through mass protests or taking up arms
as it is happening in Syria, Libya and
Yemen.
The Arab Spring can be rationalized as
having been caused by lack of inclusion
of the people in relation to developmental
issues, high food prices due to inflation
in relation to economic decline and high
inequality between the rich and poor,
gender inequality occasioned by wages
paid to men and women for the same job
as most of these societies are patriachial
in nature.
But all the above factors do not fully
delve into the root cause of the Arab
Spring event. In Per Taleb’s new book
Eruptions of popular anger, empirical
data is deployed to rule out some of these
factors while focusing on the sources and
frustrations of popular anger as a demand
and how justice is dispensed and dealt
with by security institutions as a supply.
The data shows that the young, educated,
middle class citizens found it hard to get
good quality jobs that would give them
the lavish life that all young people dream
about and not the high inequality between
the rich and poor. Also the need to have
connections with the people in power or
know someone who in turn knows them
brought about frustrations.
The breakdown of the contract between
the government and its people, where by
the public sector was the largest employer
and paid workers well in exchange for
silence was failing and the private sector
wasn’t able to absorb all workers and pay
them the same benefits as they enjoyed or
would have enjoyed had they joined the
public service when it was working well.
Limited opportunities of investments due
to lack of incentives by the government
meant that there was no competition
amongst the private companies thus
leading to a scenario of limited economic
inclusion as most utilities are government
owned. This created an “unhappy
paradox” where there is moderate to
higher development but the people are
dissatisfied with their lives.
The dust from the aftermath of the Arab
spring is still settling in countries that
were affected as there were no well-
developed institutions of governing after
the government is toppled. Thus deep
ethnic, sectarian and regional divisions
The impact of Lamba Lolo, Wam-
lambez-Wamnyonyez has been phe-
nomenon as they have all gained entry
into the international urban dictio-
nary or Google where you can find out
what they mean. Lamba Lolo literally
means licking a Lollipop, it also means
Mind your own business, Wamlambez
is a girl and Wamnyonez a boy, for oth-
er deeper meanings consult the urban
dictionary.
occurred. Countries that survived
the “event” have restructured their
economies by improving transparency,
accountability and promoting private
sector participation as a way of addressing
economic inclusivity.
Lessons from the Arab
Spring
From the above concept, one of the best
strategies or precautions that one can
use is allowing the organization and its
people to drive themselves. In this I am
focusing on self-evolving systems that
harness the power of creativity, evolution
and free will. Modern corporations
must be able to restructure as markets
expand and technology evolves. Effective
leadership, organizational beliefs, open
communication and a guiding vision hold
the cornerstone of progress.
Marketing Impact of Public
Participation
Here we can also emphasize on the need
to conduct market research to understand
what customers or citizens want. The
Kenyan constitution 2010 is very clear
about public participation in making
changes to existing rules and systems.
In fact many changes have failed to be
executed for failing to follow the public
participation route.
Marketers have always understood the
need for this and obliged. However,
we had some sectors like real estate
that assumed this to be unnecessary and
made most decisions in boardrooms
without consulting the target market,
the consequences are unfolding in low
occupancy in commercial real estate and
high to middle residence segments in
Kenya.
In Dubai they had a saying, “Build they
will come” This stopped working recently
when they stopped coming, so please
always consult the market, this reduces
your decision risks.
You know Gen Y,
Millennials, Gen Z:
Introducing Gen Alpha
If you thought generation Y are
complicated, we now have generation
Z, millennials and upcoming generation
Alpha. Don’t miss the SGR they are the
future and as they say the future belongs
to the prepared.
Boniface Ngahu is a Market
research expert and runs the
Talking
Point
column
in
Marketing Africa magazine. He
is the Marketing Director of SBO
Research. You can commune with
him on this or related matters via
email at: BNgahu@sboresearch.
co.ke, or follow him on Twitter @
bngahu