{"id":2845,"date":"2012-01-24T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-01-24T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fpisani.wpengine.com\/africas-bill-gates-launches-shopafrica53-a-continental-enterprise\/"},"modified":"2012-01-24T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-01-24T08:00:00","slug":"africas-bill-gates-launches-shopafrica53-a-continental-enterprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/africas-bill-gates-launches-shopafrica53-a-continental-enterprise\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cAfrica\u2019s Bill Gates\u201d launches ShopAfrica53, a continental enterprise &#8211; Francis Pisani"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ob-sections\">\n<div class=\"ob-section ob-section-html\">\n<div>\n<p>Tall and well-built, cheerful with an appearance of nonchalance,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.inc.com\/magazine\/20081001\/meet-the-bill-gates-of-ghana.html\">the man Inc. Magazine described<\/a>\u00a0as Africa\u2019s Bill Gates is a man with a few tricks up his sleeve \u2013 as you might expect.<\/p>\n<p>After making his fortune with an enterprise-software company,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/people\/Herman-Chinery-Hesse\/684934881\">Herman Chinery-Hesse<\/a>\u00a0reached higher, creating a company with a dual goal: helping the continent\u2019s SMBs sell their products globally and, by doing this, contributing to development better than aid programs do.<\/p>\n<p>The cosmopolitan Ghanaian\u00a0created\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/softtribe.com\/\">SoftTribe.com<\/a>\u00a0in 1990, after returning from studies in the US and his first job in London. A trained engineer, he realized that computers could serve a lot of practical ends. As a result of a bar bet\u2013 that in a city where most of his friends were unemployed, he could find a job by the following week\u2013 he decided to try getting businesses in his hometown of Accra, Ghana to hire him to help them turn to IT. He saw a couple of them within a couple of days\u2026 and succeeded.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"feature 106 street panoramic 336 520x244 Africas Bill Gates launches ShopAfrica53, a continental enterprise\" height=\"244\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.over-blog-kiwi.com\/0\/73\/87\/12\/2012\/01\/24\/ob_01502f_feature-106-street-panoramic-336-520x244.jpg?resize=520%2C244\" title=\"feature 106 street panoramic 336 520x244 photo\" width=\"520\"><\/p>\n<p>But he couldn\u2019t go very far in an economy that is 70% government-controlled. When he tried to compete for large contacts, he had to go up against multinationals that had the resources to create enough pressure to gain the lion\u2019s share of contracts (including a call from their ambassador to the prospective client, says Chinery-Hesse). He spread his business to other countries, but found their situations largely the same.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, he decided to approach new clients with a different business model and better-matched technology. Now his software is cloud-based, and can be downloaded by low-bandwidth connections.\u00a0Chinery-Hesse explains the shift here:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWe changed in order to avoid anything in which the governments had a voice and looked for solutions that could be sold directly to the masses on a pay-as-you-go basis. We don\u2019t need thousand dollars a year contracts, and we use SMS and email. They know no borders\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>His clients are mainly SMBs. To attract them, he stopped doing annual contracts and instead earns a small percentage of every completed project. With a bus operator, for example, \u201cwe install it for free and we tell him to put a dollar extra on every ticket\u201d. It\u2019s a minimal fee, but the profits are substantial when large numbers of tickets are purchased. It\u2019s convenient too, because buying can be done through SMS.<\/p>\n<p>All this is the beginning of a new strategy. \u201cIn order to change Africa, you need to change most Africans. You need to go after the base of the pyramid,\u201d he says. \u201cAt least the part where small businesses dwell.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screen shot 2012 01 24 at 12.55.43 PM Africas Bill Gates launches ShopAfrica53, a continental enterprise\" height=\"158\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.over-blog-kiwi.com\/0\/73\/87\/12\/2012\/01\/24\/ob_5aaf45_screen-shot-2012-01-24-at-12-55-43-pm.jpg?resize=235%2C158\" title=\"Screen shot 2012 01 24 at 12.55.43 PM photo\" width=\"235\">A major part of this offensive is the launch of<a href=\"http:\/\/www.shopafrica53.com\/\">ShopAfrica53<\/a>, which is sort of like an eBay whose objective is to \u201cserve as intermediary for small enterprise,\u201d Chinery-Hesse explained while lounging on a chest in his veranda.