Notes From The Week #26

Week 3: 16 January - 22 January

January 23, 2023

What’s good my people? Hope we’re all doing well. Is it just me or is this month moving immensely fast and slow at the same time? There have been a few times I’ve looked at my calendar recently and I’ve been shocked at how much progress we’ve already made but then in the same breath I’m left thinking why time is moving so slow. I’ve checked some forums to see if anyone shares the same sentiment and apparently I feel this way because I’m old. Thanks for that random person on Quora.

This week we’ll be looking at an example of leapfrogging technology and then I’ll share some thoughts on how I’m thinking about reacting to the opportunities a period of significant change presents.

The Leapfrog Generation

In going directly to mobile, many African nations were able to skip the step of building extensive and expensive landline infrastructure. Development experts describe such a phenomenon as “leapfrog technology.” When I saw the tweet above I was reminded of this fact. I’ve recently picked up Africa’s Business Revolution (would highly recommend for anyone interested in the macroeconomic/business landscape of the African continent) and I’ve been reminded of the seismic opportunity that is provided to a youthful population that have been introduced to the internet through mobiles and cellphones (for my American readers).

“If Africa’s businesses and governments harness the full economic potential of the internet, it could add $300 billion to the continent’s GDP by 2025. The story of mobile telephony in Africa shows this projection is not far-fetched: cell phones have already had an outsized effect in Africa, connecting people who previously had little or not access to telecommunications due to the scarcity of fixed-line infrastructure.” - Africa’s Business Revolution

The mobile revolution in Sub-Saharan Africa must be also credited with paving the way for new mobile-based payment systems and micropayment solutions resulting in new possibilities and progress in the region. The ecosystem that has developed as a result of the developments in the space have created a strong precedent for the business and investment contingent across the continent. Positive markers have also been developed such as the acquisition of Paystack by Stripe.

“If Africa accelerates its adoption of digital and mobile technologies, it will realise major productivity gains, which in turn will translate into higher living standards and greater business opportunities across the continent.” - Africa’s Business Revolution

While such leapfrogging has provided an immense amount of potential. The African internet economy is expanding quickly, with online commerce in the region growing 21% year-over-year, 75% faster than the global average. To ensure this moment is transformative a number of additional conditions must be met. Significant investment into infrastructure must still take place, particularly into infrastructure that will accelerate the adoption of digital and mobile technologies. A supportive regulatory environment for new business models to be tested will also serve as an important factor for continued progress. It’s not an exhaustive Christmas list but the combination of those two conditions could radically transform a landscape already bursting with enormous potential.

Taking The Current

In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Brutus and Cassius are strategising about the final stage of the civil war they are fighting with Octavian and Marcus Antonius’ forces. Cassius urges Brutus and his associates to assemble their forces at a secure location at Sardis, to take full advantage of catching their breath. In essence, they had been provided with a significant opportunity in the war and had to act immediately as the ratio of forces has now become favourable to them. In other words, they had found leverage and if they were to be successful they would need to act imminently.

The late Nipsey Hussle said: “I weighed the risk and the reward and saw the scale tippin’” When we look at the events unfolding in our world it’s clear to see that the scale is tipping in favour of creators, contributors and curators. Technology is empowering people to pursue opportunities they couldn’t have dreamed of across domains they could have never imagined. This will be the direction of flow for the new economy in the fourth industrial revolution.

We sit at the beginning of this period and have been invited to participate. If you can pivot accordingly the opportunities will be endless. Growing up where I’m from, opportunities are scarce but one thing I can tell you about the people I came up with — they are extremely resourceful. They are alchemists consistently creating something out of nothing. The questions of risk and reward I saw while working in finance were not too dissimilar in nature from the same questions we were forced to ask in our teens. We weighed the risk and reward and made assessments based on where we saw the scale tip.

I made this video to provide some context to the thoughts above—hopefully there are some helpful takeaways that will allow you to react to the opportunities our time is presenting.

Until next week. Peace.