Frustrated Innovation

Africa is trending, if stories in the international media over the last year are anything to go by. And no story about "rising Africa"—many of us would argue it has "arisen"—is complete without mention of the role technology is playing in this transformation.

The rise of the mobile phone, disruptive SMS services like the money-transfer platform M-Pesa, and mobile tools for democracy like Ushahidi have been the subjects of numerous reports. Unfortunately, these good-news stories haven't been accompanied by a more nuanced view of the opportunities being created and where they may take us (see "Kenya's Startup Boom").

Technology is the perfect refuge for African capability stifled elsewhere by badly run governments and years of misplaced foreign aid. Ubiquitous connectivity in a world without legacy infrastructure, together with the potential to learn coding or anything else online, has allowed technology entrepreneurship to flourish. The barriers to entry have been dramatically lowered. Startup incubators and app competitions are springing up throughout the region. However, there is a risk that the buzz, so good at attracting international attention, will remain only that...