Funding Invention-ASTIEF via Timbuktu Chronicles
In SciDev:The African Science, Technology and Innovation Endowment Fund (ASTIEF), along with the African Science to Business Challenge (ABSC)...aim to motivate inventors and innovators and spur on the development of sustainable industries and enterprises for the continent..."The work of the fund will be to help translate scientific research and ideas into micro entrepreneurship to spur socioeconomic growth on the continent,"-Aida Opoku-Mensah (of UNECA)Sanoussi Diakite covered earlier expresses doubts:"UNECA must avoid being steeped in the bureaucracy and inefficiency which he said characterise such initiatives in Africa."While:Oye Ibidapo-Obe, president of the Nigerian Academy of Sciences, hailed the move as the first fund in Africa in which even the private sector will be called... The Real Open Source Hardware Revolution via Timbuktu Chronicles
Foresight Institute excerpt on the promise of Desktop Manufacturing by Glyn Moody reporting in Computerworld.Father of RepRap Adrian Bowyer, speaking at PoptechAn industrial infrastructure to provide the products and employment that elevates illiterate and semi-literate people in emerging economies to an intermediate level of human development can take decades to build. With the success of China in assimilating so much of the global economy’s low-cost manufacturing output, many of the world’s poorest nations have no opportunity to construct and secure their own manufacturing sector. Hence, this stage of human upliftment has become a chasm that many nations are finding difficult to cross.RepRap from Adrian Bowyer on Vimeo.But if manufacturing itself can be brought to the scale that...
Hive Colab via Timbuktu Chronicles
The emergence of collaborative spaces continues across the continent. The latest addition is Hive Colab of Uganda. Appfrica reports:Hive Colab is a collaborative, community owned, open work environment for young tech entrepreneurs looking to focus on projects, to access the computing resources and bandwidth, have a quiet professional environment to develop their ideas in, and to generally collaborate with each other. Something very similar to what our friends are doing with the outstanding iHub in Nairobi. Related articles by ZemantaSwiftRiver 101 at the iHub...
Don’t judge a country by its cover via CIPE Development Blog
The most recent issue of Foreign Policy (FP) magazine features the world’s “bad guys”, the 23 worst of the worst dictators and leaders in power today. Working in the field of African development, it is difficult to see African countries consistently dominating international lists that do little to improve the perceptions of the continent; African countries consistently hold bottom rankings in world economic development indices and lead the pack for high levels of corruption, famine, high infant mortality rates, poverty, etc. Therefore, when I pulled the most recent edition of FP from my mailbox, I held on to hope that maybe, just this once, Africa won’t dominate this list as well.
Sadly, I was wrong. According to the rankings, the African continent sustains the highest number of... Developing a Startup Ecosystem via Timbuktu Chronicles
In a piece relevant to the startup scene within Africa, Sarah Lacy of TechCrunch writes about the opportunity of Indonesia :I think what Indonesia (replace with Africa) could use is something in between the current state of no high-growth capital and the money that goes to countries like India and China: A Y-Combinator-style incubator that could help Indonesian entrepreneurs make sense of the pitfalls of modern startup life, including things like recruiting and managing talent, how to deal with Silicon Valley giants, how to make money online and when and when not to raise outside funding. The funding amounts and exits would be small, but a Yossi-Vardi-style angel could clean up where many classic VCs might crush startups under the weight of millions. Someone to coax these entrepreneurs as...
Bisila Wines via Timbuktu Chronicles
In Ladybrille:Tapping into her African roots (Guinea),Bisila Bokoko founder of Bisila Wines describes the collection of wines as “a powerful mixture of the land and light. It is a passionate meeting between mother nature and the roots of the most remote memory.”More herefurther coverage in...
