Startup books #1: How Asia Works, by Joe Studwell
We at Innovation is Everywhere are fans of history and economics, as we try during our travels to see why some countries succeed in developing their economic strengths and reap benefits in terms of growth, wealth and global influence. How Asia Works – Success and Failure in the World’s most dynamic region, by Joe Studwell (Amazon), […]
Kenya startup ecosystem: welcome to the land of mobile money
The Kenya startup ecosystem is often described as a one of the hottes in Africa, alongside South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana. Its mobile money system, known as MPesa, is praised, copied, lauded, but it’s not the only feature of its startup scene. How this West Africa country has built its tech hub? Who are the key […]
What MPesa has done right and where it is headed
During Afrikoin, the first mobile money and digital currency conference held in Nairobi, I met with Brian Muthiora. Brian joined the local branch of GSMA, the global association for mobile operators, after 5 years at Safaricom handling the regulation issues for MPesa, the mobile money system designed by the Kenyan telco. Over an hour, I had the chance to hear about […]
Helping African merchants to accept mobile money: an Afrikoin discussion on education to new currencies for businesses
Several online payment providers from East Africa attending Afrikoin discussed another hurdle/opportunity in the mobile money field. If customers seem to enjoy MPesa as way to send and receive money, merchants need another approach to be educated and convinced to join the mobile money movement. Customer considerations when adopting mobile money Another great panel at Afrikoin gathered entrepreneurs […]
Big data in Africa: how an insurance company provides an optimized cover for farmers in Kenya
If you don’t have data on your business, how are you going to run it? Well, more likely than not, you’re going to use HIPPO, says Joel Macharia, founder of Abacus, a provider of data solutions for businesses. HIPPO stands for the “HIghest Paid Person’s Opinion”, and this is not the lead you want to follow. Joel showed us […]
