Comments on: An African Startup Mecca

By: Rob Smorfitt

Rob Smorfitt — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 18:09:26 +0000

Hi
South Africa is no different to any other country when it comes to opportunities for wannabe entrepreneurs.

However, the best chance of success is undoubtedly in Gauteng, simply because the market is so big there in relation to the rest of the country, that even an iffy business will have some level of success.

Rob Smorfitt
main-spring.blogspot.com

By: Conrad Strydom

Conrad Strydom — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 20:40:25 +0000

Jeanne, I think you are being a little to harse on the Southern Tip of Africa, grass is always greener?

More important than the economic situation and what not, is the culture and passion to embrace advances in technology under the local digirati.

Spending this weekend at BarCamp Cape Town it was exciting to see the pride and excitement around Open Source development and spreading the general love. I think if we can get organised, we can ignite the flame.

Hey, Amazon is betting on us? Had dinner with one of the newer developers over there recently and he seemed about as passionate as any!

By: HASH

HASH — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 18:32:15 +0000

Jeanne, great points. I’m not a South African, and have never been there, so input from someone like you is very educational. So, S.A. looks like it’s not the best place either. I wonder if it’s still the best possibility in Africa though?

There seems to be a good deal of money as well as high educational standards in the major universities. Those are important components. Imagine what would happen if they were to open the country up for more qualified immigrants, loosen the business laws and diminish the red tape.

I stilld don’t think any other country in Africa can hold a candle to it, but I’ve been wrong before. 🙂

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 13:12:47 +0000

I think before we can start picking cities in South Africa, we need to look at some of the larger issues mentioned in the USA article – like our immigration policy which seems to be designed specifically to discourage the most skilled and enthusiastic of applicants. And the stranglehold that labour laws and trade unions have on small businesses! Both of these factors will militate quite strongly against a start-up culture. The one we don’t have to worry about is being a police state as there seems to be precious little policing going on 😉

But if we were to pick cities, I woudl plump for somewhere in the vicinity of Stellenbosch – close enough to haev access to two excellent universities and a part of the country that is generally considered to be very desirable to live in. Grahamstown suffers, I think, from not being in a particularly desirable place to live in (even if you only compare facilities in Grahamstown and Cape Town you will see that I mean!) Another option would be in KwaZulu Natal – either north of Durban or somewhere betwen Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

As I said, though, we’d first have to sort ouf the bigger issues mentioned above!

By: HASH

HASH — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 13:44:22 +0000

San Francisco and Silicon Valley aren’t cheap to live in either. I wonder if just having tech startups and venture capital groups in one location mean that it ends up being an expensive place to live.

By: Meri

Meri — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 21:46:44 +0000

I think with cheaper infrastructure options, places like Stellenbosch or Grahams Town could both have tech startup potential. Lots of students, many enjoying the net access the universities afford.

Cape Town might be a good option, but suffers from accommodation being damn expensive, but I suppose that’s similar to London!