Social networking for micro-enterprises

If information is power, that means entrepreneurs here in Kenya are somewhat powerless.  They often can't use the Internet to do research, can't advertise beyond having a sign in front of their shop, and usually source inputs from their immediate area.  

Similarly, consumers are powerless without knowledge of their options in buying food, housing materials, schooling options, etc.  Without resources like 411, yellow pages, and newspaper ads there aren't many ways to gather information in order to make educated decisions about purchases.

How can these rural and slum businesspeople connect with customers and with each other?  This is the question I've been asking myself lately and have decided to come to you to gather your input also.

I've been getting kicked around by my colleagues for kicking around idea after idea that involves SMS or text messaging.  But this is the way everyone Kenya communicates and I think it can be harnessed in a way that benefits businesses.

First idea, our business groups (membership from 300-2,500) can offer an SMS advertising product to their members.  In its simplest form, a business could pay to have all the members of the group sent a message with their advertisement, help wanted ad, or special offer briefly spelled out.  Receiving text messages in Kenya is free so the only cost would be to the business being advertised.  At  2-4 cents per SMS (varies by service provider) that means reaching 300 fellow Christian business owners and their families would cost around $6-$12.

Second idea, because that may be a little expensive for members and possibly to0 broad an audience for an ad, there is a way to allow the SMS recipients to choose which messages they receive.  I've tested out some free software that manages mass SMS lists on a PC.   There is a feature that sends auto-replies when preset keywords are sent back to the original phone number.  One potential use would be to have businesses share one outgoing message with several brief headlines of their ads.  If a recipient is interested in receiving the ad, promo, special offer then he/she replies with the given keyword.  This triggers the auto-reply giving them the predetermined message.  This way the business being advertised is only charged for triggered auto-replies.  This reduces their costs, narrows their message to only interested parties and gives them a follow up phone number for future ads.

Third idea, take that model and turn it into a business.  Example, collect or buy a list of 100 hardware store owners north of Nairobi, then sell this service to paint suppliers, tool manufacturers, etc.  Keywords could also be used like Google does in their ads.  If a hardware store owner sends an SMS with the word Paint to the "yellow pages/411" number, paint companies can pay to be the one who gets to reply.  Messages could also be sent by multiple companies who have chosen that as one of their words. 

Fourth idea, requires phones with WAP capability, meaning it can access the Internet.  I've priced it and a WAP capable phone runs about $15 more expensive than the cheapest phone in Kenya (around $25).  This means that they are not completely out of the reach of the poor, who most already have a mobile phone.  With WAP, a Kenyan could download a Craigslistesque application where people could list and search for services, products, jobs...and all for free.  Not only would they work well for business groups, but they could also be set up for advertising within small towns, churches, even Nairobi.  They'd be mini-intranet sites.

The rest of the ideas involve the inner workings of CHESS, Gitithia and other business groups.  SMS messages could send headlines of their newsletter with replies giving members more information.  A message could be sent to all members that they can forward to friends and family encouraging them to join the business group.  A form of e-receipting for loan payments could be developed.  Also instant reporting of loan payments made at the rural branches.  Surveying members to get feedback and stats to measure the groups' effectiveness.

Well this post wasn't intended for me to give a laundry list of ideas it was to encourage you to email me or post ideas in the comments.  We're trying to think outside the box on ways for us to communicate with members, ways for them to get in touch with us, and most important: how members can better connect with other members.  Thanks in advance.

Kenya Premier League Football

Not sure why I've waited so long to write about the opening game for our friends' Kenya Premier League soccer team.  A bit of background: one friend is the general manager of Nairobi City Stars and the other is a player (both Americans and the first ever non-Kenyans to play or manage).  It is a great ministry intended to reach the millions of football fans in Kenya.  The players of the team are believers and they have very receptive audiences in the slums when they bring the gospel and positive messages.

So, the reason for the post.  Lydia and I are huge fans of the team and attended the opening game of the new season which was held at Nairobi City Stars' stadium.  The opposing team represents and is cheered by a single tribe - the Luya.  This is the case for several teams and usually leads to passionate fans because the team's success or failure is a source of pride or shame for the tribe.  

