'Africa Surprising' and real social change

How do you push for real social change when the obstacles across this continent seem so intractable?

One way is to work out which criticism to follow and which to ignore. In 2016, Nthabiseng Legoete started Quali Health - a private health services provider serving low-income patients in South Africa. She was inspired by the death of her uncle the year before. She has shared how she needs to take on some criticism while ignoring others. She states that, “At times we think that all criticism is great …. But it isn’t … If it paralyzes you into inaction, it is not something that you can afford to internalize. Because you cannot afford to ‘not do anything’ and to not move to the vision…” She speaks of the importance of being kind to yourself as a new venture creator. Take on feedback, learn and adapt, but stay resilient by ignoring messages that move you to inaction.

Another way is to keep pivoting and evolving in order to find the business-model sweet-spot. I have been inspired by my friend, Rebecca Harrison, who in 2013, co-founded the African Management Institute. She started with a bold vision of supporting and training one million, high-performing, responsible managers across the continent. By starting with an ambitious goal, the founding team immediately adopted mobile phone technology and low-cost distribution structures to reach the far corners of the African continent. Their correct assumption was that scale would best be achieved through new technology. They have had to evolve and pivot and stay focused on their mission, change their name, and change their business-model as needed. The existing social system and environmental realities will nurture or hinder new ideas - agility is important.

South Africa and the greater continent are very fluid contexts. For decades journalists and activists painted a negative picture of the continent. This changed in the last decade. Positive stories started to be told. The change was symbolized by The Economist in 2013 with a cover story on ‘Africa Rising’. This was an important moment.

Challenges remain. Like the ongoing economic disaster in Zimbabwe and the disappointing ups and now downs of Jumia, the ‘Amazon of Africa’ and the first African tech startup to list on the NYSE. Focusing on failures and barriers to change might be seen as pessimistic, but it is important to acknowledge how things are. Too often new strategic ideas are dreamed up on flipcharts with sticky notes, where there is not enough connection to reality.

There are also many continued success stories. The innovation of M-Pesa in Kenya remains a leading financial services offering. There is much for the world to learn from drone technology in Rwanda. The rise of Africa has been uneven. That's why I prefer the narrative of ‘Africa Surprising’.

New venture leaders and founders need resilience, the ability to pivot, and the capacity to hold the creative tension between the possibilities of tomorrow and the realities of today. I have come to firmly believe that real social change only happens when new ideas interact dynamically with established systems. New venture creators need to remain ambitious – but also spend more time connecting their dreams with the current social context.