A former student used to work for a microfinance institution in Kenya. He quitted: he wasn’t comfortable with the high rates and fee charges of traditional microfinance loans (37 % average). Meant to promote financial inclusion, these loans may end up making borrowers poorer than they were. At the same time, the super-high interest rates […]
Agenda 2063 (IV): A Commodities Strategy
Last week I was in Sao Paulo with a group of IESE’s Global Executive MBA program participants. The module focused on Doing Business in Latin America. Three of the local speakers showed the same series of The Economist’s front pages! The series went from “Brazil takes off” (2009) to “The betrayal of Brazil” (2016). This reminded […]
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 […]
Africa Powering Ahead
In the middle of the Lagos heat, I said to a colleague: “I feel very fortunate to have air conditioning, there are so many people here who just have to bear this heat, that I feel bad about it”. Half-joking, he answered, “On the other hand, everybody has a heater!” Not that Lagos is sunny, […]