Why philanthropic entrepreneurial investor Jean-Claude Bastos believes a boot-strap mentality holds the key to socio-economic empowerment for Africa
There’s an old African proverb that says: “Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter.” For tech-savvy investor and philanthropist Jean-Claude Bastos, that adage is particularly apropos.
Jean-Claude Bastos, a dual citizen of Switzerland and Angola, has long devoted himself to championing initiatives that promote socio-economic growth conceived and fueled by an emerging pool of native African research and development pioneers. “There is an inherent innovation spirit that is stealthily fueling its way across the continent, and it’s not just a fad, it’s very real indeed,” he shared in a 2017 interview with NewAfrican.
“Despite the fact that we’re a continent made up of 54 countries, the one thing that is uniting Africans is this spirit. The continent is seeing a sharp rise in home-grown innovative solutions across the agriculture, healthcare, environment, transportation, and technology spectrum. African innovation enablers and influencers are breaking down barriers and encouraging regional collaborations to steer African innovation forward through infrastructure development, technology transfer, and critical know-how. I believe that it’s only a matter of time before the global investment community realizes and descends upon the potential of innovation from Africa.”
How a Boot-Strap Mentality Empowers Africa’s Youth
The motto, “For Africa, By Africa,” was the cornerstone of the The African Innovation Foundation, a charitable organization Jean-Claude Bastos founded in 2009 to help budding talent in the fields of agriculture, health, sustainability, and communications technology reach their full potential. “My passion for innovation and my belief that Africa’s future lies in its ability to innovate according to its socio-economic needs led to the founding of the African Innovation Foundation,” Bastos told Forbes. “Our aim [was] to unleash Africa’s dormant potential and support sustainable projects that improve the lives and the future of people in Africa.”
Across every strata of African society, from teachers to scientists, journalists to politicians, sociologists to artists, proud parents to shrewd investors, there are a host of interested parties who’d argue that Africa’s greatest resource is its young people. While these advocates contend nurturing human capital is essential to creating a robust future for the continent, the youth of Africa remain hamstrung by harbingers of the continent’s less than welcoming past. Moving beyond a legacy of disease, starvation, habitat destruction, systemic poverty, misogyny, and political oppression is no small endeavor.
“At the risk of making a generalization, may I say it: Africa’s young people are dissatisfied and frustrated. They are fed up — with the stigma of Africa, the pity the continent sometimes evokes, the perception of its lack of self-sufficiency and dependence on handouts from the outside world,” wrote Lise Birikundavyi in an essay for Jean-Claude Bastos’ 2015 curated collection of think pieces, The Convergence of Nations: Why Africa’s Time is Now. “This negative image reflects only a fraction of what Africa is. Yet it impedes Africa from being as great as it once was and as wonderful as it could be.”
Birikundayvi, Managing Partner at BKR Capital, a firm that provides investment funding in the technology space with a focus on uplifting minority communities, is also a member of ForbesBLK whose mission is “to champion a global community of Black entrepreneurs, professionals, leaders, and creators that are driving systematic change in business, culture and society.” The insights she gleaned from years of personal interaction and hands-on experience forging inroads into African commerce led her to reach conclusions that align closely with Jean-Claude Bastos’ own.
“Africa is too often presented as a continent without hope, where nothing happens other than human and political disasters. The media tend to suggest that Africans are a single group of people — and that they are helpless,” Birikundayvi related. “With time, I have discovered a diversity that is bigger and richer than that seen on the European continent. The continent has bright minds constantly fighting for the improvement of their respective countries with innovation, boldness, courage, and passion.”
“We are a continent of people who are coming of age in times when technology is moving at such an incredible rate and increased connectivity is changing how young Africans are learning, banking, shopping, and doing business,” Bastos explained.
Innovation is a Virus That Needs No Cure
While adversity continues to create suffering for a huge swath of Africa’s population, there’s one so-called “virus” Jean-Claude Bastos would like to see more people succumb to that could potentially cure a myriad of the continent’s ills. Its name? “Innovation.”
Jean-Claude Bastos is no stranger to transformative innovation and the stunning impact it can have on marginalized communities. “I have personally seen what can happen when you build an innovation hub in the middle of a slum, like I’ve done in Angola.” Through his efforts, a derelict soap factory was reborn as “a hybrid incubator, accelerator, makerspace, co-working space and cultural connector called Fábrica de Sabão.”
Bastos recalls that in its early days, local youth from the surrounding area were intimidated by the new venture, but soon enough their curiosity overcame their initial misgivings. “[They became] part of the organic transformation… literally before my eyes.”
Kids got involved in the prototyping of alarm systems and solar-powered mobile charging devices. They learned how to operate computer numerical control (CNC) machines and 3D printers to manufacture tiles and furniture from recycled materials. “This is what the ‘innovation virus’ is all about. I would like to see inclusive ecosystems like these evolve across every slum in Africa,” Bastos said.
Meaningful Change Must Come From Within
“…Many Africans have been sold the idea that they cannot be the protagonists of their own development. If any great project is to be implemented, it has to be arranged by foreigners… The majority of the young Africans I meet agree on one point: mentalities need to change. And that can only happen through inclusive growth,” Birikundayvi asserted.
“I feel innovation is one of the driving forces that Africa can use and should use to diversify their economies and create small and mid-sized enterprises to create the jobs which are very much needed in this continent,” Jean-Claude Bastos declared. “[Africa has] a very young population. You have to imagine all of these young people want to have jobs. Innovation is the key to creating those jobs and stimulating the economy.”
“To make this happen all Africans — and particularly young people — need to embrace the power of sometimes disruptive change,” Birikundayvi concluded. “They must make use of all the opportunities from new technology and new methods of doing business, as well as of fresh channels of investment from the private and public sectors, and adapt them to local context and needs. Young Africans, representing the majority of the population on the continent, are engaged and hungry for change — and they can lead the way to a better future.”