Nigeria pursuing deeper understanding of informal sector; now estimated at 57% of rebased GDP
From the BusinessDay article dated June 25th 2014 Nigeria’s informal sector accounts for as much as an estimated 57.9 percent of the nation’s rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Daouda Toure, United Nations resident coordinator/representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Nigeria, disclosed on Tuesday. This, perhaps, makes the country the largest destination for […]
Percentage of prepaid connections – global map 2013 data
Click on the image for the larger version. This is the mapped version of the latest data available on GSMA’s development website*, where you can sort through by region and country. The last available global map didn’t really break it down by country so much as continents, and even now, due to this being ‘development’ […]
How can a bank account help the unemployed?
Wizzit solves this problem by using what it calls Wizzkids, who help new subscribers sign up and show them through the system. In cases such as Johannes’, a pilot like Coetzee flies in to do the paperwork. Coetzee was invited to Elandslaagte Farm by its co-owner Marisa van der Heever. She not only wanted to […]
Kenya: Leapfrogging the informal economy into the digital economy (without MPesa)
With Equity Bank’s recent announcement of the upcoming launch of their MVNO, one can easily surmise that we’re going to see a whole new kind of leapfrogging of legacy infrastructure take place in East Africa’s foremost economy. The initiatives planned by Equity have the potential to trigger the cash based, informal economy’s catapult over traditional […]
Analysing shifts in consumer household purchasing patterns – Milk ATMs in Kenya
“We are selling one litre at Sh65, but a consumer can get as little as 77ml at a cost of Sh5. All one needs to do is key in the amount they require, and the product is dispensed,” Gitonga, who procures his machines from Italy, said. Flexibility is the key to survival, indeed. This quote […]
Questions for the emerging future of the African consumer market
Should a nation develop itself first? Be able to proudly provide potable water, sufficient food, adequate shelter and employment for all citizens who shelter under its protective umbrella, as President Kalam dreams for India in 2020? Or should the markets be developed, to provide choice, convenience and consumer goods, to those who can afford? How […]
Social Media Marketing: Lessons from the Informal Economy
The informal economy’s markets are ecosystems, not individuals or discrete customer segments. There is little mass media or formal marketing of brands in the bazaars of the developing world. Instead, the emphasis is on personal relationships, word of mouth, trusted references and introductions. Your brand is your reputation among your social network, and for the […]
Assessing the Impact of the Mobile Phone on African Consumer Markets
68% of @Twitter users in #Africa rely on this platform as a primary source of information on national news ~ The Mo Ibrahim Foundation Lets start with everyone’s favourite topic, the mobile phone of Africa. It used to be a secondhand candybar Nokia but today it could be anything from an iPhone to Samsung’s latest […]
Why the African consumer market opportunity will force marketing to reinvent itself
Mass markets were a shorthand forced on marketers who had too little time or information or leverage to treat different people differently. They are the result of the mass merchant, the mass media and mass production. But humans aren’t a homogeneous mass, we are individuals, as individual as we dare to be. ~ Seth Godin […]
Its complicated: Pondering the implications of the Emerging Markets hyperbole for Africa
Middle class or something uniquely African? Businessman’s home in Mombasa, Kenya Photo Credit: Niti Bhan As I mentioned in my previous post, the hyperbole and handwringing characterising current day news coverage of the frontier market opportunity in the African continent has been reminding me of the way India and China were covered back in the […]
