POLITICS IN TANZANIA

For the first time in 52 years of single-party rule since Tanzania won independence, the electorate faces real choices and the prospect of genuine change.

Three issues in particular loom large over the political scene: Who will succeed President Jakaya Kikwete within his own ruling party? What will become of the relationship between the mainland Tanganyika and the archipelago of Zanzibar? And how much of a challenge the opposition will offer in the forthcoming 2015 polls?

Although few observers expect the main opposition party Chadema to unseat the ruling CCM in the elections, the longest ruling party in Africa is likely to face its hardest test yet, reflecting strain on the structures that have kept it in power for so long.

“Chadema has a lot of support because people are tired,” says a businessman who follows politics closely. Chadema won 27 per cent of the presidential vote at the previous presidential election in 2010, the first significant showing by the opposition for 15 years.

Use Social Media and Expand Your Sales

Social networks such as Face book, Twitter can be mentioned as the most obvious social media vehicles for business. Adopting an effective social media strategy can rapidly enhance a company’s branding and visibility, helping you interacts with your audience around a direct message or offer.

Companies need a social media strategy and focus, not just to supplement current sales efforts but as the primary vehicle for all sales activity. Print advertising is losing ground to the Internet and social media is an effective method of marketing over the Internet at a very low cost.

The first step is to identify the online platforms and communities where your potential customers spend time. The next step is to create a strategy to engage with their interests and offer them useful, compelling content and interaction they can’t get elsewhere

Challenges of Technological Complexity

An enemy makes you a better person.

It is a pure and simple argument, shocking even. In most matters of the heart, the concept of darkness is a complicated one. However, the art of having an enemy is as pure and as ancient as time itself. We need enemies to challenge us, to be the catalysts towards striving for our goals, and to help us remember what it is we believe in. If you were ever unsure of who you are and what you wanted, the enemy will help you abruptly discover what you are not, what you do not want, and furthermore, who’s in your god damn way.

Before we go any further, I should define what an enemy is. There is no gray here; there is no halfway. Identifying an enemy in your life is a spirited and passionate endeavor. You cannot explain why, but seeing your enemy suffer or fail makes your laughter so much more spellbinding, so much more entertaining- so much more vivacious. It’s like breathing sunshine. If you can not identify an enemy in your life you are either a blind idiot, or have been living a more-than sheltered existence.

Tanzania bans witchdoctors after albino murders

Tanzania has announced a ban on witchdoctors who have been targeting the country’s large albino population in the mistaken belief their body parts can bring wealth, luck and power. The country’s home affairs minister called for communities to tip-off investigators in a new task-force set up to tackle the problem, which has resulted in at least 74 murders since 2000 and 58 brutal attacks in which people have lost limbs and been left permanently scarred. The task force will in the next two weeks start working in areas where attacks have been most prevalent.

Source, Ministry of Home Affairs.

COMPETING IN A GLOBAL MARKETS

A global market is an exchange for goods or services that across national boundaries to encompass the entire world or nearly the entire world. The term may be used to refer to the sum total of all of the market activity that takes place in the world. It may also refer to the market in a specific commodity product or currency, as in "the global market in oil". Markets on this scale are affected by a complex combination of international economic forces and the combined and interacting results of regulation in all of the nations that comprise the marketplace.

Take Advantage of the Internet

The Internet has leveled the playing field against much larger companies. A well designed website coupled with search engine optimization strategies means customers from around the world can see what your company is capable of doing. Because English is a second language to much of the world, the language barrier can be overcome.

Study Customer Needs

A similarity between marketing in the U.S. and internationally is that to be successful, you have to identify customer needs that your company can address with its products and services -- and address them more completely than the competitors you will face in those countries. Ideally, you will find a market where local competition is minimal, giving your company an immediate competitive advantage. One critical issue to consider in estimating potential demand is how many consumers in the country have the discretionary income to be able to afford your products, even if they have a desire to purchase them.

Start With a Small Niche

Rather than viewing the entire globe as a potential market, choose a readily addressable niche in one country to start. Test-market your products and services to that niche with a modest marketing budget that could include local print or radio advertising. Engage a marketing consultant familiar with the country to help you craft a message that resonates with the local population. Cultural factors affect how consumers respond to the content of advertising messages, including aspects such as humor.

Work through Distributors

If you are convinced that there is a market for your company’s products in a foreign country but you have no experience marketing there, consider working with distributors, local entities who buy the goods and sell them in that country. Carefully research the reputation and reliability of any prospective distributor. Obtain references and, if possible, meet them at their offices. The travel cost will be well worth it in helping you find a distributor you can trust and build a long-term relationship with.

Establish Joint Ventures

Another option in selling internationally is to look for companies in the country you have targeted that sell complementary products to yours, or sell through the same distribution channels. Set up a joint venture in which each of you receives a portion of the proceeds from the products sold. Your joint venture partner will know all the packaging and labeling regulations for that country -- one less issue for you to worry about.

Offer International Licenses

When selling internationally, consider a licensing agreement with a local company in which it manufactures and markets your products and pays you a royalty. Beverage products, for example, are costly to ship long distances. Licensing the formula for a popular American beverage brand helps the American company expand its brand recognition without having to incur shipping cost.