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MIT Students Are Right, Africa 2.0 Is Only Possible Through Innvation

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When I wrote this piece for Harvard Business Review, I had the theme of MIT Africa Business Conference Theme in my mind. My friends at Kauffman Foundation had contacted me about the Bill going through the U.S. Congress that would help Africa.  Immediately, I decided to write about it in HBR.

 

This [MIT AB]  conference intends to bring together people working on ideas that will shape the African continent for years to come. The event will include a mix of speakers and panel sessions covering areas of innovation in Africa including: Telecoms & Mobiles,Technology, Entrepreneurship, Finance and Energy. The unifying theme will be a perspective on how today’s students and tomorrow’s leaders will impact the continent by putting ideas to work.


The interesting aspect of the students’ theme is the realization that Africa needs to move from Africa 1.0 which has existed for about fifty years to something more. In other words, the era of hydrocarbon and mineral fuelled growth should be replaced with something sustainable. They figured out that innovation will position the continent for that new phase. So, Africa 2.0 ideally should be comprised of innovative economic activities across the continent. It will be a continent where brain power and creativity will define trade and investment and not necessarily the availability of minerals and hydrocarbon.

 

As I explained in my HBR blog, facilitating the ecosystem of innovation will prepare Africa for the post-mineral era. And now is the time to do that. The students went ahead and picked Africa’s present innovative stars. These are people that have created technologies which are redesigning many economic operations in the places they operate.

 

Kola Karim is an energy innovator who is running Shoreline Power International. He has brought vision into this sector and has proven that things can work in the continent. John Waibochi is arguably the best known face of mobility computing in Africa after winning $1m in a global Nokia challenge. He runs Virtual City. Dr. Ashifi Gogo runs Sproxil which today has become the industry engine to mitigate counterfeits in Africa.

 

 

Yet, the problem with all these students programs is that nothing is made public. From Wharton to Harvard and possibly to MIT, the students do not provide any summary after the program. Immediately the conference is over, they get back to cases until the next year conference. I have suggested that they must summarize the ideas shared by speakers and panelists and then send all to African Union and some selected governments. They must not deprive those that could not attend these conferences the opportunity of participating in these exciting programs, run by Africa’s future business leaders.

 

The students also included a business plan competition which many people participated:

 

About Africa Innovate!

This past year, over fifteen countries in Africa celebrated 50 years of nationhood, and several of the top economies in the region forecast 2011 GDP growth rates over twice that of the United States (per The Economist, Ghana will enjoy the 2nd fastest GDP growth globally in 2011). Furthermore, investors in key African equity markets enjoyed returns of up to 36.5% in 2010, and the continent experienced a remarkable level of investment capital flow and exit activity.

Business must demonstrate potential for direct & significant commercial and/or social impact in Africa, and the plan must be implementable in an African country. This contest does not require that you have a student on your team.

 

Growth in Africa must be driven by innovation and time has come for African governments to use our entrepreneurial stars to  position the continent for the next phase, Africa 2.0. That will come through education, infrastructure development and most importantly strong intellectual property rights.

 

Through Innovation, Kureha Teaches Every Company How to Win Globally – Controlling 70% of Industry Important Polymer

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It is a very small company. Few knew about it, until the Japanese earthquake. It is called Kureha and is a Japanese firm. In a way, it is a global innovator. Kureha controls 70% of the global market for a polymer, polyvinylidene fluoride, used for the production of lithium ion batteries. The earthquake affected one of its factories where this resin is made thereby disrupting the supply chains of many global companies like Apple and HTC that require its niche products to build their consumer electronics products. If this company does not get up to speed and supply, we could have a disruption in global supply of some batteries and consequently tablets and phones.

Japan supplies lightweight but very special products that cannot be easily substituted. The earthquake brought the world to the attention of Kureha as its products are extremely differentiated.  It is a typical Japanese firm in the electronics industry – niche and lightweight.  In the US alone, Japan supplies 33% of all the capacitors, an electrical part. The same applies to other products that are very important in sustaining the modern way of living.

Japanese companies pursue innovation and operate in the domain of high niche products, especially in the semiconductor and microelectronics industry. They play their games at that spot where few could participate.  And they do that with foresight, vision, creativity and determination.

It is interesting to know that small companies are keeping some global behemoths hostage due to lack of inventory of Japanese parts. And for the fact that these products cannot easily be re-sourced, many are shutting down plants. Ford is running low on the supply of black paints for some of its products. GM and other companies have concerns as well.

