Afrology: Why Africa has the technology?

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Spirals Here Spirals There

I was lucky just when i started blogging almost 2 years ago i bumped into (or rather my house mate Gerry O’Brien) showed me this scientific website called TED.com. He was and is working on mind blowing, earth shaking and i don’t know what else theories and implementations of what we coined on one night of boring British TV as  ”Savantology”, but hey i digress.

Anyway in this TED website there is one scientist or what i would call Afrologist called Ron Eglash who posited the case that it was Africans who were the first ones to invented the Binary system.

This binary system which most of us know as the atomic building blocks of computing  i.e. 1′s and 0′s was intricately represented by the way Africans weaved their baskets and designed their villages.

Just to illustrate, in almost all cases the chiefs hut or building was usually designed to be the focal point of the village with his wives huts and other important peoples structures spiraling outside in a manner that suggested authority or importance to the community.

In essence the chiefs hut was the hub and the elders were his guardians or what we call today System Administrators.

This system also served well to banish the outcast/criminals out of the village to the outskirts of this spiral network.

The African oral tradition also ensured that information also flowed in a similar manner with more information being given to those who could handle the responsibility. I.e. the village seer was the Information Hub (iHub). In truth the Seer didn’t possess any magical powers (unlike Safaricom) but really correlated all the village information using his nurtured good judgement. Where this system was properly utilized it worked well.

In this manner the African Tribe had clearly created the internet in its most coherent form, where information flowed from the hub to those who were responsible over the masses and as it cruised down through the spiraling network it landed at the children’s feet as stories of Ogres, Wise Tortoises, Clever Rabbits and insanely Powerful Magicians.

This as you are probably imagining filtered out all the disinformation and corruption that is ever more present today because of our current chaotic system which  is very disorderly.

Well the rest is history and now we now find ourselves borrowing from the Anglo Saxon model which has brought, as Philip Ochieng would say, misery to people of all races with the Black African being the hardest hit.

Furthermore in its current corrupted form our capitalistic ways have ensured that globally we are now staring at the biggest depression and total collapse of this economic model.  Locally we face marauding too big to fail monopolies that are killing innovation ruthlessly and without second thought. We also face physically a real danger of a lower class cum religious revolution/uprising should evolutions such as the New Constitutional Dispensation fail to materialize.

So what are the mostly young Kenyans/Africans ment to do if everything is going to hell this fast.

The answer lies in my opinion in borrowing from Afrology the African way of Sustainable Community Organization.  From this so called Green Technologies that are sustainable will emerge. No one advocates for this more than the current U.S. President Barack Obama who hails from a tribe that not too long ago was a perfect example of sustainable development.  That is why perhaps i also have him at the top of my blog because he represents this kind of change that scientists (those with knowledge not information) are calling for.

In conclusion i think our African hereos will not only be Africans but people like O’Brien, Eglash and others who have dedicated their lives to understanding what Africa has to teach the rest of the world. Nairobi ancestral home of hugely ignored, often ridiculed and culturally rich Masai would be a good place to start finding this heroes, i heard many of them congregate at a place called iHub :)

Footnote: We need to somehow begin collecting African cultural and historical data to begin mapping some of what Mr Ron Eglash is talking about.

This will enable come up with both the hardware and software needed going forward.

At Whive we have developed a platform called Whiver.com to do just that, but we need more suggestions/criticisms on the best way forward.  I also suggest that we look at using Ushahidi to do the same the more the merrier.

