I believe that consistent creation of jobs is essential for a nation’s economy to thrive and better the lives of its citizens. My country is dubbed a ‘hustler nation’, simply because business flows in the veins of the people.
The informal sector, from juakali ,to food vending stalls on the streets,to matatus ,to rickshaw transportation (mkokoteni) etc, experience exponential growth credit to the determination in those hard working hearts that bleed ‘hustler’.
Unemployment Chaos
Unfortunately, unlike the formal sector whose GDP per capita numbers currently stand at $1,169 monthly, the informal sector are cheap laborers who on a good night will average a take home of $5 to $7 dollars daily ($250 monthly tops).
Instead of pointing blame on why this great gap between the rich and the poor is ever increasing, I prefer coming up with solutions to alleviate this issue.
Thanks to the digital revolution that has now taken root in this country, a large number of the population have access to the Internet which is the source of where we can find solutions to this disparity.
E-commerce Paradise
Better communication and faster delivery of goods and services between businesses would make workflow more effective and drive revenue increase across all channels.
This means that the less time it takes me to inform a seller about what me as the buyer would like and the faster I can complete the purchase, the more trade can take place on the seller side which will in-turn bring about the need for more employment across all channels to ensure a comfortable buyer experience.
Enter e-commerce, short for electronic commerce or the exchange of goods and services on a digital platform. This would speed up trade in the informal sector hence an increase in revenue to open the door for job growth.
May I add that my country boasts of the best mobile money service in the world?. Giant companies like Google are pioneers in e-commerce sites to accept this mobile money influx.
Mobile money transfer, would also expand trade in the country so that businessman A in Nairobi will be able to transact with businessman B in Mombasa in a fraction of the time it had been taking before this digital revolution. This saves time and cost and opening the door to trading opportunities with huge and untouched markets in the region.
Franchising,the Silver lining
Nairobi , Kenya is an important regional hub for technology and is in a prime position to expand e-commerce knowledge and resources to untapped areas of the Eastern Africa region.
Eastern Africa boasts of a population of over 440 Million, which is bigger than the population of Northern America.
With well thought out organisation, ‘Hustler Nation’ businesses can expand financial services and trade through our leading mobile money transfer system and e-commerce platforms to untapped markets in the region through a model that helped build great super powers like the U.S. economy to where they have reached today calledfranchising.
How can the informal sector of a 3rd world country learn from the business practices of an established 1st world like the U.S. you ask ?, hmmmm.
Let’s take an example with businessman A who owns a few ‘boda bodas’ in Nairobi for taxi purposes,and realizes there’s a vacuum of these services in his home town of Isiolo . He can secure a loan to purchase more ‘boda bodas’ for Isiolo and start the same business there.
With basic training on e-commerce, he can monitor both businesses from one portable digital platform and ensure secure money transfer just by a few pushes of a button. Next stop Moyale, and further and further into the undeveloped Eastern Africa Region bringing relief to transportation burdens where there’s demand for it.
These simple steps, if applied successfully by a small percentage of our low income ‘Hustler Nation’ can spark interest and raise awareness to businesses that subsidize them, bringing about a domino effect in the transition to a digital platform for business.
I believe the informal sector can benefit greatly and make an impact if introduced to and assisted where needed to implement an online business presence that can spur economic growth by increasing wages and securing jobs beneficial to a growing unemployed population. Any volunteers to assist our ‘Hustler Nation’?
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