African consumer market insight from Chinese flip flop manufacturer in Tanzania
This recent interview of the Chinese owner of a flip flop factory based in Tanzania offers some interesting insights into the mindset of the East African consumer. Trade in commodities has been the dominant feature of China-Africa relations over the past 20 years, but many traders, particularly those who arrived in Africa early, are now […]
Being middle class in India
Are differences within the middle class, in income, education, and cultural and social capital, so wide as to render moot any ideological or behavioural coherence to this group? Over the next two months, The Hindu will release the findings of a new survey on the aspirations and anxieties of ordinary Indians. Here’s a snippet accompanying […]
Design’s future is a global perspective and an inclusive mindset
Matthew Milan’s thoughtful piece reflecting on the turmoil engulfing the design industry is definitely worth reading. There’s been a lot published on the topic ever since Adaptive Path was bought out by Capital One, a bank. Most of it has been either hand wringing over the death knell of the independent design industry, or rebuttals […]
The Trickle Down Effect of Luxury in Africa’s Emerging Consumer Markets
A very interesting snippet in the news caught my attention yesterday. Fokke de Jong, Suitsupply’s chief executive, described the African customer as informed. “They understand luxury, as in they understand the inherent quality of products — unlike what you might have seen some years ago in some emerging Asian markets where customers were simply associating […]
Informal trade is big business in Africa
On my way to Nairobi from Singapore a couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to observe first hand the phenomenon of informal trade between China and the African continent. The energy and excitement of the traders, laden with goods on their way back, was a palpable part of the inflight experience. Today, I […]
Strategy and Operational Excellence: Trade-Offs Made in Design and Thinking
“Managers must clearly distinguish operational effectiveness from strategy. Both are essential, but the two agendas are different. The operational agenda involves continual improvement everywhere there are no trade-offs. Failure to do this creates vulnerability even for companies with a good strategy. The operational agenda is the proper place for constant change, flexibility, and relentless efforts […]
Mobile Money Is Driving Africa’s Cashless Future
This article was written for HBR a few months ago. Here are some key snippets: Three distinct factors are driving this transformation. First and foremost is the desire for financial inclusion. Africa’s unbanked majority needs access to affordable tools for savings, loans, and credit. The second is the need to lower the costs and risk […]
The Value Creator’s Dilemma: Opportunity and Growth in a Dog eat Dog World
There are two mindsets – the ‘competitive’ mindset where the market is believed to be finite in scope and scale, that assumes that resources are scarce, an approach to strategy based on solely on the competitive aspects of fundamental frameworks like Porter’s Five Forces. Or as I see it, a zero sum game. That is, […]
Seasons Greetings 2014 and the year in review
For those curious to know more about my year in review, I wrote it all out elsewhere but here’s a snippet: I took the year off to explore those dreams shoved in the back of the closet or gathering dust under the bed. That’s probably one good reason for the silence. You can’t quite put […]
Prepaid Economy Newsletter: Curated Snippets on Informal, Rural and Prepaid
Welcome! This is the first prototype experimenting with a newsletter format on topics dear to the heart of The Prepaid Economy’s research interests and reader community. Its a special edition looking back at the year. Leave a comment or tweet @prepaid_africa if you’d like to see this become a regular feature. All feedback welcome! Click […]
