Use innovation to reduce wealth gap

NAIROBI: When the history of capitalism is finally written, many of its pages will be definitely filled with stories of the heroic deeds of entrepreneurs.

Now that the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) has come and gone, a few reflections are in order.

How is Africa, predominantly rural and heavily reliant on agriculture and small-scale business, supposed to play in the league of the big boys like the Silicon Valley? What are the common threads that define the story of all entrepreneurs?

Entrepreneurs are people who are able to see through darkness. They have a keen appetite for risk. They can stubbornly resist and ignore doubters and naysayers. They are mavericks who intentionally ignore the comforts of the well-trodden path. The descriptions could go on and on.

So much so that business schools often-times use life histories and the psychology of entrepreneurship to define its very meaning.

Yet whether you are talking about James Mwangi of Equity fame, Steve Jobs of Apple, Henry Ford of the automotive assembly line; all seem to be gifted and astute mobilisers of men, money, resources and capital in its entirely.

Even when some or most entrepreneurs have scant respect for the lecture theatre, the teams they must assemble to realise their dreams must have the sheer know-how to turn the vision of the main man into tangible reality. In the end, cutting edge technology was needed to enable Equity Bank serve the millions it had mobilised to its doorsteps.

In fact, every top entrepreneur must find a way of enabling hordes of micro traders to thrive alongside him in order to sustain himself. That is why the Equity model, powered by the formidable Infosys, eventually came to birth the agency model of deposit collection and cash disbursement, among other basic services.

Equity Bank agents now handle more transactions than ATMs and branches combined. They help mop up deposits on behalf of the bank and this, at minimal risk, by avoiding cash on transit.

While many people believe most traders have special acumen, what is critically needed is a modicum of discipline and commitment to record keeping. Equity Bank's financial literacy for Africa programme has helped many better their businesses.

It helps in making rational decisions like how much to borrow and why. It opens one eye on alternative business streams or even how to scale up or scale down existing businesses.

We sincerely wish well all those who made deals for venture capital or capacity enhancement at the GES. Our hearts though are with the small-scale entrepreneurs. Armed with a pen, notebook and a stock of goods. The IT gizmos know their way around town after all. Besides, we need to make use of President Barack Obama's programme of increasing Africa's energy output capacity.

The Power Africa programme can spur many initiatives in green energy. In a continent where children have to do homework under kerosene light, a solar-powered lantern will make the difference between literacy and a bright future.

We need to extend this awareness for renewable energy to the rural areas. With some financial institutions being more than ready to finance decent housing in rural areas, they can make renewable energy part of the package for financing. Starved of sufficient technology to exploit it natural resources, Africa must rely on its soil and children to feed it.

For example, we need to curb over-reliance on rain-fed agriculture and embrace drip irrigation as a means of growing crops. Apart from guaranteed harvests, this will make financing of agriculture a less risky undertaking for financiers.

Mechanised agriculture and value addition holds the promise to our future. Without going that route, the wealth gap between our farmers and those who ply their trade in the knowledge-driven financial and information technology world will continue to widen.