My Mentors Told Me to Take an HR Role Even Though I Was an Engineer. They Were Right.

In this series, professionals thank those who helped them reach where they are today. Read the posts here, then write your own. Use #ThankYourMentor and @mention your mentor when sharing.

Meetings can sometimes be intimidating when you’re young, or new to a team. You want to speak up, but fear can hold you back. That happened to me early in my career. Fortunately, a manager was watching, and pulled me aside afterward. He suggested I work on being more vocal in meetings and confidently express my point of view.

I took that professional nudge to heart, and I’ve never forgotten it. Inclusion and encouraging diverse points of view are cornerstones of how I lead.

Throughout my career, I’ve benefited greatly from the wisdom and experiences of mentors. Some executives credit one or two key people for coaching them to success, but I believe effective mentoring takes a network.

Different people see different aspects of us as we progress in our careers and handle the opportunities and challenges along the way.

I once shared with a manager my struggle with balancing professional and personal commitments. Her reply perfectly crystallized the issue: “Commitments are commitments, and honoring them demonstrates discipline.” It’s one reason I always encourage my team – women and men – to make time for their families or their personal interests. It’s all about setting priorities, and family has and always will be a priority for me.  

About six years ago during a pivotal time in our company’s history, I was asked to consider a cross-functional role – vice president of Global Human Resources. I understood the importance of the position, but I was concerned it didn’t fit my engineering and manufacturing credentials.

My mentors and confidantes weighed in with valuable and insightful feedback: They pointed out I possessed two very important attributes of the job – identifying talent and using teams to confront challenges.

I accepted the position. It turned out to be one of the most important and impactful assignments of my career, and one I might have missed if not for my mentors.

When building your network of mentors, be honest about your mid- and long-term career goals, and how hard you are willing to work to achieve them. Then turn to those who best know you and your work. Earn their respect and trust so they will extend their personal capital to you with confidence and be your professional champion.

All good leaders should be invested in the career growth of their team members, but don’t always look high when creating your mentor network. Colleagues have great insights about you that you may have overlooked.

And if mentors have invested their time in you, I hope you’ll consider paying it forward and be a mentor. It feels great – and you never know where your “students” will land.

Written by
Mary Barra

We Need Clean-Energy Innovation, and Lots of It by Bill Gates

Last month, during a trip to Europe, I mentioned that I plan to invest $1 billion in clean energy technology over the next five years. This will be a fairly big increase over the investments I am already making, and I am doing it because I believe that the next half-decade will bring many breakthroughs that will help solve climate change. As I argued in this 2010 TED talk, we need to be able to power all sectors of the economy with sources that do not emit any carbon dioxide.

But when it comes to preventing the worst effects of climate change, the investments I make will matter much less than the choices that governments make. In Europe I got to talk about these choices with several political leaders, and in this post I want to share the steps that I encouraged them to take.

I think this issue is especially important because, of all the people who will be affected by climate change, those in poor countries will suffer the most. Higher temperatures and less-predictable weather would hurt poor farmers, most of whom live on the edge and can be devastated by a single bad crop. Food supplies could decline. Hunger and malnutrition could rise. It would be a terrible injustice to let climate change undo any of the past half-century’s progress against poverty and disease—and doubly unfair because the people who will be hurt the most are the ones doing the least to cause the problem.

In addition to mitigating climate change, affordable clean energy will help fight poverty. Although the Gates Foundation does not fund energy research (my investments are separate), we see through our work with the poorest how the high price of energy affects them by adding to the cost of transportation, electricity, fertilizer, and many other things they need.

I do see some encouraging progress on climate and energy. Environmental advocates deserve credit for getting climate change so high on the world’s agenda. Many countries are committing to put policies in place that reflect the impact of greenhouse gases. The cost of solar photovoltaic cells has dropped by nearly a factor of ten over the past decade, and batteries that store energy created by intermittent sources like solar and wind are getting more powerful and less expensive. Since 2007 the United States has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions nearly 10 percent. Since 1990 Germany has reduced its energy-sector emissions by more than 20 percent.

World leaders will take another critical step this December at a major meeting in Paris called COP21, where they will discuss plans to reduce global CO2 emissions significantly. COP21 can build a strong foundation for solving the climate crisis—but we will need to go even further.

