African Innovation and Entrepreneurialism

I’ve reconnected with two old friends here in Kayanga, Tanzania. Together, they’ve reminded me why we’re here and shown me (again) the strength of local growth and innovation. Most people have missed it, but the vast majority of Africa has actually experienced steady growth over the past decade. That’s particularly true if you remove the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Darfur region of Sudan from the analysis. Two friends here exemplify this trend.

Joseph Sekiku is the director and co-founder of FADECO, the Family Alliance for Development and Cooperation. Since FADECO’s founding in 1993, he has identified challenges, innovated, struggled, gathered scarce resources, and developed countless solutions. A few years ago, he received one of the highest global honors for social entrepreneurship when he was named an Ashoka fellow. Over the past four years, we’ve been privileged to help support some of his efforts, through some funding and through some direct labor.

In the early 90s he realized his region wasn’t food self-sufficient. He educated landholders on sustainable farming techniques. Output exploded. Suddenly they needed markets. He helped develop a solar fruit-drying program to ensure goods had greater chances of getting the whole way to a market without spoiling. He realized sharing information was key to development, so he developed a newsletter for farmers. Then he figured out how to devise a satellite connection to get internet access to the region. Suddenly, people had information access – and soon additional internet cafes followed. He saw other NGOs were spending large amounts on educating community members, so he developed a radio station through innovation and accepting some donations. 

He built his first transmitter and rigged together the first radio tower out of sections of rebar. These local radio broadcasts - used to educate people on farming practices, positive water usage and hygiene habits, women’s rights, and health concerns – are now heard by more than four million people, extending well beyond the immediate Karagwe region. 

Joseph is keen on preventative and proactive efforts in community development. He applauds the US Government for its recent emphasis on providing treated anti-malarial bed nets and placing an emphasis on indoor spraying in homes. These practices, in his mind, are far superior to providing drugs or healthcare only after people have contracted malaria. In the region this year, the number of malaria cases dropped from previous years.

Joseph achieves all of this through a unique set of gifts and circumstances and also by being consistently innovative with the scarce resources he has. His family was originally from this region. His father was the region’s only doctor, but in Joseph’s youth they lived in Uganda. At the time, the schools were substantially better there. Joseph focused on his studies until he had a university degree in agriculture sciences, which he thought would give him more opportunity to help than a medical degree like his father’s.

Joseph’s biggest obstacle through the years – he says – has been community members and visitors who don’t believe improvement is possible. He recalls pointing toward bare hills that could be forested, declaring that fruits could be dried and sold, and beginning to build a radio tower – all to the sound of laughter and disbelief. Like any innovator, he has been forced to hold steady in his commitments and efforts despite the gathering community condescension.

Fortunately for Joseph and for the region of Karagwe, this area has seen steady growth. Joseph has had the chance to not only see the success of the efforts he spearheaded, but he has also seen the number of secondary schools, in just two decades, go from three to nearly forty.

During the four years I’ve been visiting the area, cell phone networks have appeared and become consistent and reliable, a water system has been installed in town (36% of people in the region now have access to water), an ATM machine has been installed at the bank, and – thanks to Joseph and others – local radio is available and multiple internet access points are possible. The harbinger of things to come: my friend Deo loaned me a Vodafone Tanzania wireless access point for my computer, meaning I should be able to pick up internet wherever there’s a cell signal. The signals aren’t consistently quite strong enough yet, but – next year.

And another friend, Peter Lazarus, is an inspiring innovator of another sort. Three years ago he had less than nothing, but a clear will to succeed and ideas for a business. Through work, smooth talk, innovation and serious effort, he’s now a very small business owner in town. Of course, he has ideas for growth. More about him – I call him Lazaro – next time.