As the 60th minute approached the game was still scoreless.  Personally, I was okay with that fact because it was clear that the AFC Leopards fans outnumbered NCS fans, no joke, 100 to 1.  And boy were they rowdy.  Tearing down signs and breaking into the stands because it had reached capacity.  In my thinking there was no good scenario.   Opposing team scores and their fans go wild and there is a riot afterwards.   NCS scores then AFC fans go wild with anger and riot afterwards.  I was partially right.  Our team scored and the opposing fans went crazy knocked over the fences and charged the field in order to end the match in hopes of it being rescheduled.  

That would have been fine but the fans proceeded to riot - throwing chairs and tearing the stadium apart.  After chasing the team into a locked room, they proceeded to come start fights with our meager cheering section.  At one point they filed out of the stands and demonstrated their anger in the street outside, blocking us from escaping to our vehicle.  

With only ten police officers, security had no hope of controlling the mayhem.  The crowd finally scattered after a teargas/gunshot was fired.  The only problem is this angered the mob enough for them to start hurling stones.  I've never seen anything like it.  Almost like in a movie when a volley of arrows comes over a castle wall.  That's what it was like but rocks over a ten foot high perimeter wall.  We found cover under the overhang of the building where the team hid.  The rocks slid off the roof in front of us and piled up as ice does in a hail storm.

Finally, we decided to brave the crowd and rushed to our car through some angry football fans.  I was worried the car's windows would be smashed, but thankfully before the game our Kenyan friend overheard a security guard mumbling about the likelihood of our car being stoned in my original parking spot.  After hearing this, I moved it to behind a building where it was safe.

I didn't dare take out our camera during the incident which I am kicking myself for now.  The picture below is from one of the local newspapers.  The reporting on the incident was horrible.  Making it seem like the fence fell over and fans "spilled" onto the field on accident.  The truth is they tore it down and charged onto the field.  The league officials recognized this and according to their rules, teams are responsible for the actions of their fans.  Hence, the game was awarded to the Nairobi City Stars and the other team has to pay for some of the repair costs.

http://www.eastandard.net/sports/InsidePage.php?id=1144006197&cid=38&

Recent Business Visits

January was a busy month in the field.  Here are some pictures I snapped of proud entrepreneurs and their businesses.  They all belong to the Christian Entrepreneurs Savings Society.  We were visiting them to see how to best serve them with trainings, new loan products and better networking among members.

An explanation of how we help entrepreneurs

It took me a little while to understand the framework we're using to serve entrepreneurs here in Kenya.  And if this is what I do full-time, I can't imagine how you, my family and friends, are able to figure it out from a distance by piecing together blog posts and newsletters.  With hopes to give you a clearer picture of our work here, I'd like to profile one of our partner business groups - Githia Rural Agro Finance Group - and explain how we serve its members.

Gitithia started as a ministry by a pastor of a small country church who wanted to help his parishioners find ways to start businesses and employ others in the community.  This humble beginning belies the now eight branch, 2,500 member savings and credit cooperative.  With locations spreading across three provinces -Nairobi, Central, and the Great Rift Valley - entrepreneurs at any given time are using around $1 million worth of capital to start or grow their business.  The majority of these funds come from members' savings.  Partners Worldwide serves as a supplement to their savings, helping meet loan demand during difficult times like the months of violence following the recent presidential election.

While this broad picture is helpful in understanding Gitithia's size and scope, it is not the way most business owners view the organization.  Members identify most with their local branch and cell group.  In cell groups, entrepreneurs have fellowship, discuss difficulties and offer support to each other.  Fellow cell group members also often co-sign each other's loans.  Trainings and business counseling take place within each branch.  A good example of this is the financial management seminar that my dad put on for the Kimende branch.  

Gitithia's leadership invited my dad, both a businessman and a farmer, to share with the group of farmers and micro-enterprise owners why keeping books is important.  He also gave them practical ways to organize records and how to use them in business planning.  The training was a hit and members stuck around afterwards to seek further advice on their businesses.  We are looking forward to a followup meeting with the business owners to go over their records for the month of January.  With this information, decisions can be based on numbers instead of hunches.

