WHITE COLLAR | ISSUE 007
A MAGAZINE FOR THE CAREER-PERSON AND ENTREPRENEUR
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WHITE COLLAR | ISSUE 007
EDITOR'S NOTE 03
IMPACT INVESTING 05
RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS, WITH E-LAB FOUNDER ALEX MATIVO 08
REAL IMPACT WITH OCTOPIZZO 14
Contents VENTURE PHILANTHROPY 21
THE SHARED ECONOMY- AN AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE 21
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A MAGAZINE FOR THE CAREER-PERSON AND ENTREPRENEUR
WHITE COLLAR | ISSUE 007
Editor’s Note Hello & Welcome to White Collar! Charles Caleb Colton once said “If universal charity prevails, earth would be a heaven, and hell a fable.” As philanthropy gets more specialized we’re beginning to feel the impact in a whole new scale. For instance, the Bill & Melinda gates foundation played a huge role in the eradication of polio in India, and have now focused their attention on the eradication of Malaria. In this issue we look at what giving back means to different people and the different ways we try to create a better world for each other. We also examine the latest trends in philanthropy and how people are managing to build businesses around providing services that are friendly to the environment and the fellow man. We hope to nudge our readers towards adopting environmental friendly lifestyles and show value in us looking after each other. We discuss impact investing as a robust and profitable alternative to traditional investing. A way to ‘save the world’ while generating great returns on investment, at the same time. We love hearing back from you guys. Do not hesitate to reach out to us across out social platforms.
Contributors:
Michael Kiruthi, Esq Daniel Kathare Kyama Kivuva
A MAGAZINE FOR THE CAREER-PERSON AND ENTREPRENEUR
Kyama Kivuva
ManuKyama
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WHITE COLLAR | ISSUE 007
The Shared Economy
An African Perspective
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A MAGAZINE FOR THE CAREER-PERSON AND ENTREPRENEUR
WHITE COLLAR | ISSUE 007
I
t has been touted as the fourth industrial revolution and aptly branded as ‘Industrialization 4.0’.The marriage of the physical world and advanced digital technologies is quickly and irreversibly changing the way people live, work and interact today. As Bernard Marr of Intelligent Business Performance puts it, “first came water and steam power, followed by electricity and assembly lines, then computerization. Now comes the sequential merging of the cyber-physical elements on an industrial and sector-wide global scale that is known as the Internet of Things”. This simple concept of linking infrastructure, machines, systems and everyday things with web connectivity has, within the shortest of times, kick started the fourth major industrial era since industrialization started back in the 18th century.
The forth industrial revolution is characterized by several individual facets. One such aspect is its social impact that has redefined the concept of ownership. Prior to Industrialization 4.0, managerial capitalism had hard-wired individualistic attributes into people, where the accumulation and control of resources was designated for central agents of power, as Peter Fleming put it in his book when discussing management theory. Today, digital innovation has moved capitalism into a crowdbased iteration, known as the shared/sharing economy. Essentially, this is a highly disruptive economic model which leverages digital technology to enable the collaborative consumption of resources. It involves the peer-to-peer facilitation of the acquisition of products and services in order to distribute them through an online platform.
Potential
record time. Uber hit a 2 billion dollar valuation in just over 3 years, while Airbnb hit a billion dollars after 2years 11 months. In Africa, the disruption of the sharing economy has slowly found its fair share in the market. Traditionally, the continent of Africa has had a long standing culture of community and sharing. However, both urban and socio-economic developments have put the rapidly growing population of the continent and its resources under strain. The result is that a high number of people have limited access to resources and utilities that could afford them the opportunity to generate income and boost economic development. The question then, is how do you support the economic ambitions of a youthful population that is rapidly urbanizing, but with minimum opportunities for employment and a high attrition rate of businesses? You guessed it, the sharing economy! Several transformative innovations in agriculture, telecommunication, banking, and health mark Africa as ripe for a systemic intervention that will reshape education, transport, healthcare, agriculture, commerce among other sectors. The sharing economy as a societal model is a natural fit for Africa’s communal practices and way of life. The introduction of technological innovations will only galvanize this trend. The potential for creation of employment is unprecedented with the shared economy model.
Sharing Innovations in the Continent
As an emerging market, Africa is undergoing intense growth The sharing economy has caught on across markets in in telecommunication and infrastructure. This has allowed for Northern America, Europe, and Asia like wildfires. Billiondollar companies such as Uber (car hire/ taxi service), Freecycle (gifting) and Africa is one melting pot of creativity on its own, and true to this Airbnb (hospitality/rental) moved from creative nature, the continent has responded in kind and developed its concepts to billion dollar valuations in
own tech products which may appear better adapted for the locals.
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WHITE COLLAR | ISSUE 007
Ad space
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A MAGAZINE FOR THE CAREER-PERSON AND ENTREPRENEUR