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Another roadmap to sustainable cocoa production
There is no doubt that cocoa is currently blazing a trail. Now regarded as one of the market’s best performing commodities, it has defied the current global meltdown that is sending shivers down the spines of economic policy makers. The price of the commodity that is also known as the ‘Tree of Life’, in fact, hit a 23-year high last December.
Coming at a time when the price of crude oil is sliding in the international market, the average price of cocoa keeps appreciating, with London and New York March deliveries standing at $2,581.6 per tonnes as at early January. Expectations are high that the price may peak at $3,000.
This is surely a good development for West and Central African countries which accounts for 70 per cent of the world’s cocoa output. From Nigeria through Ghana, and down to Cote’d’Ivoire and Gabon, cocoa is currently enjoying a boom. In South West Nigeria, which is regarded as the cocoa belt of the country, accounting for 70 per cent of Nigeria’s annual production of 242,000 metric tonnes, cocoa merchants are reaping a bumper harvest, with the price going as high as $2,148 per tonnes.
In the Ashanti region of Ghana, commercial activities in the cocoa sector are currently at the peak. While output for last year stood at about 650,000metric tonnes in Ghana, with a projection of about 700,000 tonnes for the cocoa season, Nigeria put up a not-too encouraging 242,000 metric tonnes as at the end of last year.
In Nigeria, for instance, the free fall of the naira against the dollar is also giving cocoa a boost as the commodity is valued in dollar at the international market. The story is not different in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire as increasing demand, buoyed by increasing value addition, is pushing up the price of the commodity.
Market watchers, in fact, believe that the price may go up further as the shortfall in Cote d’Ivoire’s output of 396,000 metric tonnes from the previous season’s 721,413 tonnes is bound to affect supply as the country alone accounts for between 35 and 40 per cent of the world output. Bush fires in Ghana, low rainfall in the West African region and the unsustainable methods of production had resulted in the low production recorded despite increasing demand.
Placing the development in proper perspective, Michael Owusu-Manu, Head of the Economics Department at the Cocoa Producers’ Alliance (COPAL), an intergovernmental organisation with headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria told THISDAY that what is pushing up the price is because “consumption is increasing and output is decreasing.”
Owusu-Manu stated that “more value addition is also taking place in Ghana, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire,” adding “the dollar is getting stronger, thus making the real rate of cocoa higher, when compared to what we had about six months ago.”
While all of these, ordinarily, should offer a ray of hope and be seen as a good development for a region in dire need of full control of its produce at the international market, analysts are worried as to how long the boom will last, with concerns being raised over declining productivity in the face of increasing demand.
Owusu-Manu confirmed this fear; saying despite the current boom, cocoa production in West and Central Africa is not done in a sustainable manner. According to the COPAL official, African farmers are still cultivating larger expanse of land for fewer yields as against what obtains in other regions where smaller farmlands are producing higher yields.
The total area under cultivation worldwide in 2007, he disclosed, was 7,415,081 hectares with production standing at 4,043,784 metric tonnes. Out of this, Owusu-Manu said, Africa which cultivated 4,738,232 hectares produced 2,614,749 metric tonnes whereas America with 1,486,004 hectares produced 108,398 metric tonnes.
The COPAL official further stated that Asia and Oceania with only 731,345 hectares produced 1,140,963 metric tonnes during the period.
Explaining further, he said Asia and Oceania showed a good potential of overtaking Africa as its yield per hectare stood at 772 metric tonnes whereas in Africa, the yield per hectare was 539 tonnes with America recording 327 tonne per hectare in 2007.
This scenario, Owusu-Manu said, poses a great challenge as Africa may eventually lose its prime position to other regions with sustainable methods of production, with Asia and Oceania strongly showing great potential.
It is important to note that the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) has defined sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Given this premise, Owusu-Manu, therefore, affirmed that cocoa production can only be said to be economically sustainable “when it is at all times sufficiently attractive for small holder farmers to properly maintain their farms, rejuvenate their farms as required and to buy the necessary production tools and inputs to achieve optimal yields.”
Maintaining that cocoa farming “should be seen as a business and not a destination,” he said with farm size in most West and Central African cocoa-producing countries averaging one-and-a-half to two hectares, the farm family cannot earn enough to get out of poverty. What is therefore needed, he affirmed, is “a system that allows cocoa to play a strategic role in improving the livelihood of cocoa farmers, their families, communities and the country concerned.”
Stakeholders, it must be noted, had also expressed concerns at the gloom starring the sector in the face, despite the apparent potential that could be derived. Only last October, about 250 delegates from the COPAL member countries converged on Kumasi in the cocoa-producing region of Ghana for the ‘African Academies Cocoa Symposium 2008’.
The aims, among others, were to come up with a vision for cocoa in West and Central Africa in the next 30 years; to develop the logic to get there; and to secure commitment to a partnership for the future of cocoa in the region.
Sponsored by MARS Incorporated in collaboration with COPAL, and co-sponsored by the Governments of Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia and Togo, the Kumasi gathering, which had as its theme, ‘Theobroma cacao: the Tree of Change’, was a follow-up to the 2006 cocoa symposium that was held in Washington DC, United States of America.
Bringing to the fore the role of science in ensuring sustainable production, delegates at the symposium agreed that socio-economic development could also be achieved through remunerative incomes for farmers even as they stressed the need for ensuring that the environment precursors to meet future’s demand are put in place.
Realising the absence of, and the urgent need to create a “Cocoa Partnership for the Future,” the overarching objective of the Kumasi meeting was to determine the status, trends and future scenarios for cocoa production in the region and how they relate to the increasing global demand.
Delegates at the conference took a cursory look at the development in the African cocoa industry and listed the problems in the sector to include “multiple constraints both in policies as well as social, economic and environmental limitations.”
According to the delegates, these limitations had to do with lack of new sources of agricultural land and ambiguous land tenure; low soil fertility and high land degradation; lack of new and improved planting materials; low education and employment opportunities, poor road and communication infrastructure; inadequate nutrition and health in working population, especially in women and their children.
The limitations identified also include an aging population as well as dwindling interest in cocoa farming among many of the youths; high incidence of poverty and few opportunities to climb out of poverty; high risk of pests and disease as well as weak extension services and poor knowledge dissemination.
Before coming up with what is now known as the Kumasi Cocoa Agreement, representing the views of policy, industry, donors, scientists, farmers and others, the delegates brought to the fore the critical implications of a scenario where “productivity achieved (in the region) is below that achieved in other regions” just as they affirmed that gains made so far had “occurred at the expense of massive losses to biodiverse forests.”
They lamented that “the sector has lost competitiveness and risks losing its leadership position on the global market at a time when increase in demand for cocoa exists due to its health/nutritional benefits as well as greater purchasing power in emerging markets.”
While noting that the future of the African cocoa industry is fragile and unsustainable, they called for “an urgent need to address the many challenges faced by cocoa farmers in order to expand production and returns within a revitalised multifunctional, agricultural sector – making cocoa an engine of change of the rural economy.”
COPAL Secretary-General, Sona Ebai, in his presentation: “Making it Happen, Production Possibilities,” focused on how the cocoa sector in West and Central Africa can continue to play a pivotal role in socio-economic development while at the same time become a dependable source of supply to the world market and contribute to a sustainable world cocoa economy.
Providing an overview of the world cocoa economy, indicating strengths and weaknesses of cocoa production in the region, Ebai noted that the greatest weakness was low productivity and inefficiency, resulting from several challenges in the sector.
He said for West and Central Africa to be competitive in the global scene, farmers need to improve productivity, become more efficient and improve the quality of produce. These, according to him, can be achieved with the necessary support from government and industry in addressing all the identified challenges to ensure a brighter future.
Erstwhile world number one cocoa-producing country, Cote d’Ivoire, presented a pathetic picture at the meeting. In a paper entitled ‘Agro-forestry and Durable Cocoa Farming in the Context of Forest Shortage’, Alex Asiri of the Abidjan-based Centre National de Recherche Agronomique (CNRA) said that more than 2,000,000 hectares of land was under cultivation , with a production volume of more than 1,200,000 tonnes, which, of course, translates into 38 per cent of world product.
Asiri disclosed that this was leading to the exhaustion of forest reserve due to aging of the existing area under cultivation. Ironically, as espoused earlier by Dr. Daniel Sellen of the World Bank, Cote d’Ivoire, in his presentation, “The Ivorian Sector: Recent Developments,” the country had the lowest farm gate prices and the taxation on cocoa in the region.
The World Bank, according to Sellen, is therefore recommending a profound restructuring of the Ivorian sector to ensure future development through improved competitiveness and equitable distribution of value addition. Good governance, a cocoa development strategy, as well as a reduction in sector taxation, Sellen disclosed, were therefore fundamental to the World Bank’s agenda in Cote d’Ivoire.
Alan Fredericq of the Archer Daniels Midlands Co., (ADM), in a paper titled “African Cocoa: (on) Sustainable Leadership?’ which focused on the strength and weakness of African cocoa as a world leader, disclosed that the world cocoa consumption was growing in relationship to the world Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
According to him, “cocoa is one of the three most preferred flavours worldwide with a wide range of uses, and consumption enhanced by the recent findings on the health and nutritional benefits.” He contended that even though Africa accounts for about 71 per cent of world cocoa production, and 15 per cent of grindings, cocoa production in the region still has to be sustainable.
Fredericq insisted that for Africa to retain its position as world leader it has to take advantage of its strengths and opportunities, while at the same time improve its image, regarding production and quality by building a positive consumer image.
With the price of the commodity on the ascendancy and the worrisome drop in production despite increasing demand, farmers in West and Central Africa need to take drastic steps for the region to retain its leadership position. Only by doing this, and very fast too, with the support and collaboration of all stakeholders, can cocoa production be seen to be a sustainable venture, with farmers reaping bountifully from their toil.
Until this is done, only time will tell if whether partnership for the future, could be formed for cocoa in producers in West and Central Africa.
Credit: Olaolu Olusina
Source: This Day


