This picture sums up TEDGlobal to me.
Two of the most famous people, with somewhat differing views on how to reach Africa’s future. Bono represents the part that states development aid is needed. Ayittey represents the side that claims private equity is the answer to Africa’s problem.
Why it sums up TEDGlobal so well, is because these two individuals with differing views were laughing and talking with eachother. That’s what this is all about; ideas and discussions.
Joseph Mucheru has been named the new site lead for Google Kenya. This was whispered to be happening, but at today’s Google lunch at TEDGlobal the position was made official by Francoise Brougher, Director of Google Business Opportunities.
This is great news for East Africa and Google. They’re getting one of the true leaders in the ISP space, and someone who has a great deal of experience navigating the many difficult situations that arise in the African IT sector.
Below is a picture of Joseph talking with Russell Southwood (who writes the excellent Balancing Act emails)
Congratulations Joseph!
(Note: This is Google’s first sub-Saharan Africa employee, not counting a couple sales guys in SA)
George Ayittey is a large thought leader in the field of change in Africa. His book, Africa Unchained, has been a seminal book for many. Opening his talk, he named and talked about two generations in Africa:
The Cheetah Generation – made up of the youth, specifically the TED Fellows present here, the saviors of Africa who are not going to wait for government and aid organizations to do things for them.
The Hippo Generation – the current political and business leaders who are happy to wallow in their water holes, complaining about colonialism and poverty, but doing nothing about it.
Ayittey pulls no punches. He compares well-meaning international aid organizations who don’t understand Africa as the “Blind leading the clueless.”
Here are some of my notes:
He reminds us that 40% of the wealth crated in Africa is taken out of Africa, that “Africa’s begging bowl is leaking horribly”. Examples:
Since 1960 we’ve had 204 African heads of state – name me just 20 good leaders! Most can’t even get 15. Even 20 out of 204 is still a failure of government. The slate of post-colonial leaders is a far cry from the leaders Africa had known for centuries.
Sometimes we think there is something called a government in Africa that cares about the people, and represents the people. What you and I understand as the government doesn’t exist in any African country. They suck the economic vitality out of the people. It’s a vampire state. The richest people in Africa are politicians – the chief bandits are the presidents.
An American says, “I am because I am”. An African says, “I am because we are”.
There’s nothing like a little controversy to get the party started. TEDGlobal hasn’t disappointed thus far.
(NOTE: More great coverage of Bono vs Mwenda at Ethan Zuckerman’s blog)
(NOTE 2: I’ve started uploading pictures to Flickr)
In the first session we’ve had Euvin Naidoo ask us to start thinking about Africa differently – reminding us that it has had the best ROI in the world right now as far as capital markets are concerned. One of my favorite quotes was when he stated that “the problems of Africa should be seen as opportunities”.
Andrew Dosunmu, a film maker tells us that we need to change the world’s perception of Africa by changing the visual images that they see. It’s not all about war, famine and corruption. An absolutely fabulous photographer and videographer, the quality is stunning.
Africa Ready for Business is a film by Carol Pineau. She showcased some of the short stories from that film, reiterating that there are entrepreneurs all over Africa. In fact, “the entreprenuerial spirit is alive everywhere in Africa”, bringing up the example of Daallo Airlines in governmentless Somalia. Carol will soon be releasing her new documentary on business opportunities in Africa, called “Africa Investment Horizons”.
Finally, Andrew Mwenda ended the session with a resounding 18 minute talk on getting Aid out of Africa, but only investment.
Bono has just gotten on stage and coined the term “the Mwenda Plan” as opposed to the Marshall Plan. He’s talking about how/why aid is still important, that though corruption in African governments is the reason, we still need to be a part of the fix. He also cautioned against living in a fairy tale.
Some images…
Just got into Arusha, Tanzania on the bus from Nairobi for TEDGlobal 2007. There’s nothing like taking a 6-hour crammed, slow bus to remind you you’re home. I was immediately reinvigorated when I started seeing everyone at the hotel though. I’ve already ran into a number of people that I only knew through blogs and email, what a great way to begin.
