Filed under: Africa, Mother, Nike Foundation | Tags: Africa, DFID, Girl Effect, Mother, Nike Foundation
An independent report by an aid watchdog is critical of Girl Hub – the joint venture between Nike Foundation and DFID. Poor budgeting and financial monitoring, along with weak accountability mechanisms, weak risk management, and the absence of anti-corruption and anti-bribery policies – all of these are concerns, says the watchdog.
When I was doing projects for Girl Hub, it was clear that Nike and DFID are strange bedfellows. Culturally, they couldn’t be more different.
| NIKE CULTURE | DFID CULTURE |
|---|---|
| Obsession with innovation, doing things differently, trying new things, being bold, embracing failure. Impatient. | Focus on risk minimisation, accountability, governance, processes. Highly risk averse – the “do no harm” mantra rules. Slow. |
They’re both very good at what they do – world-class in fact. But they’re from different planets. The joint venture was always an act of genius or craziness.
Girl Hub is trying to unlock a whole new approach to using creativity and communications to lift girls out of poverty. You don’t do this by playing by the book. Creativity isn’t a neat process.
When I was at Mother, the agency often felt on the brink of complete dis-functionality. Yet consistently produced creative and effective work. Yet if this aid watchdog had come to audit Mother, they’d have shut it down.
Girl Hub is spending taxpayers money – of course it should be monitored. But if it’s assessed like any other DFID venture, it won’t achieve anything. If you remove the risk of failure, you probably also remove the innovation.
In the private sector, firms which innovate well accept a high failure rate – especially in the tech sector. The Gates Foundation are reported to expect only 10% of projects to be scaled up – that’s a 90% failure rate.
It’s early days for Girl Hub – only two years in, and just getting into its stride. Andrew Mitchell (International development secretary) being fully supportive – and full credit to him.
Filed under: Africa, Multinationals, Rapidly Developing Economies | Tags: Africa, Airtel, Barloworld, Caterpillar, China, Ecobank, Geely, IBM, India, Lenovo, Mahindra, MTN, Multinational, Rapidly Developing Economies, Tata, Unilever
The debate around corporate citizenship has a very Anglo-American flavour – possibly a mistake, when you think about the rise of a new generation of multinationals from rapidly developing economies.
Iconic Western brands like Jaguar and Land Rover are now owned by Tata Group of India, and the middle-class comfort-car Volvo is owned by Geely International of China. The world’s biggest telecom company is Bharti Airtel, with businesses in 19 countries. IBM’s PC business is now owned by Lenovo Group of China.
Maybe we should broaden our horizons a little, stop obsessing with the neocolonial multinationals (Unilever, Nike, PepsiCo,etc) and pay some attention to the next generation. Some of them have interesting stories. Here are my four top examples:
1. MAHINDRA
Mahindra is a vast conglomerate operating in 100 countries, working in every industry you can think of: aerospace, agriculture, automotive, defense, energy, financial services, to name a few. Mahindra is a champion of the emerging market story: “We are many companies united by a common purpose—to enable people to Rise“, is the opening sentence on its corporate website. Rise is a corporate narrative developed by my old friends at Strawberry Frog; it’s an ambitious program to mobilize the business into a kind of cultural movement. This isn’t standard corporate language. As the website puts it:
Rise is a call to action. It’s the challenger spirit that leads us to build ourselves better lives. The thirst for a brighter future is something shared by people around the world. Rise is a movement of determined people who are working towards goals of all sizes, every day.
