I left Nairobi on Saturday. The airport surprised me with several improvements since last year. It has better organized control posts to enter the airport area, a world-class extension to Terminal 1, more eating facilities, etc. Security controls are extensive: I went through 3 screenings! Clearly, they don’t want to take risks. Who knows if […]
Transport Infrastructure Boosts Business
Whenever I’m in Nigeria and visit a company in Lagos, I anticipate traffic jams and leave ahead of time. Once I had to travel from Lagos Business School in Lekki to the UBA (United Bank for Africa) head office on Lagos Island – 30 km or about 18 miles. Someone recommended that I leave two […]
Access to Electricity in Africa
While in Lagos, I experienced what it means not to have a regular power supply. So I was happy to hear about “repurpose schoolbags“, schoolbags with a solar panel that charges while kids are in school. In the evening, they can be used as a study lamp. This indigenous innovation was created by two South African women. […]
Together Raw Materials and Technology can Transform African Business
A cocoa grower from Ghana was once shown a piece of chocolate. It was the first time he had ever seen such a thing. When he was told what it was, he exclaimed, “Oh! really? Does this come from the cocoa beans?” These days new technologies are being harnessed to enable growers of cocoa and […]
Trading Times Across East African Borders
My young friend Giovanni came back from a visit to East Africa last week. As part of the trip, he traveled by car from Uganda to Kenya. This involves crossing the Malaba border where trucks can wait anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks. But the driver was an expert at crossing this border, so they only […]
