Keynote speaker on informal economies, township consumer insights and economic inclusion
Corporate teams, government bodies, FMCG brands, retail leaders, marketers, development agencies, entrepreneurship ecosystems and innovation hubs
The journey from a Zulu tribal society to a modern world, the inspiring story and lessons of a poor goat herd and stickfighter on the pathway to becoming an African marketer and successful entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurship African Style – business & opportunities created and inspired by an intimate understanding of unique African philosophies, cultures & lifestyles.
Marketing to African Consumers – understanding & communicating to a modern African Consumer, with best practice case studies of some of the most successful marketing campaigns of the decade.
The economics of informal economies & the massive economic opportunities of our invisible African economies.
Diversity & Transformation – tribe, race, culture and modern Africans. Immersing and connecting with diverse and little known people of our society.
GG Alcock is a pioneering voice on South Africa’s informal economy, an entrepreneur and author shaped by a remarkable upbringing in Msinga, one of KwaZulu Natal’s harshest rural regions. Raised by activist parents in a mud hut without modern conveniences, GG grew up as a young Zulu boy—immersed in the language, culture, and survival strategies of the community around him. These early experiences gave him a distinctive lens on township life and a deep appreciation for the economic ingenuity that defines kasi culture.
Fluent in Zulu and conversant in numerous South African languages, GG’s career has spanned roles as a political activist, community worker, shebeen owner, adventurer and business founder. In 1999 he launched Minanawe Marketing, a groundbreaking activations agency that specialised in township and informal mass market engagement. After selling the business, he established Kasinomics, an advisory and insights firm dedicated to decoding the informal sector and guiding brands in their approach to the kasi consumer.
As an economic activist, GG works to illuminate the scale, creativity and resilience of South Africa’s informal enterprises and to advocate for greater support from government and the formal business sector.
GG Alcock was born in Msinga, then one of the most poverty-stricken and violent parts of KwaZulu-Natal. GG’s activist parents, Neil and Creina Alcock, raised their two sons in a mud hut with no running water, electricity or modern conveniences and they grew up like young Zulu boys. Zulu reared and bred, the boys learnt the essence of how to survive in a harsh world – valuable skills that have undoubtedly contributed to GG’s success as an entrepreneur.
GG has been at times a shebeen owner, political activist, community worker, African adventurer and successful businessman. He is fluent in Zulu and conversant in most South African ethnic languages. In 1999, GG founded Minanawe Marketing, an activations business which pioneered marketing to township and informal mass markets in South Africa.
After selling Minanawe, GG founded Kasinomics, an advisory service providing insights, strategies, route-to-market and consumer marketing to the informal kasi consumer and business sectors. Kasinomics is also invested in several township and informal sector focused startups.
GG Alcock considers himself an Economic Activist, excavating the silence and opening eyes to the invisible economies of our cities, kasi’s and rural homelands. He advocates for government and formal business sector recognition, support, empowerment and consideration of the informal economy and the kasipreneurs who represent the future for our economic growth.
GG’s book ‘KasiNomics: African Informal Economies and the People Who Inhabit Them’ casts a light on the invisible matrix at the heart of South Africa’s informal economies and the people who live in them. KasiNomics takes you down rural pathways, weaves between claustrophobic mazes of shacks and joins gogo in a stokvel, among many more people and places.
GG Alcock is a thought leader and commentator on the trends and dynamics of the informal economies and societies which make up the majority of South Africa. He is a regular speaker on a range of topics, from from business to motivational to trend talks on subjects including entrepreneurship, the informal market, diversity and culture, marketing communications to the mass market, and the route-to-market strategies for the informal sector.
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Kasinomics will take you down those rural pathways, weave between claustrophobic mazes of shacks, browse a muti market, visit a spirit returning ceremony and save money with gogo in a stokvel, among many more people and places.
His story in Third World Child is one of heartbreak and tragedy and, paradoxically, of vibrant hope and compassion. A restless energy and sardonic humour permeate his writing, which is compelling in its honesty and spontaneity.
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