BUILDING A TRUE INDIGENOUS INSTITUTION IN AFRICA -The ZINOX Experience
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY LEO STAN EKEH, FNCS, OFR,

AT THE 13TH ANNUAL AFRICA BUSINESS CONFERENCE OF THE AFRICA BUSINESS CLUB IN THE HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL 18/2/2011

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Protocols
Permit me to start this paper from the middle by saying right away that I would love to be remembered as the man who computerized Nigeria and altered positively the destiny of many Africans through Digital Knowledge Democracy, a platform established to propagate the ideals of the Computerize Nigeria Project, a Zinox initiative. You understand then why my topic today is BUILDING A TRUE INDIGENOUS AFRICAN INSTITUTION using Zinox as a case study.

BACKGROUND
Africa in Focus:

Africa continues to attract attention because of the enduring nature of her underdevelopment in spite of the available rich natural resources and constituting 14% of the world population spread in 54 countries. Africa's underdevelopment can be traced to a multiplicity of languages and ethnic groups; poor governance characterized by dictatorships, military regimes, feudal relations and religious bigotry; endemic corruption in government and corporate circles; plagues and diseases, conflicts and wars, and apathy among a majority of her people.

Available records show that the average age of leadership in Africa is 70 and that immediately reveals that most African leaders are not ICT compliant and in effect do not belong to the 21st Century. Any leader today who is not IT savvy is national security risk to his people.

The peculiar problems of Africa appear to resist the proximity of North African countries to the economies of Europe and the Middle East. There are indices that project South Africa as Africa's strongest economy and rank Gabon and Equatorial Guinea as very strong even though none of these countries can be said to be walking the path of Brazil, India, Russia and China.

My first thinking as I considered an investment in Africa was to invest in the media and change the attitudes of our leaders and followers while helping them to harness their resource towards a transformation of our peoples. My contact with the media revealed the dire technology need that no one seemed to be addressing and the computerization of the media became my passion. We have since moved on to computerize Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, and the entire African continent has become our target...read more