2. BARLOWORLD
South Africa’s Barloworld makes Caterpillar and NACCO trucks, and has operations in 110 countries. Barloworld was hit hard when the already fragile South African economy was faced with the fallout from the Soweto riots. Their response, according to Article 13, was a groundbreaking Human Rights code which embedded the right to non-discrimination. This was counter to the prevailing political wind: for example, the code gives everyone the right to use the same toilets, which was at the time illegal in South Africa. I thought that deserved a gratuitous image of a monster mining truck:
3. ECOBANK
Ecobank is Africa’s largest banking multinational, operating in more African countries than any other bank – and driven by the slogan, “Taking Banking to the People”. It’s was chosen as a case study by Business In The Community, for local community involvement: a children’s hospital next to it’s Ghana HQ was in poor repair; the business permanently “adopted” the hospital. A small example, but an interesting response. Here’s the bank’s recent Rhythm of Africa TV spot:
4. MTN
MTN is the largest African mobile provider, working in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East. It has a history of overcoming the exclusion of the poor through innovating new models – most recently, mobile banking, which it’s launching in all markets. According to NextBillion, access to banking is crucial to economic development, and MTN are confident of the consumer benefit: “It’s cheap, it’s easy, it’s unintimidating,” Jenny Hoffmann, head of MTN Banking, told NextBillion. “And if you live on a hill in (rural Africa) you don’t have to go to town to make a payment.” Here’s a launch ad from Cote d’Ivoire (source):
When I was in Ethiopia, I met the guys who run Addis Life magazine – two brothers, Amanuel and Azariah Mengistu. They couldn’t have been more helpful, introducing me to the creative community in Addis Ababa, and generally making me feel welcome.
I wrote a piece for their magazine, on Ethiopia’s “brand”. The subject of nation branding has come up a couple of times for me recently – it’s an odd concept, but an interesting area. Anyway, here’s the article in full:
ETHIOPIA & THE GLOBAL IMAGINATION
What do most people, around the world, say they they hear the word “Ethiopia”? They probably don’t talk about the breathtaking Blue Nile Falls, or the ancient rock churches of Lalibela. Some people, at a push, might mention coffee, or athletics. But probably what most people will think of is poverty: images of great suffering that have defined a nation.
I was no different. I first came to Ethiopia to visit a friend who was living here, and I knew little about the country, other than its hard times. I’ve since been back, and I’ve come to appreciate the character of Ethiopia: optimism, hard work, and a strong sense of pride.
In Addis Ababa, for example, people will tell you it’s Africa’s fastest growing city, it has Africa’s biggest church, that Merkato is Africa’s largest market, and so on. People tell you it’s a cosmopolitan city – and sure enough, it’s home to the African Union and regional headquarters for many NGOs and international businesses. And yes, the coffee it great.
There’s a desire in Ethiopia to be recognized as one of the continent’s cultural treasures. The country wants to be seen as a regional hub, a global access point for Africa. And it’s not just about national pride: it’s about growing investment in Ethiopian business, growing export markets for Ethiopian goods, and bringing in tourist dollars.
For Ethiopia to achieve this, something needs to change. The perceptions of the international mainstream need to be challenged. A new vision of Ethiopia needs to be forged in the global imagination.
“NATION BRANDING” – A GROWING BUSINESS
Increasingly, countries are hiring brand consultancies to apply the techniques of marketing to their countries international image. For example, Kenya is working with Interbrand to polish up “Brand Kenya”. South Africa also invests in this area. What about “Brand Ethiopia?”
We need a dose of reality here: you can’t “re-brand” a country, any more than you can “re-character” a person. This doesn’t stop people trying: countries sometimes change their flags, rename their cities; people may change their haircuts, get new clothes. But most of the time these changes are skin deep. The character of a person is formed by years of accumulated experiences. In the case of a country like Ethiopia, it’s formed by millenia of history. So what can be done? I think there are some areas to explore.
FIVE STEPS TO “BRAND ETHIOPIA”
1. Mobilize the diaspora.
Ethiopians who achieve success overseas are often presented as exceptions that prove the rule: they succeeded despite being Ethiopian. It’s an easy rags-to-riches narrative, but re-inforce the negatives. Nobody is more sensitive to “Brand Ethiopia” than Ethiopians overseas. How can the diaspora be harnessed as a source of insights about the gaps between perception and reality? How can they be galvanized into a network of advocates for their country?2. Own the story.
