For four years in my professional career, I was stuck in a position I would describe as; I was always the bridesmaid but never the bride. This period lasted from 2008 - 2013 and began with the financial bubble collapsing businesses throughout America and the world. At this point, I was a seasoned college graduate with management experience, and also unemployed for the last six months. My unemployment checks didn’t cover the rent and the duration of payments was about to end.

For the last two of the six months my scanty savings had dried up and my mailbox was stuffed with “Final Notices.” It was this way for many as the economy had completely folded and my retail experience was not nearly as useful when people weren't buying. The last two months were rough. My day consisted of getting ready and hitting the streets in my neighborhood just after dawn. I carried a lawnmower, my broom, windex and other cleaning supplies as I scoured the neighborhood attempting to catch those on the way to work with a compelling offer. I was basically offering crack prices for lawn services and general cleaning. I would target houses with for sale and foreclosure signs, single mothers struggling to balance work and family, and basically anyone who made direct eye contact with me.

When the sun began beating my back, I would extend my search farther into local businesses checking for openings. My self worth had plummeted, the vision of my dreams seemed like a joke, and I couldn’t bear telling my family back home that I had failed. It was at this moment randomly looking for eye contact that I saw people on the sidewalk accepting applications and setting interview dates for an interesting telecom company yet to officially open. My experience was mostly in restaurants, but I yearned for the days where I wouldn’t go home smelling like everyone else’s success and fun. I walked up to the sharped-dressed group of people and their small table and gave them the best and most confident self pitch I could muster. I don’t know if they could smell the desperation but it was thick in the air almost choking every word I attempted to deliver. Fortunately God smiled on my efforts and I was interviewed several hours later and hired on the spot.

This is a case study about leadership and at this point, I’m sure I had the skills, but the only leadership I could envision at the time was leading my refrigerator and bank accounts out of poverty. I didn’t want the position of assistant manager at a store selling what I thought was an inferior product, but I needed to eat. I held my head down and powered through work. When they asked me to jump, I asked “how high?” I was a slave to that check living in fear that one small mistake could lead me back to cutting grass and washing windows as a 27 year old man.

After about two years in the same location, a part of me started to return that I had long forgotten. My mental state was shifting from just being happy that the lights came on when I flipped the switch to wanting to have a future that I was proud of. I returned to the thoughts of greatness that once drove me before my world fell apart. I became more aggressive, I pushed harder to outperform others, and I wanted to make a name for myself.

However; this was a great learning experience for me. At that moment I realized you don’t become a leader by jumping up and saying I’m done playing with your business, I want to be serious now. This was made evident by my applying for jobs and being passed over by people who came in after me. The last straw was when the Assistant manager I trained became my boss. I couldn’t bear the thought. This person was amazing and was actually a close friend, but the situation infuriated me. He was smart, but so was I. People listened to him, but they listened to me too. Why was he better? Why was he able to surpass me as if I was just a picture on the wall of life?

At that point, I was four years into the same position and I had enough. I wanted to turn my life around. I wanted to be the man I knew I was, and that first step taken was self-inventory. I realized that, although I performed well, I positioned myself as a child in the company. I was timid and afraid. Not making people mad works wonders in customer service, but it makes you a terrible manager. Even though my team outperformed others; I never positioned myself as a leader, so I was never seen as one.

In meetings I was afraid to speak. When I did well, I compared myself to those who did better. When I didn’t do so well, manager meetings felt like I was being silently waterboarded. I positioned myself as someone paralyzed with fear and afraid to make tough decisions. The truth of the matter was that I was a terrible public speaker and my reality placed my employer as the God that provides as they WERE the only ones willing to give me a chance years ago. I felt indebted, I felt weak, and then I realized the market had changed. It changed both inside and out.

Jobs were hiring now, and I didn’t feel so burdened by taking chances. It was that sliver of hope that changed the way I approached my job. The turning point in my leadership journey was simply deciding to be a leader. The ones getting promoted ahead of me were doing something that mortified me. They were volunteering to lead projects within the organization. I would support and be number two, but I thought it would be utterly stupid to risk failure taking on a new task when you could sit quietly in your corner and manage the things you know.

That was my biggest failure that I immediately turned around. I was only going to be seen as a strong employee and not a leader until they saw what I could do. The next company assignment was deploying a Net Promoter score system for our region. A net promoter scoring system requires that you give all of your customers a survey and each week your store would be scored on the survey results. That was easy work, I was already amazing at customer service. So, I jumped at the opportunity to lead the project. The market scores done secretly highlighted that my market didn’t give a @$+% about customer satisfaction and I was going to change it.

