“Africa is a brand”.
The continent of Africa got its name from Greek and Latin travellers who
viewed Africa as a place of darkness or heat. That brand has stuck and
its been handed down from generation to generation.
“Rebranding Africa”
Is Africa so hopeless that nothing good can come out of it? The answer
is no. Africa is rich with a colourful population, culture, language
palate, history and civilization. Africa has many selling points but the
best tool to market Africa is its people. The people of Africa and
those of African descent are in the best position to raise Africa up to
the status it deserves. “Rising Africa”
The 21st century with the advent of internet and social media offers a
unique opportunity for Africans to document and showcase the strides
Africans have made in impacting humanity. From the sciences, humanities,
sports, business circles and politics, Africans have contributed their
quota to make the world a better place.
“Rising Africa” is more than a brand. It is a movement that seeks to
rebrand the continent and give it a new personality. We have to let
people learn about the vibrant and buoyant character of our continent
and its people. The best part of this movement is that it is being done
by Africans themselves. There is so much to celebrate about being
African, and being black. Join the movement that highlights the
achievements of the African community. Share in the cause of “Rising
Africa”.
Lewis Howard Latimer was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts on September 4, 1848. He learned mechanicaldrawing in the patent attorney office of Crosby and Gould, Boston, Massachusetts.
He invented a toilet system for railroad cars in 1873, referred to as watercloset for railroad cars. He also invented an electric lamp with an inexpensive carbon filament and a threaded wooden socketfor light bulbs.
He supervised the installation of carbon filament electric lighting in New York City, Philadelphia, Montreal, and London.
He was responsible for preparing the mechanical drawings for Alexander Graham
Bells patent application for his telephone design. Lewis Latimer had
the distinction of being the only African American member of the Edison Pioneers, a member of Thomas Edisons engineering division of the Edison Company.
He joined the Edison Electric Light Company in 1884 and conducted research on electrical lighting. In 1890 he published Incandescent Electric Lighting, a technical engineering book which became a guide for lighting engineers.
For years he served as an expert witness in the court battles over Thomas Edisons patents. At the time of Latimer s death in 1928, the Edison Pioneers
attributed his “important inventions” to a “keen perception of the
potential of the electriclight and kindred industries.” Lewis Latimer
invented the carbon filament for electric lighting, replacing the too-fast burning paper filament of Thomas Edison.
11 year old Marley Emmerson Diaz loved to read. She read so much that
she felt all the stories had a very similar character- caucasian boys
with dogs. She needed a new challenging book and wanted to read about
black girls like her who were not so popular in the children’s
literature department. She didnt get angry and abandon reading, Marley
decided to do something about it.
Increadibly, Marley decided to start the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign
which sought to collect at least 1000 books about black girls and their
adventures. The campaign was so successful that she has collected about
8000 books and helped promote the need for more books with diverse
storylines for children.
But Marley’s story does not end there. The campaign has taken her on a
black girl adventure of her own. She was given the opportunity to work
for elle.com as editor in residence where she is working on a magazine
for tweens. She has also published her own book for Scholastica which
teaches children how they can translate an idea into a plan that gets
attention and funding to create change. Basically, her idea is a step by
step Activism 101 book for children.
Marley is not only promoting the black girl literature, she has also
become an influencer at the tender age of 11. What is your idea? Instead
of talking yourself out of it, perhaps it is better to take a page from
Marley’ book and do something about it.
Great job Marley! Don’t stop shining you brilliant black star.
Dr Sandile Kubheka from Pietermaritzburg has made South African
history by qualifying as the youngest doctor ever at the age of 20.
Kubheka graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery
degrees (MBChB) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)’s Nelson R
Mandela School of Medicine with distinctions in obstetrics and
gynaecology.
He matriculated from Siyamukhela High School at the age of 15 after having started school at the age of five.
“I am the first in my family to graduate with a medical degree,” Kubheka told Talk Radio 702’s Koketso Sochane.
