Africa Is Moving From Darkness to Light: Thanks to Social Innovation

By Agaki Mweberi 

Despite the despicable acts happening throughout the African continent, I have a dream like Martin Luther King JR had a Dream of a better America. I have a dream that Africa is going to be the light of the world. I have a dream that Africa will be the basket feeding the world. That is why, like George Orwell in the Animal farm was inspired to inform people of the atrocities committed by the totalitarian regimes in Europe, in most of my write ups I write more on social innovation for I know that is one of the way we can solve the social problems in Africa. 

Like the Africa Icon Nelson Mandela said “Education is the only weapon we can use to fight poverty.” and as Andrew Worrall says in the introduction to Animal Farm”the crucial purpose of education is to make us more able to discriminate truth from falsehood”. I believe education is a process of getting information to the people. If the majority gets to understand the importance of social innovation then we will be on the highway to combating the social problems we face. I strongly believe the concept of the wisdom of the crowd. 

However we should guard ourselves from what has become the norm, disregard of the precious knowledge that we have acquired. What make most people so gullible is their ignorance, apathy and self delusion. Even those that are literate fail to use the power at their disposal because they lack their own vision and the resolve to pursue it. I have always wondered why you get professors supporting people from their tribes even when they are out rightly wrong. Why can somebody take a lot of his time penning an article that will praise a regime that is repressive, the logical answer can only be they lack vision? My hope is rekindled when I see young people standing out to speak out against the social injustice and economic exploitation. My heart goes to the family and friends of those Africans that were killed while protesting the imperialism portrayed in Burundi, where the incumbent president want to run for president for the third time against the constitution requirement. I want to appreciate the voice of the young people rising to resist the xenophobia in South Africa. All these give me the strength to continue writing and encouraging social innovators. We will finally be successful. 

As I write I want to acknowledge the effort and tenacity of the European Union, Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) and many others for taking precedent, teaching and training people on social Innovation. Were it not for the continuous documentation of great social innovation, then I will not manage doing my daily analysis of the concept and trying to pass it to my readers. 

It will be a great disservice to the world if you acquired knowledge and kept into to ourselves. I am relieved by the fact that we are having social media which is facilitating the sharing of information. I am proud of Africa youth for they have taken it their responsibility to help others access opportunity that otherwise will never have been recognized. Check online and you will be mesmerized by the hyperactivity of people sharing on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, +Google Instagram and many more which adds to the efficiency and faster rate of communication. This is why I believe social innovation will be the next big thing in Africa. I believe Africa will not be the Dark Continent as it has been referred to before, but Africa will be the oasis of hope for the world. If you are African and you believe Africa will provide the solution to most of the problems in the world, then spread the concept of social innovation.