From rags to riches: Re-afric make colourful shoes from recycled African fabric that sell worldwide

This is a slightly different episode of The East Africa Business Podcast where  we’ll be covering a thesis around development. When you consider how countries and societies have spurred economic growth it has all happened through urbanization. Streams of people moving from rural livelihoods to populate cities where they would find a better life and more opportunities. Underpinning all this was energy. Opportunities and wealth are a function of economic productivity and in order to produce more, power is needed to run, say, factories. Historically this has been generated centrally, in a power station and sent out via the grid. This has favoured a society built around these central sources of power and hence led to the rise and growth of cities. Azuri Technologies, however believes that this same path does not need to be taken in Africa READ MORE AT: https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/03/15/distributed-economy-an-alternative-development-thesis-with-conrad-whitaker-from-azuri-technologies/

15 Mars 201841min

There are certain products which, let’s face it, are more embarrassing to purchase than others. You don’t think twice about buying a pint of milk, however things such as contraceptives, or sanitary items make you a bit more self-conscious, especially if you’re an awkward teenage girl. Kasha an enterprise in Rwanda, started by solving the very discrete problem around girls accessing to affordable, quality sanitary items which can cause long-standing societal issues, such as school drop-out, if not solved. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/03/08/womens-health-e-commerce-delivering-female-products-across-east-africa-with-joanna-bichsel-from-kasha/

8 Mars 201836min

Pharmacies are found in almost every community in East Africa, however the way in which they are currently operating leaves a lot of room for improvement The business is largely run from pen, paper and phone meaning shop owners don’t have the visibility on how everything is run. Beyond this though, there is a huge potential to drive change in the medical space through formalising the way in which medicine is delivered across the region. In this episode Jess Vernon, CEO of Maisha Meds and I discuss how her technology company is using data to improve how local pharmacies are run and their ambitions to transform the broader industry. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/03/01/medicine-enabling-a-modern-day-pharmacy-in-africa-with-jessica-vernon-from-maisha-meds/

1 Mars 201830min

In many parts of the world, ordering a taxi from your smartphone is the new norm. Until July 2016 though, this was not possible in the country of Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country. There are several nuances about Ethiopia which made it difficult, and it was only once Habtamu returned to his home country after several years away that the capital Addis Ababa now has this service. It’s worth saying that Ethiopia is distinctly different from the other countries featured so far on this podcast. The ruling government runs a relatively closed economy, and there are strict regulations on anything involving interaction with the international business community. In this interview, Habtamu and I discuss just this, and some of the workarounds that he has had to develop in order to operate in Ethiopia. We cover how people have debit cards, but can only use them to withdraw cash, national company ownership for particular industries, and also how unlike other countries that Uber and the like work in, it’s illegal for private drivers to earn money giving rides. There’s lots in this episode around doing business in a difficult place, and the strategies to overcome it, and so beyond just leaning about Ethiopia, I have no doubt you’ll get a lot from it. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/02/22/ride-hailing-building-a-localised-version-of-uber-in-ethiopia-with-habtamu-tadesse-of-zayride/

22 Feb 201833min

When running an e-commerce company in most parts of the world, there are certain things you can take for granted. Namely that your customers can get on the internet in order to use your service. In Ethiopia, this isn’t always the case. The country regularly has power outtages meaning the population are without electricity and businesses are forced to adapt. Even when the lights are off though, people want food, and part of the reason that Deliver Addis is still in business is that they have had the creativity and tenacity to overcome such issues. Feleg and I discuss how they created offline procedures for his online company, attracting investors in a nascent climate, and the steps they take to onboard restaurants to their platform. It’s a great insight into business in Ethiopia, and so I hope you enjoy. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/02/15/takeaways-running-a-food-ecommerce-platform-when-the-power-goes-out-with-feleg-tsegaye-of-deliver-addis/

15 Feb 201832min

This week we’ve got an excellent episode which looks at applying breakthrough technology, to frontier markets. You’ve probably heard of Bitcoin and blockchain, and here Elizabeth Rossiello CEO and founder of Bitpesa and I discuss how this technology can help African businesses grow through improving how they make international payments. Why? Well in mature markets there’s a lot of liquidity between different currencies, meaning if you wanted to trade between Euros to Dollars to Pounds, the fact there’s lots of people trading it means you can get a good price. However, when you are looking to trade African currencies, there’s not so much activity meaning companies are getting caught with high high prices to move money around the world, such as paying suppliers. Bitpesa has stepped in to provide financial remittance services for anyone wanting to buy or sell African currencies, with Bitcoin and digital currencies acting behind the scenes to smoothen the process. Just a heads up that this interview took place over an internet call which is different to the in person episodes done to date, and also that Elizabeth will be speaking at The Economist’s Innovation Summit in Nairobi, and so be sure to check that out if you’re interested in learning more. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/02/08/bitpesa-blockchain-enabled-international-payments-with-elizabeth-rossiello/

8 Feb 201829min

Many international studies have pointed to the lack of SME financing as being a huge blocker to a country’s development. In the context of Kenya, many small business owners are excluded from the formal financial sector due to the high operational costs involved with opening and running a bank account. As a result, they have no formal credit history and are not able to get a loan. Pezesha are seeking to overcome this by giving the unbanked, their first step on the formal financial ladder. Hilda, the founder and CEO, and I dig into the difficulties of getting a bank account (and by extension, a loan), how Kenya’s ubiquitous mobile money network facilitates their business, and how they are layering on their data analytics to the dynamics of the existing social investing culture in Kenya. This is one of those episodes that can leave you scratching your head at times, but nevertheless shows the huge potential for technology and financing to transform a region. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/02/01/p2p-lending-revolutionising-access-to-credit-in-africa-with-hilda-moraa-from-pezesha/

1 Feb 201838min

Understanding your customers is an incredibly important aspect of any forward-thinking business. In many developed markets there are reams of public data available to understand demographics, as well as established market insight companies who give a perspective on consumer tastes. In Kenya, however, this was difficult. mSurvey was borne from a PhD student’s frustration at not being able to get such insights, and five years on the company is one of the region’s flagship start up success stories. In this episode Sam Kamande, who is mSurvey’s Head of Data, and I discuss the many applications of their technology platform, how the fact that African consumers are very comfortable communicating via text message is good for their business, and the vision for utilising the big data they collect to give a holistic view on the African consumer. This is a cracking episode, full of tid bits of information on the East African economy, doing business and generally the real impact of applying technology to an area that has been historically overlooked. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/01/25/surveys-leveraging-big-data-from-mobile-money-with-sam-kamande-from-msurvey/

25 Jan 201834min