Kubheka, who is the youngest of five children, strives toward
answering a calling to heal patients’ suffering from diabetes, HIV and
tuberculosis.
He says he also plans to specialise in internal medicine.
The young doctor, who speaks with a maturity well beyond his age, says he’s proud to carry a beacon of hope for his generation.
“In me, they see that ours is not a lost generation. This goes beyond
my own achievements. It is humbling to know that people are motivated
by my story.”
Kubheka wished his mother a ‘happy father’s day’ and makes it clear
that without her willing sacrifice, he would not have achieved his
life-long dream.
“She was a single mother to five children. My mother was also a father figure to us.”
Kubheka enjoys his work with rural communities that often don’t have access to medical treatment.
His passion for assisting the disadvantage granted him the motivation
to help register the Happy Valley Clinic as a non-profit organisation
during his years as a student.
The enthusiastic doctor acquired an interest in endocrinology after
being inspired by UKZN’s Head of Department of Diabetes and
Endocrinology, Professor Ayesha Motala, as well as a family member who
suffers from Type 2 diabetes.
As a result, he served his internship at Grey’s Hospital and hopes to
eventually register for a Masters of Medicine degree super specialising
in endocrinology.
“I am also fascinated by the endocrine system. Medicine is a
profession that is always changing and as a doctor, you should always
improve your knowledge.”
At a time when quite a number of Africans queue up at the embassies
of foreign countries, with the hope of being granted visas into
countries with ‘better living conditions’, a rare few like Patrick Awuah
are sacrificing that to make a difference by returning home.
In 2001, after living in America for almost two decades, Patrick
Awuah returned to Ghana, leaving his job at Microsoft, where he earned
millions as program manager to set up Ashesi University in Accra, to
educate young Africans. “If the current leadership core was educated a
certain way, if they were problem solvers, if they had deep compassion
for society, we would be in a different place,” he thought. Hence,
Ashesi University is known for its innovative curriculum, high tech
facilities, and strong emphasis on leadership. The University stirs a
new path in African education.
In his TED Global talk in 2007, Patrick Awuah explains his call to educate Africa’s future leaders, and why he believes this is very important.
At the age of 16 in Ghana, Patrick Awuah had his first memorable
experience of leadership. At the airport to meet his father, he is
stopped by two soldiers wielding AK-47 assault weapons. “They asked me
to join a crowd of people that were running up and down this embankment.
Why? Because the path I had taken was considered out of bounds. No sign
to this effect,” he noted.
Typical of teenagers, Patrick was quite concerned of what his peers,
especially girls, would think if they saw him running up and down the
hill. So he argued with soldiers. Luckily for him, a pilot falls into
the same predicament. The soldiers addressed him differently because he
wore a uniform; they explained that they were only following orders. The
pilot takes their radio, talks to their boss, and gets everyone
released. Patrick learnt several things from that experience.
“Leadership matters – those men are following the orders of a superior
officer. I learned something about courage – it was important not to
look at those guns.”
A few years after that event, Patrick left Ghana to attend Swarthmore
College in the United States. “The faculty there didn’t want us to
memorise information and repeat back to them as I was used to back in
Ghana. They wanted us to think critically. They wanted us to be
analytical. They wanted us to be concerned about social issues.” At
Swarthmore, Patrick got high marks for his understanding of basic
economics in his economic classes, but the deeper lesson was that, the
leaders, the managers of Ghana’s economy were making really bad
decisions, some of which had fuelled the near-collapse of the country’s
economy. “And so here was this lesson again – leadership matters. It
matters a great deal,” he explained.
In spite of Patrick’s Epiphany at Swarthmore, it wasn’t until he started working at Microsoft Corporation
that he realised it. “I was part of this team, this thinking, learning
team whose job it was to design and implement new software that created
value in the world…. And I realised just what had happened to me at
Swarthmore … The ability to confront problem, complex problems, and to
design solutions to those problems. The ability to create is the most
empowering thing that can happen to an individual.”
