Baby Steps
They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, and mine begun early this year when i got the call for an interview at Impact Africa Network. Frankly, from the moment i received the call, from the polite tone of the person on the other end of the phone and for giving me a choice of time for the interview i had a good feeling about this. I know, polite tone of voice might be laying it on too thick, but in my profession, the legal profession, everyone acts as though there is something more important to be done, a better conversation to be had, and frankly i had reached my rope’s end of the court hearings, and please find attached emails and may it please your lordship lingo i was ready for a new experience.
The interview to say the least was no piece of cake, I mean for a second there i missed the clinical law firm sit down do an exam and let the paper do the talking approach to things but it set the tone that this would be a place where things get done, no spoon feeding, no red tape, no hoops just get the work done mentality which is freeing and unsettling in equal value.
Our mission is changing the African Narrative, and if there was ever a more inspiring goal I am yet to meet it. More often than not, the picture portrayed of Africa is tied to poverty, tourism and debt but there is so much more that we are made of. I mean M-pesa was a revolutionary technology that is ours, made by us for us. And as my boss Mark put it so well that inventions are solution to problems and since Africa is well represented in the problem scale then why not a thousand solutions and inventions in return?
Since joining the organization, my world has been open up a thousand fold. If only i were tech savy, i would be somewhere writing code and trying to create something because of the inspiration around us. What i admired most about the organization is that we are given an opportunity to build something on your own. As a start-up studio, we are encouraged to create and i have had a first hand experience watching one of us develop an idea of a school for AI and machine learning and now we are days away from the launch of JENGA school for computer science and AI.
The highlights of my time here has been organizing and attending the Bridge to the Future event. Here we brought together founders, corporate leaders, venture capitalists and other members of our start-up ecosystem to speak about the challenges we experience as entrepreneurs and solutions to the same and hearing success stories from founders makes the dream worth fighting for. Currently working on a project of my own and i can honestly say it has not been short of pitfalls. Sometimes you feel overwhelmed, but i recently learned the power of delayed gratification. That good things come to those who work and wait and i am excited for what the future holds and to give life to my project.
All i know and believe is that we need more creators and owners and our organization is striving towards that and who would not want to be part of an amazing story as this. We are more capable than we think but the mentality of finish school, get a 9–5 job, get married, save and retire is not the way to go for everybody.
Our Innovation fellowship program tailored for college graduates was curated to alleviate this mentality and open your mind to creating something of your own. I mean an 18 year old in Paris created his own E sports game and is a CEO of his company that received funding thanks to Station F, the largest innovation campus in the world, why can’t our very own? Once the creating culture develops within us we will be able to accomplish so much more and it begins one idea at a time. We can all be part of changing the African Narrative!
