Support The Eco-Conscious Citizens Group's #ECCEnvironmentWeekend!

Friday, 5th June, 2020, is World Environment Day. In Ghana, the Eco-Conscious Citizens group has declared Friday, 5th June, to Sunday,  7th June, 2020, as Environment Weekend. Bravo to that committed group of environmental activists. May  God Almighty bless, protect and guide all its members - for it is nature-loving  citizens like them, who in the end, will save our nation's remaining natural heritage: which is the underpinning of the nascent green economy that we must grow in the post-COVID era, to create lasting wealth and jobs galore for our younger generations.

As a people, if we want to live in a prosperous society  that enjoys the health benefits of immune-boosting fresh oxygen-laden air, then, surely, we have to ensure the protection  of Ghana's oxygen producing trees and forests - as that is the most cost-effective way to escape the fate of being condemned to live in a nation enveloped by the miasma  of polluted air, over its built-environment, which the present fossil-fuel-powered national economy has lumbered us with?

Above all, we must all support the businesses  of Ghana's cohort of  enterprising and innovative green businesspeople, such as Eugene Kofi Boakye-Yiadom, Legon Botanical Gardens'  brilliant and hardworking CEO  - an environmental-activist-hero, who has made it possible for Accra's residents to have a lovely haven of nature, where they can go to have fun, and breathe in some fresh and healthy air, in a capital city whose air-quality is steadily deteriorating: and is responsible for the spike in respiratory diseases that we are seeing across most of urban Ghana, too, today, alas. #ProtectOurForestsAndWaters. #EcoConsciousCitizensGH, mu ye bue, ankasa. This coming weekend, one wishes all Ghanaians, a very happy #ECCEnvironmentWeekend!

Sent from Samsung tablet.

A Quick Note To Stephen Agbenyo - Who Founded Savanna Signatures

My dear Stephen,

There is so much work to be done in the Gomoa Buduburam Camp Liberia refugee settlement. It strikes me that by holding the hands, so to speak, of good and hardworking young people,  like Sam, Savanna Signatures could have a positive impact, in Camp Liberia - in many aspects of the lives of the youth there: in that cultural-melting-pot-of-many-nationalities.

An example, is the wonderful work Savanna Signatures does, to ensure good menstrual hygiene for young females,  to encourage them to focus on their education. Yet, another, is the platform offered young people, by your online television station and other multimedia channels.

In my humble view, a partnership between the entities, which the two of you lead, could replicate many of Savanna Signatures' programmes, for the benefit of all the residents of Camp Liberia. That would  free them from the baleful influence of a malevolent  mafia, which it is claimed, is exploiting them ruthlessly, through divide-and-rule tactics  -  according to bush-telegraph sources. 

Apparently, the said mafia operates  behind the veils-of-respectability,  provided by the Gomoa  East District Assembly, and the Ghana Refugee Board - both of which, luckily for us, are well-led, at the highest reaches: and are  both underpinned by the good governance principles, of transparency, and, accountability. We must thank God Almighty for such small mercies - as they will definitely welcome and support any collaboration between your organisation and Sam's ICT social enterprise,  which benefits  Camp Liberia's residents. Cool.

Thanks -  and do stay safe!

Kind regards,

Uncle Kofi. 

Sent from Samsung tablet.

Towards A Prosperous Post-COVID-19 Era In Ghana

Has the time not come, for it to be made clear to our ruling élites, that they ought to tell ordinary  Ghanaians, what disaster could possibly befall Mother Ghana, were  all Ghanaian families to be issued with  Bank of Ghana (BOG) Digital Cedis (DGC), to the tune of 250,000 each, to purchase  homes in new well-planned and well-built green cities (which will replace all our nation's urban slums), with, I ask?

The plain truth, is that it will be well-nigh impossible, to revive our national economy, after the defeat of the COVID-19 pandemic, in our country - if we don't adopt a radical approach to nation-building, in  the post-COVID-19 era: one that sets us on a course to developing a new green-economy, which empowers those in our base-of-the-pyramid demographic,  to bootstrap their way out of  the poverty-trap, to prosperity. 

A citizen-bailout will be the key to unlocking the undoubted creativity, and unbounded enregies, which most Ghanaians are blessed with, and will utilise, when given the once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity, which that citizen-bailout, represents. 

In addition to crediting each digital account for families, with the DGC250O, 000 per household;  they must, perforce, also all be issued with tax identification numbers (TIN),  to enable Ghana's tax net to be widened dramatically. 

Naturally,  in order to widen the tax net, we must set tax rates - for both individuals and enterprises,  at what should be the lowest in the world, bar none,  to create a culture of entrepreneurship in our homeland Ghana, and put our nation on the world map, that way. Cool.

And,  above all, we must make the agricultural sector tax-free, ban all inorganic fertilisers and synthetic chemicals used in farming in Ghana,  and, instead, use Apostle Kojo Safo-Kantanka's natural folair fertilisers and organic growth mediums, to transform farming in Ghana, into a sector that produces only  certified organic  agricultural produce, to boost our immune systems,  and make ours  a healthy society. 

Sent from Samsung tablet.

How To Effectively End Lies By Politicians Globally?

Would it not be wonderful, if there was a  new global pandemic, with a virulent  virus that struck only politicians,  and made them grow a tad shorter, and a little more  wrinkled, every time they lied, publicly?

Would that not immediately silence narcissistic and vainglorious  political figures, worldwide, one wonders? Wow. How, cool. Brilliant. Wonderful. And, about time, too?

The question is: Can someone  super-wealthy, please get genuis-boffins  into a bio-warfare lab, and get them cracking - to produce such a virus, asap, so that fed-up-citizens globally, who have had enough of being led by deceitful   idiot-genuises, can get some relief, and some permanent-respite, from moronic-ruination? Enough is enough. Haaba.