Scientists generally agree that preventing the worst effects of climate change requires limiting the temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius, and that doing so requires the biggest emitters to cut emissions 80 percent by 2050 and all countries to essentially eliminate them by the end of the century. Unfortunately, while we can make progress with today’s tools, they cannot get us to an 80 percent reduction, much less 100 percent. To work at scale, current wind and solar technologies need backup energy sources—which means fossil fuels—for windless days, long periods of cloudy weather, and nighttime. They also require much more space; for example, to provide as much power as a coal-fired plant, a wind farm needs more than 10 times as much land.

These are solvable problems. If we create the right environment for innovation, we can accelerate the pace of progress, develop and deploy new solutions, and eventually provide everyone with reliable, affordable energy that is carbon free. We can avoid the worst climate-change scenarios while also lifting people out of poverty, growing food more efficiently, and saving lives by reducing pollution.

To create this future we need to take several steps:

1. Create Incentives for Innovation

One step is to lay the foundation for innovation by drastically increasing government funding for research on clean energy solutions. Right now, the world spends only a few billion dollars a year on researching early-stage ideas for zero-carbon energy. It should be investing two or three times that much.

Why should governments fund basic research? For the same reason that companies tend not to: because it is a public good. The benefits to society are far greater than the amount that the inventor can capture. One of the best examples of this is the creation of the Internet. It has led to innovations that continue to change our lives, but none of the companies who deliver those innovations would ever have built it. Similarly, the government’s research into hydraulic fracturing helped create today’s natural gas boom.

Expanding the government’s support for energy research will lead to another important step: attracting more private investment to the field. As early-stage ideas progress, private capital will pour in to build the companies that will deliver those ideas to market. We need hundreds of companies working on thousands of ideas, including crazy-sounding ones that don’t get enough funding, such as high-altitude wind and solar chemical (using the energy of the sun to make hydrocarbons). No one knows which of these technologies will prove powerful enough and easy to scale, so we should be exploring all of them.

My own personal investments include companies working on new batteries and other storage methods and advances in solar technology. The nuclear design I am investing in would be safer than previous designs and would go a long way toward solving the nuclear waste problem. I spend a lot of time with the CEOs and scientists at all these companies discussing how to build a business around an innovative idea and take a product to market. If government research budgets open up the pipeline of innovation, not only will I expand my investments, but I believe other investors would join me in taking these risks.

Governments need to act quickly, because energy transitions take time. Today, renewables account for less than 5 percent of the world’s energy mix. It took four decades for oil to go from 5 percent of the world’s energy supply to 25 percent. Natural gas took even longer. I believe we can make this transition faster—both because the pace of innovation is accelerating, and because we have never had such an urgent reason to move from one source of energy to another. The sooner we start, the more suffering we can prevent.

2. Develop Markets That Help Get to Zero

Another important step will be to ensure that the energy market accurately reflects the full impact of emitting carbon. Today the market is not factoring in what economists call the negative externalities—the health costs, environmental damage, and so on. If the market takes these into account, renewable energy will be more competitive with fossil fuels, which will attract more innovators to the field. Many countries and states are experimenting with different ways to price carbon. Whatever approach we take, it should create incentives to develop new energy solutions while also giving energy companies enough certainty to plan and execute the transition to zero-carbon sources.

We can also be smarter about how we use subsidies. The IMF estimates that direct subsidies for fossil fuels amount to nearly $500 billion a year worldwide, shielding consumers from their true costs. Some subsidies for deploying renewable energy are also very inefficient, creating big incentives to install solar panels where it’s often not sunny or wind turbines where it’s not windy. We should be looking for ways to reduce these subsidies and invest the savings in the basic R&D that will help solve the problem.

3. Treat Poor Countries Fairly

Unfortunately, even if we could roll out the ideal zero-carbon solution tomorrow, some climate change is inevitable, and it will hit the world’s poor the hardest. The countries that have done the most to cause this problem have a responsibility to not only invest in mitigation, but also help poor countries adapt to a changing climate. For our part, the Gates Foundation is concentrating on one key aspect of adaptation: helping small farmers—who make up the majority of the world’s poor—adjust to hotter, more unpredictable weather by raising agricultural productivity. I will be writing more about this work later this year.

