Businessmen should become more enterprising

Yesterday this paper reported that the national Post Office here in Rwanda is venturing into the money transfer business, targeting the growing East African regional market. The Director General of National Post Corporation , Rwanda, Celestin Kayitare, said that they want to diversify the way the posts body is getting revenue to run its various activities, and also increase the services they are providing to their clients. One can say that this was long overdue. Many foreign postal services are offering a host of services like transport, courier services, money transfers, and even outright banking services. Posts already have the infrastructure in place; all that remains is exercising their brains to put to maximum use those facilities. This in plain speak is what is called entrepreneurship. Look at what is happening to the Automated Teller Machine business, run by Simtel. Banks are reluctant to increase the number of machines, and this is still a very sluggish business. But it will take one smart investor to increase the number, diversify to upcountry towns, and lo! Every bank will be struggling to be part of the kill, as if they did not have ringside seats previously. Every businessman has to remember that Rwanda is already a bustling city that wants quality services, because of the mix of the population living and working here. People have been many places and got used to getting what they want in terms of services, so it will be only those with smart business acumen who will not only survive in the coming melee of tough business competition, but also make a killing in profits. Entrepreneurship. It does not need a nuclear or robot scientist to tell business people in the transport sector who are operating fleets for example, that they can use the very passenger vehicles plying all corners of Rwanda and even beyond, to become first class couriers. Jaguar Bus Company is doing it, albeit on a small scale. But they make enough money to make them stay in business. And so Atraco and all these other transporters like Volcano should wake up and provide us with the services we still need.Ends