As an entrepreneur and a politician I have been wondering why African leaders are still thinking brick and mortar when the new world economy gives us the opportunity to ‘leap frog’ and shift our demand curves in ways never imagined before.

The world has shrunk and it is now possible for the wood carver in Aburi, Ghana, to display, sell, deliver his or her carving to a customer in the US and provide customer support.

Why would leaders in my country, Ghana not focus on investing in IT infrastructure and appropriate training to usher Ghana into the global market place. I led the setting up of the first data entry operation in Africa, ACS-BPS. Within one and a half years, we had grown to become the biggest private company in Ghana with 2000 employees.

All it took was a bunch of computers, a satellite dish and an open plan office. Then we trained the staff, set up the systems and were serving companies in far away America ! It did not matter that Ghana was having problems with it’s economy….we were exporting knowledge. Lives were changed overnight. We took a porter from the streets and trained her to provide services to fortune 500 companies.

My colleague politicians don’t get it, but I do and I have embarked on a journey to bridge the divide through three ventures. A Payments Institution, e-commerce site and DIDs.

We lost out on the industrial revolution. We are at risk of losing out on the knowledge revolution. What do you think….do you agree that our biggest problem in Africa is the quality of political leadership ?