The CEO of an important financial institution in Kenya told me once, “If the head of the family isn’t well, then the whole family stops to look at this guy who isn’t well. Now if he isn’t well then the kids are not going to school, and if they aren’t going to school then their […]
Africa Powering Ahead
In the middle of the Lagos heat, I said to a colleague: “I feel very fortunate to have air conditioning, there are so many people here who just have to bear this heat, that I feel bad about it”. Half-joking, he answered, “On the other hand, everybody has a heater!” Not that Lagos is sunny, […]
Access to Electricity in Africa
While in Lagos, I experienced what it means not to have a regular power supply. So I was happy to hear about “repurpose schoolbags“, schoolbags with a solar panel that charges while kids are in school. In the evening, they can be used as a study lamp. This indigenous innovation was created by two South African women. […]
Blackout excitement: Power problems in Nigeria
Daily life in Lagos – and for that matter, I guess in most of Nigeria and Africa – offers certain small excitements. One of them is the blackout excitement: some time(s) during the day, the light and/or the power goes off. Nobody gets disturbed; they just go about their business. There are generators both at […]