Thanksgiving

It's hard to believe there are only two weeks to go in my IBM Corporate Services Corps (#IBMCSC) assignment here in #Senegal.  Canadian Thanksgiving was celebrated less than a month ago (October 8) and when I return to California it'll be the American Thanksgiving long weekend (November 22).  After two weeks here in Senegal, and having just spent the weekend in Dakar, I have come to realize I have much to be thankful for, as do all you Canadians, Americans, French, Japanese, etc. reading this blog!!!

Here's my Top 10 list:

1. Clean tap water - Brushing your teeth with bottled water seems pretty opulent, but it's a real pain.  It's necessary here because the tap water is unsafe to ingest.  Similarly we have been advised to avoid ice cubes in our drinks or eating uncooked vegetables and unpeeled fruits, since they would have been made or rinsed with the unsafe tap water. 
2. Running water - Clean or not, not having running water can be quite an inconvenience. While in Dakar this past weekend, there was no running water in the city for most of the day.  Toilets don't flush and you can't wash your hands.  Have you ever tried rinsing all the soap suds off your hands with bottled water?  It really makes you realize how much water we go through.  Dripping with sweat in temperatures ranging between 30°C and 34°C during the day while walking the filthy garbage-filled streets, can you imagine not being able to take a shower before going to bed?  That almost happened, but fortunately the water was turned back on late Saturday evening.  Still, the water pressure had not built up fully until Sunday morning, and it would take time for the water heaters to fill up and heat the water... 
3. Hot showers - (see above)
4. Electricity - Senegal is in an energy crisis.  They burn fuel to produce electricity, and we all know how much it costs nowadays to put gas in our cars. Power outages are common here and we've experienced a good number of them.  There is no worse feeling than when the lights go out and your laptop beeps before it switches to battery power. Moreover, only the larger cities are on the grid.  This past week we visited the Pink Lake, and the generators at the restaurant there only store enough power to allow the restaurant to operate during lunch!  And I learned that in the villages, there is no electricity at all. What would you do with a dead cellphone?  Villagers here go into the city once a week, just to charge their phones! 
5. 60W light bulbs - Last weekend in Saly my hotel room lights didn't even work but fortunately I had a dim light operational in the bathroom (woo... hoo....). Even where there are adequate light fixtures like the office where our team works, or in our hotel rooms, you'd be hard pressed to find a light bulb brighter than 40W.  On the positive side, you can't see the bugs in your food or realize how dirty your hotel room is. 
6. High speed internet - Orange (French telco) is the DSL service provider for our host organization's office.  Not even very fast, last Friday, the DSL went down around 10:30 a.m.  When we left the office at 6 p.m. it was still down.  What's more surprising is that no one seemed to notice except for the IBM consultants upstairs!  We can so easily take for granted the instantaneous access to information we have.  Think about that the next time you need to map a location in your car, "babysit" your child with Netflix, or Google a thought as soon as it crosses your mind.
7. Toilet paper - In Senegal, you rinse with water not wipe with toilet paper.  Unfortunately on our weekend visit to Île de Gorée (Gorée Island), which for nearly 4 centuries was a gateway for the Atlantic slave trade, I found myself in more traditional settings. Sometimes when nature calls, it screams. Walking through town, a nice woman and her daughter were kind enough to allow me to use their bathroom. Luckily I was able to acquire some tissues from corner store next door.  We weren't so lucky at the restaurant earlier.   
8. Smog checks - This past year my annual vehicle registration required another smog check and I was annoyed.  Not anymore.  Here in Senegal, nobody maintains their vehicles, and cars, buses and trucks zip down the street spewing black soot.  Several of the IBMers here have developed bad allergies due to the poor air quality. Just how bad is it?  It's so bad, that when I scrub my tongue every night, it's black. 
9. Landfill sites - Every week we take out the trash, unless you're my wife. :)  We don't think twice about where it ends up unless of course you live downwind of the dump.  Here in Senegal, there is no dump.  There aren't even any garbage cans.  The whole city is literally a dump.  There is trash everywhere, and when it accumulates into a big enough pile, people just burn it, and the smell is sickening.
10. Customer service - In our world of instant gratification, we expect things immediately.  That doesn't happen here in Senegal, where a dinner can take over 2 hours - and ironically that's even at restaurants that call themselves "restaurant rapide" or fast food!!!  You must wait to take your order, you must wait for your drinks to come, you must wait for your food to come, and you must wait to get your bill (which too frequently is incorrect).  That agonizing wait between your drinks and food can be endless.  For instance, this afternoon in Dakar, at a 5-star Radisson nonetheless, we waited over an hour between our starters and our main dish.  And that's even after complaining three times!  Sadly the reality is that generally workers simply don't care - they listen blindly and go about what they were doing before.  So back home, don't forget to tip your servers and quit complaining if you're put on hold for a few minutes!!!

