Why local funding is critical for ICT projects
Last week Walu penned some very pertinent thoughts (will create a second thread for that article). The current one is somehow related https://www.nation.co.ke/oped/blogs/dot9/walubengo/Why-local-funding-critica... Quote: "What is this that foreign investors see in our ICT potential that local investors don’t? Additionally, what are the ‘strings’ attached, which more often than not go hand in hand with foreign money... our typical local investor is only interested in the traditional assets.." Reality: We (veterans in ignoring/undermining each other) did not model decency for upcoming talent and now they worship foreigners who due to cultural differences (misunderstanding) cannot move our nation forward. https://businesstech.co.za/news/cloud-hosting/251373/amazon-and-microsoft-ta... Case in point, why do excellent multi nationals (e.g. Microsoft, Amazon) favor South Africa for data centers? In South Africa there is an efficient, creative (primarily white) minority population which does not undermine (deceive) itself as much as we do. To conclude, last year, a well spoken, well presented employer/investor (former high school mate of mine 25+ years ago) was shocked by Kenyans in their early twenties. He conducted a research for one of his clients and 24 out of 26 lied in their submissions. That is all.
Muraya Great post. And pertinent questions.. *Ali Hussein* *Principal* *AHK & 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. On Fri, Aug 17, 2018 at 9:54 AM, S.M. Muraya via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Last week Walu penned some very pertinent thoughts (will create a second thread for that article). The current one is somehow related
https://www.nation.co.ke/oped/blogs/dot9/walubengo/Why- local-funding-critical-for-ICT-projects/2274560-4715472-rn8g4kz/index.html
Quote: "What is this that foreign investors see in our ICT potential that local investors don’t? Additionally, what are the ‘strings’ attached, which more often than not go hand in hand with foreign money... our typical local investor is only interested in the traditional assets.."
Reality: We (veterans in ignoring/undermining each other) did not model decency for upcoming talent and now they worship foreigners who due to cultural differences (misunderstanding) cannot move our nation forward.
https://businesstech.co.za/news/cloud-hosting/251373/ amazon-and-microsoft-talk-up-south-african-data-centres/
Case in point, why do excellent multi nationals (e.g. Microsoft, Amazon) favor South Africa for data centers? In South Africa there is an efficient, creative (primarily white) minority population which does not undermine (deceive) itself as much as we do.
To conclude, last year, a well spoken, well presented employer/investor (former high school mate of mine 25+ years ago) was shocked by Kenyans in their early twenties. He conducted a research for one of his clients and 24 out of 26 lied in their submissions.
That is all.
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Domain Registration sponsored by www.eacdirectory.co.ke
Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/ mailman/options/kictanet/info%40alyhussein.com
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.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
Hello Muraya, Great topic for discussion. Simply speaking I could sight 2 issues (from personal observation) that we may need to address. *Risk taking culture*
From experience, this goes beyond folks with deep pockets and banking institutions and other financial players in the market. Conversations with folks in these circles end up with the blank statement that "IT is a Big Risk Investment". Thus we opt for solid less risk investments - real estate, shopping malls, shopping centers, etc. As much as it is our job as IT practitioners to convince these folks otherwise, its a double edged sword. Its sometimes perceptions like these ones from the folks who can invest money into risk areas that create an economy that is net import instead of net export. End of the day folks won't stay in houses and shop in malls they can't afford to shop in if the economy will not create surplus revenues from products that will bring in net revenue.
Granted business is all about returns, but who knew Mark Zuckerberg could launch the largest online community from a dorm? What if he just decided to build a shopping mall? The biggest wins are always in uncharted territories. So its on us and our investment partners to look at things differently. *Scalability* We also need to give a compelling reason why our products are not just enough for the job. A lot of innovations stagnate at the "it does enough" zone and fail to look for bigger fish to fry. There is also an attention to detail issue in the equation. Basically, if we produce whats sufficent and not whats excellent, we compromise on principles of great product development. We need to think beyond this. Just my 2 cents... On Fri, Aug 17, 2018 at 11:43 AM S.M. Muraya via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Last week Walu penned some very pertinent thoughts (will create a second thread for that article). The current one is somehow related
https://www.nation.co.ke/oped/blogs/dot9/walubengo/Why-local-funding-critica...
Quote: "What is this that foreign investors see in our ICT potential that local investors don’t? Additionally, what are the ‘strings’ attached, which more often than not go hand in hand with foreign money... our typical local investor is only interested in the traditional assets.."
Reality: We (veterans in ignoring/undermining each other) did not model decency for upcoming talent and now they worship foreigners who due to cultural differences (misunderstanding) cannot move our nation forward.
https://businesstech.co.za/news/cloud-hosting/251373/amazon-and-microsoft-ta...
Case in point, why do excellent multi nationals (e.g. Microsoft, Amazon) favor South Africa for data centers? In South Africa there is an efficient, creative (primarily white) minority population which does not undermine (deceive) itself as much as we do.
To conclude, last year, a well spoken, well presented employer/investor (former high school mate of mine 25+ years ago) was shocked by Kenyans in their early twenties. He conducted a research for one of his clients and 24 out of 26 lied in their submissions.
