Last week, a friend took me to see his new office situated along River Road in Nairobi. If you are familiar with Nairobi, then you already know about the chequered business character of River Road. Apart from the abundance of tiny local music production houses and music stores that spew loud music out into the street all day, many of the videos produced in the city originate from this street. The street is also groaning from the weight of many small ‘exhibition’ stalls that mostly sell electronics, mobile communication equipment and clothes. All these businesses generate heavy human traffic that weaves between the perpetual traffic jams caused by various public transport vehicles as they maneuver in and out of the several upcountry bus stations that dot the length of the street. The many travelers lumbered with heavy bags on their hands and heads and babies on their backs add human traffic to the already congested side walks.

From my friend’s office on the third floor of one of the newest building along River Road, I could still hear the urgently throbbing bass from a Congolese song played from one of the music stalls on the ground floor, in competition with a more laid back Reggae beat played from a location my ears couldn’t quite point out. This is despite the fact that the door to the office was closed. And as I checked out the impressive décor and brand new computers on each of the desks of the modestly sized room, I couldn’t help but instinctively peep out of the window to ascertain the security of the office from outside. As you might already know, River Road’s business resume does not exclude theft and burglary, and so precaution is always necessary. Fairly or unfairly, River Road is notoriously infamous for various uncouth ways of making money such as counterfeiting and the sale of pirated goods.

My friend’s business is an Insurance Agency, and as we continued to chat, he told me that he wanted to venture into the River Road market. He believed that he could convince the small business owners to insure their merchandise and their families. But at a place where the term for making money is often ‘hustling’ rather than ‘business’, I could not hide my look of doubt about my friend’s judgment in business location. And even without asking, my friend clearly heard the question in my head; “Would anyone in River Road be interested in insurance?” And as it has been in many occasion, my friend answered my question with a story.

He told me about a shoe factory owner who wanted to expand his business into Africa when Europeans first discovered the continent. And so the factory owner sent one of his best sales executives to have a look at the business potential for selling shoes in Africa. After a few months filled with the hardships of a place where Europe’s contemporary comforts were lacking, the sales executive returned to his boss and reported, “Do not bother. No one in Africa wears shoes.” However, the factory owner was not satisfied and he funded a second sales executive on a similar mission. After a few months of jungle hardships, the second sales executive returned to Europe and reported to his boss excitedly, “Please go ahead. No one has shoes in Africa!”

And so my friend concluded that he was driven by the challenge to crack this market that most seem to disregard as below potential.