Africa’s Fibre Optic Cable Wars
Everytime I talk to a Kenyan or African about entrepreneurship, we all come to the conclusion that the fibre optic cable line (if it’s every built) will do wonders for the small African entrepreneur who is currently struggling and hustling away under the hot sun and dust in capital cities like Nairobi, Abidjan and Lagos.
But will a high speed fibre optic cable really do wonders for the small business man or woman? The South African Experience has shown that in order for such a project to succeed, governments in Africa will have to get out of the telecommunications sector and allow competition. If not, prices for broadband services will remain high and out of the reach of most Africans.
Secondly, smaller banks in Africa are going to have to start issuing credit cards so these entrepreneurs can transact businesses on-line. This has yet to take off in most African countries.
Third, these small businesses will have to find a way to get their goods into the hands of the western customers who’ll most probably be paying for them. Africans are used to exporting bulk agricultural products like coffee, tea and flowers, but how do you deliver smaller goods that are ordered in smaller quantities by individuals? Having direct flights from African capitals to places like New York would help. I think the only African airline that currently does that is South African Airways. Kenya Airways needs to get working on that.
Another solution is for aspiring entrepreneurs to partner with other Africans who are already in the diaspora (or vice versa) – Africans in the diaspora can develop a list of suppliers who’d be willing to send over goods that can be sold on the web. This is still quite difficult to do because people want to be paid in hard cold cash – IMMEDIATELY. Hopefully, as internet access expands across Africa, traders will be more willing to conduct their chores electronically – You send me the goods and I deposit the money into your account via paypal after I receive the goods.
There’s a huge opportunity there and we shall see….
Vitu,
You’ve raised some very good points. Yes, after the Armenian fiasco, KQ has a long way to go. It’s too bad the octogenarian mullah’s in Kenya do not realize the importance of air travel in today’s globalized and interconnected economy!
I once looked into trying to import Kenyan flowers into the U.S. market. After talking to the one of the largest flower importers on the East Coast, he basically told me that Kenya’s main problem was it’s lack of direct flights into the U.S.
Currently, kenyan flowers are flown to the Netherlands. The Dutch then re-export those flowers to America for huge profits. If the kenyan flower farmers had a way of essentially cutting out the Dutch middlemen, they could make substantially more.
The Latin American countries like Ecuador and Colombia currently have direct flights into Miami and New York. The also have refrigirators right at the airport. So, as soon as the flowers from Quito or Bogota land, they are immediately transferred to those fridges and all across America.
However, that flower wholesaler basically told me that he would buy flowers from Kenya if they could get them to the JFK in New York. He even told me that I wouldn’t have to worry about refrigerators because he had trucks waiting right at the airport!
So, there you have it. A simple Kenyan expatriate living in America decided to pick up the phone one day and explore an idea.
A second flower wholesaler told me that Kenya’s problem was that it had an inefficient port in Mombasa and that if they would just improve their port/freight system, he would import flowers from Kenya.
So, there you have it. I just picked up the phone one day and started calling flower wholesalers. To my utter surprise, they responded and even provided valuable advice!!
The potential is there, but we can’t wait for the government to get it’s act together.
If I have to get kenyan goods to America, I will deal directly with individuals.
@ke – KQ is trying but the idiots in the government are frustrating their efforts.
By delaying the implementation of JKIA’s expansion they have slowed down KQ’s expansion. The airport was designed for 2M passengers but has a thoughput of 4M. KQ carried 2.4M passengers in 2005 & expects 2.5M+ in 2006.
Then we have the artur brothers saga which means non-Kenyans with weapons get access to all areas of the airport. Add that to “fake” Kenyan passports issued to foreigners & a thugs becoming a “deputy commissioners” of the Kenya Police.
JKIA needs FAA Category 1 certification, which means JKIA has to be able to detect & prevent terrorists boarding flights to the USA. In addition, JKIA needs the ability/resources to prevent drug smuggling.
So do you think JKIA has even a chance of Cat 1 after the events of last week?
Hi,
Yes, it will help some, but there are still some hurdles that will have to be crossed as I outlined in my piece.
I cannot wait for this to materialize this will go a long way to enable me to get out of the eight to five rat race. It will improve communications in a major way and ensure us that the internet services will be reliable to support a business online.