(long post alert)
My 2 cents:
Sounds like a dichotomous discussion in a sense? - do we have hype or no hype? Enterprise vs Mobile? I don't think it's necessarily black and white. I think we all want a thriving technology ecosystem in this part of the world and we are all pushing in that direction. One that contributes greatly to the GDP of the country, employs lots of people and changes lives.
I still believe that our technology startup ecosystem is still young when compared to Silicon Valley (60+) etc. Yes, the industry has multiple 10-15+ year old companies here but we cannot quite compare ourselves to Silicon Valley, Berlin, Tel Aviv yet who've have had a multiple generations head start.
I found this white paper useful in thinking through our startup ecosystem. It cites 5 crucial elements. If you review the GSMA research referenced earlier, there's overlaps with these 5 elements:
Talent
People and their talents are absolutely crucial in any economy and tech is no exception. It is not by accident that many multinational firms have set up Africa or Regional offices in Nairobi. The people and the talent here has played a major role in that. That said, there’s obviously gaps, with firms sometimes needing to fill gaps at the top end of the market, and in some specialised areas.
The article pretty much surmised that there's a 'lack of talent' here, without getting into details of what exactly was lacking.
Top talent will always be in demand and short supply across the world.
I do think though that we need to invest heavily in growing the quality AND quantity with the aim of growing best in the world talent here. Lots to be learned from the IITs of India.
Density
There's a cluster effect around Nairobi in general, through lists like this and skunkworks, through the various hubs and labs, through universities. Mentor networks, linkages between academia and industry contribute to this.
A denser concentration of brilliant and capable minds can only be a good industry and the country.
Diversity is useful as well - as at 2012 in the US, founders of 8% of all tech and engineering startups were of Indian Origin yet comprised less than 1% of
the population.
I think this might be the thinking behind Konza City? (Sidebar: I think that the University (or Universities?) on the site should be priority (vs a phase 2 initiative): a world class R&D technology university there may organically attract/grow a community around it).
Culture
I think its important for young people interesting in tech entrepreneurship to gain inspiration from the stories (both success and failure) of those that have gone before them, and learn from them. Mobile app development provides a low point of entry for most - couple this with the 'mobile revolution' of the last decade and we have 'm-vitu's'. Instead of seemingly putting down these young would be innovators, more mentorship, opportunities to learn and grow. And they do learn and grow.
I believe that the champions/leaders of a successful startup ecosystem should primarily be seasoned entrepreneurs willing to spend a period of many years - 10 or 20 years cultivating it: not government, or investors, or academia or any other of the 'supporting cast'.
Capital
Safaricom's Spark Fund I think is a great initiative.
More early stage seed capital is needed and especially angel funding.
Regulatory Environment
Much more needs to be invested in R&D though at various Universities. Government Policy also ties in directly to the other four elements (e.g. Govt Policy that allows the smartest in the world to create companies here with KE partners - lessons from Singapore).
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On hype - I remember a conversation with an foreign investors/entrepreneur last year who indicated that we actually not hyped. (think dot com bubble) :/.