One thing that struck me in Nairobi was the income gap. Neither picture is truthful. The same misconception can come from looking at country-level economic statistics unwisely. “Consumer income is one of the most important economic factors creating distance between countries,” according to my colleague Ghemawat. Simple as this may seem, it gets complicated when […]
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. […]
Nigeria’s post-colonial impoversihment
Last week I had the opportunity to participate in a discussion about Nigeria’s post-colonial impoverishment, and its evolution since it became independent in 1960. I learned many things about the country, and I though it might be interesting to share some of these insights with you. The discussion was led by Professor Catherine Duggan from Harvard Business […]