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African Digerati: Emeka Okafor

Written by: Erik Hersman

Article Overview: Emeka Okafor is the first in the African Digerati series of interviews. He is a well established member of the African blogosphere, a leading thinker, and a doer. Not mentioned in this interview is the fact that he is also managing and coordinating one of the world’s top technology conferences that will be in Africa for the first time this year: TED Global. He has made a huge impact on me, and I believe his blogs should be considered regular reading for anyone interested in technological development in Africa.

African Digerati: Emeka Okafor

Emeka Okafor is the first in the African Digerati series of interviews. He is a well established member of the African blogosphere, a leading thinker, and a doer. Not mentioned in this interview is the fact that he is also managing and coordinating one of the world’s top technology conferences that will be in Africa for the first time this year: TED Global. He has made a huge impact on me, and I believe his blogs should be considered regular reading for anyone interested in technological development in Africa.

Blog and/or website:
The Blogs I publish are Timbuktu Chronicles and Africa Unchained.

What do you do:
I am an entrepreneur, one of my current endeavors is Caranda Teas and Coffee in which I am a partner. The company is repositioning itself as a Fine Foods company.

What inspires you?
Innovation, Creativity, Resourcefulness and Resilience in face of odds.

Who are some of your biggest influences?
My Parents, Internalist thinkers like George Ayittey

If you weren’t involved with technology, what would you do instead?
Technology couldn’t really be separated from daily existence, its woven into the fabric of contemporary human endeavor. If it were however I would be drawn to the creative pursuits of business and idea implementation…this would always draw me in.

Name one book that you would label “required reading” for those in the African technology sphere:
Kevin Kelly’s Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems and the Economic World


What emerging technologies are you most excited about?
Distributed computing and communication systems such as:

Wireless mesh networks
Open Source everything
Distributed and Renewable energy systems:

Biogas, Biofuels
Solar energy
Nanotechnology, Robotics, Unconventional computing, Fabbing
What do you see as the biggest advantage or opportunity for African technology development?
Moving local research from the Labs & Universities into businesses and Agriculture and the wider world. Adapting existing and emerging technologies to enable leapfrogging. Adopting non-hierarchical technologies that are less susceptible to non-functioning centralised control

What do you see as the biggest challenge for African technology development?
Repositioning technology in the eyes of policy makers as being absolutely critical to the continents survival and its continued relevance. Evolving a home grown culture of ingenuity and resourcefulness, that is self-sustaining replicable and scalable.

What are your thoughts on the impact of blogging in Africa?
Blogging will continue to open up vistas of the continent that hitherto remained out of view. From food to finance, technology to tourism a million untold stories are waiting to be told…and we have begun to tell them.

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Article Tags: Africa, Africa Unchained, African technology development, Caranda Teas and Coffee, Emeka Okafor, George Ayittey, technology



Related Forum Posts
What do you do to give back? - I'm launching new section of the site for social entrepreneurship and our first category is going to be called African Accounts. The goal with the project is to raise awareness of African entrepreneurs and showcase that entrepreneurship can be the path to achieving sustainable development. This has always been a passion of mine and I have done a number of talks around the world on this subject so I'm excited to bring it online as well. We have recruited some of the top bloggers in the world who focus on African entrepreneurship and are preparing additional resources. I believe that a big part of running a business is being socially responsible and giving back - even if it's donating your time to an organization or small amounts of money or products. You don't have to be mega-successful to make a difference. What are some of the things you are doing to give back to the community around you?
Re: How will an african make money truely on the net? - Is it possible for an African business to set up an "offshore" account in the US or England... or even Switzerland... where all monies are paid? And a trusted agent there, who gets a percentage of any money, can then take that money from paypal and wire it or mail it or whatever to an African bank? There are lots of countries in Africa, is this a problem in all of them? Seems like an internet entrepreneur who can set up a "Paypal" like company of their own might be able to make money on this... ? Course you'd need governmental contacts...
Re: How will an african make money truely on the net? - [quote="OmnivoreInk":koqfopnc]Is it possible for an African business to set up an "offshore" account in the US or England... or even Switzerland... where all monies are paid? And a trusted agent there, who gets a percentage of any money, can then take that money from paypal and wire it or mail it or whatever to an African bank? There are lots of countries in Africa, is this a problem in all of them? Seems like an internet entrepreneur who can set up a "Paypal" like company of their own might be able to make money on this... ? Course you'd need governmental contacts...[/quote:koqfopnc] Hi Topeyinka I don't know what products you sell, but if they are digital how about selling them through Clickbank. They will handle the sale for you and will send you cheques on the money you have earned. MichelleJ
Re: How will an african make money truely on the net? - [quote="MichelleJ":2a9hm5bq]Hi Topeyinka I am just wondering, with Paypal as long as they can get your credit card verification I don't think that they worry if you are an African or not. I also live in South Africa and there was no problem getting verified with them once they had checked my credit card details that proved the card belonged to me. Michellej[/quote:2a9hm5bq] Hi Michelle, You can use paypal to send money and buy as a South African, but you are limited to receive payment. So what is the use of spending money without making it. You cannot accept payment with your paypal. Any way South Africans can make use of 2CO to recieve payment on theie websites.
Re: Small Business grant listings and other grant listings - Are African citizens eligible for this grant?


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