Drama, drama, drama. Apparently music is not working for Africa's digital entertainment powerhouse iROKO Partners. iROKING, the company's Spotify clone, may soon be no more. Considered one of Nigeria’s leading digital music platforms, it showcases some of the country’s most prolific and exciting artists. Since launch, the platform clailms to have recorded over 350-million YouTube hits for its artists and over 1.1-million users downloading tracks from its online and mobi platforms every month. According to a press release by the company, ...

It’s no easy feat becoming an entrepreneur in emerging markets, especially since one’s entrepreneurial potential is so often stunted by the onerous bureaucratic processes involved in setting up a business and raising capital. For this reason, the advent of micro-finance has ignited hopes that micro-entrepreneurs would now have one less obstacle in their way. But has micro-finance really lived up to these expectations? A report compiled by the World Bank called Financing Businesses in Africa paints an interesting and unexpected ...

No, Samsung has not just announced it's embarking on some sort of human experimental space mission. Instead, the Launching People campaign will focus on bringing support to entrepreneurs in South Africa. The company announced today that, starting next year, it will be giving people the chance to "unleash their potential" by teaming them up with renowned mentors, gain startup funding and cutting edge products to help them on their entrepreneurial journey. Samsung's Launching People imitative was first introduced in France a ...

When you consider that each of our stories are largely unique and that a great portion of success is situational, trying to come up with a one-size-fits-all plan for succeeding is probably close to futile. And yet, with the benefit of hindsight, we are able to uncover puzzle pieces that might fit into our own stories. It's been just a little over two years since the passing of Apple's co-founder, but the legacy of Steve Jobs and in particular the ...

Every day, more and more people in India gain access to broadband internet via either mobile or desktop. Because of its massive population, India is set to be the next big market for multinational companies to dig their claws into. And unlike China, which holds protectionist policies against foreign tech firms, India has remained relatively open. But as global giants come pouring in to gain a foothold, India’s local startups are putting up a fight for the country’s fresh-faced internet users. What they ...

I think most entrepreneurs should dedicate some time out of their week just to watch TED Talks. It might seem silly or a waste of time -- after all, you are trying to build an empire here. That is why you should do it. Being an entrepreneur is not easy and sometimes you need a little bit of inspiration to keep you going. These seven talks explore some of the reasons why entrepreneurs are needed in society and why entrepreneurial thinking ...

From emergency wristbands to innovative gaming and web-based solutions, one of South Africa's most prominent startup accelerators, Seed Engine, today announced the six local startups taking part in its second business programme. Chosen out of 300 applications, the six potentially disruptive ventures which are currently undergoing a 12 week business bootcamp, will receive R100 000 start up capital, and over R300 000 in additional benefits. In return, Seed Engine gains a 20% stake in each business. Seed Engine CEO Marc Elias ...

Failure is basically being encouraged in Silicon Valley. The old-time favourite “failure is the greatest teacher” saying seems like their daily bread and butter. In South Africa on the other hand, there is a general fear of failure when it comes to risk-taking that makes the process much more intense, where the crazy ones are more likely to survive. With good reason, of course. Hard truths Five out of seven small businesses started in South Africa will fold in the first ...

Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO at Airbnb was onstage last Friday with Sequoia Capital’s Yinglan Tan as moderator at the National University of Singapore (NUS) to talk about his experience building Airbnb. If you don’t know Airbnb, then you probably haven’t travelled much. Airbnb is the largest online marketplace to list and rent holiday homes and rooms around the world. To date, the San Francisco startup has over 500 000 listings, serving over 8.5-million guests across 33 000 cities and is ...

It seems that Rocket Internet is establishing its commercial investments in areas outside of the usual fashion ecommerce startups more and more. The incubator has launched its newest venture Carmundi -- an online marketplace for vehicles in emerging markets. Initially, the service will offer an estimated 700-million users based in Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar the opportunity find, buy and sell cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles online. Before today the service was publicly known as Carmido in Africa, Ubiauto ...