ABCDE in 2010 via PSD Blog - The World Bank Group
Fledgling steps for Africa’s Entrepreneurs via Timbuktu Chronicles
Two stories which speak to challenges and opportunities faced by African businesses as they spread their wings. The first one in the Economist talks about how an "African entrepreneur struggles for recognition in rich-country markets":It used to be a badge of pride that we were the only African coffee brand in British supermarkets. Now I see it as shameful,” says Andrew Rugasira, the founder of Good African. He is bemoaning the fact that other African firms—in coffee and many other lines of business—have struggled to follow the trail blazed by Good African since it was founded in 2003.While the WSJ profiles the blossoming of home-grown companies:Foreign consumer-goods companies including Coca-Cola Co., Nestlé SA and Unilever PLC have been in Africa for decades without much... Enda Ecopole Artisans Senegal via Timbuktu Chronicles
Enda Ecopole Senegal "...runs a recycling program where artisans are taught how to make products from recycled cans, bottle caps, and iron recovered from the dump..."their work embodies "...transforming pieces of metal (such as used bottles caps) into art objects and furniture..."In addition to being a community based landowner that protects the interests of its constituency the organization is actively involved in building creative sustainable symbiotic bridges in areas that include indigenous medicine, open source hardware and telecentre activities. Over 40,000 people have been trained since 1994 a number of which have gone on to form...
Can An African Tech Entrepreneur Change the World? via Timbuktu Chronicles
Bill Zimmerman of 27months writes:A combination of pivotal factors including access to broadband, a youthful demographic and widespread mobile adoption, coupled with entrepreneurship and investment, will enable the African digerati to radically shape their future—not in a figurative sense, but in a real, measurable way.View his Africa Gathering presentation on the subjectAfrica Gathering DC talkView more presentations from Bill Zimmerman.More hereRelated articles by ZemantaCrowdfunding and Seed Funding in African Tech... Omatek expands via Timbuktu Chronicles
Computerworld Kenya reports"Omatek PCs are at par with other global brands. We buy raw materials from Taiwan. Our chips are from Intel and AMD, which makes the cost of production almost the similar to other global brands," added Florence Seriki(founder and CEO).The company sells about 10,000 PCs a month, but with a population of 150 million in Nigeria alone, the company is forecasting increased growth as the countries get connected to the fiber optic cables and costs of connectivity fall. West Africa has Sat3 cable and this year Glo and Main One fiber optic cables have entered the markets.More...
Take Off the Band Aid: Healing Social Wounds in MENA via CIPE Development Blog
Students in last year's graduating class from the New York Institute of Technology's Jordan Branch. Commencement ceremonies took place in New York. (Photo: Emiratesweekly.net)
Graduation season is upon us, a milestone every student looks forward to. It marks the end of a culmination of years spent in libraries and classrooms, and the start of life in the “real world.” Unfortunately though for thousands of students graduating in the Middle East, the real world is nothing more than an unemployment line soon after getting out of the line to get their degree. It’s a seemingly endless system of waiting.
Entrepreneurship is frequently pinpointed as the most effective way for those without much experience or political clout to engage in their country’s economic development.... Hotbeds of Innovation via Timbuktu Chronicles
At TED India, Anil Gupta founder of the Honey Bee Network covered earlier on seeking,finding and nurturing innovation where you least expect it. A road map of sorts on how better to do it in Africa:...
Momo via Timbuktu Chronicles
LadyBrille on Momo the fashion line founded by Fati Asibuela:The MOMO collection displayed a unique point of view that is very Nigerian, the gele, in a very “proper, proper” way. While Western designers such as Christain Lacroix in his Spring/Summer 2008 Collection took a good swipe at the gele,none, so far, have delivered the gele with the precision and regalness that the MOMO London Fashion Week Fall 2009 collection did. Also, for the Ladybrille Western woman who tends to wear regal stylish hats to upscale functions, particularly African-American and British Ladybrille women, it can easily blend into your wardrobes if you are looking to spice things up a bit.More...
Aiyda Accesories via Timbuktu Chronicles
"...Each Aiyda piece is produced in carefully selected artisan workshops around Ethiopia and hand-made using indigenous traditional methods to create exclusive, limited-edition items including high quality leather bags, cotton and silk scarves and custom made...
