Urbanization is on the up. The prospect is that by 2050, 70 percent of the world’s population will live in cities – for Africa, the prediction is 50 percent. The challenge is for cities to offer improved living conditions to their citizens. To this end, the concept of “smart cities” is being developed. In essence, […]
Water purification: a basic need
During my stay in Kenya, I acquired a new habit, one which I have kept in my daily life: drinking hot, really hot, water – like from the kettle. That’s common there. I guess it has to do with the need to purify the water before drinking it. Though it’s a basic need, water purification […]
Doing business in Africa: some practical advice
Last week I heard a talk by a consultant from Roland Berger who specialized in Sub-Saharan and Southern Africa. He offered some practical advice for doing business in Africa. This is what he said, and some of my experiences of how it holds true: 1. Take market intelligence and customer understanding seriously: product-oriented companies won’t make […]
Intra-African trade and transportation
When I wrote about intra-Africa business travel a few weeks ago, Charles Ivenco – one of my friends from Lagos Business School – left a comment in which he told us about the improvements in air transportation over the last decade, and how this is related to the increased levels of intra-African trade. According to […]
The Chinese presence in Africa
Chinese economic presence in Africa comes in for a lot of criticism: the projects to which they contribute financing favor foreign companies while leaving local contractors behind – or so the critics say. The Chinese are also known for bringing in their own people to do the work. In Kenya, for instance, there has been a recent […]
