I find it interesting that in the entire article, which includes descriptions about tech helping to fill voids on the "dark continent", race is not mentioned once. In the closing paragraph of the article, co-founder of Ushahidi, Juliana Rotich mentions her gender and "Africanness" but does not identify herself as a Black woman. Compared to the current moment in 2020 when race and privilege are part of ongoing discussions and contentious debates in Nairobi tech worlds, in 2011, race and specifically Blackness was not yet something being articulated.
***
Paragraph 16: "It is surprises like that — a politician entering a presidential race via social media — that reveal the true significance of Africa's rapid entrance into the technology business. It defies stereotypes, overturns perceptions. Says Ushahidi's Rotich: "When I speak in Europe or the U.S., people are shocked. I'm a woman, I'm not begging for money, and I'm not showing them pictures of abject poverty. Ushahidi is jarring for people. It complicates their view of Africa. Ushahidi is cool. I think that's good. I think maybe through tech, people are just beginning to work out just how cool Africans really are."