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Bright ideas are hard to pull off. For every Chrysler minivan or Ford Explorer four-door SUV, there are dozens of one-hit wonders and new concepts that failed to catch on. The Pontiac Aztek, an unholy combination of minivan and SUV, is the classic example, but there have been many others through the years.
As the model year winds down, U.S. and Korean automakers are trouncing their Japanese rivals.
|More than half of middle-class kids fail to earn bachelor's degrees|
|How Ferrari maintains its mystique|
|'Deliberate crash' a huge blow to Lufthansa|
|Stocks likely to fall further. Earnings stink|
|It's getting harder to afford a home|

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New Small Business Center launched in Mattapan
Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the Office of Economic Development (OED) today launched Boston's Small Business Center in Mattapan, designed to serve as a one-stop neighborhood resource for small business owners and entrepreneurs. Following a nine-week program in Mattapan, the City of Boston Small Business Center will travel to East Boston and then on to Roxbury to provide resources for small businesses throughout Boston. To celebrate small business owners citywide, Mayor Walsh will also kick-off "Mayor on Main," a three-day event that will highlight Boston's Main Streets (BMS) districts at the end of June. During Mayor on Main, Mayor Walsh will visit small businesses and present the 21st Annual Boston Main Streets Awards, which recognize an outstanding business owner and volunteer from each district.
"Small businesses and their owners are the backbone of our City, representing the character and diversity of our communities," said Mayor Walsh. "All neighborhoods deserve the chance to have a thriving center, and that's why I'm so proud to begin the City's Small Business Center in Mattapan. I am committed to supporting small businesses in each corner of our City, and am thrilled to be able to recognize over 35 owners and volunteers with the Boston Main Streets Awards."
Boston's 40,000 small businesses fuel the City's economy and generate $15 billion in annual revenue, and 170,000 jobs. The Small Business Center will serve as a one-stop neighborhood resource for small business owners and entrepreneurs ready to grow their businesses. In addition, Boston is focused on empowering minority and women-owned businesses. Entrepreneurs of color comprise 32 percent of all Boston businesses, generate $2.7 billion in revenue and employ 32,000 people, while 35 percent of small businesses in Boston are women-owned.
In partnership with more than a dozen leading business service organizations, the City of Boston's Small Business Center will provide high-impact professional training, networking and one-on-one coaching sessions during the first nine-week summer series in Mattapan.
To celebrate the achievement and contributions of small businesses in Boston, on June 28, June 29 and July 1, Mayor Walsh will lead trolleys to 12 Main Streets districts in Boston, and will be joined by representatives of Boston Main Streets foundations and boards, and members of his cabinet. In each district, Mayor Walsh will recognize outstanding business owners and volunteers to celebrate the 21st BMS awards.
"The Boston Main Streets Foundation is proud to stand with Mayor Walsh in creating a city devoted to developing small businesses," said Joel Sklar, President of the Boston Main Streets Foundation. "We are pleased to support the launch of the City of Boston Small Business Center and the Mayor on Main trolley tour and provide investment and opportunity for businesses across the entire city."
Mattapan's Small Business Center and the Mayor on Main visits are a result of Boston's central planning initiatives: Boston's 2016 Citywide Small Business Plan and Imagine Boston 2030, both of which incorporate community feedback to continue building a thriving, equitable City. Boston's Small Business Advisory Council has also worked to prioritize establishing a Small Business Center.
Mayor Walsh's five year small business plan aims to make the small business economy thrive, to enhance neighborhood vibrancy and to foster economic and social inclusion and equity. To accomplish these goals, the Plan proposes policies and programs to foster a high-quality, efficient support system for all small businesses; to develop tools, programs, and policies to address specific gaps in key small business segments that are vital to the city's economic growth; and to enhance opportunities for entrepreneurs of color, immigrants and women to launch and grow small businesses across the city.
In addition to the City of Boston, the Small Business Center is supported by Bank of America, which has provided a $100,000 grant to the Boston Main Streets Foundation over the next two years. The grant supports the launch of the City of Boston Small Business Center and a series of neighborhood recognition events aimed at celebrating economic successes while raising the visibility of local businesses.
"Bank of America is committed to supporting the small businesses and entrepreneurs making Boston such a compelling place for community, commerce, and -- most importantly -- economic mobility for all," said Miceal Chamberlain, Massachusetts President for Bank of America. "We are honored to play a role in advancing the City of Boston's economic-equity agenda to support technical assistance, access to capital and capacity-building for small business owners in our neighborhoods."
As part of Boston's commitment to fostering and empowering small businesses, Mayor Walsh today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with more than 12 business services organizations to provide high-impact trainings to neighborhoods with dense pockets of small businesses. These partners specialize in business operations, legal services, access to capital and strategic planning. Organizations that have signed the MOU include:
- Center for Women & Enterprise
- Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE)
- Mattapan Square Main Streets
- Mayor's Office of Financial Empowerment
- Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD)
- English for New Bostonians
- Northeastern University School of Law Community Business Clinic
- Roxbury Innovation Center
- U.S. Small Business Administration
- Boston Public Library, Mattapan Branch
- Commonwealth Kitchen
- Tech Goes Home
- Mass Small Business Development Center
- Mattapan Community Health Center
- MA Office of Business Development
- Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)
- Boston Main Streets Foundation
The Mayor's Office of Economic Development aims to promote a healthy environment for businesses of all types and sizes in the City of Boston. The Office of Small Business Development is Boston's front door for small businesses, providing navigation help for permitting and licensing, technical assistance and certification for local, women, minority and veteran owned businesses. For additional information, visit boston.gov.About Boston Main Streets
Boston Main Streets (BMS) provides funding and technical assistant to 20 neighborhood-based Main Streets districts throughout the City of Boston, and has served as a national model for urban areas seeking to revitalize neighborhood commercial districts including Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Milwaukee, Detroit, New Orleans, Seattle and Portland, Oregon. Boston Main Streets continues to empower individuals in the small business sector to have a direct role in the economic health, physical appearance, and development of their own community.
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- Published by: Economic Opportunity and Inclusion


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GTFPower, a near-nationwide startup solar contractor, has started operations from its base in DeBary.
The company will sell and install products for solar roofing, battery backup storage, electrical data management, and electric vehicle (EV) accessories for residential and commercial needs, said CEO David Vance, who has been involved in various leadership positions in the utility and solar industry for 30 years.
GTFPower is initially launching operations in the Florida market, as well as markets in Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming, Vance told The Beacon.
“We have people and installers in each state,” Vance said. “We’re going to add another six states next year.”
GTFPower can be reached at 888-315-5557 or through its website, gtfpower.com.
Send us your news — We want your business news. Send news items and photographs via email to firstname.lastname@example.org. Please include a contact telephone number. When sending photos, please send high-resolution, uncropped files, and identify the individuals pictured.
— Compiled by Business Editor Joe Crews


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Maybe Instagram was a “people you may know” suggestion for Facebook for some time.
Today Facebook and Instagram announced that Facebook would buy Instagram for $1 billion in cash and Facebook’s soaring shares.
And, as is the case in much of the recent tech boom, these two companies have been running in the same circles, even if they hadn’t come into direct contact until now.
One of the earliest investors in Instagram was Andreessen-Horowitz, the venture capitalists run by Marc Andreessen, who has sat on Facebook’s board since 2008. The co-founder of Netscape has become a sort of Silicon Valley Godfather to the new generation of internet companies including Mark Zuckerberg, and here his fund is in position to make a bundle.


