Understanding high tech development in Africa

Africans are one of the most intelligent, wise, and innovative people in the world. In fact, a few scholars and historians have traced the root of the much revered “Greek philosophy” to black Africa in Egypt – specifically to the Egyptian Mystery System. (Needless to say that Greek philosophy has been the pride of Greeks […]

Africans are one of the most intelligent, wise, and innovative people in the world. In fact, a few scholars and historians have traced the root of the much revered “Greek philosophy” to black Africa in Egypt – specifically to the Egyptian Mystery System. (Needless to say that Greek philosophy has been the pride of Greeks in particular, and white people in general.)
But then, if you look at the African continent today as a whole, there is not much – at least in terms of infrastructure – to remind you of the technological prowess of the early Africans. Obviously, the almost-perfect climate in most of Africa has encouraged complacency or passivity, which over centuries, could substantially explain the apparently backward situation you have today in terms of technological advancements. In many parts of black Africa, for example, you don’t ever need to wear clothes on your body at all, and you’ll not die of adverse weather. On the contrary, only God knows the number of people – billions perhaps in today’s numbers – that would have died in temperate (cold) regions of the world before the technology for temperature control, as an example, was perfected. (Once the mind starts developing in one aspect – for example, temperature control – it never stops there.) Thus, what we see today – that the temperate regions of the world are the most advanced technologically – has not been a coincidence or an automatic characteristic of the people; necessity seemed to have played a pivotal role.
However, the level of the problems – infant mortality, famine, diseases, etc. that our African forefathers tolerated way back when, can no longer be tolerated today, as the bar for quality living has been raised – mostly by the same tech innovations from the temperate regions of the world alluded to above. In that sense, no more alibis can be accepted for the poor tech development in Africa.
This awareness is dawning on Africans, including those physically stationed in Africa as well as Africans in the diaspora. Folks are beginning to realize that they can no longer close their eyes and fold their arms to the exciting technological developments happening around the world. With better social awareness, better and more correct historical perspectives, better education, “can-do” attitudes engendered by closer interactions with the rest of the world, political leaders that place priority on the challenges to tech development – lack of infrastructure, poor schools, and corruption in many countries; Africans seem to now be juiced up to play in today’s tech world. Thank goodness, there is the wherewithal. Like any great accomplishment worth its salt, there are challenges to be overcome.
Challenges such as securing adequate capital, the infrastructure issues alluded to above, the modest sophistication of the business environment – such as the predominance of cash transactions, tech product affordability factor, adoption issues, selling to people who are not online or with anemically low-bandwidth connections, neighborhoods in cities that don’t have numbered address grids, and perhaps scores of other factors. Fortunately, the African high tech entrepreneur is committed to succeeding nonetheless, and some success has been registered.
To get some perspectives on Africa’s high tech prospect, consult the book “The Next Africa: An Emerging Continent Becomes a Global Powerhouse” authored by Jake Bright and Aubrey Hruby and published in 2015 by Thomas Dunne. The authors thoroughly address the prevailing obstacles – such as debt, unemployment, corruption, war, and the lingering effects of colonialism. According to the authors, what Africa needs is investment. They argue that Africa – particularly sub-Saharan Africa – is on the rise and deserves the same opportunities given by the international community to other regions with similarly “troubled histories.” While these authors advocate for direct foreign participation in African high tech portfolio, the emphasis of this article is on Africans doing stuff for themselves, but with investment from anywhere on the globe.
The Jumia Group, formerly known as Africa Internet Group (AIG), is a showcase for modern tech innovations in Africa. This Nigerian company founded in 2012 – with offices in many countries in Africa including Kenya and Egypt – is perhaps the most capitalized start-up in Africa, and the first African unicorn, or a private start-up that is valued for over a billion U.S. dollars.  Although Jumia has many outfits, including the taxi-hailing business Easy Taxi, the e-commerce platform, jumia.com, is the most important. Competing with the global leaders Amazon (US) and Alibaba (China) is a near-future possibility, as is the acquisition of jumia.com.
Another company to watch is Kenyan’s Safaricom, the developer of the much-talked about M-Pesa payment system. Interestingly, the company recently launched Little Cab app as a competitor to the incumbent Uber in the taxi-hailing business in Kenya. A google search will reveal the names of many more up-coming high tech outfits in Africa, with the hidden message “Africa is waking up” after two thousand years in a slumber. Seriously speaking, I am quite optimistic at the prospect.