Businesses survive
and thrive by profitably meeting the needs of customers.
If Kenya were a business,
it would make sense for it to pay a lot of attention to the people who bought its
products. It would devote a reasonable percentage of resources to the care and
feeding of key customers so that they would continue to buy from it. Because it
is those dollars that allow business owners to stay in business, make a profit,
pay their employees, and remit taxes to the KRA which in turn makes it possible
for the government fat cats to drive big shiny SUVs, collect generous per
diems, and issue contracts to tenderpreneurs.
It is interesting to
look at Kenya’s export markets. In 2012, the 5 biggest importers of Kenyan
goods were Uganda at 12.05%, Tanzania, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the
United States at 8.17%. Of course this list is not static but
continually changing.
Note that neither
India, China, Dubai nor South Africa are top 10 export markets for us. If Kenya
was a kiosk on the street corner, we would look at India and China as the supermarket
chain opening down the street that will put us out of business. Would the kiosk
owner cozy up to the supermarket owner because he got the street paved or because
he added street lights that made the neighborhood safer?
It would be in our self-interest
to pay attention to our key export markets starting with our next door
neighbors. What that looks like for a country is a topic for another day. But
the way we generally deepen relationships with people we value is that we seek
them out, we are respectful and attentive, we are hospitable, and we
continually look for ways to make things easier, not harder for them.
