[Motorbikes are transforming the African continent. A two-hour walk is now a 20 min bike-taxi ride. Bike-taxis create jobs for tens of thousands of young people. At the same time, there has been a sharp increase in bike accidents and hospitals often have dedicated wards for accidents.]
Category Archives: This is Africa
Frame Changers #162: Natural Incentives
Frame Changers #160: Microfinance Mania and Maneuvers
[Microfinance works in different ways across the world. MFIs in East Africa routinely expect physical collateral (as opposed to the basic principle of social collateral that it was founded on), charge predatory interest rates (18% – 60%), and seldom provide ongoing support through capacity building and business mentoring.]
Frame Changers #157: Emerging Markets, Reframed
[Americans love hand sanitizers; some are addicted to using them while others (mostly teenagers) have been consuming them for the alcohol content. On a different note, post-crisis reconstruction efforts often have interesting business dynamics.]
Frame Changers #156: Orphans as Customers
[Sub-Saharan Africa is home to more than 50 million orphaned children…and that number continues to rise. The discipline, transparency and integrity of a well-run social enterprise might actually curb the system-wide abuses in the current methods to address this longstanding crisis.]
Frame Changers #152: Good Vaccine; Bad Spirit
[Coordination between health ministries, large non-profits, UN agencies, and small faith-based and community-based organizations is a perennial challenge. Excellent progress has been made in some countries in recent years by channeling all aid and resources through one of the parties.]
Frame Changers #148: Everything Needs a Business Model
Frame Changers #146: Consultants Without Borders
Frame Changers #145: Modern Human Needs
[This is a modern take on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.]
Frame Changers #138: Sixty Ton Brick
[Some tractors-trailers automatically shut off when maintenance is overdue. This doesn’t work well in developing countries where vehicle maintenance is not given its due importance and mechanics are called in only when the vehicle breaks down, often in the middle of nowhere.]