Me No Likey Workey
I was on the subway going home from work last night and it’s like being in a matatu (people just insist on squeezing themselves into that last spot) Anyway, this woman was determined to get on that train, even though they run every five minutes during rush hour. So, she pushed her way through, squeezed in and then told everyone how she just “couldn’t wait to get the hell out of her office and get home.” Then of course, everyone starts laughing because we all felt the same way!
The above was just an aside on the pain of being a wage earning slave. Today, I really want to talk about broadband coming to Kenya and the business opportunities that it might open up. I was browsing through Bankelele’s blog and he mentioned that he hadn’t been to his brokers office in a few days and was wondering how his shares were doing. So, of course, I’m wondering why he can’t do that on-line? What if you don’t live in Nairobi and your broker doesn’t have a branch in your area? What do you do? This would give me sleepless nights, especially if the share prices started dropping! This is one area where having broadband will help – providing an avenue for consumers to have up-to-date access to their financial portfolio’s and the ability to instantaneously execute their OWN trading moves. Are these brokers that much smarter than you or I? Okay, maybe they have access to inside information, but that’s where blogs come in (people in the know will eventually post that info on a blog or a forum). That’s another thing broadband will do: It will create information parity because everyone will have access to the same information.
I know everyone has thought about all those curio sellers at Maasai Market and what they would do if they had access to high speed internet. Would they move on-line and broaden their consumer base? The only hindrance would be if they had to ship goods out of Kenya. Is the postal service dependable and non-corrupt? I suppose you could always use UPS and just charge your customers for the shipping. That’s possiblity #2 — what it will do for all those small businesses in Kenya that sell unique African products (anyone in the west can get that cheap stuff from China. That’s not what they want. I really think you to be unique).
I’ll provide an example here: I remember reading an article in Vanity Fair Magazine about traditional Argentinian Gaucho bags. These are 100% leather bags that the gaucho’s (Argentinian ranchers) use when they’re riding their horses in the Pampas. Some Argentinians started selling them in New York for about $700 dollars and they caught on (especially after a couple of celebrities were seen carrying them). I’m sure in Argentina, the bags cost about $15 dollars, but they’re unique and unless your willing to go to Argentina and buy them, if you have the money and you can get them wherever you are, you will. This also gets back to my earlier point about being culturally authentic. (Consumers in the west like that authenticity and it’s also easier than trying to compete with cheap Chinese knock-off’s)
I’m sure they’re plenty more possibilities, but I just want to conclude by saying that I think the internet will explode the same way that cell phones exploded. The west underestimated how popular and ubiquitous cell phones would become in Africa and they are doing the same thing with the internet. When it gets there, it’s going to be huge and I think that this is the perfect time to start looking into those possibilities.
Broadband remains very expensive in Kenya… underinvestment in telecoms due to the prior regimes idiotic policies… and the idiots themselves!
Anyway, I hope the new TEAMS, EASSY, Flag & whatchacallit undersea/submarine fibreoptic cables will drop the prices to much more affordable levels.
Furthermore, increased competition among the ISPs will bring costs down… but will it be too little too late?
The price of broadband in America has come down quite a bit over the years. However, even here, there is still not that much competition. The industry is dominated by two major companies: Comcast and Verizon. And believe it or not, in many cities, you have no choice about who to pick! For years, I was stuck with comcast because the city I lived in did not allow any other operator. They finally allowed verizon in and I am going to cut my bill by almost 50% just by switching to Verizon.
Comcast spends millions of dollars on lobbyists who wine and dine politicians and then they turn around and ask them for “favors” like giving Comcast exclusive provider rights in majors cities and the consumers usually get stuck with those high prices. Smaller companies are just now beginning to go after these “single provider” rules and they’re suing these cities who’ve adopted these ridiculous by-laws. At least in America, the threat of lawsuits usually brings about change.
I’m not sure if the politicians in Kenya will allow multiple private companies to compete. Afterall, look what happened to Econet. The guy must not have been willing to pay enough bribes to the right people. That’s why it’s so important to have an independent, non-corrupt judiciary and one that is well versed in various business and securities laws.
KE and Coldtusker, I’m not sure if you had stumbled upon this tidbit of information:
http://bdafrica.com/index.php?.....temid=2602
Some folks at GK are thinking outside the box………already there are multiple private companies in Kenya competing now……from the regular ISPs such as Wananchi to Flashcom and Popote, and now this……….my mom’s Flashcom connection is brilliant, in fact her VOIP service is even better than what I get with Vonage. And with 3 G technology changing daily, plus the EASSYs et al it will only become faster and cheaper for Kenyans to access broadband now. This is one area where as far as I’m concerned, GK is doing a commendable job.
Sijui
Hmmm…tell me more about this flashcom.
When broadband comes it’ll also make internet to internet phone calls free. I use Skype right now, but it’s been hit or miss in terms of getting a clear connection.
Your articles are informative.
Talking about Maasai Market how marketable do you the african artificats are and what would be an ideal price range,if at all there one.
I have a freind who deals with Curios and we were thinking of setting up a site.
Regards,
Perminus.
Regarding Flashcom, I’ll swear by the VOIP part……..their broadband wireless is a little less stellar based on feedback I’ve seen on Bankelele etc……
http://www.flashcom.co.ke/
Like I said, the quality of their VOIP has blown me away….I don’t bother calling my mom on her cellphone anymore, plus the cost for her to make calls internationally from Kenya is quite reasonable. What tickles me pink is that we never had a landline in the house for like 40 years! And now……..abrakadarba a wireless landline that is affordable, reliable and easy to obtain????????? I’m still pinching myself.
Sijui:
If your mum had high speed internet access, she could download skype and you could talk to each other for free. You could call her and she could call you. Why isn’t she using skype? just curious.
Perminus:
African curious do not sell well in America. I know many people who’ve tried to sell them without success. I also looked at how well they sold on ebay and there too, they didn’t sell well. I’m not sure why. I don’t know if they are too “ethnic” looking for most mzungu’s or if the sellers didn’t market them well enough.
However, in a previous post, I talked about this hand-bag designer in Kenya who was making very unique and nice looking hand- bags that people on the street in NYC were actually stopping my friend and asking her where she got them from.
After seeing those hand-bags, I think the key is to pick artists who have very unique talent and who can use that innate talent to make very unique African-centric goods.
Like you yourself mentioned, Skype is touch and go…..and my mom has not ‘graduated’ to the level of using her Flashcom bluetooth device to connect to the Internet. I’m sure the connection would be patchy so its our trusted VOIP service for now……..BTW I think Flashcom uses VOIP wireless not cable since my mom definitely does not have a land link.