5 ms·

Why Africa may never produce a Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, or Facebook

10 points by michjeanty 18y ago

dangoldin 18y ago
I don't see how you can use the word "never" when referring to the future. Everything's possible - 500 years ago no one though the Americas would produce anything..
- lpgauth 18y ago
  I feel the same way, their statements are a bit bold.
thinkcomp 18y ago
I think Africa has a couple other more serious issues to worry about first...
- wheels 18y ago
  I really think that's the wrong (though common) way of looking at things. Much of Africa desperately needs a sustainable economy and parts of Africa are rather developed (parts of South Africa and Botswana, notably). This whole shakedown with Mugabe in Zimbabwe is that Zim was well on its way to becoming a developed nation when his government destroyed the economy. To put things in perspective, India is horribly poor, but by latching on to high-technology, it's finally creating a mechanism for social mobility. There's a light at the end of the tunnel for India. If something like that could happen in parts of Africa, it really could start a disruptive economic chain of events that might help pull some of the nations up by the bootstraps within a couple decades. Feeding the hungry is noble, but it doesn't solve long term problems.
  - tx 18y ago
    Wheels, I adore your enthusiasm but I don't share it. Companies (not just startups, but any businesses in general) need markets, financial system, basic infrastructure and favorable legal environment just like fish needs water: they are living organisms and certain conditions must be met for them to exist. Preaching for more VC capital in Africa is like protecting human rights on the moon.
    - wumi 18y ago
      where does Wheels mention more VC capital in Africa? creating a service like Google must one create a market for that service in Africa? surely, certain areas the infrastructure does not exist, but to paint 56 nations and territories with one big brush that says "you have no markets, financial system, infrastructure or legal environment needed to do a startup" is a bit overreaching.
    - wheels 18y ago
      I think the thing that this article, and a lot of rhetoric in general assumes, is that Africa is Africa. There are some amazingly developed parts of Africa with stable economies, legal systems and technology infrastructures. I would expect any outside investment to start in those countries and radiate to the surrounding ones. So while I wouldn't bet on a startup scene popping up in Somalia, it could happen in Botswana. The factor that I think what you're saying misses is: cheap labor. Combined with a high-prevalence of spoken English among the educated, I think it's possible that businesses would be willing to consider operations in Africa.
      - tx 18y ago
        You don't get it because you haven't lived there. How can you "consider operations" in places that don't have a reliable banking system? Just imagine how it's like (i've seen it first hand: natural exchange + cash in envelopes). How can you run a business, pay salaries and expect some work to be done, if electricity randomly gets shut off several times a day, when there are no banks that people trust and inflation can jump 100% at any moment? How can you do technology in countries where Internet access is 5 to 10 times more expensive than in the West (even with their standards of living)? How can you explain to your investors that 30% of your capital was spent bribing the officials (you don't have a choice). Again, I admire your thinking but that's more like dreaming. I worked in ex-USSR and have friends from Nigeria (one of the most developed nations there) and believe me, dealing with all that shit makes you so inefficient, that even cheap labor won't help. Things will improve of course, and rather quickly -- nearly all soviet block contries are great places for doing business now (compared to what they were 15 years ago), but that's another matter.
- wumi 18y ago
  what more important issue is there in Africa than creating wealth? yes, the One project is great and all, and the thousands of charities that exist for the sole purpose of helping to build sustainable countries. most of the natural resources in Africa are controlled or owned by western interests -- what better way to create wealth than a web startup (although in most places, admittedly) the infrastructure is lacking)
wheels 18y ago
There's this one famous guy that flew to space and started something related to Linux. Oh, that's right: Ubuntu. Mark Shuttleworth's African startup sold for US$575 million. That's not exactly Google or Microsoft, but nothing to shake a stick at.
- mynameishere 18y ago
  Pretty peculiar looking African. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Shuttleworth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Shuttleworth. Might as well use Cecil Rhodes as a disproof of Africa's lack of enterprise. Nonetheless, I agree with the article, and every time the question of Africa's woes come up, I'm the first to point out that Bill Gates and Bono (and the 1000s like them) are destructive, and that the proper approach to the problem is investment rather than charity. Whatever potential is there will emerge eventually, no matter what the local VC scene is like.
  - wheels 18y ago
    To be perfectly honest, that's a pretty racist comment. Mark Shuttleworth was born in Africa, educated in Africa, started his business in Africa and proudly refers to himself as African.
    - mynameishere 18y ago
      born in Africa Whoop educated in Africa Eee started his business in Africa Frickin proudly refers to himself as Africa Do. I got a dog that I named "duck". Now let's take him to the vet and see what the vet calls him.
      - wheels 18y ago
        I'm not sure that implying black people and white people are separate species is the best way to make your point.
        mynameishere 18y ago
systems 18y ago
well when the pharoes (africans) built the pyramids, it made everyone else jealous and it kinda jynx-ed the continent for the following several thousands years this is why we africans dont wonna build another thing that will draw much attention to us, or make anyone jealous
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
wumi 18y ago
in general, the argument he's making could go for any town, in the US, or otherwise, not just African nations. There are some things that are very difficult to change, and one is culture. ("face your studies") For several sub-saharan African nations there's an emphasis put on schooling, and a few of those companies mentioned (read: MSFT and Facebook) would never have happened in cultures that don't respect people without college degrees. Sure in the US, there's not much that respect for a drop-out either, but on the other hand it's not seen as insane to drop-out or to even start a business simultaneously while in school. secondly, the entrepreneurial start-up mindset in America had it's beginnings somewhere, and in the subset branch of web 2.0/ software-based start-ups, just one company can literally change the whole game and influence myriads of others to come. Intel, Microsoft, Facebook in 2004. The story of Zuck and Fbook has resonated in the heads of youths across the country, and one can point to him as an example of what could be. All that's really needed for any region, or any university (for every Stanford there are a few hundred univerisites that produce no software start-ups of any consequence) is for one run-away success, and the rest will follow.
aswanson 18y ago
In the West, universities are eager to support student entrepreneurs in their campuses and even go out of their way looking for students with exceptional business ideas But the problem is, they are looking in the business schools.

