Anyone who has been successful and has knowledge to share is a potential mentor.
I believe in the power of ideas. I believe in the power of sharing knowledge.
I'd like to see technology to move beyond the hype and be considered part of infrastructure... the way you see access to water. I would like it to move away from apps and mobile money. So that everyone has their TV and their Wi-Fi, and it's just ubiquitous. I think that's where we should be headed.
Most entrepreneurs think capital is the biggest problem they have - but it's not. You can have all the capital you want, but if the market fit and ability to adjust are not present, your startup will likely not succeed.
Technology is the perfect refuge for African capability stifled elsewhere by badly run governments and years of misplaced foreign aid. Ubiquitous connectivity in a world without legacy infrastructure, together with the potential to learn coding or anything else online, has allowed technology entrepreneurship to flourish.
An absence of credible information prevents citizens from participating in public decision-making, particularly on key issues of concern such as education, health, and governance.
The Internet Governance Forum - which brings together NGOs, government officials and companies - needs to do a better job of including representatives from Africa, Latin America, and Asia and addressing their issues.
The idea that either individuals or organisations are 'too big to fail' or that the tech and start-up sector is somehow different is wrong.
People thought I wrote in a very 'masculine' way.
Life is too short to play-act if you don't have to.
When I was in law school at Harvard, the Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA) in the U.S. was a big thing. I remember the fight between the army recruiters and Harvard University due to 'Don't ask, don't tell.'
The increasing diversification of media ecosystems after decades of state control, along with new digital tools that allow for greater citizen engagement, have led to a dramatic reshaping of the dynamics between citizens, media, and government.
Let's make sure that the Internet stays open to those who need it the most.
I think the Internet is a key driver of opening up opportunities, which impacts many things, including development - I will repeat that I am not a fan of looking at technology or the Internet in Africa through the lens of development - we love the Internet for sake of the Internet.
As I see it, tech in Africa 1.0 was the mobile-phone boom, and version 2.0 was about new apps developed in response to local needs. Tech in Africa 3.0 should be about those who are successful in transforming the chatter into real opportunities.
Ninety percent of my mentors have been male, most of them with very little in common with me on a personal level - from life experience, work experience, backgrounds, etc.
The depiction of Africa has changed in the media in that it is not always poverty, disease, and so on.
Omidyar Network first supported Africa Check in 2014 when they were a team of just three dedicated people intent on building a more fact-based environment for public debate in South Africa.
I probably can win a prize for the most ways to use a Harvard Law School degree because of all the things I'm doing.
I'm concerned about what I see is the fetishization around entrepreneurship in Africa. It's almost like it's the next new liberal thing. Like, 'Don't worry that there's no power because, hey, you're going to do solar and innovate around that.'
