Tag Archives: biashara economics

Design of Visual Sensemaking Tools for Informal Economy: Literature Review

By Niti Bhan | Published: April 9, 2021

Since I have long been exposed to the concept of sensemaking from the perspective of the synthesis phase of human centered design research, and design/innovation planning & concept development, I hadn’t thought to review the literature last year when building customized sensemaking tools for market women and vegetable vendors sourcing and supplying fresh vegetables in […]

Posted in Literature review | Also tagged design methodology, design tools, informal economy, informal urban food system, kolko, remoteresilienceproject, sensemaking, sensemaking tools, weick | 1 Response

The results, two years on, from Kenya’s Movable Property Security Rights Act 2017

By Niti Bhan | Published: July 6, 2019

Movable property such as household goods, livestock and office equipment has helped add 183,487 loan accounts into the banking sector, a Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) report shows. […] “The loans that flow out of the banking system on the basis of assets in the register has been growing. This shows that the alternative collateral has […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Alternative currency, Banking, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Cattle, Consumer Behaviour, Economy, Flexibility, Livestock, Loans, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Rural Economy | Also tagged banking, collateral, informal economy, kenya, loans, movable assets, Movable Property Security Rights Act 2017 | Leave a comment

Mobile Phones and the Informal Economy

By Niti Bhan | Published: January 28, 2019

Over the past week or so, I’ve been scanning literature from African researchers on the broad theme of mobile phones and the informal economy. Here are some of my top findings: The Mobile Phone is a Business Tool and Income Generator – Regardless of the region (and cultural context) of study – Cameroon or Cote […]

Posted in Africa, Airtime, Banking, Cashless transactions, Consumer Behaviour, Ecosystem, Flexibility, Income, Literature review, Mobile platform, perfect storm, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Sub Saharan Africa, Technology | Also tagged africa, biashara, informal economy, mobile ecosystem, mobile phone, perfect storm | Leave a comment

Why the Potential of the African Consumer Market Cannot be Considered in Isolation from the Informal Economy

By Niti Bhan | Published: December 17, 2018

Top flight management consulting firms like McKinsey, BCG, Deloitte, PwC et al have been taking a good long look at the emergent African Consumer Market for a number of years now. McKinsey, in fact, has just released a book on the theme, authored by their leading Africa experts. All of them acknowledge the existence of […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Analysis, Assumption filter, Biashara Economics, Commerce en ligne (e-commerce), Consommateurs, Consumer Behaviour, Distribution, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, FMCG, Innovation Planning, Marchés africains, Marketing, Mobile platform, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Report Review, Retail in Africa, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa | Also tagged African Consumer Market, biashara economy, informal economy, marketing strategy, prepaid economy | Leave a comment

Financial Patterns at the Last Mile of the Farm to Fork Value Chain

By Niti Bhan | Published: October 19, 2018

This value web illustrates the last mile of the farm to fork agricultural value chain in the state of Maharashtra, India. We’d mapped it during our project/s for the Dutch government back in mid 2013, where we’d introduced human centered design thinking for sustainable agricultural value chain development. Subsequently, I led a multidisciplinary team conducting […]

Posted in African Consumer Market, Analysis, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Consumer Behaviour, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Frameworks, India, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Rural Economy, South Asia, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, User research | Also tagged biashara, india, informal economy, kenya, mama biashara, rural economy, value web | Leave a comment

Rural Household Financial Management on Irregular Incomes

By Niti Bhan | Published: October 18, 2018

While all farms are not alike, and scale and variety and geography differs, the pattern of household financial management holds its fundamental logic across continents. As we saw previously, an experienced farmer tends to fall somewhere in between a salaried employee and an odd job labourer in their ability to predict with any reasonable degree […]

Posted in Africa, Analysis, ASEAN, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Cashless transactions, Cattle, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Frameworks, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Livestock, Mama Biashara, Perspective, Philipines, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Rural Economy, Savings, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, User research | Also tagged biashara, biashara economy, frameworks, household finance, household financial management, informal economy, prepaid economy, research | Leave a comment

Competitive Advantage & Customer Relationships: Lessons from Market Mummies of Ghana

By Niti Bhan | Published: August 29, 2018

How would you differentiate yourself in this informal retail market? Ghanaian market research guru Gerry van Dyke took a closer look at the market ‘mummies’ – Mama Biashara, as we call her – and their consumer marketing techniques in the “non-label environment”. His findings form an excellent foundation for understanding marketing and customer relationships in […]

Posted in African Consumer Market, Biashara Economics, Business, Consumer Behaviour, Culture, Ghana, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Mama Biashara, Marketing, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, urban, User research | Also tagged africa, African Consumer Market, branding, informal economy, informal retail, mama biashara, marketing, prepaid economy | Leave a comment

The African Informal Sector: GDP Contribution vs Scale of Human Impact

By Niti Bhan | Published: February 26, 2018

The informal economy in sub Saharan Africa (SSA) tends to be measured as a share of GDP, counting its contribution to the national economy. By this metric, Nigeria has the most economically empowered informal sector, contributing over 60% to the GDP. On the other extreme, South Africa, has one of the smallest contributions to the […]

Posted in Africa, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Economy, Emerging Markets, Informal & Flexible, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, UCSD | Also tagged gdp, informal economy, value creation | Leave a comment

Voices from the Pacific: Mirroring the Challenges of Informal Market Women Everywhere

By Niti Bhan | Published: November 1, 2017

ABOUT 80 per cent of all market vendors in the Pacific are women, and these earnings make up a significant portion of incomes of many poor households. In spite of their contribution to the local economy and to markets, women are often excluded from market governance and decision-making. ~ The Fiji Times Following up from […]

Posted in Assumption filter, Biashara Economics, global, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Systems | Also tagged Fiji, informal markets, mama biashara, pacific ocean | Leave a comment

Fundamental Elements of Informal Sector Commercial Activity

By Niti Bhan | Published: July 28, 2017

There are two key elements which underpin the dynamics of any business or commercial enterprise in the informal sector. These are Time and Money. A generalized framework can be diagrammed, as shown above, where the dotted line denotes the degree of uncertainty and volatility of an individual’s cash flow patterns – whether from a variety […]

Posted in African Consumer Market, Analysis, Assumption filter, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Flexibility, Frameworks, global, Income, Informal & Flexible, Migrant worker, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Projects and Reports, Research, Risk, Rural Economy, South Asia, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, User research | Also tagged biashara, flexibility, framework, informal business, informal economy, money, people, pesa, place, planning, predictability, time, uncertainty | Leave a comment