Emeka Okafor is the director of TEDGlobal, since I’ve always been a fan of Timbuktu Chronicles, it was great to finally meet face-to-face. That goes the same for Nii Simmonds of eNubia, Eric Osiakwan and David McQueen.
The registration and setup here is outstanding. In a short conversation with Emeka, he told me about how helpful the Tanzanian government has been, but also compared directing this conference to directing a NASA space shuttle launch. A South African team came up just to do A/V and lighting, they’ve completely redesigned the whole hall.
This is just the beginning, more on the conference as we start tomorrow.
[NOTE: New AfriGadget post on home made welding machines made in Kenya.]
Last night a number of bloggers, programmers and IT folks were able to get together for a little get together in Nairobi. Throughout the night about 20 people passed through the bar/restaurant where we met.
Among those present were bloggers Steve Mugiri from the Ntwiga blog, Juliana from Afromusing, Daudi Were from Mental Acrobatics. Riyaz Bachani, who organizes Skunkworks and the last BarCamp Kenya with Josiah Mugambi also came.
We had a great time over drinks and some Nyama Choma (beef and goat). A couple of us are off to a nearby orphanage today, then off to TED tomorrow.
Here’s a few pictures:
Day 1 of the Mobile Toolkit Workshop had about 20 people in it, mainly technical people, but with a smattering of non-techies to keep us on track. These two days are being led by Tactical Tech, the company that puts together these software toolboxes for use by NGO’s worldwide. Marek Tuszynski has a great deal of experience running these types of meetings and channeling the workgroup’s energies towards a specific goal.
Our first order of the day was to declare what the Mobile Toolkit would NOT be, followed by defining who the target user should be, say what we hope to achieve and finally come up with a vision statement. The results were surprisingly good, I think this can be attributed to there being some incredibly smart people present, as well as the fact that people came from all different backgrounds.
Here are some of the results.
“It’s not all about technology”
“It’s not about the best technology, it’s about the most appropriate technology”
“It’s not about science fiction, but it is about the future”
What we hope the toolbox will achieve:
Joe Kasonde, from Zambia, came up with what I thought was a brilliant vision statement:
“That all communities have access to information and tools, which enables them to use mobile technology to achieve their goals”
He was in my small group, so we had a chance to discuss some of the reasons behind the terms used. My primary goal was to make sure that people realized that it was beyond our control to say what the Mobile Toolkit would be used for. Just like any other basic application (examples being Google Apps, Gmail or Microsoft Word), all types of organizations and people will use it for whatever their needs are if they find value in it. With that in mind, we shouldn’t concern ourselves with whether it is only used by advocates, but provide a tool that can be used by them.
I’m looking forward to when the final product is completed. With the individuals present in the room working on it, I’m convinced that the final Mobile Toolkit will be exceptional.
Fahamu and Tactical Tech have joined forces to put on a Mobile Advocacy Workshop in Nairobi. I had the chance to attend the afternoon sessions today, and will be taking part in the Mobile Toolkit Workgroup tomorrow.
The first 3 days were taken up with examples and stories of how mobile technology is being used as an effective tool within NGO’s that have a focus on human rights and social advocacy. A typical question at these sessions would be, ” What do you need to make your work with mobiles more effective?”
A few of the answers:
Tomorrow, just the tech guys will remain and we will discuss what tools and information will be included in the “Mobile Toolkit” so that future programs will have a starting point to reference for their projects. The first three days of hearing what is being done, and what is needed, is critical if a toolkit is to be developed that is both useful and informative. A typical question here would be, “What is the toolkit going to look like?”
A few of the answers:
While here I’ve had a chance to meet two blog/email acquaintances too, Sokari Ekine of Black Looks and Ken Banks of Kiwanja.net. They’re both experts in their fields, and it’s been great getting to know them on a face-to-face level. Sokari works at Fahamu and has been a social activist for quite some time. She has a particular focus on women’s rights, as can be seen on her blog. Ken Banks is a technologist who developed Frontline SMS, the system used to monitor the Nigerian elections amongst others.
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