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03/10/2024

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: Study to improve yourself...
__ "Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow". W. E. B. Du Bois

Although I studied as an engineer, I have never been a typical engineer or techie, for the simple reason that I have always loved literature and the social sciences, including economics, history, and politics.

I grew up at a time when we were encouraged that no matter what quality education you had access to [or not], you could always improve yourself. Having studied in Britain for instance, I was acutely aware of the fact that I was not taught Black History at school. That did not bother me at all; I simply went to bookstores and built my own library of black literature and history!

As a young man, you would have been totally amazed about my book collections, which I read ferociously. One of my earliest interests was also reading about African American and Caribbean history. Whenever I met an African, African American, or Caribbean black person, I would ask them to give me a list of books and authors I should read.

Without a doubt, one of my own heroes as a young man was an African American guy called W. E. B. Du Bois. In many ways he shaped a lot of my own Pan-Africanism. This amazing intellectual giant was the first black person to be awarded a PhD at Harvard... back in 1895!

As I write this particular post, I'm at Harvard University where last evening I was honored as one of eight recipients of the W. E. B. Du Bois Medal, Harvard's highest honor in the field of African and African American studies, given to individuals both from across the USA and the world for their "contributions to African and African American culture and the life of the mind."

Here's a little more for you to read about the event, the Hutchins Center, and previous W. E. B. Du Bois medal honorees: https://hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu/hutchins-center-honors

I’m truly honored and I appreciate all the kind statements of congratulations since it was announced. Above all, I’m humbled because I truly know how great this man was.

Do yourself one favor... Imitate me in this one passion of my life: Read, read, read!

As Du Bois wrote, "Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow."

Image credit: Melissa Blackall Photography.

Glen H Hutchins, me, James Manyika, and Professor Henry Louis "Skip" Gates, Jr. (Director of Harvard's Hutchins Center for African & African American Research).

My gratitude for the warm kind words from my friends here, and support from the rest of the Harvard team who put together the ceremony. Was wonderful meeting and listening to fellow Medalists; here's a link, if you'd like to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siinTKYp5VU

10/09/2024

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Congratulations to Africa's amazing agripreneurs
__Vision, innovation, and impact in action!

Today I want to salute young entrepreneurs from across Africa who took part in this year's US$166,000 GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize competition. The top-12 pitches were held on stage at the Africa Food Systems Forum in Kigali last Tuesday, and the winners were finally announced Friday.

But as I told the young entrepreneurs in my remarks before their 3-minute finale pitches on Tuesday... I consider ALL African entrepreneurs who are busy pioneering solutions with their businesses to be winners. And I'm sure that includes many of you, whether you made it to this year's GoGettaz Africa finale or not.

This is some of what I told them:

"To all participants, and I’m not just talking to those who made the finalists, I’ve always said this is one award in which the winner is anyone who participates, because at the end of the day, we can give you an award, but it’s not an end in itself.

__The end is to build African enterprises that create jobs, that can scale, that can solve real problems as they build the prosperity of nations.

If you are a participant, you are a winner, not just the finalists, because you are showing us you have the confidence, you have the ability, and you have put together a business. Pat yourself on the back and give a high-five to your team for participating... because entrepreneurs try, try, and try again until they succeed.

To this year’s finalists, I am so proud of you. I have gone through the lists and been following the reports. To the winners: Well done. Africa thanks you. I thank you".

That's how I ended my remarks.

Now I've been telling you here on this platform about this GoGettaz competition for years. Well, the startups that are applying just keep getting better and better! The are just Wow! Here's the press release for the details: https://gogettaz.africa/2024-gogettaz-agripreneur-prize-winners-announced-africas-top-young-agrifood-innovators-receive-us166000-in-prize-money/

This year's two US$50,000 grand prize winners are Fatima Zahra El Khou, Founder, CEO, and Head of Research & Innovation from Jafife (Morocco), and Dr. Iddi Mohammed Faried, Co-founder and CEO of Kodu Technology (Ghana).

# Fatima El Khou’s company, Jafife, is revolutionizing the agri-food supply chain in Morocco with digitalized solar-powered technology that transforms crops and seafood into long-lasting dried food products that keep their nutritional value and quality.