That is all. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Domain Registration sponsored by www.eacdirectory.co.ke
Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/ultimateprogramer%40gm...
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.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
-- *Ahmed Maawy* Skype: ultimateprogramer
Great discussions. Case 1. In 1990 when Roger Milla scored against Argentina and danced at the corner flag - a whole generation of African footballers was born. in 1995, George Weah stepped on the podium and scooped the Ballon d'Or, the Onze d'Or and scooped the World Footballer of the year, a whole generation believed. The rest is history. Case 2. When WhatsApp sold to Facebook for $19B, the messaging world took notice and the rest is history. My point we still have not yet had successful exits in KE. the successful ones are the ones who bought land along Thika road and were compensated by the government for huge amounts, hence why we ALL buy land. Thats our success story. I have advised some waheshimiwas /owners of capital on Tech and its impossible to move the needle from Land to Tech, unless, well someone exits and they will believe. But its only a matter of time. Lastly. I stopped decompressing with Social Media, Business articles / Media re KE tech scene. I made that mistake some time 2016 - brought some investors and on the ground there was simply nothing. The knowledge gap was so HUGE. We hype ourselves too much on these streets I think. That said I know there is a small number doing great stuff, but very small. E Njoroge Mwangi Technology| FINTECH | Big Data Cell +44 7539372742 Skype: Erick.mwangi On Fri, Aug 17, 2018 at 10:22 AM, Ahmed Mohamed Maawy via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Hello Muraya,
Great topic for discussion.
Simply speaking I could sight 2 issues (from personal observation) that we may need to address.
*Risk taking culture*
From experience, this goes beyond folks with deep pockets and banking institutions and other financial players in the market. Conversations with folks in these circles end up with the blank statement that "IT is a Big Risk Investment". Thus we opt for solid less risk investments - real estate, shopping malls, shopping centers, etc. As much as it is our job as IT practitioners to convince these folks otherwise, its a double edged sword. Its sometimes perceptions like these ones from the folks who can invest money into risk areas that create an economy that is net import instead of net export. End of the day folks won't stay in houses and shop in malls they can't afford to shop in if the economy will not create surplus revenues from products that will bring in net revenue.
Granted business is all about returns, but who knew Mark Zuckerberg could launch the largest online community from a dorm? What if he just decided to build a shopping mall? The biggest wins are always in uncharted territories. So its on us and our investment partners to look at things differently.
*Scalability*
We also need to give a compelling reason why our products are not just enough for the job. A lot of innovations stagnate at the "it does enough" zone and fail to look for bigger fish to fry. There is also an attention to detail issue in the equation. Basically, if we produce whats sufficent and not whats excellent, we compromise on principles of great product development. We need to think beyond this.
Just my 2 cents...
On Fri, Aug 17, 2018 at 11:43 AM S.M. Muraya via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Last week Walu penned some very pertinent thoughts (will create a second thread for that article). The current one is somehow related
https://www.nation.co.ke/oped/blogs/dot9/walubengo/Why- local-funding-critical-for-ICT-projects/2274560-4715472- rn8g4kz/index.html
Quote: "What is this that foreign investors see in our ICT potential that local investors don’t? Additionally, what are the ‘strings’ attached, which more often than not go hand in hand with foreign money... our typical local investor is only interested in the traditional assets.."
Reality: We (veterans in ignoring/undermining each other) did not model decency for upcoming talent and now they worship foreigners who due to cultural differences (misunderstanding) cannot move our nation forward.
https://businesstech.co.za/news/cloud-hosting/251373/ amazon-and-microsoft-talk-up-south-african-data-centres/
Case in point, why do excellent multi nationals (e.g. Microsoft, Amazon) favor South Africa for data centers? In South Africa there is an efficient, creative (primarily white) minority population which does not undermine (deceive) itself as much as we do.
To conclude, last year, a well spoken, well presented employer/investor (former high school mate of mine 25+ years ago) was shocked by Kenyans in their early twenties. He conducted a research for one of his clients and 24 out of 26 lied in their submissions.
That is all. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Domain Registration sponsored by www.eacdirectory.co.ke
Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/ mailman/options/kictanet/ultimateprogramer%40gmail.com
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.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
-- *Ahmed Maawy* Skype: ultimateprogramer
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Domain Registration sponsored by www.eacdirectory.co.ke
Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/ mailman/options/kictanet/erick.mwangi%40gmail.com
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.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
Erick, Australia has a population less than half of ours (in Kenya). In 2018, their 2018 investment in technology/ services (including labour) is projected to exceed U$ 60 Bln. https://www.businessinsider.com.au/spending-on-technology-in-australia-is-ab... *How much do we spend/invest in Kenya?* Wicked investors bought off wicked officials to get approvals (not compliant with planning laws). Decent investors are losing their life savings after buying properties from wicked developers. The decent Kenyans could not access information to verify if due process was followed because wicked officials make it almost impossible to access/verify data. In Kenya, we *simply* need to invest a minimum of KES 100 Bln (U$ 1 Bln) per annum on technology/services to enable Access to Information suppressed by opaque officials. Article Quote: https://www.nation.co.ke/oped/opinion/Open-Data-should-help-in-the-fight-aga... "Despite the number of Internet users in Kenya having increased exponentially in the past decade and growing awareness of big data and data analytics in both the private and public sectors, adoption of the Kenyan Open Data portal remains dismally low. Part of the low uptake is attributed to the fact that availability of information, especially on government spending, allows the public to bring the fight on corruption closer home. For instance, if a ministry is spending Sh500 million on teas and conferences, and Sh300 million on its core services, then there is something wrong, and people begin to ask vital questions." On Fri, Aug 17, 2018 at 1:22 PM Erick Mwangi via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Great discussions.
