Woolgather Wednesday: Innovation, Passion and Zambia (MUNTU Zed Series)

A couple of months ago, I went to another BongoHive Insaka, this time featuring Ceasar Siwale of Pangea Securities as well as Fresh View Cinemas and Mugg and Bean franchisee.  I went in large part in support due to the fact that a coupla months later, e18hteam would have a theatrical release due to his commitment to showcasing Zambian filmmakers by easily providing a platform for their films through his theatres.  You can watch the full video above but here are my takeaways from his talk and my thoughts:

1.  The Diaspora are key to Zambia's development.

We in Africa are constantly complaining about brain drain but there are ways to overcome that.  The Diaspora do not have to be terrestrial to have an impact.  The skills they acquire abroad can affect home remotely or on the ground.  A lot of the time frustration causes many who repatriate to return to their expatriate ways.  Things in Zambia can be at worst bureaucratic, convoluted and sometimes so illogical, slow and unnecessarily complicated and time consuming you just want to shoot yourself to end your misery.  But the rewards for taking risks are unparalleled.  And if you don't have the stomach and patience for such, there are options: Zambians abroad can invest and provide financing for business ventures from overseas. Expertise can still have an impact through mentoring and being role models by making a difference from afar with the effects being felt at home.  Be creative.  Figure it out.  And returning home can be done as Ceasar pointed out when I asked him how the transition for the diaspora can be made, and he looked at me and said well you are here, you have managed. Touché... 

2.  The Zed Zim complex is fed by our own insecurities.

In part due to the legacy of colonialism, with Southern Rhodesia aka Zimbabwe being the jewel of the British Empire's Southern Africa and Zambia being an afterthought: a consequence of land grabbing to show the rest of the European powers their might and was therefore less developed until copper was discovered and industrial mining started in the 1920s, we Zed folk have always felt a little, okay, very inferior to our cousins further South.   Despite being a rock for Zim after we got independent in 1964 and being a refuge for Zimbabweans in the 1970s as Ian Smith waged war with Britain and Mugabe fought for the indigenous to gain independence and self rule, we still feel like they have more to offer.  It is true that for decades Zim had better infrastructure, was able to market their 200m of Victoria Falls better than we do the 1 Km (yes you read right, we have 5 times more Falls than Zimbabwe) but in the 21st Century, we have taken strides to catch up.  There is nothing to separate us now really than attitude.  We need to believe in ourselves.  Forget what they have, lets work with what we have got proudly.

3.  Zambian education system is broken.

I lament the loss of the days of my parents.  They were youngsters when Zambia became independent and the Founding Fathers really focused on education.  They used the infrastructure set up by the British to create great schools that were some of the best in the region, and many were sponsored by government scholarships to go abroad, mainly in Europe, Russia and Cuba to get educated and were encouraged to come back and help build the nation.  That time is gone.  Now children are taught rote, and are chastised for questioning, lambasted for not towing the line.  When a child is stifled and learns that the only way to get ahead is to give the required scripted answer, how are they foster innovation in the future?  If their imagination is quelled before it is ignited, how can they dream?  How can they envisage a better tomorrow?  How can they have agency in developing the nation? Exactly....

4.  We should be the hub of Southern Africa...

Most obviously because we are bang smack in the middle of the region! We should be the go-to SADC destination with flights to every single country.  We should be THE connection.  We keep going on about being a landlinked, not landlocked country but are we doing enough to ensure that?  We also keep looking outward for FDI, calling for people from the outside to come in and help.  There is a lot of money in Zambia already.  We should also look inward and LDI should be a focus in conjunction with money from abroad.  How can we expect people to believe in us and what we have to offer if we don't invest in ourselves?  To truly be a hub, we need to be attractive for people to flock.  It is time to woo people, we need to find our little black dress and flaunt our best assets to attract suitors by showing how well we are doing on our own but are perfectly happy to partner up if lucrative for all parties.  We need to have faith in ourselves but not whore ourselves out.  We need to develop with dignity.

5.  Be passionate about your work and fight for what you believe in.

Ceasar talked about how noone thought another cinema chain would work in Zambia but he was passionate about bringing the blockbuster experience full throttle to Lusaka and succeeded.  Unfortunately we are known to be naysayers, to shut an idea down before the seed of possibility is even planted.  We need to give space for ventures to germinate and need to be okay with failure as it is just a bump in the road to success. If you truly believe in your business plan you should back it with your own money (how can you expect others to invest without being able to lead by example if needed) and be willing to do what it takes (without compromising your principles and selling your soul) to make things happen.  There are no shortcuts to making it, you have to put in the hard time and be ready to sacrifice in the short term, to move forward and have staying power in the long term.

Ceasar with Anja Savic aka the Letterist
at e18hteam Premiere, 16th October 2014

Lastly I would like to thank Ceasar for being supportive of my documentary film.  I first approached him last year to let him know I was working on the film and he kept to his word and I was able to Premiere the film in October.  Fresh View Cinema staff were so obliging and made the theatre release a breeze.  We also got an extension from a week to a months screening of the film.  I am glad to be able to provide proof that Zambians ARE supporting Zambians through our collaboration.  

For more information about the Zambia Investment Conference that Ceasar mentions in the video, visit their website and register for the event happening the first week in December.  You can find out about the latest local and international films showing at Fresh View Cinema here.