The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

Made in Senegal

One of the key tenets of the IBM Corporate Service Corps (#IBMCSC) program is to provide participants with full immersion while deployed in-country, for a truly authentic experience.  For example, we live amongst the people in lodgings consistent with the local culture.  There is no tie to IBM's standard corporate travel policies and the amenities are not judged on Western standards.  The only criteria is safety. 

In today's blog I'd like to paint a picture of the culture in #Senegal that we've seen firsthand as part of this immersive experience.  This cultural awareness is critical as we approach the mid-point of our month-long assignment. We have spent the last 2 weeks interviewing and researching the business operations of our host organization Agrécol Afrique, and as we complete our synthesis of the solution requirements, we are now beginning to formulate our initial recommendations.  Our objective is to deliver a strategic plan that will define a go-to-market strategy that will help transition the organization from a donor-dependent NGO, to a for-profit sustainable social enterprise.  Currently as an NGO, they book revenue solely from services provided to organic farmers, but by next year, they hope to invest fully in farming and distribution operations and book revenue from organic products sold.  Simultaneously then, we need to recommend a high-level supply chain strategy.  Underpinning both the GTM and supply chain strategy, is a need to migrate to a collaborative, cloud-based solution (Google Apps) for managing data and documents, so that they can scale in the short to medium term.  Eventually they will need at least a basic ERP solution. Our final recommendations will no doubt jumpstart a challenging transformation and change management issues will appear at every step.  And we will have to take into account the many cultural considerations.

We have been gleaning insights into that in our daily interactions at the office, around town, and on weekends as we explore other parts of the country.

1. People - I have written of teranga in previous posts and that, without a doubt best summarizes the common man and woman here in Senegal.  Never before have I met a more hospitable culture.  Last Friday we celebrated Tabaski, the 3 day Muslim holiday.  We were strangers, foreigners, even Catholics, welcomed in the homes of Muslims.

The family and home of our client, M. Souleymane Bassoum

2.  Language - All business is conducted in French, and while my French has been useful around town, having completed French Immersion only until Grade 6, I lack the vocabulary to effectively conduct business.  I of course knew this from my days working in Paris and Nice for ILOG, so in the absence of a translator and team members from India and Japan, our team has been partially handicapped in this respect.  While French is predominantly spoken in the office, the other key language utilized is Wolof.  Unfortunately, so far, the only Wolof I have been able to retain is asalamu aleikum, an important greeting meaning "peace be with you".

3.  Dining - Generally as foreigners, for food safety we have been relegated to continental cuisine served at exorbitant prices.  I for the most part have avoided the burgers, pizzas and pastas, instead opting for local fare to get a taste of local ingredients and spices as much as possible.  As such I have been eating a lot of fish (grouper, sea bream, threadfin, monkfish, and tuna), chicken, and beef, which are often served grilled.  But the highlight of my culinary experience to date, has been the Tabaski celebration at my host's home, and the delicious lamb ribs his wife and daughters prepared for us.  Fortunately for our subteam in Senegal, we've also been blessed with the opportunity to dine at our host's organic restaurant every day for lunch.  This restaurant caters in local Senegalese dishes, and we have been blown aware by the freshness, tastiness and simplicity of the various rice dishes complemented by fish, beef, or chicken and vegetables, and served with either an onion-based (yassa) or tomato-based (domado) sauce. There is actually one more traditional peanut-based sauce (mafé) available, but we have been advised to avoid it.  Our lunches have also exposed us to several traditional Senegalese fruit juices: bouye, from the fruit of the baobab tree, bissap, from the flowers of the hibiscus tree, and ditakh, from the fruit of the Senegalese Detak tree.  The latter, fortunately for us, is currently only in season during our stay! 

