20 Mar 2018

Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI) held public Seminar recently under the topic, Disrupting Africa - The Rise and Rise of African Innovation.

Disrupting Africa - The Rise and Rise of the African Continent is a book written by one of Africa’s Innovation Guru, writer, and media contributor, Mr Nnandi Oranye.

He cuts across multiple challenges faced by the African continent which have fast become catalysts for innovation on an outstanding level - forming new technologies, new infrastructure, new ways of doing things, and a new narrative.

Mr Oranye gave an illuminating speech describing Africa as a continent full of creativity, energy, and change, thanks to the miracle of the mobile phone.

In Disrupting Africa: The Rise and Rise of African Innovation,  Mr Oranye looks at increasing innovation in Africa, showing how modern technology and digital payment services bring it all together to create a new kind of infrastructure the world has simply not expected.

“The African narrative is changing. Today’s Africa is an exciting, creative continent, packed with amazing potential,” he added.

Mr Oranye said Africans too can be innovators because they have plenty of ideas and funding from donors to help implement and cultivate these ideas.

In her welcome remarks, one of BITRI directors, Ms Mercy Conlon explained that Africans have the power to solve their problems using their technology because the continent has enough human capital to move forward.

Ms Conlon said though the challenges facing Africa are huge, with the right mind, Africans can  easily overcome the challenges.

She said  government has realised that technology can be used to diversify the economy of any given country, particularly in Botswana, which is now a knowledge based economy.

In this regard, she said Botswana was on the right track to develop its youth using the available  technology to boost the continent’s economy.

She added that innovation was essential for sustainable growth and economic development, saying there are several core conditions that can enable innovation and encourage economic growth in Africa.

In giving vote of thanks, University of Botswana Dean of Faculty of Engineering, Professor Benjamin Bolaane said the seminar comes at the right time when various learning institutions are lecturing on issues surrounding innovation.

He explained that innovation can solve human problems and pave way in advancing human kind and thanked BITRI for organising the seminar, which was an eye opener to the participants.

Some of the participants raised concerns that Africans do not have mechanisms to further develop their ideas and that there is a serious problem of lack of money to transform these ideas into action. The public seminar was attended by among others, tertiary students, lecturers, members of the diplomatic corps and the general public.Ends