Ghana Rising

Thursday, 26 June 2014

Is it time to RE-Brand Ghana? And can it be done without changing the present government?

The State of the Union: Zombies lead by Zombies

Zombie O Zombie (Zombie O Zombie) x2

Zombie no go go unless you tell am to go
(Zombie)
Zombie no go stop unless you tell am to stop
(Zombie)
Zombie no go turn unless you tell am to turn
(Zombie)
Zombie no go think unless you tell am to think
(Zombie)
Zombie O Zombie
Zombie O Zombie (all the above x2)

tell am to go straight - a joro jara joro
no break no job no sense
a joro jara joro
tell am to go kill - a joro jara joro
no break no job no sense
a joro jara joro
tell am to go quench - a joro jara joro
no break no job no sense
a joro jara joro

go and kill (joro jara joro)
go and die (joro jara joro)
go and quench (joro jara joro)
put am for reverse (joro jara joro)
go and quench (joro jara joro)
go and kill (joro jara joro)
go and die (joro jara joro)
put am for reverse (joro jara joro)
go and die (joro jara joro)
go and quench (joro jara joro)
go and kill (joro jara joro)
put am for reverse (joro jara joro)

aaha

joro jara joro

Zombie we na one way
joro jara joro
Zombie we na one way
joro jara joro
Zombie we na one way
joro jara jorooooooooo oohh!

attention! (Zombie)
quick march (Zombie)
slow march (Zombie)
left trun (Zombie)
right turn (Zombie)
about turn (Zombie)
double up (Zombie)
salute (Zombie)
open your hat (Zombie)
stand at ease (Zombie)
fall in (Zombie)
fall out (Zombie)
fall down (Zombie)
get ready (Zombie) (the above x2)

Songwriters
Anikulapo Kuti, Fela

Published by
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group

(Zombie is a refrence to the soldiers in the army or the african followers who follow thier leaders without arguments!)
Source: http://www.metrolyrics.com/zombie-lyrics-fela-kuti.html

World Cup Fever: How to watch the Ghana V's Portugal match.....

Paulina says: Just had to share the above photograph of a Ghana Black Star fan/supporter watching the Ghana v's Portugal match -with a t-shirt covering his TV ---its toooo funny not to.

Personally, all I can add to the above photo is that it also helps to turn down the volume -as its just tooooooooooo painful to hear those scathing commentators.... They seem to have written Ghana off --and as far as I'm concerned, its not over until its over. But getting back to the above photo ---it's funny and unfortunately the truth ---right?

Ghanafua leave John Boye alone -the pressure on team Ghana is immense....

Trying sooooo hard to concentrate on what's going on --right now on the field; and not all the noise of fights, money, corruption and Ghana FA's shortcomings.... Still behind our boys, still team Ghana.

Luxe: Ghana Rising

Crème de la crème: Managing luxury brands

Dated: 24th June 2014

In 2013, Millward Brown- a leading global research agency valued the Louis Vuitton brand (owned by Louis Vuitton Moet & Hennessey – LVMH) at USD22.7 billion, making it the most valuable luxury brand in the world, for the eighth year. Hermes was valued at USD19.1 billion, making it the second most valuable luxury brand globally, while Gucci (owned by Kering Group) was valued at USD12.7 billion. Financial markets recognise the value of the luxury industry, a sector of high margins and high returns.

According to Bain & Company consulting group, the number of luxury consumers has more than tripled in less than 20 years, to at least 330 million people, globally. In addition, roughly 130 million of these consumers are from emerging markets, with 50 million of them coming from China. Every year, at least 10 million new clients enter into the luxury market, with the existing clients remaining even more loyal to luxury brands and services.

The BRICS markets; Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are crucial to this market. Cur- rently, MINT countries-Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey where there is a significant increase in the number of dollar millionaires and consumer spending on luxury goods and services are now on focus. Wealthmonitor stated that the MINT countries performed better than the BRICS and G8 countries. Furthermore, in Africa, the new focus markets are Nigeria, Angola, Ghana and Mozam- bique. The traditional luxury markets are South Africa and Morocco.

