-fetched as some may think. Artificial intelligence is already all around us in the home. From automatic thermostats that control the temperature, to motion-sensor lights in the garden, even the simplest technology is already operating without human input. We could soon see technology take on a much more physical role in the home. Household robots are far from science fiction. As far back as 2005, Mitsubishi created what it called the ‘world’s first household robot‘. Known as Wakamaru, the robots were able to recognise different faces, relay the news, and even have conversations. But this was simply the beginning.

Robots: Recent Developments in the Industry

The development of human-like robots to help around the house is already an industry in Japan. The robotics market is expected to be worth $22.7bn by 2019, and household and service markets are expected to constitute one third of this.

There are robots are being developed that can unload dishwashers, and learn from instructions. Big names have seen the potential in this market, and have begun to explore. Google acquired Schaft Inc, a Japanese robots start up. Toshiba’s retail robot Aiko Chihira is already greeting customers. Japan’s government is encouraging this explosion in robotics, with hopes that the use of robots in the service industries will increase twenty-fold by the year 2020. The competition to be a pioneering company is fierce. In 2013, Chinese internet giant Baidu opened a research laboratory in Silicon Valley, with the aim of developing artificial intelligence. Not only did Baidu set up shop in Google’s own backyard, the tech giant even hired a former Google researcher as their chief scientist. The race to create the perfect household robot is well under-way. With billions at stake, it will be here sooner rather than later.

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On June the 5th, a delegation of over a hundred people from eighty Chinese companies arrived in Lodz, Poland for a two-day conference and brokerage event. The companies range from agriculture, to technology, and even renewable energy. This event, known as the ‘Lodz Mission’, seeks to bring together companies from China and Central and Eastern Europe. In doing so, companies hope to broker deals and ties that will prove very valuable for business. The governments hope that it strengthen both economic and diplomatic ties between Europe’s eastern edge and the world’s largest economy. This is not a new phenomenon. The ‘Lodz Mission’ is simply the latest in a succession of meetings, delegations, and conferences. Eastern Europe is part of China’s global strategy to search for new market opportunities and reach the colossal figure of $1 trillion worth of trade with Europe by 2020. Eastern Europe also shares many of China’s strategic industries and exports whilst acting as a window to Western Europe markets.

In recent years, China has been cultivating strong relationships with some of Central and Eastern Europe’s most promising economies.

In December of last year, Belgrade, Serbia was host to the third annual CEEC Fair, a meeting of the heads of Central and Eastern European countries and the Chinese government. In a previous summit, held in Bucharest, the Chinese representatives proposed a credit line of €10bn. This led to the establishment of Chinese banks in some Central and Eastern European countries. From the 8th to the 12th of June, the China-CEEC Investment and Trade Expo in Ningbo will showcase products from sixteen countries. But it is not only in business that China and Eastern Europe are finding common ground. The tourism industry in both directions is experiencing a boost from the increasing cooperation. Chinese tourists avoid heavy import taxation by purchasing goods in both Eastern and Western Europe; although Eastern Europe is a considerably cheaper option. Earlier this year in Hungary, an event brought together the tourism boards of China and countries in Central and Eastern Europe to help foster greater cooperation. Following the event, the China-Central and Eastern Europe Tourism Centre was opened in Budapest.

‘The Eastern Europe Express’

Beyond businesses and tourism, major infrastructure projects may soon be in the works. In December, at a meeting between the heads of government of China, Serbia, Hungary, and Macedonia, a significant project was given the green light.

The governments unanimously agreed on a joint project to build a land-sea express passage linking China to Europe.

The passage would be an upgrade and extension of the old Serbia-Hungary Railway, linking Budapest to Piraeus in Greece. The project would pass through Skopje, Macedonia, and cut the journey from Belgrade to Bucharest from eight hours to only two. The port of Piraeus, close to Athens, has been extensively redeveloped by the Chinese company Cosco, and will serve as the sea-leg of the express route. The express passage will connect the port with land-locked Central and Eastern European countries, thereby speeding up trade. With the construction of the express passage, Chinese cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe looks set to grow.

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The number of female entrepreneurs is rising. In Nigeria, 41% of women are entrepreneurs. In Ecuador, the figure is 33%. In Ghana, 28%. These countries are not alone. On the number of women who are entrepreneurs, the ten leading countries are all emerging markets. On this front, the West is falling behind, as the emerging markets lead the way. Globally, 37% of enterprises in the formal sector are run by women. Emerging nations have contributed greatly to this rise in female entrepreneurship.

Big names and big sums have been dedicated to continuing this trend. Coca-Cola has invested strongly in the development of female entrepreneurship. In 2013, Coca-Cola, together with the International Finance Corporation, announced that they would pledge $100m to help female entrepreneurs succeed in business. Coca-Cola and the International Finance Corporation launched the three-year scheme, with a focus specifically on small and medium-sized businesses. This is exactly where it should be targeted. Smaller and medium-sized businesses comprise the majority of the enterprises in most emerging markets. This is also true of the West. 97% of businesses in Nigeria could be classified this way. In the European Union, they account for 65% of business turnover. With funding targeted to smaller groups, Coca-Cola and the International Finance Corporation can empower women in creating their own businesses from scratch. This allows them to be entrepreneurs from the very beginning.

