Edith

In  hindsight this should not be a surprise – it falls into a neat plan

 

In late 2000, while researching for a  paper commissioned by Institute of Economic Affairs on the emerging ICT sector, I had a chance  to interview Michael Joseph.  The context then according to my notes   was , Safaricom was newest kid on the block, Kencell was going full throttle for the high end consumer and appeared  unstoppable  and Safaricom  seemed destined to  grope in the murky waters on terms set by others –-

 

When I look at my discussion notes two theories stood out  that at the time did not make sense – today they do

 

-          Theory 1 – You are an distinct creation compete with your self ----   that Safaricom overrun Kencell and then TKL is water under the bridge. The combative nature to compete is ever more greater , not with other  operators but with Safaricom itself. You are a distinct entity , create your space and  sing your song.   It is  an abundance based paradigm.  This theory debunks  Michael Porters competition theories based on scarcity paradigm. There is enough for everyone.

-          Theory 2 – wealth is in numbers  -----  this ran against Pareto   Principle of 80/20 or the rule of the vital few . the principle told us to focus on the 20%, the rest will come and sure other operators followed this principle and even   today is  a motivation of MNP by some proponents. Safaricom overturned the pyramid and run for the 80%, and   today the other 20% have happily followed suit.  BOP as the market driver was born in Kenya .

 

At the time of the discussion in late 2000 , the import of this message did not make sense , now it does.

 

So where will Safaricom be in 2 years from now ?, I think I need another discussion with Michael Joseph  to get a feel of Theory 3.  Certainly the notion of market share will be irrelevant in the regulatory parlance  first in Kenya and later around the world ---  because  a market is a creation and is not an absolute , we need to discover another term!!

 

Cheers

MM

 

 

 

 

From: kictanet-bounces+mureithi=summitstrategies.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+mureithi=summitstrategies.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of Edith Adera
Sent: 26 May 2010 20:36
To: mureithi@summitstrategies.co.ke
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: [kictanet] FW: [DigAfrica] Kenya's Safaricom's year profit jumps 37 pct

 

FYI

_________________

Edith Ofwona Adera

Senior Program Specialist

International Development Research Centre | Centre de recherches pour le développement international

+254- 20- 2713160 ext 3406 | eadera@idrc.or.ke  | www.idrc.ca | www.crdi.ca

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From: DigAfrica@yahoogroups.com [DigAfrica@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of chifu_wa_malindi [chifu2222@gmail.com]
Sent: 26 May 2010 09:54
To: DigAfrica@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [DigAfrica] Kenya's Safaricom's year profit jumps 37 pct

 

Kenya's Safaricom's year profit jumps 37 pct

NAIROBI, May 26 (Reuters) - Kenya's Safaricom, the country's largest telecoms operator, said on Wednesday pretax profit rose by 37 percent to 20.97 billion shillings ($262.6 million) for its year ended March.

The firm, which is also east Africa's largest by market value and part-held by Britain's Vodafone, said the market was at 50 percent penetration and the greatest growth opportunities lay in data services.

(Reporting by Duncan Miriri and Helen Nyambura-Mwaura; Editing by Richard Lough) ($1=79.85 Kenyan Shilling) Keywords: SAFARICOM/

(Email: nairobi.newsroom@reuters.com; Tel: +254 20 222 4717)

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