Hi, Quartz Africa readers!
Pace setters
This week we published the fourth edition of Quartz Africa Innovators, our annual series identifying some of the most ambitious and imaginative minds on the continent. The thirty movers and thinkers on this list range across fields from the arts and science to technology and entrepreneurship and beyond.
They all have one thing in common: a burning drive to make an impact on their communities, countries—and ultimately the continent. It is the same impressive trait found with each of our innovators from 2015, 2016 and 2017.
We’ve never believed innovation is simply about technology and gadgets. It’s about innovative thinking in all areas—challenging norms and going past safe expectations. The kind of innovation that drives making strides to end a killer disease, change agriculture with technology or bend and blend artistic genres.
There’s a metaphorical arms race featuring Africa’s fast-growing population versus unemployment, rising non-communicable diseases and the impact of climate change, among other challenges. These issues need clear thinking, strong leaders and the kind of innovation you find when you go through this year’s list. These women and men show that talk of African solutions for African problems isn’t just a catchy meme. It’s very real and very important.
Take your time and go through the short profiles from around the continent and we’d challenge you to not find some inspiration for their outstanding vision, insight and work.
— Yinka Adegoke, Quartz Africa editor
Essays on African innovation
Innovators are Africa’s only real hope for prosperity. Contrary to popular belief, innovation isn’t a thing that happens on the fringes of society after society “fixes” itself and builds its institutions and infrastructure, writes Efosa Ojomo of the Clayton Christensen Institute. For Africa, he identifies innovators as the key oft-missed ingredient. “If we focus on harnessing this missing link, African development will not only take root but it will become vibrant.”
The danger of the innovation narrative becoming a distraction in Africa. African countries might have missed previous waves of development including the industrial and green revolutions, posits Bright Simons, a 2015 Africa Innovator, but the continent is now in a race to catch up by attracting innovation capital from around the world. The problem is this innovation capital isn’t necessarily focused on the priorities of African countries.
Africa’s ancient traditions are getting digitized for the future. Technology has transformed African nations helping many “leapfrog” in development faster than many advanced nations did before. But as Lynsey Chutel and Abdi Latif Dahir explain, African innovators are not just looking forward but also drawing from the past to disrupt sectors including finance, culture, and fashion.
Fintech startups need to innovate to build their African markets and global investors are getting on board. Even as African startups from various sectors jostle for investment, fintech players are having the most success in attracting dollars. Yomi Kazeem notes that the need to innovate for their underserved markets, which have low financial inclusion and next to no consumer credit, has led to African fintech startups’ ingenuity attracting global investors.
The tech savvy entrepreneurs in a race to save their African languages. After nearly two centuries of colonization African languages have lost their place at the high table of diplomacy, commerce and education. The continent’s multilingualism is once again a powerful resource as young Africans experiment with digital technologies to save African languages and pass them on to the next generation.
How to develop an innovation culture in the African corporate environment. Large African corporates might not be globally renown for their innovation culture but Andrew Alli explains how several key industries have been built across the continent by innovating business processes to adapt even as technology and know-how comes from elsewhere. He has a multi-step system for thinking about innovating new processes.
Stories from this week
No, China is not taking over Zambia’s national electricity supplier. Not yet, anyway. The possibility of China owning a Zambian state company has become a cautionary tale in the ongoing story between China and Africa. Rising Zambian debt and economic mismanagement have combined with easy Chinese credit to set off alarms for locals and economists alike, Lynsey Chutel discovered in Lusaka.
South African schools are going to start teaching Kiswahili. From 2020, students in South Africa will be able to take lessons in Kiswahili, Africa’s most widely spoken indigenous language. Many see this as a positive step in a country where some locals have been less than welcoming to their African neighbors in recent years.
South Africa’s marijuana ruling is good news for neighbors and privacy concerns. South Africa’s top court ruled this week citizens have the right to consume and grow marijuana in their homes, as long it’s for personal use. That could be great for neighbors like Lesotho and eSwatini, whose farms are among big suppliers to South Africa. While there is still uncertainty around the ruling it makes a good case for privacy advocates in the country.
No one knows how shipping containers with $104 million of Liberian bank notes went missing. Liberia has seen some brazen acts in its history but few seem as stunning as shipping containers of freshly minted Liberian dollar bank notes disappearing from its port, reports Rodney Sieh in Monrovia with Prue Clarke. Valued at $104 million, or 5% of the country’s GDP, it has led to accusations flying between president George Weah’s office and the former president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Kenya lifted a ban on a movie with a lesbian love story just long enough to qualify for the Oscars. There’s been a lot of international film festival buzz about Rafiki, a movie by Wanuri Kahui, a 2016 Africa Innovator. But at home in Kenya it’s been tied up in controversy because of the lesbian love story at the heart of the feature resulting in a ban by conservative regulators. But a judge ruled Kenyans’ “moral foundation” would not be shaken by seeing the film.
Chart of the Week
Islamic finance is gaining a foothold in Africa. All across Africa, more governments and investors are gradually tapping into Sharia-compliant finance to help access large pools of available capital worldwide. The move comes as Islamic finance becomes mainstream within the global financial system, with the World Bank lauding its potential to promote shared prosperity.
Other Things We Liked
The Congolese artisanal miners risking their lives to put cobalt in your smartphones and electric cars. Known locally as creuseurs, artisanal miners in DR Congo’s Mutoshi, one of the world’s largest sources of cobalt, risk their lives—some using their bare hands—to find the precious metal. For the Wall Street Journal ($), Scott Patterson and Alexandra Wexler report that even the chief executive of one of the region’s biggest mining companies callously describes what the miners do as “sh**ty” work.
Why Bobi Wine went back home to Uganda. After surviving torture, musician turned lawmaker Bobi Wine returned to Kampala after receiving medical treatment in the United States. He was greeted by crowds of young people and real concern for his life. The Atlantic asked him why he would risk persecution by coming home.
The Nigerian musicians changing the sound of global pop. While many have heard Afrobeats hits coming out of Nigeria’s vibrant music industry, the stars behind these hits are not yet globally recognizable. In a photo essay for The New Yorker, Namsa Leuba and Kelefa Sanneh highlight some of the notable faces of a new generation of Nigerian pop stars.
Keep an eye on
UN General Debate sessions (Sep. 25-Oct. 5). African presidents including Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and Ghana’s Nana Akuffo Addo, will travel to New York for the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. On Monday (Sept. 24), the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit will be held in honor of the centenary birthday of the anti-apartheid leader.
Concordia Africa, New York (Sep. 24-25). The Concordia Annual Summit, which takes place on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York, will have its inaugural Concordia Africa track. Quartz Africa will join senior country officials, corporate leaders and other key stakeholders to discuss key topics on youth employment and entrepreneurship, financial inclusion and Asia-Africa ties in investment, trade and infrastrucutre.
Africa-America Institute’s 65th annual gala (Sep. 25). The Africa America Institute will hold the 65th edition of its annual awards dinner with Mozambique’s president Filipe Nyusi set to receive its 2018 National Achievement award.
*This brief was produced while listening to Ekibobo by Samite (Uganda)
Our best wishes for a productive and thought-filled week ahead. Please send any news, comments, suggestions, Kiswahili lessons and fresh Liberian bank notes to africa@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter at @qzafrica for updates throughout the day.
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