HOW KENYA GAVE RISE TO AFRICA'S ICT REVOLUTION
Listers Interesting article. Excerpt:- Technology startups in Africa are going places. In 2016, they raised funding in excess of $129 million (Sh13 billion), according to the just released Disrupt Africa Report. Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria were the top three beneficiaries of this investor funding. Although the fintech sector received the highest funding, fortunes are changing to agri-tech, which attracted the biggest percentage growth compared to previous years. Civil society, through the online discussion portal KICTANet, kept us in check. Painful as their interactions were, we learnt to live together. Read on: How Kenya gave rise to Africa ICT revolution <http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Opinion-and-Analysis/How-Kenya-gave-rise-to-Africa-ICT-revolution/539548-3805212-item-1-mvqruw/index.html> My dear colleagues, this article from Dr. Ndemo really got me thinking about how we got here as a country and how we can loose it quicker than we built it. There are four key ingredients that Ndemo mentions:- 1. Government 2. Business (established businesses that is..) 3. The Start-up and Innovation Ecosystem 4. Lobby Groups like KICTAnet. I'm specific not to call KICTAnet Civil Society because it simply is not JUST CIVIL SOCIETY. I think you will agree with me that KICTAnet has proved to be an inclusive platform where Government, Civil Society and Business get to interact in all things ICT. These key ingredients were then Orchestrated very well by the then Government which comprised of the different arms of the ICT Ministry. The Grand Master of this Orchestra, (or should I call him the Conductor?) was the Permanent Secretary (Ndemo). And to some extent the CEO of the precursor to the ICT Authority, Mr. Paul Kukubo. The ingredients are there but the Conductor is missing in action. The MOICT has chosen to ignore the players or basically be selective on who they work with. We see alot of interaction with established businesses but almost zero interaction with the other ingredients. And I want this discussion to be taken in the spirit it is meant to be. It is not a criticism. It is an observation and a plea from the heart. Let me be specific:- 1. The MOICT apart from the CA is basically missing in discussions on this list. We seem to be addressing ourselves. However, MOICT risks becoming irrelevant in the discussions. ICT Authority is a shell of itself. PSs and the CS probably read every post that is posted but choose to remain silent and contribute nothing. I urge them to re-engage. 2. Demo Africa is the largest Tech Startup Platform in Africa. Founded and run by Kenyans. A shout out to Harry Hare and Andrew Karanja and their team for being absolutely great and boundless in driving this venture. Over 1800 Startups have passed through this platform. More than $50 million raised for startups across Africa. Contribution from MOICT? Zero. Zilch. Nada!! (To be fair they sponsored some startups to South Africa last year..) The irony is not lost on me... Demo gets more love in Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa. Now tell me Bwana CS whether this is the legacy you want to leave? 3. CIO 100 East Africa. The most prestigious event of the year. MOICT involvement? Negligible and shameful. Last years Keynote Speaker? Dr. James Mwangi. I don't recall when a CS from MOICT last graced the event... This is a plea to the missing ingredient. Let's reengage. For the betterment of this country. When we criticize and point out issues its not that we are against you. Its because we want you to be the best that you can be. Because we know that you are!! A personal plea to PS Victor Kyalo and CS Joe Mucheru. We miss you and we want you back in the community that you helped found. *Ali Hussein* *Principal* *Hussein & Associates* Tel: +254 713 601113 Twitter: @AliHKassim Skype: abu-jomo LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim> 13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing, Chiromo Road, Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya. Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with.