Culinary collage of my gastronomic adventures in Senegal

4. Telecommunications - Everyone carries a cell phone (in many cases, one for every carrier to minimize out-of-network surcharges when calling friends on different plans) and hawkers line the streets selling prepaid cards.  This is a cash-based society and nobody has a subscription plan.   Interestingly, there has been very limited adoption of smartphones to date. 3G is available, but generally the internet is highly unreliable in Senegal.  At the office, the DSL routinely goes down for hours at a time! Today it was down at 10:30 am and was still unavailable when we left at 6 pm.  Imagine the outcry if this happened in the US.

5. Public Transportation - This sector is in extremely poor shape.  All taxis and buses on the street seem to be from a by-gone era.  None seem newer than 30 years and are all poorly maintained - fender benders go unrepaired, upholstery is torn, cushions are worn, and often time windows and doors do not operate.  Taxis and buses are often seen broken down on the side of roads.  In fact, we had our own very unforgettable experience last night, as we found ourselves stuck on the side of a secondary road, our private van/bus having broken down on our return trip from the Pink Lake (a naturally occuring body of salt water occuring inland.)

Another broken down taxi...

5. Commerce - What got us in that predicament to begin with is an interesting study in how business is conducted in Senegal.  To give the full context, I need to start with what happened last weekend.  Our handler from CDC Solutions, the NGO on the ground managing our project, arranged with a local tour company to bring us to Saly, a resort on the coast.  We as a team had agreed on accomodations for the weekend at a resort named Neptune Village.  When we showed up in Saly, however, we were brought to another resort named Plein Sud.  In short, it was a dump.  We were told we would be 15 meters from the beach, and that we'd have 7 villas.  None of that matched the description.  We incidentally had a link to the villa's website and had an expectation going in of where we would be staying.  Yet the tour guide insisted everything was correct, clearly oblivious to the fact that he was dealing with 14 top performers from IBM.  He continued to lie and lie and lie, before admitting that he booked us there because he received the deposit one hour too late from our CDC handler.  Caught in a web of lies, I found it very curious how he could continue to appear as if nothing was wrong the entire weekend!  We unfortunately were dependent on him for our ride home so we needed to keep things amicable, however we refused to pay the amount we had agreed upon for Neptune Village. Somehow, I suspect in his bait and switch, he was hoping to pot the difference, and I'm sure he still made a profit from the 50% deposit we put down on Neptune Village.

Clearly a very bad experience, so it was a great surprise to hear that our CDC handler once again booked the same tour guide to bring us to the Pink Lake yesterday!  This would never happen in the US, where customers have a choice and companies live and die by customer service.  The tour guide showed up with a van not even large enough to carry us all.  Now I must say that we had one of the most enjoyable experiences so far on our trip when we arrived at the Pink Lake - splashing in the Altantic ocean in one of the most spectacular beaches I have ever seen, riding quads through the sand dunes, and floating effortlessly on our fronts and backs in the Pink Lake.  But things would take a turn for the worse, at least momentarily...

The Pink Lake, until 2007, the finish line of the Dakar Rally (formerly Paris-Dakar Rally)

The tour guide advised us we would be taking a shortcut on the way home, one that would shave off an hour.  His idea was to cut straight back to the highway instead of driving around the Pink Lake as we had done earlier in the day.  We were skeptics, and things got pretty dicey as the driver drove us into a dead end.  From there every few miles he'd have to stop and ask if we were heading in the right direction.  At dawn the "road" and any driveway was pretty indistinguishable, as both are basically tire tracks in the desert!  What's more, we were offroading in a tour van, which likely contributed to what happened next.  We made it to the highway, and were told it would be 45 minutes to our hotel from there.  Shortly after that, the headlights died, the electrical systems went dark, and the van stalled.  We were 20 km from the hotel, stuck on the side of the road in the pitch dark.  And our fate was in the hands of a man who had lost all credibility with us the week before...

6. People (reprise) - We were helpless, 14 IBMers sitting ducks in a foreign country in the dead of night.  But what happened next would seem miraculous in almost any other country.  A bus going the other direction - with people on it - saw us and stopped.  The people on the bus got off, allowing the bus to save a group of foreigners and take them on to their final destination.  This has become the defining moment in our minds for the good people of Senegal.  And as we looked up into the night sky, I don't think any of us had ever seen so many stars.  We saw every constellation just as the ancient Greeks would have centuries ago, giving a whole new meaning to thanking our lucky stars.