Over the next three months, I used my personal strengths to deploy the company’s plan. I was great at solving customer problems, I was amazing at building rapport, and I was always detailed in my reporting. Just the act of going store to store and training teams lead to incremental increases in store scores, but there was a point of no return in life that I reached during this project. We were given scripts, strategies, and expectations. Our only job was to tow the line. But for me, there was a small error in the process that didn’t make sense.

The “rule book” stated the steps in customer service and required that we send the survey to customers that made purchases at the close of business. I thought we would have way more influence over the scores if we deployed the survey at the time of purchase. After taking the bold step of bringing the survey strategy up in the meetings, our line manager said no. Maybe he said no because I provided the solution, but I didn’t wait to find out. This was the greatest moment in my life. It was the first time I decided to break the rules.

Growing up as a preacher’s kid AND a child of military soldiers didn’t leave room for not following rules to the letter of the law. In fact, in my childhood, questioning authority led to immediate pain and suffering in some of the most creative ways imaginable. In breaking the rules in the company I worked for; I broke a mold holding back my independent thought.

That day, I marched to my store and gave other directions. As an assistant manager, my line manager saw my method of selling and providing the survey with the receipt resulted in higher completions and scores for the day. Although he warned me to cover his own skin, the results spoke louder than what he said. With my numbers in hand, I arrived at the next store meeting for managers feeling utterly defiant. I had crushed the entire market's numbers even though we had less traffic. I spoke in the meeting with vengeance. My numbers were with me and I even researched and followed the steps with policy changes. The national coordinator for the program agreed with the methods via email and requested I personally keep her aware of the outcomes. My boss's boss was left speechless and I made it known on that day that I wanted all of the smoke.

I’ll summarize the story and highlight the action items. This situation ended up with me going to war with someone I couldn’t beat. In my market. Now that I wasn’t afraid of the world and the power my employer held over my life. I was no longer the timid guy just trying to get a check. I had transformed into a beast that wanted to crush my opponent. I was mad at all the years I wasted listening to those that didn’t share my ambition in life. Although I was turned down for two more positions; my relationship with the national Net Promoter Score program realized my efforts took our entire market from second to last to third place within the entire company. She brought me on to become a trainer for the entire company. After four years of being a doormat to the success of others; in one year, I became a rockstar and was promoted to a position three levels above my previous title. I was now making six figures and far ahead of where I thought I would be even before my world fell apart…

Takeaways:

1. Leadership isn’t something you aspire to like a destination, it starts with a choice and grows into the sum of the decisions you make over time.

2. Embrace competition and winning. Your leadership is more easily acknowledged alongside your success. People naturally follow a winner...

Everyone is emotional at some point. Whether you have found ways to acknowledge your emotional state and its impact on your life or not… Emotions still exist and they impact your state of being. If you refuse to understand your emotional state, you refuse the ability to control and channel those emotions into something productive. Instead you will simply respond in moments where you can know longer bear the feelings in your heart and the thoughts in your head. This often leads to the heights of joy we can never forget and traumatizing events we will struggle to recover from.

Your emotions can be a tool and a weapon fashioned to keep you ahead of the game or one used in self-harm. Words like emotion and intuition are symptoms of consistently being in the moment. When you pay close attention to people in general, you begin to notice human traits and patterns. You’re able to hear what people say but also understand what they mean. You’re able to predict behaviors and act in advance. This makes you better at communication in general. Not being aware makes you more easily manipulated and far worse at communicating what needs to be understood.

Mastering the balance of your emotions is a key to success at high-levels. No matter how logical and detailed your plans are, they will always involve people and people are impacted and driven by their emotions knowingly or unknowingly. Understanding this fact allows you to see past the surface, see past the words and understand how your actions make people feel. Emotional intelligence is a key skill set needed when negotiating, managing relationships, and building bonds with your community. You’re just a better, more well-rounded person when you understand the feelings of those around you.

Below are the four focus areas of Emotional Intelligence and how it will help you extracted from an article: EQ Do You Know the Basic Components?

1) Self-awareness

This is considered the foundation for all the other components of emotional intelligence. Self-awareness means being aware of what you are feeling; being conscious of the emotions within yourself.

People who are in touch with their emotions are better able to guide their own lives. Team members need to be in touch with their emotions to interact effectively and appreciate emotions in others.

Those with high levels of self-awareness learn to trust their ‘gut feelings’ and realise that these feelings can provide useful information about difficult decisions. Answers are not always clear regarding who is at fault when problems arise. In these situations, team members have to rely on their own feelings and intuition.

2) Self-management

This is the second key component of emotional intelligence in managing emotions. Operationally it means that team members need to be able to balance their own moods so that worry, anxiety, fear or anger do not get in the way of what needs to be done.

