Eric Annan
5 min readJun 16, 2020

“I had a sleepless night thinking just how guilty we all are”….Credit Abubakar Sulieman CEO Sterling Bank Nigeria….many are awakening https://threader.app/thread/1272774157722320897

“But we lie if we fail to see that we are failing too. What we are preparing for the next generation is not progress but anger. We have replaced curiosity with prejudice, we preach love but eat bitterness.”

“I had a sleepless night thinking just how guilty we all are. I also know many will fight it even if they know deep down I am right. Because they can’t be wrong. Or guilty.”

“We were dealt a bad hand, all of us. From the leaders in their 30s that were handed a country at war to all those who inherited a nation torn by war, none of us got a good deal.”-If you are part of the 1% in Africa or part of the 1% among the Black race, you better wake up, because the next time you read this you might be forgotten history. Pay it forward, unlearn your ego, and build the future with passion and care.” All credit to Mr Abubakar Suleiman https://threader.app/thread/1272774157722320897

I had an interesting reactions from friends in my private inbox after my article published on 6th June “Blacks Must Fight The Root Not The Fruit” https://link.medium.com/GsyLXAGqm7. But it’s no more about I belong nowhere, we as people must decide which side of the coin we belong. There is no neutrality in such situation we find ourselves now as a result of smart ignorance by our collective actions.

This is the bitter reality before us, either we are ready to smell the coffee or just surrender because the future is so bleak, we must urgently soak our egos and sacrifice something in the best interest of the future.

I read somewhere yesterday that Nigeria debt to revenue ratio is 99%, so what this means is, this amazing country has only 1% for anything infrastructure, and other key items on the national budget.

I then asked myself, where did Africa go and how did we get to this point?

How should such most powerful and populous black nation get itself in such quagmire?

Again yesterday, we have seen Mark Zuckerberg and his group launched what is called smart payment on WhatsApp fully in Brazil.

It might not be too long as some of us anticipated to happen, if nothing deliberately is done by either African banks who just enjoy deposit taken in exchange for government bonds or the government whose policies are just to kill new ideas and innovation in Africa.

Gradually, the power of the internet enables Big Tech power to cloud out all brick and mortar business into the air.

The absolute ‘I don’t care’ posture of African capital markets, banks, government, private individuals to support African tech startups is a bomb that is starring in the faces of the continent to explode.

The danger however for us as a continent will be these scenarios:

  1. A youthful Z-generation will become so unpatriotic and will’ve all their worth in open air, where they can get value.

Find an example of an escrow offline transactions happening across the continent by very agile youthful population. These are very legitimate but the question is, do the so call policymakers aware and even if they are, nothing can be done to stop it, unless we deliberately and consciously create hope and confidence in our society

2. 75% of all African economy will be in digital space controlled by tech giants and will not be accounted for in the local economy hence losing track of Real GDP.

3. There is likelihood of total collapse and finally given in for big tech to run nation’s economy and pay some royalties just as we know of the extractive industries.

We all know how these firms (Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Plaid etc ) started, it was deliberate, capital was mobilized to support them and over the years have become ‘new nations’ with a combine net-worth twice than Africa.

The danger ahead, if leadership and the entire citizens of Africa don’t pulse the over comic and playful none charlatan attitude and become sober, work out a deliberate plan to get ourselves from the danger ahead, I can guarantee, there will not be any thing left for anyone to be a ‘master’.

“One solution is that we recognize that the West is not for us. Their interest is to get our resources and use them to build their countries. We need s proper African development bank that has no links to imf or world bank. We need intra trade. amongst ourselves and we need a coordinated effort in trading with the west” from a friend in Zimbabwe after reading this article: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-colonialism-africa-british-empire-slavery-a9564541.html

There is a large concerns all over the continent and beyond how some are expressing their feelings, few as attached below

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I am an optimist not a pessimist and I believe this time is Africa, time to shine among the league of nations.

Eric Annan

A Techpreneur on a mission for Economic Liberation|Collaboration key business philosophy|Gratitude|Empathy|Compassion|Kindness|Selfless Team Builder|Talent Hunt