I had the pleasure to speak at the Africa Gathering in London this morning. (twitter feed here). There were a number of emerging themes through the conference, and not necessarily the ones you might think– access to finance, more capital, education. Nope. What came up again and again was: TIA This is Africa. Sometimes problems [...]

The Hub, York Way King’s X, London 9th-10th Oct, 2009. I’ll be speaking about, in general, the challenges that investors and entrepreneurs face in Africa, with a specific focus on my partner organisation Appfrica Labs. Come out if you can. Details at Africa Gathering and on the EventBrite page. I’m on at 11 AM on [...]

Zimbabwe, six months later… I took another trip to Zimbabwe last week to meet with a number of people about a voucher programme for African Enterprise Partners’ first investee, Mobile Transactions. The difference in Zimbabwe from the last time I was here six month ago is palpable. And the country is, quite simply, beautiful. It’s [...]

I wonder what, exactly, is my job title sometimes. My card says “Partner — East Africa” but that doesn’t say much. I’m working with Mike on his pitch for SBSVC. He don’t exactly need capital, but it’d make AEP move faster, further, and achieve profitability sooner. The early-stage companies that I’m working with, has got [...]

African Branding Kampala– and much of Africa– in incredibly brand-conscious. Entire buildings and building blocks are painted (often just for the cost of the paint and labour) in UTL blue, Warid red, Zain purple-pink (a particulalry hideous shade that makes me think of a little blood mixed with Pepto-Bismol– see below), and now Orange. Bugolobi [...]

As an potential entrepreneur working here and looking for projects to invest in, I talk to a lot of people, and I talk over my business model with a lot of people. I often (as often as almost always) get advice, along the lines of You just be careful, you put your money where no [...]

What’s an MBA, anyway?The world, it seems, is upset and unhappy with MBAs, and for good reason. We’ve just retired our first MBA President to decidedly mixed reviews. It’s easy to forget that George Bush did lots of good things– like seriously increasing aid to Africa. Bush also did lots of things that I consider [...]

Author’s note: This is, necessarily, full of some fairly broad generalisations, but it is going somewhere– the subject matter is really broad, and I’m interested in your thoughts– in the comments. I’ll happily admit when (rather than if) I’m wrong. Without, hopefully, making strong generalizations, (Africa is, after all a continent comprised of 53 countries, [...]