A tech giant rises as another falls reported on the Financial Times. It juxtaposed Twitter’s initial public offering (IPO), which is set to raise more from the market than Google did in 2004, with the chaotic events at BlackBerry, which dropped a plan to sell itself got 4.7bn, jettisoned its chief executive and said it would raise 1bn in cheap debt.

Is that how it goes? Is the technology business a sort of one-in, one-out game? It’s certainly hard to find a company with more enthusiastic investors ahead of the bell than Twitter – though let’s see how things go once the shares are traded – nor one that has been more heftily dumped than BlackBerry, which in June 2008 boasted shares topping $144. Now they languish at $6.50.  Lessons from Blackberry

The international aid for Africa is a $40-billion-a-year industry.  Smart startups, suggests an African entrepreneur, would be wise to explore the needs of this huge international organizations full of people in search of someone to do their job for them or make their life easier. Here is a list of 10 ideas to create customized services or application for their use:  Small Business Possibilities in Africa

  A study published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) finds that eight of the 12 fastest-growing economies in Africa in recent years did not rely on natural resources. Together these economies grew more quickly even than the group of oil producers.     The climate for private business is also much improved. Price controls and state-backed monopolies have been swept away. Rwanda stands out for its progress. Its coffee farmers once had little incentive to produce for export. The state set a single price for beans and took the lion’s share of any profits. But from the mid-1990s it granted private enterprise a bigger role. Now gourmet coffee from Rwanda is sold in posh grocery stores around the world.       Free exchange

Chris Dillow argues that unacknowledged ignorance can cause real problems.  Usually cloaked in phrases like humility and unassuming, bringing the concept that you may not know to the fore can be helpful in business.  Ignorance

Gina Din-Kariuki is the local shareholder of CAMAC Energy, a US-based New York Stock Exchange-listed company involved in the exploration, development and production of oil and gas.  “We are going to be exploring for oil in this region. So one of these days you will see me with a hard hat.”  Her entry into the energy sector makes Din-Kariuki one of very few women in Africa to actively invest in the energy sector.

“Maybe I will bring a little bit of glamour to the oil industry,” she says with a chuckle.  But beyond bringing glamour, Din-Kariuki hopes to influence policies that will see Kenyans benefit from the country’s resources. This is also a serious long-term investment for her.   Entrepreneurship in Kenya

Good news for entrepreneurs.  The governments in many African countries, including Burkina-Faso, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, are providing a solid base for startups.  You don’t have to mine or dig to get to profits.

With such a massive resource extraction industry on the African continent, an economic success story in Africa is often viewed as the result of an oil boom or large investments in the mining industry.

Take Zambia, where copper mining is credited with helping the country boost its GDP 6% between 2005 and 2012.

But according to the Economist, a recent report on sub-Saharan African economies by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is challenging the perceived value of the resource extraction industry on African economies.

Eight of the 12 fastest-growing economies in Africa in recent years did not rely on natural resources.  These economies grew more quickly even than the group of oil producers.

In six countries, Burkina-Faso, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, all low-income states, GDP growth was at least 5% a year on average from 1995 to 2010, and growth in GDP per head of at least 3% a year. according to the IMF figures.

Some key drivers were improved macroeconomic management, stronger institutions, increased aid, and higher investment in human and physical capital. These measures translated into controlled inflation and public finances and higher tax revenues.

Based on World Bank data, these nations are generally less corrupt, enjoy more stable politics and are better governed than their African peers.

In spite of the “robust growth” achieved so far, the report notes that these countries still face “low productivity and capital stocks, significant infrastructure gaps, and limited structural transformation.”

Although the IMF classified these countries as “not resource intensive” during the years examined in the study, this is not the case today. Gold now accounts for a significant portion of Burkina-Faso’s economy.

Meanwhile, investment in Mozambique’s natural resource sector is expected to fuel significant economic growth over the next few years as natural gas and coal become major industries.

Branson on Virgin Airways startup:  At the airport, my final flight to the Virgin Islands was cancelled because of maintenance or something. It was the last flight out that night. I thought this was ridiculous, so I went and chartered a private airplane to take me to the Virgin Islands, which I did not have the money to do.

Then, I picked up a small blackboard, wrote “Virgin Airlines. $29.” on it, and went over to the group of people who had been on the flight that was cancelled. I sold tickets for the rest of the seats on the plane, used their money to pay for the chartered plane, and we all went to the Virgin Islands that night.

After speaking with our group, Branson sat on a panel with industry experts to talk about the future of business. As everyone around him was filling the air with business buzzwords and talking about complex ideas for mapping out our future, Branson was saying things like: “Screw it, just get on and do it.” Which was closely followed by: “Why can’t we mine asteroids?”

As I looked up at that panel, I realized that the person who sounded the most simplistic was also the only one who was a billionaire. Which prompted me to wonder, “What’s the difference between Branson and everyone else in the room?”     Successful Entrepreneurs Begin Before They Are Ready

WOTR initiates and implements various development activities that not only enhance their economic status but also reduces drudgery and burden. The Samyukta Mahila Samiti (SMS) gives them a space and voice at the village level. Financial support is provided for livelihood and income generation activities through VDCs under a separate revolving fund. Women’s Empowerment  Video

Climate Change Adaptation

The Climate Change Adaptation project is being implemented in 65 villages of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh covering an area of 40,734 ha (407 sq.kms), directly benefitting 63,282 people from over 11,979 households.

Forty-five percent of consumers look more favorably on SMBs that have a website, so there’s plenty of incentive to jump onboard and get a website. Companies without an Internet presence may be missing out on the wide variety of marketing and small business tools offered by today’s B2B business services companies.  In the new world, this may seem obvious, but almost half of small businesses do not have their own site.
Small-Businesses-Need-Websites

Ahrendts will need all her experience of using social media and other interactive tools to help blur the boundary between the physical and digital world in a way that reduces the queues at Apple stores without losing the magic of the original Apple stores.  Angela Ahrendts from Burberry to Apple