TED Talks Daily - The innovators building Africa's thriving tech scene | Peace Itimi

Episode Date: August 8, 2024

“A new reality has emerged, one where ambitious Africans are writing their own stories as builders and as innovators,” says business storyteller Peace Itimi. Taking us inside Africa’s booming tech scene, she highlights the trailblazing entrepreneurs and startups reshaping Africa's economy through innovation and ambition.

TED Audio Collective of Africa. 60% of its population is under the age of 25. And this is a condition for young entrepreneurs to thrive, says business storyteller Peace Atimi. And in her talk, she tells us of a tech revolution that's about to lead a herd of unicorn companies from across Africa. Coming up after a short sponsor message. Support for this show comes from Airbnb. If you know me, you know I love staying in Airbnbs when I travel. They make my family feel most at home when we're away from home. As we settled down at our Airbnb during a recent vacation to Palm Springs, I pictured my own home sitting empty. Wouldn't it be smart and better put to use welcoming a family like mine by hosting it on Airbnb? It feels like the practical thing to do, and with the extra income, I could save up

for renovations to make the space even more inviting for ourselves and for future guests. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.ca slash host. Sonia Sinek from Creative Destruction Lab as they ask bold questions like, why is Canada lagging in AI adoption and how to catch up? Don't get left behind. Listen to Disruptors, the innovation era, and stay ahead of the game in this fast-changing world. Follow Disruptors on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform. I want to tell you about a podcast I love called Search Engine, hosted by PJ Vogt. Each week, he and his team answer these perfect questions, the kind of questions that, when you ask them at a dinner party, completely derail conversation. Questions about business, tech, and society, like, is everyone pretending to understand inflation? Why don't we have flying

cars yet? And what does it feel like to believe in God? If you find this world bewildering, but also sometimes enjoy being bewildered by it, check out Search Engine with PJ Vogt, available now wherever you get your podcasts. And now, our TED Talk of the day. So, we all love a great startup story, right? Right?

Good, I do. And we particularly love a great startup story, right? Right? Good, I do. And we particularly love the underdog ones, you know, where a small idea makes it big, despite all the odds, where many giants are slayed before a resounding success. Well, I'm convinced that there's nowhere where this narrative is more captivating or where it echoes more profoundly

than in the countries and communities of Africa. Africa has been portrayed over and over again through the lens of outdated myths. The world only sees us as a continent that's plagued by poverty, insecurity and stifled innovation. You know, a land of endless potential that forever remains unrealized. But yet, underneath these tired stereotypes, a new reality has emerged.

One where ambitious Africans are writing their own stories as builders and as innovators. We have the youngest population in the world, with over 60% under 25. And this youthful energy, combined with increasing access to technology as we see it today, has become the perfect recipe for a tech revolution. We are no longer waiting for the future.

We are actively constructing it. See, our greatest resource is not the gold, the oil, the diamonds, the platinum. It has always been the people. How do I know this? I spent the last couple of years bringing African tech talent, founders, and funders together through events I organize. And also hosting a series on YouTube called Founders Connect. Through Founders Connect, I have interviewed over 80 African tech entrepreneurs who share their stories with me, their lessons, their challenges, their victories.

So I'll tell you some of those stories. One of that is one of Nigeria's tech matriarchs. Her name is Funke Okpeke. We call her Auntie Funke. She's the founder of MainOne, and in 2008, she decided to tackle the issue of internet connectivity in Nigeria. And she ended up laying the first privately owned undersea cable in West Africa, stretching 7,000 kilometers, all the way from Portugal in Europe to West Africa. This bold move resulted in a surge of internet speeds in the country. For context, the earlier cables had 800 gigabytes in capacity,

but the one led by Min1 came with 10 terabytes. That was over 1,000 percent increase in capacity, but the one laid by Minwan came with 10 terabytes. That was over a thousand percent increase in capacity. The result, an explosion of tech startups in Nigeria that have now become the lifeblood of our economy. This initial trickle that started at the time of anti-fungal kept growing into a massive current of new startups by mid to late 2010s. An example is another of my favorite stories, PiggyVest. It's the first online service and investment app in Nigeria, and it was founded in 2016 by Somto Ifuize, Odunayui Winiyi, and Yoshua Chibuize. And they're serial entrepreneurs.