Beyond the assistance we provide to the business owners themselves, Partners Worldwide works directly with our partners' boards of directors and management personnel.  In mid-January, we helped Gitithia's board analyze their priorities and begin focusing on what was both urgent and important to managing their recent growth and entrance into urban areas.  Together we concluded that creating several new loan products, updating savings incentives, and improving loan tracking and recovery would help them better meet their members' needs.  In the coming weeks, we will be helping Gitithia's staff to take action on these three items.  We've actually almost finished implementing new loan tracking software. One down, two to go.  Other ways we've served the management: helping put on trade fairs, assisting in surveys of the membership, and creating newsletters.

You might be asking yourself how this model compares to other micro-finance institutions.  During my experience I've found that these elements make Partners Worldwide stand out from the rest:

-We only work with groups whose mission is to serve God by serving people.  Members are often Christian, but sometimes Muslim, Sikh or have traditional African beliefs.  What a wonderful opportunity to witness!  Meetings are started with prayer and worship.  True fellowship is exemplified in cell groups.  Grace and mercy are shown when members with loans hit hard times.  When banks, other micro-finance institutions and loan sharks would snatch up collateral at the earliest signs of default, we help refinance and find mentors for these members.

-Partners Worldwide doesn't lend money and sit back waiting for it to be repaid.  We get in their and help educate and equip business owners to open that second location, plant that new crop, or buy that new piece of equipment.

-Some U.S. based organizations like to dictate what happens in each project in each country where they work.  Our model is based on the idea that the closer a decision is made to its benefactors the better the decision.  That's why North American partners visit their counterparts in the developing world - so they can transfer their skills and experiences to educate decision makers overseas.

-Businesspeople crave ways to serve.  Most missions involves health care, education, skilled carpentry and preaching, leaving other professions to paint walls or pound nails.  Experienced entrepreneurs have a wealth of knowledge that, if given the chance, could be used to help grow businesses and create jobs.  Partners Worldwide gives businesspeople this opportunity. Offering a helping hand rather than a handout is a sustainable way to serve the poor.

I could go on, but hopefully this gives you a better understanding of what it is we're doing over here.  I'd love to discuss this, so post any questions in the comments!

Sense of Security

The thought of moving to Africa originally worried me. The general impression of lawlessness was overwhelming, especially the thought of bringing my wife here (and one who works in the Kibera slum!).

After several weeks without incident, it was easy to begin relaxing into our new home. We have guards at our apartment complex, barred windows and a huge steel gate on our door. We feel safe.

That is until we have one of those conversations that brings us back to reality. Friends and coworkers sharing stories about recent car-jackings, muggings and break-ins always puts me back on my toes. 

Yesterday evening, Lydia and I had one of those conversations with missionary friends who live nearby. We found out about a man who had four teenagers pull semi-auto rifles on him as he was pulling into his home at 9:30pm. The group took him to an ATM to withdraw the maximum daily amount. They then forced him deep into the slum and waited until midnight in order to withdraw the next day's limit. Thankfully he was released, but this often isn't the case. Sometimes they kill the victim so as to not be identified. Which begs the question: cooperate or fight/flee?

I have gone through several of these cycles of being lulled into a sense of security and then shocked by stories of violent attacks in our area. Another shock to my system is the tragic mishaps that are all too common here.  

On Wednesday, a huge supermarket went up into flames after a power surge started a small fire that spread to cooking gas canisters stored indoors which began exploding. After evacuating what the manager thought was everyone, the doors were locked to keep looters out of the store. The Red Cross has yet to set a final death toll from those accidentally locked inside, but the last count was 25 bodies recovered. Nairobi's four fire trucks were unable to do much good because the nearby fire hydrant didn't work leaving the closest one a mile away. The Kenyan Air Force and private fire engines (yes you have to hire a fire truck here) were only able to control it many hours later.

We just heard news of a petrol truck exploding in the Rift Valley killing at least 111 people.  It had overturned and people ran up to collect the spilling gas just before it caught fire and exploded.  Unfortunately, this isn't the first time this scenario has played out in Kenya. This morning, our church spent time praying for the family members of the victims of these two horrible accidents and for a general redemption of the country. One can only imagine how desperate a person would be to risk their life to gather several dollars worth of fuel to sell.