At Microsoft, Patrick became a parent. The thought of his children’s
perception of Africa in comparison to the rest of the world instigated a
desire to return home and change the overwhelming narrative that
portrayed the dark continent. He was determined to contribute his quota
towards the continents development.
On his return 14 years ago, he found out that for every problem three
things kept coming up; corruption, weak institutions, and the people
who run them – the leaders. Patrick asked two very important questions:
where are these leaders coming from? What is it about Ghana that
produces leaders that are unethical or unable to solve problems?
In search of answers, he scanned the country’s educational system and
realised that nothing had changed during his time away. “It was the
same learning by rote, from primary school through graduate school. Very
little emphasis on ethics … and the typical graduate from a university
in Ghana has a stronger sense of entitlement than a sense of
responsibility. This is wrong.” Patrick’s resolve to address this
problem resulted in the conception and birth of Ashesi University, an
institution launched to develop young African leaders. “Every society
must be very intentional about educating its leaders … so this is what
I’m doing now. I’m trying to bring the experience I had at Swarthmore to
Africa. What Ashesi University is trying to do, is to train a new
generation of ethical, entrepreneurial leaders. We’re trying to train
leaders of exceptional integrity, who have the ability to confront the
complex problems, ask the right questions, and come up with workable
solutions.”
Ashesi started with 30 students in 2002 in a rented building. Today the university campus is set on a 100 acre land near Aburi, an hour’s drive from Ghana’s capital, Accra, with
over 500 students. The academic curriculum is a blend of Liberal arts
and Sciences. “we’re going to educate computer science students who’ve
also done philosophy, and leadership, and ethics … we’re going to
educate business majors who’ve studied literature and have also done
computer programming because we think that broad perspectives are
important,” a bullish Patrick told the audience at the TEDEx talk.
The university has an Honour Code, where the students pledge to be
honest and to hold each other accountable. The students of Ashesi
University take ownership of their ethical posture on campus. “This is a
huge break from the norm in most African universities, where corrupt
practices run free,”Patrick says. “While the Honour Code may constitute a
reach for a perfect society, which is unachievable, we cannot achieve
perfection, but if we reach for it, we can achieve excellence.”
If more exceptionally minded and critical thinking individuals like
Patrick Awuah would rise to the occasion of transforming Africa, the
continent will make great strides in ridding itself off corruption, weak
institutions, and most importantly unethical and inefficient leaders.
Below's a video of patrick educating young africans.
Nji Collins Gbah of Cameroon has become the first African to win the prestigious Google Code-In competition.
Google Code-in is an annual programming competition hosted by Google Inc.
It is open to all pre-university students aged between 13 to 17 with
parental consent. The contest was originally called the “Google Highly Open Participation Contest,” but in 2010, the competition was modified to its current format.
Gbah is one of the more than 1,300 young people from 62 countries who
took part in the 2016 Google contest, where participants complete 20
tasks split into five different categories.
In the end, Gbah was one of 34 winners around the world to win the
grand prize and an invitation to visit Google’s Mountain View,
California, headquarters. The four-day trip will include an awards
ceremony, an opportunity to meet with Google engineers, and a day of
sightseeing in San Francisco.
Seventeen-year-old Gbah is a bright and ambitious secondary school student who taught himself to write codes by studying online and reading books two years ago.
Gbah is from Bamenda, the English-speaking region of Cameroon that
has recently held a number of street protests over the
alleged discrimination it has faced from the French language-speaking
government.
As a result of the protests, the government shut down the Internet in
Bamenda and surrounding areas. Schools have also been shut down and
commercial activities have been crippled.
Luckily for Gbah, the Internet shutoff occurred just after he had completed most of the tasks assigned to him.
Gbah said that soon after the Internet was shut down, he had to go
live with his cousin in Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé, so he could remain
connected to both the Internet and the beautiful world of computer
programming.