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Apple earlier this week set purchase limits on its new MacBook Air and iPad Pro models, all of its iPhones, and the Mac mini on its online store in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, and numerous other regions.
While there is no mention of purchase limits on Apple’s website, except for in Asia, the quantity limits are in place during checkout.
As reported by MacRumors, the new MacBook Air and Mac mini are limited to five per customer, while the new iPad Pro is limited to two 11-inch models and two 12.9-inch models per customer. There is a limit of two iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 11, iPhone XR, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus models per customer.
Purchase limits are a common occurrence in some Asian countries, as Apple attempts to combat sales of its devices on the gray market. However, these purchase limits could be part of an effort to balance supply and demand during the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.


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Posts tagged “Buy Nothing Christmas”
January 2, 2013
Kalle Lasn and Adbusters were featured in a New York Times article on December 22- just before the holidays, and at the peak of the shopping season. For years, Adbusters and Lasn have been waging war on global consumption, and this year was dubbed “Buy Nothing Christmas”.
“‘As our planet gets warmer, as animals go extinct, as the humans get sicker, as our economies bail and our politicians grow ever more twisted,’ Americans just go shopping, Adbusters says on its Web site. Overconsumption is destroying us, yet shopping is ‘our solace, our sedative: consumerism is the opiate of the masses.’
“‘We’ve got to break the habit,’ Mr. Lasn said in a telephone interview. ‘It will be a shock, but we’ve got to shift to a new paradigm. Otherwise, I’m afraid will be facing a new Dark Age.’”
The article delves into Lasn’s history, his rise to becoming the iconic figure that sparked the Occupy movement last year, and his commitment to social and economical revolution- not to mention his love for memes.


