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

Fri Oct 15 14:12:57 EAT 2010

Dear Gilda,

I'm not familiar with any applications, but certainly a number of services
have been inspired by the way such entrepreneurs act and innovate with their
customers.

For example, some have noted that the business models of M-Pesa have been
influenced by the way that mobile entrepreneurs would previously transfer
money more informally through sharing top-up cards. Simu ya Jamii phone
services, are also clearly shaped by the ways that phone sharing was being
done informally. Similarly, Safaricom's Okoa Jahazi service is clearly
inspired by how informal entrepreneurs provide small credit to loyal
customers.

What seems to make Safaricom standout, is that it tracks the innovations
that such mobile entrepreneurs are making, and then manages to turn them
into commercial services, and likely this is a crucial part of their
differentiation and success.

Best
Chris

On Fri, Oct 15, 2010 at 9:30 AM, <godera at skyweb.co.ke> wrote:

>
> Chris,
>
> Well said. May I ask, are there any entrepreneurs out there who developed
> any
> applications that Safaricom adapted and what is their input in this
> discussion?
> It would be nice to hear from them too......
>
> Gilda
> Quoting Chris Foster <cgfoster at gmail.com>:
>
> > Dear all,
> >
> > Muriuki invited me to join the list and contribute to this discussion. I
> am
> > a PhD researcher from Manchester UK, currently researching the reach of
> > mobile, focusing on mobile entrepreneurs in Nairobi. So I am very happy
> to
> > be able to follow these interesting discussions on a subject close to my
> > heart.
> >
> > I'm not sure I can add anything specific about the Kenyan context, in
> which
> > you have far more knowledge than me, but perhaps I can present some
> insight
> > on some wider debates in mobile, where similar processes are happening
> > around the world.
> >
> > I'd like to expand on Muriuki's previous point, about those employed in
> the
> > mobile industry. In my view what may be most significant about Safaricom,
> is
> > that it seems to be one of the first enterprises in Kenya to truly reach
> the
> > poorest and successfully provide ICT goods. But in the rush to celebrate,
> we
> > may have forgotten to consider the mobile entrepreneurs who have been
> > crucial to providing this new reach.
> >
> > Here's two quotes about these mobile entrepreneurs from recent research:
> >
> > >From a study of mobile entrepreneurs in India - “A general store began a
> > mobile phone re-charge service, moving to selling handsets, accessories
> and
> > repair services phasing out the original business.....Similarly, several
> > mobile recharge start-ups graduated to stocking the entire range of
> mobile
> > re-charge options, handsets, accessories and hardware repair.”
> >
> > A quote from a Telco employee in Peru - "[Referring to top-up and handset
> > sellers]..those people, even telephone thieves, are working for us, only
> > they don’t know it......They are employees of [the company], they are
> only
> > lacking the vest; they work for us for free"
> >
> > I really like these quotes as they show the two sides of these forgotten
> > mobile entrepreneurs. They seem to illustrate a fine line between mobile
> > employment being a positive learning process for the information age, and
> > vendors who induce spending and pass the profits upward to their bosses.
> >
> > Is it fine to praise the effective business model of Safaricom and forget
> > about these entrepreneurs? How do we see the role of these often marginal
> > entrepreneurs, is employment the most they can expect? What are there
> things
> > that Safaricom has done to help those employed in the mobile industry?
> >
> > Best Regards
> > Chris
> >
> > ----
> > Christopher Foster
> > PhD Candidate, Centre for Development Informatics (CDI)
> > University of Manchester, UK
> >
> > On Thu, Oct 14, 2010 at 8:41 PM, waudo siganga
> > <emailsignet at mailcan.com>wrote:
> >
> > > 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 (
> > >
> 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
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > kictanet mailing
> >
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> >
> >
> > --
> > Christopher Foster
> > mob: 07751 537350 | skype: cgfoster
> >
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Christopher Foster
mob: 07751 537350 | skype: cgfoster
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