Tag Archives: trade

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement and the Age of Interoperability

By Niti Bhan | Published: July 15, 2019

I have been writing on cross border mobile financial flows across the African continent since early 2015, when the partnerships and agreements made between African telcos to provide interoperability between their mobile money services first began to hit the headlines. In my last post back in August 2016, I asked if Cross Border Mobile Money […]

Posted in Africa, Afrique francophone, Airtime, Alternative currency, Analysis, Assumption filter, Banking, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Cashless transactions, Commerce en ligne (e-commerce), Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Futures, Ghana, Income, Informal & Flexible, Kenya, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Technology, UEMOA | Also tagged , , , , , , | 1 Response

Ibn Battuta in Timbuktu

By Niti Bhan | Published: June 5, 2018

An ongoing project has me immersed in the history of West African trade, and of course, contemporary accounts of regional cross border trade. Rather than not blog, here’s a link heavy post on Ibn Battuta‘s travels in the region back in the 14th Century. Click on the image for a larger version of the map. […]

Posted in global, Perspective | Also tagged , , , | Leave a comment

East African Imports in rural Rwanda?

By Niti Bhan | Published: February 5, 2018

This highway ‘storefront’ in rural Rwanda made me wonder if the trader had imported his goods rather than purchased them locally. And, further, if they were imports from Kenya. First, unlike the majority of such roadside shops, he is dealing with multiple products – while all are related to home decor, they are made of […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Afrique francophone, Analysis, Assumption filter, Biashara Economics, Consommateurs, East African Community, Flexibility, Informal & Flexible, Marchés africains, Marketing, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, rural, Rural Economy, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa | Also tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Women’s Entrepreneurship Driving Emerging Future in Africa

By Niti Bhan | Published: January 25, 2018

We’ve been silent of late on this blog due to work deadlines and end of the year paperwork, however this will change. I’ve promised to write one blog post every day – even if its a few lines – for the next 30 days. I realized it was habit and discipline that was missing, not […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Afrique francophone, Business, Compétitivité, Consommateurs, Consumer Behaviour, Design, Emerging Markets, Fashionomics, FMCG, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Innovation Planning, Mama Biashara, Marchés africains, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Retail in Africa, Sub Saharan Africa | Also tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s way past the time to consider the Informal Economy as a distinct commercial environment

By Niti Bhan | Published: May 2, 2017

Regardless of continent, it is now high time we accepted the informal economy (unformal or unrecognised or unorganized sectors) as a commercial operating environment in its own right. The continued oversight is rapidly coalescing into a gaping void of hiccups and failures, by large companies, non profit institutions, and startups, alike. This issue goes far […]

Posted in African Consumer Market, Assumption filter, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Frameworks, global, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Innovation Planning, Mama Biashara, Marchés africains, Mobile platform, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Retail in Africa, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, UCSD, User research | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Launching Our Digital Documentation Project: Ibadan’s Tailors, Traders, and Textiles by Nigerian/British artist Folake Shoga

By Niti Bhan | Published: April 14, 2017

After months of hard work, I am very honoured and proud to announced our new digital documentation project by my friend Folake Shoga, a Nigerian/British multidisciplinary artist with more than three decades of experience. She went on a journey of discovery through the twists and turns of the informal value web that holds together West […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Biashara Economics, Business, Consommateurs, Consumer Behaviour, Culture, Design, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Fashionomics, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Mama Biashara, Marchés africains, Marketing, Nigeria, Perspective, Photography, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Projects and Reports, Research, Retail in Africa, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, User research, Value | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Le commerce direct des produits fabriqués en Chine est-il susceptible de perturber le marché des consommateurs africains?

By Niti Bhan | Published: August 15, 2016

This article has been translated into the French by Yacine Bio-Tchané La première plateforme d’e-commerce spécialisée dans la vente directe des produits fabriqués en Chine vient d’être lancée au Togo, un pays de l’Afrique de l’Ouest. Coincé tout comme la République du Bénin entre deux grands pays davantage connus, le Nigeria et le Ghana,le Togo […]

Posted in Africa, Afrique francophone, Analysis, Attractivité, Business Models, Cashless transactions, CEMAC, China, Commerce en ligne (e-commerce), Compétitivité, Consommateurs, Emerging Markets, FMCG, Marchés africains, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Technologie, UEMOA | Also tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Will Cross Border Mobile Money Boost intra African Trade and Regional Integration?

By Niti Bhan | Published: August 13, 2016

Over the past 18 months, since I started tracking the spread of cross border mobile money payments across the African continent, there has been visible progress in leaps and bounds, as documented by the GSMA. In fact, back then, I’d written: Top down reportage on banking and interoperability seems to focus only on the customer’s […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Business Models, Cashless transactions, China, Economy, Ecosystem, Kenya, Mama Biashara, Marketing, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Strategy, Tanzania, Technology | Also tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Will Direct Access to China-made Goods Disrupt Trade in West Africa’s Consumer Market?

By Niti Bhan | Published: August 11, 2016

The first e-commerce platform for direct trade of China made products has just been launched in the West African country of Togo. Squeezed together with the Benin Republic between the larger, and better known countries of Nigeria and Ghana, Togo is a small francophone country of around 7 million people. Per the article: “We want […]

Posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Afrique francophone, Analysis, Business, Business Models, Cashless transactions, China, Commerce en ligne (e-commerce), Consommateurs, Distribution, Emerging Markets, Ghana, Marchés africains, Marketing, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Technologie, Technology, UEMOA | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Emerging African women entrepreneurs #informaleconomy

By Niti Bhan | Published: February 6, 2016

At the other end of the high tech geeky startup spectrum increasingly providing a platform for African women is the informal retail and wholesale trade sector. Like their West African sisters, the women traders I met in the border market of Busia, Kenya (next door to Busia, Uganda) and its nearby environs (~ 5km radius), […]

Posted in African Consumer Market, Business, Cashless transactions, Economy, Ecosystem, Kenya, Mama Biashara, Marketing, Mobile platform, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Retail in Africa | Also tagged , | Leave a comment


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