Somali diaspora and mobile money: a research on hawala presented at Afrikoin
After a few panels and talks on mobile money at Afrikoin, we had the opportunity to listen to Gianluca Iazzolino, a researcher from the University of Edinburgh. Gianluca studies the way Somali people deal with mobile money, particular as a people who are constantly moving – whether as refugees or traders of gold and other goods that can be exchanged […]
How will technology and Bitcoins disrupt the remittance market? Discussion with African startups at Afrikoin
Talking about mobile money at the Afrikoin conference in Nairobi cannot be done without tackling the hot topic of remittances. The African diaspora sends $60bn/year back to their families and friends back in their respective countries, with Kenya accounting for $1.1bn. Remittances are a hot topic for four reasons: Remittance fees (12%) are higher in Africa than in any other continent (the global average is 8% and […]
Helping African merchants to accept mobile money: an Afrikoin discussion on education to new currencies for businesses
Several online payment providers from East Africa attending Afrikoin discussed another hurdle/opportunity in the mobile money field. If customers seem to enjoy MPesa as way to send and receive money, merchants need another approach to be educated and convinced to join the mobile money movement. Customer considerations when adopting mobile money Another great panel at Afrikoin gathered entrepreneurs […]
Big data in Africa: how an insurance company provides an optimized cover for farmers in Kenya
If you don’t have data on your business, how are you going to run it? Well, more likely than not, you’re going to use HIPPO, says Joel Macharia, founder of Abacus, a provider of data solutions for businesses. HIPPO stands for the “HIghest Paid Person’s Opinion”, and this is not the lead you want to follow. Joel showed us […]
Africa is the future, but their innovation ecosystems need help
The quality and diversity of panelists and delegates of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Kuala Lumpur make it possible to learn a lot about distant innovation and startup ecosystems, as we’ve shown with these insights from Russia, Indonesia and New York. We’ve also met with a lot of people from Africa and have tried to connect as much as possible. As a speaker said […]
Malaysia startup ecosystem: build it, and they should come
How is managed the Malaysia startup ecosystem? What are the specifics of this 30m people country located between Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand? Can a resource-based country turn its population into entrepreneurs and innovators? Following our trip at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2013, we compiled data from people we met, startups we talked to, and data found here […]
Global Startup Youth: entrepreneurs from around the world gather to solve big problems
GSY: World’s brightest young minds gather to innovate The 4th Global Entrepreneurship Summit, which took place in Kuala Lumpur, was complemented by a host of other events to gather the many stakeholders of an innovation ecosystem. One of these events was Global Startup Youth, a 3-day program involving about 500 youths aged 18-25 from 105 countries. It was […]
Les événements et conférences du Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2013 de Kuala Lumpur
Les sujects importants du Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2013 Pour vous faire découvrir l’écosystème d’innovation de la Malaisie, voici une partie du programme que nous nous proposons de suivre et restituer, en live sur Twitter (@martpasquier, @nicolasloubet, #rockmyGES2013, #GES2013), et en léger différé pour les articles sur notre Strikingly. Nous suivrons quatre sessions dans la matinée, à […]
L’intérêt du Global Entrepreneurship Summit Nous entamons notre tour du monde des écosystèmes d’innovations de 10 mois à Kuala Lumpur, où se tient cette semaine du 7 octobre 2013 la 4e édition du Global Entrepreneurship Summit. L’intérêt de cet événement est triple: d’une part, il nous permet de commencer ce périple en Asie du Sud-Est, une région à la fois […]
Getting rid of competition and convincing non-customers with Blue Ocean Strategy
Chan Kim, Chair Professor of INSEAD Business School delivered an energetic and humorous speech at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Kuala Lumpur, after Malaysia PM Najib Razak and US Secretary of State John Kerry had opened it (see wrap up of the keynote). This professor is known for a strategy called “Blue ocean”. Blue, because he envisions a business […]