Those who can manage their emotions perform better because they are able to think clearly. Managing emotions does not mean suppressing or denying them but understanding them and using that understanding to deal with situations productively. Team members should first recognise a mood or feeling, think about what it means and how it affects them, and then choose how to act.

3) Social awareness

Being socially aware means that you understand how to react to different social situations, and effectively modify your interactions with other people so that you can achieve the best results.

It also means being aware of the world around you and how different environments influence people. Increasing social awareness means improving your skills to connect with others verbally, nonverbally and in the community.

4) Relationship management

The final component of emotional intelligence is the ability to connect with others, build positive relationships, respond to the emotions of others and influence others on the team.

Relationship management includes the identification, analysis and management of relationships with people inside and outside of your team as well as their development. It is also vital in negotiating successfully, resolving conflicts and working with others toward a shared goal.

The concepts mentioned above are not new to the HR industry, but this article communicated it in a way that resonates with my personal success. Following these rules are the basics of having a high EQ and will feed your success. As always, learning is a journey, not a destination. Your emotional intelligence acts like a muscle, meaning for it to work, you must consistently exercise. So let us build these muscles together and flex on the world!

The ripple effect this idea had on my life was profound, but it was also reflected in business. In my own life, I took things more seriously. I looked at each moment of time as an investment in that activity. I was far more protective of my time and only invested it in things I wanted to see grow in my life. This thought process impacted my financial vision as well. In business, I noticed how apps, products, and services that save time tend to make better sales and are typically more expensive. There is inherent value across the board in being strategic with your time.

This process built the discipline I never knew I had. I was less likely to be struggling with things I hated, because over time, I only focused on things I was passionate about, the things that were worth my time. Activities that didn’t support my dream and passion became negative experiences I avoided once I began to see the fruits of my labor. There was a clear understanding that what I invested my time in, would be returned to me. I wanted better for my life and therefore, I wanted a better use of my time.

This mindset motivated me to do my own research and better understand how to prioritize my time. I became a bit obsessed to be honest. I no longer strolled in late to meetings, not because I didn’t want to disappoint the person, but because I didn’t want to waste my own time. I looked at people like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk and thought to myself, you had the same 24 hours a day I did, and look what you did with it!

Below are several tools I have used throughout my journey to help me manage my own time. Before you start there is a key to know when to use each tool. Prioritization is a delicate balance that impacts every decision made. Bosses balance delegating to maximize productivity while avoiding staff burnout. Employees and freelancers are tasked with beating deadlines, creating quality work, and still having enough time to enjoy life. Here is how I started:

Getting Started:

1. Capture everything on a Master List

2. Select your tool for prioritization

3. Create realistic timelines

4. Adapt, Cut, Communicate

When to Use What:

1. The Eisenhower Method - Day-to-Day

2. The Ivy Lee Method - End of Day Review

3. The ABCDE Method - Schedule Organization

4. The Warren Buffet 2-List - Life Goals

The Eisenhower Matrix

What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important

• Dwight D. Eisenhower

The Eisenhower Matrix is a time management tool which can help you to be more productive. It does this by categorizing and prioritizing your tasks or to-do list. Sometimes you will also see the tool referred to as the Eisenhower Box or the Eisenhower Decision Matrix. The tool came about because of this quote attributed to Eisenhower:

The Warren Buffett 2-List

Cut out “good enough” goals with Warren Buffett’s 2-list strategy. Write down your top 25 goals: life goals, career goals, education goals, or anything else you want to spend your time on. Circle your top 5 goals on that list. Finally, any goal you didn’t circle goes on an “avoid at all cost” list. These are the tasks that are seemingly important enough to deserve your attention. But that isn't moving you towards your long-term priorities.

The Ivy Lee Method

By 1918, Charles M. Schwab was one of the richest men in the world. President of Bethlehem Steel Corp., the largest shipbuilder and second-largest steel producer in the United States at the time. Ivy Lee was a successful businessman in his own right and is remembered as a pioneer in the field of public relations.

As the story goes, Schwab asked Lee into his office and said, "Show me a way to get more things done." Lee said he needed just a 15-minute meeting with each of Schwab's executives. "How much will it cost me?" Schwab asked. "Nothing," Lee said. "Unless it works. After three months, you can send a check for whatever you feel it's worth to you."

During his 15 minutes with each Bethlehem executive, Lee explained his method for achieving peak productivity:

Step 1: At the end of each workday, write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow. Do not write down more than six tasks.

Step 2: Prioritize the six items on your list in the order of their true importance.

Step 3: When you arrive the next morning, concentrate only on the first task. Work until the first task is finished before moving on to the second task.

Step 4: Approach the rest of your list in the same fashion. At the end of the day, move any unfinished items to a new list of six tasks for the following day.

