TALKING POINT
TALKING POINT
TOP TRENDS IN KENYA
By Boniface Ngahu
When Donald Trump won the US election , the Google searches for Immigrating to Canada increased by ninety folds as the imagination of Trump presidency started to sink in . The site crashed several times as results started coming in with Trump being in the lead .
I was tempted to write about the marketing implication of what is happening in the world from Brexit to Trump . Then I realized there were so many casualties , I will therefore save that for another day when I figure out if Marketing needs to be great again .
We sat with my colleague Julia Wanderi and came up with what we consider top trends in Kenya .
Sharing Economy
Uber lowered their price by 35 %; this increased the usage of Uber taxis by more than 3 times . The reduction came after Safaricom acquired Little Cab ; a competitor of Uber . Uber allows cab-pooling where you share fare with other passengers .
Many car owners are also choosing to leave their cars at home , they use Uber instead because of the fair pricing being perceived to be
‘‘ There is a new trend in Nairobi where it has become acceptable for ladies to have a male partner whose main role is to finance her lifestyle . This has been popularized by morning talk shows on radio glamourizing this kind of arrangement . A ‘ sponsor ’ is usually an older man who is happily married and affluent but they want a thrill of a side kick and the ‘ sponsee ’ is younger and full of life ’’ cheaper than driving your own car . The Uber prices in Kenya are lower even when compared to the fare charged by boda-bodas / motorbike taxis .
The sharing economy is growing in Kenya and we expect to see more innovations coming through using this business model .
Rise and Rise of Women
The woman power in Kenya has been on the rise , the government reserves 30 % of its procurement to women , youths and people with disability . More than half of the youth are women ; so this affirmative action is favoring women than any other of the 3 groups .
Women are also choosing to be entrepreneurs since it allows them to juggle in the different roles in life such as parenting . In some flights to China and other source markets for imports , it ’ s common to find majority of passengers being women traders .
The phrases Mama Mboga ( Swahili for grocery lady ) and mama Pima , ( reference to micro business ladies in the alcoholic industry ) mean that women have a fair share of
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