Interviews

[Disclosure: Though I think Neville is doing some truly unique things, I must in full disclosure admit that I have been working with him over the last year on some different web projects.]

Neville Newey is the second in the African Digerati series of interviews. What he wouldn’t say here, because he is too humble, is that he takes his own initiative to create change. Anyone who has worked with him knows how open he is to discussing ideas and features - this is a rare trait to have in our profession, where everyone seems to get their egos tied up in their work.

Many people don’t know who is the magician behind Muti, that would be Neville. He created it from scratch after he saw how powerful the idea was at Reddit and that something similar was needed within the African web space.
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Emeka Okafor is the first in the African Digerati series of interviews. He is a well established member of the African blogosphere, a leading thinker, and a doer. Not mentioned in this interview is the fact that he is also managing and coordinating one of the world’s top technology conferences that will be in Africa for the first time this year: TED Global. He has made a huge impact on me, and I believe his blogs should be considered regular reading for anyone interested in technological development in Africa.
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One of the topics that I veer into every once in a while is built around the term African Digerati. My definition of the term is someone who marries experience with Africa and technology. I initially wrote about it a year ago in one of my favorite posts:

Our insights into technology are not the same as the vast majority of those who live in Africa and our knowledge and perspective of Africa is much different than the rest of the world’s. We, currently, are the people on the bridge - maybe even the bridge - that spans the divide of both knowledge and technology when it comes to Africa.

Finally, I decided to contact a number of individuals who I consider members of this group. There are many more, this is only a smattering of the individuals who are bridging that gap. Some bridge the gap directly by actually creating applications, software and tools in Africa. Others are in the African diaspora in the US and Europe, working within organizations and making a name for themselves.

I’ll be the first to admit that there are many others who rightly belong in this series - please forgive me if I have overlooked anyone that you believe should be outlined. Do know that some didn’t reply to my emails, so are therefore not a part of it.

Over the next few weeks, you will begin to see a few of these interviews come to life here on White African. I hope you enjoy them, and that you’ll take the time to open dialogue about their ideas, thoughts and visions for Africa’s technological future.

Interviews:
Emeka Okafor
Neville Newey
“M”
Rafiq Phillips
Ethan Zuckerman
Ken Banks