Any politican will tell you how important it is to control the story, to set the agenda. Brands understand this too, and keep careful control over their narrative. Apple, for example, is a David-and-Goliath story; the cool up-start tech brand that wrong footed the lumbering giant. When things go wrong for a brand, they lose control of the story: BP, for example, has become a “big oil” story about a slippery safety record. What is Ethiopia’s story? What should it be?3. Work the stereotypes.
We often think that stereotypes are bad – but in a sense, brands are stereotypes. Any airline brand, for example, will try to cultivate the stereotype that it’s staff are friendly and efficient. Often, a brand will have to work with negative stereotypes. The car company Volvo, for example, used advertising to turn a negative perception (Volvos are boring) into a positive (Volvos are safe). How can we take the negative images of Brand Ethiopia (poverty, famine) and turn them into positives (a proud and resilient spirit, even in adversity)?4. Sell the city.
Mosty journeys to Ethiopia begin and end in the Addis Ababa. A city can embody the values and culture of a country: Sydney, Cape Town, Istanbul, Bangkok – all are world cities that live strongly in the global imagination. Addis Ababa can do this. The last issue of Addis Life discussed creating a “cultural zone” within the city – this kind of thinking will help Ethiopia’s capital embody everything positive about Ethiopia – past, present and future.5. Do it Ethiopian.
Don’t hire an expensive foreign brand consultancy. Don’t imitate the “country branding” efforts of other countries. All the talent and ideas already exist within Ethiopia. However Brand Ethiopia is expressed, it needs to be uniquely Ethiopian, done in a way that only Ethiopia could do – and to achieve this, it needs to be done by Ethiopians.
Images from All Things Rasta, Jon Losey, Buda Musique, OTX3, Ethiopian Olympics Committee.
Filed under: Africa, BBC World Service Trust, Nike Foundation | Tags: Africa, BBC World Service Trust, Nike Foundation
It’s International Women’s Day today, and I wrote a piece for the BBC World Service Trust based on my trip to Ethiopia with Nike Foundation’s Girl Hub initiative.
The A-Z of sexual health in Ethiopia
An hour south of Ethiopia’s capital city, a group of teenagers huddles around a radio. They’re in a small, bright-green shack on the road to Addis Ababa, and they listen intently whilst the trucks trundle past outside. There’s a sense of conspiracy in the air. Nobody speaks until the programme finishes – and then a lively discussion breaks out.
It seems like a meeting of an underground youth movement, but it’s not. They’ve been listening to Abugida, a radio show broadcast weekly on Radio Ethiopia. Abugida means “A to Z”, and the programme covers a subject that remains taboo for many people in Ethiopia: sex.
A major issue
Sexual health is a major issue for young people in Ethiopia – despite decades of health campaigns. Rates of new HIV infections are starting to fall, but still as many as 8% of people are living with the disease in urban areas.
Teenage pregnancy is widespread: more than half of girls have had two babies by the age of 18.
“There’s so many misconceptions about sex in Ethiopia,” says Elsabet Samuel, producer of the Abugida show. “I recently met a girl who was beaten by her parents because she started menstruating. They thought it meant that she had started having sex.”
Let’s talk about it
“Conversations just don’t happen … mothers are too embarrassed to talk to their daughters, girls are shy, even friends don’t talk about it.”
The problem isn’t a lack of information – there are scores of sexual health campaigns aimed at young people in Ethiopia. The problem, according to Elsabet, is that people don’t talk about it. “Conversations just don’t happen” she says. “Mothers are too embarrassed to talk to their daughters, girls are shy, even friends don’t talk about it.”
As a result, an enormous amount of confusion and misinformation surrounds the subject. “People sometimes think that condoms are only for people who have HIV and AIDS,” says Elsabet, “or that taking the contraceptive pill makes you skinny.”
…and to be clear, skinny is a bad look in Ethiopia. To read the rest click here.