Understanding luxury and the luxury consum- er becomes important as the middle class grows in developing markets and spending on luxury goods and services increase. The largest luxury groups

in the world, (LVMH), Kering and Richemont are paying extra attention to this growing market.

The universe of luxury is a universe of heritage, craftsmanship, aesthetics and social distinction.

But it has its own laws, the anti-laws of marketing. Sometimes, consumers confuse fashion brands, premium brands and luxury brands. One reason that leads to this confusion is high pricing. It is often perceived that an item of high price is a luxury brand, which is not the case. Dior is a fashion brand, BMW is a premium brand that uses the luxury strategies, and Maserati is a luxury brand just like Chanel. It is essential to understand what defines a luxury product and service to be able to develop these objects or to understand the luxury consumers who are constantly increasing globally.

The luxury universe

What laws govern the luxury universe? Luxury is an expression of a taste; sophistication, craftsman- ship and quality. Hence the reason that certain indi- viduals will purchase a Hermès bag of USD20,000 instead of a cheaper bag from a different brand. This is because by purchasing that object, the individual enters the Hermès universe, its heritage and knows it. Hermes is company of the finest quality (from its calfskin, crocodile, alligator and ostrich skins), and understated luxury with no heavy logos. Only a keen eye can identify certain Hermès products.

Luxury is not concerned with its competitor. Its brands or services are not positioned. Luxury is not comparative. Positioning is the heart of consumer marketing which is conveyed through price, distri- bution and communication. In luxury, businesses are complementary. When you purchase an item from one luxury store and you go to the next store, the staff finds a luxury item to complement the purchase you made from the previous store. That is the reason luxury boutiques are next to each other as seen in Champs Elysees Street in Paris.

Luxury does not respond to rising demand as it is not a business of volumes. “A luxury brand must have far more people who know it and dream of it, than people who buy it,” says Jean-Noel Kapferer, a Luxury Professor at HEC School of Management. In luxury, prices are increased and sales are never done.

Sales and adopting strategies to accommodate a rise in demand is familiar in fast moving con- sumer goods. In luxury, the rule of rarity applies. Rarity increases the value. Ferrari strives to keep its production at less than 6,000 vehicles a year.

Maison Hermès (the house of Her-mès) is known for using waiting lists to purchase its beautifully crafted leather bags such as the Kelly bag. Bottega Veneta produces a limited number of 100 bags of one of its lines of crocodile bags that retail for 60,000 euros, which are usually purchased immediately by the luxury consumers. In beauty, La Prairie is one of the most established luxury products known for its caviar collection.

Responding to demand drops your brand to a premium or fashion brand, and going back to the status of luxury is almost impossible. Mercedes Benz was a luxury brand, until it decided to re- spond to volumes by producing the A class, B class and purchasing the Chrysler. These were business errors that led it to becoming a premium brand. Though in markets such as China, Brazil, and in Africa it is perceived as a luxury brand.

Telling the luxury story

Communication is important in luxury. It increases the brand value hence the valuation of the LV brand by Millward Brown as earlier stated. Advertising is used to tell a story and share heritage. The famous Cartier advertisement known as Odysee de Cartier, used a panther to show- case the history of Cartier, heritage, and markets it was sharing its heritage with. The panther journeys through France, China, Russia, India and back home to France. The budget for this three and a half minute commercial was USD5.3 million.

In luxury, prices are increased. In 2013, Louis Vuitton increased its prices twice in one year. This is to attract more high end customers, especially from China. Clients who know your luxury good or service will come to you; luxury does not chase its clients. They know the value of the luxury. That is why, even when there is a recession, luxury is unaffected, and it is recession proof.

