1Percent Built
Benjamin Fernandes @Benji_Fernandes likes to quip that “payment in Africa is one percent built” It made me wonder, if that is true? What else is one percent built or even below one built and can start being built today?
How did Benji come up to that number? — What metrics did he use? It is not as if it is obvious, but living abroad I can attest, it is very hard to move money around in the world. Starting in 2009 in UK while in high school to South Africa 2024, moving money is hard. I remember sending money from my “Mpesa” to an SA account from Tanzania to South Africa. I run an experiment, so I sent a minimum amount and see how long it will take! Well, let us just say that money went into an ether. I never received the money on the other end and could not spend all the time to track it.
Anyway, physically or in a software world, many things in many African countries are marginally built or none existence. Which one will be easier, physical or bits, and how does one actually go about building it, financial highways is an obvious area for Benji because first the demand is obvious, the building blocks are already there- the biggest challenge is more of George Stigler issue of regulatory capture of incumbents than skills and capital in the financial sector. Of course, we all have heard political rent seeking behavior constraints being a major challenge faced by builders in Africa.
You must understand it is not for the lack of ambitious, or intellectual acquit that many young people do not try to solve interesting problems. Nevertheless, there is an elephant in every room a youth walk in, some old man or lady tasked to guard the door. Some will want some greasing the wheel, some ask for 30 percent equity of your business and others a bitter/ sour who will outright block your dreams. “Ever heard the say- as long as am here, your idea will never see the light of the day?” Ask dreamers-they have many tales to tell. Any way do not get disappointed and keeping looking for areas, which are 1 percent, built and do your little part. Remember as Brewster says, “Our highest responsibility might be to unsettle the status que rather than preserve it”
It worth asking, what was are the drivers of what get built anyway? Why was the road built? Most of things are built to either solve the builder pain-point, while other things are built as a measure of ambitions. Now remember ambition is a function of technology, what are built also reflect the type of technologies that society is endowed with. If you live in a city with little to no technology, your aspiration will emulate the technologies surrounding you at most.
How things come into existence, say galaxies — in astronomy 101, one learn that astronomy is a time machine, which give us visualization of the past. Looking back a cosmic history, help us to understand how did these galaxies use to look like and what was their composition. The lessons are that earlier baby galaxies started forming via conglomeration of earliest atoms, and those earliest gas clouds produce the earliest stars, which were very simple, compose of mostly hydrogen and nothing else. In fact the constellation of stars are little factories which as they shine they create heavier element in their core through fusion process. When these stars run out fuel in their core they often disperse these material that they have created into the interstellar and it get caught up in the next generation of stars (recombination or laws of thermodynamic at play of course).
This means, that over time these galaxies that are full of these stars that are coming and going are maturing and their sizes are measurable. Even the sun, which is a very important star for our survival is not, a first generation star, it took light years of formation for it to come into existence. So all that is into existence is the results of progression of the universe from a bust of energy and transition of energy into matter to form gravitationally bound stars such earth and the like. Truly, there are stages of things in the cosmic world where only 1 percent formation has taken place, and will require either time, technological change to accelerate it to reach their maturation. The same can be in on our planet. The various technologies we enjoy have a progression path, which is not accidental, but intentional to make it happens and the like of @fernandez is doing with his time in NALA for the African market. His audacity and effort should arouse a sense of awe, curiosity and wonder from all of us. First it give us a validation that just as stars emanate from microscopic fusion reactions in the galaxies, so we can build great products which transcend our village geography.
Just as we know that there are hundreds of galaxies in the observable universe and even potentially more in yet unreached end of the cosmos, it is also true that, there could be potentially infinitely many technologies, which can be brought to light, besides those recent to our minds. For example what does it mean to be above average in finance, like you have trained yourself to be as competent in this area to a degree of say above one percent of the population in the world! How long will it take and what attitude will it require?
The formation of stars and galaxies should fertilize more curiosity in us to learn more about how great things come into existence and what can we do to aid them to be, even if it will at margins. Not to think and try to pursue to the ultimate scope of our abilities the possible frontiers of knowledge and making tangible product out of it, is a fundamental abdication of responsibility handed to us by our forefathers. Our parents achievements, though minor in a large scope of things are testament of new possibilities. Steve Job famously said most of what you see is built by men and women who are not necessarily smarter than you are. Bias for actions trump genius –everyday and always.
Psalm 8:3–9