The scheme is specifically for the emerging countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and aims to economically empower five million women by 2020. It is known as the 5 by 20 programme, and it has already begun to affect positive change. Coca-Cola and the International Finance Corporation have partnered with existing banks and financial institutions in emerging markets. This has allowed them to deliver the assistance more effectively. 5 by 20 has already yielded significant results. In Brazil alone, 30,000 women were helped through a recycling scheme. Partnering with the China Women’s Development Foundation, the 5 by 20 scheme aims to reach half a million Chinese women by 2020. In Nigeria, Coca-Cola have partnered with Access Bank to expand micro-finance access for women.

But it is not only Coca-Cola and other large initiatives promoting female empowerment through entrepreneurship. Often, the first port of call for those wanting to start a business are family and friends. In many emerging countries, many women receive loans through family and personal networks. In Nigeria, 42% of women received loans from family and friends, compared to 2% from financial institutions. In Uganda the figures are 46% and 9% respectively. It is clear that this expansion in female entrepreneurship is grassroutes in nature. But with large international corporations beginning to promote it, it can only increase.

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Mahindra: ‘India’s Green Project’

Mahindra World City, Jaipur was launched in 2007 by the Mahindra Group and the Rajasthan State Industrial and Investment Corporation. Mahindra sits only 25km from Jaipur, the ‘Pink City’, which has a booming tourist trade. Mahindra is also host to many international businesses, including Coca Cola and the technology company Ericsson. The Rajasthan region has recently invested in a $626m solar park to provide 5GW of solar-generated electricity. Set on over 3000 acres, Mahindra World City Jaipur is home to a Special Economic Zone, highlighting India’s continuing mission to be a global business hub. But this is not the only aim of the Mahindra project.

Mahindra Group have set out their plans to make the city a shining example of sustainable development. The first Asian city to join the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, the project has committed to becoming climate-positive within a decade. The developers hope to continually reduce waste, particularly in the form of CO2 emissions. Energy efficiency, transport, and good waste management are key to this. The method of water supply distribution uses 30% less energy than traditional methods. Timer switches in communal areas and on street lamps aim to reduce electricity usage. The project aims to re-purpose waste water form Jaipur for use in industrial units.

Through tweaking everyday processes, the project hopes to become climate neutral in ten years. Then by reducing CO2 emissions by 60,000 tonnes each year by 2025, become climate-positive.

These efforts have seen the World City become the first Asian city to receive Stage 2 Climate Positive Development certification. Mahindra World City, Jaipur is one of many projects pursued by the Mahindra Group. The group is worth more than $16bn, and operates businesses ranging from real estate, financial services, and aerospace. They aim to practise sustainability across all of their businesses. The first Mahindra World City was built near Chennai as a response to India’s growing urban population, set to double within a decade. With ever growing populations, governments and enterprise must work together to meet these social and environmental challenges in the way Mahindra has done. Mahindra World City, Jaipur is only the beginning.

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Mobile phone usage in the emerging countries is very high. For China’s 1.37bn population there are 1.28bn mobile phones, more than 93 connections per hundred citizens. China is not the only emerging country to see high levels of phone usage. Nigeria and Indonesia both have coverage in the 90s, and India has 77 per hundred. Brazil and Russia have more mobile phones than their population, at 137 and 155 per hundred respectively. It is clear that the use of mobile phones has become a must in some of the world’s most dynamic economies. Technology companies are taking notice.

It is estimated that by the end of this year, some 3.2bn people will be connected to the internet. and 2bn of these will be from the emerging countries. In many emerging markets, the infrastructure for widespread broadband internet services does not exist. Consequently, a large percentage of internet usage is conducted through phones.

One of the most popular apps is the social network giant Facebook. The social network has 1.44bn active users each month, and this does not take into account its other apps. Facebook acquired both Instagram and Whatsapp in recent years, and these apps have a combined 1.1bn monthly active users. Whatsapp is a hit in emerging countries, with 78% of mobile users in South Africa, 72% in Singapore, and 69% in India using the app. Facebook is very popular, with India having the world’s second largest number of Facebook users at over 100m.

‘Facebook Lite: the new app’

Facebook is aware of its success in the emerging countries, and launched Internet.org to work towards increasing internet coverage to 4.5bn. Facebook has once again shown its commitment to full connectivity with the launch of Facebook Lite. Facebook Lite is already available across Asia, and will soon be rolled out across Africa, Latin America, and parts of Europe. The new Android app retains all of the features of the original, but with certain adjustments to make it more suitable for emerging countries. Facebook aimed to create an app that can work with 2G internet connections.