In the mood to start something?  Register for BongoHive's Startup Weekend starting this Friday in Lusaka.  You can also find out more about future talks by following them on Facebook and Twitter.

Want to know more about the film?  Follow e18hteam on Facebook and Twitter to find out about our global film festival run in 2015.

Happy New Year: Amashiwi ya Bakulu

Happy New Year from Accra!  So excited to be in West Africa for the first time.  I shall blog about that in due course I promise.  In 2014 I plan to create a system to better accomplish my goal of blogging more, as part of my larger life passion to contribute to creating and populating the internet with more Zambian and African content, after being inspired by this article.  The ridonkulously fast internet here in Ghana is definitely already encouraging me to be more proactive already ;}.

I recently listened to Zambia's first President, Kenneth Kaunda's tribute at Nelson Mandela's funeral - by default amashiwi ya bakulu: words of/ from those who are grown ie: (wise) words from our elders. There was as a lot of furore about his use of the now derogatory term Boer as opposed to the more politically correct and acceptable Afrikaner.  I think people overreacted as he was recounting stories of Mandela's (and his) experience of Apartheid . And KK is old: leave this nonagenarian alone!  He spoke off the cuff, in an impassioned, personal and honest fashion.  I do not think he meant any harm by it.  I think the speech needs to be viewed in context.  I really appreciate the candor, eloquence and authenticity with which he delivered his tribute.  What I took from his outpouring of love for Mandela and his insight into human nature is that we need to stop getting in our own way and realise that we need to "love thy neighbour" as we are all the same: we are all muntu: human in the end.  And in order to do that we need to realise our power and not abuse it by being an agent or active force of subjugation, but use it as a positive and impactful force for change.

So here's to a year dedicated to focusing on creating systems of evolution and inspiration that lead to positive change and to passionate and fulfilled lives - especially in unexpected and interesting ways :)!

"Merchants of Hope": The Disillusionment In The African Football Dream

Finally watched the Current TV documentary Soccer's Lost Boys. I am glad I waited till after the World Cup as it was depressing to see what happens to these boys who are sold hope by sketchy Africans and Europeans alike.



First and foremost I agree with a comment made that comparing this situation with those of the Lost Boys of Sudan is not equal.  I know that documentaries like to be incendiary, but that was a bit much.  I liked how one of the men who had been tricked into going to Morocco by an agent said that the people who deal in the African Dream are "Sellers of hope".  When asked why people still fall for it, even though it is clear that nothing comes of it, he continued to say that that is what they do they are "Merchants of hope" that deal with "total disillusionment."  These people prey of the hopes and dreams of young children who want to emulate their heroes Drogba, Essien and Eto'o and their families who are easily led to believe that their investment will be return exponentially.  So "Sellers" or "Merchants of hope" I think would have been a better title.

Africans have to take responsibility for the inception of the disillusionment.  Our stars need to not only come back and set up schools, football camps and better the communities they came from, they also need to speak up regularly about how they are the exception not the rule.  They also need to talk about how they got to where they are, because when recruited, payment to an agent is not required, the club pays for the expenses.  And even if things more often that not don't pan out, at least families are not left destitute. I happened to sit next to a young Zambian football player off to Germany and France to try his luck.  I flew with him to South Africa and made sure he got on his connecting flight as he had never flown before. He had all his documents in an envelope and who to call if anything went wrong. That is how it is supposed to be done. These realities need to be revealed.

This reminds me of the article in Time's June World Cup Issue about Samuel Eto'o. During his conversation with the Time's reporter Eto'o made use of the word dream a total 14 times including when he said  "My whole life is a dream, a dream come true, a dream I'll only wake up from the day I stop playing football." However this is the exception not the rule. Most of the time, the boys end up realising they are actually in a nightmare that they can't wake up from. The ones who are manage to make it to Europe are still likely to be met with disappointment. Eto'o went through a reputable sports academies in Cameroun: L'Ecole de Football des Brassieries du Cameroun and the Kadji Sport Academy, played for his country at the U-16 level and was recruited by Real Madrid. And the people who are read the article are not the people who are going to be bamboozled.  This story needs to be told through channels that will reach those vulnerable to these get-rich-quick-through-football schemes as well.

Essien's journey is similiar, taking him to France first after representing Ghana at Youth level.  Drogba was lucky to have family in France.  Essien finished high school and Drogba was banned from football when he had to repeat a year of school.  Unlike what Mr. Smith, the dubious Ghanaian Youth Coach said, these guys did not abandon their education to become the stars they we know and love. He should not be encouraging kids to do so in the name of their idols.

The exploitation continues in Europe, where those interested profiting from football and those interested in exploiting the precarious situation these boys find themselves in once they are no longer legal take advantage. Continuing the illusion of hope by making these boys play games hoping that they will be spotted by an agent, or locals taking advantage of the boys need to survive at whatever cost is just as despicable as the coaches and agents in Africa who pluck them from their families.

What I liked most about the documentary is that it showed that there are Africans and Europeans who have seen this problem and are doing something about it.  You can find more information about the initiatives mentioned in the documentary below.  There are also links to other initiatives going on and what Drogba and Essien are doing (Eto'o site is temporarily down btw):

The Right To Dream, The Craig Bellamy Foundation, Foot Solidaire, FIFA and Foot Solidaire, Win in Africa With Africa, 1Goal, Essien's Foundation, Drogba's Foundation, Eto'o's Foundation.