Female millionaire found working as street cleaner for the sanitation department

Yu Youzhen 

By: John Roberts 

(Scroll down for video) Many people were surprised to learn that the woman, who is cleaning their street, is a millionaire.

Yu Youzhen, 54, is worth 10 million yuan ($1.6 million).

However, she lives a simple lifestyle and she works hard.

Yu works for the sanitation department as a street cleaner and earns $230 a month.

When asked why she decided to go back to work and work so hard when she has so much money, Youzhen responded that she wants to be a good example for her children and teach them good work ethics.

"The work is not just about wages, it gives me something to do, which is very important,” Youzhen said.

Youzhen said that she made it very clear to her children that if they work, they will inherit her fortune, but if they refuse to work and choose to sit around and live off their parents, then she will not leave her fortune to them.

Youzhen is a great role model to her children, as she does not sit around. She works hard as a street cleaner in the city of Wuhan. 

She said that her son and daughter both work. Her son is a truck driver and her daughter has a full-time job.

Youzhen’s rags to riches story began five years ago when the land she and her husband owned was acquired by the Chinese government for property development.

In exchange for their land, the couple got 21 real estate properties, which brought them a lot of income and made them millionaires.

http://www.yourjewishnews.com/2014/01/w8625.html

Mobile Money

Mobile cash services bank on growth

By: Thabiso Mochiko | 20 Mar 2013 07:09

Submit a commentBizLike

The growth of mobile money will continue at a rapid rate this year‚ global mobile industry body GSMA said in a recently released report entitled The Economy of Mobile 2013.

More than 2.5-billion adults do not have access to a formal bank account‚ the majority of whom live in developing countries‚ according to the World Bank. This means around 48% of the world's adult population is not able to access basic financial services in order to save‚ borrow or transact‚ says GSMA.

For technology firms such as Gemalto‚ a global firm that provides digital security‚ it is an important area for growth especially in Africa where many people still do not have access to traditional banking.

Gemalto vice president for global marketing communication Hsin Hau Hanna told Business Day last week that it is conceivable that in future people will use mobile phones to perform many traditional banking transactions.

He says people in developing countries may not have bank accounts but do have mobile phones. The mobile operators have the technology to enable mobile banking and payment‚ says Hanna.

Gemalto provides the technology platform that enables mobile banking and mobile money transfer for a variety of service providers ranging from mobile operators to banks and retail merchants. This month it launched the latest version of its mobile wallet solution‚ which is a complete suite of secure software and service platforms that enables a range of mobile banking and payment services along with a loyalty programmes‚ integrated in a single wallet.

Designed for convenience for end users‚ consumers can link to existing accounts and cards‚ or set up new services easily. They can conduct all their banking activities directly from their smartphone says Hanna.

GSMA said in its report that the lack of infrastructure and point of sale terminals have made the provision of many smartphone services impossible for a significant part of the world's population.

Banking services

Network operators, MTN and Vodacom have some form of mobile payment and banking services that they provide to millions of customers. Some of South Africa's banks also offer mobile banking services

MTN is offering its Mobile Money service in 14 countries in partnership with the banks in those countries‚ says MTN's head of investor relations Nik Kershaw.

MTN's Mobile Money customers have grown from 6m in 2011 to 9.4m last year. In Uganda MTN Mobile Money has more than 3.5m users‚ and by the end of 2012‚ the service's transactions were worth over US$150m. MTN plans to grow Mobile Money revenue so it can contribute a larger proportion to the group's overall revenue‚ he says.

But despite the roll-out and investment made by network operators‚ GSMA says mobile money hasn't grown as fast as some had predicted.

One of the most successful mobile money services‚ which continues to be the model that much research is based on‚ is Safaricom's M-Pesa service that was rolled out in Kenya‚ says GSMA. Safaricom is part of the Vodafone Group.

