The notion of leapfrogging poor infrastructure in Africa needs to come back down to earth
"African tech types often think they can quickly copy rich-country products and sell them to the urban middle class. But then they discover that there is no getting around complex tax laws, a dearth of engineers and fragmented markets. The Western investors who back them have even less grasp of just how dysfunctional basic infrastructure can be, notes Ory Okolloh, a Kenyan investor and a political activist. All the evidence suggests that technology firms are no better at leapfrogging such hurdles than, say, a carmaker. The only part of the continent with a mature tech scene is South Africa: a country which also has good roads, reliable power and plenty of well-educated graduates.
Mr Kagame himself has admitted that leapfrogging has limits. Drones can transport blood, but they can’t transport doctors, who need roads. Solar panels will help people light their homes without burning kerosene, but they will not replace the functioning grid that manufacturers need. Nor will clever technology firms do away with the need for well-drafted regulation and the rule of law.
A few tech firms are pulling off impressive feats. M-Kopa, a Kenyan company backed by the Gates Foundation, has sold some 375,000 solar panels on credit, using mobile money to collect payments and to monitor the creditworthiness of borrowers. But it has had to build an entire network of old-fashioned marketers going from door to door. Jumia, a Nigerian e-commerce firm, built separate logistics systems in seven different countries. In other words, to make the most of digital opportunities these firms had to construct their own basic physical infrastructure.
Wander the streets of any big African city and it soon becomes clear that a lack of enterprise is hardly the problem. In Nairobi’s biggest slum, Kibera, the narrow dirt streets bustle with businesses charging phones from generators; running tiny cinemas showing Premier League football on satellite TVs; and selling solar panels. What you won’t find are clean toilets, potable water or anyone earning much over a few dollars a day. The main leapfrogging that takes place is over the open sewers. That is not something you can fix with a mobile-phone app."
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