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|By PR Newswire||
|December 26, 2013 09:10 AM EST||
NEW YORK, Dec. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:
This is the most in-depth report on the Indian Media and Entertainment Industry currently available prepared by a combination of International and Indian researchers who know the market inside and out. If you're a media owner looking to enter the Indian market or need to keep abreast of key changes and developments, this is the report you need to keep you up-to-date in this fast moving, rapidly growing market.
This Report dives the Indian macro economy, and provides a thorough overview of the media landscape in India. The report outlines who the important foreign and domestic players are, will show you what competitors are doing and also identify potential partners (see companies covered for more detail).
The Report provides analysis of the current market conditions and growth forecasts out to 2016 and in some cases 2025; useful in helping you ascertain which areas represent most opportunity.
Areas covered include:
- Macro-Economic Overview and Trends
- Television, Print, Digital Media, Radio, and B2B (including events, Healthcare, Infrastructure, Environment, Education, Travel, Civil Aviation and Automotive) industries
- M&A, PE, VC across various sectors
- Advertising, consumer behaviour, People and Demographics
- Share of Average Household Consumption
- Major players across all of the above sectors
- Key challenges and outlook (to 2016 and beyond)
- Regulatory Environment, FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) policies
- Mobile and Internet adoption
- See table of contents for full listing
Many media companies have bought this complete report from East West Information Services to help with market entry strategy and due diligence in the Indian media market.
a) The macro-economic outlook
India is the world's second most populous country with a little over 1.2 billion people and is already ranked 3rd in terms of its PPP ranking, representing around 2.98% of world GDP in 2012. By 2030, India will almost certainly be the world's third largest economy in absolute terms, also. (By 2050, some would predict that it will be the largest).
But this is a market which has remained largely closed to foreign media companies until relatively recently when, in 1991, the cumulative impact of past policies and changing world economic trends meant that India faced a severe foreign exchange crisis. The government moved then to remove some of the regulations governing investment, including many although not all restrictions on foreign investment. This trend has continued, with planned changes to restrictions within the retail sector among the latest developments. The pace of foreign investment is now accelerating.
Despite the recent slowdown in the Indian economy, we are convinced that the fundamentals remain strong and that the country will return to significant growth.
India is not immune to the economic difficulties in the west, although given its growing domestic consumption, it is perhaps more resilient than other nations. The government has to some extent engineered the slowdown to combat inflation and that is showing success and can soon be relaxed. The government has also been criticised for a lack of decisiveness and it is true that there appears to be a power-vacuum at present, which will probably not be solved until after the next general election (due in 2014, but possibly even sooner). Thankfully, India has always been a nation of entrepreneurs and they will continue to drive India's growth, in spite of government bureaucracy and indecision. (If China's growth is 'planned and top-down', India's will inevitably remain more bottom-up.)
In terms of the fundamentals….bear in mind that whilst the populations of the west are increasingly ageing and mostly suffer from excessive debt and unaffordable long-term commitments, India has a population of 550 million people under the age of 25, education levels are rising rapidly, a high proportion of young Indian are highly tech- savvy and personal and government debt are low.
People and Demographics – Growing Middle Class
The Government of India defines the middle class as the mid socioeconomic class (SEC C). The National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) defines the Indian middle class as those whose annual household income falls in the income group of $4,000-$21,000. It comprises people who are employed at clerical or supervisory levels, skilled workers, petty traders or shop owners. The purchasing power of the middle class is increasing rapidly, with considerable potential to grow further still. Armed with increased disposable income, their spending on various products has also increased, most rapidly, as you would expect, on discretionary items
Mobile phone handsets provide a good example. The highest percentage of mobile ownership is among the Indian middle class; according to TGI India, 42% of all mobile phone owners in the country are in this socio-demographic group, representing more than 330 million consumers. Mobile will transform the fortunes of many industries in India, including, of course, the media and entertainment industry.
Real household disposable income has more than doubled since 1985. In the next decade, the middle class will be the dominant section of the Indian population
The change in consumption from necessities to discretionary items mirrors the pattern of developed economies, but at an accelerated pace. Commodities such as cars and air-conditioners, which were in the past considered luxury items, are now considered 'necessities'. In fact, small car ownership in India has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 12.7 percent for the period 2004-05 to 2010-11.
Other industries have also followed the history of western economies. For instance, in the case of apparels the tradition of buying tailored shirts has been replaced by a rising demand for ready-made shirts. The movement from disorganized to organized industrial models is transforming every part of society, from branding and advertising, to supply chains.
Impact of the rising middle class on economic growth
The rise in per capita income of the growing middle class will further propel urbanization.
According to McKinsey & Company, in 2005, around 53 percent of the consumption was in the rural area but by 2025, 62 percent of the consumption will be in the urban area. This will lead to development of the smaller cities, which are now growing at a very fast pace. These cities will host a large number of the middle class and by 2025 around two-thirds of the Indian middle class will be outside the big metro cities like Delhi and Mumbai.
The use of financial services by the middle class is likely to give a push to the growing trends of retail banking and credit card usage. The middle class will also demand better healthcare and education services with a willingness to pay, creating opportunities for the commercial sector
Their discretionary expenditure on recreation activities, leisure travel, and entertainment and luxury items will increase. As income increases, the middle class will not only diversify their consumption baskets, but will demand better quality of and innovation in the products they purchase.
b) The Media Economy
The Indian E&M industry, with revenues of about USD 17.2 billion in 2011, is set to grow robustly over the next few years on the back of steady macro-economic growth, rising spending power and positive demographic indicators. The industry revenues are expected to reach USD 37.6 billion by 2016, with a CAGR of about 17% from 2012 to 2016.
Currently, India is only the 14th largest E&M market in the world with industry revenues contributing about 1% of its GDP.
Indians between the age group of 18-26 are more tech savvy and spend more time on the internet than any other media, as well as being the highest consumers of media, in general
We are confident that the media economy will remain in high growth, beyond the overall economy. There are two main drivers: Growing literacy and slightly improved affluence in the rural areas and smaller cities, above subsistence levels, mean that the market for newspapers and regional language media continues to be robust and will show growth for many years. Simultaneously, among India's middle class, digitisation in TV, an increase in the number of FM licenses in radio, and the growth of smart phones and broadband connectivity, all mean that the media revolution experienced in the west during the past few decades is now being experienced in India, too, but within a compressed timescale.
The fundamental social change affecting all consumer media is the focus on self-improvement, which will last for at least a generation from now. Simultaneously, growth in income levels is driving expenditure on homes, travel, cars and other needs beyond the most basic and increase in leisure time is driving interest in hobbies and other interests beyond the work-related.
The change affecting B2B media is the transformation of India's business structures, from fragmented to organized.
We believe that there are two big questions concerning India's media development, of importance to the higher SEC groups and of principle concern to international investors:
- What impact will digital transition have on TV economics….both the transition of cable to digital set-top boxes and the growth of DTH?
- At what pace can the roll-out of smart phones be anticipated, with either wi-fi connectivity, or 3G/4G subscriptions?
We believe that the answer to both is that over the period of the next decade, these drivers will utterly transform the media sector in India. Neither impact will be instantaneous or follow a straight line. But the correct attitude to the market at this point is to become sufficiently engaged to understand the market and the changes taking place.
Potential Game Changers
Advertising Spends: Television and print dominate the advertising segment in India, with over 80% share of revenue. Digital advertising spend will now rapidly accelerate in absolute terms and proportionately.
Advertising Spends for Television: Television advertising will also increase at pace.The television audience in the country has been on a high growth path, enabling advertisers to reach out to a larger segment of the Indian population. As a result, advertising budget allocation has slowly shifted its focus from other advertising media to this platform. Limited data about the specialist audiences different channels provide has held the medium back from its full potential and will be corrected.
Consumer Spends: Consumers will remain reluctant to pay high prices for content – a strongly ingrained cultural phenomenon. However, rising disposable incomes will lead to some growth in expenditure on TV and mobile subscriptions. There will also be an increasing willingness among the affluent to spend on media perceived as luxury items, such as glossy magazines.
Increasing penetration of Cable and satellite television: While the existing penetration of cable and satellite television is around 83% of television households, there exists a sizeable disparity between different states. For example, locations such as Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore have cable & satellite television reaching more than 90% of total television households, while states like Orissa and Assam have a relatively lower penetration, with a potential for significant growth. This, coupled with the rising popularity of multi-television households indicates that a penetration potential is even much higher.
Digitization of Media Delivery: The digitization of cable networks will help deliver high quality content to Indian viewers and also reduce the incidence of value leakage from the industry. Further, the number of channels delivered to consumers will increase substantially. Digitization will also help drive the uptake of HD channels and value-added- services such as pay-per-view (e.g., movies), encouraging higher consumer spend and delivering higher profitability to broadcasters.
Driving Internet penetration: Internet penetration in India is around 7%, but growing at a very fast pace in India. Infrastructural development in rural areas will help internet to reach to every part of India.
Mobile induced transformation: Increasing mobile and internet penetration is expected to positively impact digital media. Affordable broadband service combined with user comfort is likely to result in shift towards digital medium.
The need for quality information by business: The dramatic change to the structures of almost all industries within India, will make the B2B media sector one of the highest growth. The sharp rise in domestic consumption and the resultant pick up in manufacturing and services industry activity has attracted many overseas corporations to look at India for marketing, partnership and sourcing. B2B events and conferences have provided these players – both foreign and local – a platform to understand and evaluate the market opportunities and market participants better.
Regulatory and Policy Support: Significant policy initiatives such as the liberalizing of FDI have already been taken by the government to facilitate faster growth of E&M sector. Mandatory digitization is a key policy measure which is expected to improve the TV sector's profitability and aid growth in the long term. Lot needs to be done by the government in terms of bringing clarity in its regulatory policies. Policy makers' inordinate delay in policy announcement and failure to adhere to implementation timelines are some of the areas which continue to frustrate. But despite many drawbacks, India has many positives and assurances to offer: a vibrant democracy and a very active judiciary system.
This report contains is a combination of four separate reports with additional commentary and M&A, VC, PE deal coverage. The individual reports can be viewed through the links below.
1. Executive Summary 08
a) The Macro-Economic Outlook 08
People and Demographics - Growing Middle Classes
b) The Media Economy 09
2. Macro-Economic Overview 12
a) Overview 12
b) The Indian Consumer Landscape 17
Share of Average Household Consumption
Four Key Segments
Composition of Consumption Expenditure Across Segments
3. The Indian Television Industry 26
a) Executive Summary 26
Television Channels (Broadcasters)
Content & Rights
b) Macro Market View 28
c) Distribution: DTH and Cable 32
Overview DTH (Distribution - Satellite/Direct to Home)
En Route to Digitization: Trends, Concerns and Challenges
Indian Television Industry - Stakeholder Revenue Chain
d) Television Channels 38
e) Content Production 42
Overview Key Players
f) Regulatory Implications 48
Multi-Service Operators (Cable Distribution Companies)
Local Cable Operators (Lcos)
4. The Indian Print Industry 50
a) Executive Summary 50
b) Macro Trends 52
c) English Versus Vernacular New Daily Publications 55
d) Revenue Share by Category 56
e) Growth Outlook 59 Rising literacy to add more readers Regional Power Shift Localization of content
Players go Pan India, not content with regional leadership
High cover prices
Expanding reach with the help of regional languages Digital rehash
f) Key Challenges and Issues 63
High cost and volatility of newsprint prices
Limited talent availability
FDI investment Cap Impact of new wages bill
g) Evolving Business Models and Digital Developments 65
Advertiser-Print Media Barter (Stake for Space)
5. The Indian Digital Media Industry 66
a) Executive Summary 66
b) The Internet Infrastructure in India 66
c) Consumer profile and behavior 76
India Internet Consumption & Behavior
d) Digital market sub sectors summary 84
Commerce and Transaction
Mobile advertising Mobile Applications
Factors driving growth in mobile apps
Overall digital prospects and development
e) Key verticals and major players 94 Consumer Digital – Segmentation
Growth of India's Top Social networking Sites
Usage of India's Top Social networking Sites
Content & Entertainment
f) Appendix – Detail on Digital Advertising 102
6. The Indian Radio Industry 106
a) Overview 106
b) Major Private FM Operators 109
c) Key Challenges and Future Outlook 109
7. The Indian B2B Media Industry 112
a) Overview 112
Architecture, Construction, Engineering (Ace) and Construction Equipment
B2B Media Presence
Healthcare & Medical Equipment
Infrastructure (Roads, Ports, Railways)
Travel & Tourism Automotive Industry
b) B2B Magazines Market 123
Ad Revenue Vs Circulation Revenue
Future Outlook and Growth
Factors contributing to the growth of the B2B publishing market
Key Challenges In The B2B Publishing Market
c) The B2B Events Market 130
Company Profile Event Management Companies
Key Venues Profile
d) B2B Digital Media Market 142
Ad Revenue Vs Subscription Revenue
Cost Break Up
E-Commerce Trade Directories & Info Services
8. Mergers & Acquisitions (last 2 years) 148
Television & Film Industry
9. PE&VC – M&E (last 2 years) 151
10. Key Player Summaries 152
Media Conglomerate 153
TV Content Distributors
The Global Digital Industry behemoths in India
Other Digital Media companies
Major Indian Players
Indian Digital Media Companies – Part Of Large Media Conglomerate 178
India Express Group
11. FDI Policy for Media 191
12. Market Pulse (Quarterly) - Available via separate subscription
Aditya Birla Group
Alcatel Lucent, Ericsson and Huawei
Amagi Media Labs
Amar Chitra Katha
Amazon Transportation Services Private Limited (ATSPL)
Ananda Bazar Patrika (ABP) Group
Angel Agritech Group of Companies
Angel Cinevision and Media
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group
Avitel Post Studioz
Axe Angels Club
B4U Network Television
BAG Films and Media
Bennett Coleman and Co (BCCL)
Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited AKA The Times Group
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)
Bharti Airtel group
Bombay Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC)
British Sky Broadcasting
Burda Druck GmbH
Business Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
CanvasM (A Motorola - Tech Mahindra JV)
Caufield & Byers
Chennai Trade Centre
Conception Events & Entertainment Pvt Ltd.
Council of Architects (COA)
Dainik Bhaskar Corp.
Dainik Bhaskar School for Media Education (DBSME)
Dainik Jagran Group
Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Cochin, Chennai, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Tiruchi,
Thiruvananthapuram, Visakhapatnam, Port Blair, Mangalore, Agatti, Pune Airports
Department of Higher Education
Department of Road Transport and Highways
Discovery Communications India
Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG)
Disney Publishing Worldwide (Dpw)
Divya Prabhat Publications
Edumedia India Pvt Ltd
Eros international Media
ESPN-STAR Sports (ESS)
Exhibition India Group.
Express Group Business Publications Division (BPD)
Future Publishing Limited
Gemini New Media Ventures
Gingersoft Media Pvt. Ltd.
Global Media Management LLC
Golden Goenka Fincorp
Government of India (GOI)
Hannover Milan Fairs
Hathway Cable & Datacom
HCL, Karbonn, Micromax, iBall, Micromax
Headland Capital Partners,
Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd (HMVL)
HSBC Principal Investments
HSBC Private Equity (Asia) Ltd
HT Burda Media Ltd.
HT Media Limited
HT Media Ltd
Human Resources and Development ministry
I Media Corp
I media corp ltd. (IMCL) – Part of the Dainik Bhaskar Group
iAds & Events
iBiquity Digital Corporation
India Today Group Digital – part of the India Today Group
India Today Group/living Media
Indian Institute of Management (IIM)
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)
Indian Readership Survey (IRS)
Indian Readership Survey(IRS)
IndusInd Media & Communication
International Typesetting and Composition (ITC)
Investment Commission of India
ISRO Indian Space Research Organisation
ITPO (India Trade Promotion Organisation)
Jagran Prakashan Group
Journal Registry Co.
Jungle Book untold stories
JV Media Pro
KAL Cables (Sumangali)
Kal Radio, South Asia
Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
Kingdom of Dreams
L Capital Asia
Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd
Media Content and Communications Pvt Ltd (MCCS)
Micromax, Karbonn, Lava
Ministry of Company Affairs
Ministry of Environment and Forest
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
MMRDA Grounds (BKC) Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC)
MRUC (Media Research Users Council)
MSM Discovery Pvt. Ltd.
Multi Screen Media
Multi Screen Media (Sony Entertainment Television),
Multi -screen media limited
Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd.
Navi Mumbai, Goa, Durgapur, Kannur, Saras Greenfield airports approved
Network 18 (E 18)
Network 18 Group
Network18 Media and Investments
New Delhi Television Limited
New Enterprise Associates (NEA)
Next Gen Publishing
Next Gen Publishing Ltd
Nielson's TAM group
Nimbus Communications Group
Nokia Growth Partners
NRSC (National Readership Studies Council)
Only Much Louder
Paramount Films of India
Prime Focus London
Purple Advertising Services
Reed Business International
Reliance ADA G Entertainment
Reliance BIG TV
Reliance Broadcast Network
Reliance Industries (RIL)
Reliance Industries Limited
Renewable Energy India
RSCI (Readership Studies Council of India)
Sahara one Media & Entertainment ltd
Samsung Mobile India
Sistema Shyam Teleservices (MTS India)
SMS Gupshup - Webaroo Technology India
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Television
Sri Adhikari Brothers
STAR DEN Media Services
Star Den Networks
Star India Pvt. Ltd. (SIPL)
Star Network/ News Corp.
STARIndia Pvt. Ltd. (STAR)
SUN Network Group AKA SUN 18
Sun Network Limited
SUN Tv Network
Sun TV Networks
Sun18 Media Services North Co.
Sun18 Media Services South Co.
Supreme Court of India
Synergy Media Entertainment
Synergy Media Entertainment (SMEL)
TAM Media Research
Tata Teleservices (TTSL)
TDA Group Publication Services
The Adventures of Vanayu
The Indian Express Group
The Indian Express Limited Group
The One Alliance
The Pure Media
The Times of India
The Times of India Group
The Times of India Group/ BCCL
TheOneAlliance (MSM Discovery)
Times Internet (TIL)
Times Internet Limited – Part of the Times Group
Times of India
Times of India Group
Trading Gate FZCO
TRAI Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
TripAdvisor Media Group
Turner International India Pvt Ltd
Turner International Private Limited
TV 18 group
TV Today Network
United Business Media Limited
UTV Interactive – Part of the UTV Media Group
UTV Software Communications Ltd
UW Software Communications
ValueFirst Digital Media Company
ValueFirst Messaging Pvt. Ltd.
Viacom 18 Media
Vox Mobili SA
Walmart Labs research
Walt Disney India Company Pvt. Ltd
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (WDSHE)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (India) (WDSMPI)
Walt Disney Television International (India)
Whats On India
Wolters Kluwer Health
World Media Connect LLC
Zee Entertainment Enterprises
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited
Zee Motion Pictures
Zee Network Enterprise
Zee Turner Limited
Zodius Capital Others
20 Sun Network channels
3G India Forum
Aaj Tak, Business magazine
Agri Power Expo
Airport Cities Exhibition & Conference (ACE)
Airtel Digital TV
Anand Bazaar Patrika
Android 2.2 OS
Android 2.3 Gingerbread
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
Android 4.0 Operating system
Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
Android from Google
Android Jelly Bean 4.1.1
Android v4.1.2 Jelly Bean
Arm Cortex A5
Bata India Limited
Bigg Boss (TV Programme)
BPO India Forum
Byond Phablet PIII
Caller Back Ringtone
Champion Wtab 705 Talk
China International Exhibition & Symposium on Dental Equipment, Technology & Products
Construction and Design
Content (Youth Focused, Live Events, Music)
Cosmopolitan Indian Edition
Counter India Terror India conference
CRN ( www.crn.in )
Daily Bhaskar (www.dailybhaskar.com)
Dainik Bhaskar (www.dainikbhaskar.com)
Dainik Bhaskar mobile short code 54567
Digital Cinema Systems
Digital Content Distribution
Dil Dosti Dance
Disney Channel (DC)
Disney Channels Worldwide
Divya Bhaskar (www.divyabhaskar.com)
Divya Bhaskar (www.divyabhaskar.com)
Divya Marathi (www.divyamarathi.in)
Divya Marathi (www.divyamarathi.in)
DJ World Indian edition
Electronic Program Guides
Energy Expo Surat
ESC India (Embedded Systems Conference)
Express channel business
Express Group (Express Computer)
Express Technology Sabha -
Express travel world
Fear Factor (Indian version)
Federated Media Publisher
Femina, the lifestyle magazine
Food Hospitality World
General Knowledge Today
Great India Travel Bazar
HBO Sony Mix
Heat Treat and Surface Engineering
Hockey India league (HIL)
Humse Hai Life
Hydra Vision India
India Today SMS (52424)
India Today Voice (5052424)
Indian Premier League (IPL)
Industrial Expo Surat
Information Week (www.informationweek.in )
Infrastructure Excellence Awards
iOS from Apple
Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao (TV Programme)
IT Enabling Green
IT for Manufacturing
Jagran Josh (Education Portal)
Jagran Junction (bilingual blogging site),
Jagran Post (Online News Portal)
Jagran Yatra (Travel Information Portal),
Karbonn Smart A111
Kaun Banega Crorepati (TV Programme)
Khatron Ke Khiladi (TV Programme)
Love Kiya To Darna Kya
LU60 uplink technology
Malaysian International Furbiture Fair (MIFF)
Media Tech (Local Ads Targeting)
Men's Health Indian Edition
Micromax Smarty A65
Microsoft India Store
Mint Luxury Conference
Mirror for Mumbai
Mobile news alert service – 56388
Modern Food Processing
Modern Machine Tools
Modern Packaging and Design
Modern Plastics and Polymers
Multiplex (ln-mall Entertainment)
My FM (www.myfmindia.com),
N pack Today
NDTV.com, its sub-sites NDTV Profit
News Agency (Financial News)
Nokia Lumia 920
OMG from Yahoo
Pirates of the Caribbean 4
Pixar Animation Studios
Post Production Services
Power Generation India & Central Asia
Prince of Persia
Production (Film TV)
Project 1 Reporter
Radio Audience Measurement (RAM)
Reliance Big TV
Renewable Energy India exhibition (www.renewableenergyindiaexpo.com)
Rolling Stone Indian edition
Sacch Ka Saamna (TV Programme)
Samanya Gyan Darpan
Samsung Galaxy Grand
Sands of Time. Online
SET MAX (MAX) (1999)
SET PIX (2006)
Sony Entertainment Television
Storage & Security Forum
Sun TV 18
Tata Docomo Photon+
Tata Sky (JV Tata Group, British Sky Broadcasting)
Technology Premier League - 9.9 media (IT NEXT, CTO Forum)
Techonline India (www.techonlineindia.com )
The Bombay Store
The Economic Times
The Lion King
The Times Food Guide
Times of India
Times Television Network channels (TTN)
TripAdvisor Media Group
Uttar Banga Sambad
UTV Action Telugu
UTV Mobile Video
UTV World Movies
Vh1 (International Music Channel
Virtual CRN - UBM (CRN)
viz. Adithya TV
Wall Street Journal
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Walt Disney Pictures
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Kaun Banega Crorepati)
Wikimedia Foundation Sites
Winnie the Pooh
World Didac Expo
Yahoo-ABC News Network
To order this report: India Media and Entertainment Industry 2013
Contact Clare: [email protected]
Intl: +1 339-368-6001
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Studio City, CA - Media Lab Science is disrupting the beauty and personal care industry by ushering in the next generation of clinical trials for product testing. The company couples traditional "before and after" photography with nuanced forms of user-generated content and instrumentation. Media Lab Science offers unique marketing opportunities by leveraging meaningful engagement with target demographics throughout the claim substantiation process. This approach provides brands with a new and innovative way to promote their products while providing customers with the opportunity to try them out and share their experiences with others.
The company works with leading beauty brands to conduct clinical trials with a diverse pool of consumers who have opted-in to test new products. These trials are conducted in a controlled environment and provide brands with valuable data about how their products are received by consumers. Media Lab Science the uses this data to create user-generated content that is shared across social media and other marketing channels.
"The beauty industry is always looking for new ways to promote their products and engage with customers", said Ameann DeJohn, a Media Lab Science founder. "By combining clinical trials with user-generated content, we are able to offer brands a unique marketing opportunity that not only provides them with valuable data, but also allows them to connect with their customers in a meaningful, authentic way."
The company's approach has been well-received by leading beauty brands who are looking for new and innovative ways to promote their products. "We were impressed by the company's approach and the results they were able to achieve", said a spokesperson for a leading beauty brand. "Their ability to combine clinical data with user-generated content has allowed us to connect with our customers in a whole new way."
What Media Lab Science has been able to achieve is also popular with consumers who are looking for new and innovative products to try. "I love being a part of the clinical trials and being able to try out new products before they hit the market", said one consumer who has participated in the trials. "It's a great way to discover new products and share my experience with others."
The company is now working with a number of leading beauty brands and expects to expand its offerings in the coming months.
Ameann DeJohn firstname.lastname@example.org | 818-521-4593 to book your trial or to learn more about the Media Lab Science process.
Based in Los Angeles, Media Lab Science is a one of a kind clinical testing lab at the forefront of executing comprehensive clinical trials, as well as before and after photography and consumer perception videos in order to help brands create rock solid claims that matter to today’s consumer. Our team of acclaimed industry leaders understands how to design a testing protocol that tackles the challenges of today’s online environment to deliver data brands can use immediately.