As for next steps, I’m optimistic that the spotlight of the COP meeting in Paris will help motivate governments to step up their research budgets. In my view, innovation is essential to human progress. Some people would say that it is the lens I use to look at every problem, and I have to admit that there is some truth to that. But I believe it is justified by history. In my lifetime innovation has helped eradicate one deadly disease (smallpox) and put us on the brink of a second (polio). We have cut the fraction of children who die every year by a factor of four. Digital technology has revolutionized the way people live. We can create a zero-carbon future too, if we commit to it.

This was originally posted at www.gatesnotes.com 

Work on ICT Park for businesses begins September

Government has indicated that it will begin work on an ICT Park for business in September as part of efforts to support entrepreneurs operating in the ICT sector.

Deputy Communication Minister Ato Sarpong's disclosed this at the media launch of the Africa Mobile and ICT Expo 2015.

According to the minister, the park will have all the necessary infrastructure to support ICT firms that want to set up in the area.

The initiative will be done in partnership with the Mauritius government.

Also a business processing outsourcing (BPO) centre will be set up in October to provide some 10,000 jobs for Ghanaians.
Speaking to Joy Business after the program Mr. Sarpong noted that the move is part government’s policy to use ICT to support and grow entrepreneurship in the country and also build the right infrastructure to develop the sector.
Speaking at the same program, Chief Entrepreneur of Coasters Company, organizers of the Expo, said the expo is aimed at harnessing ICT tools and innovations to create jobs, attract investments and provide solutions for social transformation.
George Spencer Quaye said the event which will kick off July 29 to 31 at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) will cover four main areas: Thought Leadership, AppWorld, Job fair and Exhibition.
The Expo will also assemble captains, investors and stakeholders in the ICT industry to discuss and identify the opportunities for employment in ICT.


Source: My joy online

Starting An ICT Business In Africa? 6 Trends To Be Aware Of

I know that many of you are interested in starting an ICT business in Africa. But are you aware of current trends? I would love to share some insights with you. As always, my article will focus on the actionable way forward for aspiring entrepreneurs and first time entry into Africa by individuals or SME’s – we will leave the Million Dollar market information to government and the media out there, they are pretty good at keeping up with it.

What makes Africa such an intriguing market for ICT is the enormous rise of mobile phone connectivity and that enables easier interaction between companies and their customers. We can expect to see new trends such as peer-to-peer (P2P) applications, on-demand services, and ICT infrastructure sharing driving business models unique to the African context. But we can also expect an Internet revolution to take place soon, and while the establishment of submarine cables continues, most countries on the continent have seen an enormous increase in Internet penetration and broadband speed.

Now let’s get cracking – today I want to focus less on the aspects of running an online business or telecommunications company and tell you more on the ICT solutions you can provide in Africa on a profit. So where exactly are some gaps on the continent loudly calling for you ?



1. Business 2 Business (B2B) solutions

When I visited Kenya’s renowned tech hub, the iHub, last year I met with some members of the management team and was told that they see a clear shift in focus. In short: Apps are somewhat out and B2B solutions are in. I was told that in the beginning everyone wanted to build apps – having your own app was somewhat cool. But now Kenya’s tech community at iHub is focusing increasingly on B2B solutions, because the demand for that is growing.

This is really a trend, which we see in other dynamic ICT markets in Africa as well, in fact, add to that: Business 2 Customer solutions. Both are becoming more prominent and the need for solution, expertise, and guidance is huge.

With the big rise of e-commerce in countries like Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, and a very visible new peak of interest in Morocco, Uganda, and Tanzania we also see an increased demand for ICT solution providers who offer their expertise and products around entirely new business models. The E-commerce space is one to follow, and demand that ICT experts could fill reaches from online purchasing and payment systems, to logistics, to customer services (CRM).

With growing competition among businesses operating in Africa’s growth market, it is a trend we can absolutely expect to continue and to grow even faster.

