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Quartz Africa Innovators
The Quartz Africa editorial team has spent the past few months, over a series of conference calls and meetings, curating, pitching and debating our second annual list of Africa Innovators. Many of our discussions were spent identifying individuals who show the kind of creativity, bravery and long-term commitment that we aspire to ourselves at Quartz. This year’s list features a really wide range of such visionaries. The entrepreneur who started manufacturing bamboo bikes six years ago when she was 15, and now sells hundreds every month; the US-based tech executive who came back home to start what has become one of the continent’s leading universities; the young entrepreneurial prodigy who inspired another young prodigy, Mark Zuckerberg, to make his first major African investment; the scientist who solved a immunological mystery that has confounded scientists around the world for 70 years.
Naturally, we make no claims that this is some sort of definitive list of all innovators on the continent, far from it. But as we did last year we aim to shine light on some of the stories of the incredible innovation that exist in every aspect of African life from political activism and agriculture to technology and personal finance and much more beyond that.
If you’re in Nairobi on July 20, please join us for the Africa Innovators Summit where we’ll have some of the innovators on stage to tell their stories.
Yinka Adegoke, Quartz Africa editor
Five stories from this week
A failed WhatsApp blackout in Zimbabwe. The government tried blocking WhatsApp but was no match for massive protests against president Robert Mugabe’s collapsed economy. Mobilized with hashtags #ShutDownZim and #ZimbabweShutdown, protesters rose up in the most brazen display of public dissatisfaction with their 92-year-old president in years, writes Lynsey Chutel.
Africans are outraged by the Zambia “white savior” memoir. Gone are the days when “jungle narratives” of Africa go unchallenged. A Scottish actress found that out the hard way when her tale of saving orphans and dodging rebels during her gap year in peaceful, stable Zambia was torn apart by Africans on social media.
Kenyan police are routinely executing citizens. This week, Kenyans protested the alarming rate of extrajudicial killings, estimated at a rate of three a week. The disappearance of government and police critics is nothing new, writes Lily Kuo, but the brutal murder of a prominent Nairobi lawyer brought home the need for accountability.
Africa’s visitors are friends in need. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited East Africa this week, wooing Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda—even ignoring embarrassing gaffes by Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni—all in a bid to get some African suppport at the UN. Close on his heels was Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, strengthening trade relations and whipping up the Indian diaspora in Mozambique, South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania in a bid to catch up with China in Africa.
Don’t fly drones in Ghana. Well, don’t do so without a license or you could end up in jail for 30 years. Some African countries encourage innovative use of drones to solve problems like healthcare and product delivery, but Ghana, like Nigeria and Kenya, has adopted strict registration policies that will stifle the technology’s potential, writes Yomi Kazeem.
Other things we liked
How Kenya has tried to clean up its courts. Back in 2010, the introduction of a new constitution enabled Kenya to start a process to restructure and strengthen its overwhelmed court system which was generally seen as both corrupt and inefficient. Maya Gainer for Princeton’s Innovations for Successful Societies center examined how the country went about the process and whether the system has been able to regain trust today.
David Adjaye is “radically inventive”. Vogue profiles the Ghanaian architect whose National Museum of African American History and Culture on Washington’s National Mall will open in September. It describes the building as his most important work to date. Adjaye is also on the short list being considered to design president Obama’s library.
The ‘Nigeriafication’ of Africa. Nigeria’s Nollywood movies and its ‘Afrobeats’ pop music are taking over the continent. Local DJs in cities across the continent are dropping their fake American accents and adopting fake Nigerian tones, writes Rogue Chiefs. In other words, Nigeria’s soft power is becoming meaningful.
Keep an eye on
All eyes on Juba. Saturday July 9 was meant to be a somber and quiet Independence day for South Sudan as the country said it would not be able to afford celebrations due to its economic difficulties. But it wasn’t quiet. There were gun battles around the presidential office and beyond in Juba leaving more than 150 dead, according to reports as we went to press. It’s still unclear what’s happened exactly, but it is clear that the fragile peace accord is more fragile than ever.
Zimbabwe protests. Expect to see more anti-Mugabe protests in the capital city Harare this week. Organizers seem to have the bit between their teeth and will be out on July 13 and 14.
Our best wishes for a productive week ahead. Please send any news, comments, your best savior tales and unused Ghanaian drones to africa@qz.com. You can follow us on twitter at @qzafrica for updates throughout the day.