For Sale
Market day in Kagio, Kenya 12th April 2013 This post was written by niti bhan and rss originates from www.nitibhan.com
License plate
Kagio produce market, Kenya 12 April 2013 This post was written by niti bhan and rss originates from www.nitibhan.com
Promoting Africa’s Informal Sector
Organising the informal sector and recognising its role as a profitable activity may contribute to economic development. This can also improve the capacity of informal workers to meet their basic needs by increasing their incomes and strengthening their legal status. This could be achieved by raising government awareness, allowing better access to financing, and fostering […]
Systems thinking and the mobile platform for economic impact and wealth creation
I have been meaning to write this post for quite some time now, percolating as it has in the back of my mind but it was Mark Kaigwa who finally spurred this writing. This is not all about MPesa, though it will take a look at some of the issues why its runaway success in […]
The pros and cons of Kenya’s role as technology pioneer and East African frontier market
Rural Kenyan schoolhouse, somewhere near Kisii, March 2012 Only two years have passed since the publication of the Emerging Africa series of articles for Dirk Knemeyer’s GoInvo blog starting in February 2011. Since then I’ve had a much closer look at Kenya’s current state of the art when it comes to internet diffusion, renewable energy […]
Tap lock: Design that mirrors need
These are jua kali manufactured locks for taps, where the padlock goes on the little handles shown and the contraption protects your faucet from either being stolen for scrap metal value or your water being used by unauthorized people. It was seen in the market in Nakuru, Kenya. This is a conceptual design for a […]
Reflecting on The Informal Economy, October 2012
John Keith Hart, who first saw the economic activity of the “unemployed” in Accra, Ghana back in the beginning of the 1970’s, almost exactly 40 years ago, opened the symposium with the statement that the informal economy had gone mainstream. After all, he said, here was a gathering of folks from around the world, ready […]
M-PESA and the service innovation framework (review)
A former student of mine just mailed me this article “Extracting Key Lessons in Service Innovation” (pdf) by S.Wooder and S. Baker, recently published in the Journal of Product Innovation Management, January 2012 edition. Here is the abstract of the article: This paper describes how Sagentia—working with Vodafone, Safaricom, and other organizations—played a significant role […]
Deconstructing the solar lighting market hype
Nairobi solar lantern shop, July 12th 2012 The Economist’s Q3 2012 Technology Quarterly has a paean on the promise of solar lanterns replacing nasty, stinky kerosene once and for all. Of note is the careful mention of MKopa, a Nairobi based startup founded by Nick Hughes of MPesa fame, until now conducting pilot tests in […]
New Product Introductions in Informal Markets
“What’s new?” I asked Peter who runs this mari mari shop in a makeshift market just yards from Nairobi’s famous Kibera, and he proudly showed off the various features of this television set cum DVD player that can run on a small battery if need be. Yours for just $100. Don’t miss the bright pink […]
