Accelerating Innovation for Good

The reason a lot of innovation took place during the 40s, 50s, and 60s was that it was heavily funded by the U.S. government for military applications. Eventually, many of the scientists and engineers went on to work for private organisations and used discovered technologies and principles to build products that we benefit from today. These include GPS, the computer, nuclear power, and so on. The government is meant to be the biggest supporter of research and development in the sciences and technology. If it doesn't do these things, then it is doing nothing.

As a future leader of this country, I would offer funding to companies to deliver on the development of key technologies. Their next rounds of funding would come from the traction of their projects, the improvements they have made to a sector, and the novelty of their advances. We would give grants, but the companies are in charge of making the projects profitable and ready for mass use by the public. With government oversight, a sandbox would be created that allows people to do what is possible and not be barred by legacy laws that offer nothing but a hindrance to innovation.

African governments do not get this, and the reason is clear. The people we elect don't care about such initiatives. You can defend them all you want, but my position is fixed. They only care about their personal ambitions—such as the big house they want to build, the international school their children should attend, and the large tracts of unutilised land that bank their ill-gotten gains. Pathetic people. With all that wealth and power, they lack the vision to make things happen. Clearly, ambition is not always good, especially when it is directed toward personal gain. Ambition needs a universal vision that encompasses what is good for society, even when society doesn't prioritise that vision. If you were to ask people on the street what they want, they would say jobs, more business, more money in their pockets, and so on. However, I would say that they are treating symptoms of a deeper problem. I don't claim to know what this issue is, but it is not a lack of jobs or opportunity. This is Africa, where large corporations are yet to reach a majority of the population. There are large tracts of unutilised agricultural land, and we are still net importers of foodstuffs such as maize and wheat. We have a lot of opportunity to create jobs. What we don't have is the drive to pursue these great opportunities. We are waiting for someone to give us something instead of doing the hard work of thinking of ways to do things ourselves. A poor shame, but this is our state of affairs. We need to do something; otherwise, nothing will change.

The issue of leadership has come up again. We need solid leadership that imagines a great future and leads us toward it. We need people with fresh ideas who can lead us to a better and more prosperous world, where everyone has something to eat, work to do, and leisure to enjoy. A world where people can be fulfilled in their lives and push toward a greater future. Even though this implies a pursuit of shadows of God, it is still good. Sure, there will always be poor people, sick people, or unlucky people, but at least they will live in a better world that organises resources more effectively and protects them from shocks such as drought, floods, fires, crime, and so on.

We can try to build heaven on earth. For sure, we will fail but it will be a better world than any other that came before and that's worth something.