Sent from Samsung tablet.

A Quick Note To Comrade Kojo Chinebua

Bless you, Kojo, you hit the nail right on the head, paaaa,   oooo: most of Opana's people were corrupt. Speaking personally,   I respect everyone I come into contact with - from bolamen, to society's  high-and-mighty;  but I am also very 'unGhanaian' in my relationships. I have no real friends, as such, oooo, alas. Deliberately - for strategic reasons. 

When active as a media professional, in Ghana, I never took a bribe, to either kill a story, or promote an agenda, for greed-filled-bankrolling-lobbyists, as is apparently the norm in today's Ghanaian media world.

I deliberately have no friends  - because I happen to be pretty ruthless in not favouring people who break the law: even when they are known to me personally. Cool.

So, there will be no inner-circle, to ruin my tenure as President. Ever.  And,  2020, is simply the election year, in which one wants to have an influence on the national conversation about our post-COVID-19 future - and, above all, about the future of our new green national economy, which must be underpinned by AI and digitisation. Simple. 

Finally, in the post-COVID-19 era,  we must drop GDP as an economic metric - and, instead, measure good economic  management by governments, only by the impacts of economic policies on the overall happiness of our people, and the quality of their lives, seen by all, in  the high living standards they enjoy. Full stop.   

That simply means, for example, that instead of counting, as part of our GDP figures, chainsaw lumber produced by illegal loggers in forests, and the dirty-gold produced by galamsayers  (who invariably end up destroying valuable eco-systems in forests that are the watershed for river systems sourced for treatment to distribute as potable water nationwide), we rather focus on the protection of our forests, which are priceless national assets,  because they  provide us with life-enhancing snd life-giving fresh oxygen-laden air, which ensures a good quality of life, for all our people, Massa. Simple. Cool.

Sent from Samsung tablet.

Why Kofi Thompson Is Mulling Over Running For The Presidency In December 2020

One of the main reasons why I am running for President, in December 2020, is  because there are far too many armed robbers terrorising law-abiding Ghanaians, and getting away with it, because we have stopped executing people in Ghana.

Yes, I admit that I am short-tempered and cantankerous, as some of my critics point out, in condemnation of my candidacy. What is wrong with not being a hypocrite,  I ask? Who born dog?

At any rate, at least, I am incorruptible, and, as a confirmed-loner who is unclubbable, one has no cronies to form an inner-circle with, who will then sabotage one's  tenure as President, by using that privileged-insider-position to send their net worth to stratospheric heights, through secret sole-sourced-government-contract-kickbacks. Cool.

As President, one intends to ensure that Ghana becomes a disciplined nation, in which there are mandatory death sentences for: giving and receiving bribes; armed robbery; murder;  all forms of cyber crime; kidnapping;  and,  for being an alien living illegally in Ghana.   Full stop. Enough is enough. Haaba.

Above all, one intends to create an unprecedent economic boom, by ditching the pretence that somehow the Bank of Ghana (BoG) is independent,  and ordering it to create mandatory digital accounts, with it, for all Ghanaian citizens above  16 years in age, and crediting their accounts with digital Ghana cedis (DGC) 250,000,  to be used to purchase homes with, in new planned green cities across Ghana.

 

Incidentally, that DGC250,000 can only be spent in the digital economy's sundry mobile money platforms. Simple. And, by insisting that all such account holders with the BoG, have tax identification numbers, the tax net will be dramatically widened. 

Finally, by putting Ghana on the world map, as the nation with our biosphere's  lowest personal and business tax rates, one will make Ghanaians see paying their fair share of taxes, as a moral obligation, which helps mobilise taxes for the serious-nation-building-task of transforming GhanaIan society into an African equivalent of the prosperous egalitarian societies of Scandinavia. Ghanafuo, mupe waiy3, na mupe di3n? Cool.

Sent from Samsung tablet.

A Quick Note To Hon. Kojo Yankah - Who Founded The African University College of Communications

Indeed, Hon. Kojo Yankah - you are absolutely right in saying that the world has always needed Africa.  As you are keenly aware, as an African  educator of some note,  who founded one of Africa's leading tertiary institutions, the world-class African University College of Communications  (AUCC),  some of  the brightest and best of today's resurgent Africa's younger generations, who are well-educated and world-class, are powering ahead with a new digital economy that is underpinned not by raw materials, but by their creativity and unbounded imaginations.

An example is Raphael Afordoanyi's serendipitous game-changing clean power invention, which will enable all the nations in our biosphere, to be powered 100 percent, by emission-free green clean-power - beginning with the new reformist-minded leadership of Guinea-Bissau, signing an offtaker agreement to make their nation the first in the world, to take advantage of Raphael Afordoanyi's genius.

So, in effect a brilliant African mind, is going to ensure that humankind avoids reaching the climate-change-tipping-point-of-no-return, by making the world's fossil-fuel-powered power-generating sector obsolete, with his game-changing clean power invention. The world indeed still needs Africa, oooo, Massa. Cool.

Sent from Samsung tablet.

Sent from Samsung tablet.

A Quick Note To My Dear Son Jonathan Leiper

Darling boy, your cantankerous and bribe-refusing father, is now mulling running for President of the Republic of Ghana, in December 2020, oooo. Amanfuo, the die is  cast ooooo. Slogan: People and planet. Cool.

Mission: Get the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to open digital accounts for all Ghanaian citizens above 16, and credit each account with Ghana Digital Currency (GDC) 250,000, - as direct-citizen-bailouts to purchase homes with: as a sure-fire way to kickstart the national economy after Ghanaian herbalists finally find a cure for COVID-19, and we (at long last!) abondon all the nonsensical measures taken thus far as  whistling-in-the-dark protection-from-COVID-19-policies, just because precious White people still cannot find a cure for it. Cool.

