Perspective- After years of sparse rain, the floodgates opened
- Impact of mainstreaming and commodification of cyber cafe services
- The role of the cyber cafe: Assisted entry ramp onto the information superhighway to use a cliche
- Estimating price in unexplored and untapped markets
- Mobile phones and China: Two concurrent factors of global urbanization of rural African market towns.
Category Archives: Indigenous & Traditional
The multifunctionality of livestock in rural Kenya
This is an interesting research paper from Purdue’s Agricultural Economics department published in 2008. Titled Traits Affecting Household Livestock Marketing Decisions in Rural Kenya (pdf), it’s abstract informs us that: While many contemporary development programs with regard to Sub-Saharan Africa’s … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Assumption filter, Buyer Behaviour, Cashless transactions, Culture, Economy, Income, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Kenya, Rural, Savings, User research, Value
Tagged africa, bop, business models, informal economy, kenya, livestock, marketing, prepaid research, rural
Rise of tricycle pushcarts in Mexico
ClubOrlov has a guest post from a small Mayan fishing village in Mexico by a writer only known as Albert, who observes this informal economic activity and its players closely: What struck me is that I cannot recall a time … Continue reading
Senegalese research on innovation processes in their informal ICT sector
I came across some excellent research by Dr Almamy Konte and Mariama Ndong of Senegal. While I’m sure the original working paper in French must be far better than this drafted English translation, their key points are nonetheless something to … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Bottom of the Pyramid, Business Models, Culture, Economy, Income, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Literature review, Mobile platform, Senegal, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa
Tagged ICT, informal business, informal sector, innovation, innovation processes, marketing, organization, research, senegal
Book Review – Stealth of Nations: The global rise of the informal economy
The first best thing that I can say, on Robert Neuwirth’s Stealth of Nations, is that I’m grateful to the author for writing the book. I’ve just finished reading it, after purchasing it at a premium from Kinokuniya in downtown … Continue reading
Traditional moneylending – informal, flexible, trust based and changing fast
Sawai Madhopur, December 30th 2008 As Microfinance Grows in India, So Do Its Rivals is the title of a recent WSJ article by Ketaki Gokhale which begins so, The practice of making tiny loans to poor people, or microfinance, was … Continue reading
Synthesis of the Prepaid Economy Project
The impetus for the Prepaid Economy project came from field observations during other projects which focused on the design and development of products and services for those at the BoP. It was noted that the majority of the BoP lived … Continue reading
Posted in Airtime, Alternative currency, Assumption filter, Banking, Bottom of the Pyramid, Business Models, Buyer Behaviour, Cashless transactions, Culture, Design, Economy, Expenses, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Mobile platform, Philipines, Project report, Rural, Savings, Strategy, User research, Value
Observations: Rural BoP and the cash economy
Investment or Independence? Photo Credit: Goverdhan Meena Across the board, the particular characteristic that most stood out during my conversations with the rural populace in India and The Philippines, as well as prior experiences elsewhere, was their … Continue reading
Some observed behaviour patterns in rural BoP households
Collage by Dave Tait Across the regions, we saw patterns of financial behaviour (download PDF) that echoed similarities of intent and goals. For example, at peak times such as the post harvest season, wealth was often stored in the form … Continue reading
India: User profiles based on field observation & interviews
From the 30th of December 2008 to the 6th of January 2009 I was in rural India, in Sawai Madhopur district in the northwestern state of Rajasthan. There I met with and spoke to a number of people, all deriving … Continue reading
Posted in Bottom of the Pyramid, Culture, India, Indigenous & Traditional, Rural, User research
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Quick summary of workshop findings
Our workshop officially ended today although there's still a lot of 'mopping up' to be done not to mention the final documentation. We had the opportunity to analyze groups of users observed and interviewed by me in rural Rajasthan (India) … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Alternative currency, ASEAN, Assumption filter, Banking, Bottom of the Pyramid, Business Models, Buyer Behaviour, Cashless transactions, Culture, Economy, Expenses, Income, India, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, Loans, Philipines, Rural, Savings, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, User research, Value
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