“I wanted to get a connection so I could continue studying and keep in touch with Google,” he said.
Gbah plans to study Computer Science at the university, and he is
currently working on artificial intelligence, neural networks, and deep
learning. “I’m trying to develop my own model for data compression,
using deep learning and machine learning,” he said.
Let us know what you think in the comments section
No one can deny the high level that
African football has reached in the last three decades. National teams,
local clubs, and the large number of African footballers playing all
over the world, have all shown great physical and technical qualities.
Thus, it’s hard to predict the results of games when African clubs play
in local or international tournaments. Experts say that this noticeable
progress in African football is thanks to the scientific and academic
approaches that African training centers and football academies have
been putting into practice over the past decades. The result is a great
quality of technical performance and physical competitiveness not only
of national teams, but also the local clubs.
Here we present a
classification of Africa’s best football clubs taking into consideration
the number of titles won in the CAF Champions League.
Al Ahly SC – Egypt – 8 titles in the Champions League (1982, 1987, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013)
The Egyptian club of AL AHLY CF,
known as the African club of the twentieth century, is the most titled
of the Arab and African teams, and the one that enjoys the greatest
popularity with the Arab public. The Red Devils won 38 Egyptian
championships, 8 African Champions Leagues, 1 CAF Confederation Cup and 4
African Cup Winners’ Cup titles. The club that was founded in 1907
plays at Cairo International Stadium, which also hosts the great rival
Ezzamalek SC. The derby between the two big Cairo clubs is one of the
most exciting and passionate in Africa and the Arab world. Several
legendary Egyptian footballers played for the club including Abu Trika,
Essam El-Hadary, Taher Abouzid, Houssam Hassan and others.
TP Mazembe – DR Congo – 5 Champions League titles (1967, 1968, 2009, 2010, 2015)
The Tout Puissant Mazembe is a
Congolese football club based in Lubumbashi city. Founded in 1939,
Mazembe is now one of the strongest teams in Africa after winning the
Champions League 5 times in 1967, 1968, 2009, 2010, and 2015. In its second consecutive participation in the clubs’ World Cup in 2010, TP Mazembe amazed the world of football by being the first African team to reach the final of the competition and play a historical match against the legendary Inter Milan.
Zamalek SC – Egypt – 5 Champions League titles (1984, 1986, 1993, 1996, 2002)
This is the other major club of
the Egyptian capital. Founded by a European group in 1911 under the name
of “Kasr-Ennil,” it changed several times before adopting its current
name in 1952. It is the 11 times winner of the Egyptian championship and
5 times African champion. Several famous players represented the club
and the national team of Egypt including Hassan Shehata, Hazem Emam,
Nader El Sayed and more.
Hafia FC – Guinea – 3 Champions League titles (1972, 1975, 1977)
Hafia Football Club is a legendary
Guinean team that dominated African football during the 1970s. Based in
Conakry, Guinea, the club is one of the greatest African teams of all
time. They won 16 local championships and 3 African Cup of Champions
Leagues. Chérif Souleymane, Mohamed Saylla, Amara Bangoura and other
famous footballers have played for Hafia Football club.
Raja CA Casablanca – Morocco – 3 Champions League titles (1989, 1997, 1999)
Founded in 1949, RAJA quickly
moved up the ranks to be one of the strongest teams in Africa, with 11
national championships and 3 African Leagues of the Champions. It
remains the first Arab and African club to participate in the FIFA Club
World Cup in 2000 in Brazil. The RAJA disputes the supremacy of Moroccan
football with the other club of Casablanca city, the Widad Athletic
Club. RAJA Casablanca, known as the Green Eagles, is the second African
team to reach the final of the FIFA Club World Cup in 2013, and played
an unforgettable match against FC Bayern Munich after beating Auckland
City FC (New Zealand), CF Monterrey (Mexico) and Atlético Mineiro
(Brazil). Some of the club’s legendary players are Salaheddine Bassir,
Abdelmajid Dolmi, Reda Ereyahi, Mustapha El Haddaoui, Mohsine Moutouali
and others.