2. Africa has excellent software developers…..but there is a huge need for many more

I met Betty Enyonam Kumahor during the Homecoming Revolution Expo in London in 2014. I remember how she took the stage at the conference to tell us how she left her posh office and position in one of the top law firms in the US to move back to Nigeria and open her own IT Consulting firm, ThoughtWorks. Two years later she employs 120 people…! Isn’t that amazing? But not only that: Betty and her team have developed world class software and one of the systems was used during the recent disaster in the Philippines reuniting thousands of families. “This is Africa providing IT solutions to the world” Betty said.

Read my actionable and rare Africa market insights I gained during that event from Betty and others operating on the continent here.

Another company that has made a big name for itself is Coders4Africa. Based in the US the management team has built a strong network of over 1,500 African developers in 25 countries and several offices on the ground in Africa! Amazing! Their immediate objective: To lead outsourcing development programs for companies globally. Here is how they summed it up on their website:

Problems we are trying to solve:

Africa impacts just 1% of the world’s IT distribution and production for both software and hardware (UNCTAD 2013)

70 million African internet users & more cellphone users than US & EU and not enough coders to leverage this opportunity

Africa is faced with 3 problems

Not enough Software developers

Not skilled enough to do the job

Not enough contextual and impactful APPs

I am fortunate to have been in touch with Coders4Africa, and I can tell you their vision and dedication is a wonderful example for Africa, so make sure you use their services for your own undertakings or you spread the word!

3. ICT solutions for Africa’s financial sector

I think it is fair to say that a big chunk of ICT solutions has been developed for the financial sector, and frankly, it is a sector with a lot of capital that can be invested into capacity building, payment solutions, and customer outreach through tech. Kenya has seen certainly some amazing and exciting developments in this regard over the last few years, but huge improvements in this regard have also been made in Nigeria, Ghana, and SA.

I want to make you aware of a few markets that I believe have also great potential for ICT solutions in the finance sector. They are Botswana, Rwanda, Mauritius and possibly Zambia. The reason is because Botswana, Rwanda, and Mauritius are ambitiously marching towards the vision to becoming regional financial capitals of their own, besides some powerful markets next door (well, make that across the ocean for Mauritius).

Several new bank branches have for example opened in Botswana, while Rwanda is still trying actively to entice some international banks to open shop in Kigali, although this is progressing currently rather slowly I have heard; a lot of regional banks however have entered the market over the last few years. While the country’s financial inclusion is currently below 25 per cent, with more financial institutions entering the market, the government is targeting more than 70 per cent by 2020. And the good news is that the Rwandan government is usually following vigorously through with their ambitions, so watch this space – well, and if you are in ICT: don’t just watch, get in!

4. ICT: Shall I focus on government, health, and education?

I just discussed the huge ICT opportunities in providing  solutions for B2B and the finance sector. What about the demand for ICT in government, health, and education? – you may ask. The demand undoubtedly exists, and you can fill it, but here is an important point that I would like you to be aware of: government, health institutions, and the education sector (the latter two being largely owned by the first) will be notoriously slower in response and more complicated in dealing with due to the high level of bureaucracy, as compared to selling to the private sector.

Having said that, the health and education sector in Africa are seeing a big boost in privately owned entities, especially in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa; so you may want to focus on them. It occurs to me as being a better strategy for a new entrepreneur, a start-up, or a first Africa entry – dealing directly with government may murder your motivation. Figuratively, of course.

Once you are operating confidently in the market and you have build some connections with key decision-makers and various stakeholders in your industry, you can attempt to bid for ICT related government tenders trying to win a major contract.

A third option is that you become a social tech entrepreneur. This works almost anywhere in Africa. Finding solutions for  the many health and educational challenges in Africa and making them accessible to the wider population. Check for example MedAfrica, a popular app that aims at increasing community access to health related information.

5. Meet the huge demand for ICT training

This is an excerpt of my free monthly Africa Business Intelligence (feel free to sign up to it on the right sidebar here on my blog if you have not done so yet!):  “Private companies and government entities in Liberia and the DRC for example are facing a huge lack of skilled ICT personnel, so much so, that it is repeatedly discussed.

The shortage of quality ICT skills has been a recurrent theme in Liberia. Highly specialized skills required to automate processes are currently lacking and impossible to recruit anywhere in the country. And this shortage I put to you, is strongly in software design, programming, project management and software business consulting.  The ICT skills shortage in Liberia, specifically in the area of computer programming is of great concern, because computer science and software engineering significantly impact business automation.