Naturally, as a firm believer in the incentive-inducing-and-initiative-inspiring powers of a low tax regime, for both individuals and enterprises, tax identification numbers will be mandatory for all the aforementioned BoG digital account holders, oooo, Massa. Cool.

Environmental policy: Shoot illegal sandwinners, illegal loggers and illegal gold miners on sight -  to protect our forests from greedy criminal-types, and ensure constant availability of potable water nationwide. Ditto ensure the availability of fresh oxygen-laden air, nationwide, at all material times. Ghanafuo, munpe waiy3, na mu pe dien? Cool.

Sent from Samsung tablet.

Quick Notes To Kofi Boakye-Yiadom And Mike Peiman

Kofi Boakye-Yiadom, may  I humbly suggest that you  encourage our mostly-clueless media professionals, to visit the Legon Botanical Gardens,  frequently, for their own good (healthwise)? It will do wonders for them - help clear their minds to serve Mother Ghana, and the masses  better. Cool.

Furthermore, some of them, by telling their audiences that such visits to the gardens ought to be an integral part of their commitment to adopting healthy lifestyles (as the gardens happen to be a veritable source of fresh oxygen-laden air, in a capital city whose air-quality is steadily deteriorating, and resulting in the spike in respiratory diseases), might actually find redemption that way, from their many professional failings (especially for being the mercenary-lackeys of those brutally gang-raping Mother Ghana). Ditto their countless betrayals of the masses, wai, Massa. Cool.

Yewura Mike Pieman, you are a brilliant man, ooooo. To make that happen, please encourage the ever-busy Kofi, to touch base with Bola Ray, whom I once  spoke to - in a WhatsApp  voice note - about  the wonderful work Kofi is doing in the gardens, and, who  in response,  told me that it so happens that his parents frequent the gardens too, and he would thus be happy to promote the gardens.

So, in effect,  everything is actually in place, for such a PR blitz, to promote the famed Legon Botanical Gardens, oooo, Yewura Mike Peiman. Massa, as you are probably aware, Bola Ray is one of the few truly world-class media professionals, in today's Ghana - so different from the narrow-minded folk with  provincial-minds at the Daily Guide, for example. Read any of their biased and unintelligible editorials lately?  Heavy going, paaapa. Cool.

Sent from Samsung tablet.

A Quick Note To Afua Hirsch - Who Writes For The UK's Guardian Newspaper

Afua Hirsch, you are absolutely right in bemoaning the fact that Africans don't get the plaudits we deserve. Alas, that PR-abomination arises from the fact we are unjustly  held in contempt,  universally. Yet, there are so many positive developments across Africa, as we speak.

That notwithstanding, the future really does  belong to our younger generations. For sure. For example, the world will soon awake to a truly transformative power-sector  invention, by the brilliant Ghanaian inventor, the marine engineer Raphael Afordoanyi.

Thanks to Raphael's  genius, his game-changing, stand-alone off-grid clean power invention, will enable all the nations in our biosphere  to be powered 100 percent, by emission-free green clean-power, which never goes off, and is half current electricity tariff rates globally. 

That will finally make the global fossil-fuel-powered power-generating sector (responsible for most of the atmospheric pollution blighting millions of lives worldwide, as respiratory diseases spike  across our beleaguered biosphere), more or less obsolete - and save humankind from reaching the climate-change-tipping-point-of-no-return. Cool.

Sent from Samsung tablet.

Slums Should No Longer Be Acceptable In Today's Africa

The COVID-19  global pandemic, has demonstrated  clearly,  to humankind, that viruses have the potential to  destroy businesses,  and wipe out vital sectors of the  economies of nation-states, in all the seven continents of our biosphere.

And, since slums will remain dangerous hotspots harbouring viruses, and sundry-killer-pathogens, for as long as they are allowed to exist, wise African leaders must, perforce, be wary of them, and find creative ways of empowering slum-dwellers to move into  planned new green cities. 

Furthermore, if they are wise, the leaderships of even the poorest nations in the continent, ought always to come to the conclusion that in the longterm, for common- good reasons,  it will be far more cost-effective, to give slum-dwellers direct-bailout-cash (of say GHC250,000, to each individual slum-dweller above the age of 16, in urban slums across Ghana, for example), to purchase homes in new, well-planned and well-built green cities.

The abondoned slums can then be razed down, and new green cities built on the selfsame sites, to replace them, and provide modern purpose-built accommodation  for that  particular nation's younger generations.


In other words,  urban slums are, and will remain, latent-and-active-disease-infection-hotspots that are major public health risks, which, in light of the  devastating economic-impacts, of the COVID-19 global pandemic, are totally unacceptable in today's Africa, because the viruses and other pathogens  they harbour, might have the potential to wipe out the populations of entire regions, of  nations in the continent. Simply put, because of the threat they pose to public health, slums should no longer be acceptable in today's Africa. Cool.

Sent from Samsung tablet.

