I enjoyed the snapshots of life in Africa. I'm looking forward to the stories in the next parts.
Is there any chance to contrast conditions then with now?
I didn't catch any major flaws. The personal stories have the most impact. One item that caught my eye was how Chase could justify $50,000/month to rent an apartment?
On the subject of economics and medical care - you may find this of interest:
You are probably aware of "Good Doctor Technology" in Southeast Asia. There's a good review of the AI technology they use in the book "Working With AI" by Davenport & Miller. The book also has a review of using AI by a dermatologist in Florida. In each case there is an impact on the economics and delivery of health care.
On the issue of entrepreneurship in Africa, I assume you are familiar with George Ayittey's work (e.g. Africa Unchained) along with the fact that most African nations rank in the bottom half of the Doing Business rankings (and the few that are in the top half have only recently gotten there). While there is some variation across the continent, Africa mostly lacks reliable property rights, rule of law, and economic freedom. It is massively over-regulated, with insane legal and bureaucratic obstacles to legal business activity at every level. Thus, yes, Africans are extremely entrepreneurial, but in the absence of a functioning legal environment that supports entrepreneurial value creation, Africa remains poor. My wife, the Senegalese entrepreneur Magatte Wade, speaks on this issue frequently (see her interview with Jordan Peterson last summer). As an employer there, she needs to get permission from the state to lay off employees, tariffs are incredibly high (in some cases 75%) for essential supplies she needs in manufacturing, the state investigates people who send out modest sums of money ($500) from the country, etc. Most African states make it almost impossible to do business there legally (of course multinational corporations have legions of legal and accounting experts to deal with the regulatory state). Most entrepreneurial activity remains in the informal sector across the continent. Much of Africa's famous corruption is due to the fact that the regulatory state is so onerous everyone pays officials to get around the stupid bureaucratic obstacles.
Wonderful response. Yes indeed on all accounts. I do know Ayittey’s work. The most powerful legacy that the European colonial powers left behind was massive bureaucracies, onerous regulations, and a cadre of leaders trained at European universities whose professors preached the virtues of collectivism and central planning. There was also a problem from pre-colonial days—an ethic of common ownership of land. This meant that individual entrepreneurs were deprived of the most obvious means of collateral with which to finance their ventures. I very much look forward to seeing your wife’s interview. (I would love to speak with your wife sometime. If she’s interested, she can write me at rfg.counterpoint@gmail.com). Same goes for you. I’ve just begun to learn about your own work, and I’m really delighted to have you as a subscriber and commenter.
Thanks, great to know we are deeply aligned on this (not surprised but the universe of people who understand these issues in Africa is remarkably small).
Magatte is in Senegal for the month of February, we'll reach out after she gets back on this side. Getting things done over there is still like swimming in molasses, so she doesn't do anything extra while over there.
Per year. I wrote month by mistake, put a line through that and made it year. (If I make an error, I don’t erase it. I correct it and make the correction visible.)
Thanks. Sorry but made another comment on the second chapter as well. That's just me, a Chase trained English Major. When I was in college, my uncle who was head of the old Bank Of Manhattan international department advised me to forget finance and major in English. Most bankers can't write a coherent sentence he said. Looks like you took his advice as well. Good reading you.
No sorry about it! This is why I’m editing in public. Get the kinks out. Typos, syntax, and content, too. Happy to get any suggestions I can. i told a story some weeks ago that the guy who hired me at Chase told me years later that he had three reasons for doing so: (1) Because I could speak some French, (2) Because he had concluded that there were “approximately seven economists in the United States capable of writing a complete sentence in the English language” and he wanted one; and (3) Because I had zero experience in Africa and he was sick to death of everyone who did. …. Thanks for the encouragement.
I like the article very much, especially the final part. I could add some context to the perspective that there are no enterpreneurs in West Africa. Over the past months in Gambia, I heard this phrase many times, mainly from the Gambians themselves. By this, mainly they meant the lack of investors and inability to grow their business due to perceived lack of financing. However, in almost all cases I found that it is not lack of funds but rather lack of business attitude and goal-oriented mentality that is hampering the business to grow. In one case I may have been able to help the business owner ramp up without financing. In all other cases I failed to convey the message.
Sorry for the lag in responding. Glad you enjoyed the article! Very interesting perspective. I imagine there is something of a vicious circle involved. "We won't finance you because you're not entrepreneurial." Followed by "I'm not entrepreneurial, which must be why they're not financing me."
I enjoyed the snapshots of life in Africa. I'm looking forward to the stories in the next parts.
Is there any chance to contrast conditions then with now?