Step 5: Repeat this process every working day.

Lee's strategy sounded simple, but Schwab and his executive team gave it a try. After three months, Schwab was so delighted with the progress his company had made that he called Lee into his office and wrote him a check for $25,000, the equivalent of $400,000 today.

The ABCDE Method

As some would say, the ABCDE Method is like a to-do list on steroids!

This method is, in fact, based on a regular to-do list, only more organized and even more constructive. The ABCDE Method identifies those tasks that lead to success while, at the same time, determines those items that are nothing but distractions.

The concept behind the ABCDE Method is that we assign different letters to tasks depending on their priority.

Here is a little tutorial on how to classify and mark your tasks, using the letters A, B, C, D, or E:

A-Tasks:

Think hard, analyze, and then choose 1-3 tasks that have the highest priority. Try to pick those that will really bring you closer to the achievement of your goals.

Think of them like this:

Are those the tasks that have the biggest potential downside if you don’t accomplish them, and the biggest potential upside if you do accomplish them?

If the final result of this analysis is more than 3 A-tasks, you need to keep on until you come to the magic number of 3. Not more, not less.

Next thing is to prioritize those 3 as well: A1, A2, and A3.

And then, discipline yourself to see nothing else and work on nothing else but those 3.

B-Tasks:

Now, gather all tasks you SHOULD do, and if you don’t – consequences will be everything but mild. Consider those as the tadpoles of your work life. Tasks B span from returning a not-so-important call to reviewing your inbox.

Labeled as B tasks, these are valuable in a sense “it wouldn’t hurt doing it”. Hope we don’t have to accentuate how B tasks should be done only when all A’s are completed.

C-Tasks:

Your next move is to be rational and define all the tasks that if not done – HAVE NO (serious) consequences. Of course, no task should be left out, each and everyone is a brick on your road to closing the project or action.

Only, these ones are not strictly and directly related to your work life. You can assign a C to the items that don’t really contribute to the achievement of your goals. It can be a lunch break with a colleague or completing some personal business during work hours. Once again, don’t even start thinking of C-Tasks unless you have all the A’s and B’s done!

D-Tasks:

A D-Task is the one you can delegate to someone else. And we don’t mean it in a way to avoid it, but delegating in order to concentrate on the A-Task! So, delegate a certain part of the work to someone who can do it faster, better, or cheaper and invest time gained this way to finish all the A’s!

E-Tasks:

E stands for Eliminating. Stop doing the thing that doesn’t matter and start using your time wisely. Carefully analyze and eliminate those tasks that are just standing in your way of completing the A’s and B’s.

The point of the ABCDE Method is that your energy becomes more focused and clearer. The idea behind it is to make you feel much more competent in your abilities, and all through discipline and hard work. This begins with deciding to start and finish an A1 Task.

Feed Your Creativity. Make an effort to explore your imagination. The process of creating awakens Your drive and ambition. It reminds you, there is more to you than the 9 - 5. Going to the Lekki Set Art Market and being around people who live by and through their art offered a new perspective.

I immediately knew I was knee deep in the building blocks of the world. It all starts here... With all of this at our fingertips, we all made something to commemorate the moment. A constant reminder that we are all artists surviving off of our craft. Take some time to see what you’re capable of...

My passion is increasing productivity and making things work more efficiently. Based on bad African PR, a struggling educational system, and so on; we are led to believe the talent you find in Africa is subpar. Chef Michael used his international experience and his local insight to train a team that cooked the best meal I have ever tasted. This experience and my passion say, the talent is here, the opportunities are here, we just have to do the work and till the soil. You reap what you sow...

My business model is validated in my belief that in Lagos, Nigeria, and many other African cities and countries; you still have the opportunity to be a Rockafeller, a Carnegie, or even a Musa. It is clear that there is only one Chef Michael. We may never know what he had to do to blaze his own trail. What we do know is that with the right idea, the proper support, and a firm understanding of the business environment you can contribute to the unbuilt African infrastructure and build a multigenerational legacy. And one you can be proud of…

#hashtags

#links to relevant people

• Chefs

• Itan

• Chef Michael

At first, I was afraid, I was petrified, to appear that my company was on the government’s side. I was frozen by that night and how they always did us wrong. But I had to think long, our futures need us to get along. #Bars

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Gloria Gaynor aside… Ehingbeti’s economic summit predates the Nigeria I know by 20 years. It was the government’s previous recognition that there needed to be communication between the public and private sectors. As the co-founder of Ingressive For Good; I NEEDED to be a part of that conversation. I wanted to take our community’s voice to those responsible for hearing our needs and say the needful.