\u00a0A site specifically designed for each country allows merchants to promote products and customers to buy them. All transactions are made by SMS.<\/p>\n<p>Due to the lack of a developed banking network, Chinery-Hesse had to create a new credit system,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.africanlibertycard.com\/\">African Liberty Card<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 scratch cards he produces and distributes himself. They allow customers to instantly load a set amount of money onto their mobile phone.\u00a0<strong>It\u2019s a perfect example of the need for innovators to create infrastructure<\/strong>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/thenextweb.com\/entrepreneur\/2012\/01\/19\/if-steve-jobs-had-been-african\/\">as Bright Simmons described<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>ShopAfrica53\u2032s third pillar is logistics. The service is entirely run by traditional couriers (DHL, Fedex, etc.). \u201cThey know how to find a package in the bush and get it Toulouse,\u201d he said. \u201cI have no reason to worry about it.\u201d The cost of these operations is financed by \u201cthe difference in salaries between Africa and Europe or the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He recognizes that a certain amount of time is needed for his project to become a major force. Perhaps five years, but \u201cit will be more effective than any type of aid would be in that time-frame.I don\u2019t know of any country that developed through aid. We\u2019ll do it better and, what\u2019s more, we\u2019ll do it with dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read all of Francis Pisani\u2019s posts\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/thenextweb.com\/tag\/winch5\/\">here on The Next Web<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>SOURCES:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.inc.com\/magazine\/20081001\/meet-the-bill-gates-of-ghana.html\">IMAGE CREDIT<\/a><\/div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tall and well-built, cheerful with an appearance of nonchalance,\u00a0the man Inc. Magazine described\u00a0as Africa\u2019s Bill Gates is a man with a few tricks up his sleeve \u2013 as you might expect. After making his fortune with an enterprise-software company,\u00a0Herman Chinery-Hesse\u00a0reached higher, creating a company with a dual goal: helping the continent\u2019s SMBs sell their products [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[344,652,651],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english","category-technos-3","category-winch5-3","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u201cAfrica\u2019s Bill Gates\u201d launches ShopAfrica53, a continental enterprise - Francis Pisani<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/africas-bill-gates-launches-shopafrica53-a-continental-enterprise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cAfrica\u2019s Bill Gates\u201d launches ShopAfrica53, a continental enterprise - Francis Pisani\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tall and well-built, cheerful with an appearance of nonchalance,\u00a0the man Inc. 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Piqu\u00e9 par la curiosit\u00e9 et l\u2019envie de comprendre ce que je sentais important, je suis all\u00e9 m\u2019installer dans la r\u00e9gion de San Francisco (janvier 1996) o\u00f9 j\u2019ai pass\u00e9 quinze ans \u00e0 enqu\u00eater sur ce qui s\u2019y faisait : l\u2019\u00e9mergence, le boom, le bust et la reprise. Un cycle complet \u00e0 la suite de quoi j\u2019ai trouv\u00e9 que m\u00eame \u00e0 Silicon Valley on peut se r\u00e9p\u00e9ter. En fait j\u2019ai la bougeotte. De retour en Europe (2010), j\u2019ai lanc\u00e9 un tour du monde de l\u2019innovation, le projet Winch 5 -- 45 villes, 32 pays entre septembre 2011 et octobre 2012 - enti\u00e8rement consacr\u00e9 \u00e0 l'\u00e9tude des conditions \u00e9conomiques, financi\u00e8res, culturelles et sociales du d\u00e9veloppement de l'innovation. J\u2019en a rapport\u00e9 des enseignements sur les meilleures fa\u00e7ons de la rendre possible, de l'encourager, de pr\u00e9parer individus, entreprises et nations \u00e0 participer ainsi \u00e0 la construction de leur propre futur. Une aventure fascinante qui m\u2019a permis de rencontrer des gens audacieux, dot\u00e9s d\u2019une grande intelligence ou d\u2019un grand c\u0153ur. Parfois les deux ensembles. Je donne r\u00e9guli\u00e8rement conf\u00e9rences et s\u00e9minaires sur ce sujet dans certaines entreprises fran\u00e7aises de poids : Bouygues Telecom, CapGemini, L'Or\u00e9al, SFR, SNCF, entre autres ainsi que dans des forums moins prestigieux mais dans lesquels l\u2019assistance est passionn\u00e9e Convaincu que l\u2019am\u00e9lioration de nos villes et de la d\u00e9mocratie locale est un enjeu technologique et social majeur, je viens de me lancer dans une nouvelle s\u00e9rie d\u2019enqu\u00eates \u2013 un tour du monde en plusieurs \u00e9tapes nomm\u00e9 Participolis - sur les villes intelligentes ou qui s\u2019efforcent de l\u2019\u00eatre : 20 villes entre janvier 2014 et avril 2015. Je le con\u00e7ois comme une tension constante entre deux p\u00f4les d\u2019un m\u00eame probl\u00e8me : CitySmarting ou l\u2019effort pour rendre les villes plus intelligentes gr\u00e2ce, notamment aux technologies de l\u2019information et Participolis, le fait qu\u2019un meilleur futur pour nos villes ne peut \u00e9merger que de notre participation \u00e0 leur conception et \u00e0 leur gestion. Mes articles et chroniques ont \u00e9t\u00e9 publi\u00e9s par plus de 100 m\u00e9dias sur quatre continents dont Le Monde, El Pa\u00eds (Madrid), Reforma (Mexico), The Next Web (Amsterdam) et Folha de S\u00e3o Paulo (Br\u00e9sil). J'enseigne aussi \u00e0 la Paris School of International Affairs de l'Institut d'\u00c9tudes Politiques de Paris et \u00e0 la WebSchoolFactory. J\u2019ai donn\u00e9 des cours \u00e0 l'Universit\u00e9 de Berkeley et \u00e0 l'Universit\u00e9 de Stanford. Je participe en temps qu\u2019expert au r\u00e9seau Netexplo. J\u2019ai publi\u00e9 plusieurs livres dont Comment le web change le monde, l'alchimie des multitudes (Pearson) avec Dominique Piotet (2008 et 2011). Quand je ne suis pas en vadrouille autour du monde, je vis entre Paris, Barcelone et Mexico. Mais toujours je suis int\u00e9ress\u00e9 par vos commentaires, critiques et suggestions. Francispisani \u00e0 gmailvousconnaissezlasuite Google http:\\\/\\\/tinyurl.com\\\/francispisani Twitter: @francispisani A tout de suite\u2026\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.francispisani.net\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/francis.pisani\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/francispisani\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/francispisani\",\"https:\\\/\\\/fr.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/Francis_Pisani\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.francispisani.net\\\/en\\\/author\\\/francis-pisani\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u201cAfrica\u2019s Bill Gates\u201d launches ShopAfrica53, a continental enterprise - Francis Pisani","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/africas-bill-gates-launches-shopafrica53-a-continental-enterprise\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u201cAfrica\u2019s Bill Gates\u201d launches ShopAfrica53, a continental enterprise - Francis Pisani","og_description":"Tall and well-built, cheerful with an appearance of nonchalance,\u00a0the man Inc. Magazine described\u00a0as Africa\u2019s Bill Gates is a man with a few tricks up his sleeve \u2013 as you might expect. After making his fortune with an enterprise-software company,\u00a0Herman Chinery-Hesse\u00a0reached higher, creating a company with a dual goal: helping the continent\u2019s SMBs sell their products [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/africas-bill-gates-launches-shopafrica53-a-continental-enterprise\/","og_site_name":"FRANCIS PISANI","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francis.pisani","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francis.pisani","article_published_time":"2012-01-24T08:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/img.over-blog-kiwi.com\/0\/73\/87\/12\/2012\/01\/24\/ob_01502f_feature-106-street-panoramic-336-520x244.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Francis Pisani","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@francispisani","twitter_site":"@francispisani","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Francis Pisani","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/africas-bill-gates-launches-shopafrica53-a-continental-enterprise\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/africas-bill-gates-launches-shopafrica53-a-continental-enterprise\/"},"author":{"name":"Francis Pisani","@id":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/23840424e18a129b90f71aba0809a74d"},"headline":"\u201cAfrica\u2019s Bill Gates\u201d launches ShopAfrica53, a continental enterprise &#8211; 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Francis Pisani"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/","name":"FRANCIS PISANI","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/23840424e18a129b90f71aba0809a74d"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/23840424e18a129b90f71aba0809a74d","name":"Francis Pisani","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.francispisani.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/francis-pisani-photo.jpeg?fit=200%2C200&ssl=1","url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.francispisani.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/francis-pisani-photo.jpeg?fit=200%2C200&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.francispisani.