Many other services have not seen the high level of success that Safaricom has enjoyed. M-Pesa in Tanzania has 4.7m users and Vodacom plans to replicate that success in the Democratic Republic of Congo where the service was launched last year. It will introduce the M-Pesa service in Mozambique and Lesotho before the end of the year.

In 2012‚ GSMA said just six mobile money services had more than a million active customers globally‚ three of which reached that mark last year.

However‚ GSMA says that additional work needs to be done to accelerate the growth of mobile money. It says companies are facing different challenges such as lack of enabling regulation‚ a need for further learning and a lack of investment.

With regard to regulation‚ GSMA says there are burdensome customer registration rules and limits on the types of firms that can provide financial services.

"When such services evenutally take off‚ enabled by appropriate regulation or partnerships with financial services organisations and supported by best practices and common standards‚ the potential for growth is significant‚" the report claims.

GSMA expects mobile money adoption to rise on the growth in new mobile connections in developing economies. It says the mobile market is "uniquely placed" to deliver growth in financial services to the world's unbanked people.

According to the report‚ there are 3.2bn mobile customers globally. A further 700m subscribers expected to be added by 2017.

Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge

http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/237/394/90959.html

Are we ready yet?

 E-Commerce in Zambia

New age of trading

Whenever people are addressed with the idea of online trading, a confounded look crosses their faces. 

A question rises in the mind as to whether it is actually possible to run a successful online business in an environment such as our own.
There are several factors that affect the way a business model is perceived in its beginning.Zambian consumers are sometimes reluctant to embrace new models so it takes effort to convince them even if it is a better or more innovative model. Apart from market size and potential demand, constraints such as legality, safety and recourse in the event of a misfortune still plague growth of the industry. Zambia is not unique and faces the very challenges other pioneering developing markets have faced.

A Continent Playing Catch Up

The world is flat, or at least that is what Thomas Friedman believes, he wrote a book to with the same title. The book itself had several things to say but it shows one truth, all one needs is an ability or skill and everything that can be outsourced or sold can be done packaged over the internet.

The African continent has largely lagged behind in world trends mainly because of poverty and poor economies. However, increased political stability in many regions has given rise to fast growing economies and a resurgence of an entrepreneurial spirit that serves to enhance this new found growth.

If there’s one business model that seems to be generating the most success in Africa, it’s the “simple” model. Creating easy to crack business models that allow companies to make money early on while growing slowly and strategically gives startups a greater chance at success versus other models. Easy-to-execute ideas, especially online business/e-commerce models are allowing African entrepreneurs to dip their toes into the business world to get a feel for the water.
Those willing to put in the work and realize that success will rarely, if ever, come overnight will be best poised to grow in the African economy. They are the ones who will learn every aspect of their business and, when the time is right, will be able to hand tasks to the right team members as growth happens.

Today, Africa's larger and more stable economies are working hard to use the internet to improve commerce and governance. The internet has given rise to a new breed entrepreneurs. The past decade has seen the growth of internet penetration and infrastructural investments. With a largely youthful population which is exposed and influenced by global influences, demand for internet based services is growing with the population.

E-commerce in Africa has grown dramatically over the past year‚ and is poised to support the massive consumer boom on the continent‚ according to Robin Philip of payment services provider PayGate.

Online shopping is a global consumer trend and it is  anticipated that affordable tablets and smartphones will accelerate the use of services in markets where the group had a presence. 

Most services in use in emerging internet markets on the continent are 'imported' from markets. These leave loopholes and challenges for their effective application in local markets. These include internationally accepted payment systems and trading platforms alike.

The Government And Its Role

The government has over the years helped improve the prospects and possibility of using the internet to ease activity over the internet and a great emphasis on improved Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure. The ICT act of 2009 also saw the formation of the Zambia Information Communication Technologies Authority which acts as the overall guardian of all issues that deal with ICT in the country. The enactment of these laws and bodies has seen enhanced e-governance, and the birth of e-commerce. Larger sections of society are becoming more and more dependent on technology. With the brilliant Electronic Communications and Transactions (ECT) Act of 2009 the growth of the industry has been all but guaranteed by technocrats and policy makers. It remains for the general public to use these foundations to build what they will.

