“Under Construction”
Dear Readers, I know its frustrating to hit my “Page not Found” message as you try to access a blog post on my website. We’re working double time to fix things as the site undergoes its first major redesign in 10 years! Tip: If you remove the .html from the end of the specific blog […]
New Market Analysis: It all boils down to Interpretation
This isn’t a new diagram for anyone familiar with my writing. Its a diagram I’ve been using to explain where my work fits into the innovation development process since I first saw it on Luke Wroblewski’s blog back in 2006. However, I’ve just been struck forcibly by the realization that there’s a very important piece […]
Segmenting the African Middle Class without dollar figures
Continuing the thinking from my previous post on the various attempts to size and value the potential of the emerging African middle classes based primarily in dollar figures, I thought to take a step back from income data to see if I could approach the challenge of segmentation in a different way. Below is the […]
My 2 shillings worth on the size or value of the emerging African middle classes
There’s been a lot in the news of late about the size and worth of the emerging African middle class subsequent to the release of an as yet unseen report by an economist, Simon Freemantle, at Standard Bank, South Africa. The various headlines conflict each other, some say the middle class isn’t as large as […]
Human centered design for financial inclusion: Lessons from fieldwork in rural India, The Phillipines and Kenya
Introduction Financial inclusion has become mainstream thinking in economic development. The vast majority of the unbanked live in the developing world, and a significant proportion of this population are rural residents. One can easily surmise, without recourse to statistics, that the bulk of the target audience for institutions seeking to offer them affordable and accessible […]
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 […]
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 […]