Entrepreneurs “You Should Know” via Timbuktu Chronicles
Ory Okolloh at WEF on entrepreneurs you should know:One thing that struck me this year (and last) were all the young entrepreneurial Africans who’d managed to circumvent the perennial challenges we complain about when it comes to doing business in Africa, who’d managed to build strong, profitable, businesses , and who the had ambition to scale even further heights. And this are not just businesses that make money but that touch on critical sectors for the future of Africa – media/information; technology; infrastructure; agriculture. The kind of stuff that makes you want to run back to your hotel room and start putting a business plan together instead of tweeting in my case Anyway, I thought I’d share the profiles of some of these entrepreneurs with you…always important to keep... A Story of 2 Entrepreneurs via Timbuktu Chronicles
In a piece on a noticeably strengthening trend in entrepreneurship.Hash profiles two notable trailblazers:Karanja Macharia who is the founder and CEO of Mobile Planet, a mobile company in Kenya that provides third party services to both the main mobile providers and other corporate clients. They’ve been around for a number of years, Google invested in them 2 years ago, and most importantly, they’re profitable.andFritz Ekwoge is the founder of iYam.mobi, he too comes from a professional background, though as a programmer and developer, not pure business. He represents a different type of entrepreneur, a younger generation that knows and cares about the web world beyond his Cameroonian borders, and tries to figure out how the two can work together....More...
Chichia via Timbuktu Chronicles
Christine Mhando's Chichia fashion:"...collections consist of an eclectic range of dresses and separates in modern, wearable shapes and styles made unique by clever use of eye-catching prints, embellishment, intricate detailing, a mix of natural fabrics and a succulent colour palette. The use of colour plays a major part in each line! Our trick is balancing between keeping things fresh and new without being too trend driven, therefore making each piece timeless..."Related articles by ZemantaContemporary African Clothing...
Media 365 via Timbuktu Chronicles
Mary Tembo founder of Media 365:"...is an entrepreneur with a passion for media and how it is used to promote solutions to social challenges. Mary and her sisters founded Youth Media that published the TrendSetters a magazine that won numerous international awards for encouraging honest discussion on matters lifestyle and health among the youth. She was co-owner of the Spar at Cross Roads before she started Media 365 who recently produced the popular mini-series Club Risky Business on ZNBC and Muvi TV. Mary Tembo will be part of a panel discussion on online content in Zambia...Via...
Entrepreneurship is Contagious via CIPE Development Blog
Local entrepreneurs benefit from the additional tourists that BioAdventure brings to this market
During a recent trip to Peru we had the opportunity to meet Karolo Pérez Alvarado, a participant in the 2008 LiderAcción youth entrepreneurship program. Taking advantage of the LiderAcción courses on business plan development, as well as one-on-one sessions with LiderAcción’s business plan coaches, Karolo and three other students from Tarapoto, San Martín province worked together to develop a business plan for a bio-tourism company called BioAdventure. Given the rich bio-diversity of the San Martín region, Karolo and his teammates recognized an opportunity to improve upon the basic touristic offerings in their community by injecting adventure into the equation. Based on their plan for... Nigeria’s Startup Scene via Timbuktu Chronicles
Loy Okezie provides an overview of Nigeria's startup scene:Startups 2.0: The Nigerian StoryView more presentations from Startups...
iLab Nairobi-Incubation tech space via Timbuktu Chronicles
"...iLAB Nairobi...home of the tech ideas turned global product and service platforms. At the iLAB its ll about making ideas become concepts and concept into ventures. And we crowd source help to build the struts that support the business too. Your idea remains your idea, we just help young tech entrepreneurs find everything...
