Category: Innovation

African Development, Economic Development, Entrepreneurship Theory, General, Innovation

• 12 Jan 2025

La Beach Towers: a dream continues to haunt Accra’s waterfront

Following my recent piece on the fascinating history of Shangri-La Hotel, a surprisingly large number of people have asked me to write something about another iconic abandoned property, La Beach Towers (picture attached), a gaunt tower astride the La Beach road. Frankly, I didn’t find the story titillating enough to...

African Development, Development Studies, Economic Development, Entrepreneurship Theory, Innovation, Systems Thinking

• 3 Jan 2025

“Point-and-Kill” catfish can’t swim against the business tide

A simple model of the productive core of an economy is that it is made of three primary levels: the informal base, small & medium enterprises (SMEs), and the large corporations. While size and scale are the obvious differentiators, there are other equally important markers. The informal sector is noted...

Innovation

• 7 Oct 2024

Africa’s financial salvation is on the blockchain

Part I: Holy Ledger Pentecostal Tokenism Some say that the world’s largest modern church denomination is the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Nigeria. A megachurch with worship grounds that reputedly stretch for miles on end. It should come as no surprise that it is Nigeria’s largest real estate...

Innovation

• 30 Apr 2024

How SML confused Ghanaian professors

Despite sparring for months with SML, I had never had the privilege of an encounter at close range. Unlike the good souls at the Fourth Estate, whose collaboration with ACEP was backed by IMANI, and who had the opportunity to visit SML a number of times, and in true journalistic...

Innovation

• 15 Jan 2024

The AI Winter is not coming – yet

The IMF says 40% of jobs are exposed to ArtificiaI Intelligence (AI). CNN translates this as 40% of jobs will be disrupted by AI. Not the same thing. Not even all that close. When it comes to the other projected impacts, especially regarding inequality, the CNN summary does not deviate...

Innovation

• 2 Sep 2023

Microsoft the Secret Hegemon & the Third Moment of AI

Global elite opinion has settled on the view that the large technology corporations owning and running the large digital platforms have to be reined in before the reach and depth of their power get out of hand. Regulatory agencies in various guises and with different mandates – competition, welfare, preventive,...

Innovation

• 16 Jun 2023

Europe won’t dictate the terms on Global AI

Two days ago, the European Parliament came to an internal consensus on a draft version of the European Union (EU) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act. Following this development, horse-trading will intensify among the European institutions to settle on a final legal text. This new phase of consensus building between the EU...