One thing is to know that the agricultural business represents roughly 50% of Kenya’s GDP (including indirect contributions), and another thing is to observe how this is created. Last week I joined a group of IESE MBA students in their visit to two companies in this industry: Vegpro, and Kreative Roses. Both of them quite […]
The informal economy
Several African business leaders have warned me that we foreigners may easily misunderstand some clues that are critical for business. In particular, we may easily miss the role that the informal economy plays in most African countries. Official statistics may be misleading as they don’t include informal economic activities. Let me give you an example. […]
Oil scarcity in an oil-rich country
Look at the pictures below. In one you’ll see the line for a gas station: it’s about two or so miles long, and as it gets closer to the station the line doubles. In the other picture, people wait at the station to fill plastic containers. The average waiting time is 3 to 4 hours […]
The ins-and-outs of real estate
Look at the picture below carefully and read the sign there. You’ll see one of the ins-and-outs of real estate in Nigeria – and I suspect that similar ones may appear in the rest of Africa: Yes, you got it right!: “This property is NOT for sale.” Unusual, isn’t it? Not so here, where you […]
Regulations in Nigeria are both clear and ambiguous
In a previous post, I talked about street vendors in Lagos. You may be surprised that street trading has been banned in the state. This is one of the first things I heard when I had just arrived here. How come street trading is banned, and you see street vendors all over? It’s an indicator […]