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Rather, a drastic cutback of AMG models could happen as a result of Mercedes' need to achieve fleet emissions ratings, the Financial Times reports. The paper says that several Mercedes dealerships expect a production cutback as dramatic as 75 percent in response to a need to bring down its CO2 average from 138g/km to 100g/km. AMG models would be the target of such a cutback effort, the Financial Times notes, due to the fact that their emissions are the highest of the models in Mercedes' lineup; drastically shrinking their availability could bring down the fleet CO2 average.
Such a move, of course, would also bring about a significant loss of overall profit, the Financial Times notes. Not only are AMG models some of the most expensive in the lineup, but their profit margins are also the most generous. Mercedes-AMG makes more money per car on AMG models than on some small CLA-Class sedans with a base engine, for example, so it has an incentive to sell as many AMG models as it can—one of the reasons we've seen the AMG model range proliferate in recent years.
But the production cutbacks may not end up being confined to the AMG range: FT notes that Mercedes might scale back sales of models equipped even with 3.0-liter six-cylinder engines.
There is already evidence of these plans in motion: Just last week Mercedes pushed back the introduction of the EQC electric SUV in the U.S. by a full year; it was originally supposed to go on sale here in the spring of next year. Instead, the EQC will now debut in the States in the spring of 2021 as Mercedes shifts those sales to buyers in Europe, where it needs to improve its fleet emissions statistics. That's no small move for the automaker, given the fierce but volume-limited competition building up over sales of luxury EVs in the U.S.—the shift of EQC output to Europe for a year has been interpreted by some industry watchers as an unforced error and a bit of ill-timed backtracking after years of promises of electric vehicles by the automaker.
Another consequence of AMG cutbacks are plans for smaller engines for AMG models and more electrification: The C63 AMG due in 2022 is expected to ditch the 4.0-liter V8 for a 2.0-liter hybridized four-cylinder engine.
Mercedes isn't the only automaker facing a return swing of the pendulum: Mazda is reportedly telling dealers to expect a 20 percent reduction in sales as it will stop producing some versions of the MX-5 Miata, according to the Financial Times. Emissions are once again seen as the driving force behind the move, though Mazda is by no means fielding engines as large as those produced by AMG.


