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The loudest voices may seem like they rise above the clamor. But success and sustained growth in business and in life takes people strong enough to listen. As the president of Chubb Life Hong Kong and head of North Asia for the past three years, Ive embraced a business strategy centered around agility, diversity, and yesproactive listening and learningfrom the key stakeholders affected by my decisions. That includes the community that surrounds me, and from the deeper ties that bind us all. Here are four key lessons Ive learned along the way: #1: Life is full of taboos. Confront them. Diversity is an ongoing action, not a checklist item to be ticked off. In our recent PR, marketing campaigns, and product launches, weve taken on calculated risks head-on and dared to be inclusive by confronting societal taboos in Hong Kong and beyond. In a nod to Hong Kongs shifting population demographics and rapidly evolving definition of family, our Every Way of Legacy campaign called for a new definition of legacy: one based on each individuals unique path and values rather than rote social expectations. We brought this ethos to the fore with innovative products like the citys first insurance plan to offer legacy planning for LGBTQ+ couples. #2: Difficult conversations are waiting. Start one. Life insurance as an industry is rife with possibility and rich with meaning. Its also a minefield for conversations that many people find difficult. However, Ive found that the most challenging dialogues are often the most rewarding. In HK, death is something we just dont talk about. Responses from our early marketing research surveys show that 71% of Hong Kongers have yet to talk about death and end-of-life planning with their loved ones. Therefore, last year we painted the question Whats your wish? quietly on the streets across Hong Kong to ignite the conversations and built a series of events and social media campaigns around this. As a grand finale of the campaign, we presented Conversations of Life: Every Wish Lasts at Art Basel Hong Kong 2025, an immersive experience that encouraged participants from all walks of life to open up about what they hoped to leave behind for the next generation. By asking guests to think about their final wishes, we were actually challenging them to dream up brighter futures for themselves and their loved onesand start living out those values today. #3: Companies are part of communities. Join them. At its heart, business is about connectionfrom our clients to the communities that surround us. Growth is never possible without acknowledging where you live, where you came from, and where youre headed next. Weve immersed ourselves fully in local and international communities. From sponsoring Coleman Wongthe first Hong Kong tennis player to win a match at the ATP Masters 1000to backing events like a YouTube music event, Ultimate Song Chart Awards, special screening for the blockbuster movie The Last Dance, launching Chubb Life Art Gallery, supporting the exhibition Picasso for Asia: A Conversation at M+, and Art Basel, weve sought to embrace our brand philosophy, enabling Every Way of Life by materially supporting the artists who tell our collective stories. #4: Every voice counts. Count them. When I joined Chubb Life Hong Kong in 2022, a key priority was enhancing staff retention. By opening up a two-way dialogue and meeting our employees needsfrom an agile, collaborative workspace to improved benefits centered around holistic well-being and work-life balancewe were able to cut that rate nearly in half within just a year. The principle of the power of listening extends far beyond the workplace. We recently overhauled our underwriting efforts by leveraging insights from our focus groups. These opinions also served as a springboard for our recent array of product launches (with eight released in 2024 alone and two in Q1 2025, including a digital-only product). By considering our clients unique pain points and needs in an ever-changing world, weve been able to tailor our solutions to themnot the other way around. After all, the boldest moves and best paradigm shifts dont start with the loudest voices; they start with listening ears. Belinda Au is president of Hong Kong and head of North Asia for Chubb Life.
Category:
E-Commerce
Recent tariff announcements have caused significant disruption across global markets and economies. Subsequent changes and postponementsincluding negotiations between major economies like China and the U.S.offer a welcome step towards resolution. But the initial uncertainty has already prompted impacted countries to diversify their trade partnership from long-standing trade allies in order to reduce dependence on a single market. In the short term, this volatility has created a significant headache for business leaders grappling with the costs and pricing of goods and services. However, this very uncertainty also presents unique opportunities, especially for emerging markets, particularly in Africa, to forge new trade relationships and strengthen their economic positions. A rare opportunity for Africa to forge its own path On one hand, escalating trade restrictions could further marginalize developing economies. On the other hand, they present a rare moment for Africa to forge its own path and build a future anchored in the open flow of trade, ideas, innovations, cross-border collaboration, and digital empowerment within its borders. Fortunately, private and public sector leaders on the continent have been actively putting in place measures to further grow trade within itself, both as a powerful engine for economic expansion and as a vital strategy to protect against external shocks such as tariffs. With the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) now gaining momentum and a growing digital economy taking shape, the continent has the tools to chart its own course. The AfCFTA has already significantly increased intra-continental trade since its official commencement on January 1, 2021. According to Afreximbanks Africa Trade Report 2024,[1] intra-African trade rose to $192.2 billion in 2023, a 3.2% increase from the previous year, despite global economic challenges. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa anticipates a 35% increase[2] in intra-African trade by 2045, after AfCFTA is fully implemented. Challenges to increasing intra-African trade Despite the promise of AfCFTA, significant barriers continue to hinder robust intra-African trade, whether through traditional channels or digitally enabled transactions. These challenges include fragmented payment systems, inconsistent regulatory frameworks, and complex cross-border logistics. This has contributed to Africa’s historically low intra-African trade, which was about 18% of its total trade in 2022, compared to 59% for Asia and 68% for Europe.