NASA HQ News: NASA Invites Public to Be Its Guests to Celebrate Historic ‘Launch America’

	May 21, 2020 RELEASE 20-055 NASA Invites Public to Be Its Guests to Celebrate Historic ‘Launch America’ NASA astronauts Robert Behnken, left, and Douglas Hurley speak to members of the media after arriving at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center ahead of SpaceX’s Demo-2 mission, Wednesday, May 20, 2020, in Florida. Credits: NASA NASA is inviting the public to help celebrate a historic milestone in human spaceflight as it prepares for #LaunchAmerica – the first flight into orbit of American astronauts on American rockets from American soil since the end of the space shuttle era in 2011. Known as NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 test flight, which is targeted for lift off at 4:33 p.m. EDT Wednesday, May 27, this mission will send NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Members of the public can attend the launch virtually, receiving mission updates and opportunities normally received by on-site guests. “Through NASA’s virtual launch experience, we make it possible for more people than ever to watch the beginning of this new era in human spaceflight,” said Bettina Inclán, NASA’s associate administrator for Communications. “We’re already seeing people participate online with the #LaunchAmerica hashtag and helping build the excitement for this historic moment.” To participate, members of the public can register to find a calendar of mission information, mission highlights, and virtual tours. To find out more, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/beourguest Demo-2 will be SpaceX’s second spaceflight test of its Crew Dragon craft and its first test with astronauts aboard. This final test flight prior to NASA certification and will provide data on the performance of the Falcon 9 rocket, the Crew Dragon and ground systems, as well as in-orbit, docking, and landing operations. The Falcon 9 rocket will launch from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. But, the excitement will be felt across the country and around the world, with virtual launch parties and other events to help usher in this new era of spaceflight as NASA and its commercial partners take the next bold step toward to send the first woman and the next man to the Moon by 2024 as part of the agency’s Artemis program. Live video coverage and countdown commentary begins at 12:15 p.m. May 27. Watch the launch and all prelaunch activities on NASA TV, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin. You also can share reasons you are excited for the launch on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag #LaunchAmerica for a chance to be shared on our social media channels.  But, before then, there are a lot of other ways people can get involved with this historic mission now. The virtual events taking place include: Virtual NASA Social For the first time ever, NASA is hosting a global “NASA Social,” an opportunity for social media users to get a behind the scenes view of the launch – virtually – and a unique way the public can celebrate the return of human spaceflight to American soil. The #LaunchAmerica NASA Social is taking the form of a Facebook group that any social media user can request permission to join by answering a few simple questions and agreeing to adhere to the guidelines of the group. In addition to connecting virtually with a community of people excited about the #LaunchAmerica mission, participants will be able to virtually tour NASA facilities at Kennedy and interact with NASA representatives in real time, as well as virtually view a launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. For more information and to register, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/social/launchamerica NASA STEM Engagement No matter where you are, you can celebrate this historic milestone with other members of the Artemis Generation. Students can share their excitement with webinars, virtual reality experiences and activities specifically designed for grades K-4 and grades 5-12. These and other exciting resources are available at: https://go.nasa.gov/CCPLaunchKit   NASA Television Coverage In addition to social media coverage, NASA Television will air a number of events leading up to, including, and following the historic launch. Continuous coverage of the mission on all NASA TV channels begins at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, May 27 and continue through Crew Dragon’s arrival at the International Space Station on Thursday, May 28, including the subsequent hatch opening and welcoming ceremony. The following events currently are scheduled to air live (all times Eastern). Please check the NASA TV schedule for the latest updates: Wednesday, May 20 4 p.m. – NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Mission astronaut arrival at Kennedy Space Center media question-and-answer session Thursday, May 21 No earlier than 6 p.m. – Demo-2 post-Flight Readiness Review news conference  Friday, May 22 2:15 p.m. – Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley virtual media question-and-answer session  Monday, May 25 No earlier than 6 p.m. – Demo-2 prelaunch news conference Tuesday, May 26 10 a.m. – NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine media availability at Kennedy’s Countdown Clock  Wednesday, May 27 Noon – Live views of the SpaceX/Falcon 9 rocket on Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center 12:15 p.m. – Live countdown coverage of NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station (launch scheduled at 4:33 p.m.) 6 p.m. – Demo-2 postlaunch news conference Thursday, May 28 11:39 a.m. – Docking of the SpaceX Crew Dragon and NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station 1:55 p.m. – SpaceX Crew Dragon hatch opening to the International Space Station 2:25 p.m. – SpaceX Crew Dragon and International Space Station crew media event aboard the space station Friday, May 29 11:05 a.m. – International Space Station Expedition 63 crew news conference with space station Commander Chris Cassidy of NASA and NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley 12:50 p.m. – International Space Station Expedition 63 in-flight event for SpaceX to mark the arrival of the Demo-2 crew The Demo-2 mission will be the final major step before NASA’s Commercial Crew Program certifies Crew Dragon for operational, long-duration missions to the space station. This certification and regular operation of Crew Dragon will enable NASA to continue the important research and technology investigations taking place onboard the station, which benefits people on Earth and lays the groundwork for future exploration of the Moon and Mars starting with the agency’s Artemis program.  Learn more about Artemis and NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach at: https://www.nasa.gov/moontomars -end-

A Quick Note To Ernest Aning - Who Comments On Facebook

Yewura Ernest Aning, I bet you also probably think that the masses of the Ghanaian people, don't  give a toss about which particular  entity amongst the NPP/NDC duopoly,  gang-raping Mother Ghana, so brutally, is in power,  at any point in time, because they  treasure a  democracy  that has legitimised  corruption of the worst kind? No? Hmmmm, Oman Ghana, eyeasem, ooooo. Ebeiiii.

Massa,  let us agree to disagree, wai - and wait to see how things eventually  unfold. I can tell you that apart from President Akufo-Addo, most ordinary people don't have much time for either those in his ruling party's regime,  now in power,  or the confounded John Dramani Mahama,  and his mostly-clueless lot, filled with avarice to a man.

Believe you me, the masses will happily welcome the next Jerry Rawlings, who will not necessarily be a military man, and could even be a woman,  if he or she proscribed those two criminal-enterprises,  know respectively, as the new Patriotic Party (NPP),  and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and established a government of national unity, led by President Akufo-Addo, and consisting of the brightest and best minds in our country, and across the global Ghanaian Diaspora, wai, Massa.

In any case, time will tell who was right in this particular conversation. So let us agree to disagree, wai, Massa. Hmmmm. Yooooo. Eeiiii, Oman Ghana, eyeasem, ooooo - enti yewieye paaa enei? Asem kesie ebeba debi ankasa!