Home Grown Solutions a Zambian Perspective

The future is just a click away

Zambian IT experts create and build enterprise level solutions for corporate entities to ease their business's operation. This has been the greatest focus of established IT companies and experts.

Web development for local consumption is slowly growing. As equipment such as mobile phones and tablets become more common, access to the internet also increases, ZICTA shows that in 2012 internet penetration stood at 85%. According to http://blog.webcertain.com, Zambia stands in the world's top 10 countries in mobile internet traffic. Other statistics show that up to 10% of the population have access to the internet today, news sites and social networks have helped with the public's demand for internet services.


Despite healthy growth figures, the general population has remained largely unserviced in terms of e-commerce while e-government platforms are gaining popularity due to their intensive sensitization programs. Funding for technology based businesses is hard to come by because of it's risky nature. Such constraints as funding and public perception have created a difficult for companies or entrepreneurs that attempt such projects.

http://blog.webcertain.com/top-countries-and-regions-with-highest-mobile-share-of-web-traffic/07/09/2012

Trading Platforms

The cost of development and management of websites has proven prohibitive to most. Today, people have resorted to social networks to create online market places for many forms of and size.
Developers have also created websites modeled after different e-commerce templates, they have had to spend large amounts on advertising and publicity. This advertising does not necessarily translate to sales made. They have helped make e-commerce more popular or more recognizable.

Payment Platforms

Mobile money

More reliable and efficient payment methods have been developed by service providers in the country, Mobile Money is a solution designed and built for Africa, it offers for security and safety in handling money, it also helps transactions quicker and more reliable.
Zambia, with more than 5,000,000 mobile subscribers in the country and a constantly growing number of subscribers.

Cellphone Banking

Cellphone Banking allows users can bank  on any of the major networks network with any Cellphone can use it. .

Internet Banking

It allows for users to make payments online, this is perfect for online trading platforms and their users alike.

Security and Safety

Secure and effective payment methods are the biggest hurdles online trading platforms have. A payment and delivery are tied together. A secured payment should guarantee a completed delivery.

Recently ZICTA through an act of parliament concluded a Sim Card registration program which required all citizens using a mobile device to register it giving their full details. This will help in tracking down fraudulent transactions and perpetrators of Cyber Crime.

So to say the least, Zambia is as ready at she'll ever be in terms of legislation, technology and technical ability. The ball lies in the hands of the consumers.

We're here now

From the outside looking in...

ICT Development has in Zambia has seen an upward rise for the past 10 years, with greater institutional investments and public demand. Global trends have shown that ICT technologies today are a major element in modern day life for a constantly rising number of professionals and business people. ICT's have been improving in usage and scale to a point we hardly ever imagined We can't live without them now!! I always thought computers and mobile communication devices were just tools used for complex roles like flying the Enterprise (Start Trek). Little did I know that today computers and the technologies that support their use will today be the back bone of modern day enterprise and business.

These technologies have not only shrunk the world in allowing real-time audio and visual communications, but also on line trading has become a norm.Zambia has a handicap for every advantage she has over her neighbours.

Time is Money

Interestingly, in Zambia, it really has become that. the time you spend on the phone has to be paid for in one form or another, most people will think of Airtime Credit but there are several more costs that we typically call negligible. But if you spend 1 Ngwee every half hour over the 10 years we have been using our phones and other tools that number becomes huge if you looked at it as a unit, and more people are using ICT tools and innovations to make life that much easier or work that much faster.

We want Zambase to be the working Man, Woman, Hustler or Diva to use this tool for trading as we all use Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and Twitter and any other social medium. We noticed one major problem in Zambia, and that search costs for some items can be as high as the purchase price, meaning the actual cost of a product will actually go as high as 80% or higher depending on geographic and time restrictions.

The key is trust and vision. We see Zambia becoming a better place, what do you want?