[3] Payments are trades lifeblood Africa must be able to trade with itself quickly, affordably, and securely. When payments move across borders with ease, so do goods, ideas, services, opportunities, and people. This is not just about convenience or merely advocating for fintech adoption; it is about the transformation of how we trade. A trader in Nairobi selling goods to customers in Accra must be able to receive payment as easily, if not easier, than if they were in London or New York. Similarly, a major multinational looking to tap into Africa’s young and growing consumer base needs payment systems that handle complex, high-volume transactions just like in their home markets. The future of intra-African trade depends on our ability to make such transactions as intuitive and reliable as the click of a button. When paying and getting paid for intra-African trade becomes seamless, we will see faster growth of regional value chains, a more efficient distribution of locally manufactured goods, and the emergence of more African brands competing globally. Essentially, with the necessary support for an open economy in Africa, we increase not just the volume but also the value of trades within Africa, building economic resilience for shared prosperity. What we must do First, we must ensure payment system interoperability so that businesses can transact seamlessly across borders, without the hindrance of friction or currency barriers. This is critical because, while African countries have developed efficient local payment networks tailored to their needs, these systems do not interact well across borders, limiting our potential to trade more internally and withstand global economic shocks. Second, we need to align policies across governments to create an environment where innovation thrives and cross-border commerce flows effortlessly. This includes, but is not restricted to, a review of policies on customs and barriers to trade, and logistics (inter-country shipping, freight, and flights). Lastly, a critical step involves significant investment in physical infrastructure, particularly in addressing inadequate transportation networks (roads, rail, and ports) and resolving unreliable energy supplies. Together, these efforts will reduce the continents external dependency, making it easier for businesses to grow within Africa and beyond, creating an economic firewall that protects us from external shocks. Now is the time to double down on openness, not retreat from it; Africas future depends on it. Olugbenga “GB” Agboola is CEO of Flutterwave.
Category:
E-Commerce
YouTube is reportedly giving creators more leeway about what they say in videos, easing up on some of the rules it has set in the past. The user generated video platform owned by Alphabet has adjusted its exception rule, which will allow videos that might have been removed nine months ago for promoting misinformation to remain on the platform. The New York Times reports that if a video is considered to be in the public interest or has EDSA (educational, documentary, scientific, artistic) context, up to 50% of it can be in violation of YouTubes guidelines for misinformation or showing violence, versus 25% before the policy change. That change, which was reportedly made about a month after Donald Trump was elected, but was not publicly announced, followed pandemic-era rules that saw a video of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that shared some Covid misinformation removed from YouTube. The new rule change could benefit creators whose videos blend news and opinion. YouTube’s spokesperson Nicole Bell, in a statement, told Fast Company, “These exceptions apply to a small fraction of the videos on YouTube, but are vital for ensuring important content remains available. This practice allows us to prevent, for example, an hours-long news podcast from being removed for showing one short clip of violence. We regularly update our guidance for these exceptions to reflect the new types of discussion and content (for example emergence of long, podcast content) that we see on the platform, and the feedback of our global creator community. Our goal remains the same: to protect free expression on YouTube.” Free expression is the reason other social media companies have given in relaxing or eliminating their content moderation programs in recent months. X long ago handed over the responsibility of flagging inaccurate content to its users. Meta eliminated its fact-checking program in January, shortly after Trump took office. Trump and other conservatives have long accused social media sites of “censoring” conservative content, saying content moderation, as practiced by social media companies, was a violation of their First Amendment rights to free speech. YouTube said it regularly updates its Community Guidelines to adapt to content on the site. Earlier this year, it sunsetted all remaining COVID-19 policies and added new ones surrounding gambling content. Changes, it said, are reflected in its Community Guidelines Transparency Report. The new rules largely revolve around content that is considered in the public interest. This is defined as videos where the creators discuss a number of issues, including elections, movements, race, gender, sexuality, abortion, immigration, and censorship. The Times reported it had reviewed training material that gave examples of videos that might have been flagged and taken offline in the past that are now allowed. Included among those was one that incorrectly claimed COVID vaccines alter people’s genes, but mentioned several political figures, increasing its “newsworthiness.” (That video has since been removed for unclear reasons.) Another video from South Korea involved a commentator saying they imagined former president Yoon Suk Yeol turned upside down in a guillotine so that the politician can see the knife is going down. The training material said the risk for harm was low because the wish for execution by guillotine is not feasible. The policy change is, in some ways, a big shift for YouTube, which less than two years ago announced a crackdown on health information. That same year, though, it also said it would stop removing misinformation about past elections, saying the policy could have the unintended effect of curtailing political speech.” YouTube has been criticized in the past for not doing enough to curb the spread of misinformation, ranging from everything from 9/11 “truthers” to false flag conspiracy theories tied to mass shootings. Some reports have even suggested its algorithm can lead some users down a rabbit hole of extremist political content. YouTube says it still actively monitors posts. In the first quarter, removals were up 22% compared to the year prior, with 192,856 videos removed for violating its hateful and abusive policies. The number of videos removed for misinformation was down 61% in the first quarter, however, in part because of the removal of COVID-19 policies.
Category:
E-Commerce
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