Sent from Samsung tablet.

A Quick Note To Bulldog - aka Mr. Lawrence Nana Asiamah

Dear Mr. Lawrence Nana Asiamah,

I saw you on Nana Ama McBrown's interesting entertainment programme, on UTV, last night. As always, you were very impressive. One isn't surprised that you are known widely in Ghana's music industry, as the  plain-speaking boss-player, Bulldog.

In that regard, may I humbly make the point, to you, that your industry will only prosper, and grow, if you focus on asking for only one favour, from the government of Ghana: that it should make the creative arts industry of our national economy, a tax-free one?

That  will immediately attract world-class talent from abroad, to do collaborative projects in Ghana, online, with leading local  players,  such as your very talented  and charismatic charge, the great Shatta  Wale - and finally make him  the dollar billionaire his talent deserves toturn him into.

To me,  he has the best chance, amongst players in Ghana's music industry, of  becoming a global superstar, like the late iconic Jamaican reggae  star, Bob Marley,  eventually  became.

Incidentally, a South Korean steel company, Dosco,  has ambitions to expand its footprint, into the global music industry.

Despite being scammed by a Ghanaian-American conman, a Mr. Segbefia, I am pretty  sure that  they will willingly collaborate with you, to access the South Korean internet  music  streaming industry.

However, it is vital that you contact them only  through the South Korean Embassy in Accra. That way,  they won't be afraid of dealing directly with you.

I must admit that I admire the nous and gumption, underpinning your aggressive approach to doing things, and which is making such waves for you, amongst your peers in our nation's dynamic younger generations.  Keep up the good work, Mr. Asiamah  - and regards to your much-gifted charge, the genuis Shatta Wale. Above all, do stay safe!

Thanks.

Kind regards,

Kofi.

WhatsApp: +233576564600.

A Quick Note To Ms. Fatu Dukuly

Hello Ms. Dukuly,

Thank you so much for your kind words. Actually, it those dynamic young people - such as your good self - who inspire one, when one meets them, and fire one's imagination so. 

Thus one treasures one's friendships with the intelligent,  hardworking and ambitious young people, who one comes across, from time to time. You are our continent's future. Literally. 

Speaking of which,  please consider this as an e-introduction to Mr. Sam Hanson, who wants to help young people in Camp Liberia - which, incidentally,  in one's humble view, is a unique African multinational cultural-melting-pot that we should all treasure - to empower themselves, by offering  them ICT courses, as part of a livilihood skills training initiative,  to enable them bootstrap their way out of the poverty trap.

Thanks - and do stay safe!

Kind regards,

Grandpa Thompson.

WhatsApp: +233576564600.

Sent from Samsung tablet.

Hernaes.com/Christoffer Hernæs: Finding the sweet spot in the customer value chain

Skip to content

hernaes.com

Innovation – Finance – Technology

Finding the sweet spot in the customer value chain

May 19, 2020 0 Comments

In an age where digital distribution challenges every industry, companies should take their time to understand their position in the supplier/distributor relationship. Should you provide an unprecedented user experience and distribution platform, or should you develop content to those platforms? There is no definitive answer, and depending on your starting point, there are various recipes for success.

Ever since digital disruption became a household term in the business world, fear of disintermediation has been a dominating narrative in every consumer-facing industry ranging from media, retail, and banking. As a result, companies are investing heavily in digital initiatives with the goal of maintaining and solidifying the customer relationship, while still attempting to ride (at least) two horses at once.

There is no definitive answer to which position is objectively the best, it depends on your starting point, prerequisites and ability to build and maintain one or more competitive advantages, ambitions for growth, operating margins and capital returns.

The other part of the equation is your ambition and future strategy. Will you attempt to take on multiple roles, attempt to transition from one state to another or pick a position, and divest any stakes where you decide to abandon? The million-dollar question as you set up and quantify your starting position against your ambition is does the equation add up?

In order to get there. It is important to break down and have an understanding of the different roles in the customer value chain.
With the rise of the platform economy, we are now in a time, where distribution reigns supreme as the most favorable position, but the pendulum has swung both ways. In 1996, Bill Gates published an essay coining the term; content is king in stark contrast to today’s incitement towards taking on the distributor role. Some say that content is still king, but distribution is the queen who runs the show, and context is god. Even though this debate is deeply rooted in digital media, it is as relevant whether your content is a video game, musical recording news article, or a home loan, and the list goes on.

For most companies, it is tempting to go straight for the distribution role, as this in many cases is a highly favorable position. This is where customer interaction takes place, and thus forming customer relationships and building brand awareness and potential loyalty. From my point of view, there is a gap between holders of the distributor position and those who actually manage to leverage this position.
In order to leverage this position, one should invest in the right tools and competence to harness customer insight through the collection of data from customer interactions.

A well-defined data strategy, as well as a robust API-based technical platform, is at the heart of leveraging a distributor position.  Important metrics for success in this category could be active users, customer acquisition cost, conversion rates, product penetration, and overall customer profitability. A lack of correlation between usage and profitability could lead to a widely used, but non-profitable platform.

It is also important to evolve alongside shifts in technology and customer behavior. There is no lack of examples where incumbents have shown overconfidence in brick and mortar distribution networks that have been outcompeted by digital challengers.

However, a digital distribution platform is also only as good as the content and/or products available on the platform.

This symbiotic relationship between distribution platforms and content and product providers is perhaps best exemplified through the video game industry. The popularity of any distribution platform has traditionally been tied to the available content on the platform.  In order to attract players to your platform, the traditional go-to way of building an audience is by platform exclusives like Super Mario, Zelda, Uncharted, and Halo. This has resulted in distributors investing in their own proprietary content as well as incentivizing game studios to develop exclusive IP for their distribution platforms, thus creating favorable conditions for producers of quality content.

