Switzerland is smaller than Lake Victoria

More than a geographical comparison

I lived and worked in Nairobi for almost one year in 2011. Kenyan colleagues, taxi drivers, waiters and other curious people whom I met asked me plenty of questions about Switzerland, my home country: How cold is it really? You don’t grow avocados? Who is your president? Topics which don’t cause much debate, but we always had lively discussions when I asked my counterparts: Did you know that Switzerland is smaller than Lake Victoria?

With a surface area of 68,800 square kilometres, Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest lake; Switzerland is one of Europe’s smallest countries with a surface area of 41,285 square kilometres (Source: Wikipedia). So much for the facts and figures – but my question wasn’t intended to make a geographical comparison: I wanted to illustrate that Switzerland leaves little room for new ideas and approaches because most fundamental problems are already solved, while East Africa is a vast reservoir for innovation and disruption because there is still so much need for improvement in many areas.

Switzerland is smaller than Lake Victoria – not only in geographical terms, but also from an entrepreneurial perspective because need for improvement provides starting points for businesses. It’s a bold proposition, but I’m not alone: David Rowan, editor of WIRED magazine, argues that startup entrepreneurs should move to Africa. Hopefully it will happen to me again that I find such inspiring company for my ideas.