The Mysteries Of Consciousness

When you have not seen relatives or friends for a long time it is always striking how one can see changes that people who visit them regularly do not notice. How much their children have grown is exaggerated by the time lapse or how gray someone has become.

I had this same experience in Kenya today but not on an individual basis, on the level of a country or continent. Over the years I have traveled to and have been involved in Africa frequently but for the last few years my interest have kept me away from the continent, until today.

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to speak at ITEX Kenya , an ICT symposium arranged by Dimension Data in Nairobi. The focus is on ICT in an African context but rather than repeating the aim of the symposium, below is a portion from the first page of the agenda booklet :

ICT has the potential to impact on every sector of Kenya, particularly businesses, education and health. It can create a wealth of new opportunities for Kenyans across the country and put the world at their fingertips.

ITEX will inform you about the most cutting-edge technology. It will update you on the latest software and innovative solutions and will put you in the company of IT experts from around the globe, who will share their unique insights into technology and its role in Kenya’s future.

My presentation during the event is not of importance, it was titled “Being Ecologically sound makes Economic Sense” as part of Sun Microsystem’s involvement in the event if you are interested.

What did give me the feeling that much has changed since I last regularly visited Africa started with one of the keynote presentations by Paul Kukubo, a leading entrepreneur and CEO of the Kenya ICT Board.

Two things in particular that he said brought on the feeling that the attitude and understanding of leaders in Africa have shifted miles from what I remember. The first was a simple but profound statement during his presentation “We need to create an African middle class” , words spoken not in the sense of we need to secure financial aid to make the poorer of our population better off, but in the sense of it is our responsibility to create and develop the infrastructure and opportunity for people to better themselves.

The second point in his presentation was around where the focus should be, “Innovative use of technology”, not to develop the next generation silicon wafer fabrication process but the use of technology innovations in the African landscape to enable change.

These two statements show an understanding of what is needed that I missed years back when I visited Africa regularly. Especially the second statement as Africa has always been a continent where ingenuity and innovation has helped people do more with less, more so than anywhere else I know of in the world. If you need proof just wonder over to AfriGadget, a blog by Erik Hersman and others dedicated to showcasing African ingenuity.

The second time today the feeling that something has changed struck me was during the cocktail reception this evening. While discussing the events of the day with a group of gentlemen from Telkom Kenya. The tone of the conversation is what was peculiar, a tone as positive as any conversation can possibly get. Filled with ideas of how simple things can change the African landscape and economy for the better , without a “but” as I expected, in a can and will do tone.

If this is any indication of the future of Kenya and maybe even Africa as a continent we might just be witnessing a positive change in Africa that will affect the entire world for the better.