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/francis-pisani-photo.jpeg?fit=200%2C200&ssl=1","width":200,"height":200,"caption":"Francis Pisani"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.francispisani.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/francis-pisani-photo.jpeg?fit=200%2C200&ssl=1"},"description":"J\u2019enqu\u00eate, je suis et j\u2019analyse les technologies de l\u2019information et de la communication depuis la pr\u00e9histoire (1994). Piqu\u00e9 par la curiosit\u00e9 et l\u2019envie de comprendre ce que je sentais important, je suis all\u00e9 m\u2019installer dans la r\u00e9gion de San Francisco (janvier 1996) o\u00f9 j\u2019ai pass\u00e9 quinze ans \u00e0 enqu\u00eater sur ce qui s\u2019y faisait : l\u2019\u00e9mergence, le boom, le bust et la reprise. Un cycle complet \u00e0 la suite de quoi j\u2019ai trouv\u00e9 que m\u00eame \u00e0 Silicon Valley on peut se r\u00e9p\u00e9ter. En fait j\u2019ai la bougeotte. De retour en Europe (2010), j\u2019ai lanc\u00e9 un tour du monde de l\u2019innovation, le projet Winch 5 -- 45 villes, 32 pays entre septembre 2011 et octobre 2012 - enti\u00e8rement consacr\u00e9 \u00e0 l'\u00e9tude des conditions \u00e9conomiques, financi\u00e8res, culturelles et sociales du d\u00e9veloppement de l'innovation. J\u2019en a rapport\u00e9 des enseignements sur les meilleures fa\u00e7ons de la rendre possible, de l'encourager, de pr\u00e9parer individus, entreprises et nations \u00e0 participer ainsi \u00e0 la construction de leur propre futur. Une aventure fascinante qui m\u2019a permis de rencontrer des gens audacieux, dot\u00e9s d\u2019une grande intelligence ou d\u2019un grand c\u0153ur. Parfois les deux ensembles. Je donne r\u00e9guli\u00e8rement conf\u00e9rences et s\u00e9minaires sur ce sujet dans certaines entreprises fran\u00e7aises de poids : Bouygues Telecom, CapGemini, L'Or\u00e9al, SFR, SNCF, entre autres ainsi que dans des forums moins prestigieux mais dans lesquels l\u2019assistance est passionn\u00e9e Convaincu que l\u2019am\u00e9lioration de nos villes et de la d\u00e9mocratie locale est un enjeu technologique et social majeur, je viens de me lancer dans une nouvelle s\u00e9rie d\u2019enqu\u00eates \u2013 un tour du monde en plusieurs \u00e9tapes nomm\u00e9 Participolis - sur les villes intelligentes ou qui s\u2019efforcent de l\u2019\u00eatre : 20 villes entre janvier 2014 et avril 2015. Je le con\u00e7ois comme une tension constante entre deux p\u00f4les d\u2019un m\u00eame probl\u00e8me : CitySmarting ou l\u2019effort pour rendre les villes plus intelligentes gr\u00e2ce, notamment aux technologies de l\u2019information et Participolis, le fait qu\u2019un meilleur futur pour nos villes ne peut \u00e9merger que de notre participation \u00e0 leur conception et \u00e0 leur gestion. Mes articles et chroniques ont \u00e9t\u00e9 publi\u00e9s par plus de 100 m\u00e9dias sur quatre continents dont Le Monde, El Pa\u00eds (Madrid), Reforma (Mexico), The Next Web (Amsterdam) et Folha de S\u00e3o Paulo (Br\u00e9sil). J'enseigne aussi \u00e0 la Paris School of International Affairs de l'Institut d'\u00c9tudes Politiques de Paris et \u00e0 la WebSchoolFactory. J\u2019ai donn\u00e9 des cours \u00e0 l'Universit\u00e9 de Berkeley et \u00e0 l'Universit\u00e9 de Stanford. Je participe en temps qu\u2019expert au r\u00e9seau Netexplo. J\u2019ai publi\u00e9 plusieurs livres dont Comment le web change le monde, l'alchimie des multitudes (Pearson) avec Dominique Piotet (2008 et 2011). Quand je ne suis pas en vadrouille autour du monde, je vis entre Paris, Barcelone et Mexico. Mais toujours je suis int\u00e9ress\u00e9 par vos commentaires, critiques et suggestions. Francispisani \u00e0 gmailvousconnaissezlasuite Google http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/francispisani Twitter: @francispisani A tout de suite\u2026","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francis.pisani","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/francispisani","https:\/\/x.com\/francispisani","https:\/\/fr.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Francis_Pisani"],"url":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/author\/francis-pisani\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3158,"url":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/outcubator\/","url_meta":{"origin":2845,"position":0},"title":"Outcubator &#8211; Francis Pisani","author":"Francis Pisani","date":"18 May 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Mumbai-based entrepreneurs Mahesh Murthy\u00a0 and Vishal Gunda know each other but don\u2019t work together. Both are, like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, successful college dropouts, and both now work with startups. To do this, each created what Murthy calls an outcubator.