Innovation must be a way of doing business. African companies must develop that capacity and embed it in their business culture. Pursing that is the only way to succeed . It is just as Kureha has it on its site…pursuing excellence. This company is teaching the world what it means to differentiate and innovate, even when small.

Managed Services – Bharti Airtel Nigeria and Vodafone Ghana Looked for Cost Savings and Quality

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The deal between Vodafone Ghana and Huawei, a leader in next-generation telecommunications network solutions for operators around the world, for a five-year managed services early this year, is just the beginning. Huawei under the agreement will handle some key aspects of Vodafone Ghana for this duration. This will include the Vodafone  Mobile, Microwave, SDH, and Fixed Switching networks.

The partnership provides Vodafone Ghana with a long-term sustainable operating model, reducing its operational expenses and enabling the operator to focus further on providing more attractive new services to its customers. The network operations agreement also guarantees the performance and quality of the Vodafone network, which is used by multiple vendors across the country.

Under the managed services agreement, a number of Vodafone Ghana employees will undergo training with Huawei and receive cutting-edge training on new processes, technology and tools.

Similarly, Bharti Airtel has some level of managed services contract with Ericcson Nigeria.

It is not clear why this pattern is evolving in West Africa. But one thing is setting the telecommunication operators want to reduce cost by contracting out most of these managed services. The key indication is that the industry has become very competitive. So, any savings will count.

Yet, the key point is seeing the opportunity. While the managed services are given to MNCs, it is just a matter of time before local firms will start getting such. This pattern is not going anywhere as cost and need to focus on core areas will continue to make these operators to contract out some services.

Nigeria Election Results – Updated

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These are the results confirmed so far from 94 senatorial districts where elections took place on April 9th across Nigeria.

District Party Winners

ABIA STATE

Abia South PDP Enyinnaya Abaribe
Abia North PDP Uche Chukwumerije
Abia Central PDP Nkechi Nwaogu

ADAMAWA STATE

Adamawa SOUTH PDP-Ahmed Hassan Barat

ANAMBRA STATEAnambra SOUTH APGA- Chuma Nzeribe
Anambra CENTRAL -APGA- Dora Akunyili*

EBONYI STATE

Ebonyi NORTH PDP-Christopher Chukwuma

EDO STATE

Edo North ACN-Domingo Alaba Obende

ENUGU STATE

Enugu EAST PDP- Prince Gilbert Nnaji

Enugu West PDP-Ike Ekweremadu
Enugu North PDP- Ayogu Eze

GOMBE STATE

Gombe Central-PDP- Alh. Mohammed Danjuma Goje

ONDO STATE

Ondo NORTH LP- robert Ajayi Boroffice
Ondo South LP- Kunlere Boluwaji

BENUE STATE

KWARA STATE

-Kwara CENTRAL PDP-Dr. Abubakar o. Saraki

-Kwara North-PDP-Mohammed Shaaba Lafia
-Kwara South-PDP-Simeion Sule Ajibola

LAGOS STATE

Lagos CENTRAL ACN-Oluremi Tinubu
Lagos EAST ACN- Gbenga Bareehu Ashafa

OGUN STATE

Ogun CENTRAL ACN-Olugbenga Onaolapo
Ogun EAST ACN-Sefiu Adegbenga Kaka

OSUN STATE

Osun CENTRAL ACN-Olusola Adeyeye
Osun EAST ACN-omoworare Babajide Christopher
Osun WEST ACN-Mudashiru Oyetunde

OYO STATE

Oyo CENTRAL ACN-Ayoade Adeseun
Oyo SOUTH ACN-Olufemi Lanlehin
Benue NORTH WEST-PDP- Bernabas Gemade
Benue SOUTH ACN/PDP- David Mark*

Nigerian Election: Tekedia Presidential Election Barometer Moves President Jonathan to 8. His Google Buzz Remains Strong

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It is becoming clear that Jonathan will win the election of next week. We have moved his Barometer from 7 to 8 over the scale of 10. We have analyzed the results and Google buzz and noticed that none of his opponents can close the gap. He will lose the West because of Fola Adeola. Yet, Nuhu Ribadu cannot match him. The only way Nuhu will have a chance is if he can form an alliance with Buhari.

 

We are watching the results in the North. As soon as we are done there, we will issue our final Barometer for all the major candidates.

 

Notice that by moving the Governorship election after the Presidential one, Jonathan is certain to push all the PDP governors (in majority) to work for him. Otherwise, they could be in trouble a week after. This is a strategic roadmap from INEC and State to have the presidential election before the governorship. It makes it certain that anyone that does not work for the President could be in trouble the week after.