Mr. Ali, This is a very passionate topic for myself. I will touch on very sensitive issues. Why? Because they are necessary. To begin with, to some degree a good amount of individuals who bootstrapped themselves to bring digital revolutions in areas they have been serving rarely get a mention in the top level discussions in our dear country (myself included). Our work transformed landscapes outside the metropololis that is Nairobi, its tough work, and hard to get right. Why? We all knows how much resources and support are present in the capital. The bigger reason however is people like myself and others are never judged by how creative or innovative they were to bring in a new digital wave, but by how much money we can bring to the table (capital-wise) to make this possible. That has always been the story for SwahiliBox. I have no tangible evidence for this claim, yes, but we have felt the implications of it massively. In the end, we had done very revolutionary work and all of it has gone unnoticed. The only individual teaching the market lessons on where we need to focus efforts on come with the backing of huge bank accounts. Corporates included. What we failed to see in this whole entire uncoordinated effort was the technology revolution in the country was not brought about by Banks and Investment Outfits and Hedge Funds. It was the people who did the ground work who made eco-systems we had 5 years back stand on its own 2 feet. This is a controversial topic, and KICTANet can broaden it into a solid forum. I am not bringing this up for no good reason. Let me put things into perspective. The Landscape has changed in the last 5 years. 5 years back, we had the iHub and we had the wave. We have the MoICT and the ICT Authority. We had policy, and we had people like Ndemo. Lets give iHub its due for its impact where we can. Lets be honest. iHub is never what it was and the sad thing is that, in all these market dynamics, a player resembling the iHub has not been identified, but what we have are silos of distributed hubs that, yes, impact, but no, do not create the powerhouse we used to know was *the nexus* in this market. That boat has sailed. What we now have are the fragments and debris being picked up to fill the void. And there are multiple points of failure. Look at it from Policy Perspective, to Capacity Building, to Support Infrastructure. We are all wrong to think Kenya is a shining star. It was. We got content. The biggest mistake we made is we stopped learning. We stopped looking for new ways. And policy never improved but went from dynamic to static and outdated. Or maybe even started moving backwards. Kenya needed to move ahead. We needed to stop thinking we had it figured out and start reaching out and collaborating and learning, and improving policies and building more vibrant eco-systems, but being humble and learning from others doing things differently. This is a wide topic for discussion. A lot of moving parts slightly started moving well. And we never serviced the cogs. This is a discussion for a dedicated forum and I am looking forward to one. That is all from my side. Ahmed On Thu, Feb 9, 2017 at 2:04 PM, Ali Hussein via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Listers
Interesting article.
Excerpt:-
Technology startups in Africa are going places. In 2016, they raised funding in excess of $129 million (Sh13 billion), according to the just released Disrupt Africa Report.
Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria were the top three beneficiaries of this investor funding. Although the fintech sector received the highest funding, fortunes are changing to agri-tech, which attracted the biggest percentage growth compared to previous years.
Civil society, through the online discussion portal KICTANet, kept us in check. Painful as their interactions were, we learnt to live together.
Read on:
How Kenya gave rise to Africa ICT revolution <http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Opinion-and-Analysis/How-Kenya-gave-rise-to-Africa-ICT-revolution/539548-3805212-item-1-mvqruw/index.html> My dear colleagues, this article from Dr. Ndemo really got me thinking about how we got here as a country and how we can loose it quicker than we built it.
There are four key ingredients that Ndemo mentions:-
1. Government 2. Business (established businesses that is..) 3. The Start-up and Innovation Ecosystem 4. Lobby Groups like KICTAnet. I'm specific not to call KICTAnet Civil Society because it simply is not JUST CIVIL SOCIETY. I think you will agree with me that KICTAnet has proved to be an inclusive platform where Government, Civil Society and Business get to interact in all things ICT.
These key ingredients were then Orchestrated very well by the then Government which comprised of the different arms of the ICT Ministry. The Grand Master of this Orchestra, (or should I call him the Conductor?) was the Permanent Secretary (Ndemo). And to some extent the CEO of the precursor to the ICT Authority, Mr. Paul Kukubo.
The ingredients are there but the Conductor is missing in action. The MOICT has chosen to ignore the players or basically be selective on who they work with. We see alot of interaction with established businesses but almost zero interaction with the other ingredients. And I want this discussion to be taken in the spirit it is meant to be. It is not a criticism. It is an observation and a plea from the heart.
Let me be specific:-
1. The MOICT apart from the CA is basically missing in discussions on this list. We seem to be addressing ourselves. However, MOICT risks becoming irrelevant in the discussions. ICT Authority is a shell of itself. PSs and the CS probably read every post that is posted but choose to remain silent and contribute nothing. I urge them to re-engage.
2. Demo Africa is the largest Tech Startup Platform in Africa. Founded and run by Kenyans. A shout out to Harry Hare and Andrew Karanja and their team for being absolutely great and boundless in driving this venture. Over 1800 Startups have passed through this platform. More than $50 million raised for startups across Africa. Contribution from MOICT?
Zero. Zilch. Nada!! (To be fair they sponsored some startups to South Africa last year..) The irony is not lost on me...
Demo gets more love in Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa. Now tell me Bwana CS whether this is the legacy you want to leave?
3. CIO 100 East Africa. The most prestigious event of the year. MOICT involvement? Negligible and shameful. Last years Keynote Speaker? Dr. James Mwangi. I don't recall when a CS from MOICT last graced the event...
