Social Security

One phenomenon really jived with my perceived sense of professionalism when I first arrived in East Africa: almost every single person I knew from work had one or multiple side businesses. (Talk about entrepreneurship!)

The lovely Mama is running a layer chicken business, selling eggs, and earning a tidy profit. The manager imports cars after work hours. The dada is involved in a pyramid scheme to sell products. The kaka offers delicious food in a catering business…Everyone, it seems, spends their weekends and week nights earning extra money, as if it’s not busy enough at work already.

I constantly wondered how could people possibly concentrate on so many tasks at once. And a few times, I wondered if productivity is lower than back home at the formal work place because of these “side” jobs. Running your side business during normal work hours is, to some extent, accepted. This fact really didn’t sit well with me when I first arrived in East Africa. I was brought up to have a certain perception of what is proper work ethic. To be professional is to fully concentrate on my formal job when at work. You’re paid to work from 8 to 4 and you’d better work from 8 to 4*. The Hong Kong part of me still thinks that there are no “off” hours for work. Weekends, overtime, holidays are all fair game if work needed to be done.

Now it makes sense, at least partially. Fortunate enough to have always had unemployment insurance, family help, and savings to fall back upon, I had never really worried about what would happen if I suddenly got fired. Good employment laws also dictates that I would never actually be suddenly fired unless due to a criminal act. The weight on my shoulders have never been more than light.

Here, it’s different. Unemployment insurance is non-existent. Contracts often non-formal. Employers powerful, and courts unfair. Not to mention ten other relatives that depend on your salary to provide tuition fees and food.

That’s why “side” jobs where you are the owner are actually the proper jobs. They are the insurance in case your formal job fails. They are the ones that will provide continuous income regardless of your formal job. If you’re lucky, you’ll earn enough with your side job that you don’t need your formal job any more. It’s simply the most rational survival strategy.

For quite different reasons, this entrepreneurial culture is rubbing off, and I really want to start some sort of business here. On top of my formal job, of course.

(*which, actually doesn’t happen anyways. People who can work with high concentration for that many hours are almost super human. This post from Study Hack is very revealing. The vast majority of us don’t actually work as much as we think we do)