One of the best conversations I had at SXSW was on the topic of outsourcing. While Asia - and India specifically - is known for having a strong history in outsourcing, Africa is quickly ramping up it’s ability to compete with and often times supplement Asian outsourcing. While there have been talk of Africa becoming the next Asia in terms of global business/investor focus, the continent still has some heavy issues to resolve before it can truly realize it’s potential. But, of course that will never stop entrepreneurs from doing their part. Watch this creative video below from a new Sillicon Valley-based venture called Market for Change.
Market for Change aims to catalyze economic development by creating a market for responsible outsourcing to small and medium-sized firms in developing countries.
It seems it’s been about a month since my last post. Wow! How timees fly when you’re running around. I guess I’ve been neglecting my duties here on Annansi Chronicles, but hey there’s much more to life than posting to blogs. Some readers might not have missed me since we communicate regularly online, but I’m sure many of you were beginning to think I’d abandoned Annansi Chronicles. Not true! Here’s some updates of what’s been going on:
The Africa 2.0 panel at South by Southwest Interactive went pleasantly well. Besides getting to finally meet a few of my fellow African bloggers/entrepreneurs/innovators, SXSW was one of my best conference experiences to date. The energy, people, and information was well worth the effort of organizing the panel. For a roundup of what went on read my review at the newassignment.net website. Also read Erik, and Uduak’s perspective. The panel was well attended and we got to talk to some really great people. Thanks to the SXSW crew especially Hugh and Christine for allowing us a great opportunity. Below is some video of an interview I did with Sunny Gault of Veoh TV’s Viral channel right before the panel. In the video I talk about the topic of Africa and technology as well as the work I’ve been doing as a board member of the African Film Commission.
African leaders, Ibrahim (says), look to retirement as they would to the edge of a cliff, beyond which lies a dizzying fall towards retribution and relative poverty.
“We don’t have financial institutions for ex-presidents to go and run, or boards of great companies. There is life after office in other parts of the world. I just read that Tony Blair was paid half a million pounds to make a speech in China. People like Blair always have a place in society, they have secure financial futures,” - Lunch with the FT: Mo Ibrahim
A few months ago I asked for votes for a panel idea I had proposed for the upcoming South by SouthWest (SXSW) Interactive Festival. Well I’m happy to announce that with the support of many bloggers and readers, the Africa 2.0 panel has been chosen as part of the schedule for the upcoming SXSW Festival. Taking place on March 9, 2008, the Africa 2.0 panel will bring together a group of African professionals who are all using technology in innovative ways. The panelists for what might be the only Africa-focused panel during the festival will be:
• Erik Hersman (WhiteAfrican.com, AfriGadget.com)
• Uduak Oduok (Ladybrille.com)
• Nii Simmonds (Nubian Cheetah)
• Chosan (Silverstreetz Entertainment)
As the moderator, I will be leading a discussion on how technology is being used to affect change in Africa. The panelists will be discussing how technology factors into efforts in different industries including fashion, entertainment, finance, and marketing. For a perfect example of how technology can affect change in Africa, visit Ushahidi, a collaborative effort by African bloggers to report on the election-provoked crisis currently taking place in Kenya.
Recently the Wall street Journal’s front page, featured one of the most inspiring stories of African ingenuity today. The front page story, A Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill, Electrifying a Nation, covers 20-year-old William Kamkwamba, a self-taught Malawian inventor whose make-shift windmills are being used to power his village. Having recently spoken at TED Africa 2007, Mr. Kamkwamba, who also writes a blog, is deservedly getting a lot of attention and hopefully just as much support for his windmill projects. It’s good to see such stories making the front page of such a powerfull business resource.
“I was thinking about electricity,” says Mr. Kamkwamba, explaining how he got hooked on wind. “I was thinking about what I’d like to have at home, and I was thinking, ‘What can I do?’ ”
To meet his family’s growing power needs, he recently hammered in a shiny store-bought windmill next to the big one at his home and installed solar panels. He has another windmill still in its box that he’ll put up at a house 70 miles away in the capital, Lilongwe, where he now goes to school.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie bought Ethiopia. (Not the African country itself, but the island which represents Ethiopia in Dubai’s island phenomenon The World)
American general seeks to play down fears over new Africa command. (Uhhh… sure. No worries.)
Africa’s nuclear hopes. (Could this be the solution to the electricity shortages?)
So far I’ve been very successful at avoiding Soulja Boy’s “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” song and video. While I always do my best to stay up to date on what is hot and not in pop culture, I find it hard to digest too much throwaway content. Call me judgmental but there’s only so much fast food a brain can take, especially at my age. But when I came across this African remix video of the popular Soulja Boy song, I was struck with the cultural implications. For me the video shown below, while being extremely funny, reflects how African culture, pop culture and technology have come to coexist and open up new avenue for self expression and creativity. We can easily dismiss the Naija (Nigerian) Boy Crank Dat video as another Youtube parody, but if we take a step back we can see that the ease of which the cultures are colliding in the song and video is something to take notice of. The Naija Boy video perfectly captures the way the new Afropolitans see themselves in their native culture and in western culture. From the reference to spraying money, to the dance scenes in traditional Nigerian outfits, to the scenes of the “rapper’s” white “fans”, the nature of the growing Afropolitan demographic is quite evident. While the Naija Boy video is entertaining, it certainly represents a shift in mentality among Africans in the west. The video is a lesson in cultural development as it shows what African youth in the west are willing to participate in and how they are willing to spend their money. (link via YG)
African leaders, Ibrahim (says), look to retirement as they would to the edge of a cliff, beyond which lies a dizzying fall towards retribution and relative poverty.
A few months ago I 