# Dr. Iddi Mohammed Faried is co-founder of a company called Kodu Technology that has introduced a scientific innovation in Ghana that transforms banana and plantain fibers into eco-friendly sanitary pads for women, addressing health and hygiene challenges, with a mission to eradicate "period poverty" especially in rural areas. Imagine!

Four Impact Award winners were also announced on Friday. They each will receive a US$15,000 prize to help them build their remarkable businesses.

# Charles Oyamo – Rethread Africa, Kenya. Technology Impact Prize. Rethread Africa converts agricultural waste from sugarcane into sustainable bioplastics, providing eco-friendly materials, focusing on the fashion industry.

# Tisya Mukuna, La BOITE, DR Congo. Job Creation and Improving Rural Livelihoods Impact Prize. La BOITE produces La Kinoise coffee, cultivated and transformed entirely in Kinshasa, managing the entire value chain from plantation to processing.

# Salimata Toh, AGRIBANANA, Côte d'Ivoire. Resource Use and Climate Impact Prize. AGRIBANANA transforms banana plant waste into eco-friendly products like natural fibres, paper pulp, and biodegradable packaging.

# Riantsoa Mialinarindra, Sakafo Madagascar. Job Creation, Nutrition and Gender Impact Prize. Sakafo Madagascar processes fruits and vegetables grown by small-scale farmers into traceable, nutritious food products for mass markets, with a focus on reducing post-harvest loss.

Six remaining finalists this year each received a US$1,000 GoGettaz “Young Catalyst Award”, recognizing their excellence and catalytic contributions to grow, transform, and positively impact Africa’s agrifood systems:

# Deborah Nzarubara – Grecom, DR Congo.Grecom specializes in the production, sale, and transformation of beekeeping products using its NYUKI TECH platform.

# Arristine Mendes – SHADDAÏ Aquaculture, Senegal.SHADDAÏ Aquaculture produces fish feed without fish meal, using alternative protein sources and lysis technology for digestibility.

# Mogale Maleka – Agang Bokamoso Farms (AB Farms), South Africa. AB Farms’ patented vertical hydroponic system operates efficiently during water and power shortages, using 90% less water and 10 times less land than traditional farming.

# Bruk Getahun – ChipChip, Ethiopia. ChipChip.Social uses an innovative “group buying” model to provide affordable, quality food to urban families while empowering farmers.

# Mohamed Amine Bensalem – Hayat Technology, Tunisia. Hayat Technology’s GrowIt system uses AI-driven sensors and real-time data analysis to optimize water usage and enhance crop management.

# Mostafa Hassanen – Plug’n’Grow, Egypt. Plug’n’Grow specializes in hydroponic and aquaculture solutions, enabling growers to produce premium quality crops with minimal resources.

Huge congratulations to you all. If you check out these businesses and watch their pitches, you will see examples of including and .

To take a deeper look at their , here's a link to the 2024 Top-12 Deal Book: https://gogettaz.africa/explore-the-2024-gogettaz-agripreneur-prize-competi…

A few more special I want to be sure to mention here today:

So many took part to support the GoGettaz this year, like MC Millicent Adoboe [GoGettaz 2020 Impact Award winner from Ghana], Sherrie Silver and her young dancers from Rwanda, Solange Tetero from the Ministry of Youth and Arts in Rwanda who addressed the Finale audience at the Youth Dome, the GoGettaz team, our judges led by Ada Osakwe, our GoGettaz , including Arne Cartridge at Yara International and Dr Agnes Kalibata, President of AGRA, who presented the winners' awards on Friday, Africa Food Systems Forum team, USAID - US Agency for International Development, Mastercard Foundation, SNV, and SACAU -- To all, I thank you. Africa's young entrepreneurs thank you.

Together we are building Africa's century. Aren't our young agripreneurs amazing!?