Visit many of our ministries and other entities and you will find out that many of the ICT staff have never attended any ICT training or human capacity strengthening program since they graduated school. This particularly hurts their ability to innovate and perform because in ICT, things change faster than any other area. (Source: Liberia Daily Observer)

Frankly, you have a similar situation and chronic gap in this regard in the huge markets of Congo, the DRC and in Angola – and you have the spending power there, too. Be aware however, that most there speak French and Portuguese, respectively.

Out of the top of my head I would say Senegal, Ghana, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia are other markets that are pretty dynamic, but could do with enticing ICT training packages for certain target groups.

Why not come up with neat ICT training packages that you could deliver through your new Africa ICT training business? All you need it a lap top and a luggage to get you started in Africa!

6. Find a local communal problem and fix it!

Seriously, this is the African solutions – to African problems way, and I am so proud to see a significant number of African ICT software and app developers providing affordable solutions to some of Africa’s biggest social and socio-economic problems.

Like Cameroonian Nteff Alain for example, who founded ‘Gifted Mum’ to bring down child mortality after birth with his special app. Or M-Farm, which offers real-time market prices for crops, matching Kenyan farmers with buyers. Depending on the target market, these are not always the most profitable businesses, but undoubtedly among the most impactful. Blessed be those entrepreneurs: Africa is becoming a better place, because of them!

sorce: Africa Jump Start

Barcelona's Vueling to launch direct flights to Accra

Barcelona's busiest airline; Vueling would, from Saturday, June 20, launch direct weekly flights to Accra.

The return flights to Accra would be operated every Saturday, with 180-seat Airbus A320s. Flight VY7706 would leave Barcelona at 1700 hours on Saturday, arriving in Accra at 2035 hours. The return would leave Accra at 2135 hours and arrive in Barcelona at 0505 hours.

A statement issued by the airline in Accra said the new route would enable passengers flying from Accra to connect via Barcelona with Vueling's more than 155 destinations in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Vueling would begin its 11th summer season with its busiest flying schedule yet, with more than 60,000 flights from June to September, and a total offer of 11 million seats, 13 per cent more than in 2014.

Founded in July 2004, with two Airbus A320s, four routes, and a commitment to provide excellent customer service at competitive prices, Vueling, 11 years later, operates on 366 routes to more than 160 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, with a fleet of more than 100 aircraft based at 22 airports.

Vueling is one of the airlines owned by the IAG group, along with BA and Iberia, which already operates from Ghana. The industry publications Air Transport News and 'Agenttravel' both named Vueling the world's best budget airline in 2015.

Source: GNA

How to avoid burnout as an entrepreneur

Launching a business is exciting but stressful, there’s no two ways about that. If you’re not careful you’ll end up burning out. Fortunately, Richard Branson has some advice…
“I can’t count the number of stressful situations I’ve found myself in since I launched my first business over 50 year ago,” the Virgin Founder says in a recent Trinidad Guardian blog. “Stress and business go hand-in-hand, and that’s not a bad thing – high-pressure situations can certainly be motivating – but too much pressure can be emotionally and physically damaging. I’ve found that the best way to manage stress is to find a good work-life balance.”

Wellbeing in the workplace has become a hot topic – our latest Virgin Disruptors debate dealt with the issue too – but it’s important that entrepreneurs don’t neglect their own wellbeing. Here’s Richard Branson’s tips on establishing a healthy work-life balance…

1. Find a routine that works for you
“For some people achieving work-life balance depends on adhering to a strict routine: eat, sleep, exercise, repeat,” he says. “However I don’t have much of a set routine. I believe that flexibility is the answer for entrepreneurs. "

Image from Virgin.com
“You can never be certain what tomorrow will throw at you, so the ability to adapt and prioritise is incredible important. When a challenge presents itself, disrupting your plans, you need to be able to assess its importance and reorganise you to do list accordingly.”

Branson notes the importance of multitasking for entrepreneurs, but also says that constantly shifting attention isn’t always productive. “To set priorities and give myself the space to focus, I write down lists of tasks that I need to complete and when I need to complete them, then organise them based on their possible impact on the company.”


