Had the pleasure of meeting one of my blogging heroes yesterday, Emeka Okafor from Timbuktu Chronicles. A self titled venture catalyst, he is the director of TED Africa, an African food imports entrepreneur, and connector of innovators. Elizabeth from Sustainble Health Enterprises and I tracked him down to discuss all things Africa and entrepreneurship.
He is concerned about the missing links in the chain of innovation in Africa. In the US we take this chain for granted — the university systems, funding for research, business plan competitions, labs where discoveries are made. With all these pieces working together, a breakthrough idea can become a business. But in Africa, many of these links are missing.
One thing he is doing is looking at how to invest in large scale women traders. In Francophone Africa, these women are “cash madams” — moving thousands of dollars of merchandise through selling basic staples like salt, soap and plastic sandals. In Eastern Africa they call these women “Dubai mamas“. Like SHE, he is interested in proving that these are viable business networks ready for investment. He says what these women are doing is not new, that in many parts of Africa, women have been the traders for centuries, patriarchy as a business model is a product of recent times.
To talk to him was to glimpse a community that he is slowly building – one where innovation and ideas are invested in, and business and creativity drive problem solving, not development aid. Through him, I learned about a ning site for venture capital in Africa, and he is one of the people behind Maker Faire Africa a celebration of African ingenuity, innovation and invention, will take place August 14-16 in Accra, Ghana. It was inspiring to meet him, I hope to keep in touch.
SHE – Sustainable Health Enterprises