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10 lessons for tech startups

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Justin Spratt

Having been involved in a number of web and tech startups from Vottle.com to a VoIP mobile startup under the auspices of Internet Solutions’ ISLabs, I have been lucky enough to have worked with some very bright entrepreneurs, and have learnt some valuable lessons along the way. From

Two-Minute noodles, to Darwin, to Ham-and-Egging, here are my 10 lessons for founders.
1. The Boot:
Almost every business can be bootstrapped to start, and should be. Not even Google needed outside financing for its first couple of years. Superstar entrepreneurs have an uncanny knack of making money go extremely far and this in itself forces creative solutions to problems that almost always spawn new opportunities. I strongly encourage entrepreneurs to seek financing later in the development of their business, usually post prototype, and as close to product launch as possible. Too much capital makes businesses fat. If you use finance as an excuse to start your business, you should be getting a job, not starting a business.
2. Capital Efficiency:
I have never found a reason to pay founders what they are “worth” in the market. If you want to start a business and believe that the venture finance should be paying like a professional, you should be a getting a job. In fact, I have always believed that founders should use venture finance only for stuff that relates directly to a cost of sale. The easiest thing for founders is to beg, borrow and steal from the 3 F’s (friends, family and fools).
3. Cash really is The King:
“Turnover is Vanity, Profit is Sanity and Cash is Reality”. There is nothing more important to a startup than cash-flow. Nothing. I advise all founders to build a real-time cash-flow model that works for them. There is no need to get caught up in GAAP intricacies either. Put simply, it is your total cash in the bank less bills (“burn-rate”) plus revenue. Income statements and balance sheets are irrelevant for startups and operating small businesses. In fact, they only become useful if you want to sell your business.
4. Two-Minutes Noodles:
If the entrepreneur can eat Two- Minutes noodles and still be evangelical about their business, you know your founder has the right value system. The truth is, successful entrepreneurs never do it for the money, they do it to change the world. This is, of course, less about eating the noodles and more about seeing what type of person you are.
5. Product Paradox:
This is an interesting contradiction that needs to be managed when starting a business. The founders need to get a product out as soon as possible and then iterate through a fast customer feedback loop. At the same time, the founders need to operate as professionally as possible. Product development needs to be thoroughly thought-out. And I don’t just mean in the founders heads. I strongly suggest doing a business plan for every product. This discipline will force the founders to think of hurdles and ensure they can react quickly. Balancing this is probably the hardest objective as it requires the founders to simultaneously wear two hats.
6. The Law of Two:
I haven’t studied or been exposed to startup that has been successful (measured in terms of revenue) without two founders. One is usually a big picture business person and the other is the highly technical and analytical. Both need to be skilled in the others areas too, ideally, but they will own one of these two areas. The technical person understands the vision and sales, while your business person needs to understand, even if only at a high level, the product technically.
7. The Darwin Rule:
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. The best product, although very helpful and ideal, is almost never the deciding factor of success in a startup. The most adaptable business wins over time. People who are set in their ways and want the next day to resemble the previous should get a job.
8. Ideas are like Carbon Monoxide:
They are increasingly abundant and of little use. Don’t be married to your idea and don’t think your idea is worth money. Ideas are worth nothing without execution. Ensure you spend time unpacking your idea and formulating a business plan. The devil is always in the details. Most great businesses started off with an idea that was, at best, only loosely-related to what made them successful. Such is the evolutionary nature of business.
9. Evangelical Rule:
Entrepreneurs need to believe so strongly in what they are doing, they believe they are saving the world through people buying their product. They believe, like Steve Jobs, that they are “putting a dent in the universe”. They have evangelical zeal that on the surface is quite annoying. It is hard to overstate the importance of this frame of mind in your founders. It is the difference between people who do 8 hour and 14 hour days; between two-minute noodles and long lunches; between living your startup and seeing it as a “job”.
10. Ham-and-Egging:
Coined by Profs Bhide and Stevenson, it is the challenge entrepreneurs have of getting both capital from investors and sales to customers without having either in-hand. The ultimate goal is to do both simultaneously, but can be done incrementally. Start-up salespeople (one founder at least) need to be natural ham-and-eggers. They have to make the case that their company is perfectly capable of providing their service without any experience of having done so successfully. This is often difficult because it borders on lying. My take on this, is that if you honestly believe your startup can deliver, do it. It is true that many successful and socially beneficial startups have done this at the early stages, so it is clear to me that this is one of the awkward necessities of a startup.
The ideal founder?
So, if we take the above lessons and construct the ideal founder, they would look something like this:
A zealot with an almost annoying passion for their business and who could talk about their startup up every day, all day, easily. They are good at selling. They believe living frugally is spiritual and necessary. Understanding highly technical ideas as well as the bigger picture is something they are good at. They are not usually analytical. They don’t mind that each day is continually different, despite the chaotic nature of such. They know that money matters, but don’t spend too much time worrying about their personal bank account – that doesn’t help sell the product. Blind faith is often used to describe them. So is naivetéy.
They are comfortable with these personifications, even reveling in them and the fact that it makes them an outsider and “strange”. They deplore rules, even when the rules make sense. Nothing is ever accepted knowledge until they have put it to the test. They are almost impossible to manage and are often deemed self-centered. The latter is just zeal misunderstood.
Consideration is for people with jobs and they, after all, are changing the world for the better, so you need to get out the way.
Article by Justin Spratt founder of Vottle.com
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Announcing Whiver a way for you to talk to the web.