2. Ditch the guilt
As much as working on your business is important, you need time away from work too. Branson says to “ditch any guilt you might feel about stopping work”, schedule some you time in your planner and “make this relaxation time a priority”.
“I’ve found that it’s not a good idea to dive straight into work when you wake up,” he says, “so I dedicate my mornings to exercise and family time. It helps me clear my mind and energises me for the day ahead.”

3. Have fun
Branson says that his one piece of personal advice for budding entrepreneurs is to have fun. “This is often underrated, but you are far more likely to succeed if you are enjoying yourself,” he explains.
“If an opportunity doesn’t excite me, and if it’s not something through which I can make a difference in the world while having a lot of seriously creative fun, then I’d rather pass on it and move along to something else that does interest me.”

How to work less and achieve more

By Mark Cropley
Professor of Health Psychology

Have you ever found it hard to get to sleep because your brain was stuck on a problem at work? Or realized you can’t relax at home or when you’re out with friends because your head is still at the office?
Maybe was a report you needed to complete, or something you said that came across wrong, or maybe it’s an upcoming presentation, an important meeting or an opportunity you can’t afford to miss.

All of us think about work outside the workplace, especially if you are lucky enough to have a stimulating and rewarding job. However, a number of studies suggest that around seventy percent of the population think about work matters when not at work, and around a quarter of the working population are troubled by thinking about work issues and these numbers are increasingly all the time.

Why are more and more people finding it difficult to unwind?

Smartphones, tablets and laptops – it’s never been easier to work outside of work. But it’s not just the technology that’s to blame. At a time of economic uncertainty, more people are working longer hours and finish tasks in the evenings just to keep up with work. As we get better connected and more accessible, our jobs - previously something that only occupied us during the working day - have started to dominate all of our time. Today work plays such a large part in our lives that our thoughts, if we aren’t careful, can to drift back to our desks even when we are not physically there.

Why do we need to relax and unwind?

It is clearly important to rest the mind. Successful people work hard but they also recognize that switching off, relaxing and getting away from work, is not a luxury but a necessity. Constantly thinking about work without taking time to relax is very bad for our health and wellbeing long-term.
One study found that people who can’t switch off from work were three times more likely to develop heart disease, largely as they eat more unhealthy sweet snacks to try to regulate their emotions and distract themselves. The inability to unwind from work has also been associated with issues such as anxiety, depression, concentration issues, sleep problems and fatigue. Sleep problems are one of the most common issues for people who can’t switch off from work, and if you can’t get a good night’s sleep because you’re worrying about work, you’re unlikely to be on top form mentally or physically the next day when you really have to get things done.
So what can be done?

It is becoming more and more important to stay ahead of the game. The key to success is not only working hard but also finding time for leisure to escape from work and distract your mind. If you’re tired and worn out, it’s much harder to be productive and enjoy your work, and you’re much more likely to make mistakes. But if you find it difficult to relax outside of work there is a remedy. Here are ten tips you can adopt in order to switch off and relax the mind when not working.  

At the end of the day develop an unwinding routine to signal the brain that you are leaving work. Wash your coffee mug, and tidy away your work station. Clear the clutter to clear the mind.
On the commute home try to unwind by listening to music or playing puzzles. If you drive, listen to the radio.
As soon as you enter your house, put away and hide anything to do with work (e.g., clothes, laptops, briefcase, lunch boxes etc.).
Find time during the day to give yourself 15-20 minutes just to relax, to let go, to reflect and unwind.
Find something outside of work to distract the mind. Develop a hobby that requires you to focus your attention on something else apart from work.
Don’t make working during the evening a regular habit. If you have to work during the evening, don’t work too late and set yourself a time limit and stop.
Make time to socialize with family and friends. When socializing make it a habit not to check emails or send work related texts.

Plan and take regular mini breaks and holidays. An estimated forty percent of workers don’t take their full holiday entitlement.
Try to exercise and eat healthily.
Don’t take on too much at work and don’t be embarrassed to say no to work.
Some jobs are inherently more demanding and mentally taxing than others. As we move away from a manufacturing to a knowledge economy, learning to flick the off switch is become an increasingly essential skill for survival. We need balance in our lives. Remember all work and no play made Jack a dull boy. If we don’t find time and learn to switch off, we are all in danger of burning out before we’ve even reached our best.