Yes, Africa can be self-dependent
About 7 years ago, I managed to get a dial-up connection in my house. It was a great feeling, probably greater than I felt when I first made a 3G connection in Nairobi a about 2007. Internet at home was a privileged. An expensive one and the connection was really slow but by the standards then, it was ok. I had to foot the bill twice, the phone company and the ISP. Slowly, things have evolved. Cyber Cafes have become cheaper by the day and more reliable.
In 2004, I first used my debit card issued by the National Bank of Kenya online to pay for a domain and hosting. That was another great feeling. The process to getting services paid for online was a really bad experience, an expensive one too. Things have become cheaper, efficient and more accessible by the day. While we adopt lots of products from the west, Africa seems to also be waking up to the creation bit. We have bought franchises, created, ran and now, we are getting up to the market as a market that can develop and satisfy its technological and entertainment needs.
Next week, Kenya hosts the MTV Africa Music Awards. African talent has been seen clearly worldwide and the only people who seem not to believe in us is us. Look at the sports world – European soccer is filled with African stars. Without them, the entertainment that is European soccer would not be complete. Kenya has exported so many athletes.
Entertainment in Africa is growing to local content. Big Brother Africa, Idols, Tusker Project Fame, Nigerian Movie Industry, we may still need a lot of improvement but Africa has come a long way.
We have to look at ourselves and realize that Africa is hosting the FIFA World Cup for the first time in history. That we are enjoying the same technology platforms as everyone else in the world and that our standard of education is measuring up with the rest of the World. Again I will repeat, we are the only ones who seem not to believe in ourselves. The rest of the World can see the potential in Africa and that is why we have foreigners settled all over Africa.
My challenge to you and I, the African, re-examine what we are doing, ask us, are we doing what we do at the best it can be done? If so, then we are headed on the right path. Keep that spirit and if you need to fix it, please work on it and lets move Africa where the coming generations will have our names in their history books as pioneers and creators of stable systems and unique creativity that will see us move to the next level. Work together, build each other. Dont buy western or European products when you have African alternatives.
I am in the web industry and Majibu.com is my baby. I have great respect for Afrigator, Kachwanya, Moses Kemibaro, Bernsoft, David Kobia & Mashada.com, Kenyanpundit, Whiteafrican, Kiwanja.net, SKUNKWORKS, Robert Alai, Bongo5.com, Steve Gitau, John Karanja, and many other countless bloggers and African webbers. These are a few people that have inspired my work everyday. Please move towards playing a role in creating self-dependency in Africa. It may take years but its possible.
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October 5th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
There’s an adage: Charity begins at home, and clearly it’s important for the local enterprenuers to shift goal towards the realization of exploiting the local avenues for sustainable development such as use of paperless money, local open free source among others in order to fully flex muscles. There is enough potential available and exploiting it, is what is remaining!