Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend an incredible event at Google’s campus in Mountain View, California: BarCampAfrica. This one-day event brought people together to exchange ideas, build connections, re-frame perceptions, and catalyze action that will hopefully lead to positive involvement and mutual benefit between Silicon Valley and the continent of Africa.  It’s been a busy two weeks since then – and I finally have a chance now to share lessons learned. Thank you to everyone who organized and contributed to BarCampAfrica: stellar job.

What I Learned at BarCampAfrica:

The video posted above provides a small glimpse of the insights shared during the course of BarCampAfrica. This panel focused on a discussion about Technology & Education. Guy Kawasaki was the facilitator. I learned so much from the expertise of this panel.

I always appreciate it when others use Twitter to share notes and insights from conferences I cannot attend. So, while I was at BarCampAfrica I used Twitter as well to share highlights of conversations that were taking place. It was a small way to contribute to the overall good energy and exchange of knowledge. Below are some of the top insights mentioned by BarCampAfrica attendees. For more Twitter posts on BarCampAfrica, feel free to check out the stream here.

• “To build Africa, the key is to build businesses”: Empowering people through education and business opportunities is the solution to poverty.

• “Individual ownership is the most sustainable model. Take a well for example – if you build it, who will keep it going?”

• “Mobile is the future of Africa.”: Laptops and PCs are too expensive. Mobile is affordable and easier to transport.

• “A poor person’s #1 priority is to make money. So, a laptop is only valuable as an asset to sell to make money.”

• “The problem with ‘free’ is that local businesses cannot compete. Foreign money dropped in a country isn’t good for local business development”: It’s better to invest in local businesses.

• “Only get involved in Africa if you are committed to staying engaged over the long-term”: There are too many past incidents of people starting something and not seeing it through to completion.

• “20% of all people with education work outside the continent in OECD countries”: There is a need to provide better leadership and tertiary educational opportunities in Africa, so that people do not have to leave the continent to get a great education. Once people leave, it is harder to get them to return.

• “The vast amount of aid money is wasted when foreign consultants arrive with SUVs and big expense accounts”: It’s critical to respect the local culture and economy when initiating a project.

• Be creative – leverage what the locals have. One panelist bought hotels in the local community first, as a way to earn money to fund projects, infrastructure, and schools.

• “Companies that want to enter the African market need to change models to consider culture, income level, diversity of markets.”

• Trends taking place today in Africa: 1) Political transformation: more nations shifting to democracy; 2) Diaspora support of Africa; 3) Technology: innovation across the continent.