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A report by the Economic Times, which cites two senior industry executives, claims that Taiwanese contract manufacturer Wistron has begun a trial production run of the iPhone 6s Plus model at its Bengaluru facility in India. According to its sources, a locally produced iPhone 6s Plus can bring down prices by 5-7 per cent, making it competitive with the Chinese OnePlus smartphones and some premium models of Samsung, which were insulated from the rise in customs duty since they are all locally produced.
Recent Counterpoint research revealed that the iPhone 6 series contributes to nearly one-third of total sales of iPhones in India in 2017, as compared to less than 15 percent generated from iPhone SE, the only Apple smartphone model to be locally assembled in the Wistron plant till now.
Apple has seen some success, however, by selling its oldest and/or lowest-priced phones in India.
Apple shares are up 0.4% to $174.87.
Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah speak out on Golden Boot race
Guardiola may even rest Leroy Sane, who has played 90 minutes in City's last four games, and is probably in need of a rest. While City's morale is down and the Premier League title all but won, Spurs have something to play in this clash.
The only Apple smartphone which escaped this increase was the iPhone SE.
The report adds that earlier this month, the government imposed a 10 per cent custom duty on components like printed circuit boards populated with memory and chips, camera modules and connectors. "Eventually, as the local capacity gains scale the prices will get corrected". Apple's goal is to meet government requirements necessary to reduce the price of iPhones within India. Meanwhile, Apple has joined their hands with the local partners in India, including chargers, adapters and box packaging.
A customer tries out an iPhone 6s Plus and an iPhone 6s at an Apple Store. After a number of price cuts, its now sub-Rs 20,000 price has made an extremely affordable iPhone in the country. However, the iPhone SE remained unaffected as it was manufactured in India since a year ago.
Now Apple plans to start manufacturing another iPhone in India with the help of Wistron, according to a new report.


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HONG KONG, Feb. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Lion Group Holding Ltd. (“Lion” or “the Company”) (NASDAQ: LGHL), operator of an all-in-one trading platform that offers a wide spectrum of products and services as well as a developer of new growth products including SPAC sponsorship, NFT and metaverse-related initiatives, today announced that it will lead the deployment of technological innovation and digital services in the carbon finance field, taking a deep-seated role in emerging carbon markets, which includes but is not limited to areas such as carbon trading and financing, thus strengthening its core business model and opening up the ceiling for future growth.
Carbon finance refers to any and all kinds of financial transactions and institutional arrangements that serve to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). It originated from two international agreements, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. The three market mechanisms stipulated in the latter gave birth to a carbon financial market with carbon dioxide emission rights as the underlying assets.
According to 2022 Review of Carbon Markets by Refinitiv, the total transaction volume of the global carbon market reached a record 865 billion euros in 2022 and is estimated to continue to grow, with already six consecutive years of growth in global carbon market transactions. Under the backdrop of global consensus on climate action and carbon strategy, cooperation between financial institutions and related industries across the globe will play an increasingly important role within the carbon markets putting increased focus and value on digitalization to tackle issues such as consensus and liquidity.
Lion currently holds Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) Type 1, Type 2, Type 4, Type 5 and Type 9 licenses issued by the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission, the Capital Markets Service (CMS) license issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the full securities investment business license from the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) as well as a Digital Asset Self-Operated Trading license from the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC).
Mr. Wang Chunning (Wilson), CEO of Lion Group Holding Ltd, said, “Lion has stepped into the field of carbon finance, this is a key step in our global corporate strategy to maintain our competitiveness in the global marketplace. I believe a differentiated green sustainable development strategy will greatly enhance competencies in all areas of our core business and we will be poised to take advantage of key ESG value creation opportunities.”
“Being a global service provider committed to full compliance coupled with Lion’s existing core competencies in Financial and Web3.0 technology, paves a strong foundation on which to build Lion’s digital carbon trading business. With the building out and expansion of our digital carbon finance business, we will have huge development potential when it comes to the provision of carbon financial services for the carbon markets as well as driving the growth of carbon finance-related derivative products,” he continued.
“In the future, we will continue to increase our efforts in the fields of fintech, digital carbon finance, AIGC, ESG, Web 3.0 and more. Lion will devote itself to promoting the high-speed construction and high-quality sustainable development of the digital financial ecosystem business, creating meaningful growth and value for our shareholders,” Mr. Wang remarked.
Lion Group Holding
Tel: +852 2820 9011
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +1 203 682 8233
Email: [email protected]
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lion-announces-move-into-green-digital-financecarbon-finance-sector-301755185.html
SOURCE Lion Group Holding Ltd.


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TULSA, Okla., Oct. 15, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StatSoft Inc., one of the world's largest providers of analytics software, is taking its corporate motto to a whole new level by offering STATISTICA Enterprise(TM) solutions (including its cutting-edge Big Data Predictive Analytics Platform) at no charge to companies in countries most affected by the European economic downturn: Greece, Portugal, and Spain.
StatSoft's motto, "Making the World More Productive(TM)," reflects its core belief that business analytics and big data processing are key to the productivity of every growing company. The sour economies in some countries, however, have made it impossible for struggling businesses to afford the very software solutions that could help them increase productivity, streamline operations, and achieve safety, quality, and environmental improvements. So, for a limited time, StatSoft is offering its powerful Enterprise and Predictive Analytics solutions for free to qualifying businesses.
"Given StatSoft's recent growth in other international markets, we are very pleased to be in a position to help our corporate neighbors in Greece, Portugal, and Spain whose well-known capabilities are being undermined by regional economic conditions," notes StatSoft's CEO, Dr. Paul Lewicki. "The highly educated work force in those economies is fully capable of taking advantage of the well-demonstrated, tangible productivity improvements and savings that our modern predictive analytics software can offer. Paradoxically, however, the shortage of available credit prevents them from acquiring the crucial technology that would vastly speed up their recovery. Our goal is to make sure these companies succeed, because we firmly believe that analytics can change the world for the better."
Those companies in Spain and Portugal interested in this free software opportunity must contact the StatSoft Iberica office. Companies in Greece are welcome to contact any StatSoft office in Europe or the US Headquarters.