Alhamdoullah - meaning Praise to Allah - is printed on the front of all buses in Senegal and this couldn't have been more appropriate on this night 

 

The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

I like to move it move it, ya like to... move it!

The Sascha Baron Cohen rendition of "I Like to Move It" as King Julien XIII in the 2005 hit movie Madagascar played constantly through my head, as the #IBMCSC team had the opportunity to go on an unforgetable African safari at the Reserve the Bandia.  We stopped off there on our way to Saly, often times referred to as the Cote D'Azur of #Senegal.  However, what we experienced was on a scale far below what that association might suggest.  The villa was quite decrepit and lacking in amenities, as we were victimized by some local corruption in a shady bait and switch!  Lesson learned, and we certainly can't lose sight of the fact that we all had a great time bonding as a team and experiencing yet another side of Senegalese culture and how business still tends to operate in this country.

Without further adieu, photos I shot with my 55mm - 250mm zoom lens.



Entrance to wild animal safari at Reserve de Bandia, in Bandia, Senegal



Our safari vehicle was key to the experience.  It was limiting at times and we got off to get a closer look!



A hyena, the only caged animal we saw, due to its predatory nature





A buffalo off in the distance





A beautful Blue Starling



A pair of wild ostriches



A female giraffe, and just like in the movie Madascar, alongside her loyal friends, the zebras



A zebra mother and her baby



A beautiful bird, species unknown...



Off in the distance, a herd of gazelles...



Caught this gazelle mid-stride in this almost mystical action shot



A sable antelope - one of over 90 antelope subspecies  in Africa/Asia



Our guide searched long and hard for fresh poop and tracks to find this rhinocerous.  And we got close, real close.



Another species of antelope - this one is a female



In her herd, a male, distinguished by his horns 



An impala also from the antelope family - and the inspiration for the classic Chevrolet in the 1950s



Two male impalas caught battling for the eye of a female  



A pond full of hungry, hungry crocodiles



The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

A Photographic Study in "Terranga" [sic]

The Wolof word for hospitality is teranga and it is given such importance in Senegalese culture that it is widely considered to be part of the national identity.  In fact, the national soccer team is nicknamed the Lions of Teranga.  Occasionally I have seen it misspelled "terranga", and it is interesting that the misspelling occurs on terra-, which of course in Latin means Earth.

Interestingly there is a strong connection between the Earth and the fortunes and well-being of the people that inhabit it.  A nation and its people are ultimately defined by the land - its bounty (eg. diamonds, oil, etc.) often times, as we've see in other parts of Africa and around the world, leads to corruption and strains on society through domestic violence, alcohol abuse and other violent crimes.  Here in Senegal, the land in places is harsh but it does provide enough for its people.  It seems the Senegalese recognize this, and despite the far-reaching poverty, I have not seen happier, more welcoming people willing to share with family, friends and strangers equally.  They are not driven by greed and there is deep respect for the land and for all people.

What follows is a photographic study of this fascinating notion of "terranga": the land, the people, and how that all comes together to define way of life here in Senegal.  Without a doubt, teranga is what has so far made our experience with IBM Corporate Service Corps so wonderful. #ibmcsc

The Land

A majestic coastline makes Senegal a welcoming gateway for Western Africa to the rest of the world

The bounty of the ocean feeds the people of Senegal



The soil of this land is sandy but fertile



The sun shines bright to give life, but can be too intense for life as well 



The People

The women work hard and are strong, making Senegal a matriarchal society

The children are playful

The family unit is strong

And the people are proud

The Way of Life

Beautiful tree-lined city streets are currently blighted by nature - left dusty by the sediment from the recent floods

96% of the population is Muslim (this week preparing for Eid al-Adha) and live in perfect harmony with Christians 

It is a vibrant society with streets always bustling with people of all ages

But still struggling to catch up with the Western World

The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

A Land of Opportunity

As our plane approached Dakar late Friday night, coming in from over the Atlantic Ocean the city lights presented a spectacular perspective of the city, but little evidence of a country on the brink of dramatic change.  Dakar, also know as Presqu'ile, or "almost island" since it is nearly completely surrounded by the ocean, by night seemed highly concentrated within a very small area along the coastline.


