[kictanet] The big Kwaheri: reflecting on 10 years on the MJ 10yr safari and his-tory - day 5

[waudo siganga]

Muriuki,
I think MPESA has helped distribute wealth to the bottom of the
pyramid. There are thousands of people in the rural remote areas
now who are able to receive money from more fortunate relatives
etc. simply because the channel to send the money exists and is
accessible. Imagine trying to send 300/= to a villager 5 years
ago and the bank charges plus transport to the "nearest" town
where the bank has a branch, plus bank restricted opening
hours,plus queues in the bank, plus possible lodging costs, plus
other compexities that would have involved!  Economists also say
([1]http://blog.icresource.com/2008/03/01/principles-of-economic-
circulation/) that wealth is not just having money, but also how
FAST that m oney circulates in the economy. One person having
1000/= in a week is not the same as 7 people handling that same
1000/= through 7 separate transactions in the same week. In this
way I think MPESA has revolutionarised the lives of Kenyans
beyond doubt, created new wealth, inreased GDP by
improving CIRCULATION of money and helped to redistribute
wealth, especially to the bottom of the pyramid. A person in the
village able to receive money in an easier way from more
fortunate realtives is also able to invest, e.g. in agriculture,
education, health, etc. at the grassroots. To mis-quote  a
certain obscure philospher of yore, MPESA is the mother of all
killer applications!

Kind
Waudo
On Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:09 +0300, "muriuki mureithi"
<mureithi at summitstrategies.co.ke> wrote:

Fellow listers


This is getting very close from the heart ------ keep them coming
---


Joe Mucheru put out a very interesting  hypothesis  and most
likely  a fact  that ...’ Safaricom ecosystem has created
thousands of millionaires ‘  as MJ created a US$1 Billion +
company in 10 yrs  .....


One thing  one may want to understand from your own experience
is whether Safaricom generated new wealth  and then redistributed
to create the millionaires cited above, or did the system suck
resources from bamba 5’s  and concentrate to  a few? Were there
losers in the process?  Were   the bottom of the pyramid part of
the equation or lost out?  Think of that guy who was selling
airtime  in the streets some years ago,  did the system develop a
channel for upward mobility in the value chain?  In other words
where is the guy who was selling airtime 10 yrs ago in the
streets?


If you think so – what should MJ have done to address the
situation ......





cheers


Muriuki Mureithi

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References

1. http://blog.icresource.com/2008/03/01/principles-of-economic-circulation/
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