BOOK REVIEW – Chasing Black Unicorns by Marek Zmysłowski

Marek Zmysłowski is an amazing entrepreneur who has written a real-life thriller based on his career in Poland and, most intriguingly, Africa.

Zmysłowski

I have met Marek Zmysłowski twice in Africa and, more recently, in London. The nights we had in Johannesburg and Lagos were legendary, but a gentleman never tells.

He is a Polish firebrand and whirlwind, driven by entrepreneurial zeal and loves life almost as much as I loved his book, Chasing Black Unicorns.

They say that there is a book inside every journalist… and that’s where it should stay. I would also say that there’s a book inside every entrepreneur and that’s where it should be buried, but not in this case.

This story is more like a Robert Ludlum African-based thriller and it rolls and rolls like an exciting rollercoaster.

It begins slowly with a young Zmysłowsk dreaming of big things in a small Polish town. His ambition knows no bounds as he chases the zloty and dollar by working in finance and, memorably, in the funeral business. He spends what he earns and he loves spending as his internet pioneering makes him a Polish player.

Then an opportunity arises with Rocket Internet to set up the ‘African equivalent of Expedia’ in Nigeria. Zmysłowsk takes up the challenge and heads to Lagos and in the next couple of years does the almost-impossible in doing exactly that.

Then the problems begin. Agent provocateurs, dissembling investors, strategies-from-above and all of the above magnified by the chaos of Nigeria mean trouble for Zmysłowsk. Not only is he ousted from the business he built up, but his new venture is seen as a threat.

Before he knows it, he is on Interpol’s most wanted list and endures prison after being arrested at Warsaw airport expecting to be extradited to Nigeria.

I won’t spoil the ending because there is much to read and admire here. His writing is crisp and he never loses faith even when the Gods seem out to screw him over. His book is a hell of a ride, I recommend you join him. A really excellent story.

Welcome to the finalists for AppsAfrica.com Awards 2017

The best of African startups are shortlisted for the prestigious AppsAfrica.com 2017 Awards.

AppsAfrica.comThe shortlisted finalists for the annual AppsAfrica.com Innovation Awards 2017 celebrating the best in mobile and tech from across Africa have been announced.

The annual Awards now in their third year attracted more than 300 submissions from across 31 countries judged by an independent panel of leading industry experts from across the ecosystem.

“The AppsAfrica Awards were originally set up three years ago to celebrate the best in mobile and tech across the continent as many ventures do not get the visibility or recognition they deserve.

This year produced a vast array of great entries from exciting new technologies utilising AI, bots and drones to mobile, health and education initiatives scaling across Africa”, said Andrew Fassnidge, Founder, AppsAfrica.com.

The awards supported by Boomplay Music, Basebone, BBM, Content Connect Africa, Mobile Monday South Africa (MOMO) the Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF) celebrate the best in mobile and tech from across Africa, providing winners with global publicity, recognition and networking with 300+ industry peers at the Awards party in Cape Town on November 6th.

AppsAfrica Awards 2017 finalists

Best Social and Messaging Award
Flare – Kenya, Juntos – Africa, 1Fetch – SA, Kudi – Nigeria and Wetin Dey – Nigeria

Disruptive Innovation Award
Mastercard 2Kuze – Kenya, Medsaf – Nigeria, What3Words – SA, Trend Solar – Tanzania and Girl Effect – Tega – Nigeria

Best African App
Carter – SA, Asorbia – Ghana, TrueCaller Africa, Boomplay Music – Africa and FeastFox – SA

Enterprise Solution Award
What3Words – SA, Flutterwave – Nigeria, Asoko Insight – Africa, Morpheus Commerce – SA and Snode Technologies – SA

News and Entertainment Award
Bounce News – Nigeria, Jokko Text – Senegal, Vodacom Music! – SA, Vodacom Games! – SA and Sportsie – Nigeria

Educational Award

Mwabu – Zambia, Kukua – Sema Land – Kenya, Snapplify – SA, Xander Education – SA and Praekelt dig-it – SA

FinTech Award
NetPlus / Mastercard – SA, PesaChoice – Rwanda, WeCashUp – Africa, PiggyBank NG – Nigeria and Flutterwave – Nigeria

Social Impact Award
What3Words – SA, Flare – Kenya, Vodacom e-School – SA, WeFarm – Kenya and Medsaf Nigeria

mCommerce
Farmart – Ghana, VConnect – Nigeria, Jumia – Nigeria, Mazady – Egypt and DressMeOutlet – Nigeria

Changing Africa
Jumo – Africa, Mwabu – Zambia, RippleNami – Kenya, Vodacom Mum & Baby – SA and Vodacom e-school – SA

We went to Soweto and made a little video

Last weekend, three mates and I had an amazing weekend in Soweto. We went with the great Ilan Ossendryver, an experienced photojournalist who took us around some garden/football projects he was involved in.

We drank with the locals, ate meat with the locals, took pictures of the locals (with respect and their permission), watched the night Orlando Pirates football live at the stadium with the locals and even jumped 70 metres inside an abandoned cooling tower into a net (NEVER AGAIN) with the locals.

This is a one-minute video that ends abruptly, but is still a little bit of fun about a magical day.

US company acquires African startup Saya

Robert-LampteyOne of the smartest people I’ve met as I’ve built up my African network over the past two years is the charismatic and smart Robert Lamptey.

As CEO and founder of Ghana-based mobile messaging company Saya Mobile, Robert has been an inspiration for many Ghanaians, and Africans for that matter. He is a better coder than anybody who has attempted MIT’s coding challenges and he has built up an excellent company in the last three years.

So it is of great pleasure to announce (somewhat belatedly, been on holiday), Saya’s acquisition by New Jersey company Kirusa, which has acquired the technology, IP and workforce of Saya that will now be working on Kirusa’s mobile applications. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Continue reading

Ebola Facts website goes, er, viral

ebolaAs the Ebola health crisis deepens and is not expected to peak until the end of the year, education about the disease is critical to contain panic and inform people.

Last week Nigerian educational website launched Ebola Facts, a site that was built in 24 hours and aimed at educating the West African market about the disease. In the past week more than 1.5 million people have visited the site and the Facebook site has been viewed 2.3 million times. Continue reading