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Bianca Censori is an architectural designer at Kanye West’s clothing line Yeezy. She started working there in November 2020. She is estimated to be roughly 27 years old, making her Ye’s junior by almost 20 years.
Bianca Censori appeared in an article for iD in 2016 when she was only 21. After high school, she founded the jewelry company Nylons, which she continued to operate while studying architecture at the University of Melbourne.
The most crucial characteristic about Bianca Censori that we are aware of is her willingness to create bold hairstyle choices, which we at Hello! Fashion adore. She had shoulder-length brunette hair before, but this week she was spotted having lunch with Ye sporting the ultimate pixie cut…in bright blonde.
Bianca Censori Parents
As at the time of writing this article, there was no information about the parents of Bianca Censori.
Bianca Censori Children
Bianca has no kids yet as at the time of writing this article.
Bianca Censori Husband
Bianca Censori’s husband is Kanye West, with whom she was married on January 13, 2023.
According to rumors, Kanye West wed Yeezy designer Bianca Censori in a private ceremony on Thursday. The rapper was seen with a wedding band on his ring finger, but it doesn’t seem the couple filed a marriage license to bond their union, according to TMZ.
Censori, who was seen eating out with the rapper earlier this week, has a few years of experience working as an architectural designer for his Yeezy clothing line, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Bianca Censori Networth
The exact Net Worth of Bianca Censori is unknown but it’s estimated to be in Millions of USD.


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“Africa: Open For Business” probes into the world of successful African businesses and exposes myths while debunking fears surrounding doing business in Africa. With concise segments following successful African and Africa-based entrepreneurs, decade-long Journalist, Carol Pineaus film shows resilient and creative businesses who meet and exceed international standards everyday. These pioneers are helping grow the economies of countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Botswana, Uganda, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and several others, one business at a time.
Ruff N’ Tumble
Adenike Ogunlesi decided to make some pajamas for her kids, and soon friends and relatives were asking her to make some for their children. Next came skirts, shirts, pants, and more. Today, she has a factory and several franchises. At the time she started, almost all children’s clothing in Nigeria was imported. Nigerians of any means wouldn’t buy goods labeled “Made in Nigeria.” Through savvy marketing and brand building, Ruff ‘n’ Tumble is the must-have children’s label for Nigeria’s growing middle class, with children insisting the label be sewn outside so everyone knows they were wearing Ruff ‘N’ Tumble.
For more information on Nigeria’s economic potential, visit www.nigeriaembassyusa.org
Jennifer Chen, Managing Director of Shining Century’s factory in Lesotho, is setting her sights on competing with China. Shining Century employs 1,500 people and makes garments for Old Navy, GAP and other well-known brands. Lesotho was considered a tremendous AGOA success story, but in January 2005, WTO released China from quotas, putting at risk all Africa’s recent gains from AGOA. Jennifer says if she can increase production and government can cut costs, they can compete. And she knows the competition. Like most factory owners and directors in Lesotho, Jennifer is Taiwanese. She came to the tiny Southern African nation in 1989 and intends to stay for the long haul.
1000 Cups Coffee House
1000 Cups Coffee House offers some unusual blends, from a lemon grass infused coffee to a traditional roast that is lightly toasted in clay pots. The owner, Michael Kijjambu, notes of his special blends, “These do appeal to the young, free-spending Ugandans.”
Noting that Uganda’s President Museveni has promoted Ugandan coffee at shops in South Africa and Scandinavia, Michael suggested the charismatic leader visit his coffee shop in Kampala. “It would have tremendous implications for coffee production and consumption in Uganda,” Michael predicted. President Museveni took Michael up on the invitation, and along with his entourage and the local press, he visited 1000 Cups Coffee House. After the President’s visit, coffee became the cool drink in Uganda and three new coffee houses opened up.
For more information on Uganda’s economic potential, visit www.ugandainvest.com
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
In the late 1990’s, international experts predicted there would be a market for only 10,000 cell phones in all of Congo. The day Alieu Conteh launched his cell phone company, he had capacity for 4,000 customers, but 35,000 people lined up. In less than five years he broke the one million mark. Alieu promised a telephone would no longer be a luxury in Congo. When Alieu came out with a $2 card, he revolutionized the market and tripled his sales. Alieu brought cell phone service to both government and rebel held areas and created Congo’s largest network. He continues to roll out service every week in rural villages throughout the nation.
Touch Adventure, a specialist in white water rafting and cultural tours, is part of a movement to diversify traditional tourism offerings in Africa. Founder Ndaba Ndlovu, a Zimbabwean adventure seeker who worked as a river rafting guide, says when he looked at starting his business, he realized the political climate in his country was deteriorating and he began looking on the other side of the river. Ndlovu set up his company’s base and operates all tours in Zambia, although he maintains a sales office in Zimbabwe. Zambia’s aggressive marketing campaign and diversified offerings have brought tourists for longer stays and repeat visits.
For more information on Zambia’s economic potential, visit: www.zambiaembassy.org
Source / Further Learning:


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Celcom Axiata Bhd (Celcom) and Maxis Berhad (Maxis) successfully conducted Southeast Asia’s first 5G Multi Operator Core Network (MOCN) trial, achieving peak speeds of more than 1.1Gbps in an outdoor environment at trial sites in Langkawi, Kedah.
Over A Million MaxisONE Customers To Enjoy RM1 4G Smartphone Deals
Over a million MaxisONE plan (MOP) customers can now enjoy Malaysia’s No.1 4G network with brand new 4G devices at just RM1.
Current and new customers get to choose a wide range of RM1 devices, from the best-selling 4G smartphones such as Huawei P9, Samsung J7 and J5, Oppo F1, Asus Zenfone Go to wifi and home solutions like Pocket WiFi, Chromecast, and wifi extender. Even MaxisONE business customers get to benefit from this Power of ONE Sale, on top of business solutions like mPOS and mDrive going on a discounted monthly fee of RM1 for 3 months.
To get hold of these devices, customers just need to be on the MOP98 plan and above. Even existing customers who are still in contract but with less than 3 months can also get these offers.
“We had a tremendous response from the massive auto-upgrade of data and shareable DataPool introduced earlier this year for our MOP customers. In the last one year alone, we added over 800k MOP customers and our base is now approaching 1.5 million. Moving forward, we want to continue to provide the best deals to appreciate our ONE Plan customers,” said Dushyan Vaithiyanathan, Maxis’ Head of Consumer Business.
For a full list of the devices and entitlement, please visit www.maxis.com.my/powerofone
In line with its ambition to be the leading ICT and solutions provider for Enterprise customers, Maxis is proud to announce its collaboration with Microsoft (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (Microsoft) through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), committing to use their respective expertise, technology and capabilities to create innovative digital solutions for organisations in Malaysia. Concurrently, the collaboration makes Maxis the first telco in Malaysia to offer fixed line voice calls with Microsoft Teams unified communications, as part of Microsoft’s Modern Workplace solutions.
Showcasing the potential of 5G in education, Maxis demonstrated its 5G use case, the virtual reality (VR) experience for Science learning in its eKelas programme to Yang Amat Berhormat Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, the Prime Minister of Malaysia at Pusat Internet IOCC today. The VR learning experience by Maxis is the only 5G use case in the education vertical being piloted under the 5G Demonstration Projects in Langkawi.


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Schools and shopping centres will be closed but supermarkets and pharmacies will remain open. The public sector will operate with fewer staff, but non-governmental offices and businesses will not have to close, as long as they do not accept customers.
Indoor gatherings are limited to 10 people and no more than 20 people outdoors.
If the Israeli public viewed the original lockdown in March as a health imperative, then the upcoming one is seen as the consequence of a government fiasco. An abandonment of caution after restrictions were eased, together with government inaction as cases climbed, have sent infections surging ninefold and deaths quadrupling since late May. Nearly one-fifth of the labor force remains out of work even though most of the economy has been open for months.
As the economy reopened, daily infections have jumped, passing 4000 last week. On Saturday, 2715 new cases were reported. Since the outbreak began, 1108 people have died.
The Finance Ministry has estimated the new restrictions will cost the economy 19 billion shekels ($7.5 billion), and a relief program is to be presented by Thursday. The timing of the lockdown is fraught, and threats of non-compliance abound.
The restrictions are to take effect on the eve of the Jewish New Year, and the stringent restrictions will continue throughout a three-week season of major Jewish holidays, to the outrage of many ultra-Orthodox. Retail and leisure industries that had geared up for the holiday season will be clobbered.
Some businesspeople still trying to recover from the first lockdown in the spring say they’ll be forced to close unless the government offers immediate and substantial relief. Some are threatening to keep their stores, hotels and health clubs open, and joined the mass protests against Netanyahu that have been fuelled by the health crisis.
Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox are also expected to defy the lockdown, gathering for mass holiday prayers in overcrowded conditions, the Haaretz newspaper reported.
Other Israelis say they won’t abide by the new orders because the government has politicised its health decisions. Last week, under pressure from ultra-Orthodox lawmakers who said their communities were being demonised, it retreated from a decision to quarantine areas with big outbreaks.
Cases began surging after the reopening of schools in May, and Netanyahu began warning back in late June of another possible lockdown. Large gatherings for life-cycle milestones and for religious study have fostered the virus’s spread, now centered mainly in ultra-Orthodox and Arab areas of the country.