Canon Yaoundé – Cameroon – 3 Champions League titles (1971, 1978, 1980)
The Canon Yaoundé club is a
Cameroonian team created in 1930 to represent Yaoundé city, the capital
of Cameroon. The club was a dominant force in the African continent
during the 70s and 80s. They won 10 local championships, 12 local cups, 1
African Winners’ cup and 3 Champions League titles. The club‘s famous
players include Thomas N’kono, Emmanuel Kundé, Théophile Abega and
other players who not only shined at Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium, where the
team hosts local and continental matches, but also while playing for the
national team.
Asante Kotoko FC – Ghana – 2 Champions League titles (1970, 1983)
Asante Kotoko FC is a historical
football club based in the region of Ashanti. The team is known by its
Ghanaian football style that depends on physical and technical qualities
of young players. The club has won the national championship for 22
occasions in addition to 2 African Champions League titles.
ES Tunis – Tunisia – 2 Champions League titles (1994, 2011)
Founded in 1919, the Esperance
Sportive of Tunis is the legendary club of the capital. The team is the
leader of the local competition with 25 championships, and winner of 2
CAF Champions titles and 6 times finalist of the most prestigious
African competition. The club enjoys great popularity in the Arab world
and is also known for the great fervor of its supporters who were the
first to introduce the ultra movement in Africa and the Arab world.
Enyimba FC – Nigeria – 2 Champions League titles (2003, 2004)
The Enyimba International Football
Club, known as the Aba Warriors, is a Nigerian team founded in 1976 and
located in the city of Aba. Although the club is not among the oldest teams in Africa, it still remains the most successful team in Nigerian football. The
club won the local championship 7 times and twice the African Cup of
Champions. Some famous players who played for the club are: Mfon Udoh,
Dele Aiyenugba, Romanus Orjinta and others.
JS Kabylie – Algeria – 2 Champions League titles (1981, 1990)
The Algerian club, JS Kabylie, is
one of the leading clubs of Algeria and the African continent. The club
with multiple national and continental titles was founded in 1946 in the
Algerian city of Tizi Ouzou. The JSK remains one of the historical
teams in African football by winning the CAF Champions League titles in
1981 and 1990. They also won the African Winners’ Cup in 1995, being the
only Algerian club to win this competition.
ES Setif – Algeria – 2 Champions League titles (1988, 2014)
Founded in 1958, the Entente Sportive de Sétif, known also as ES Setif and ESS,
is the second most successful club in Algerian football with 25
national, regional and international titles behind the JS Kabylie. The
team that represents the city of Setif won the CAF Champions League in
1988 and 2014, as well as the Algerian championship on seven occasions
and eight times the local cup.
We start this week with heartwarming
news, Ghanaian Nancy Abu-Bonsrah becomes the first black female
Neurosurgeon at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Abu-Bonsrah left Ghana at
the age of 15, and has been in the U.S for nearly 11 years. The first
physician in her family, including the extended family, Abu-Bonsrah was
matched with Johns Hopkins Hospital to specialize in Neurological
Surgery. A hearty congratulations on the remarkable achievement.
In a medical rite in the U.S. known as Match Day, where graduating
fourth year medical students are given envelopes and find out where they
have been matched to continue their medical training in a three to
seven year residency program, Ghanaian Nancy Abu-Bonsrah was matched
with Johns Hopkins Hospital to specialize in neurological surgery.
The match made her the first black female neurosurgeon at the Johns
Hopkins Hospital. Abu-Bonsrah will spend seven more years at the Johns
Hopkins Hospital, where she would get hands-on experience in her field.
