An Outburst on Building a Great Empire

Hello team. This won't be a late-night rant but a story that I would like to share, straight from the depths of inspiration.

I stumbled upon IAN at a time when I was lost on what I wanted to do with my life. My life after university looked bleak. I would picture myself tarmacking or drafting CVs to go for interviews and I would get demoralised. I had a feeling that life was more than just getting a job at a corporate and working for a paycheck. Not saying this is bad but it is not for everyone. I wanted to build things that would make an impact and I knew that getting a job was not the answer.

Coming into IAN gave me an environment where I could put myself and my skills to the test. Coming straight from university had its downsides and I had to learn a lot of things, some of them the hard way. I still have a lot to learn, I mean, I am only 2 years into my working life, what do I know? However, being at IAN has really accelerated my development beyond what I thought possible. I can only compare this experience to the post-independence period of Kenya, where young educated Africans got to take part in forming the foundations of our nations. It was based on circumstance that they were chosen and they took up the mantle to bring our nation to where it is today. Of course, most did not do a great job but many of them did inspiring things like Tom Mboya, Mwai Kibaki .etc. They set up ministries, CBK, Sacco movements and so on.

We are in a similar position today as we are embark on a frontier of innovation, exponential technologies, access to abundant capital and global networks. In this Brave New World, those who understand how to leverage the superpowers of the 21st century will shape the course of humanity. Unlike our leaders who had the opportunity to make Kenya great but did not, we have example of leaders who did succeed. Lee Yuan Yew took Singapore from a 3rd world country to 1st in a single generation. Sure, some people will say that his country was small and can easily be managed, fair enough. I will give another example, China. In 30 years, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, turned a poor communist agrarian country into a fast-growing free-enterprise industrial country that now rivals the unrivalled superpower since the close of World War 2. This is a nation of 1 billion people. If they could do it, why can't we? Where did we go wrong?

In my somewhat-short burst of inspiration, I would like to highlight that we have an opportunity to chart a path for the next generation to come. Africa's time will come and we are building the foundations. Before Great Britain became what it was, it took not decades but centuries. From the Roman conquest in 43 AD to the eventually declaration of the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1801. It was said that in the British Empire, the sun would never set as they raised their flags and claimed all lands for the crown. They were a product of their time, when the world moved slowly. However, we live a different world, a Brave New World. Singapore succeeded in a generation, China did it in less. What can Africa do and what part will you play in that? Let's find out together.