PiggyVest has helped over 4.5 million Nigerians to save well over $1.4 billion. That's a lot of money. Imagine the impact they have made in the lives of people. And the momentum kept going and going and going, even further in 2020, when Paystack, a company that helps businesses get paid easily online, became one of Africa's biggest startup stores.

The founders, Ezra Olubi and Shola Kilade, were the first Nigerians to get into Y Combinator. And in 2020, when they sold their company to Stripe for $200 million, I mean, they made a lot of money for themselves, obviously. But also, they returned 1,400 percent ROI to their early backers, many of whom were local investors in the country, thus giving money back to the ecosystem that has allowed them to invest in more companies. And they sparked a renewed belief in just how big Nigeria's communists could go. I think I gave the the earlier pioneers like Andy

Funke lit a spark, what Paystack did was that it set a raging fire across the entire Nigerian ecosystem. Because their acquisition did not just raise headlines, it also resulted in the Paystack mafia. It's similar with the PayPal mafia, right? Very similar, as they've gone to create iconic companies, there are now at least 10 former paystack staffers that have spun out their own ventures. They're building fantastic solutions in open banking, tech talent outsourcing. They're building fintech neobanks.

They're building on-demand food and grocery solutions. They're basically pushing the boundaries of what is innovation in Africa. And now, back to the episode. Fifteen years ago, the text in Nigeria was so nascent that people say it was practically non-existent. But I kid you not, if you walk through the streets of Lagos today, you'll see a ton of young people who are attending tech conferences, who are collaborating in co-working spaces, who are brainstorming ideas in cafes. And let me be clear, right? Let's not make a mistake.

This entrepreneurial awakening I'm talking about is not a localized event. It's a pan-African revolution. Because what is happening in Lagos today, it's happening across the entire continent. In East Africa, there are companies like Tigua Foods that's connecting consumers, vendors, and suppliers to high-quality product, food, and retail services. There are fintech businesses like CopoCopo that's helping other businesses accept digital payments easily while also providing access to credit. In South Africa, companies like Stitch are pushing the frontiers in areas like open banking. The world views Africa from a place where our struggles are amplified, but then our virtues are minimized. The result is everyone is missing this

reality of a continent of doers, of creators, of builders. And I'm not just talking about local players who are only building regional solutions, because the builders of my generation, we have the boundless ambition, but also the ability

to build technological powerhouses that will put Africa on the global stage, just like our music Afrobeat is doing. So, brace yourselves. I don't think it will be long anymore before we stop comparing African startups to their Western counterparts, but our Western companies will begin to benchmark themselves against the wave of unicorns that's coming out of the African soil.

Thank you. Support for this show comes from Airbnb. If you know me, you know I love staying in Airbnbs when I travel. They make my family feel most at home when we're away from home. As we settled down at our Airbnb during a recent vacation to Palm Springs, I pictured my own home sitting empty. Wouldn't it be smart and better put to use welcoming a family like mine by hosting it on Airbnb? It feels like the practical thing to do.

And with the extra income, I could save up for renovations to make the space even more inviting for ourselves and for future guests. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.ca slash host. That was Pisa Timi speaking at TED 2024. If you're curious about TED's curation, find out more at TED.com slash curation guidelines. And that's it for today. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective.

This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Green, Autumn Thompson, and Alejandra Salazar. It was mixed by Christopher Fazi-Bogan. Additional support from Emma Taubner, Daniela Balarezo, and Will Hennessy. I'm Elise Hugh. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed.

Thanks for listening. Looking for a fun challenge to share with your friends and family? TED now has games designed to keep your mind sharp while having fun. Visit TED.com slash games to explore the joy and wonder of TED games. PRX