According to the Johns Hopkins news release, prior to Match Day,
students complete lengthy paperwork, and on-site interviews with
hospitals, then provide a ranked list of their top choices. Hospitals
submit a similar list, indicating openings, preferred students, and
specialty or generalist preferences. Each applicant is matched via
computer algorithm to the hospital residency program that is highest on
the applicant’s list, and has offered the applicant a position. Johns
Hopkins students are often matched with their first- or second-choice
sites.
Abu-Bonsrah, according the John Hopkins medical news release
spent the first 15 years of her life in Ghana and came to Maryland 11
years ago. She attended Hammond High School in Columbia, Maryland and
went to college at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland,
after which, right after her undergrad, she went to Johns Hopkins .
Abu-Bonsrah further stated in the news release that she is very much
interested in providing medical care in undeserved settings,
specifically surgical care. The Ghanaian hopes to return to her country
over the course of her career to help in building sustainable surgical
infrastructure.
Her match to Johns Hopkins Hospital for neurological surgery is a
dream come true for her. She says she wants to be remembered for serving
her community either through providing quality surgical care or
mentoring the next generation of surgeons.
Abu-Bonsrah attended Johns Hopkins University school of Medicine
alongside her husband, and participated in the Match Day, which took
place on the 17th of March. The event took place on the second floor of
the Anne and Mike Armstrong Medical Education Building at 1600 McElderry
St. in Baltimore, Maryland.
In a Facebook post, Abu-Bonsrah said:
What a way to begin the Sabbath! I still haven’t processed it yet but
this is such an honor and a privilege to join the department at Hopkins
to begin this next phase of my career. I’m so fortunate to have the
continued support of my husband, family, friends and mentors. Kwabenaand I are excited for what’s ahead! #match2017#glorytoGod#wemadeit#sevenmoreyears#Neurosurgery#firstfemaleAAatHopkins
There has been an outpour of congratulations from social media. We wish Nancy Abu-Bonsrah all the best in her medical career.
2016 was yet another great year for African music, with artists dropping tunes that made the whole continent dance.
Here are the ten biggest songs that topped the charts throughout the continent.
Babes Wodumo – Wololo
“Wololo” was one of the biggest songs
of 2016 in South Africa, topping the charts across most radio stations
in the country. The song is praised for putting South Africa’s popular
sub-genre, gqom, on the map, and it catapulted 23-year-old Babes Wodumo (real name Bongekile Simelane) to fame across South Africa and the continent. The video for the song has since amassed over 4 million views on YouTube.
Kwesta featuring Cassper Nyovest – Ngud’
South African hip hop artist, Kwesta,
had a good run with his hit single “Ngud” featuring Cassper Nyovest.
The song spent 14 non-consecutive weeks at number one on the iTunes
chart, and was the most played song on South African radio in 2016. It
was produced by DJ Maphorisa and samples Joakim’s remix of “Camino Del
Sol” by Antena. The song is from Kwesta’s 3rd studio album titled “DaKAR II”.
Tekno – Pana
Nigerian muso, Tekno, burned the
airwaves with his sexy, African-inspired dance ballad, “Pana”. The video
for the song has since amassed over 19 million views on YouTube, and
popular the South African dj, Black Coffee, danced to the song as part
of his first dance with his wife, Mbali Mlotshwa, during their wedding
ceremony at Sun City Resort in South Africa.
auti Sol featuring Alikiba – Unconditionally Bae
“Unconditionally Bae” was one of East
Africa’s biggest songs as it featured two of the region’s biggest
stars; boy band, Sauti Sol, and Tanzania’s Alikiba. The song is a
danceable love ballad and was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2016
MTV Africa Music Awards. It has since amassed more than 4 million views
on YouTube.
Patoranking featuring Wande Coal – My Woman, My Everything
“My Woman, My Everything” by
Nigeria’s Patoranking featuring Wande Coal was the biggest song on the
continent in 2015 and 2016, earning Song of the Year at the 2016 MTV
Africa Music Awards. The song was also popular with Caribbean audiences
who love it for its catchy lyrics and infectious dance hall beat.
