Comments on: Community Connectedness as a Competitive Advantage

By: Solomon

Solomon — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 23:29:55 +0000

Interesting article by whiteafrican, however, despite his pride in the Kenyan (and east Africa generally) app market dominated by mobile money apps, itâ€s unfortunate to note that such apps would be obsolete in south Africa and are not practical (this was a lesson I quickly learnt as a developer recently relocated to south Africa from Uganda). This is because the banking industry is advanced (70% of the population have a bank account) and the industry boosts some of the best apps you will see anywhere. FNBâ€s ewallet application for instance makes mobile money (so popular in east Africa) seem like an app from the 80â€s because you receive money through an SMS message on your phone and withdraw it from any ATM machine at your own convenience (no need for an agent or a middle man). Mobile money apps are indigenous to east Africa because very few own bank accounts and the majority have ordinary phones whereas the majority in South Africa have back accounts and own smart phones with access to the internet making the South African market ripe for high end mobile apps.

By: r

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 11:07:55 +0000

Encountered your post via ‘CP-Africa’ (http://www.cp-africa.com/). Very interesting, thanks!

On the basis of comments by others, one conclusion is that it is very valuable for Africans to travel between themselves and learn, collaborate together, rather than flying exclusively to Europe.

> Victor Asemota

A useful explanation, thank you!

By: Alexandra Fraser

Alexandra Fraser — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 08:21:51 +0000

Great post Erik and some important points made. I agree with you 100%. Silicon Cape definitely needs to focus on connectedness within our own ecosystem, as well as with other African and global tech hubs. This is a goal for the new Exco and something we have already been discussing.

In terms of the profile of our community this too needs to change. We need to include and connect with all members of the tech sector – young, old, female, male, black or white – through greater awareness, inclusion and specially designed initiatives. Two additional portfolio positions on the Exco have been created specifically to focus on issues around transformation and on students and careers – showcasing how careers and business opportunities in tech are viable options.

We have a very enthusiastic and capable new committee so hopefully we will see additional positive results in this space in the not too distant future.

By: The ANIC Winners Are | Blogs Daddy | Technology Blog | Blogger Tricks

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 08:19:27 +0000

[…] Community Connectedness as a Competitive Advantage (whiteafrican.com) […]

By: What we do and don’t fund: Investment Thesis- Part 1 | Savannah Fund

What we do and don’t fund: Investment Thesis- Part 1 | Savannah Fund — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 10:55:51 +0000

[…] but we did set up to be in Kenya for a variety of reasons including close connections a vibrant and connected community. Our first deal had co-investors fromÂ Australia, Africa to California (3 continents). What is most […]

By: Weekly Review November 24-30: What makes Kenya unique | Invested Development

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 18:56:31 +0000

[…] â€œConnected tech communities and competitive advantage: the Kenyan wayâ€ by Erik Hersman on White African Erik Hersman, one of the leaders in the Nairobi technology community, writes on the differences among the major technology hubs in Africa: Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria. Each region is unique in its own way: Nigeria has the most people while South Africa has the best infrastructure. Kenya, on the other hand, has a tightly interconnected community providing it with the competitive advantage. According to Hersman, Kenyans innovate with Kenyans in mind, increasing the likelihood for entrepreneurial success. Be sure to check out the comments section for more firsthand insight on the differences in tech communities. […]

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 17:25:15 +0000

There were a number of strong online communities in ZA before 2008. Clug.org.za mailing lists from 1999. Internet.org.za lists. Ispa.org.za lists from 1996. Probably a few before that.

Maybe not very centralised – and you can’t really have 6k people on a mailing list – but I sometimes miss the mailing list culture.

By: Why connected tech communities give you a competitive advantage: the Kenyan example | memeburn

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 06:24:57 +0000

[…] […]

By: Indra de Lanerolle

Indra de Lanerolle — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 20:24:36 +0000

Thank you Erik for a very interesting set of thoughts and observations. I wanted to add an aspect of connectedness to your idea though and thats the connectedness of the online community in general (beyond the tech community). In South Africa until relatively recently the entire online community was overwhelmingly white and the online culture that has developed here reflects this. Mxit was an exception but not the rule. While Steve is certainly right I think about the importance of education, I’m not sure that really explains it. I think theres a social explaination – I’d suggest that the elite in SA is much less like – or maybe much less connected to – the rest of the population than the elites in Kenya or Nigeria. And so the Internet until recently reflected that social disconnection. Of course your observation about race in South Africa is right but I don’t think Victor Asemota’s gloss is quite right. English speaking white people have always had strong links to especially the UK and its white majority colonies and I think that was a big motivation for them to get online (international phone calls are expensive). For most South Africans (who would never have dreamed of making international phone calls and who are coming out of a long history of isolation – especially from the rest of Africa) – the Internet has just been too hard to access and too expensive to afford.

But we have just published research #TheNewWave at University of Witwatersrand in collaboration with Research ICT Africa (www.networksociety.co.za) that shows that this is really changing – two thirds of Internet of user are now black (speak african languages at home) and most new users live on low incomes (one third below official SA poverty line – less than about $60 per month). Through new projects like JoziHub I’m hoping that we can begin to address changing the profile of the tech community but I think an important driver will be that there is now a real market of South Africans who are much more typical of the population as a whole and that the people who are going to be able to address their needs are people who understand them.

By: Simon

Simon — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 19:52:29 +0000

As a an ex-pat living in South Africa for 5 years now, I believe I have seen enough to share a modest opinion on the racial divide of entrepreneurship. Whilst I make no attempt to make any sort of judgement on the merits (or lack thereof) of BEE, I can comment on what I have observed. One of the unintended consequences is that white folk (rightly or wrongly) believe that they have no future within a corporate environment. As a result the easiest path to success for them is to start their own business. On the other hand, black folk find the going easier within a corporate environment. So whilst in a normal economy everybody should be swimming in the same stream, BEE serves the purpose of creating 2 opposite flowing streams. For white folk swimming downstream means self-employment. For black folk, swimming downstream means corporate employment. It thus stands to reason that there will be a natural divide in this regard as each group chooses to take the easier path (in general). As a result, in my humble opinion, the greatest barrier to black entrepreneurship (particularly in technology) is not skills or education as many people believe but the ironic consequence of BEE.