This was my first step at moving past the #EndSARS protest tragedies. My first attempt at believing the entire system is rotten to the core. It was my first time actually trusting that the work I did for so many years, was still worth the time and effort spent.

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It was everything I expected it to be, but shockingly the summit was more. High-level people in their various government departments and corporations were informed and insightful. Being able to walk up to them and ask real questions and watch others do the same somehow defanged the monster I was trained to fear. I submitted our community’s resolutions to engaged and attentive faces. Time will tell if things will pan out, but I’m hopeful. More importantly, I’m vigilant...

I’m following up on this post a month later after being invited to Abuja, Nigeria, and the US Ambassador to Nigeria’s residence to discuss the state of ICT in the country. I had the opportunity to speak face to face with the US Ambassador, the US Deputy Economic Counselor, the Chief IT Officer of Nigeria, the Technical Assistant to the Minister of Communications and the Digital Economy, and several other high-ranking government officials. I must say, I was surprised. The information in place and the access to resources for youth to learn were more than I expected. The strategies presented were well thought out and forward-thinking. After meeting and speaking with such esteemed individuals, I learned to apply the same logic I apply to the black diaspora. They are not a monolith.

There are supremely intelligent members of the government that suffer under those who may be distracted by the access high-level politics bring. I saw individual concern, effort, and hope. After my two-day trip to Abuja, I left feeling like it’s not as bad as I thought. I was told quite candidly that “unfortunately the misdeeds of a few (or many…) impact the overall perception, making it difficult for us to work with our people and be trusted.” There is corruption, nepotism, theft, and more in Nigeria’s government; but there are also people working diligently towards a better Nigeria.

#Hashtags

@links

To immediately address the entire situation; Ingressive is for the world, Burrowes Enterprises is for my legacy. I’ll go into more detail below, but you could technically stop reading here. The rest just builds upon this logic.

Ingressive met me at a point where I was crawling out of a low point. A series of bad decisions rooted in fear in a new country led to an unfocused mindset. At the point Ingressive came into the picture; I was building my own community already as a way to claw out of what felt like a downward spiral. I didn’t want to be a part of a community, I wanted to be a leader in one so I could be held accountable to something greater than myself.

My relationship with God was a paradigm that was shattered into a thousand pieces. At my lowest point, I demanded a change in my life at whatever invisible force was listening. As a preacher’s kid; the faith of my parents left me feeling like a spiritual robot. I couldn’t manifest the miracles of Jesus no matter how hard I tried, but I could get promotions. I could get accolades from bosses via pats on the back. Novice salespeople would look up to me and find success in replicating my example. During this time; my job was my religion. It was the only place where I could find truth in the words said at church.

However; now I was balling my fist up and threatening the night sky. My heart said please, but my mind said or else. As a leader, there was no one to congratulate me, lead me, or provide a safety net. At the top bosses chuckle at lofty ideals as they comb through your well-meaning efforts for relevant execution. It was at this point that I realized I had the spiritual math all wrong. I realized that with my work and my soul is involved; I shouldn’t be waiting for God to provide me with the fruits of “Christianity.” I should be diligently working to BE the fruit. I shouldn’t be praying for a blessing; I should be praying to be a blessing.

Within a week, my entire life changed for the better. My problems transitioned from day-to-day necessity to disciplined long-term thinking. I realized we truly do dictate our own paths, or at least I believe I do. And if I truly believe that statement, then I believe I have the power to be and do what I want. In fact, it is my responsibility. My faith has provided me with the infrastructure of love and service; it is on me to use my God-given talents to build the world I want to see.

My goal in life is to build an economic bridge between Africa and her diaspora. Ingressive, Burrowes Enterprises, Abroad While Black, and whatever other ideas come along, will further that initiative. In that dynamic; Ingressive For Good is special to me. It is all of my hopes and dreams of a better future for black people balled into one. Burrowes Enterprises, once a solo venture, was expanded and built leveraging interns from I4G’s internship program. Developing their talents felt good, but it also built a strong company with smart young African talent driving it. The company we build together will serve the African diaspora, but it will also be the legacy and infrastructure I pass down to my daughter or son. They are two sides of the same coin.

To answer this question effectively, We have to understand the immense size of US tech companies to realize their impact on global technology. The majority of the top thirty Dow Jones Index companies by market capitalization are either tech companies or highly dependent on tech innovation as a way of maintaining their competitive advantage. Microsoft, Apple, and Visa; the top three biggest companies in the US, would be number five behind Germany on the list of GDP by country or 8.5 times the GDP of Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy. This speaks to the ability of US technology companies to engage the far reaches of the globe to convert customers and this reach also comes with influence. The United States has a long history of leveraging advanced technology to enforce foreign policy and the influence of tech startups does not go unnoticed.