Acada Magazine via Timbuktu Chronicles
234Next interviews Biodun Caston-Dada founder of Acada magazine:"I decided to start Acada because of my passion for publishing and educative cum entertaining magazines," he says. "I raised the initial capital we used in starting the magazine through other businesses that I do and also through family and friends' donations who I spoke with when starting up and that believed in the project. It's a passion thing. You know if you are passionate about something, it keeps bothering you until you give it a shot."...His passion has paid off. There is hardly a major campus in the country today where Acada hasn't reached: if not with the magazine's circulation, then at least with the ubiquitous stickers, carrier bags and T-shirts. The magazine also circulates in schools with strong Nigerian...
The State of Entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa via CIPE Development Blog
From left to right: Slim Othmani President, Algerian Corporate Governance Task Force, Algeria; Majdi Hassan Executive Director, Arab Institute of Business Leaders, Tunisia; Abdulwahab Alkebsi, Regional Director for the Middle East and Africa, CIPE; and Yasser Akkaoui Editor-in-chief, Executive Magazine, Lebanon. (Photo: CIPE)
This week, CIPE hosted several of its partners from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) who were in town to attend the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship, as part of President Obama’s Cairo Agenda for improving relations between Americans and the Muslim World. Presentations focused on the state of entrepreneurship and private sector development in Lebanon, Algeria, and Tunisia. Improving the climate, opportunities and funding to aspiring and existing... No more stepping on toes – A challenge for World Intellectual Property Day via CIPE Development Blog
On today’s tenth annual celebration of World Intellectual Property Day, it’s worth noting that big multinationals aren’t the only firms that have use for them. Intellectual property (IP) rights also apply to franchising, which is an important step for the growth of small, entrepreneurial firms. Without enforceable intellectual property rights, anyone can simply take a successful name and logo and slap it on counterfeit goods, undermining the original firm’s attempt to achieve scale through franchising.
A report funded by the Templeton Foundation lists poor intellectual property frameworks as one of the obstacles to franchising in emerging markets. It’s hard enough to find profitable and replicable models to expand into franchises; poor supporting policy... Mataano via Timbuktu Chronicles
CNN covers the fashion company Mataano founded by Ayaan and Idyl Mohallim. In an interview they stated:For our Spring 2010 collection we also used Somali references and inspirations," said Idyl."There was one silhouette that's worn by every woman in Somalia, called a 'dirac.' We didn't want to recreate it too much, we just wanted to introduce that and say 'it's relevant and you can wear it in a western...
BRV Films via Timbuktu Chronicles
234Next discusses movie production with a co-founder of BRV Films Nigeria,Tokunbo Falope:‘Silent Scandal’ was a risk. Contrary to his thinking, his talent could not compensate for organisational lapses. Pre-production was done in a couple of days. Audition and shooting were simultaneous. Location was not known before hand. His efforts at ensuring proper lighting were regarded as a waste of time and money. He learnt his lessons though and has decided to personally produce his next movie.More herePhoto courtesy of...
Bamako Chic via Timbuktu Chronicles
More makers, Craftzine points us to the "Women Cloth Dyers of Mali"profiled in the documentary- Bamako Chic:In Mali, as in other West African countries, cloth has served as social-capital, equity, wealth, inheritance and articles of beauty for hundreds of years. In the early 1970s a group of Malian women dyers helped to re-invigorate the hand-dyed cloth industry throughout West Africa by producing a wider palate of vibrant colors and innovative designs, which continue to evolve even today. Their creative use of bright color-fast dyes and intricate patterns have turned hand-dyed bazin (an imported polished cotton) into popular fashion, sought after by rich and poor alike. Now a lucrative industry, hand-dyed cloth provides a sustainable source of asset building for many women. This is...
Unreasonable & Crazy Entrepreneurs via CIPE Development Blog
Last year, President Obama announced his intention for a Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship, which will take place April 26 and 27 this year. (Photo: BusinessWeek)
The Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw once said that “the reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
By this measure, some of today’s leading entrepreneurs are distinctly unreasonable and democratic and economic progress depends on them. Recognizing this, the Obama administration is holding a Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship on April 26-27 in Washington, DC, building on his speech to the Muslim world in Cairo last summer in which he promised “to identify how [America] can deepen...