Category Archives: Biashara Economics

Applying the Systems Test to the Regional Informal Economic System

By Niti Bhan | Published: December 13, 2021

If the informal economic system, as seen in east Africa, is a system, and there are social practices at both the rural end of the interconnections and flows that comprise the functioning of the system, then taking a systems approach to food security would facilitate not only the increase in stocks i.e. the yield of […]

Also posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, East African Community, Ecosystem, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Mama Biashara, Marketing, Perspective, Retail in Africa, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems | Leave a comment

Reflecting on Béné’s review of important concepts for local food systems resilience in context of systemic shocks

By Niti Bhan | Published: May 13, 2021

Béné’s (May, 2020) review last year of the most important concepts for thinking about resilience of local food systems, in context of the pandemic and other shocks provides frameworks for situating empirical data on the resilience strategies employed by informal economic actors in the last mile of Nairobi’s urban food system specializing in fresh produce […]

Also posted in Africa, Analysis, East African Community, Economy, Frameworks, Informal & Flexible, Kenya, Literature review, Perspective, waymarkers, Work in Progress | Tagged africa, Béné, empirical data, food systems resilience, informal finance, informal urban food system, remoteresilienceproject, resilience strategies | Leave a comment

Sensemaking in extreme conditions for enhancing resilience: Literature Review

By Niti Bhan | Published: April 27, 2021

Here, I want to explore themes of resilience and sensemaking together in extreme conditions. For now, I have considered the systemic shock of the global pandemic as an increase in volatility, complexity, and uncertainty of operating conditions, from the perspective of the informal urban food system in Nairobi, Kenya. Therefore I have deliberately excluded literature […]

Also posted in Africa, Analysis, Business, Flexibility, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Kenya, Literature review, Perspective, Research, Retail in Africa, Risk, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, urban, Work in Progress | Tagged complex adaptive systems, extreme conditions, informal trade ecosystem, literature review, resilience, sensemaking, systemic shock, visual sensemaking | Leave a comment

IMD Case Study – how Mpesa’s adoption transformed Safaricom

By Niti Bhan | Published: April 26, 2021

There is a case study on Safaricom that supports my viewpoint – that first one must consider the operating environment pragmatically prior to design and delivery of services for low income markets for a successful outcome that then drives the transformation of both the customer base and the corporation, giving rise to new ecosystems and […]

Also posted in Africa, Airtime, Banking, Base of the Pyramid, Cashless transactions, Consumer Behaviour, Design, Economy, Ecosystem, Kenya, Mobile platform, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, South Africa, Technology | Tagged mobile money, mpesa, safaricom | Leave a comment

Mobile telephony and low income customers: Market conditions drove product development and pricing

By Niti Bhan | Published: April 25, 2021

Many who were around and as obsessed by the entry of mobile telephony in the global South during the early years of this century will recall this eyecatching graphic used to illustrate the announcement by Cameroonian researchers Victor and Irene Mbarika that can now be pointed to as the moment Africa’s mobile revolution was born: […]

Also posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Airtime, Assumption filter, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Literature review, Mobile platform, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Rural Economy, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Work in Progress | Tagged africa, mobile phones, prepaid business model, strategy, strategy tools, toolmaking | Leave a comment

Situating one’s rant within business model typology for rural and low income markets

By Niti Bhan | Published: April 24, 2021

After yesterday’s post on stripping out social considerations to allow for a pragmatic economic assessment of viability prior to investing in infrastructure for service delivery to rural customers, I looked up literature on the general theme. Site selection as a keyword brought a slew of articles focusing on GIS technology, primarily from the lens of […]

Also posted in Business Models, Consumer Behaviour, Frameworks, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Innovation Planning, Literature review, Marketing, Perspective, Retail in Africa, Rural Economy, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Work in Progress | Tagged business model, conceptual framework, informal trade ecosystem, literature review, marketing, pels & sheth, rural economy, strategy tools, toolmaking, typology | Leave a comment

Is a business inclusive if its doing business in rural Africa? Why modeling economic capacity matters

By Niti Bhan | Published: April 23, 2021

Whether a business thinks of itself as inclusive or not, it must consider the sustainability of revenue streams and their expected duration, prior to committing themselves to infrastructural investments in rural locations of the global South. Those that position themselves as inclusive businesses – regardless of size, must consider the value being created for their […]

Also posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Base of the Pyramid, Business Models, Consumer Behaviour, Distribution, East African Community, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Income, Informal & Flexible, Literature review, Marketing, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, rural, Rural Economy, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Technology, User research, Work in Progress | Tagged economic capacity, operations management, participatory design research, profit margin, return on investment, revenue model, site selection, sociotechnical systems, village economy | Leave a comment

Looking back at 2020 from Mama Mboga’s eyes: The Pandemic as Natural Disaster

By Niti Bhan | Published: December 4, 2020

I am moved today by my work to look back at this agonizingly long year of separations and losses and delays for peoples around the world. Uncertainty and complexity have both increased, and economic volatility has become the order of the day, regardless of the development status of the region or location. More people in […]

Also posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Analysis, Base of the Pyramid, Consumer Behaviour, East African Community, Economy, Ecosystem, Frugality, Kenya, Mama Biashara, Marchés africains, Marketing, Perspective, Retail in Africa, Risk, Scarcity, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, urban, User research | Tagged endurance, farm to fork, food security, informal economy, informal urban food system, mama mboga, nairobi, precarious, remoteresilienceproject, resilience, stoic, vcd | 1 Response

Closing the Circle: Can integration of the flows in the post consumption ecosystem of Global North & South aid resilient recovery for all?

By Niti Bhan | Published: November 30, 2020

It was in July 2009 that I first attempted to visualize the significantly large subsector of informal recycling that fed the informal industrial ecosystem with re-processed ‘raw’ materials for their manufacturing output. The first draft was based on what I’d seen and documented in The Philippines, and in India, during the fieldwork for the ‘prepaid […]

Also posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Base of the Pyramid, China, Consumer Behaviour, East African Community, Economy, Ecosystem, Frugality, Ghana, global, India, Informal & Flexible, jua kali, Kenya, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Retail in Africa, Senegal, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Tanzania, Technology, Uganda, User research | Tagged boundary spanners, circular economy, ecosystem map, global south, informal economy | Leave a comment

Half a year, 2020 : The Remote Resilience and Recovery Project

By Niti Bhan | Published: August 8, 2020

I have umpteen drafts saved, of posts I began writing since the last published one on 29th February this year, and never finished. 2020 has outdone itself in its impact on all of human society, across our entire planet. I have been active on Twitter, where my literature reviews, in service of the pivot I […]

Also posted in Africa, Base of the Pyramid, Design, Ecosystem, Flexibility, Frameworks, Informal & Flexible, Innovation Planning, Mama Biashara, Marketing, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Retail in Africa, rural, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, urban, User research, Value | Tagged design thinking, farm to fork, informal market, market women, nairobi, remoteresilienceproject, resilience, urban food systems, vcd, workshops | Leave a comment