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 […]
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 […]
People Smuggling and Modern Slavery
On a visit to Barcelona, a colleague of mine from Lagos Business School casually met another Nigerian in the street. After chatting for a few minutes, her new friend asked in surprise: “… did you come here by plane?” The anecdote might sound funny but the reality it reflects is anything but. He was surprised because […]
Ease of Doing Business Rankings in sub-Saharan Africa
The Managing Director of a Kenyan company with operations across East Africa explained to me that “Rwanda is embracing investors. They have an organized, one-stop process. We were done with registration within a week.” Her experience doing business in Burundi was completely different. “The laws are not publicized and they change overnight”, she said. “Half […]
Even Neighboring Countries are Distant
As I ventured into Nigeria and Kenya, the locals warned me: “don’t think all of Africa is like us.” In fact, This has important implications for companies doing business in Africa and expanding in the continent: whether traditional multinationals, emerging market multinationals (EMMs), Pan-African companies, and even African regional companies. What does country distance mean? In his CAGE […]
