In my opinion, Manasseh is a respected journalist so it was most unfortunate for him to adopt a very populist approach to condemning the organizers of the event without asking critical questions especially from the strategy perspective.
Key issues would have been:
Who organized the event?
What was the aim?
What were the key objectives?
Who were the target audience?
Was it just a convergence of African CEOs as the name suggested?
Was it just focused on Africa-Africa engagements?
These and some other basic questions would have given Manasseh an indication of the factors that informed the choice of venue.
Who organized the event?
It was organized by Groupe Jeune Afrique and Rainbow Unlimited GMBH in collaboration with the African Development Bank.
Rainbow Unlimited GMBH “ is a Swiss company based in Lausanne that specializes in introducing, promoting and facilitating business links between Switzerland and Africa, through the organization of business events relating to economic development, the execution of mandates and projects for individual companies/investors, and the organization of business trips to selected countries in Africa. ”
Groupe Jeune Afrique s a media organization focused on promoting the African continent. It’s the producer of the Jeune Afrique and The Africa Report magazines.
The event was also sponsored by over 60 international organizations
Aim
"The AFRICA CEO FORUM is the foremost meeting for CEOs of African and international companies, bankers and investors as well as high-level decision-makers. The forum accompanies African companies as they develop and provides a platform to promote their activities in Africa and internationally."
Conclusion
Basic analysis indicates that it was not an Africa-Africa engagement, it was an Africa to the world engagement.
From a strategy perspective, it’s better to take your pitch to your target audience to initiate engagements than expect your target audience to come to you.
Does Manesseh think it was a lack of common sense for the organizers to choose Switzerland as the convergence point for a global meeting aimed at attracting investment into Africa? Really? Which is better? Taking your products to your target audience or asking your target audience to come to you?
If Manasseh conducted some basic analysis, he would not have attacked the choice of venue with such venom.
I am a strategist, and from the strategy perspective the choice of Switzerland as a global convergence point for CEOs of African firms, international organizations and agencies focused on promoting Africa INTERNATIONALLY was apt. Africa was not promoting Africa to itself, they took Africa to the world.
Manasseh focused on the name; “Africa CEOs” jumped on the populist bandwagon and unfortunately a certain Nana Kwame has crashed it.
If a certain Kofi Asempa wrote that comment instead of Manasseh and got “punched”, it wouldn’t have been an issue.
I share in Manasseh’s pain but it shows that when you are at the top, the standards must consistently be high. It also shows that we are all fallible and cannot always get it right.
Source: Nana Yaw Kesse/ghanaweb.com
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Manasseh says he went to Aburi for his wedding because most of his friends and guests live in Accra. His wife's relatives are from Takoradi. So he decided to cut down on cost by traveling to Aburi. But the question he did not answer is that if the purpose of going to Aburi was to cut down cost, then why did he not have it in Accra? Because even Pastor Otabil is in Accra and the majority of guests are in Accra. I think the choice of Aburi was not truly the cost factor. It was more for the environment and serenity of the area. So, if the Africa CEO's conference takes place in Geneva of all places, it simply means there are better environments and facilities there. Not to even talk of security and convenience. I am sure Manasseh does not know that it costs less to travel to Europe than to travel within Africa most times. Indeed to get to Banjul, sometimes you have to go via Brussels. Bottom line, Manasseh just opened his mouth too wide this time. I like some his writing style and many of the issues he writes about, so I will advise him to be circumspect and not be carried away by fame and in so doing find himself in these avoidable embarrassments.
i always told my wife the Mannased just play on peoples emotions in his writting, nt critical analysis. He just feeds the masses what they want to hear. I hope he will switch his styl up and be more analytical
He has been made to drink his own poison. At least he now knows the pain he unnecessarily caused people for performing their function. A bit about him also is that, he cannot take criticism. Simply put, he is intolerant!
Comment Articles/Features Editorials Announcement Press Release When The Populist Bandwagon Crashes: A Case of Manasseh Azure And Nana Kwame > Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. COMMENTS Name: ADINKRA MANASSEH WILL TAKE A CUE FROM THIS AND BE VERY CAREFUL AND ANALYTICAL IN WHAT HE WRITES ON HENCEFORTH. I HONESTLY THINK MY STAR AN IDOL MANASSEH SOMETIMES RUSHES TO PUT OUT HIS VIEWS WITHOUT CRITICALLY ANALYSING IT. HE IS INCREASINGLY ECHOEING THE UNINFORMED BUT POPULIST VIEW OF THE "OTHERS"
MANASSEH WILL TAKE A SUE FROM THIS AND BE VERY CAREFUL AND ANALYTICAL IN WHAT HE WRITES ON HENCEFORTH. I HONESTLY THINK MY STAR AN IDOL MANASSEH SOMETIMES RUSHES TO PUT OUT HIS VIEWS WITHOUT CRITICALLY ANALYSING IT. HE IS INCREASINGLY ECHOEING THE UNINFORMED BUT POPULIST VIEW OF THE "OTHERS"