Spider-Man comes to Sony’s rescue to shake sequel fatigue
Businessam Staff
July 7, 2017
Sony Pictures Chairman Tom Rothman downplays forecasts that the new “Spider-Man” movie will open with sales of $100 million or more this weekend. But it sure needs to. The Culver City, California-based unit of Sony Corp. is in seventh place at the box office, a lowly spot the studio hasn’t occupied since 2000. And “Spider-Man: […]
One of Africa’s wealthiest cities also has some of the cheapest rents in the world
Businessam StaffJuly 5, 2017
People flocking to South Africa’s economic hub are likely to find some of the world’s cheapest rents. An average family living in Johannesburg spends less than a quarter of their monthly income on rent, according to a survey by RentCafé, an online property listing service. That makes the city the third most affordable city in […]
Role of debt in Nigeria
Businessam StaffJuly 4, 2017
Debt has earned a bad reputation in recent times. Private debt spiralled out of control in the 2000s and fuelled the 2008 financial crisis. Public debt continues to cause jitters. What is often overlooked is the vital role that debt plays in global and domestic economies. In Nigeria, private debt comes with various challenges. Few […]
Why ‘cashless societies’ don’t benefit the poor
Businessam StaffJuly 4, 2017
India recently tried to reduce the use of cash in its economy by eliminating, overnight, two of its most widely used bills in what was called demonetization. While the effort – initially explained as an attempt to curb “black money” – has been a failure in many respects, it was part of an ongoing and […]
Tony Elumelu: Demystifying African business myths
Businessam StaffJuly 4, 2017
I was delighted to speak on the VIP panel alongside my big brother, Mo Ibrahim, at the ‘Promoting Business Growth in Africa Forum’ in London organised by Société Générale in partnership with The Telegraph. Though the story line on Africa has progressed – it is no longer about “saving” Africa, but how best to promote […]
Goldman commodity analysts ask: How did we get it so wrong?
Businessam StaffJune 30, 2017
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts might not be the only ones to have incorrectly called commodity prices this year, but they are at least trying to figure out how they misjudged the market. Commodities have tumbled 9 percent since their 2017 peak in mid-February, and Goldman acknowledges that some factors weren’t predictable, including rising oil […]
Facebook’s easy sail to 2 billion users monthly may be coming to an end soon
Businessam StaffJune 28, 2017
In a way, getting to 2 billion users was easy for Facebook. The social network’s growth has been on a steady and unstoppable climb for the past decade. Facebook’s strength has always been its ubiquity — everyone uses it because everyone uses it. But now that Facebook is used by roughly two-thirds of the world’s […]
How Apple’s iPhone changed the world: 10 years in 10 charts
Businessam StaffJune 26, 2017
Apple’s first iPhone was released 10 years ago this week — on June 29, 2007. While it wasn’t the first smartphone, it leapfrogged far beyond the competition and launched the mobile revolution. Few industries or societies have been left unchanged. Here are 10 charts that show some of the profound effects the iPhone-led — and […]
Four key questions for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Businessam StaffJune 26, 2017
Rapid change and rampant inequality are testing the resilience of economies and societies. It is in our hands to ensure that the potentially disruptive shifts of the Fourth Industrial Revolution not only herald a change of guard in the highest echelons of the global economy, but also rebalance opportunities and outcomes across geographic, generational and […]
We are all used to an 8-hour work day, but is it effective?
Businessam StaffJune 26, 2017
The 8-hour workday is an outdated and ineffective approach to work. If you want to be as productive as possible, you need to let go of this relic and find a new approach. The 8-hour workday was created during the industrial revolution as an effort to cut down on the number of hours of manual […]