Panel, Conference Presentation
Africa's Youth is Using Technology to Solve Africa's Most Pressing Problems | Global Conference 2024
Milken InstituteDan Keeler, Ramadan Ameen, Maya Horgan Famodu, Yolanda Mabuto, Walter Pacheco, Fred Swaniker
- Africa's population is 1.2 billion, with 75% under age 35 and 41% under age 15, creating a massive youth demographic.
- There are 650 million mobile users on the continent, exceeding the combined total of the U.S. and U.K.
- Mobile penetration in target markets (Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Egypt, Morocco) ranges from 90% to 100%, with internet penetration at 80% to 100%.
- 40% of technical talent in the panelist's venture portfolio are self-taught, often learning via mobile devices or laptops.
- Venture capital investment in Africa grew exponentially from $50 million (early years) to $129 million (2016), $560 million (2017), and $1.2 billion (2018).
- Paystack, the panelist's first fund investment, was sold to Stripe for over $200 million in the first exit of Fund 1.
- Four exits occurred in a 26-company fintech portfolio since 2018, representing a high success rate.
- 75% of Fund 1 portfolio entries had post-money valuations of $5 million or below, with 60% at $2.5 million or below.
- 70% of capital backing African tech comes from international investors, with growth-stage venture funds increasingly launching domestically.
- International giants including Andreessen Horowitz, Google, Facebook, Uber, Avenir, and Greycroft are actively investing in African assets.
- M&A activity is rising, including both strategic acquisitions by global firms and intra-African M&A following the pandemic.
- The Milken Mutsepe Green Tech Prize is a specific initiative designed to help youth visualize real-world technology applications.
- The South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) is collaborating with utility ESCOM to mentor young innovators on energy solutions.
- Intellectual property (IP) theft remains a significant concern for African innovators, potentially stifling collaboration.
- Panelists argue that hyper-protectionism of IP can hinder innovation, suggesting a shift toward execution over idea ownership.
- Africa is projected to have the world's largest workforce by 2035, surpassing China, but population does not equal talent without skills training.
- Traditional employment metrics are deemed "vanity metrics" by experts who advocate for training millions of people regardless of immediate job placement.
- The panelist's training institution scaled from 250 students (20 years ago) to 250,000, making it the largest single software engineering training program globally.
- 70% of the U.S. and Europe have post-secondary education rates, compared to only 8% in Africa.
- Talent export is now viewed as a strategic asset; the panelist argues that even if 20% of a massive workforce leaves, the 80% remaining still solves local problems.
- Sand Technologies was founded to export African talent globally, with 85% of revenues coming from outside Africa (U.S., Europe, Asia).
- Sand Technologies employs African engineers to manage London's water infrastructure and advise AT&T on U.S. fiber optics.
- The Angolan Stock Exchange launched a social exchange platform to democratize access to capital and invest in entrepreneurship.
- The Angolan platform doubled productivity for 10,000 families within four to five months by importing agri-tech from Brazil.
- The platform focuses on women's empowerment to increase household productivity, allowing women time to educate themselves and their children.
- Digital tokenization of gold and natural resources is being used to allow Africans to store value and hedge against local currency devaluation.
- Tokenization allows for the fractionalization of assets, enabling investments as small as 10 cents (the "milligram market").
- The panelist warns that daily conversion of local currency to USD contributes to devaluation and creates FX risk for international business.
- Equity-based compensation, such as ESOPs at Paystack, has enabled mid-level employees to build transformative wealth and become investors.
- Tech skills are identified as the primary tool to break the "elite power" dynamic where wealth is concentrated among politically connected individuals.
- India generates $240 billion annually in forex from 7 million tech workers, each supporting 5 to 10 other jobs in their local economies.
- Experts call for introducing robotics and technical curriculum at the grassroots level rather than waiting for tertiary education.
- Five founders from the panelist's 2019 fund raised enough personal capital to become investors in the subsequent fund (Fund 2).
- In Rwanda, healthcare systems are being redefined using SpaceX satellite internet to connect rural clinics to AI diagnostics and telemedicine.
- Google's Gemini model passed the U.S. medical licensing exam with a 96% score, enabling non-physicians to perform sophisticated diagnostics.
- Zipline drones are integrated into the Rwandan health system to deliver medicine to clinics, while a central health intelligence center provides real-time data to the Minister of Health.
- The healthcare model in Rwanda is shifting from reactive to predictive and preventative, identifying pandemic risks and chronic disease risks early.