Hi, Q-MHI Africa readers!
DAEMONS & UNICORNS
In 1938, the Nigerian author D.O. Fagunwa published his seminal work, Forest of a Thousand Daemons (its title after being translated from Yoruba by Wole Soyinka). The novel’s vivid imagery tells the tale of the brave hunter Akara-ogun taking on spirits, snake people, magical trees and many other mythical beings in this forest.
But the hunter never meets a unicorn.
The point here is that Thousand Daemons is a perfectly fine book without the need to borrow or transfer the mythologies of other cultures to the author’s. The same kind of mindset is needed with startups across Africa’s various hubs, because in this context the unicorn is a startup valued at over a billion dollars. In Africa, that’s as rare as the mythical creature itself. Yet, some believe African hubs need to produce their own unicorns to be seen as successful as in Silicon Valley.
However, as investors and startup founders (including Lidya, Bitpesa, Beyonic and Impact Africa Industries) discussed at the Accelerating Africa 2.0 event earlier this week at Quartz’ offices, African startup ecosystems shouldn’t be trying to recreate Silicon Valley in Lagos, Nairobi or Cape Town.
Doing so is what creates a paradigm where young entrepreneurs pitch the ideas they believe investors want to hear rather than the ideas in which they believe, notes Eghosa Omoigui of Lagos-based EchoVC. In ecosystems where funding levels are still quite low relative to the opportunities, some Africa-based founders seem to think this is the best way to “get in the door”. It might very well be true, but it isn’t the way to build 10-million dollar companies, much less billion-dollar valuations.
To be clear, we’re not saying African startup hubs or cities will never produce billion-dollar companies, they have done so and will certainly do so again. But while an over-emphasis on valuation, rather than innovation and problem-solving, can be a mere distraction in Silicon Valley, in Africa it could do real harm with much smaller and sensitive startup ecosystems.
Every investor and entrepreneur said the same thing on our panels this week, they all think it’s still very early days in Africa. That said, those in the know say there are several African $100 million startup valuations which are much closer to fruition than we may realize, likely over the next year. That would have more impact today on Nairobi or Lagos than yet another $1 billion valuation would in the Valley.
When you have daemons, who needs unicorns?
— Yinka Adegoke, Q-MHI Africa editor
SPONSOR CONTENT BY BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION
Bill and Melinda Gates: A 10% cut in funding for HIV treatment could cost the lives of 5.6 million people. The world’s response to the AIDS epidemic in the early 2000’s should be counted among our greatest successes. But the progress we made is at risk—leaders everywhere need to reaffirm the commitments they made just two years ago to conquer extreme poverty and disease.
STORIES FROM THIS WEEK
African universities are not producing graduates for the modern workplace. In many higher education institutions across Africa, rote learning is still encouraged and is the preferred method of teaching. As Seth Trudeau and Keno Omu argue, it’s time to revisit these models if the continent is to produce employable and analytical graduates.
South Africa has spent millions of dollars subsidizing papers in scam academic journals. After two years of widespread student protests and shrinking budgets, South African universities have been struggling. But as Sarah Wild finds out, the government has unknowingly been wasting millions of dollars funding articles published in predatory journals.
It’s time to get rid of “Out of Africa” and its outdated tropes. It’s been 80 years since the Danish baroness Karen Blixen published “Out of Africa,” her much-touted book about managing a coffee farm in Kenya. Recognizing and celebrating Blixen’s work as a historical record writes Abdi Latif Dahir, explains why white savior tropes still persist.
East Africa’s family-owned retailers are having to come to each other’s rescue. After closing down branches in Uganda and struggling to fill shelves in Kenya, east Africa’s largest retailer Nakumatt signed a merger deal with its rival Tuskys. It shows how family-owned enterprises are struggling to cope with a changing business ecosystem, explains Joshua Masinde.
Unmasking Donald Trump’s quest to lead a 21st-century scramble for Africa. Following an address to African leaders attending the UN general assembly, Donald Trump was ridiculed for misspeaking and making up a fictional African country. But worse than that says Matthew T. Page is Trump’s policy speech was filled with tone-deaf sentences and lacked clarity in general. While Lily Kuonotes the one thing the US president actually got right about Africa.
CHART OF THE WEEK
African languages are driving the British Broadcasting Corporation’s expansion in Africa. After recently launching a Pidgin service to cater for west African speakers, the BBC announced that it was launching news sites and radio programs that will target tens of millions of people in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
OTHER THINGS WE LIKED
A Nigerian designer is using fashion to make a feminist statement. Fashion designer Amaka Osakwe’s label has been worn by Nigeria’s elite and global icons like Michele Obama. Reporting from Lagos for the New Yorker, Alexis Okeowo explain show Osakwe is breaking new ground by using her clothes to critique sexist attitudes towards women.
Why do African judges still wear colonial-style wigs? British imperialism ended over 50 years ago yet colonial-style courtroom wigs are still worn by some African judges. In the Washington Post, Kevin Sieffanswers why these relics are favored by countries with strong anti-colonial politics.
Egypt’s most unlikely correspondent on American politics. From a studio at the back of his deli in New York, Hatem El-Gamasy regularly comments on American politics for Egyptian television networks. Despite his unlikely job writes Sarah Maslin Nir for New York Times, his understanding of Trump’s America make him invaluable to Middle Eastern audiences.
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