10 points by michjeanty 18y ago

I don't see how you can use the word "never" when referring to the future. Everything's possible - 500 years ago no one though the Americas would produce anything..

lpgauth 18y ago
I feel the same way, their statements are a bit bold.

thinkcomp 18y ago

I think Africa has a couple other more serious issues to worry about first...

wheels 18y ago
I really think that's the wrong (though common) way of looking at things. Much of Africa desperately needs a sustainable economy and parts of Africa are rather developed (parts of South Africa and Botswana, notably). This whole shakedown with Mugabe in Zimbabwe is that Zim was well on its way to becoming a developed nation when his government destroyed the economy. To put things in perspective, India is horribly poor, but by latching on to high-technology, it's finally creating a mechanism for social mobility. There's a light at the end of the tunnel for India. If something like that could happen in parts of Africa, it really could start a disruptive economic chain of events that might help pull some of the nations up by the bootstraps within a couple decades. Feeding the hungry is noble, but it doesn't solve long term problems.
- tx 18y ago
  Wheels, I adore your enthusiasm but I don't share it. Companies (not just startups, but any businesses in general) need markets, financial system, basic infrastructure and favorable legal environment just like fish needs water: they are living organisms and certain conditions must be met for them to exist. Preaching for more VC capital in Africa is like protecting human rights on the moon.
  - wumi 18y ago
    where does Wheels mention more VC capital in Africa? creating a service like Google must one create a market for that service in Africa? surely, certain areas the infrastructure does not exist, but to paint 56 nations and territories with one big brush that says "you have no markets, financial system, infrastructure or legal environment needed to do a startup" is a bit overreaching.
  - wheels 18y ago
    I think the thing that this article, and a lot of rhetoric in general assumes, is that Africa is Africa. There are some amazingly developed parts of Africa with stable economies, legal systems and technology infrastructures. I would expect any outside investment to start in those countries and radiate to the surrounding ones. So while I wouldn't bet on a startup scene popping up in Somalia, it could happen in Botswana. The factor that I think what you're saying misses is: cheap labor. Combined with a high-prevalence of spoken English among the educated, I think it's possible that businesses would be willing to consider operations in Africa.
    - tx 18y ago
      You don't get it because you haven't lived there. How can you "consider operations" in places that don't have a reliable banking system? Just imagine how it's like (i've seen it first hand: natural exchange + cash in envelopes). How can you run a business, pay salaries and expect some work to be done, if electricity randomly gets shut off several times a day, when there are no banks that people trust and inflation can jump 100% at any moment? How can you do technology in countries where Internet access is 5 to 10 times more expensive than in the West (even with their standards of living)? How can you explain to your investors that 30% of your capital was spent bribing the officials (you don't have a choice). Again, I admire your thinking but that's more like dreaming. I worked in ex-USSR and have friends from Nigeria (one of the most developed nations there) and believe me, dealing with all that shit makes you so inefficient, that even cheap labor won't help. Things will improve of course, and rather quickly -- nearly all soviet block contries are great places for doing business now (compared to what they were 15 years ago), but that's another matter.
wumi 18y ago
what more important issue is there in Africa than creating wealth? yes, the One project is great and all, and the thousands of charities that exist for the sole purpose of helping to build sustainable countries. most of the natural resources in Africa are controlled or owned by western interests -- what better way to create wealth than a web startup (although in most places, admittedly) the infrastructure is lacking)