We are all aware of the advanced explosives, drones, and cyber tools in America’s war chest, FAANG companies like Google can also be bullets in the USA’s digital gun. China vs America is an example of how wars will be fought in the future with the digital tools we use every day to shut down the aims of economic foes. 5G currently represents the heart and soul of 4IR and the US cannot allow China’s Huawei to be the global supplier of this advancement. On one side Trump’s administration was putting political pressure on allies, disrupting national infrastructure agreements with Chinese companies, and arresting the Huawei CEO. However; Huawei was also stripped of access to Google services like Google Maps and the Android operating system; temporarily crippling sales of the devices and the usage of the current devices of one of China’s largest contributors to their immense GDP.

America is not alone in its use of technology as a way to enforce policy at the highest levels of government. US government forces and allies have used viruses to cripple the infrastructure of their adversaries like when Iran’s nuclear reactors were mysteriously shut down. Other players have taken queues from America’s advances and are finding ways as both national strategies and empowered individuals to enforce their will. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is said to be behind the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the hacking of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezo’s phone via an Israeli cybersecurity firm. Russian hacker elite “Cozy Bear” a purported arm of Russia’s FSB, was previously accused of US election tampering and more recently with attempting to steal COVID-19 vaccine research. Africa tends to have a higher tendency to shut down access to the internet as a way of shutting down government dissent. With dissent high across the world, this makes the new president’s position more important than ever.

Although President-Elect Joe Biden’s administration has yet to begin we can use some insight from the Obama administration. President Obama, the first social media president, exposed then-Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden to the power of social media and other technologies. A 2016 Article by the Intercept reports that not only did President Obama average more than one meeting a week with Google executives, the administration also exchanged over 250 employees with Google during his tenure. Although Obama wasn’t considered perfect in the eyes of the tech giants due to his policies in areas like intellectual property and privacy; we can comfortably assume Biden served within a presidency that grasped the importance of technology across varied use cases.

We can also take a historical look at how the Democratic Party has engaged tech as a party. The new brand of US techies doesn’t currently fit into any political model based on what they stand for. They typically vote democrat because of the youth driving tech value education and see the role of government as more of an investment partner than a regulator. The truth is that neither side thinks very highly of big tech but for very different reasons. Democrats think that big tech companies like Apple and Google have monopoly power, Republicans think social media companies discriminate against them, and both sides want to break up their power.

With all that President-Elect Joe Biden can do for America, what does he mean for Africa? We can expect a more stable foreign policy executed through existing coalitions instead of head-on collisions that stood out in the Trump and China relationship. Biden’s plans for access to the internet bode well for Africa. His willingness to invest $20 Billion into America’s rural broadband infrastructure makes doing the same in Africa more digestible. Biden has proved to be open to various forms of free trade deals but has also been one to put human rights violations at the forefront, potentially muddying waters for African countries like Nigeria. There’s a lot we don’t know, but I have a few educated guesses on what will happen next.

What The Joe Biden Presidency Means for African Tech:

1. Tax Implications

Corporate Tax - The Trump administration tax relief given to big companies will be revoked both increasing income tax rates by almost 15% and possibly removing the tax break given to income earned overseas. The result will be less foreign capital injected into US subsidiaries based in Africa as the tax incentive will no longer exist.

Capital Gains Tax - The current venture capital model gives discounts on money earned from investments. Biden plans to disrupt this model by expanding the tax to include those who make over $1M from their investments. This will discourage using VC investments as a way to earn cheaper money, negatively impacting investment in general especially Africa.

Brad Baum of Chicago-based VC Lightbank - “If there’s less limited partner investment in a fund, you’ll see smaller funds with less capital to deploy, and tighter investment terms that are potentially less favorable to [startup] founders.”

2. H-1B Visas

The Trump administration and their immigration policies made the H-1B visa application, a process that allowed big tech firms to hire specialized talent, an arduous journey. A recently passed law in this area requires H-1B visa recipients to be paid at least $208k to be eligible causing concern for many currently under this status.

The Biden administration plans to reform the H-1B visa policies and possibly eliminate green card caps by country. This means there will be increased opportunities for top-level talent to find jobs in the US working for big tech companies. We can assume there will be a less contentious relationship with the US and immigration going forward.

3. Social Media Censorship & Privacy

Nigerians have been up in arms for the past year due to an Anti-Social Media bill introduced on November 5th, 2019. International communities have spoken out against the measure and it’s draconian punishments. However; people would be surprised to know that Nigeria isn’t the only country to attempt to stem the power of social media.

President-Elect Joe Biden’s plans to stop harassment on social media would seem innocent enough if not for this past of voting on and introducing legislation that gave the FBI more authority to surveil communications including internet traffic and VOIP calls. This act will create more backdoors into communications allowing governments all over the world more access to private information.

