Something new is happening in Africa and Her sons are coming back home!

The Entrepreneur who found the African Dream after enjoying the American dream 

Sixty-three years ago, in 1959, a dream was born. The dream was to change the lives of many brilliant African kids mostly from the East African nation of Kenya. 

That dream gave rise to an airlift, that would come to be called ‘The Kennedy airlift,’  After the then Senator John F. Kennedy contesting in a close presidential race boosted his campaign by donating $100,000 from his family’s foundation, – Joseph P. Kennedy Jr Foundation –  to cover airfare for the African students.

The airlift was supported by several famous African American personalities amongst them,-  Harry Belafonte, Jackie Robinson, Sidney Poitier, Martin Luther King Jr., and African American Students Foundation (AASF). 

And, it was a great success, it brought the likes of Barrack Obama Snr the father to former President Barack Obama to the US.

In 1990 another airlift of a different kind was initiated when the US government under the Immigration Act of 1990 created The Diversity Visa Program or green card lottery that allows people born in countries with low rates of immigration to the United States to obtain a lawful permanent resident status.

This however was a conscientious effort to populate America. Africans seeking education, better opportunities, and wanting to escape poverty have been prayerful applying for the Diversity program in droves. 

That tide reached its apex in the 1990s, as the growth of African economies slowed down, educated and professional African seeking better lives for their families wanted a share of the American dream. 

There was a spike in permanent US residence applications from Africa. This led to a severe brain drain on African economies struggling to survive.

Amongst those whose dream was to have a share of the American pie was a young African refugee boy from the tiny nation of Rwanda barely in his teens. He had a dream, a simple dream, to leave Africa, chase the American dream, and never come back! 

He dreamt of getting a visa to the US, that would be his lottery ticket. He applied and waited, then it happened, he was granted a visa to the US. He was ecstatic more so when in July of 1996 he found himself seated in a plane flying to the land of his dreams. 

He had a one-way ticket, with no intention of ever coming back to Africa. He was determined that he would achieve his American dream! 

And he did! 10 years later, after being homeless for some time and incarcerated in prison. Then something extraordinary happened, he had not counted on a new kind of dream in Africa!

In his book, My African Dream.  Henri Nyakarundi shares an inspiring account of how he survived the rigors of American life, how at one time he was homeless, ended up in jail, then started a trucking business that would become successful helping to finally achieve his American dream.

That would be the end of his story if he didn’t choose to do the unimaginable, trade everything he had worked for ten years for another kind of dream!

So what led to this drastic change of direction? 

Henri like many Africans who left the continent twenty, thirty, and forty years ago, saw a new Africa, an Africa rising from the ashes of its painful history, an Africa determined to have its rightful place at the table of prosperity. 

Henri liked what he was seeing, he wanted to have a share of this Africa, he wanted to be part of this new dream, and he wanted like the proverbial phoenix to rise from the ashes with his motherland. 

But there was a catch, a painful trade-off, he could not have both dreams, the American and the African dream! But here was a new frontier knocking – making that decision was easy. He knew what he had to do. He wanted to be part of this new Africa. 

A New Africa Emerging

As democracy takes a grip across African nations new Africa is emerging, one without coups, civil wars, dictators, gluttonous oppressors, and refugees. It’s an Africa determined to walk away from its dark history. This Africa has a card up its sleeve – it’s riding on the strength of its billion-plus strong, youthful, innovative, population.

When Henri decided to pack his bags for another one-way trip back to Africa, he was apprehensive, he had to fight ‘Africaphobia’ a creation of western media that highlights every negative thing happening in Africa and tactfully avoids reporting about well-adjusted Africans living their dream lives on the continent of their birth. 

Social media, however, helped him unplug the lid on Africa’s dark narrative. He realized African success stories were not being shared in the traditional media but were on social media. 

Henri decided to ignore negative reports and instead focus on positive news. In 2006 10 years after he left, he flew back to the country of his birth Rwanda. 

He didn’t know what promises this new Africa offered, but he was optimistic. Laying before him was a critical decision. He had to make a choice, choose a sector that promised the most potential. He grappled with two choices-  agricultural and the energy sector, finally choosing the energy sector, he zeroed in on solar.

He incorporated a technological company focused on providing social good. 