Global do-gooders may have a new cause de jour. Bill Gates is stamping out malaria, global rates of HIV/AIDs are starting to fall, and – let’s face it – climate change ain’t what it used to be. So will we all chatter about next?
Alcohol. If you want something new to get mad about, that’s it. Here’s why:
- Alcohol keeps the poor poor. People in poor countries spend a high percentage of income on alcohol. In Delhi, for example, it can be as much as 25% of family income.
- Alcohol hits the poor hardest. Alcohol-related mortality is often the highest among the poorest people. 2.5 million people die of alcohol related deaths each year, disproportionately in poor countries.
- Alcohol hits the youth. Other global health issues – tobacco, cholesterol, or hypertension – have a higher age profile. Alcohol hits the young: shockingly, in Latin America and Eastern Europe respectively, 36% and 41% of deaths among 15-29 year olds were due to alcohol use.
- Alcohol & HIV/AIDS. Nobody needs telling about the relationship between alcohol consumption and sexual judgment – and this hardly helps the fight against unsafe sexual practices. In South Africa, for example, alcohol attributable HIV/AIDS is the fourth highest cause (12%) of mortality.
- Drink-driving. Africa has by far the highest road-kill in the world – and some estimates say as much as half of this may be alcohol related. Ironically, this is only getting worse as the roads get better (and people can drive faster).
- Violence against women. In many parts of Africa, domestic violence is considered normal – and much of this is alcohol related.
- Alcohol drags on the economy. For all these reasons – death, illness, crime – alcohol places massive direct (cost of healthcare, policing) and indirect (lost productivity, social harm) costs on the economy of developing countries.
Most of these factoids are from the World Bank. So, that’s the story. That’s why the World Health Organization has started getting pushy on alcohol.
So, think it’s a good cause de jour? There are even some good villains – the brewery empires, squeezing cash from the pockets of the poor, oblivious to the consequences. Right?
There’s a couple of things wrong with this picture, I think.
-
1. Alcohol isn’t the problem – abuse of alcohol is. Let’s not castigate a chemical compound many of us are very fond of. Let’s not be too quick to demonize an entire industry that brings us a lot of pleasure.
2. The breweries aren’t stupid – they need to watch out for their license to operate, and safeguard their long-term business. For example, SABMiller have done some great work in South Africa – it would be great to see much more of this.
3. Much of it is home brew. 50% of alcohol produced and consumed is not commercially produced or consumed – such as the men in the image above, drinking homemade African beer (umqombothi) in South Africa. Who do we shout at about that?
4. Anyway, who are “we” to be telling people in Africa how much they should drink? First “we” lecture them about sex, now we’re telling them not to get drunk and beat their wives? Joking aside, there are some (well-meaning) colonial undertones from the World Bank and WHO – not a new thing, but let’s not get preachy on alcohol.
Anyway, it’s a interesting one to get stuck into. It’s an ideal candidate for a big bold initiative…
Image from the Langa Township outside of Capetown, South Africa, from fred_d_vedder’s photostream.
Filed under: Africa, Nike Foundation | Tags: Africa, Nike Foundation, TED
Next weekend it’s TEDx Addis. I’d love to be there. It’s extraordinary to see the effect that the TED brand is having in developing countries – none more remarkable than TEDx Kibera, held in a shanty church building in the middle of Africa’s biggest slum. Far from being an elite talking shop, TED has becoming a way of focusing disparate creative energies on tangible problems.
Ethiopia certainly has a vibrant and growing creative community to draw upon, as I found on my Nike Foundation visit:
- A fast-growing film industry, led by the Ethiopian Film Initiative.
- Addis recently hosted the first Hub of Africa International Fashion Week – textiles is a big export for Ethiopia.
- A proud and diverse music industry, from “Ethiojazz” to Ethiopian Idol (yes, really).
- A growing commercial creative industry, led by the smart folks at Astar Advertising.
