Lessons from working with Social Enterprises
Aisle Manager at Nakumatt By the end of my most recent project, I was convinced that the label “Bottom of the Pyramid” (or Base of the Pyramid) also known as “the BoP” was one of the biggest barriers for organizations seeking to serve these emerging consumer markets in the informal economies of the developing world. […]
96% prepaid
2012 Infographic on the distribution of 700 million mobile phone users across the African continent. Via.
Price cuts in the prepaid economy
Sunil Bharti Mittal recently referred to a pattern of consumer behaviour that came as a surprise to Airtel Africa, leading to a rethink of their near future pricing strategy for this market. The Indian telecom company told participants at the Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona, Spain, that it was surprised to find that the […]
The customer is the king; the beneficiary will remain a pauper
We weren’t beholden to our customers until we starting thinking like a business. We didn’t hold ourselves accountable until we started treating our ‘beneficiaries’ as customers. No investor took us seriously until we dropped the ‘social enterprise’ label. ~ Ben Lyon, Founder, KopoKopo, Nairobi, Kenya When I wrote “Why so much ‘BoP’ marketing fails […]
Informal payment plans offer flexibility and convenience
Rural electronics shops in the North Meru region of Kenya are full of colour television sets, home stereos and DVD players as increasing electrification of smaller and smaller market towns takes place. How do aspiring customers pay for these high value items on their variable income streams? Since shop owners tend to know the great […]
Some concerns about ‘pay as you go’ lighting solutions in rural markets
Having just got back yesterday after immersion in an arid part of rural Kenya, it struck me after coming across yet another solar lighting solution with a pay as you go or prepaid business model that this may become a barrier for many subsistence farmers, most of whom are off the grid and so, are […]
African Traders in Guangzhou, China: Routes, Profits, and Reasons
While digging around for information after my recent flight where I was offered an upclose and personal look at increasing informal trade between Africa and China, I came across this research paper by Yang Yang from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. A snippet from the introduction: Based on my fieldwork in Guangzhou, this paper […]
Rise of tricycle pushcarts in Mexico
ClubOrlov has a guest post from a small Mayan fishing village in Mexico by a writer only known as Albert, who observes this informal economic activity and its players closely: What struck me is that I cannot recall a time in the past decade that I have been observing these vendors when there were more […]
Senegalese research on innovation processes in their informal ICT sector
I came across some excellent research by Dr Almamy Konte and Mariama Ndong of Senegal. While I’m sure the original working paper in French must be far better than this drafted English translation, their key points are nonetheless something to make us sit up and listen, particularly with regards to innovation in the informal economy. […]
Business model innovation, with caveat
About 3 or so years ago, there was much fanfare about the impending launch of Airtime Airlines, a South African venture that planned to offer a whole new way to purchase flights. One could use airtime minutes and buy tickets immediately or save up towards its purchase over a period of 6 months by sending […]