\u201cThe Indian Google will be Google, and the Indian Facebook\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;english&quot;","block_context":{"text":"english","link":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/english\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2961,"url":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/in-yogurtistan-a-currency-valuable-online-and-off\/","url_meta":{"origin":2845,"position":1},"title":"In Yogurtistan, a currency valuable online and off &#8211; Francis Pisani","author":"Francis Pisani","date":"19 March 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Cemil Turun is, without a doubt, one of the most ambitious people I\u2019ve ever interviewed. He wants to create a currency that works in both the online and offline worlds. Facing my obvious journalist\u2019s skepticism, he hurries to add that his company, Yogurt Technologies (yogurt.com.tr) is one of the first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;english&quot;","block_context":{"text":"english","link":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/english\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2956,"url":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/in-yogurtistan-creating-a-currency-thats-valuable-online-and-off\/","url_meta":{"origin":2845,"position":2},"title":"In Yogurtistan, creating a currency that\u2019s valuable online and off &#8211; Francis Pisani","author":"Francis Pisani","date":"17 March 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Cemil Turun is, without a doubt, one of the most ambitious entrepreneurs I\u2019ve interviewed so far. He wants to create a currency that works in both the online and offline worlds. Facing my obvious journalistic skepticism, he hurries to add that his company,\u00a0Yogurt Technologies, is one of the first six\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;english&quot;","block_context":{"text":"english","link":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/english\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"meydan1 520x390 In Yogurtistan, creating a currency thats valuable online and off","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.over-blog-kiwi.com\/0\/73\/87\/12\/2012\/03\/17\/ob_41a9a2_meydan1-520x390.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2712,"url":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/an-activist-entrepreneur\/","url_meta":{"origin":2845,"position":3},"title":"An Activist Entrepreneur &#8211; Francis Pisani","author":"Francis Pisani","date":"21 October 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Bruno Legendre acts with an unrelenting logic that I described Friday in my weekly column in the Science & Techno supplement (Article in French; subscription required). But I wanted to talk about him in a little more detail on several points:As an agronomic engineer, he quickly realized that there was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;english&quot;","block_context":{"text":"english","link":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/english\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"legendre2 An Activist Entrepreneur","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.over-blog-kiwi.com\/0\/73\/87\/12\/2011\/10\/21\/ob_8a2ef0_legendre2.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3199,"url":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/social-media-still-makes-me-uneasy-but-at-the-same-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":2845,"position":4},"title":"Social media still makes me uneasy, but at the same time\u2026 &#8211; Francis Pisani","author":"Francis Pisani","date":"6 July 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I dined recently at a fabulous Tel Aviv restaurant with\u00a0 Ayelet Noff and Motti Peer, partners and heads of\u00a0\u00a0Blonde 2.0, a site helping companies use social media better. The two are young and handsome, and their clients are some of Israel\u2019s most dynamic and the world\u2019s largest. People who succeed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;english&quot;","block_context":{"text":"english","link":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/english\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3195,"url":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/it-isnt-a-priority-for-south-africa\/","url_meta":{"origin":2845,"position":5},"title":"IT Isn\u2019t a Priority for South Africa &#8211; Francis Pisani","author":"Francis Pisani","date":"4 July 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"South Africa has some strong performers in its Internet and communications technologies (ITCT) activity, but the country doesn\u2019t seem to be making them a real part of its development strategy, and that\u2019s too bad.Let\u2019s begin with the SuccessesPaypal was born from the fusion of two companies, one of which was\u00a0X.com,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;english&quot;","block_context":{"text":"english","link":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/english\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2845\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.francispisani.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}