Newhouse Professor Sean Branagan Delivers Keynote, Develops Newhouse Opportunities at Global Startup Awards Africa Summit

I’ve witnessed hundreds of tech demos and presentations over my career, but I never teared up at one. I did in Addis Ababa.

In mid-September of last year, I was invited by the Ethiopian government and organizers of the Global Startup Awards Africa Summit to judge the final round of startups and attend the event on Oct. 25-27 in the capital city of Addis Ababa. Her Excellency Muferihat Kamil, Minister of Labor and Skills of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, requested that I deliver a keynote address, interact with and coach the startups, and meet the startup that won last year: Kubik.

With help from Newhouse Senior Associate Dean Gina Luttrell; Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Hua Jiang; professors Ken Harper and Brad Gorham; and Kris Northrup, the assistant director of research and creative activity, I arrived in Addis Ababa on the morning of Oct. 23 after a 13-hour flight. I was picked up early the next morning to meet Kidus Asfaw, the founder of Kubik, and to join crews from CNN, Reuters and other media in a tour of the massive Addis Ababa garbage dump. Not a typical first stop for the city’s tourism, or even a startup presentation. 

The next stop on the tour was the first Kubik plastic collection center. There we met the Kubik head of supply chain who had just left her management job at Pepisco to join Kubik. We also met the owner of the center and along with her, the female workers who were collecting and sorting non-recyclable plastic trash. This collection center is one side of a two-sided market that Kubik is creating as part of its plastic brick technology. I was fascinated with the business model, but I was moved to tears when we heard the stories of the women getting up at 4 a.m. every morning to work, how they want better for their children and how they see this new venture as a potential life change for them.

I met over 30 startups from across the continent of Africa over the next few days and talked with media covering the event including Reuters, Forbes, CNN and independents from across the continent. I gave my Media Opportunity Keynote where I talked about how the media industry is changing and ripe for opportunity for new players, new stories and new places to emerge, while also representing the Newhouse School to an international audience.

There was a palpable sense of opportunity rising in Africa. I especially felt it at the grand celebration at the beautiful Friendship Park in Addis with music, dancing and awards for the top startups from across the continent. The UNICEF Innovation Fund and several global corporations were present and supportive of the effort. There was talk about what next, and I was approached by several African government and industry leaders interested in doing more in the media space and wanting to know how they can work with Newhouse, which is incredibly exciting.

At the event there was even a mini Syracuse University meetup. One of the lead supporters of the event was Syracuse University alumnus Mahyar Makhzani ’79, and on stage just before my day of leading a panel on innovation was Kori Hale G’13, founder of CulltureBanx and Newhouse alumna. Dee Moskoff, a Syracuse University Fulbright Humphry Fellow, was also a supporter and connector to NGOs throughout the continent.

I came away from this trip with opportunities, hope, a new view of Africa, new connections and contacts. When I returned to the United States, The New York Times launched a series about Africa, including coverage on innovation and business opportunities, the booming youth population and even a segment that gave evidence on my keynote topic on the African Creator Economy, culture and media opportunity.

We have been busy at Newhouse, too. The day after I arrived back in Syracuse, Ken Harper, director of the Newhouse Center for Global Engagement, hosted David Adeleke, Africa Editor of Rest Of World, a nonprofit publication covering global technology outside the West. Adeleke talked to a packed room of students, researchers and faculty about Western media’s misperception of Africa. 

At Newhouse we have been in constant discussion with NGOs, media companies and others in innovation and entrepreneurship throughout Africa. Talk has been about research, collaborative projects and internships around these topics. We currently have 2-3 projects brewing and are building out others with partners in industry, media and foundations as well as with other Syracuse University schools. The future looks bright for Ethiopia, Africa and for Newhouse students to play a role in helping to shape and participate in it.