This is a plea to the missing ingredient. Let's reengage. For the betterment of this country. When we criticize and point out issues its not that we are against you. Its because we want you to be the best that you can be.
Because we know that you are!!
A personal plea to PS Victor Kyalo and CS Joe Mucheru. We miss you and we want you back in the community that you helped found.
*Ali Hussein*
*Principal*
*Hussein & Associates*
Tel: +254 713 601113
Twitter: @AliHKassim
Skype: abu-jomo
LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>
13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing,
Chiromo Road, Westlands,
Nairobi, Kenya.
Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with.
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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
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-- *Ahmed Maawy* Principal Product Management Specialist - Al Jazeera Media Network Skype: ultimateprogramer
Ahmed I hear you. One thing I'll tell what a good friend reminded me today:- It used to be that 'Mcheza kwao hutuzwa' (one who plays home ground gets all the support) but no more. All I can say is that take pride and satisfaction on what you do. Mungu si Athumani. (God is all seeing) Ali Hussein Principal Hussein & Associates +254 0713 601113 Twitter: @AliHKassim Skype: abu-jomo LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." ~ Aristotle Sent from my iPad
On 9 Feb 2017, at 2:04 PM, Ali Hussein <ali@hussein.me.ke> wrote:
Listers
Interesting article.
Excerpt:-
Technology startups in Africa are going places. In 2016, they raised funding in excess of $129 million (Sh13 billion), according to the just released Disrupt Africa Report.
Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria were the top three beneficiaries of this investor funding. Although the fintech sector received the highest funding, fortunes are changing to agri-tech, which attracted the biggest percentage growth compared to previous years.
Civil society, through the online discussion portal KICTANet, kept us in check. Painful as their interactions were, we learnt to live together.
Read on:
How Kenya gave rise to Africa ICT revolution My dear colleagues, this article from Dr. Ndemo really got me thinking about how we got here as a country and how we can loose it quicker than we built it.
There are four key ingredients that Ndemo mentions:-
1. Government 2. Business (established businesses that is..) 3. The Start-up and Innovation Ecosystem 4. Lobby Groups like KICTAnet. I'm specific not to call KICTAnet Civil Society because it simply is not JUST CIVIL SOCIETY. I think you will agree with me that KICTAnet has proved to be an inclusive platform where Government, Civil Society and Business get to interact in all things ICT.
These key ingredients were then Orchestrated very well by the then Government which comprised of the different arms of the ICT Ministry. The Grand Master of this Orchestra, (or should I call him the Conductor?) was the Permanent Secretary (Ndemo). And to some extent the CEO of the precursor to the ICT Authority, Mr. Paul Kukubo.
The ingredients are there but the Conductor is missing in action. The MOICT has chosen to ignore the players or basically be selective on who they work with. We see alot of interaction with established businesses but almost zero interaction with the other ingredients. And I want this discussion to be taken in the spirit it is meant to be. It is not a criticism. It is an observation and a plea from the heart.
Let me be specific:-
1. The MOICT apart from the CA is basically missing in discussions on this list. We seem to be addressing ourselves. However, MOICT risks becoming irrelevant in the discussions. ICT Authority is a shell of itself. PSs and the CS probably read every post that is posted but choose to remain silent and contribute nothing. I urge them to re-engage.
2. Demo Africa is the largest Tech Startup Platform in Africa. Founded and run by Kenyans. A shout out to Harry Hare and Andrew Karanja and their team for being absolutely great and boundless in driving this venture. Over 1800 Startups have passed through this platform. More than $50 million raised for startups across Africa. Contribution from MOICT?
Zero. Zilch. Nada!! (To be fair they sponsored some startups to South Africa last year..) The irony is not lost on me...
Demo gets more love in Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa. Now tell me Bwana CS whether this is the legacy you want to leave?
3. CIO 100 East Africa. The most prestigious event of the year. MOICT involvement? Negligible and shameful. Last years Keynote Speaker? Dr. James Mwangi. I don't recall when a CS from MOICT last graced the event...
This is a plea to the missing ingredient. Let's reengage. For the betterment of this country. When we criticize and point out issues its not that we are against you. Its because we want you to be the best that you can be.
Because we know that you are!!
A personal plea to PS Victor Kyalo and CS Joe Mucheru. We miss you and we want you back in the community that you helped found.
Ali Hussein Principal Hussein & Associates
Tel: +254 713 601113 Twitter: @AliHKassim Skype: abu-jomo LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing, Chiromo Road, Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya.
Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with.
participants (2)
-
Ahmed Mohamed Maawy -
Ali Hussein