Those in the music industry may have to fear lawsuits when sharing music files or allowing music files to be shared. Joe is seen as a champion of Hollywood and copyright laws making it a felony in some cases to download and share music. This may not have a huge impact on major artists, but will impede the free sharing of music that may have introduced Africans to lesser-known artists and vice versa.

4. Antitrust Lawsuits

Antitrust laws are meant to keep companies from getting so big that no one can compete with them. By breaking these companies up into smaller pieces, it forces them to operate under different laws, financial structures, leaving room for more companies to participate in the space.

Companies like Google are facing backlash about their control of areas from online advertising to underwater cable laying capacity. Breaking up these larger corporations leaves room for niche players that answer to the needs of specific audiences to become top of mind. Lawsuits of this nature can take years giving savvy African technology companies the time to build a solution to fill profitable gaps.

5. African / US Investment

Trump’s “America First” policy featured a break from common associations and allies that pushed money into Africa. Biden will soften that stance resulting in more income flowing into organizations like WHO and the Paris Climate Agreement that support the infrastructure of African countries.

President-Elect Biden will meet a Republican-led Senate ensuring a more aggressive foreign policy regarding funds deployed from an FDI perspective. Republicans are typically ready to wheel and deal if the right deal is on the table. The US also prefers to deal with national parties over regional ones leaving Nigeria well-positioned.

The new president will be interested in quick wins to build momentum. The same will hold true for the African continent. Extending AGOA and supporting the African Continental Free Trade Zone would be easy ways to gain political capital that will inherently create opportunities for tech companies to build the digital infrastructure necessary for these industries to grow sustainably.

Is the Biden administration a positive sign for Africa, as usual the answer is not really. However; the current President-Elect’s policies will leave more room at the table for African leaders and companies to negotiate. We can assume that the same social issues that plague America internally will continue in the usual ways, but the outward policy will most likely be one that does not choose to refer to Africa and other developing regions and continents as s#!t-hole countries. For now, that’s a start...

Sources:

1. Top 30 Dow Jones Index List

2. GDP by Country

3. China vs America

4. Iran’s nuclear reactors

5. Murder of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi

6. Hacking of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezo’s Phone

7. “Cozy Bear” a purported arm of Russia’s FSB

8. Africa tends to have a higher tendency to shut down access to the internet

9. President Obama, the first social media president

10. Silicon Valley’s President

11. The new brand of US techies

12. Stable foreign policy executed through existing coalitions

13. Biden’s plans for access to the internet

14. Biden has proved to be open

15. Biden administration plans to reform the H-1B visa policies

16. Legislation that gave the FBI more authority

17. Joe is seen as a champion of Hollywood

18. The US also prefers to deal with national parties

19. Extending AGOA and supporting the African Continental Free Trade Zone

Though I worked tirelessly on my accent, my value system always revealed my deep southern roots and culture. Saying yes ma’am and no ma’am, getting up for the elderly, and opening doors for women transitioned from a way of life to an identifying factor the further I traveled from the rural corners of America. This became more important when I learned later in life that Africa transmitted its history orally. I connected this to the 400 years of slavery, when black Americans were not allowed to read and gained a deeper perspective. For thousands of years, black people have used words, stories, and songs to record history. It is obvious today that during those times when I was trying to fit in, I gave up more than my accent.

Although I do have a hard time identifying what Black American culture is, I do recognize our habits and tendencies. Being raised as both a “preacher’s kid,” being part of a military family, and living in semi-rural Mississippi, created a unique mold that I couldn’t quite break. Not only that, I could recognize another from a mile away. That fact became more evident as I traveled to bigger cities and professional roles plunging me into new communities and cultures. I always thought differently, played differently, and fought differently. I noticed the more I played down those differences, the easier it was to move up the ladder and that much closer to success.

Words like integration and assimilation became more frequent earlier in life and in my career. I stuck out in rooms and found myself wanting to be anything but myself. The picture of success didn’t look like me, my idols didn’t dress like me, and my heroes didn’t sound like me. The more I juxtaposed my southern twang and drawl against the quick vernacular of my colleagues, the more my mind played out all of the associated stereotypes. I never thought about using those lower expectations to shatter paradigms. I perceived a general acceptance that the closer I was to the further I was from the the American dream. It wasn’t until I returned to a more communal living that began to leverage the pride of my origins to blaze new trails.