On the other side, traditional game developers like EA and Ubisoft have launched their own distribution platforms to circumvent the dominating position of for instance Steam in the PC gaming segment.

However, the most dominating factor to influence the customer value chain in the gaming industry is the rise of online and social gaming. As players want to interact with their friends, they become platform ambassadors, giving gaming distribution platforms an inherent network effect. New business models have also emerged as game distribution has transitioned from brick and mortar to digital.

Taking on a pure content or product provider role should be seen as an attractive position for those who set out for a product-centric strategy. Depending on the industry, taking on this position should put emphasis on cost-efficient processes, product lifecycle management, creating an aftermarket, and/or proprietary add-ons that ensure cross-sales without the reliance of one specific distributor.

At the end of the day, various positions in the customer value chains are not mutually exclusive. It boils down to setting up the equation that map out your alternative plays.

Take into account that there will most likely be combinations of ambitions and prerequisites that will be mathematically impossible. Stay clear of attempting the impossible, focus innovation around your core business, while at the same time, be wary of changes in your surroundings that can create opportunities to make it worth to adjust course underway.

Share this:

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
• 
  

Is your strategy fit for a digital world?April 23, 2018In "Leadership"

The definitive guide to open bankingAugust 7, 2019In "Open banking"

Strategic choices in a new world of bankingOctober 22, 2018In "Banking"

• ← Ny finansavtalelov tar digitaliseringen baklengs inn i fremtiden
• 
  

Recent Posts

• Finding the sweet spot in the customer value chain
• Ny finansavtalelov tar digitaliseringen baklengs inn i fremtiden
• How COVID-19 accelerates digital transformation
• Building a data-driven organization
• Should we care about central bank digital currencies?

Tags

API Artificial Intelligence Banking Bitcoin Blockchain Brexit Business model Compliance Convergence Crowdfunding Digital Digital Ecosystems Digitalization Disruption ecommerce Facebook Financial Inclusion Financial Services Fintech Game Development Gaming Google Innovasjon Innovation Insurance Investments IoT Leadership Lending Nintendo Nordics Open banking P2P Lending Payments Politics PSD 2 Security Sharing economy Startups Strategy Tech Transactions Valuation Venture Capital Wealth management

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 4,029 other subscribers

Email Address

This is the personal blog of Christoffer Hernæs. Passionate about innovation, business development and digitalization.

Copyright © 2020 hernaes.com. All rights reserved.
Theme: ColorMag by ThemeGrill. Powered by WordPress.

A Quick Note To Quame Inkansa Agyai

Quame Inkansa Agyai bravo. You are walking the talk, so to speak. Well done.  Look up www.ecocoboard.net and www.cocopallet.com.  

And, it might also interest you to know that harvested industrial hemp (not wee, oooo, Massa!), from a 100 acre farm, exported to Portugal, in a deal brokered by the Industrial Hemp Association of Ghana,  fetched a Diasporan Ghanaian resident in Portugal, and his partners,  US $56 million (if I remember correctly). 

(Incidentally, Greenentrepreneur.com forecasts that the African cannabis market coukd reach US$7.1 billion by 2023.) 


It is the aspirations, and practical actions,  of hardworking young men like you, creating wealth and jobs across rural Ghana - through agribusiness ventures - that will eventually  save our country from the brink, in the POST-COVID-19 era. Good luck - and stay safe, above all! Cool.

Sent from Samsung tablet.

A Quick Note To Husk Power Systems

Dear Husk Power Systems,

Just as a matter of interest, since there is synergy between what you currently manufacture, and his game-changing serendipitous invention,  if given the opportunity, would you collaborate with the brilliant Ghanaian inventor, Raphael Afordoanyi, to make available to humankind, what is indeed the holy grail of the global power industry, and is light years better than one that was purloined and helped the American renewable energy consultant, Eric Ingersoll,  to win an Obama-era White House Change Maker prize for renewable energy?

This is the background story:

https://www.modernghana.com/news/962292/why-eric-ingersoll-must-now-tell-the-world-the.html

Please note that such a win-win partnership, will eventually transform Husk Power Systems, into the world's most valuable green energy company, with a positive global footprint  - which finally frees humankind from its dependence on the  fossil-fuel-powered power-generation sector responsible for the bulk of the atmospheric pollution warming our biosphere, so dangerously, and pushing us towards the climate-change-tipping-point-of-no-return.

A green post-COVID-19 future for humankind beckons - one in which Husk Power  Systems enables every nation on earth to be powered 100 percent by emission-free green clean-power at tariff rates far cheaper than is currently the case worldwide.

Look  forward to hearing from you soon - and do stay safe!

Thanks.

Kind regards,

Kofi.

WhatsApp:+233576564600.


Sent from Samsung tablet.

A Quick Note To Ohemaa Paapabi Esi Yankah

Ohemaa paaapabi Esi Yankah,  your father (God bless him) will tell you that if we looked to our past and regularly  consulted those steeped in the art and science of ancient African herbal healing, we might have found a way to protect ourselves from such terrifying and econony-wrecking-pandemics, by now. So please  do so, too, wai.

And, above all, we must just stop those who aren't embarrassed by that dreadful and unhygienic habit of spitting everywhere,  by arresting them, trying them swiftly, and sentencing the sods to do two years community service sweeping the filth-laden  hard shoulders of our urban roads. Simple. Cool.

Your charming and erudite father is a super-wise man. He is also an honest,  very, very qualified and good-looking enough (yes, that matters hugely in elections worldwide,  believe you me, so you can live in hope of becoming Ghana's first female President someday, wai,  Ohemaa paaapabi),  to replace that serial-philanderer and cynical lifelong-playboy, the wastrel John Dramani Mahama, as the National Democratic Congress' (NDC) compromise presidential candidate, wai.

