Nairobi, the next Palo Alto?

It's fair to say that Africa is largely a technological backwater; More often than not new technological innovations spring up from other continents, mainly Europe and North America. But could this trend be changing? For decades now, African students have graced highly rated technology institutes and colleges in North America and Europe leaving with stellar performances in their degree programs. Many Africans hold important jobs in Silicon Valley and other technology hubs. Some of these have been involved in the process of coming up with and rolling out some of the most important technological innovations of our time. A few of them have returned home to setup or work for technology driven companies, serving medium and high end clientèle. They may not be large in number but the pull for innovators to Africa is growing and especially to the large cities like Nairobi, Kenya; With its great openness to the world and what's new, Nairobi is fast becoming breeding ground for technology innovations and innovators. Inventors are creating applications for the low as well as high end cellphones and finding ways of bringing this city up-to-date with technological advances elsewhere. And to be sure, Nairobi is nowadays ahead of some cities in more developed nations in applying new technologies. A fiber optic cable has been laid connecting Nairobi to high-speed internet services in move that will only enhance the city's technology drive.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/business/worldbusiness/20ping.html?_r=3&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=africa&adxnnlx=1218034837-K4hetNzbp2PK2tpekMgP5w