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Continue reading →: The Day a Whole Lagos Restaurant Went Silent: Ebola, Fear and One Brave Doctor
In 2014 Ebola reached Lagos, a city of twenty million. Fear, bad myths, a hotel-booking company turned public-health campaigner, my own hypochondria, and the doctor who actually stopped the outbreak.
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Continue reading →: Africa Doesn’t Need Your Pity. It Needs Honest Presidents.
Botswana’s constitution does not ban foreign aid, whatever the meme says. What actually separates Botswana from Nigeria, where the money goes, and what real help looks like.
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Continue reading →: Paraguay’s President Just Resigned Over a Bank Collapse. Still Think Tax Rates Are Everything?A tax rate is a promise on paper. This week Paraguay reminded everyone who holds the paper, and why the Dominican Republic’s boring politics are the real product.
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Continue reading →: Four Stages of Learning Africa, and Why Most Expats Quit at Stage Two
Most Europeans in Africa learn in four stages, and most leave before the third. What I learned about infrastructure, service quality and marketing building Jovago in Nigeria.
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Continue reading →: Three Kinds of Racism, Seen From a Rugby Stadium in Johannesburg
A friend’s invitation to a Springboks vs. All Blacks match turned into a lesson in how racism works in South Africa, and why it is not only about white and black.
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Continue reading →: The Man Who Could Get Me Through Lagos Airport
At Lagos airport everything is slow, and everything can be sped up for a price. How I met Freddie, the king of the ‘VIP pass’, and what happened the one time I tried to manage without him.
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Continue reading →: The coast is about to get rules. Good.What the Dominican Republic’s proposed coastal bills could mean for Samaná development, environmental protection, and responsible real estate investment.
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Continue reading →: A Thousand Naira: A Field Guide to Lagos Traffic Police
A forged licence scan, a minibus with 29 passengers, and a police officer who cites the highway code as the thing you bought with your bribe. Driving in Lagos, and why shots ring out on the last Friday of the month.
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Continue reading →: Haiti Finally Gets Something It Hasn’t Had in 30 Years: Real Soldiers
Let me say something unpopular. The best thing that has happened to Haiti in a generation is that someone finally showed up with a proper army. Some history first. After the 1994 US intervention, Haiti dissolved its own military in 1995. On paper it was a democratic reform. In practice…
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Continue reading →: How We Found 1,500 Hotels in Lagos for $2,000
A Big Four report said Nigeria had 1,500 hotels. There were 1,500 in Lagos alone. How motorcycle taxis, a fictional wedding and a $2,000 budget built the database behind Jovago.
Hello,
I’m Marek
Founder & CEO of Samana Group. Author of “Chasing Black Unicorns”. Born in Poland. Built in Nigeria, South Africa and the Dominican Republic. Co-founder of Jumia Travel and SunRoof International. Racing driver.
