Africa’s growing technology scene saw a spike in attention last week as a result of the meticulously planned, and stealthily executed visit of social media giant, Mark Zuckerberg.
The CEO of Facebook visited two cities in Nigeria, Lagos and Abuja, and Nairobi, Kenya. The aim of his tour, to check out the growing technology industries of both countries and mingle with up and coming entrepreneurs, movie stars, music stars, and citizens.
By all accounts, Mr. Zuckerberg was impressed by what he saw, and fans who were thoroughly charmed by his quick wit, affable demeanor and optimistic confidence in the future of African startups have dubbed the trip “the August visit.”
Here are three reasons why I think Zuckerberg’s visit is an indicator of the shift taking place throughout the continent and a sign of great things to come:
Nigeria’s Start-up scene is on the rise
Despite the recession, Nigeria’s startup scene still has a lot of potential. Through his Chan-Zuckerberg initiative, Mark Zuckerberg made a $24 million dollar investment in Andela, a Lagos-based startup that provides training to budding developers.
Andela’s Nigerian co-founder Iyinoluwa E. Aboyeji is a serial entrepreneur who helped launch the company roughly two years ago.The company has since trained numerous students who now work with blue-chip companies like Microsoft and IBM.
Mr. Aboyeji recently launched another startup Flutterwave, which focuses on solving the payment problem in Africa. His new startup is an alumni of Y Combinator and has signed deals with international payment processing companies including Stripe, Visa, and MasterCard.
Mr. Aboyeji or E. as he is fondly referred to is just one of a long line of brilliant and determined young entrepreneurs who are eager to put their companies on the world stage.
After a nearly hour-long Q&A session with startup founders in Lagos, Mr. Zuckerberg noted that the entrepreneurs were on the verge of making their mark in the world.
The participants saw the Facebook CEO as “the real deal,” who not only understood the dynamics of doing business in a country like Nigeria but also provided words of wisdom and encouragement for founders who seem to play a thankless role in the development of their country’s economy.
The Hustle Is Real
Victor Asemota, Founder of pan-African IT consultancy firm Swifta Systems, noted that “the era of foolish children of rich Nigerian men is over. The “rich” have been through so many ups and downs, including near poverty to know that delivering consistent value and frugality are the two ingredients that help you stay wealthy.”
Historically, capital in Africa resided in the hands of oligarchs and politically connected individuals who dominated their respective countries through monopolistic actions and corrupt practices.
Today, money is sourced internationally from VC’s, PE firms, Angel Investors and Riskpreneurs with an appetite for investing in frontier markets.
With Africa being the last frontier, and Nigeria and Kenya, in particular, being the most attractive destinations for investment, there has been a rise in the fortunes of the children of the poor and middle classes.
Children who Mr. Asemota describes as “those with nothing else but ambition.” It’s a Horatio Alger-esque narrative that captures the entrepreneurial spirit of the average African. Everyone has a side hustle. Everyone is eager to make it big. Everyone now knows that they do not need to have a wealthy parent or a politically connected uncle to make it to the big leagues. Technology is that uncle and the unseen equalizer that bridges the gap.
Massive disruption is on the horizon
The unfortunate explosion of Facebook’s AMOS-6 satellite disrupted an otherwise flawlessly executed trip to Africa.
Mr. Zuckerberg had timed his trip to coincide with the launch of the AMOS-6 satellite, an internet.org initiative that intends to provide affordable internet to small and medium scale entrepreneurs in some parts of Africa.
The democratization of the web and resulting explosion of new online businesses may herald a golden age of entrepreneurship in Africa. Undoubtedly, leading to increases in income and a reduction of youth unemployment.
Additionally, the confluence of new data will be a boon for companies and advertisers that are interested in directly marketing their products and services to their target audience.
This is an exciting time for technology and the entrepreneurial spirit in Africa, opening up a new realm of possibility for exploration.
The advent of cutting-edge technology that allows one to make free calls via Whatsapp, send money and make payments with Facebook Messenger while connecting to the cheap internet offered by Facebook’s Free Basics network, leaves little room for the status quo of paying for a monthly cell phone subscription or having a regular bank account.
Companies that are slow to adapt or offer poor customer service experiences will have to close up shop, and make way for businesses offering the highest quality service at entry level prices. It is this embryonic disruption that Mr. Zuckerberg came to witness in Africa.