I didn't catch any major flaws. The personal stories have the most impact. One item that caught my eye was how Chase could justify $50,000/month to rent an apartment?
On the subject of economics and medical care - you may find this of interest:
You are probably aware of "Good Doctor Technology" in Southeast Asia. There's a good review of the AI technology they use in the book "Working With AI" by Davenport & Miller. The book also has a review of using AI by a dermatologist in Florida. In each case there is an impact on the economics and delivery of health care.
KenMc
Thanks!
I will be writing on present-day Africa and have done so before.
I believe you caught me on the rental figure. Should be year, not month, if I remember correctly. I'll correct that.
I'll look into the book. Thanks!
Nice! Will wait to see the other parts before commenting.
On the issue of entrepreneurship in Africa, I assume you are familiar with George Ayittey's work (e.g. Africa Unchained) along with the fact that most African nations rank in the bottom half of the Doing Business rankings (and the few that are in the top half have only recently gotten there). While there is some variation across the continent, Africa mostly lacks reliable property rights, rule of law, and economic freedom. It is massively over-regulated, with insane legal and bureaucratic obstacles to legal business activity at every level. Thus, yes, Africans are extremely entrepreneurial, but in the absence of a functioning legal environment that supports entrepreneurial value creation, Africa remains poor. My wife, the Senegalese entrepreneur Magatte Wade, speaks on this issue frequently (see her interview with Jordan Peterson last summer). As an employer there, she needs to get permission from the state to lay off employees, tariffs are incredibly high (in some cases 75%) for essential supplies she needs in manufacturing, the state investigates people who send out modest sums of money ($500) from the country, etc. Most African states make it almost impossible to do business there legally (of course multinational corporations have legions of legal and accounting experts to deal with the regulatory state). Most entrepreneurial activity remains in the informal sector across the continent. Much of Africa's famous corruption is due to the fact that the regulatory state is so onerous everyone pays officials to get around the stupid bureaucratic obstacles.
Wonderful response. Yes indeed on all accounts. I do know Ayittey’s work. The most powerful legacy that the European colonial powers left behind was massive bureaucracies, onerous regulations, and a cadre of leaders trained at European universities whose professors preached the virtues of collectivism and central planning. There was also a problem from pre-colonial days—an ethic of common ownership of land. This meant that individual entrepreneurs were deprived of the most obvious means of collateral with which to finance their ventures. I very much look forward to seeing your wife’s interview. (I would love to speak with your wife sometime. If she’s interested, she can write me at rfg.counterpoint@gmail.com). Same goes for you. I’ve just begun to learn about your own work, and I’m really delighted to have you as a subscriber and commenter.
Thanks, great to know we are deeply aligned on this (not surprised but the universe of people who understand these issues in Africa is remarkably small).
Magatte is in Senegal for the month of February, we'll reach out after she gets back on this side. Getting things done over there is still like swimming in molasses, so she doesn't do anything extra while over there.
Here is her interview with Peterson,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o74rQmLRqtA&t=9s
The $50,000 a month/year confused me. Which was it?
Per year. I wrote month by mistake, put a line through that and made it year. (If I make an error, I don’t erase it. I correct it and make the correction visible.)
Thanks. Sorry but made another comment on the second chapter as well. That's just me, a Chase trained English Major. When I was in college, my uncle who was head of the old Bank Of Manhattan international department advised me to forget finance and major in English. Most bankers can't write a coherent sentence he said. Looks like you took his advice as well. Good reading you.
No sorry about it! This is why I’m editing in public. Get the kinks out. Typos, syntax, and content, too. Happy to get any suggestions I can. i told a story some weeks ago that the guy who hired me at Chase told me years later that he had three reasons for doing so: (1) Because I could speak some French, (2) Because he had concluded that there were “approximately seven economists in the United States capable of writing a complete sentence in the English language” and he wanted one; and (3) Because I had zero experience in Africa and he was sick to death of everyone who did. …. Thanks for the encouragement.
I like the article very much, especially the final part. I could add some context to the perspective that there are no enterpreneurs in West Africa. Over the past months in Gambia, I heard this phrase many times, mainly from the Gambians themselves. By this, mainly they meant the lack of investors and inability to grow their business due to perceived lack of financing. However, in almost all cases I found that it is not lack of funds but rather lack of business attitude and goal-oriented mentality that is hampering the business to grow. In one case I may have been able to help the business owner ramp up without financing. In all other cases I failed to convey the message.
Sorry for the lag in responding. Glad you enjoyed the article! Very interesting perspective. I imagine there is something of a vicious circle involved. "We won't finance you because you're not entrepreneurial." Followed by "I'm not entrepreneurial, which must be why they're not financing me."