A couple of years ago, Kenyans were very optimistic: they had found oil in the Northern part of the country! Last year, it looked like the country could become an exporter of oil. Right now, Kenya is benefiting from being a net energy importer. Is oil a blessing or a curse for a country’s economy? […]
Elections and Political Stability
This week we had a case premier in my MBA class. We discussed the brand-new case Innovis Telecom. Actually, both the students and I enjoyed the discussion quite a lot! Founded in 2010, Innovis is an Indian company that provides services to telecom operators. Uganda and Myanmar are its main markets but they also operate […]
The 4th Industrial Revolution: Threat or Opportunity?
The World Economic Forum (WEF) held its annual meeting last week. The theme of this year was “The Fourth Industrial Revolution: what it means, how to respond.” I didn’t follow the event but I was curious to find out whether they had any Africa-related discussions. And yes, I found an article titled “How can Africa […]
The “African Shot”: An optimistic outlook
One reason I enjoy visiting Africa is that I get what I call my “African shot”: despite difficulties, optimism transpires there. To me this is in sharp contrast to the gloomy attitude that many of us in Europe have developed over the last few years. In my post of last week (“Africa Rising” – Under […]
“Africa Rising” – Under Question?
“Do you really think Africa is going to take off?” This is a question I often get both from Africans and from people in the West. My answer: “It’s not going to happen tomorrow but I’m convinced it will happen.” At any typical introductory talk about the continent chances are that the speaker will show […]
