Agegelabs

“There are dollars: Africa is home to more gold, cobalt and diamonds than anywhere else in the world and sells more oil to America and China than the Middle East” (CNBC on Africa, NigeriaVillageSquare)

“I want to see real technology powerhouses grow within Africa – ultimately with African investors and with solutions that will take the world by storm” (Hash)

NaijaBorn launch coverage (Agegelabs, Naijafeed, 27months,
Webtrendsng, StartupsAfrica)

The making of an SMS icon \o/ (Kiwanja)

Is Zain Africa worth US$12 billion? (Consultant Value Added)

BarCamp Swaziland set for June 27th 2009 (BarCamp Africa)

15 Tips for Travelling in Africa: Toss out your expectations, embrace the differences (Hash)

13 Tips for Great Photography in a Developing Country: Learn the Language and Smile (Cashewman)

Stop Whinning and Collaborate. (ComputerWorld Kenya, via Hash)

Great profile of Appfrica Labs, a technology incubator based in Uganda. (Hash)

“When we start investing in our own, others will follow suit”. (OoTheNigerian)

“Rather than making the commitment of hiring new people, contract them to an assignment”. (Appfrica)

5 Things I love about GatorPeeps (David Ajao)

BarcampNigeria is over. Now what? (Grandiose Parlor)

“Asking for the connection of the dots is not calling for another forum to discuss, or the creation of a Task Force; it is an invitation to engage the active stakeholders”
(Gbenga Sesan)

As I walked through Gatwick Airport today, I saw a billboard advertising See Africa differently. For some reason, I forgot about it by the time I got home. Thanks to Joost, I found the website again. The site is all about showcasing the progress which has been made in recent years whilst acknowledging that more needs to be done. There are quite a few videos, all worth checking out.

NYT has an interesting piece on how some web companies are tearing up the old model of “build huge global audiences with a free service, and let advertising pay the bills”.

“Whenever you have a lot of user-generated material, your bandwidth gets utilized in Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, where bandwidth is expensive and ad rates are ridiculously low,” Mr. Volpi said. If Web companies “really want to make money, they would shut off all those countries.”

Essentially they are now shifting focus on the profitable “Western” markets. This should create opportunities for local entrepreneurs in the areas not targeted!

Is there (business) life at the Bottom of the Pyramid in Mobile Telecoms? — “There is no room for the typical scratch card distribution, since the cost of this channel prevents profitability of the model. The most adequate electronic replenishment method is the ‘mobile-to-mobile’ ” (Also check WRI’s the next 4-billion)

African Signal — Out of frustration, Hash has setup a new wiki site to track “information on the availability, costs and service levels of mobile phone and internet connections” across all the countries in Africa. The plan is to use individuals from each country to get the site populated with information which will be very useful. Go to the site and fill it in the data for your country, it take 5mins. Spread the word!

5 Tips for Choosing an Ideal City for Your Startup — “Like me [Loy], you may have launched your startup before moving to another city, it is critical to consider choosing a city that will provide your business better chances of succeeding.”