[kictanet] Why local funding is critical for ICT projects

Fri Aug 17 13:21:33 EAT 2018

Great discussions.

Case 1.

In 1990 when Roger Milla scored against Argentina and danced at the corner
flag - a whole generation of African footballers was born. in 1995, George
Weah stepped on the podium and scooped the  Ballon d'Or, the Onze d'Or
and scooped the World Footballer of the year, a whole generation believed.
The rest is history.

Case 2.
When WhatsApp sold to Facebook for $19B, the messaging world took notice
and the rest is history.

My point we still have not yet had successful exits in KE. the successful
ones are the ones who bought land along Thika road and were compensated by
the government for huge amounts, hence why we ALL buy land. Thats our
success story.

I have advised some waheshimiwas /owners of capital on Tech and its
impossible to move the needle from Land to Tech, unless, well someone exits
and they will believe.

But its only a matter of time.

Lastly. I stopped decompressing with Social Media, Business articles /
Media re KE tech scene. I made that mistake some time 2016 - brought some
investors and on the ground there was simply nothing. The knowledge gap was
so HUGE. We hype ourselves too much on these streets I think. That said I
know there is a small number doing great stuff, but very small.

E Njoroge Mwangi
Technology| FINTECH | Big Data

Cell +44 7539372742
Skype: Erick.mwangi

On Fri, Aug 17, 2018 at 10:22 AM, Ahmed Mohamed Maawy via kictanet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> Hello Muraya,
>
> Great topic for discussion.
>
> Simply speaking I could sight 2 issues (from personal observation) that we
> may need to address.
>
> *Risk taking culture*
>
> From experience, this goes beyond folks with deep pockets and banking
> institutions and other financial players in the market. Conversations with
> folks in these circles end up with the blank statement that "IT is a Big
> Risk Investment". Thus we opt for solid less risk investments - real
> estate, shopping malls, shopping centers, etc. As much as it is our job as
> IT practitioners to convince these folks otherwise, its a double edged
> sword. Its sometimes perceptions like these ones from the folks who can
> invest money into risk areas that create an economy that is net import
> instead of net export. End of the day folks won't stay in houses and shop
> in malls they can't afford to shop in if the economy will not create
> surplus revenues from products that will bring in net revenue.
>
> Granted business is all about returns, but who knew Mark Zuckerberg could
> launch the largest online community from a dorm? What if he just decided to
> build a shopping mall? The biggest wins are always in uncharted
> territories. So its on us and our investment partners to look at things
> differently.
>
> *Scalability*
>
> We also need to give a compelling reason why our products are not just
> enough for the job. A lot of innovations stagnate at the "it does enough"
> zone and fail to look for bigger fish to fry. There is also an attention to
> detail issue in the equation. Basically, if we produce whats sufficent and
> not whats excellent, we compromise on principles of great product
> development. We need to think beyond this.
>
> Just my 2 cents...
>
> On Fri, Aug 17, 2018 at 11:43 AM S.M. Muraya via kictanet <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
>> Last week Walu penned some very pertinent thoughts (will create a second
>> thread for that article). The current one is somehow related
>>
>>
>> https://www.nation.co.ke/oped/blogs/dot9/walubengo/Why-
>> local-funding-critical-for-ICT-projects/2274560-4715472-
>> rn8g4kz/index.html
>>
>> Quote:  "What is this that foreign investors see in our ICT potential
>> that local investors don’t? Additionally, what are the ‘strings’ attached,
>> which more often than not go hand in hand with foreign money... our
>> typical local investor is only interested in the traditional assets.."
>>
>> Reality: We (veterans in ignoring/undermining each other) did not model
>> decency for upcoming talent and now they worship foreigners who due to
>> cultural differences (misunderstanding) cannot move our nation forward.
>>
>> https://businesstech.co.za/news/cloud-hosting/251373/
>> amazon-and-microsoft-talk-up-south-african-data-centres/
>>
>> Case in point, why do excellent multi nationals (e.g. Microsoft, Amazon)
>> favor South Africa for data centers? In South Africa there is an efficient,
>> creative (primarily white) minority population which does not undermine
>> (deceive) itself as much as we do.
>>
>> To conclude, last year, a well spoken, well presented employer/investor
>> (former high school mate of mine 25+ years ago) was shocked by Kenyans in
>> their early twenties. He conducted a research for one of his clients and 24
>> out of 26 lied in their submissions.
>>
>> That is all.
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>>
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>
>
> --
> *Ahmed Maawy*
> Skype: ultimateprogramer
>
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>
> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>
>
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