Technology is changing lives — even saving lives — in Africa, the world’s second most populous continent. For entrepreneurs, this also presents an opportunity of epic proportions.
In Rwanda, for example, where electricity is available to less than a quarter of the population, more than 60 percent of people now have access to mobile phones. And although only 8 percent of Rwandans are internet users, that number is growing rapidly.
In The Shift: The Entrepreneurs and Companies Bringing Africa Online, my good friend Elizabeth Gould who produced the Techstars documentary series on Bloomberg TV now reports on some of these inspiring stories of ingenuity and entrepreneurship in Africa. A production of BloombergTVAfrica, this will be an ongoing series about technology and entrepreneurship across Africa. In the first segment, Rwanda, Kenya and South Africa are featured:
African entrepreneurship has really been moving forward for some time now. A while back I invested in a company called Mobius Motors, which is based in Kenya. Mobius designs, manufactures and sells durable, affordable vehicles designed for typical road terrain, usage and income profiles in the region. The company also makes transport platforms that local entrepreneurs can customize for various transportation businesses.
Here’s a second segment about Kenya’s mobile money revolution. It’s great stuff.
It’s exciting to hear about all the development taking place and the lives being improved across Africa, and it will be interesting to see what the future holds for the continent. I look forward to upcoming installments of “The Shift” with more compelling stories of the individuals and companies who are creating that future.
