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Making Do A Call for Collaboration
of imported business inputs for large enterprises and ignore small ones. Though the sector is still underdeveloped, there are already incentives for formal institutions to partner with the informal sector. Both for-profit enterprises and government parastatals can use the jua kali sector as an entry point for introducing new technologies for the domestic consumer market. The informal sector is a source of cheap, reliable labor with a wealth of knowledge concerning the industrial landscape, from available materials to consumer needs. But the decision to engage the informal sector can be a difficult one Figure 6.1 KickStart’s MoneyMaker pump, now for formal enterprises. Dealing with manufactured in China. microenterprises can be risky, and it is important to ensure high-quality, timely, and efficient production. For many companies, it makes sense; microenterprises can be trusted to specialize in making a high volume of parts, especially if they are uncomplicated, so long as they have a good track record. However, as we have seen, social capital is important to build, so relationships should be cultivated carefully; micro entrepreneurs might not be aware of standard practices, such as a payment grace period or wholesale pricing, and may not be willing to commit to such demands until trust is established. Yet despite their distrust of Kenya’s formal sector—typically dominated by Indian entrepreneurs—the jua kali speak favorably of working with formal enterprises since they tend to be timely in payment and agreements are often protected by contracts.84 On the other hand, there are instances where microenterprises are less appropriate partners in production. The social enterprise ApproTEC was established in Kenya to work with jua kali to