Interesting to see Hillary Clinton taking a break from chasing down Julian Assange in order to address last week’s TEDWomen conference. She talked a lot about the Girl Effect – it’s increasingly becoming a core agenda item. As Clinton told the conference, “the rights and the roles of women and girls will be a central tenet of american foreign policy, because where girls and women flourish our values are also reflected”. She went on to say,
Send a girl to school even just for one year and her income dramatically increases for life, and her children are more likely to survive and her family more likely to be healthier for years to come. Give women equal rights and entire nations are more stable and secure. Deny women equal rights and the instability of nations is almost certain.
So the Girl Effect isn’t just about beating global poverty, it’s also about world peace. Who would have thought. Anyway, it’s a great talk (aside from the slightly daft cow anecdote at the end):
Filed under: Africa, Nike Foundation | Tags: Africa, Girl Effect, Nike Foundation
On Friday I paid a visit to the Girl Effect folks at the Department of International Development. My project for the Nike Foundation is pretty much done and delivered, and I wanted to see how they’re doing.
One thing is clear: to make a difference for girls in countries like Ethiopia and Rwanda, we need to shift our mindsets. Talking about “girl empowerment” and individual ambition doesn’t connect in such a communitarian culture.
But this will be a struggle. Our Western impulse is to tell girls “you can do it” and “stand up for your rights”. But to a girl in rural Ethiopia, this sounds very foreign, and jars with their emotional connections to family and community.
Our cultures are massively different. The Hofstede scale measures various cultural dimensions, including individualism. Some example individualism scores are given below.
Even compared to communitarian cultures like India and Japan, Ethiopia has a highly collectivist society. This effects the way girls think about the world, the way they learn and communicate, the values they hold. Life isn’t so much about “I”, it’s about “We”.
When I was working in Asia, I watched this clash of cultures play out in the battle between Nike and Adidas. Nike were struggling to keep up with the growth of Adidas across the region, Nike’s communications emphasized individual performance, character, flare and inspiration. Adidas’ communications was rooted in practice, perseverance, teamwork, craft – and this had a more natural cultural resonance.
These two outdoor ads are from Adidas’ Beijing 2008 campaign. They use imagery that appeals to a highly social mindset – it’s about collective effort, not individual achievement:
It’s something we need to dwell upon. Here’s some advice I received when I was in Africa:
“It’s a very Western approach to think you can “target” a girl in isolation from her family, based on an individualistic view of society which doesn’t apply here. Singling out a girl in a family can have distorting affects on the family”.
“Certain levels of empowerment can be perceived as disrespectful to existing traditional communities. We may put girls at risk by doing this too fast”.
“Singling out girls can arose the suspicion of families and communities, and even hostility. Girls themselves may find it confusing, being targeted directly”
There were plenty of findings, ideas and insights coming out of our trip to Africa, but if there’s one over-riding message, this would be it.
We need to shift our mindsets. The Girl Effect message should move from “self empowerment” to “community empowerment” – cultivating leadership within girls, in the contexts of their communities.
PS: a footnote on Rwanda
Rwanda is a lush and beautiful country. The north – equatorial forests and active volcanoes – is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. But it’s hard to visit Rwanda without sensing the country’s recent history.
Before I visited, I deliberately avoided taking in much information about the genocide. Since, I’ve read an extraordinary book on the subject, which I’d recommend to anyone interested: We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed with Our Families by Philip Gourevitch.
On Friday there was a demonstration outside the department, Rwandan exiles against the UK’s support for President Kagame’s government, which stands accused of genocide in Congo. I don’t know the rights and wrongs of this, but it’s a chill reminder of broader context.
Strange atmosphere, driving through Kigali yesterday morning: no cars on the road, no buses or taxis. But lots of people – sweeping, digging, scrubbing, carrying. It was the last Saturday of the month – Umuganda, when every man, woman and child is obliged to do community service.
Umuganda means contribution, and there’s no doubting the scale of contribution: the entire country feels clean and tended. Compared to Ethiopia, this place is an equatorial Switzerland. It’s a day of brooms, hoes, shovels, machetes. Nobody in Rwanda will criticize it, but there is a definitely discussion to be had:
The negative view:
- You could call it forced labour, because people don’t have a great deal of choice in the matter.
