This week, a Nigerian startup called Terra Industries – led by two 22-year-olds – beat out international competition for a $1.2 million contract to provide drone security to hydropower plants. With only 36% of Africans having internet access, this win signals how far the continent has come – and can go – in terms of global tech success.
“I want to see Africa work in my lifetime,” said company co-founder Nathan Nwachukwu. According to the site Techpoint Africa, he wants “to build something that matters, … that will be a sign of hope for the continent.”
From artificial intelligence and online banking to drones and data centers, sub-Saharan Africa is on a roll these days. One reason is that 70% of its people are under the age of 30. And around a quarter of youth aspire to start their own business and be self-employed.
Another reason is rapid urbanization, which affords better internet access. Many young urbanites are creating their own “platform livelihoods,” small (or not-so-small) businesses that leverage online information-sharing, order-taking, and market outreach.
This week, Ghana signed a $1 billion agreement with the United Arab Emirates to build a technology and innovation hub. It’s expected to support regional startups, as well as draw global AI behemoths. Google, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services have already invested in large data center operations in Africa.
Kenya has become one of Africa’s high-tech centers, dubbed “Silicon Savannah.” Local firm M-KOPA has opened the first and largest smartphone assembly plant in East Africa. It now provides internet-based financial services to hundreds of thousands of “unbanked” businesses and customers in multiple countries.
A May report by McKinsey consulting firm estimates that “at-scale deployment” of various forms of AI and cloud-based computing could unlock billions of dollars in added economic value for African economies. Innovation in African tech is not always about creating from scratch; it’s also about skillfully adapting successful approaches from elsewhere. Terra Industries says it drew lessons from a Silicon Valley defense tech company to pursue contracts to both build drone fleets and license operating software for sustained income.
Tony Elumelu, one of Nigeria’s wealthiest businessmen and philanthropists, tells young entrepreneurs that business success requires flexibility to adapt to change, excellence in setting standards that inspire others, and a curiosity that explores possibilities in technology. When 22-year-old Africans win a big contract for drones, they’re living up to that potential.