Image: Back row: Tshegoun Koba (Judge), Ada Osakwe (Lead judge and with GoGettaz since the beginning), Nana Yaa Amoah (Judge), Iddi Mohammed Faried (Ghana), Charles Oyamo (Kenya), Fina Kayisanabo (Judge), Jane Baldwin (Judge), Luis Alfredo Pérez (Judge); Middle row: Mogale Maleka (South Africa), Bruk Getahun (Ethiopia), Mohamed Amine Bensalem (Tunisia); Front row: Riantsoa Mialinarindra (Madagascar), Tsiya Mukuna (DR Congo), Arristine Mendes (Senegal), Deborah Nzarubara (DR Congo), Fatima Zahra El Khou (Morocco). Not pictured: Salamata Toh (Côte d'Ivoire) and Mostafa Hassanen (Egypt). To watch the whole pitch finale: here's a YouTube link (3h9m). *The show starts at 12min+/- and the pitches at around 1h. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJSUIBAiPSA

10/09/2024

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09/09/2024

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06/09/2024

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01/09/2024

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31/08/2024

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31/08/2024

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How to make money from AI now [Part 2]
__Chart your course and seize the moment. Change is happening with or without you.

To recap: If you have a business, you should be busy trying out AI business tools that can help your business operate more efficiently, and save you time and lots of money!

Last week I called that ”AI Infusion”! This is where you use AI tools in your existing business, whatever it might be.

A friend of mine is an interior designer and has begun to use AI to amplify and speed up his . It's remarkable as he is now able to do 50x more work, and the designs are off the charts. It’s not AI that's doing it...! It’s him with higher . This is what we mean by using AI to make money through AI Infusion.

There are already powerful AI business tools and the number is increasing every day. Some tools are for the business whilst others are for personal use. You can use off-the-shelf from well-established companies like Google, AWS, Microsoft, etc., for a monthly license fee. You can also get more bespoke solutions to fit your needs from the hundreds of AI startups popping up everywhere.

Which brings me to the second way to make money from AI now: Instead of “Infusion” into the of an existing business to improve the bottom line, you simply start a native AI business from scratch. This is what we have done with Cassava AI!

Those who studied our website: https://www.cassava.ai/ will have noticed that our approach was two-pronged:

#1. "Fast follow"
I taught you how to do this years ago. Remember, you don’t have to every last thing yourself. You can approach those who have excellent and offer to . Who can tell me how many I have on the Cassava AI website?

#2. “Innovate products yourself”
At Cassava AI we have developed our own products that we are selling to other businesses and earning money. Our experts developed EcoChat AI, Yemurai, CECI and others that are now being rolled out by Econet and Liquid to their customers. Other operators across Africa will soon be “licensed” to use them, too.

So, yeah; I’m making money and you should, too!

The first step is to spend time really getting to understand AI. As I wrote last week, why don’t you download something like the Claude App from the Android or iStore. And have fun with it! Your poems a few weeks ago were extraordinary, and some of the images you put together and other resources you have recently shared.

Keep trying it out and learn as much as you can. Maybe enroll for an online AI course and if it's a good one, let the platform know. You can also go to YouTube and learn more. I've shared this link before and I'll share it here again. Skilling up doesn't have to cost the earth to study. Take a look: https://www.infobip.com/blog/free-online-ai-courses

If you spend two hours a day just playing around with apps like ChatGPT, Claude, DALLE-E, and many others, you will become very proficient within 3-6 months, or much much sooner! So proficient, in fact, you will soon have ideas of your own about how you can start an AI business...

Hehehe! Let’s start today!

BTW: I’m planning to set up an AI StartUp Prize similar to the GoGettaz competition I started for young entrepreneurs in that's now in its 6th year. In this new competition, our judges will choose the best AI StartUps in Africa every year, with different categories.

Now I am giving you a heads-up here and hope by the time we launch, yours will be one of those startups bidding for my prize!

I need you whatever age you are and wherever you are, to look up, look out, look around you, look at your business, look at our shared earth, and look within as well. And yes, look at what is in your hands. Change is happening fast. What you DO about it is also in your hands.

Be part of this tech revolution. Study. Invent. Lead. Reflect. Imagine. Create. Go forth! There are more possibilities for you now than ever before. Get yourself prepared.

Image credit: KWB-UbuntuHope via AI.

30/08/2024

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28/08/2024

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First day of first grade! See all of our first day of school pics https://bit.ly/3ZYtceq

27/08/2024

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How to make money from AI, now! [Part 1]
__Start where you are.

By now I hope you're all thinking about AI as the most dramatic technological breakthrough in 100+ years. There has not been a development like this since the invention of electricity; it’s bigger than aeroplanes, cell phones, or computers. Don't be intimidated! Jump in and learn!