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Information Stream

One of the challenges Kenyans and Africans face, which is also  often talked about in forums such as the recent Mobile Monday (MoMo see here and here ) at the iHub is how to bridge the information gap within and between people in our Kenyan and African context.

Jessica Colaco has been a huge proponent of the mobile web and has suggested that users and developers need to get together to scale ideas into projects  that can be fine tuned to meet the growing demand for information amongst the Kenyan people.

What we are proposing to do with Whiver.com is to extract conversations from our larger Whive.com platform and sort of go on a meet the people tour.

Ideas such as Jessica’s of connecting data to researchers as well as others ideas of connecting users to publishers/content providers is key and any platform that does this in our own local context should be encouraged.

Indeed developers in Kenya should not be lethargic when approaching social media but should come up with new ways of spreading the gospel of innovation and community. Think of Makmende use of social media as one such example.

In this regard we at Whive.com have come up with a platform (due to be on Beta to our users shortly) that will.

  1. Show trending conversations in Kenya and Africa.
  2. Allow one to many and many to many conversations.
  3. Encourage community and innovation through our Free Ads gateway.

We hope you can Join us at Whive.com Signup [Click Here] and we shall send you an invitation to try this service.

God Bless Kenya.

Jessica Colaco
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Breaking News: Safaricom moves towards an App Store

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Safaricom Inabamba

Safaricom has finally decided to listen to Kenyan developers (including myself) who have been shouting ourselves hoarse about the need for them to begin moving towards coordinating or collecting Kenya’s vast developer talent into one central location or platform.

They have done this by partnering with Strathmore University which is by far the leading institution in terms of training software and web developers. I know this because I was lucky enough to go there and get good training in this domain.

I am also one of the few who has been calling for this exact move (see here and here) not because I am the seer of Kariamandu but also because I have about 3 Apps if given the right environment and access to Safaricom’s data can make me move one step further from the poverty line.

In addition Safaricom cannot afford to hedge its future on voice it needs to move aggressively and decisively into the App cloud space where it can perpetually make the billions it so cleverly makes going forward.

Those of you who are now bubbling with excitement about this move can develop your ideas with us at http://www.spacekenya.com … We sign NDA’s to protect your ideas from the ever present hawks…

Safaricom has also partnered with Equity to create a new Banking Cloud App called Mkesho.  If only Safaricom was as regional as Zain  Kenyan applications would have a access to a larger market.

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It is time to build bridges :)

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Building Bridges

Kenya is going through a defining moment in its young history, with great and youthful leaders who are determined to make Kenya an icon in the African region.

An Initiative called Building bridges which is being supported by Butterlyworks (The same guys who brought you Nairobits) and Media Focus Africa are using the Ushahidi platform to map and sensitize Kenyan youth to work together for peace and development.

In my opinion they cannot be any mobile revolution in Kenya without any Unity of Purpose and that is why i am happy there are some guys out there ready to take the initiative and lead Kenya to prosperity.