Case 1.
In 1990 when Roger Milla scored against Argentina and danced at the corner flag - a whole generation of African footballers was born. in 1995, George Weah stepped on the podium and scooped the Ballon d'Or, the Onze d'Or and scooped the World Footballer of the year, a whole generation believed. The rest is history.
Case 2. When WhatsApp sold to Facebook for $19B, the messaging world took notice and the rest is history.
My point we still have not yet had successful exits in KE. the successful ones are the ones who bought land along Thika road and were compensated by the government for huge amounts, hence why we ALL buy land. Thats our success story.
I have advised some waheshimiwas /owners of capital on Tech and its impossible to move the needle from Land to Tech, unless, well someone exits and they will believe.
But its only a matter of time.
Lastly. I stopped decompressing with Social Media, Business articles / Media re KE tech scene. I made that mistake some time 2016 - brought some investors and on the ground there was simply nothing. The knowledge gap was so HUGE. We hype ourselves too much on these streets I think. That said I know there is a small number doing great stuff, but very small.
E Njoroge Mwangi Technology| FINTECH | Big Data
Cell +44 7539372742 Skype: Erick.mwangi
On Fri, Aug 17, 2018 at 10:22 AM, Ahmed Mohamed Maawy via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Hello Muraya,
Great topic for discussion.
Simply speaking I could sight 2 issues (from personal observation) that we may need to address.
*Risk taking culture*
From experience, this goes beyond folks with deep pockets and banking institutions and other financial players in the market. Conversations with folks in these circles end up with the blank statement that "IT is a Big Risk Investment". Thus we opt for solid less risk investments - real estate, shopping malls, shopping centers, etc. As much as it is our job as IT practitioners to convince these folks otherwise, its a double edged sword. Its sometimes perceptions like these ones from the folks who can invest money into risk areas that create an economy that is net import instead of net export. End of the day folks won't stay in houses and shop in malls they can't afford to shop in if the economy will not create surplus revenues from products that will bring in net revenue.
Granted business is all about returns, but who knew Mark Zuckerberg could launch the largest online community from a dorm? What if he just decided to build a shopping mall? The biggest wins are always in uncharted territories. So its on us and our investment partners to look at things differently.
*Scalability*
We also need to give a compelling reason why our products are not just enough for the job. A lot of innovations stagnate at the "it does enough" zone and fail to look for bigger fish to fry. There is also an attention to detail issue in the equation. Basically, if we produce whats sufficent and not whats excellent, we compromise on principles of great product development. We need to think beyond this.
Just my 2 cents...
On Fri, Aug 17, 2018 at 11:43 AM S.M. Muraya via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Last week Walu penned some very pertinent thoughts (will create a second thread for that article). The current one is somehow related
https://www.nation.co.ke/oped/blogs/dot9/walubengo/Why-local-funding-critica...
Quote: "What is this that foreign investors see in our ICT potential that local investors don’t? Additionally, what are the ‘strings’ attached, which more often than not go hand in hand with foreign money... our typical local investor is only interested in the traditional assets.."
Reality: We (veterans in ignoring/undermining each other) did not model decency for upcoming talent and now they worship foreigners who due to cultural differences (misunderstanding) cannot move our nation forward.
https://businesstech.co.za/news/cloud-hosting/251373/amazon-and-microsoft-ta...
Case in point, why do excellent multi nationals (e.g. Microsoft, Amazon) favor South Africa for data centers? In South Africa there is an efficient, creative (primarily white) minority population which does not undermine (deceive) itself as much as we do.
To conclude, last year, a well spoken, well presented employer/investor (former high school mate of mine 25+ years ago) was shocked by Kenyans in their early twenties. He conducted a research for one of his clients and 24 out of 26 lied in their submissions.
That is all. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Domain Registration sponsored by www.eacdirectory.co.ke
Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/ultimateprogramer%40gm...
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.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
-- *Ahmed Maawy* Skype: ultimateprogramer
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Domain Registration sponsored by www.eacdirectory.co.ke
Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/erick.mwangi%40gmail.c...
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.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Domain Registration sponsored by www.eacdirectory.co.ke
Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/murigi.muraya%40gmail....
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.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
-- SMM *"Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city." Prov 16:32*
participants (4)
-
Ahmed Mohamed Maawy -
Ali Hussein -
Erick Mwangi -
S.M. Muraya