South African hip hop artists
collaborated with some of the continent’s biggest stars to create the
song “Baddest” which was released in 2015, but continued to dominate the
airwaves in 2016. This is mainly attributed to the remix version being
released where AKA featured some of South Africa’s biggest female hip
hop artists, including: Moozlie, Rouge, Fifi Cooper and Gigi Lamayne.
DJ Maphorsia featuring WizKid & DJ Buckz – Soweto Baby
One of South Africa’s top dance music
producers, DJ Maphorisa, collaborated with heavyweights, Wizkid and DJ
Buckz, to create one of the biggest songs on the continent, “Soweto
Baby”. The song won Best Collaboration at the 2016 MTV Africa Music
Awards and the video was filmed in the iconic township of Soweto in
Johannesburg, South Africa.
Nasty c ft. Davido & Cassper Nyovest – Juice Back Remix
“Juice Back” by South African hip hop
artist, Nasty C, was the song that catapulted the 18-year-old rapper
into fame back in 2015. The song continued to create a stir across the
continent through his collaboration on a remix with Cassper Nyovest and
Davido. The song was produced by hit maker, Gemini Major, and it has
since amassed over 1.3 million views on YouTube.
EmTee featuring WizKid and AKA – Roll Up Re-Up
EmTee burst into the music scene in
South Africa with the smash hit, “Roll Up,” in 2015 and the hype around
the song continued well into 2016 with a remix of the song featuring
WizKid and AKA. “Roll Up” earned the award of Song of the Year in 2015
at the South African Hip Hop Awards and was nominated for Song of the
Year at the 2016 MTV Africa Music Awards. EmTee walked away with the
Best Hip Hop award at the ceremony.
Diamond Platnumz featuring Rayvanny – Salome
Diamond Platnumz’s hit single
“Salome” was one of the biggest songs in Tanzania and East Africa. The
song is a remake of Saida Karoli’s hit single from the 90s titled “Maria
Salome”, and is sung entirely in Swahili. The song has since amassed
over 12.9 million views on YouTube.
In Sierra Leone, West Africa, the lights come on as little as once a
month! So, Kelvin Doe, at 15 years old, decided things needed change.
After many tries, he invented a battery to power lights in people’s
houses from recycled parts he found in the trash, including soda, acid
and metal, wrapped with tape!
This amazing young man also used trash to make his own FM radio
transmitter so that he can allow the youth in his country to debate
important issues. Besides being an inventor, Kelvin is also a DJ and
runs a local radio station. “They call me DJ Focus because I believe if
you focus, you can do an invention perfectly,” he said in a
video produced by @radical.media.
Kelvin’s invention and brilliance was discovered by one of the
world’s greatest places of invention, the Massachussettes Institute of
Technology (M.I.T.). He became the youngest person ever to be invited
to M.I.T.’s Visiting Practitioner’s Program after being discovered
by David Sengeh, a PhD student in the M.I.T. Media Lab.
Just as Kelvin’s world has expanded by working in the Media Lab, the
researchers there had their world expanded by Kelvin.
Check out this
inspiring video of Kelvin’s journey to M.I.T.:
Here are five African inventions which may take off in 2017.
An electricity grid for the whole village
Problem: A total of 1.3 billion people worldwide currently don't have electricity, according to Yale Environment 360.
Getting people in rural areas on to the national grid is proving too
difficult and traditional solar panels generate meagre amounts of
energy. Solution: Steamaco makes solar and
battery micro-grids which can work for a whole village. They are small
electricity generation and distribution systems that operate
independently of larger grids. How it works: Micro-grids are nothing new. The new part is that Steamaco's technology automates the regulation of electricity.
So,
if the system detects there will be a surge in demand for electricity,
for example on a Saturday night when people want to start playing music
for a party, or they see a dip in supply, like when the sun has gone
down and so the grid is not collecting solar energy, then the grid
automatically stops electricity for people it won't affect too badly.
