My neighbour, my customer

How do you live with your neighbors, especially the ones that are a little different from you? I mean the ones who eat differently and speak differently and eat differently from you, with whom you do not share language, culture or religion?How to live with our neighbours is the quintessential challenge man has faced. All major religious and ethical teachings have something to say about good neighbourliness. All this is hardly surprising: after all, humans are social beings and thus need each other irrespective of similarities or differences between them.Christianity has the famous ‘love thy neighbour’ mantra. But who is my neighbour? Jesus answer Jesus Christ gave some interesting insights when confronted with this question. He gave the famous ‘Good Samaritan’ story. The summary of the anecdote is that your neighbour is anybody who needs your help.The Christian worldview is not so different from the African one. In most African cultures, your neighbour is your brother. Indeed in most African lingos there is no direct equivalent for stranger as there are no direct translations for ‘cousin’. The nearest synonym for the latter is ‘brother’. The ‘my neighbour is my brother’ principle is not however particular to Africans or Christians only. It is almost universal, albeit blurred by modernity.It also makes good business sense, very good business sense.Let’s define ‘neighbour’ from a professional/ business sense. To borrow again from Jesus Christ; if my neighbour is anyone who needs my help, then in business my neighbour is one that needs my services. This calls for an outlook that, by its very definition, compels the business person to look at things from the customer’s perspective. This is important. Secondly: the more diverse the neighbour, the better. That way they need more of your services than the one who is more like you, who will indeed be a competitor. To illustrate; a vegetable trader will, most likely, be seated with a tomato seller in the market. They will source their products from same place, use the same means of transport and at the same time (say in the morning) and have the same problems. They are clearly brothers/ sisters by fact an in arms. It also easier for the tomato seller to include vegetables in her/his stock thus becomes a competitor. The local blacksmith, on the other hand, is totally a customer. It is unthinkable that he can begin selling vegetables alongside his pots and pans and other iron implements. By human nature the relationship between the vegetable and tomato sellers will be close. But good business sense demands that the vegetable seller keeps an even closer and active bond with the blacksmith and the like. It is called networking. The biggest reason why we have been under foreign economic dominance is because we barely trade among ourselves as Africans. Intra-country and inter-country trade is our Achilles heel. Our leaders have seen this and have come up with good initiatives like COMESA, EAC and ECOWAS and SADC. But the citizenry is yet to catch on in a process they should be driving.Within our countries, it is not unusual to find local products looked down upon and considered inferior from the word go. May be it is a manifestation of ‘familiarity breeding contempt’. When we buy our goods we create and keep much needed jobs within our economy. Buying imports does the opposite. This is not to encourage blind ‘economic patriotism’ however. That just won’t do. The local firms best be advised to produce top notch products at low prices. Why? The best answer comes from the Christian mantra love your neighbour as you love yourself. Even the love for the country and countrymen/women and the countries products is an extension of self love. It hardly ever exceeds the love one has for themselves.Keeping good neighbour relations is thus paramount for my neighbour is my customer. This is also the way we want to engage with neighbouring countries. This is an important pillar or self reliance.

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My neighbour, my customer