wheels 18y ago

There's this one famous guy that flew to space and started something related to Linux. Oh, that's right: Ubuntu. Mark Shuttleworth's African startup sold for US$575 million. That's not exactly Google or Microsoft, but nothing to shake a stick at.

mynameishere 18y ago
Pretty peculiar looking African. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Shuttleworth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Shuttleworth. Might as well use Cecil Rhodes as a disproof of Africa's lack of enterprise. Nonetheless, I agree with the article, and every time the question of Africa's woes come up, I'm the first to point out that Bill Gates and Bono (and the 1000s like them) are destructive, and that the proper approach to the problem is investment rather than charity. Whatever potential is there will emerge eventually, no matter what the local VC scene is like.
- wheels 18y ago
  To be perfectly honest, that's a pretty racist comment. Mark Shuttleworth was born in Africa, educated in Africa, started his business in Africa and proudly refers to himself as African.
  - mynameishere 18y ago
    born in Africa Whoop educated in Africa Eee started his business in Africa Frickin proudly refers to himself as Africa Do. I got a dog that I named "duck". Now let's take him to the vet and see what the vet calls him.
    - wheels 18y ago
      I'm not sure that implying black people and white people are separate species is the best way to make your point.
      - mynameishere 18y ago

systems 18y ago

well when the pharoes (africans) built the pyramids, it made everyone else jealous and it kinda jynx-ed the continent for the following several thousands years this is why we africans dont wonna build another thing that will draw much attention to us, or make anyone jealous

deleted 18y ago

[deleted]

wumi 18y ago

in general, the argument he's making could go for any town, in the US, or otherwise, not just African nations. There are some things that are very difficult to change, and one is culture. ("face your studies") For several sub-saharan African nations there's an emphasis put on schooling, and a few of those companies mentioned (read: MSFT and Facebook) would never have happened in cultures that don't respect people without college degrees. Sure in the US, there's not much that respect for a drop-out either, but on the other hand it's not seen as insane to drop-out or to even start a business simultaneously while in school. secondly, the entrepreneurial start-up mindset in America had it's beginnings somewhere, and in the subset branch of web 2.0/ software-based start-ups, just one company can literally change the whole game and influence myriads of others to come. Intel, Microsoft, Facebook in 2004. The story of Zuck and Fbook has resonated in the heads of youths across the country, and one can point to him as an example of what could be. All that's really needed for any region, or any university (for every Stanford there are a few hundred univerisites that produce no software start-ups of any consequence) is for one run-away success, and the rest will follow.

aswanson 18y ago

In the West, universities are eager to support student entrepreneurs in their campuses and even go out of their way looking for students with exceptional business ideas But the problem is, they are looking in the business schools.