“Innovative Africa: The New Face of Africa” speaks of the innovative space and development in Africa. The book, digitally published in September 3, is written by Will Mutua and Mbwana Alliy.
The book comprises of essays that the two authors penned down on the rise of Africa’s innovative age. This has been witnessed by numerous startups being fuelled by the Internet connectivity efforts in Africa.
It discusses two agenda one being Investigating Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Africa and the other dealing with Search of a Model for Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem that fits the African Context.
The first part looks at what has changed the innovation sector in Africa. The publication accounts that the emerging use of social media, has also influenced the tech scene in Africa. The second part of the book aims to guide this growth with ideas even from other tech spaces around the globe.
Dr. Jasper Grosskurth, the Director of Research and Strategy at Research Solutions Africa, says that, “The spread of affordable bandwidth and low-priced hardware have certainly helped this development. But there are less tangible, yet important drivers.”
Such less tangible but important drivers include, the level of education being experienced in Africa which means the literacy levels are dropping hence aiding more Africans to be in touch with global trends.
Mutua denotes that the rising innovation hubs have played a major role in attracting and motivating these talented youth and their skills have been nurtured. There are at least 35 tech hubs in 13 countries strewn across Africa.
The book largely takes stock of the New Face of Africa in technology with major milestones that the content has passed.
The book quotes The Economist as once depicting the continent as “The Hopeless continent” but in years to come the same magazine is showing a new side of Africa. Mutua says this is largely due to the growth and uptake of technology in the market.
Indeed, The Economist published a lavish article about the tech spaces in Africa. In an article aptly titled Upwardly Mobile, the article reveals the disruptive effect of the mobile phone, which is prolific in countries like Kenya.
Mutua is the founder of the tech hub website, Afrinnovator while Alliy is the Founder and Managing Partner at Savannah Fund, an investment fund recently launched in Africa.