But then, the confounded NDC is so fixated with the endless-dosh John Mahama brings to the table, that they want yet another  chance to steal the campaign money they all await from the former President,  and his super-wealthy bro, Ibrahim (Alhaji Creosus).

Ohemaa paapabi, in case you aren't aware of it, the sods blew the last lot of campaign funds they stole,  on  bleached-skinned fast-living-women with expensive-tastes, according to bush-telegraph sources.  Idiots. Serves them right they lost power. Imagine them having the temerity to insult J. J. Rawlings. Aahhhhhh. Who born dog, I ask? Haaba. Morons. Cool

Sent from Samsung tablet.

A Second Quick Note To My Favourite Nephew Kofi Boakye-Yiadom

Nothing is impossible, favourite nephew. One day it might happen. Who knows tomorrow, as we say in Ghanaian pidgin English. We love tradition paaapa in Ghana. Fine. OK.

So, it follows a priori, does it not, that we therefore then abolish political parties, which, although established with the best of  intentions, have evolved into egregious-criminal-syndicates, today, and, on the basis that everyone Ghanaian over 16 is a royal qualified to vote, elect a King or Queen of Ghana? Simple.

Shorn of the powerful criminals that dominate their inner-circles, what elected  Ghana Omanpanin, from even our present-day super-cynical political  world, won't adopt and implement your bright green-idea, with a light railway line for commuters to use to access the protected areas you have delineated so cleverly, Massa?

Small boys are young, wai, favourite nephew. One day, one day, it could actually happen. Not so far-fetched, oooo. Nothing is impossible, oooo, Massa.

Not when the ramifications of COVID-19, could very well lead to the sudden coming of the next Jerry Rawlings, who might most probably emerge as the saviour of what is left of our natural heritage, by swiftly implementing a shoot-to-kill environmental protection policy, to end illegal sandwinning,  illegal logging and illegal gold mining, nationwide. Hallelujah. Amen. Case closed.  Cool.

Sent from Samsung tablet.

A Quick Note To Hon. Abbas Fuseini Sbaabe

Massa, for your information, Zongo residents across Ghana, are smart enough, to understand the difference between the manifold benefits of immunity-boosting dawadawa, and the present harsh-reality of the non-availability of a cure for COVID-19, wai. Haaba.


They also actually realise that the President was recommending dawadawa as an immune system booster, not as a cure for COVID-19. Ghanaian politicians (especially from the criminal NPP/NDC duopoly), should stop using COVID-19 as a political football.


It is a real pity that politricks has blinded so many of our nation's politicians, and made it impossible for them to understand clearly that COVID-19 is a dangerous pandemic, which could destroy our national economy - a hell-on-earth-situation in which we will all definitely end up becoming losers: rich and poor alike. Yooooo...


Abass Fuseini Sbaabe, wake up: You are highly-intelligent, and a very sensible gentleman who happens to be an achiever-of-note. Stop acting as if without that John Dramani Mahama who toyed with the power (with arrogant morons like Stan Dogbe as his inner-circle-gatekeeper), which achievers like you worked so hard for, to enable your accursed party to eventually return to power again, you cannot rise to the top in the Ghanaian political world, yourself too. Massa, you can, and you will, but under your own steam.


Abass Fuseini Sbaabe, you will definitely rise to the top one day for sure, oooo, Massa - but it will not be the insouciant-philandering-playboy, John Dramani Mahama, who will make that happen for you, wai. Enough is enough.


When the next Jerry Rawlings finally strikes, and sets up a government of national unity, with President Akufo-Addo as it's leader (finally shorn of the baleful influence of the likes of Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko), and sets about undertaking a high-level-corruption-busting 'house-cleaning' exercise, you will finally come to realise the egregious harm your very, very careless John Dramani Mahama, did, to Mother Ghana. Be wise, wai, Massa. Haaba.


Sent from Samsung tablet.

NASA HQ News: NASA TV to Air Launch, Capture of Cargo Ship to International Space Station

May 13, 2020
MEDIA ADVISORY M20-058
 
NASA TV to Air Launch, Capture of Cargo Ship to International Space Station

Image of Japanese cargo vehicle HTV 8 captured by ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano during his Beyond mission on the International Space Station. Posted with the text "After Kounotori 4, this is the second HTV I have the pleasure to photograph: Kounotori 8." Credits: ESA/NASA/L.Parmitano

NASA will broadcast the launch of a Japanese cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station beginning at 1 p.m. EDT Wednesday, May 20, live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are scheduled to launch the unpiloted H-II Transport Vehicle-9 (HTV-9) on a Japanese H-IIB rocket at 1:30 p.m. (2:30 a.m. Thursday, May 21, Japan time) from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan.
The spacecraft will arrive at the station Monday, May 25. Live coverage of rendezvous and grapple will begin at 6:45 a.m. Capture of HTV-9 is scheduled to occur around 8:15 a.m. HTV-9 will approach the station from below and slowly make its way toward the orbital outpost. Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy of NASA, with assistance from Russian Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos, will operate the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm from the station’s cupola and grapple the 12-ton spacecraft.
Coverage of HTV-9’s final installation will resume at 9:30 a.m., when flight controllers in mission control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will take over robotic arm operations and berth HTV-9 to the Earth-facing port of the station’s Harmony module, where it will remain for two months.

The cargo craft will carry more than four tons of supplies, water, spare parts and experiment hardware for the station crew, including six new lithium-ion batteries needed to complete an overall update of the station’s electrical system. The batteries and corresponding adapter plates will replace aging nickel-hydrogen batteries for two power channels on the station’s far starboard truss segment (S6) through a series of spacewalks by the station’s crew members planned for later this year. This is the final set of new batteries to be launched to the station as part of an overall upgrade of its power system that began in January 2017.