The
system sends an automatic text to all customers on the grid saying that
the electricity in houses is about to be cut off so that the hospital
can keep on going. Who is talking about this? In October they featured in the Global Cleantech 100 Ones to Watch list.
A jacket that detects pneumonia
Problem: Pneumonia kills 27,000
Ugandan children under the age of five every year. Most of these cases
are due to pneumonia being misdiagnosed as malaria. Solution:
Ugandan engineer Brian Turyabagye has designed a biomedical "smart
jacket" to quickly and accurately diagnose pneumonia. The Mamaope jacket
measures a sick child's temperature and breathing rate. It can diagnose
pneumonia three to four times faster than a doctor and eliminates most
possibility for human error. How it works: A
modified stethoscope is put in a vest. It is linked to a mobile phone
app that records the audio of the patient's chest. Analysis of that
audio can detect lung crackles and can lead to preliminary diagnoses. Who is talking about this: It is shortlisted for the 2017 Royal Academy of Engineering Africa Prize.
A tablet that monitors your heart
Problem: It is difficult for people
in rural areas to travel to the cities to see heart specialists. There
are just 50 cardiologists in Cameroon, which has a population of 20
million people. Solution: Arthur Zang invented
the Cardio Pad - a handheld medical computer tablet which healthcare
workers in rural areas use to send the results of cardiac tests to
specialists via a mobile phone connection. How it works: Cardiopads
are distributed to hospitals and clinics in Cameroon free of charge,
and patients pay $29 (£20) yearly subscriptions. It takes a digitised
reading of the patient's heart function. In a few seconds the results of
a heart test are sent to a specialist clinic in the capital. Who is talking about this: It won the Royal Academy of Engineering award for African engineering in 2016 and the Rolex award for Entreprise in 2014. But Mr Zang told BBC Africa that these things take time to develop and it only got approval from the Cameroon authorities in October 2016.
So, it is more likely that people will actually see it in their clinics in 2017.
An app for hair inspiration
Problem: A lack of accurate information about how to achieve certain hairstyles and where to find a high-quality stylist. Solution: Three
software engineers - Priscilla Hazel, Esther Olatunde and Cassandra
Sarfo - invented Tress, an app to share ideas about hairstyles. How it works: It is described by Okay Africa as
a kind of Pinterest or Instagram for hair. Once you have downloaded the
app, you can follow other people who are sharing their hairstyle. You
can search specifically by place, price range and the type of hairstyle
your want, from relaxed hair to cornrow.
You can then scroll until your heart's content
through people who have uploaded pictures of themselves with that style,
tell them how much you like their style, ask how long it took, and even
arrange to meet up with someone to style your hair. Who is talking about this: The three software engineers behind this are graduates of the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology in Accra, Ghana.
They were then selected for the Y Combinator eight-week fellowship programme for start-up companies.
Y Combinator is prestigious - business news website Fast company called it
"the world's most powerful start-up incubator". In other words, the
school is thought of as really good at finding the next Mark Zuckerberg.
A currency for paying online workers
Problem: There are online workers,
specifically web developers, in Africa who people outside the continent
would like to employ but it is difficult or prohibitively expensive to
get their wages to them. Some don't have passports, and so don't have
bank accounts either. Solution: Bitpesa uses
Bitcoin to significantly lower the time and cost of remittances and
business payments to and from sub-Saharan Africa. How it works:
Bitpesa uses the crypto-currency bitcoin as a medium to transfer cash
across borders. Bitcoin is a system of digitally created and traded
tokens and people keep their tokens in online wallets.
It then
takes the Bitcoin tokens and exchanges them into money in mobile money
wallets - a popular way of paying for things in places like Kenya and
Tanzania.
BitPesa is already used to pay online workers - a
company called Tunga is using it as a way of getting wages from clients
abroad to web developers in Uganda. Who is talking about it: It won an award for the best apps across Africa in November.
