XeroxFirst African- America female CEO Ursula Burns Has Advice for Ambitious Women

CEO Xerox Corp. Ursula Burns

Ursula Burns, the first African- American female CEO of Xerox Corp.  a Fortune 500 company, since 2009, started as an intern at Xerox Corp., and eventually rose through the ranks to become the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer the early retirement of Mulcahy.

During a talk at Catalyst’s annual awards conference on Tuesday, 19th march 2013, the 54-year-old CEO recounted how her mother, who raised Burns in New York City public housing, loved to give out advice. One of her mom’s favorite sayings, “Where you are is not who you are. Remember that when you’re rich and famous,” sticks with her to this day.

Nowadays, young women ask her for advice on achieving their career goals. Here’s what she tells them:



1.      Redefine work-life balance. It’s a “fool’s journey” to try to achieve perfect balance between one’s professional and personal lives, Burns says. Instead, she suggests women get comfortable with the idea of taking “your entire life to find balance. You should have balance, on average, over time – not in a day or in a month.”

2.      Be selfish sometimes.  Burns advises “checking out” occasionally to put personal needs ahead of career and family. “Think about your health, physically and mentally,” she says. A failure to do so, she warns, can put everything else at risk.

 3.      Find a good (older) husband. Burns met her husband, Lloyd Bean, while working at Xerox. A scientist and researcher, he was also 20 years her senior. “He had already gone through this ‘growing up’ stuff,” she says. The age difference proved advantageous when Burns’s job later required her to travel frequently and leave their two young children at home. Her husband retired, allowing Burns to focus on advancing her career. “So the secret,” she jokes, “is to marry someone 20 years older.”



4.      Don’t take guilt trips. Mothers often feel pressure to be present for their children all the time, but such expectations are neither realistic nor necessary, Burns says. “Kids are pretty resilient,” she says. “You don’t have to be at every volleyball game. We can’t guilt ourselves.” Her own mother missed many of her extracurricular activities, she adds, “and I’m fine.”




5.      Don’t take life too seriously. “Ninety percent of this stuff is just not that serious,” she says. “We get crazy about it.” Burns says she often thinks back to her mother’s advice to stay grounded. “Continually go back to the basic stuff,” she says. “Be prudent. Enjoy it.”

Credit: Wall Street Journal 

600-year-old Chinese coin found in Kenya, - over $200 China investment in Africa 2012!

Scientists from Illinois in the United State of America have found a rare, 600-year-old Chinese coin on the Kenyan island of Manda.

The Field Museum in Chicago announced the find Wednesday, 13th-March 2013. The joint expedition was led by Chapurukha Kusimba of the museum and Sloan Williams of the University of Illinois-Chicago. Researchers say the coin proves trade existed between China and eastern Africa decades before European explorers set sail.

Fast track to 2013 BEIJING, March 20, 2013 (UPI) -- China's trade with Africa is booming as Chinese investments in the continent soar, Chinese officials and experts say.
China is already Africa's largest trading partner.
"China and Africa are good friends, good brothers and good partners. China has actively supported African countries in developing their infrastructure and economy," said Li Zhaoxing, president of China Public Diplomacy Association.

President of China, Mr Xi Jinping

The visit by the new President Xi Jinping president will give impetus to the strengthening cooperation between China and African countries."

.......Chinese official data showed China-Africa trade reached a high of more than $160 billion in 2011, up 28 percent from 2010. China Daily said the volume for 2012 is estimated to have surpassed $200 billion.
At the end of 2011, China's direct investment in Africa reached almost $15 billion, with more than 2,000 Chinese companies currently invested in Africa, the report said.

Rewind.....

The coin is made of copper and silver. It has a square hole in the centre so it could be worn on a belt. Scientists say it was issued by Emperor Yongle of China and his name is written on the coin.

Scientists from Kenya, Pennsylvania and Ohio also participated in the expedition. They also found human remains and other artefacts predating the coin.

This present day....
Trade and investment flows between China and Africa will gain momentum this year as President Xi Jinping visits several nations on the continent during his first overseas trip.....Trade between China and Africa may have risen to a record last year after growing 20 percent to 163.9 billion yuan ($26.4 billion) through October, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce. Forecasts of a more stable economic environment will help drive trade and investment, Priestley said.
“There are fewer disruptions within Africa than there were in the last year and the year before,” he said. “We just saw an election in Kenya, we just had an election in Ghana and there was a transfer of power and there’s no disruption to the economy. It’s a stable growth pattern and more young African are getting quality Education.”

Standard Chartered Bank, with operations in 16 African countries, plans to invest $100 million over the next three years, opening 110 branches on the continent and recruiting 950 consumer-banking staff. Revenue from Africa made up more than 8 percent of income last year, according to the London-based bank.

 

 

Substantial Economic Growth in Africa have come to Stay!

credit: Myweku,
          3News
         UPI

India, to increase trade to Africa to target $100 billion

Investment funding from India to Africa is almost $USD 50 billion  and the government has decided to increase the trade target between India and Africa to $100 billion.
India Union Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textiles Anand Sharma met his counterparts from various African countries on Monday at a round table conference chaired by him. He informed the ministers that in spite of the sluggish trade growth, the bilateral trade target with Africa was being increased.
According to Sharma“We are upwardly revising the target to at least $100 billion by 2015... We may end up achieving it by the end of 2014 if we continue working together in the same spirit in which we have been working,”.
Since Indian investments in Africa are almost touching $50 billion, he said adding trade between India and Africa stood at $70 billion in 2011-’12.

Sharma also said that India has decided to open dialogue with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa  (COMESA), which is the largest economic group in Africa. “We have established a joint study group for examining the feasibility of a Free Trade Agreement between India and COMESA,” Sharma said.
The African Ministers were in the capital to participate in the 9th CII-EXIM Bank Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership. Seven heads of state and heads of government, over 80 senior ministers and parliamentarians from 45 African states participated.