Young Africans are creating a culture of Innovation
Young Africans are creating a culture of Innovation
Andile Ngcaba, Founder and Chairman of Convergence Partners, explains how Africa’s large, young population is creating a culture conducive for innovation.
During his keynote speech at the World Bank’s InfoDev Fifth Global Forum on Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship in East London, South Africa, Ngcaba discussed innovation in technology and the need for a radical change in the culture and attitude towards failure in Africa.
Of Africa’s predominantly young population, Ngcaba said: “It creates a conducive environment for innovation and development, and for us to be able to take what we call teens and teach them how to code, how to develop software and how to build systems that will take us into the future.”
Ngcaba argued innovation takes place in the mind before a computer has even been touched or software developed.
He said entrepreneurs must learn to “embrace failure” if they want to innovate and eventually succeed.