Please get the full details about Building Bridges from @kachwanya [Click Here]

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Thanks to the Internet, Africa is no longer dark

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Article By: Stephanie Vermeulen
Photos by: Jaap van ‘t Kruis
Published: Wednesday, April 7, 2010 21:42 on Depers.NL
Nairobi buzzes. A new generation of Internet innovators to attract the continent out of the gutter. “Without the Web, we were still stuck in that dark hole.”
“The light has entered,” said Aly-Khan Satchu, founder of the online financial architecture Rich in Kenya. “Long was dark. Then came the mobile phone and the Internet to Kenya. The revolution began. “
The last five years, the number of mobile phone owners in Kenya has grown from 15,000 to 17.4 million.
He can not only make calls and send text messages but also important, sometimes life-saving information to obtain, blogging, make friends, trade, banking, pressure on authorities. And, perhaps most importantly, inspiration to include online services and applications to design and create.
As the social networking site Whive. Founder John Samson Karanja wanted more than just a meeting place created for Africans. “We are hungry for information. On Whive (read: we-hyve) I want to encourage visitors to ask questions and sharing answers. “
Karanja, who with his Whive the first winner of the Innovation Fund of Nokia (Nokia Open Screen Fund), will be the web host visitors also in several local languages of independent information provided on various issues such as health issues, veeprijzen, or where and how a new company can register.
“Many people in rural areas not now know that if you fold a towel and a water filter used, the risk of cholera greatly reduced,” says Karanja. “In my mobile application they know that later.”
Karanja is a real cheetah.
In 2007 all Ghanaian economist George Ayittey spoke of the emerging young African cheetah generation, who find new solutions to old problems. Unlike the older generation hippopotamus, still muttering to colonialism and imperialism, cheetahs take matters into their own hands.
With the Internet, they have finally found a way to pull Africa out of the gutter. They devise innovative and creative applications that they run the world as hard as in the West.
They seek each other out in brand new reception, like the iHub and iLab, where you can get help and advice for your innovative idea into a business. They are encouraged to establish partnerships and encourage others to also participate.
It is true that social thought that cheetahs of Kenya unites in a strong, homogeneous group, which together with lifts to new Internet applications to find solutions to poverty.
There is MapKibera, the largest slum in Africa online maps, or Shujaaz, a free comic that mobile phone provider Safaricom is distributed and where the reader is urged to SMS solutions to problems such as racial hatred.
But perhaps the most successful initiative so far is Nairobits that young people between 17 and 24 years from Kibera learn to design and develop websites.
Web designers and developers are very popular in Kenya since its creation in 2000, Nairobits hundreds of young people from the slum through the course at a paid job helped. “Without the Internet we are still stuck in that dark hole,” says director of cheetah Nairobits Mark Kamau, who himself grew up in Kibera. “We had no prospect of something even came close to a career.”
The Internet, the distance between the slum dwellers and the suits and Mercedes cars from downtown Nairobi virtually eliminated. It transforms from a disadvantaged African continent where everything goes slow, to a continent that joins the online revolution. Or, as Aly-Khan Satchu of Rich says: “Suddenly we drive a Ferrari. It is our moment, and it comes only once.
“
Kenya Technology Scene Buzzing
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Read more about Stefanie’s and Jaap’s work in Africa in their website TriplePMedia.nl

Article By: Stephanie VermeulenPhotos by: Jaap van ‘t KruisPublished: Wednesday, April 7, 2010 21:42 on Depers.NL

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Why Makmende is worth Millions!

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Makmende Rocks

Kenyans have a knack for springing surprises once in a while and Makmende is one of the biggest they have come up with yet !!!.

Makmende a Kenyan Hero who is a metamorphosis of Chuck Norris and Shaft combined, therefore a real badass has taken the Kenyan Twitterati and Cybersphere by storm.

Who the heck is Makmende?

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This storm has blown Makmende dust internationally and has resulted in Kenya being identified as an internet hotspot and quite possibly a center/focal point of innovation for the Wider Africa and Middle East region.