- There’s concern that it’s a mechanism for local leaders to control their constituents.
- Some say the burden of labour falls on the poorest who are already working the hardest.
The positive view:
- It creates social capital, neighbours working together on local construction projects.
- It allows the government to do repairs and upkeep without diverting cash from development projects.
- Some people say it’s a source of inspirational young community leaders.
Either way, Umuganda is Big Society thinking. A Conservative delegation visited Rwanda last year and took part in some community service. Andrew Mitchell told the Sunday Times:
We don’t have this at home so we find it a really exciting and a constructive model which we can emulate. We find Umuganda inspiring especially in the way it brings people together for a constructive purpose.
I didn’t get to take part in Umuganda yesterday. I was invited to appear before a Rwandan government “ethics committee”, to answer questions our Girl Effect activities. It was a fairly grueling two hour session – and the “outcome” is delivered to us by car at noon tomorrow…
Above image: ladies lunching in Ruhengeri.
A few pictures from my day with the BBC World Service Trust, here in Ethiopia. They produce a weekly radio show called Abugida, a magazine format programme covering issues around sex. It’s still a taboo subject here – misinformation and confusion rule. Some examples:
-
“The pill makes you skinny” (note, skinny is a bad look in Ethiopia).
“My daughter’s having sex, I can tell because she’s started menstruating”.
“Only people with HIV need to use condoms”.
“Uncircumcised girls are loud and clumsy”.
Not everyone has a radio, and so “listening groups” are held all over the country. The pictures below are from a group held a couple of hours south of the capital. Young people listen together, then discuss the stories they hear. It’s a great way to start conversations – and the listening groups often provide stories for future shows.
And back in the office, here are the producers, Ruth, Elsabeth and Frehiwot – and an Africa-wide award they’re enormously proud of. This is a great initiative, an example of how to get social communications right in Africa.
Filed under: Africa, BBC World Service Trust, Nike Foundation | Tags: Africa, BBC World Service Trust, Nike Foundation
Above is the view from the offices of the BBC World Service Trust in Addis Ababa. I’m on the board of advisors for the Trust, helping with their communications – so it was great to meet the team here in Ethiopia. They’re an example of how to get it right in Africa (more on this soon).
But where do we get it wrong? Everyone is always keen to shout about success, but getting-it-wrong is usually less visible. Here are some themes that have emerged from my conversations over the last ten days, here in Ethiopia:
- Campaigns look foreign
“They want to produce slick creative work”, people have told me. NGOs want communications that look good on their show-reel so they can attract continued funding and win awards. However, often NGO work looks foriegn to Ethiopians, especially in rural areas.
Campaigns are short-termist
“They want fast results for their own good, not for the good of the people”, said one person I spoke to. There’s a perception that NGOs are often only interested in fast results – thus there’s no long-term strategy. NGOs are driven by the need to report success, more than the need to create lasting change.
Communications are perjorative
Unintentionally, of course, but “they come across as saying ‘you’re wrong, your culture is bad’”. Most work is “based on foreign values” and therefore doesn’t connect with people, or even undermines them.
NGOs are patronizing
“They go in with the attitude that they know what’s best for you, and they’re going to tell you”. This an intrinsic problem: all behaviour change campaigns are de facto paternalistic – we need to acknowledge this to ourselves and find a way of dealing with it.
…and there’s one especially important theme, when it comes to making the Nike Foundation’s Girl Effect happen in Ethiopia:
- Campaigns for girls ignore context
There isn’t enough attention paid to the effect that girl-focused work can have on the rest of the family and the community. These stakeholders also need to change their attitudes and behaviours.
Communications people love collecting examples of things that work – but we don’t often spend so much time thinking about getting it wrong. When creating our own programs for Ethiopia, Rwanda and Nigeria, these are some of the things we should think about.