Beautiful Dakar, Senegal

But as we explored the city the next day, what we saw was a city growing rapidly, with partially constructed buildings sprouting up everywhere we looked, and even as we left Dakar, deep into the suburbs the endless residential construction did not seem to end.  In fact, the decrepit single-runway airport we had just landed at is about to be replaced by a brand new one further inland, to be connected to the city by a brand new tollway going up right now (along the route to our final destination in Thiès, #Senegal.)   The land on which the airport currently sits is just too valuable as oceanfront property to house an airport.

I'd say my first impressions of this country and the wonderfully friendly people of this nation are quite different than what I was expecting. I have been entirely comfortable, with no real loss in amenities.  I have taken hot showers, found most places we've visited, including our hotel rooms, effectively air conditioned, and I have had no problems recharging my iPhone!  I've even been provided with a local cell phone that may seem dated (no touchscreen) by our Western standards.  But if anything, it shows that the digital divide in Africa is rapidly closing, and that technology - mobile in particular - seems to truly be the great equalizer.


Samsung still rules here.

And the countryside we travelled through was anything but deserted or barren. In fact, it was absolutely lush and green, as Senegal is just coming out of the rainy season.  The roadways are bustling with locals selling their fruits and vegetables. And baobab trees, made famous by the children's novella "The Little Prince", dot the landscape for as far as the eyes can see.

Road to Thiès

As foreigners we have stood out like a sore thumb and are constantly being hounded by the hawkers and beggars, but I have actually enjoyed the interactions with many of them. Despite their limited education, they have mastered basic phrases in many languages, and most are extremely adept at French, and some cases, even English.  However, it is truly heartwrenching to see the young children and the handicapped, and I am looking forward to contributing to the future prosperity of the nation in a far more enduring way, as part of IBM Corporate Service Corps #ibmcsc.

Of course we have been advised by our IBM handlers to ignore or politely brush the hawkers and street kids aside, but sometimes it is hard to be rude to such friendly, entertaining and interesting people.  I have made a few new "friends" on the streets of Dakar, like a young man named Ali who sold me 2 Senegalese wood carvings he apparently made himself with his own bare hands - which he was selling alongside a fellow who was first his brother, then his friend, and then back to being his blood brother.  It was a playful banter, where he personalized the conversation masterfully.  Each art piece started out at $25, but since I was his friend and as a #Canadian, a friend to his entire nation (alluding to the visit last week by Prime Minister Stephen Harper), I could have one for $10.  And as he followed me from our bus to the restaurant, I assured him that I would think about it, as I had no money on me.  Not surprisingly, he was right there waiting for me when our lunch was over, and as my Indian colleagues were able to expertedly negotiate with his "brother" down to 2 for $10 or 2 for $12, he begrudingly matched the lower price I claimed would now be the only acceptable deal.  For the spirited conversation, I threw in an extra $1 so he could "get something to eat".

And there was one more delightfully unforgettable conversation I had along the street there.  It was with an older gentlemen who was trying to sell me some jewelry.  His line: "My friend, how many wives do you have?"  He was visibly disappointed in me when I said one, after which he espoused about the virtues of multiple wives and the great happiness of all three of his.  He encouraged me for a good block to find a few more wives, without even trying to sell me any of his wares.

I believe it is this great spirit embodied in all the people we have met so far that will lead Senegal forward.  Their openness has resulted in stability.  Prosperity shall come next.


The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

Bon Voyage

As the clock ticks down to the heart-wrenching goodbyes to my wife and kids, the pre-travel jitters and intrepidation of flying to Dakar, #Senegal via Paris, France in Economy... on Air France (although that seems entirely appropriate since the nature of my work is purely philanthropic #ibmcsc) slowly turn to feelings of excitement and anticipation.

I've packed one suitcase to check-in, carefully managing the weight to remain below 50 lbs., which was quite the challenge since as one of three US-based team members, I'm carrying along a slew of IBM memorabilia for our global team to share with our gracious hosts.  My carry-on contains a couple changes of clothes, all my toiletries and my Canon digital SLR camera and lenses, while my personal item will house my laptop and a few good reads.  Now besides having to pack for four weeks versus four days, were there things I packed that I normally wouldn't on a typical business trip? 

