FORBES WOMAN AFRICA To Be Digital-Only Product
For our fifth anniversary issue last year, I wrote with pride about the impact made by FORBES WOMAN AFRICA across the continent and while I reflected on the challenges that I had faced while launching the magazine, I also spoke about the value the magazine had created across the continent in showcasing stories of women that would otherwise never have been told.
From the onset, there was significant scepticism from many quarters about the success of a business magazine focussed on women across Africa. I had thrown caution to the wind as my investment decisions are not only backed by pragmatic business sense but also made through belief and passion.
I quote a paragraph from my note in the September-November issue of FORBES WOMAN AFRICA last year.
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“It has been a tumultuous journey as publishing in today’s world is not for the faint-hearted. The content has been simply fantastic and the magazine has risen to be the material of choice for inspirational stories. In the last five years, we have covered stories of exceptional women from all over Africa and showcased their great work in business, entrepreneurship and social development.
We have discussed the trials and tribulations of women in the workplace and become a champion for equality.
The word ‘equality’ is a living value for us at the ABN Group and I am so proud that we have been able to personify our values through affirmative action.”
What has changed significantly over the last five years is a major transformation in the publishing business. The most radical change has been the complete shift in readership patterns and consequently advertising spend for niche publications.
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Our generation could not do without the morning newspaper or the pile of monthly must-read magazines. Families would make annual subscriptions to a variety of publications that catered to each member of the family.
Reading was in fashion.Our consumption patterns have changed. The new generation of cord-cutters have done away with the status quo; whether television or print, they want to have the ability to consume content on their own terms.
This fragmentation is unprecedented and has changed the economic models in the industry. This has given rise to a new generation of web-based media organizations that have the ability to provide content in relevant and efficient capsules.
It is time for us to start adapting to this need.
With the changing paradigms and focussing on the needs of our readers, it gives me great pleasure to announce that FORBES WOMAN AFRICA will be offered as a digital only platform with effect from April 2019.
We will be bolstering this with a plethora of events, the first of which is the 2019 Leading Women Summit, on March 8, in Durban, South Africa.
We do expect to come out with occasional editions of the magazine to continue showcasing the journey of exceptional and inspirational women on the African continent.
-By Rakesh Wahi, Founder and Publisher of FORBES AFRICA