Nairobi vs Lagos vs Kigali

Happy Friday! Caleb here with Prox Weekly 👋🏾

In case you missed it, Prox Weekly is your 5 minute rundown on Africa’s tech scene. 7 minutes if you’re a slow reader 🐢

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Morning! 

One of this week’s personal highlights was Morocco’s win against Portugal to make it to the World Cup Semi Finals. This scene was heart warming.

Morocco lost to France yesterday. But it was beautiful to see how Africa (and Arabic countries) rallied around Morocco.

The World Cup really is a borderless game that can bring everyone together - thats why we love it.

I have a banger article in the works that I can’t wait for you to read - but unfortunately it’s still getting reviewed and fact checked.

So today's edition will be a bit different to others.

We’ll be doing a little African City Showdown, based on the places I visited in Africa - Nairobi (Kenya), Lagos (Nigeria) and Kigali (Rwanda). 

At the end of the post you can vote for your favourite city.

I’ll be shouting out the winner in next week’s edition, and a few of your comments on why you voted for it.

The Case for Nairobi, Kenya 🇰🇪

• One of the best cities to live in - Nairobi has been ranked in the top 50 greatest cities of 2022 by TIME. It’s a fun, safe and warm place to live. My Kenyan friends call it ‘Africa Lite’ because its so nice 😂

• Tech is rampant in Kenya - 98% of Kenyans have mobile phones (compared to the 67% average), and 59% have internet access. Kenya was the first country to launch mobile money in the world with MPesa - and 96% of households use it to send money.

• Nature and wildlife all around - The picture below is from Nairobi National Park, a 20 minute drive from the city. And short flight and you’re on the beautiful beaches of Lamu.

The Case for Kigali, Rwanda 🇷🇼

• Rwanda is the easiest place to do business in Africa - Want to start a business? You can register one in just 24 hours. And the Rwandan Government has more goodwill than any other African country, creating launchpads for funds and startups to pilot in Africa.

• Rwanda has become a hub of tech hubs - In the last two years, seven startup accelerators have kickstarted in Rwanda. Chief among them is Norrsken VC, which launched the biggest hub in East Africa for 1000+ entrepreneurs.

• Community and Safety - Rwanda is one of the safest countries I have visited, and every month they have a mandatory event - Umuganda - a community work day every month to clean up the streets. Unsurprisingly, Rwanda is known as Africa’s cleanest country.

The Case for Lagos, Nigeria 🇳🇬

• Lagos is Africa's biggest tech ecosystem - Say what you want about the quality of living or difficulty in Lagos (like I did last week) - Lagos is the biggest tech ecosystem in the continent.

• Lagos is Africa’s New York - The Hustle is real. As Nigeria's commercial centre, Lagos is where things happen and sh*t gets done. With 77 people moving to Lagos every hour, it’s the place that hustlers go to build something or find a job

• It’s Los Angeles, too - a creative capital. Lagos is the heart of Afrobeat, Africa’s biggest cultural export. Local artists, like Burna Boy, Wizkid and Tems are now global stars. And this is rolling into film as well. Africa's premier for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was held in Lagos - the first time Marvel has held a premier there.

So, which city are you picking? And why? 

I'll be featuring the winning city in next weeks edition, along with a few quotes! 

If you want to get your friends to vote too, forward this to them.

And if you share it with 10, you can get this limited edition 'The Future is Africa' t-shirt (only 3 of them left!)

Catch you next week!