Silicon Valley, Meet Innovation From Great Rift Valley

Across Africa, an innovation culture is starting to emerge. In Kenya, PesaPal piggybacks on the popular M-PESA mobile payments service, enabling Kenyans to buy and sell on the Internet. Tanzania's Techno Brain is selling software for managing businesses in 13 countries. And South Africa's Cobi Interactive, a mobile communications software company, is developing popular applications for smart phones.

Yet for Africa to fulfill its potential and emerge among the world's economic tigers, social and business leaders agree that much more innovation must happen there. The continent's cities, universities, entrepreneurs and commercial R&D organizations can become engines of innovation producing new products and services that are tailored for the African experience. And, in order to make this transition, African institutions and businesses–plus multinational corporations –must work together to create innovation ecosystems that foster this kind of creativity.

At IBM's Smarter Planet Leadership Forum today in Nairobi, Kenya, CEO Ginni Rometty said IBM hopes to work collaboratively with the people and institutions in Africa: "We want to be seen as a citizen of the countries, essential to the government, companies and people." Rometty said IBM's decision to locate an IBM Research laboratory on the continent–beginning with an office in Nairobi–sends the strong signal about the company's commitment to Africa...