Back in 1990 when my business was really small, just a StartUp, a potential investor asked me what I would do with the funds I was trying to raise. I said something like this: “I want to invest in desktop and laptop computers. I want everyone in my company’s leadership team to have computers.”

This was 1990 when very, very few companies in Africa had computers... and they were so, so expensive! The reason for me was simple: I have always connected increased and with increased !

Well, I got the investment and I did just that: I used the money to buy [both digital and physical] to enable my people to be more productive and efficient, and help our company grow. At the time, the decision to invest scarce resources to get computers for all our management team was seen as a bit ambitious I think...

Imagine!

Now fast forward to 2024: Do you have an existing business? If yes, even if you are a one-person or 100,000-employee business, you can very likely use AI to make it better. To do that, have you been busy as we have talked about here several times?

These days I generally talk to our teams about approaches to increase our profits by using AI to improve and/or . Even the knows if you can cut the time it takes to do something [well!], you can save money or make more money with the extra time.

For instance, depending on your business, if you double the number of you can see and serve [well!], and increase the number of quality [Products or Services] you can produce, in a shorter time, you increase the chances of making more money.

In my own businesses, we began with an initiative we call AI-Infusion@Econet, AI-Infusion@Liquid, etc. Basically, this means our teams led by the CEO and CFO are challenged to find AI tools in the market that can be deployed in the business. There are now thousands of off-the-shelf apps available, including from the likes of Google and Microsoft. If you use Microsoft Office 365, for example, you can simply add Microsoft CoPilot as your Chatbot Assistant. If you use Google, you can also easily add Gemini as your "AI Assistant," too.

In each of our companies, I set targets on the use of AI tools in everything from sales, marketing, customer care, logistics, finance, HR, etc. For us, we see AI giving us around 10-20% cost improvements, and it can mean hundreds of millions of additional profits. Hehehe! This is what's going on in the corporate world right now. It is a revolution. One CEO of a big company recently told me that they see a 30% profit increase in just 12 months!

To be clear: We are not talking about Robots replacing people but AI [smart] software. The robot stuff is mostly for the movies [at least for now!] But it's moving fast.

Imagine trying to run a business with almost no computers, no internet, and no cell phones! Well, it was like that less than 40 years ago! Now, there's AI. Three years from today, if you are still running a business in which AI is not INFUSED in every aspect of your 3Ps, you will be like a caveman using pigeons to communicate!

"AI Infusion" applies to every type of business, but there is a more excellent way which I will talk about next week. Meanwhile, let me say I was Wow-ed and humbled by the AI poems some of you created last week. Amazing. Also, I was pleased to read how some of you guys are starting to use AI in other ways. You are even giving hints to each other about learning new AI skills like "prompt engineering". This is great!

Keep sharing what you're learning and doing with AI [in your life and businesses], and also tell us about AI training programs you think all our entrepreneurs should know about.

Bottom line: Don’t just talk, talk!

Get in the water and start swimming!

Image credit: KWB-UbuntuHope via AI. "What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" Vincent van Gogh

22/08/2024

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11/08/2024

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11/08/2024

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15/02/2022

12/01/2022

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12/01/2022

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07/01/2022

“Know your numbers” is a fundamental precept …
__Are you sure you can “see” the business?

I once took a Finance course where the Prof would give us a set of financial statements in which details on type of business or industry were deliberately removed, and you would be given a few minutes to explain what it was.

I loved it because I never failed once to get the right answer!

The exercise ingrained in me that when it comes to analyzing a business, any business, I must first look at its financials!

Don’t say to me: “Such and such a company is BIG O!” because if I dare to interrogate your response, I might embarrass you.

__On this platform, my job is to remind you what really matters for entrepreneurs.

Questions: [No prizes]

How many Premier League businesses are listed on the Stock Exchange in the UK?

Who owns Formula One?

Who owns your favorite sports team? Is it a good business? How do you know?

These are businesses, guys!

It’s a New Year. Time to get back to business.

Let's talk.

Image credit: Photographer unknown, Mozambique. “Courage starts with showing up and letting yourself be seen…” Adapted from Brene Brown