• My own bath towels, as we were advised the ones provided by the hotels in Africa will be rather thin compared to what we're used to at the Westin and the like!
• Likewise we were told not to expect the same soothing and sweet-smelling spa-quality soaps, shampoos and lotions we are so accustomed to from the high end hotel chains, so I have packed a few of the ones I took during my last stay at the Westin ;)
• A generous supply of Cipro, and an entire box of Immodium...
• Malaria medicine (Malarone) that I'll need to take daily, and of course half a dozen or so cans of mosquito repellent.  Now I suppose the latter isn't altogether unique as I'd need the same if I were traveling back to Winnipeg, Canada for the summer - just minus the risk of Malaria.
• Hand sanitizer with 65% alcohol content, exceeding the recommended minimum of 50%!
• And this one was actually a regular item for family vacations only a few years back, but certainly not something I have ever packed on a business trip - a pack of baby wipes.  We have a lot left over, and I'm sure they'll come in handy in Senegal where the sanitary conditions will not be up to Western standards.

These past few days have been a whirlwind.  My hair is cut, the lawn is mowed, and the Halloween decorations are up on the house.  Today I'll do something special for my daughter and get into her kindergarten classroom for a little bit of volunteering.  Tomorrow night, thanks to the NHL lockout* and the generosity of the San Jose Sharks organization, season ticket holders will descend upon HP Pavilion and skate on the very ice the professionals do!  That'll give me some great father-son time before I head off for four weeks. 

(*The bright side to the NHL lockout is that I won't miss any games while in Senegal, nor need to stay up till 4 am to stream games with NHL Gamecenter Live!)

[Updated 10/17/12]

Skate Night at HP Pavilion, San Jose, CA

My four week tour of duty in Senegal will surely be a once in lifetime experience, but it won't be without its sacrifices. I'll miss my son's annual kung fu performance next weekend, where he'll be displaying the wu shu skills he's accumulated since he was 3.5 years old.  Now 7, he has achieved the rank of blue belt and continues to impress.  His Mite (U8) travel hockey season is in full swing, and I'm disappointed that I'll have to miss his thrice-weekly practices and upcoming exhibition games and tournaments in Vacaville and Oakland.  I'll also be missing a handful of games myself for the two teams I skate for in the Sharks Ice Adult Hockey League. Inevitably when I return, I will have relinquished the scoring lead in the EEEE Division (8 points after 3 games). While the point total is correct, a few of the goals should have been assists, and the running joke with my teammates is how many goals I'll be credited with while overseas!

And through all this, it'll take a very special woman to make sure everything continues to run smoothly for the next 4 weeks - my wife and Super Mom.


The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

Visions of sugar plums (organic mangos) dancing in my head...

My taste buds are salivating and my mind is spinning.  Moments ago I got off our #IBMCSC #Senegal sub-team's kickoff call with M. Souleymane Bassoum, Chef d'Enterprise at Agrécol Afrique (AA). 

Trained as an agricultural engineer in France and Sweden, for the past 20 years Souleymane has worked hard to develop the organic food market in Senegal, helping to establish a weekly market in Thiès and two organic restaurants that draw people from as far away as Dakar (over 1 hour drive).  The Senegalese are well-known for their Teranga (which means hospitality in Wolof) and Souleymane has already invited us to dine at his restaurants!  My legendary appetite awaits...  as I eagerly anticipate conducting additional 'primary market research' in the outdoor markets and on the farms!

What happens today is AA works with roughly 150 farmers who year-round raise poultry, grow fruits (papayas, mangos, etc.) and vegetables (tomatoes, onions, etc.), or that grow rainy season products (millet) that are only available from July to October.  These farmers have entered into a contractual relationship with AA, who provides organic methods and materials (e.g. seeds, fertilizer), picks up and distributes products, in exchange for profit-sharing.

Our challenge will be to help Souleymane and AA grow the percentage of farmers who are organic from somewhere between 2 and 7% to 25%, in order to meet the burgeoning demand for organic products throughout Senegal, where consumers are willing to pay a 10% premium on most products, and in some cases, up to 25% for organic mangos!  (The mango is hands down the undisputed king of fruits across the globe and I'm looking forward to tasting some of those delicious organic Senegalese mangos, which currently are not exported.  Now I'll probably be enjoying them in some French-inspired desserts, as the mango season ended in September, and my sweet tooth has absolutely no problems with that.)

The logistics of getting products to market and collecting payments appear be their biggest challenges, and the IBM team of Rajesh Agarwal (India), Nami Matsumoto (Japan) and myself are ready to consult and recommend solutions and approaches that will help AA expand their operations. We land in 2 weeks.


The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.