But how is it that a country that has barely gotten connected on the internet (Read/Listen More on Fiber Optic in Kenya) has managed to shore up so much BUZZ on the internet?

Kenya Technology Scene Buzzing

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Remember what has been underway in Kenya is really a Mobile Revolution [Read More] not necessarily an Internet one. Indeed Kenyans continue to access the internet primarily through Mobile Phones and therefore have jumped over the PC revolution so to speak. This will mean that local applications and ideas like Makmende will have to focus on the Mobile realm as opposed to the PC realm.

In this regard Makmende needs to be mobile, but how so? The answer lies in its creative talent pool and savvy techies who have joined together  (at least in this case) to produce one of Africa’s most pervasive and interesting character.

When just a band (an Afro Techno Band) created Makmende they probably didn’t think that their creation would expand beyond the borders but what happened next was truly amazing…

Two twitter like websites sprung out of nowhere i.e. Makmende.COM and Makmende.NET both which command about 40,000 followers and thousands upon thousands of hits. Makmende Jokes now number in the 10′s of thousands and counting… However, what really drove this growth is what really lies at the heart of Kenya’s cyber power its HYPERSENSITIVE BLOGOSPHERE.

Moses Kemimbaro a co-founder of  leading Tech Company DotSavvy broke the story other Kenyan Bloggers like  Afrinnovator and TechMtaa put the Makmende story on map enabling it to be picked up by Old Media such as KTN Kenya (through Larry Midiwo), CNN, Wall Street Journal and even New  Social Media like Fastcompany.

Makmende Makes CNN

Without this blogging power Makmende may just have been a local brand and may have not gone social. What happens next is up to the forces that created Makmende.

Can they create Kenya’s Technology Scene in Makmende’s image?

I think we should Keep things simple and adopt TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) principles to lay the foundation for future growth for those who create and invent in this country(See Kenya’s TED Fellows).

TECHNOLOGY Kenyan techies have the challenge of arming Makmende with the appropiate social media tools.  Such as Twitter and Facebook Applications (See Example Here)

ENTERTAIMENT Just A band have a huge challenge in Keeping the character alive through new editions of content (a movie perhaps).

DESIGN Tshirts and other Makmende wear have began cropping up. This is important for giving the brand visibility and a vibrant life. The elephant in the room remains who owns the Makmende Brand… I would advise its creators JAB to register it as an Open Brand to allow other creative Kenyans to add their creativity to it.

Open Source your idea here and watch it grow….

In conclusion Makmende has shown us it is finally possible for Kenyans to break the old walls that had been hitherto boxed in by what Agosta Liko of PesaPal calls Old Money and Old Possibilities.

Makmende is so powerful he showed us who we truly are.

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Is Happy :) with Safaricom Wireless

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Safaricom Modem

I must say i am happy with the Safaricom Wireless connection of late. The speeds are now comparable to some connections i have used in more advanced economies.

I have been able to do Skype calls and even watch Youtube Videos Ocassionally.

Now that Safaricom has opened up its PAY BILL Mpesa gateway i also see the prospects of monetizing Whive.com Kenya’s fastest growing social network so its now double smiles from me :) :)

However the PRICES need to be comparable to the more competitive parts of this world. The bandwidth still costs a small fortune…

So all i am asking Safaricom Executives and top decision organs to have faith in Kenyan Developers (PesaPal/ipay et al …) to make things work and develop the e-commerce eco system in this country in rapid time.

It was sad to hear that the Safaricom Maestro Micheal Joseph is leaving the company this year, i hope he will consider mentoring us at places like *iHub_ and local universities.