This also will be the final flight of this class of resupply spacecraft, named “Kounotori” – the Japanese word for white stork. The cargo craftlaunched on its maiden mission to the orbiting laboratory in September 2009. JAXA is developing a new class of HTV vehicles that will provide a reusable pressurized cargo section and the ability to carry more cargo due to its lighter weight. The new HTV-X vehicles will dock automatically to the station’s International Docking Adapters with the first flight scheduled in 2022.

For nearly 20 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked on the space station, testing technologies, performing science and developing the skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Through NASA’s Artemis program, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon by 2024, with eventual human exploration of Mars. Inspiring the next generation of explorers – the Artemis Generation – ensures America will continue to lead in space exploration and discovery.
Get breaking news, images and features from the station at:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/

http://instagram.com/iss

https://www.facebook.com/iss

http://www.twitter.com/ISS_Research

http://www.twitter.com/Space_Station

-end-

Wither Heads The Candidacy Of John Dramani Mahama?

Wither heads the candidacy of John Dramani Mahama? Speaking personally, the ruminations of an old wag I know, about the subject, illustrate perfectly, the dire situation faced by the candidacy of John Dramani Mahama, against a firmly established incumbent President,  seen widely as a credible and competent leader, albeit one saddled with a dubious and greed-filled ruling  New  Patriotic Party  (NPP), which is as egregiously-criminal, as the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress  (NDC), too, as a political party. 

"Massa, case closed. Mrs. Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings. We salute you, Madam. Wu ye bue, ankasa, wai, Ohemaa. You have summed it up perfectly: President Akufo-Addo is repairing the 8-year damage caused by the Mahama government,  ampaa, ooooo."

 "Kofi,  the candidacy of that sodden wastrel, John Dumelo,  sums up John Mahama's NDC perfectly. "Is it not instructive, for example,  that  at a time when the repercussions of our national economy's financial services sector's egregious-fraud,  are still being felt across Ghana;  that ace-sponger, John Dumelo (who isn't registered to give out loans), is distributing what he deliberately categorises as 'soft loans'? It is a political-sleight-of-hand designed to hide the illegality of vote-buying in a contest against an effective incumbent (who happens to be a woman of virtue who has worked hard all her adult life and is a serious and solid achiever). The sod."

"Kofi, a perpetual-useless-man, who, according to bush-telegraph sources, is said to have sponged-off wealthy women, for most of his adult life, is a parliamentary candidate, for a political party dominated by philanderers-of-the-worst-kind, guided by the alleged rapist, that arrogant Stan Dogbe, said to be gatekeeper for the Philanderer-in-Chief, John Dramani Mahama.  It sums up the current state of the Mahama candidacy perfectly. Hmmmm, Oman Ghana, eyeasem ooooo - enti yewieye paaa enei? Asem kesie ebeba debi ankasa, oooo. Hmmmm. Yooooo..."

  

Sent from Samsung tablet.

An Open Letter To Tamara Morris

Hello Tamara,

Thanks for your quick response. And thank you so much for your words of commiseration (consoling us on the death of my dear wife, Christiana Amihere, the brilliant dress designer). That is very kind of you.

I just hope the Sarnos are OK. As it happens, I am aware that Margie had a cousin in New York State. Doubt that she is alive now,  though. 

Then there was Bizz who had naturalised as a UK citizen, and now resides in England. Then Georgiann her Pennsylvanian friend. Just glad that we helped her regain her happiness when she left Mr. Doolin.

I understand  perfectly, and respect your  electing not to involve yourself, in an undertaking in a far-flung place,  another continent away, from North Carolina.

Finally, Margie really chose well in selecting your funeral home, to manage the ceremony to mark her departure from the world-of-the-living, when she passed away. You are a very, very good person. Thanks for everything. Wish you well - and do stay safe.

Kind regards,

Kofi. 

PS. Is there a trade association of U.S. suppliers of equipment for funeral parlours - especially for crematoriums that you could give us a link to, perhaps?

Sent from Samsung tablet.

Ghanaian Politicians Must End Their Inane Bickering Now

There is no question that as a people, we face possible economic disaster (total collapse of our national economy, that is) in the post-COVID-19 era. Yet, Ghana's sly political class, continues bickering. To quote an old wag I know: "Unbelievable. Abominable. Unspeakable. Unpardonable. What fools!"

What we desperately need, today, as an aspirational and civilised African people, dear reader, are innovative ideas about the transformation of our currently-beleaguered society, into a resilient green economy that guarantees a good quality of life for all Ghanaians - not inane arguments about stupid and irrelevant issues: in a world that's fast disappearing, as it happens.

As my old wag of a friend puts it: "Kofi, enough is enough. Haaba. Morons. Clueless. Greed-filled. Super-stupid. They will all roast in the hottest part of hell, when they pass away, if they don't end this egregious-foolishness." We concur. Wholeheartedly.

As it happens, some of us are fed up to the back teeth, with their endless-idiocy - and we are now praying for the next Jerry Rawlings to strike: and set up an emergency government of national unity, consisting of the brightest and best minds in our country, and in the Diaspora, under the leadership of the principled, firm and focused President Akufo-Addo (finally shorn of his arrogant, sly and mostly-clueless inner-circle, like that sod, the narcissistic Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko!).

The next Jerry Rawlings will then focus on a thorough housecleaning exercise to rid Ghana of high-level corruption, directed by Hon. Martin Amidu, finally freed from the shackles of deliberate-red-tape, obstruction and endless-obfuscation.

Ghanaian politicians must end theit inane bickering, now. Not tomorrow. Haaba. Hmmm, Oman Ghana - enti yewieye paaa enei? Eyeasem oooo - asem kesie ebeba debi ankasa. Yooooo. Hmmmm...