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.
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.
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.
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
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.
The $50,000 a month/year confused me. Which was it?
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.
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.