Take A Hug Shot And Checkers Will Plant A Tree - Frontier Advisory Event For KZN - Durban Day Do's and Don'ts

Checkers Wants Your Hug Shot

It's Arbor Week and Checkers is looking for you to upload pics of you or a friend hugging a tree.

This is all part of their quest to plant thousands of trees in disadvantaged schools countrywide.

You can upload your pics to:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/checkersa
Twitter: @CheckersSA    or
Instagram: http://instagram.com/checkers_sa

Use the #TreeHugShot tag with your pic and challenge your friends to do the same.
A tree will be planted for every pic uploaded during Arbor Week.
There are also daily prizes which you can win.

Checkers is teaming up with Food and Trees for Africa for this project.

Remember Trees give you oxygen so get snapping.

For more info on them visit: www.trees.co.za

(Source - Checkers)


Kwazulu-Natal Enabling Infrastructure for Economic Success

Join Frontier Advisory as they tackle capital and investment issues for this key region.

Speakers Include:

• Dr Martyn Davies - Frontier Advisory
• Pumi Motsoahae - Richards Bay IDZ
• Lester Bouah - TIKZN
• Neil Sankar - Hatch Goba
• Kevin Reid - Stefanutti Stocks Civils KZN
• Andre Pottas - Deloitte
• Gary Whiteford - Absa 
• Prof Ahmed Bawa - DUT
• Natascha Trainor - DBSA 

Venue: Dube TradePort, Latitude Conference Centre, 29 Degrees South, 7 Umsini Junction, 

La Mercy, Kwazulu-Natal.

Date: Monday, 15th September

Time: 8am to 1h30pm.

For Bookings Visit Their Site: Frontier Advisory

Tel: 011 447 8038

email: office@frontieradvisory.com 

Twitter: @FrontierSA      

(Source - Frontier Advisory)


Bring your groove but leave your brollies at home for #DurbanDay

(Freshly Ground - one of the bands that will be performing at Durban Day)

Feel free to bring the following to Durban Day on Sunday:

• Your groove. There will be dancing. Lots of it.

• Loads of love. For the artists and the bands.

• Your own picnic basket. No beverages will be allowed as these will be on sale. There will also be food vendors if you want to grab something to eat there.

• Your entire family. We have a secure Kids Zone so there’ll be entertainment for the little ones too.

Please do not bring the following:

•Umbrellas

•Gazebos

•Any beverages both non-alcoholic and alcoholic. These will be on sale at People’s Park.

•Any firearms or weapons

•Uncomfy shoes since you’re likely to be on your feet, dancing all the way!

Tickets for Durban Day are R150 at Computicket. Free entry for under 12’s.

(Source - ECR)


This Edition by +Fred Felton

So Much Opportunity in Angola

Angola is full of opportunity - by Fred Felton

Last week I was invited by Frontier Advisory to attend their latest Forum on doing business in Angola.
It was a very interesting time indeed.



Roger Ballard-Tremeer, Neville Matjie and Daniel Swanepoel in discussion at the event.

We heard from Roger Ballard-Tremeer, Honorary Chief Executive of the Angola Chamber of Commerce that Pep Stores has 30 stores in Angola and is doing well.

House & Home is in Angola and on the first week of launching they sold out their entire stock.
There are close to 3500 Projects in Angola for the Government.  These are huge opportunities for South African companies.

Neville Matjie from Trade and Investment KZN told us there is a lot of growth in Angola.  Lots of opportunity.  Also in the Food & Beverage Industry.  Some South African companies have already visited Angola to see what is on offer.  There are challenges in Angola.  You have to develop trust especially in outlying areas.  Angola is also very expensive, this does mean you can make huge returns.  He advised companies to do their research and understand the market before you invest in Angola.

Daniel Swanepoel from Daniel John Consulting told us that it was a land of opportunity.  You have to try understand who you are dealing with.  Dress in Business attire for your first business meeting.  Look the client in the eye.  They first want to get to know you.

Luanda will have a new airport due to be finished in 2014.

Neville Matjie advised that you check Angolan companies out first before you partner with them.

