If your main source of news and information about Africa is the mainstream media, then you are less likely to know about groundbreaking innovation and entrepreneurship that is taking place on the continent. Thanks to citizen journalists who regularly blog about startups and entrepreneurship in Africa. In this post we are listing major blogs, which review, analyse, and promote startups, entrepreneurship and innovation on the African continent.
- ITNewsAfrica [1] is an independent media portal that aggregates technology and telecoms news relevant to Africa’s development. The blog produces regular technology reports and coverage of the biggest ICT news events of the day. Information on ITNewsAfrica is produced by its own editorial team as well as content partners.
- Erik Hersman blogs at White African [2]. He is a web developer, co-founder of Ushahidi.com, a citizen media site documenting post-election violence in Kenya and a regular contributor to AfricanGadget.com. From time to time you can find information about startups and entrepreneurship in Africa on his blog, WhiteAfrican.com.
- Appfrica [3] is a blog from Uganda, which is described as “an African developer / entrepreneur’s heaven.” The blog deal with a variety of topics related to African IT industry, features interviews with African entrepreneurs and looks at news trends in the mobile and web industry. The founder of Appfrica is Jonathan Gosier, a software developer, writer and social entrepreneur based in Kampala, Uganda.
- Startup Ivoir [5]e is a new weblog that aims at reviewing and analysing web startups, web technologies and applications in Cote d’Ivoire , as well as tech/mobile products and services in Cote d’Ivoire. However, since the blog was set up in January, 2009, nothing has been posted yet.
- TechMasai [6]monitors and reviews web 2.0 with special emphasis on Africa. The “About” page of TechMasai reads, “It is our mission to obsessively write about any technology start up we find exciting and interesting. We also aim to fill the gap left over by big media companies in relation to African web 2.0 which we view as not receiving the recognition they deserve.” Techmasai is run by Munashe Gumbonzvanda, an African blogger and entrepreneur based in Canada.
- BandwidthBlog [8] is a South African blog that covers startups in South Africa and other parts of the world. The blog is run by the South African blogger, Charl Norman.
- StartUpAfric [9]a is a community project to stimulate technology entrepreneurship in Africa. The blog covers innovative technology solutions coming out of Africa and shares information on development programmes, investors, funding and mentoring programmes. StarUpAfrica is run by Ismail Dhorat [10].
- StartupsNigeri [11]a is a blog dedicated to reviewing and analysing web startups, web technologies, mobile products and applications in Nigeria, with the aim of connecting global web-savvy blogs and businesses with those in Nigeria. The blog features startups advice, tips and ideas for Nigerian web entrepreneurs. StartupsNigeria has an online community [12] that provides opportunities for networking and discussion on the latest tech/mobile news and developments in the Web 2.0 industry in Nigeria. StartupsNigeria is authored by the Nigerian blogger, online media analyst and social entrepreneur, Loy Okezie.
- Afrigadge [13]t does not cover the typical high-tech startups but stories (in text and video) of low-tech African ingenuity and innovation.
Jonathan is also the founder of Afridex [4], a business information aggregator and professional database pulling data from across the web about African start-ups, established companies and foreign groups operating in the continent.
Timbuktu Chronicles
Emeka Okafor, the TED Africa Director blogs at Timbuktu Chronicle [7]s, which “seeks to spur dialogue in areas of entrepreneurship, technology and the scientific method as it impacts Africa.” Timbuktu Chronicles covers a wide range of technology related projects and initiatives in Africa.