Denis Opudo
President Trump’s comment calling Africa ‘shithole’ continues to get different reactions globally. The president has been asked to withdraw his statement and apologize. This will help the immigration sector and also the US foreign policy. The sentiments also prove that he has no information on how Africa has been working out to build itself.
Africa is in the tech revolution that is changing various sectors. The sectors under changes include politics, culture, and economy of its countries. African immigrants are key players in the digital revolution seen in many African countries. African industries are also generating revenues and creating jobs in the US. Just like any other continent Africa also has it is positive and negative side. That is not disputable. A good number of common African problems have not vanished. The problems include corruptions, poverty, and natural calamities. In the last two decades reforms, economic growth, and stability have come together to assure a brighter future.
There are rapid modernization and growth of technology sector. All which have put hope into Africans. The continent has more than 316 tech hubs, innovation scenes, and accelerators. All of which are within the IT sectors. These are in countries like Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana. Meanwhile, thousands of African startups are moving into important sectors. They are moving from logistics, the blockchain, education, agriculture, and healthcare. Startups are also receiving hundreds of million dollars in venture capital. It is expected that many of their solutions for the continent’s 1.2 million people will develop good ROI.
Africa developed its first ever billion-dollar e-commerce venture (Jumia) in 2016. The founders of Jumia studied at Harvard Business School and worked in the US. Jumia is the African big e-commerce startup. Naspers also makes investments regularly in Europe, Americas, and Asia. Nasper is referred to as one of Africa’s big technology company. In a span of the last five years US big tech companies have expanded into Africa. IBM also developed a $100 million research initiative in Kenya. The initiative is to create an African version of Watson named Lucy. Uber is carrying out its operations in eight African countries. It is also testing product options in Africa that might be used in its cars in DC, New York or London.
The continent is exporting innovation and technology that can impact the US. BRCK Wi-Fi device developed in Kenya helps to connect people in dead internet spots. Currently, it is operational in five continents. .BRCK co-founder Juliana Rotich is a University of Missouri grad and MIT Fellow. Moreover, the Andela coding accelerator is shaping African programmers. The programmers work for the global Fortune 500 companies. Besides, Africa incubated the first national drone delivery program at scale. It was through a partnership with the government of Rwanda and Zipline. Zipline is American robotic startup. It was studied by the FAA for applications in the US