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Aussie retailers price fixing? Allegedly. Something's got to give in the Australian retail market now that e-commerce from cheaper locales is taking front and centre stage. Enjoy your weekends!
Retailers are getting some heat, and possibly some attention from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), for activities that look suspiciously like price fixing. If you want some more background, take a look at this article
- Watchdog urged to probe local distributors blocking online sales - the Sydney Morning Herald
Interesting news about the usage (or lack thereof) of card-based contact-less payment services like PayPass and TapNGo.
Around the world
Mobile usage (at least in the States) continues its rise. Interesting take here about where to put the ads now that the majority of usage has moved to the real-estate poor mobile app.
Visa and Mastercard enter the future of payments game with their digital wallets.
- Digital Wallet Battle Heats Up As Visa And MasterCard Enter The Game - Techcrunch (thanks @geodica)
Send money to someone close by without needing their account details? FNB is showing the way forward.
Some more mobile Point of Sale services, similar to Square, hit the streets (Square is the disruptive point of sale service from the US).
If you're enjoying the Roundup, you can get it shrink-wrapped and delivered automatically to your favourite rss/news reader by subscribing.
Digital, mobile, online and emerging technology news from Australia and around the world.


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Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies is suing the United States, claiming its equipment has been unfairly banned from America and wrongly identified as a security threat.
In a live-streaming press conference Thursday, Huawei said it had filed a complaint in a U.S. federal court in Texas challenging Section 889 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The act bars federal agencies and their contractors from procuring Huawei equipment and services.
The U.S. government is concerned that Huawei’s gear facilitates spying by the Chinese government and is asking allies to boycott Huawei’s equipment. At the same time, the Chinese company has been stepping up its efforts to preserve its access to global markets for next-generation communications.
During the hour-long presentation, Huawei executives defended its security measures and emphasized its role in the global supply chain.
“The name on the box does not detail who made the components in the box,” said John Suffolk, global cyber security and privacy officer for Huawei. “[It is] wrong to assume that the label on a vendor’s box conveys that the contents are solely from that named vendor. The product may have Huawei’s name on it but typically only around 30 percent of the components are from Huawei.”
Huawei became the world’s third-largest semiconductor buyer in 2018, according to Gartner, spending more than $21 billion on semiconductors. More than 70 companies — including AMD, Intel, Microsoft and Qualcomm — have exposure to Huawei, Goldman Sachs reports.
Banning Huawei’s products would hamper a global rollout of 5G, its executives said, which in turn will impact component suppliers. Huawei is also a leading producer of smartphones.
“[Huawei] is still a major smartphone maker with major share in Asia and Europe and that’s not changing,” one analyst told EPSNews. “There are many semiconductor, component and PCB suppliers that sell into Huawei’s smartphone business. [It] doesn’t look like any of this would change; but if there is backlash against U.S.-based suppliers selling to them — or if China retaliates with tariffs — then it could hurt suppliers.”
Huawei smartphones use a fair bit of Qualcomm chipsets — specifically the mid to low end chipsets — for their products, said Wayne Lam, principal analyst for mobile devices and networks technology at IHS Markit.
“However,” Lam added, “like Samsung, they have their own in-house silicon design. The HiSilicon Kirin SoC has been powering much of their high-end flagships for a while now. This internal capability provides supply chain diversity and potentially a fallback plan if the U.S. were to ever ban them from U.S. components like Qualcomm mobile SoC.”
Huawei disputes charges that its equipment is, or contains, a security threat. Moreover, global supply chains aren’t 100 percent hazard-free.
Suffolk pointed to a 2012 U.S. General Accountability Office report that examined risks in the supply chain. The report identified that a simple laptop might contain components from 18 separate companies. Other reports on supply chain components have confirmed the global nature of technology products and services.
“Many of the world’s well-known social media companies use technology built in Asia and China,” he said. “Indeed in 2016, Apple had 766 global suppliers, among which 346 were on the Chinese mainland. In summary, around half of iPhones are manufactured China.”
Some equipment used by European telecommunications vendors is made in China, Suffolk added, through joint ventures with Chinese Government-owned entities. Many of the components used in these systems are purchased from Chinese companies. “This so-called European technology is pervasive across the USA,” he said.
There are well-known breaches of network security that had nothing to do with Huawei, Suffolk said. In 2017, problems were generated through malware such as Wannacry, Petya and Locky; and there were major hardware issues with Intel, AMD, and ARM designs. In 2017 and 2018, the number of vulnerabilities published by some vendors totaled more than 30,000. All but one of the top 10 vendors, by volume, that released this data were U.S. technology companies.
Cyber-security is not the responsibility of any single company, Huawei executives said.
“What we need is a concerted, collaborative international effort to define globally accepted security standards, certifications and best practice,” according to Suffolk. “The solution to cyber security will come from openness, agreed international standards, certification schemes and transparency. It will not come through political posturing.”


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Opinion Survey Reveals Mothers Day Buying Trends
8th March 2013 15:42 - Retail
Market research by price comparison website PriceGrabber has revealed the current views and trends associated with Mother’s Day.
Firstly, it was discovered that Britons have mixed opinions about this traditional annual celebration - 41% of respondents felt that Mother's Day is 'a very important date as their Mum deserves to be spoilt' and 16% said 'it was up there with birthdays and Christmas'. Meanwhile, 15% acknowledged that they 'felt pressure to celebrate the date, as they didn't want to upset their Mum' and 28% stated that 'it's just another commercialised day to get you to buy things'.
In addition to these varying perceptions of what Mother's Day means, the survey also uncovered people’s buying attitudes for the occasion. A total of 54% of the respondents said 'they are going to spend the same as last year' and 12% claimed 'they would spend more'.
Of those who said they would spend more, 54% cited the reason for this increased spend was ‘for personal reasons', 17% claimed 'it was because there are better deals around' and a further 17% said 'it was due to improved job security’.
Furthermore, the study found that how Britons shop for Mother's Day is evolving - 48% of the surveyants said that they will be buying from a traditional High Street store, 40% said they will be purchasing their Mum’s gift online and 12% did their shopping on a tablet or smart phone.
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Blake Shelton is expanding his line of booze. He's just announced his own line of hard seltzer lemonade in partnership with Smithworks Vodka. So far, the line offers four flavors — Classic Lemon, Ripe Strawberry, Southern Peach Tea and Crisp Lime — and they all taste like "liquid sunshine," according to Blake.
He said, “More special than ever coming out of the past year, we are extra excited for the Smithworks Hard Seltzer Lemonade launch, so we can enjoy all the feelings of summer, appreciate the good stuff and get back to some fun."
Each seltzer is 100 calories, five percent alcohol, and just one gram of sugar per 12-oz. can.
They are currently available in 17 states, with rollout to additional states continuing throughout 2021.
Blake has been a partner with Smithworks Vodka since its release in 2016.


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By default, however, iOS doesn't allow execution of dynamically generated native code stored in writeable memory. This is a security feature, as overwriting memory with code and executing it is a common malware attack vector. But iOS doesn't prevent it from happening wholesale—permission to change memory space from writeable to executable can be enabled on a per-app basis, and it appears that permission has so far only been granted to MobileSafari.
Developers have also noticed that full-screen Web apps also don't take advantage of MobileSafari's ability to asynchronously load scripts, which can cause some performance issues—particularly for games. The underlying WebKit engine gained this ability late last year, so it's not entirely clear if this issue is a regression, or if it is just new to MobileSafari and hasn't yet been carried over to WebSheet.app.
Apple is aware of the issues, which are currently filed as bugs. But according to Matt Asay, who is vice president of business development for mobile Web framework maker Strobe, Apple supposedly has no plans to fix them. Instead, they are marked "not to be fixed by exec order," suggesting that a higher up at Apple is preventing engineers from fixing the problems. Asay characterized that scenario as "slimy" and "malicious," believing it is designed to make Web-based apps appear to perform poorer. That might persuade developers to create native apps that must be distributed via the App Store, where Apple has full control over what is approved or rejected.