Advice from the panel included:

• You would have to know a bit of Portuguese or take someone with who speaks Portuguese 
• There are more than 20 banks in Angola
• Short-term Visa's are quick normally 2 days.  

Useful contacts

Twitter - @FrontierSA

Facebook - Frontier Advisory

Web - www.frontieradvisory.com

email - africafrontiersforum@frontieradvisory.com

Frontier Advisory will be having a China-Africa Business Summit on 17th April in Johannesburg. 

(Fred Felton was a invited guest of Frontier Advisory at this event)

Exclusive Interview with Dr Martyn Davies CEO of Frontier Advisory

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr Martyn Davies.
He is the CEO of Frontier Advisory.

The Frontier Advisory will be bringing their Africa Frontiers Forum to Durban next month
to discuss 'Insight Into Doing Business in Angola.'

                 Dr Martyn Davies

I asked him some questions:

What Is The Frontier Advisory and What is the Africa Frontiers Forum?

The Frontier Advisory is a research advisory, engaging in frontier and emerging markets.  We deal in market strategy, show companies ways to improve their chances of success.  We deal with Africa and Asia.

The Africa Frontiers Forum started 2 years ago.  It is a monthly seminar, we have talks about Africa.  We have them in Johannesburg 12 times a year at the JSE.  WE also have them in Durban and Cape Town.
Corporate sponsors include the JSE, TIKZN, Wesgro, Brand SA and MTN.   It is a forum on business topics relating to Africa.

What advice do you have for someone wanting to do business in Angola?

It is a difficult and challenging place to do business.  The State is heavily involved in the business world.
You should do due diligence.  Use a joint venture project.  Have a strategy plan on how to deal with the Government.

There is high risk and also high return.
South Africa is behind the curve in Angola.   President Zuma is trying to repair and build contacts in Angola.
It is time to catch up for South Africa.

What other African country impresses you at the moment, business wise?

Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana.

These countries are comfortable for SA capital.

Rwanda and Ethiopia impress me, they both have minimal corruption.
They are both progressive economies.

What was it like to lecture at Harvard?

It's great to balance life.  Step back and look at how you approach life.  I am invited to lecture often, this
takes you to different worlds, like the academic sector.

In business what do you think the Chinese do better than any other country?

They make decisions better than other countries.  The Chinese have invested heavily in Angola.
They are a great performer.  They have the ability to deploy capital.

I notice you are a keen cyclist.  Do you think South Africa is doing enough to protect cyclists on the road?

People are getting killed on our roads all the time.  Just recently I heard of another cyclist that was killed.
We all know the tragic case of Burry Stander.  There is a culture in this country of senselessness of SA drivers.  A lot more needs to be done.  This is not really a government problem, it's a cultural problem.
People need to rethink how they drive on the roads.

You have an event coming up in Durban on March 14th.  Tell us a bit about it and who should attend?

The Africa Frontiers Forum will be having an event in Durban and it is all about doing business in Angola.
KZN business needs to understand how to do business in key African economies.   We did a function recently in Umhlanga on doing business in Mozambique and over 100 people attended.
Hence we feel this event is important.   KZN has not had the advice about doing business in Angola.
We will be bringing speakers who have hands on experience and helping with advice on how to do business in
Angola.

What advice do you have for young South African Entrepreneurs?

I gave a lecture recently and I mentioned this, as an entrepreneur you are launching a business in a economy with 40% unemployment.   We are similar to Portugal at the moment.  They are in crisis.
The challenge is it is very difficult unlike China with a 8% growth economy.  There is lots of opportunity there.  Ours is a 2% economy.   You need to have the confidence, have the finanacial skills, work hard, long hours, much harder than you would elsewhere.  The opportunities in Africa are immense.  Wide open markets.  There is not much competition.

Be aggressive on going after your business opportunities.

What book are you reading at the moment?

I have 3 books on the go

Red by Gary Neville

On China by Henry Kissinger

Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson

The Africa Frontiers Forum Presents 
Leveraging Commercial Opportunities In Angola
Hilton Hotel, Durban 14th March.
To book visit their website: 
 http://www.frontier-advisory.com/index.php/registration-rsvp#



(Picture courtesy of Frontier Advisory, Article by +Fred Felton)