In Africa, different markets have different strengths defined by location and popu- lation amongst other drivers. Countries such as Kenya, that gains foreign exchange from tourism, has the opportunity to establish hotels that cater for the ultra and high networth clients, by offering luxury experiences in an extremely luxury setting. Luxury hotels can be a source of revenue from countries known for luxury retail consumers such as China, Russia, Japan, and others where products of the highest quality can be located from Ruinart champagne, Beluga caviar, encompassed with the use of very high quality African products at a price that is different from the rest of the hotels. There are hotels in Kenya pursuing this strategy and there is the opportunity for even more to capture this space, where customer is King or Queen.

Paris has managed to establish this successfully and the hotel George V is known to be the leading hotel in the world for luxury customer service. A room costs from USD1,200 per night and higher, but clients are comfortable to pay this cost for a luxuri- ous experience, where they are recognised and their needs well known

Source:http://businessdayonline.com/2014/06/creme-de-la-creme-managing-luxury-brands/#.U6vvMcKTdjq

Paulina says: This is the first time I'm hearing about the MINT countries, which is made up of: Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey.... I'm really impressed and pleased for our brothers to the east --Nigeria.

Ghana's Black Gold: “Insider Dealings”

Title: Ghana’s nascent oil sector suffers credibility blow
Dated:

Two officials of Ghana’s Ministry of Energy and Petroleum are at the centre of what has been described as “insider dealings” in the award of contracts in the oil and gas industry following the alleged forging of the signature of the Minister of Energy and Petroleum by an employee of Miura Petroleum, an oil firm claiming the right of first negotiation over the Offshore Cape Three Points South (OCTPS) block in Ghana.

According to Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP), an energy policy think-tank, the recent forgery has exposed Ghana to international ridicule.

Miura Petroleum, in conjunction with its parent company Gondwana Oil Corporation, had recently stated that its assets in Ghana included the right to the offshore block about which it had begun negotiations with the government of Ghana. However, in a press release by the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, Miura has been accused of forgery in connection with the award letter and signature of the Minister of Energy and Petroleum, and denied ever awarding the right of first negotiation to Miura.

Miura was the company originally awarded the right and has already bagged in US$1.5 million having sold majority shares to Gondwana. This means that Miura has already made a financial gain in respect of the transaction.

ACEP is also concerned that many other companies around the world may be holding letters with forged signatures allegedly from Ghana and taking advantage of Ghana’s oil and gas industry to make money.

Gondwana Oil Corp has recently listed on the Canadian stock exchange to mobilise funds for its operations. The controversy, if proven, exposes other companies holding Petroleum Agreements from Ghana to serious risks in the international capital market. It is also alleged that Gondwana used the forged letter in its Listing statement to the Canadian Stock Exchange.

ACEP recently cited Miura Petroleum’s claim to assets offshore Ghana as example of Ghana “giving away” juicy blocks to inexperienced and questionable oil companies and called for a moratorium on further licensing until the new Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Bill was passed.

“We strongly believe that the secrecy surrounding oil deals in Ghana is largely responsible for this alleged forgery and criminality. It is, therefore, no longer an option but a necessity for Ghana to adopt an open and competitive process for granting oil and gas concessions. Parliament must also invite public comments before approving Petroleum Agreements”, said ACEP.

The centre therefore called on the government to award oil blocks to companies that had the financial muscle to finance the huge capital operations in the oil industry seriously.

Source: http://businessdayonline.com/2014/04/ghanas-nascent-oil-sector-suffers-credibility-blow/#.U6vf6MKTdjo

Paulina say: One step forward, fifty steps backwards, two steps forward, fifty one steps backwards, three steps forward, fifty two steps backwards. Loose credibility.

Four steps forward, fifty three steps backwards, five steps forward, fifty four steps backwards. Loose investments.

Six steps forward, fifty five steps backwards. Loose face. Seven steps forward, fifty six steps backwards. Isolation.

Eight steps forward, fifty seven steps backwards. Descend into hell. Nine steps forward, fifty eight steps backwards. Bypass Hades into oblivion!!!!