The app takes up less than 1MB of space, ensuring that it installs and loads quickly. In areas with weaker or less reliable internet services, this is key. The app keeps all of Facebook’s core features. Users can scroll down their newsfeed, receive notifications, and post statuses and photos.  This is a wise move from Facebook. The number of mobile internet users in the emerging countries is growing daily. Facebook Lite will ensure that they are well connected.

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We should all cast our eyes to Kazakhstan. In 2002, it became the first former Soviet republic to be designated investment grade. We can see why. Kazakhstan’s economy grew by 4.6% in 2014. The country has a well-educated workforce, with 99.8% literacy among the population. Unemployment remains relatively low at 3.9%. With a GDP of over $200bn, Kazakhstan is the most economically successful of the Central Asian countries.

This is no coincidence. The country has strong and long-standing economic ties with some of the world’s most extensive and dynamic economies. China alone accounts for 22.7% of Kazakhstan’s exports, while Russia and Germany account for 8% each. The openness of Kazakhstan’s economy is the reason for this. The country boasts many free trade agreements, including with the United States and Russia. The agreement with the European Union has seen 40% of Kazakhstan’s exports head to these countries.

The United Kingdom has long been a strong economic partner for the country. Since 1991, the UK has invested more than $15bn in Kazakhstan. In 2012, exports from the UK to Kazakhstan were worth over half a billion dollars. This relationship continued in 2013, with the visit of Prime Minister David Cameron. He was accompanied by a delegation of thirty British businesses, determined to benefit from Kazakhstan’s growing economy. These companies brokered deals worth over $1bn with various Kazakh companies and government authorities.

In Kazakhstan the oil industry is the main driver of the economy, and it has already seen substantial foreign investment. BG Group and Shell have long operated in the country, and in 2013, British drilling company Dando Drilling International entered into a joint venture with the Kazakhstan government. Oil may be the strongest sector, but the government have been expanding the economy’s horizons. A targeted diversification drive has seen investment in areas as wide as transport, telecommunications, minerals, and pharmaceuticals. These emerging sectors are already enticing foreign investors. SUN Gold Ltd increased its investment stake in a gold mine to $400m. Surrey Satellite Technology signed a deal to further develop Kazakhstan’s satellite programme.

Kazakhstan’s economic outlook and international economic engagement is strong. Its rapidly growing economy will ensure that it will see increasing levels of investment over the next few years. When the annual International Exposition, Expo 2017, arrives in the capital Astana, the eyes of the world will be on Kazakhstan, and with good reason. With Kazakhstan poised to become a high-income economy before the end of the decade, it surely is one to watch.

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Iran, 2015. Headlines across the world discussing the country focus on nuclear arms deals, imprisoned journalists or worrying practices of the Iranian government. Given stories like these, tech businesses are perhaps not something that one would immediately associate with Iran, but that is sure to change as the tech companies of Tehran arrive on the world stage.

The upcoming iBRIDGES technology conference in Berlin this Thursday seeks to bring together founders, investors, and startup enthusiasts from all over the world. This year’s theme is ‘High Tech Entrepreneurship in Iran: Opportunities and Challenges’. Startups in Iran are in a unique position due to the country’s political affairs. A combination of sanctions from the US, and blocking by the Iranian government, have prevented big names such as Google, YouTube, and eBay from operating within its borders. In response, local counterparts of popular apps have sprung up to fill this niche. With little competition, they have taken off. We took a look at some of Iran’s most popular tech companies.

Digikala

Founders: Hamid and Said Mohammadi

Value: $150m

Online marketplace founded in 2006, and is the most visited online store in the Middle East.

Aim: Information and reviews, and a good shopping experience.

Website: www.digikala.com

Aparat

Founder: Mohammad-Javad Shakouri Moghadam

Value: $30m

‘Movie projector’ in Persian, Aparat is a video sharing platform started in 2007. It also allows downloads, and is the third most visited website in Iran.

Aim: Making it easier for people to be part of the ‘online world’.

Website: www.aparat.com

CafeBazaar

Founder: Hessam Armandehi

Value: $20m

A smartphone app marketplace. Over 25,000 apps, and 20 million visits each week.

Aim: Provide Android apps to the Iranian market, where Google will not operate.

Website: cafebazaar.ir

Digikala, Aparat, and CafeBazaar may be the most highly valued tech companies in Iran, but they are by no means the only ones. The tech world in Tehran is positively bubbling with local reinventions of apps we all know and love. Cloob is the Facebook-style social network launched in the same year, 2004, by the founders of Aparat. Snapp is the Iranian answer to Uber, and Takhfifan is a Groupon-style deals website which operates in seven cities in Iran. Each iBRIDGES conference has an event known as Pitch Fest, where early-stage startups are given the opportunity to pitch for potential investors. With this year’s event focusing on Iranian talent it won’t be long before we hear of many more.

via The Guardian

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