 “ARED” he says, “is not an energy company, we are a technology-for-social-good company. However, we want to bring technology to low-income areas like the rural or semi-urban areas where you need power; that is the energy component of our business.” He was quoted in an interview with smallstarter.com

Developing Homegrown African Solutions

Africa is a continent of diverse challenges, To succeed he had to create uniquely tailored  African solutions. He developed a one-stop-shop smart solar kiosk.

A platform that offers phone charging services, and digital services and provides WIFI connectivity. It’s a service targeted for rural African setups where a majority of homes are neither connected to the national electric grid nor do they have access to the internet. 

His solution is aptly named the Shiriki hub, a Swahili word that means ‘inclusiveness.’ 

Scattered over Rwanda’s rural towns and villages, The hubs have intranet WiFi, charging ports, and high visibility co-branding space.

Nyakarundi’s concept has become wildly successful. Riding on this success he sees other opportunities besides Agriculture, for instance, as global warming dries up streams, water resources dwindle and Africa becomes thirstier, he sees an opportunity in provision of safe and clean water. 

Surmounting Hurdles

Nyakarundi’s success has however not been a rollercoaster. He had to overcome several hurdles.

The lack of access to technical talent was a headache he had to deal with. The pool of African technical talent is small, whilst the demand for their services is high. This mismatch makes hiring  African Engineers quite expensive. 

He can trace this problem to African governments’ laxity to invest in human capital. Most African governments have no budget for developing engineers, Unlike countries like China which export technology. 30% of China’s GDP goes into developing engineers and nurturing human capital. 

Another African problem Nyakarundi had to surmount was the lack of access to startup funding. Seed funding is unheard of in many African countries. Most governments instead push startups to get loans from commercial banks, a terrible idea according to Nyakarundi.

Others depend on international grants,  These grants are however not designed for African innovators and the African funding ecosystem, very few African startups qualify to access them.

Secondly, the culture of innovation is new on the African continent. Governments do not provide grant programs to support R&D

Lastly, he notes that most African countries have punitive tax laws that focus on tax collection and do not allow SMEs to flourish. Small companies and startups are forced to pay the same amount of taxes as large corporations, this unequal taxation snuffs the life out of startups. 

This can be attributed to the fact that most African governments adopted foreign tax laws from their colonial masters, tax laws that were not focused on maximizing the impact of Africa’s informal sector. He noted that African governments need more homegrown and progressive tax laws.

Nyakarundi notes Negative mindsets and self-hate as another uniquely African problem;

“We keep importing experts from abroad. We keep going abroad for medical checkups. As long as we do not build the confidence and pride of our own citizens, we won’t be able to claim true independence.” 

Entrepreneurial Advice For African Entrepreneurs

Mr. Nyakarundi has some advice for African youths from the diaspora coming back to catch the new wave of opportunities;

 The first advise piece of advice is Patience. Africa’s entrepreneurial growth is still slow, things do not happen as fast as they do in the West. 

Secondly, even though Africa is a land of opportunity, the old ways are still ingrained in the African psyche.  Politics, corruption, and old oligarchs collude to keep the continent hostage to the West.

Nyakarundi’s advice is, “Patience is the key; to build a business you have to start with the foundation. Rushing will not get you anywhere but will bring you frustration and stress, If you need a license and it is not happening fast enough, just take a deep breath and work smart. Africa is a slow wheel to turn, so you have to be careful not to let your impatience get the best of you.”

The African Silver Lining

Africa has a silver lining, which has seen startups with brilliant ideas, solving uniquely African problems popping up all over the continent. 

The silver lining is in Africa’s population. In a few decades, Africa will be a 2 billion market, mostly youthful and educated citizens. 

This young population is powering Africa’s growth. According to statistics, 8 of the top 10 fastest-growing economies are in Africa. The continent has one of the highest returns on investments, at 10%, it’s higher than Europe or North America.

Despite Africa’s dark past of coups, wars, civil wars, and genocides, Africa is capable of achieving greatness without outside help. For example, after the genocide, Rwanda was a wasted country, but barely two decades later Rwanda has risen from its ashes and is now the epitome of African economic success. 

That success comes with visionary leadership and a population without selfish interests with a deep love for their country. And here is where we have good news, as democracy sweeps across the continent, African youth are demanding selflessness and good governance from their leaders. 

Conclusion

In closing Africa needs to control its own narrative. More success stories need to be told, the western media does not give African success much publicity, choosing instead to focus on beaten African problem stories, hunger, starvation, and wars. 

The worst part is that Africans in the diaspora still buy into this negative narrative and perpetuate the cycle of African negativity.