The love of travel is the Godsend that allowed me to better understand the natural state of human existence. My quickest path to success drew me into bigger and bigger cities and I soaked in the journey. However; once you travel beyond the flicker and flash of international capitals, business centers, and other metropolises; you begin to realize that life there is the exception and not the rule. More often than not, people make do with what they have and lean on their neighbors when times get tough. Nowadays, we leave behind seemingly antiquated ways to join the ranks of the elite in the dog-eat-dog world in the city. However; we leave behind the foundation of communal human relations far more common in developing economies and the more successful demographics.

People from rural areas are commonly known for their honesty, their principles, their integrity, and and communication habits. When in a close-knit community, the odd ones stick out. Before the @TheShaderoom graced our feeds, local aunties had the tea, and it was piping hot. It is easy to find out who’s on Santa’s naughty or nice list within the small communities. You have to reflect the ideals of your community or risk various attempts at communal correction before you leave, you get ostracized, or worse. Closer human relationships make it easier to identify changes in behavior and “outside” influence. As a result rural culture is deep, it is heavy, and it is ingrained, be it positive or negative.

City life has a different feel. Its essence is live and let die and/or my rights stop where yours begins. Bit by bit, city habitats compromise to accommodate their surrounding diversity while also being less diverse. The small changes are often those identifying features that speak to our roots and former pride. The city will grind away your rough tribal edges leaving a mirrored surface reflecting your surroundings. The result is a more efficient system that wastes no time on the square pegs that can’t fit the round hole. The economic advantages masses of people create, keeps success within view, just not close enough to touch. The majority of city dwellers keep spinning the hamster wheel chasing the bait.

Once you venture into places beyond “the law” you find people do not descend into wanton chaos and violence, something more natural takes shape. In “the bush” you see a more human-centered design dependant upon a mixture of natural law, reputation, and respect. Simpler economies and increased local influence lead to more leisure time and deeper human bonds. These communities do tend to be more homogeneous and the will of the people is easy to assume by local champions. This allows for swifter change or none at all. There are obvious reasons to seek a better life by joining “civilization”, but too often we see the good already in us as a liability.

Whether it’s three acres and a mule or a half-acre lot for your wife/husband 2.3 kids and the dog, it would be difficult for the majority of black Americans to have both the dream and the job to match. All over the world masses of human bodies cram themselves into any space available to be closer to economic opportunity. To find yourself in a sustainable situation of having both the lifestyle western propaganda boasts and the job that supports it immediately puts you in the upper echelon. You have succeeded amongst an advanced level and number of geniuses, workaholics, and scammers. You can’t be weak, you can’t be slow, and you have to take any opportunity that arises sometimes at the expense of your identity and morality.

Am I saying don’t dream of western innovation no… I am saying we need to re-imagine the black American dream in at least three core ways. We will never be a monolithic people, but there does need to be an agreed-upon foundation. I would lean upon the model of sacred belief systems to create a base level of learning that reflects life as a black person in this world. At every strategic point in life possible we need to instill monetizable talents and skill sets, reconnect to producers of essential items within the African diaspora, and focus on being a complete person, not just a godly one.

We need a new religion. All of our current belief systems were created 2,000+ years before the internet was created and George Floyd was murdered live. We need to update to 2.0 and address quality of life. I’ll leave it to religion to save our souls, but can we develop a global system teaching us how to protect our bodies? Can we identify “modern-day saints” and recent black geniuses exhibiting the behavior and/or intelligence we want to replicate? We can pray five times a day, but can we also make five purchases a day from a business where a black person owns the source of production? I have no issue with any religion as most of them rest upon the same core principles, but there needs to be something that specifically contributes to our physical experience on this earth. The biggest obstacle between black people and God is our broken humanity.

We need to be support our creators. We need to connect to black-owned production. The three words that need to echo through the halls of blackness should be “manufacture, agriculture, and tech.” Pick something, learn something, or work with something in those three areas and retain the knowledge. We need to reach deeper within the roots of local and global supply chains and start extracting and building with source materials. We have to grow past being resellers. Not only must we purchase black owned products, but our ingenuity must be focused on building profitable ecosystems around it. If a black business makes a new smart phone, someone from our ranks should start making accessories.

We need to close the gap. We need to return to the idea of community living as global black populations with the understanding of our strength in numbers. Then we eventually tackle the “it takes a village to raise a child” mentality. We need to control access to our resources and communities. I’m not advocating for re-segregation, but I’m saying, let’s take a minute, put our cards on the table, and see what we can do together.

With that being said, don’t be so distant! Focus on finding things you have in common within the diaspora and build new relationships. Diligently look for local talent and support them with your money. Identify mentors and find a way to be of service. Participate in rebuilding the social infrastructure within the African diaspora. Contribute to people, groups, and organizations developing our people and our capacity. Chasing a dream that does not inherently benefit the community it draws from, is no dream. It is the nightmare your children must wake up to.

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