adminof traffic automatically transform into five as commuters crawl to work during peak hours, police are deployed at every roundabout to prevent gridlock situations.
Despite this mayhem, there are far less accidents than one would expect; it would appear that kombi drivers (matatus in Kenya) have a good sense of their vehicle space. Vendors capitalise on the situation by offering a much wider roadside selection than we have locally (Harare vendors could learn a lot here).
With it being possible to lose four hours of your day to traffic, this poses a significant problem to any business in Nairobi.
While you cannot tolerate staff tardiness, two hours of driving in intense traffic is likely to take the edge off anyone’s productivity.
Planning a business meeting can be a nightmare and sneaking out for a quick cup of excellent Kenyan coffee over lunch is probably a non-starter.
Leaving early at off peak hours is one option. In fact staggering your business hours to coincide with off peak travel may well save you time and enhance production if you are in the manufacturing sector.
Some entrepreneurs hire a driver to get them to work and take care of other aspects of business while travelling, with decent wireless Internet coverage and good cellular networks the mobile office come into its own. If you still value jumping out of the office for a cup of coffee, relocate your premises to within walking distance of a coffee shop.
Kenya has a national vision plan targeting significant changes across the country in key aspects of the country by 2030.
Part of this is to turn Nairobi into a 24-hour city and a key business centre in Africa.
Well aware of the current traffic problem, city government is already implementing changes to improve traffic flow. A by-pass for heavy vehicles travelling to the port city of Mombasa, improved street lighting and the installation of fly-overs are already in progress.
What has this to do with business in Zimbabwe? Well let us start with our traffic. Vehicle usage in Zimbabwe has increased, traffic volumes are up and it already takes a little longer to get to work in Harare that it did compared to a year ago (even longer if the “robots” are not working).
Already people are once again commuting into Harare from towns like Marondera.
Most people share vehicles in order to save fuel, so if you are a passenger make the most of the time-read, edit a document, plan, listen to an inspirational recording-don’t just sit and stare out the
window. While we are years away from Kenyan volumes it will be a significant factor in the not too distant future and I am not too comfortable with the idea of loosing my ability to pop out for a lunchtime coffee.
Second, Kenyans are planning. Should they succeed in their vision (and they probably will even if it takes a little longer than 2030) Zimbabwean business needs to be ready for it.
How can our businesses network and take advantage of the opportunities in Kenya?
What will be the impact of their products on our markets (with double the distance to Europe, and hence double the transport costs that we incur, horticulture producers locally are already at a disadvantage when competing with Kenyan flowers)?
Now it is not an “us and them” mentality that I am suggesting. There is enough business around for both Zimbabwe and Kenya to be major players in African and world economics in time. Rather, what lessons can we learn, what problems can we avoid, and how can we lift up our eyes and see what opportunities we can create.
In the short-term, though, if you are travelling to Nairobi for anything, take something to occupy your time between the airport and your hotel.
Online Reporter