Of Shadow Boxing and Disruption
Bridge Academies versus KNUT
Over the past two weeks, my news feed has been inundated by stories of disruptive environments or entities that are at a collision course with agencies that wield power. Flashback to this story that appeared in yesterday’s, Nation and Business Daily on the Kenya National Union of Teachers demands for the regulation of low-cost slum schools. They argue, that these low cost schools were hiring unqualified teachers. They specifically singled out Bridge International Academies which recently has been on roll in receiving investments for their education model. Recently, Bridge did receive funding from Mark Zuckerberg to the tune of 10 million US dollars. Bridge has also closed a round of funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, Omidyar, the IFC and Pearson. Which begs the question, why would the largest public servant body in Kenya be against such an institution that has been getting accolades? Are the accolades justified or is this just another PR masterstroke? The conflict with Bridge can be attributed to the failure by Bridge perhaps by design or perhaps of no fault of their own of not having any of their teachers registered with the Teachers Service Commission(TSC). Not being registered with TSC implies the unions do not receive their contributions. More on this could be found here.
Bridge has been facing some turbulence over the past one year with different actors. One is with the Ministry of Education which halted Bridge’s expansion until new regulations are put in place. On the other hand, thay have also been busy lobbying, I remember vividly in the year 2014 when members of the education committee paid a visit to Harvard Graduate School of Education and yes some were busy behaving badly. The academy was at the center of organising this bench marking trip. Later on at a meeting with Kenya students around the Boston area, I heard a Nairobi MP resolutely telling a Harvard student:
“If you have any upcoming conferences where you would like me to speak, send me an invite and I will gladly come.”
Then I remembered the mileage claims and per diem claims. Sorry to digress, enough of these MP’s and their shenanigans. Bridge recently had their first graduating KCPE class and most students did perform well in the national exam. The academy placed an advert on the Nation boasting of their KCPE results. Which brings us to the central question, to whom , how and why are current power structures changing if indeed they are? Teachers have already sounded their war cry, as the ministry of education take on a wait and see attitude especially after having been co-opted. Others within civil society groups feel that we are turning schools into something similar to a fast food chain i.e Mc’Donalds better known to most of us as ‘Macdees’. Which bring us to another central question. Are we ‘enterpreneuring’ ourselves out of Kenya’s education crisis? [I think this warrants an entire blog based on some preliminary analysis on shifting power structures, especially the fact that private schools in themselves positions of power and general power structures in Kenya’s education system]
Uber versus Taxi operators
The other interesting story was the advisory by Uber to its drivers to tread carefully when picking up passengers due to physical threats on Uber drivers by other Taxi operators. The Nairobi taxi lobby is opposed to Uber’s pricing mechanism and having taken an Uber while in Nairobi close to a year ago, I understand why. I hail from the Northern part of Nairobi, close to Kenya’s most prominent maximum security prison. The distance is not close by any standards and getting a taxi would cost me nothing less than 25 dollars. The Uber on that particular day charged me slightly less that 15 dollars. A ten dollar saving especially in a market such as Kenya is indeed substantial. If you are frequent taxi user, you are likely to make huge savings switching to Uber, despite Uber’s well known transgressions. Sadly in this case, those who wield(ed) power are resulting to violence. The other argument that the taxi association makes is that they pay taxes and hence their prices have to be higher. Though this should be taken with a pinch of salt as we all know they may as well not be paying taxes. Previous attempts to introduce metered taxi’s in Nairobi have failed hence pointing to their gross misunderstanding of Uber’s pricing model. Additionally, it is important highlight that Uber greatly subsidizing its costs in frontier markets such as Kenya and India. At what point will Uber want to start making profits? Will our once thriving relationship with taxi drivers be reignited once our love for Uber fizzles out when it costs us more? Only in the course of time shall we know!
Netflix versus DSTV, Zuku and KFCB
Then there is the case of Netflix and several actors who now find themselves in a very precarious position. The latest being the Kenya Film and Classification Board which took to the ring in earnest and advocated for the banning of Netflix as it argues that Netflix did not submit its movies for any rating and that the service goes against Kenya’s “moral values and is a national security threat”. Which begs the question, are these folks aware of the internet? If YouTube has been operating since, why is Netflix any different? I think in my opinion this is another proxy war by incumbents. The incumbents being DSTV and Zuku. DSTV is a pay television service which charges just shy of 100 dollars a month, while Zuku is a triple play service offering telecommunication, internet and television. In this age where net neutrality is not guaranteed though current Kenya ICT laws do exist to ensure such, I would not be surprised if those on a Zuku internet connection get throttled when they stream Netflix.
BitPesa versus Safaricom and The Central Bank of Kenya
Late last year we then had the situation where Safaricom asked Lipisha consortium, the start up company that provides M-pesa mobile money gateway services to cease and obtain necessary approval from the relevant regulatory bodies on transacting Bitcoins over their mobile money network. The nature of crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin is that there is no regulatory framework. Thus, it was kind of prejudicial for Safaricom to ask the startup to seek regulatory approval first. This was Safaricom’s way of shadow boxing by co-opting non existent regulators or trying to manufacture one. The companies involved, Bitpesa and Lipisha filed a suit against Safaricom, and the Central Bank of Kenya(CBK) was enjoined as a party to the suit. The CBK then issued an advisory opinion on Bitcoin. In an age where Bitcoin and crypto currencies are mainstream(lets just imagine that for a while), are mobile money services such as M-Pesa likely to become redundant and useless? Only time will tell as Bitcoin and the Blockchain are currently navigating through some rough weather.
Common disruptors?
What is common among all these disruptors? Models seem to be the center of all the above cases. In the case of Bridge, the have a different education model that regulations need to play catch up and the same applies to Bitcoin and the Central Bank. Uber on the other hand uses a different pricing model and modus operandi. Netflix simply uses a different medium to deliver content as opposed to the already existing competitors, leaving the regulator in this case nonplussed on how to apply their mandate on a medium which they have no control or legal backing on. Go ahead, who do you seek to rattle? If you seem comfortable are you ready for the new edition of power games?