Happy Safaricom mini_Shareholder for now…

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Confessions of a Harlot at KNT

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As the world changes, people, especially the youths, have decided to no longer shy away from issues that affect them. But have decided to approach them with sobriety, fearlessness and sometimes even confrontation.
One of the avenues through which the youth in Nairobi approach their issues is through art. They use poetry, music, and plays to confront their fears and in attempting to answer the questions that they grapple with in their everyday lives.
Sitawa Wafula underwent an abuse in her life. She says that she underwent such a strong depression. “I was raped by my boyfriend’s friend and that really destroyed my trust in people. But I discovered that there was no way I was going to get depressed for life”, she says.
As a poet, she has decided to always tell her story through poetry. “It keeps me alive. It ministers and heals my pains”, she says. Another example is Wario. She was raped as a young girl but has refused to keep it a secret.
“When he hurt me, my life changed. I was confused”, she says. But talking about it has kept her strong.
It’s because of this that a group of professionals led by Oduor Jagero (with Koa as a stage name) came up with the idea of starting up a platform where the youth can share issues of their hurts freely. Being the head of Drama at The All Saints Cathedral, he teamed up with other Drama members and started Poetry Spot.
Poetry Spot is a monthly poetry recital, reading, and narration that takes place at the complex within the church. “When we started Poetry Spot, we weren’t looking at it snowballing into such a huge movement and actually as the biggest poetry in Nairobi”, says Jagero.
“It was meant to be something basically for the church youth, but when we took it to Facebook, it got its magic touch”, he adds.
Poetry Spot hosts about 500 guests every month. The organizers decided to open up this event as a free event to attract the youth that mostly ignore such functions because they cannot afford the entry fees.
“We have no reason to charge people”, Jagero says. “The administration of the All Saints Complex has donated a free hall, free drinks and snacks. We therefore have no reason to charge these youths”.
Apart from Poetry Spot, Jagero and three friends have decided to form even a bigger group in order to offer a platform to the Kenyan youth.
Hosanna Paratroopers.
“As journalist, I have talked to so many youths and what I have realised during my conversation with them is that they lack a platform. This platform is not just to showcase their talents but to talk about who they are, the fears they face, and how to solve them”.
“So we decided to start Hosanna Paratroopers. Just like a paratrooper responds to needs, we decided to be a people that can respond to the needs of the heart, spirit and body. Making the youth realize who they are through what they can do”, Jagero says. Hosanna’s mission is to provide the youth with a platform to talk about issues affecting them even as they find what they can do in life. It offers mentorship and assists artists in realizing their potential.
Hosanna Team consists of Oduor Jagero, journalist Makoe Wabengo, a policy analyst with a consultancy firm, Valentine Ataka, a lawyer, Murage Dickson, a Geo-Spatial Engineer, and George Njuguna, a web specialist.
Confessions of a Harlot
Hosanna Paratroopers is staging a unique stage play this Easter. “Confessions of a Harlot” is the story of one young woman who runs away from an abusive father to Nairobi City. Unable to find a job, Jasmine decides to rethink about what she can do.
Jasmine decides to become a sex worker. Her area of showcasing is Koinage Street and lives in a fictitious flat codenamed Koinange Flats. She has a string of clientele – Ministers, mps, CEOs, managers. Life is good. But the bitterness against her father does not go away.
She finally confronts the bitterness and the guilt.
“This play is a true story with fictitious characters. It bares what goes on in this city”, says the playwright, Jagero. “The society needs to understand the issues behind immorality and perversion. It lies deeper than the superficial that people see and condemn. The societal issues, I believe must be judged on people’s upbringing”.
The play seeks to give some of the underlying issues in cases of self-degradation, bitterness, anger and unforgiving spirit.
Linda Shiku a student Goethe Institute, Nairobi, stars as the lead character (and harlot). She is supported by Angela, A TV host with KBC, Peter of Jicho Four Productions, and other formidable actors and actresses in Nairobi.
The play is written and produced by Jagero and directed by Ataka.
The show premiers at The Kenya National Theatre on Saturday the 3rd of April and climaxes on the Sunday the 4th. Tickets are available at Recordez music Studio Yaya and Nakumat UKAY, Discovery Restaurant along Koinange Street, and Kenya National Theatre.
The event has been officially sponsored by www.whive.com
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