CROSSFIRE
We Are In A Transition
Phase: Future
Successful Businesses
Are Being Established
Today!
By Herman Githinji
I
am a Kenyan, and I do things the
Kenyan way. And please don’t judge
me. So, one day I heard the popular
ads on the radio about plots being sold.
This time they were somewhere along
Mombasa road, past Athi-River and a
small distance from the main road. The
plots were being advertised as prime and
juicy. And as they always tell you, there is
a University, or a school, or a railway, or
something big coming up nearby.
industry will get challenged.
I was inspired by Zachariah’s insights
and forward-thinking. Zachariah was a
class 5 drop out but he had the wisdom
and a business eye. On my trip were
also a doctor, a University professor, an
accountant among other businessmen and
women.
These were the days when you looked
dumb if you didn’t invest in those land
deals. So, one Saturday morning, we were
shuttled to see the plots. I didn’t like
the plots, but the story of the original
landowner intrigued me as it inspired me. Zachariah’s story also challenged me.
I felt sorry for myself and for the other
professionals I was with. We were all
going to buy these plots for speculation.
Technically, doing what Zachariah, who
did not go to school, did 50 years ago.
Can’t the more learned and well exposed
Kenyans think differently?
Zachariah was a timber businessman in
the 70s. He bought the land for a dime
when no one else thought the land was
worth anything. He had one foot in the
present and the other into the future.
He kept on saying that one day Nairobi
will expand to that side and the timber Fine, Zachariah could see land as a
safe investment based on his exposure,
knowledge, and skills. But why should
a professor, a doctor, a researcher, and
a professional be thinking of the same
investment now? And with that mindset,
who will invest in the higher end business
We are in the transition phase. We
might try to resists now, but we will
surely be overwhelmed and finally
comply. If we look at where the world
is going and observe what those who
are leading that change are doing, we
may get a sneak peek of where the op-
portunities of the future are and how
to exploit them.
04 MAL34/20 ISSUE
opportunities that need a little more
sophistication and expertise? What can
we do today, that the next generations
will see and say, that time, what we said
about Zachariah? To admire these men
and women who had remarkable insights
into the future.
We are in the transition phase. Tomorrow’s
world will totally look different from what
we have now. We might try to resists now,
but we will surely be overwhelmed and
finally comply. If we look at where the
world is going and observe what those
who are leading that change are doing,
we may get a sneak peek of where the
opportunities of the future are and how to
exploit them.
Let us start with what we eat. Foods are
being manufactured in labs and factories.
In China, and the Western world, they
have started manufacturing rice. In
another company of the future, they are
manufacturing chicken meat. You just
grow chicken cells in a lab to become a
sizeable piece of chicken meat. You may
think that is crazy, but if you really want
to be in business tomorrow, start thinking
this way. Invest today in companies that
manufacture foods of tomorrow.
The transport industry will also face a big
change. Electric and self-driven vehicles
will take over current fuel vehicles. In
the United States of America, Tesla
Inc. is leading this innovation and other
developed countries are quickly following
that trend.
Dubai and other Middle East oil-
producing countries have read the signs
and are quickly moving into other sectors,