Hi, I’m Azeem Azhar. I convene Exponential View to help us understand how our societies and political economy will change under the force of rapidly accelerating technologies. Every Wednesday, I do this in Charts of the Week.
DEPT OF KILLING THE GOOSE
Smashed eggs
In last Sunday’s newsletter, I argued that Xi’s model of unilateral and centralised decision-making is taking its toll on the Chinese tech sector. It’s getting worse: tech stocks are collapsing. The Nasdaq Goldman Dragon China Index dropped by 20%, and Alibaba is down 32.74% and below its September 2014 IPO date.
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No more gold
”Lowest level since 2007” is rarely something you want to read.
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Emptying nest
The country is losing its manufacturing dominance in some lower-value consumer goods.
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WEEKLY SURVEY
Africa is defying global trends, with venture funding increasing by 150% in Q1 2022 compared to the same period the previous year.
Source: Quartz Africa
For more on the African innovation scene, I would recommend The Big Deal newsletter. They recently published a great breakdown of the gender disparity in the continent’s startup scene.
*In the previous edition of Charts of the Week, we asked how much Amazon’s employee attrition costs the firm annually. Just 19% of readers selected the correct answer: $8bn. Well done!*