We conducted our survey in South West Nigeria late last year and have completed our analysis, in conjunction with our partners Nuru Energy. Providing sustainable and clean energy solutions in the remote areas is a no-brainer. The villagers presently spend high amounts on kerosene, because they have no better, readily available options. Interestingly, there are many options but kerosene is still the winner. There is the relatively new local lamp made from Compact Discs, known as "Yar'adua" in South-West Nigeria, named after the late Nigerian President. But our survey and interactions with users show that while "Yar'adua" lamps (shown above) are very cheap, they are not durable and are battery-intensive, which would end up being expensive on the long run in addition to contributing to environmental pollution. Surprisingly, a number of people also use the flash lights on their cell phones, for lighting at night. Kerosene remains the winner, but it seems they will try whatever new product comes along in the hope that something healthier, less expensive, brighter and more available than kerosene comes along.

We are going ahead with our solution and the next phase is the commencement of a pilot with a number of micro-entrepreneurs who will among other things serve as "generators" for people in their community. Our model involves creating employment at the village level and making sure that a significant percentage of the thousands of dollars that leave each village annually to purchase fuel stays to fuel the local economy going forward. It also involves retaining some of the characteristics of the present kerosene model that make it sustainable - possibility of incremental purchases, centralized sourcing at the village level, etc. The end user does not need technical knowledge for the solution to work, the micro-entrepreneur gladly holds that expertise and is compensated for it. For the end user, the solution is plug and play. We anticipate a model that is simple and elegant.

At the moment, we consider it wiser to wait until after the Nigerian Elections to commence our pilot. In the interim, we are putting together a training package for entrepreneurs, working on establishing partnership with financial institutions with integrity and other necessary details. One of the challenges at the moment is finding a micro-finance institution that is really into micro finance in the remote areas and not merely operating in Lagos or any of the other big cities.

I returned recently from Nigeria, where we were conducting surveys in neglected areas as a prelude to commencing our pilot. I saw decades of neglect and lack of investments in basic infrastructure and social amenities that are taken for granted elsewhere, but which are so vital to societal wellbeing. I saw poverty of infrastructure and social amenities. I also saw opulence, outside of the villages, in Lagos, where billions of dollars are invested daily, not in alleviating the suffering of the masses but in transactions that further enrich a few of the top 10% of the populace. I concluded that the problem of lack of infrastructure and social amenities is not necessarily a problem of inadequate capital but one of mindset.

The most common mindset seems to be one of consumption, whether in politics or business. With that mindset, what exists right now is all that can be, so there is a tendency to scramble and compete for the little that is presently manifest. This may be why probably 80% (my own guess) of economic activities in Africa's largest economy takes place in Lagos, and a few other cities. Those cities have some infrastructure to support commerce and the society as a whole, most of which were put in place decades ago, so everyone wants to be in Lagos and a few other cities. So, Lagos is bursting at the seams. When all there is all that can be, maximization, survival of the fittest, competition become the order of the day as everyone tries to grab their share of whatever exists now. It is a broad way and many there be that enter in.

I think the mindset that is urgently needed is a creation mindset. That mindset sees what can be, rather than what is. That mindset is very patient and involves doing the opposite of what the crowd is doing, because it sees what the crowd does not see. This mindset looks at poverty but sees the possibility of prosperity. This mindset sees decades, even centuries into the future. I think what we need is not to scramble for what exists today but to start to create what will be in the next 50 years, if time as we know it continues to exist till then. 

One of the most radical and hopeful thoughts I encountered while I was in Nigeria, was the thought that we can create new cities. We need the creation mindset to look at poverty of infrastructure and social amenities and see the possibility of societal prosperity. It is an exciting thought that we can turn present poverty into prosperity, rather than consume, plunder or compete for whatever prosperity seemingly exists now. It is exciting to realize that even though Hamel and Prahalad wrote about Competing for the Future in their book with the same title, there is really no competition for the future because the way of the future is seen only by so few and the mindset that allows creation of future prosperity precludes competition.

ResurgeAfrique is seeking to work with the creation mindset in Nigeria and the rest of Africa. We will be engaging in development entrepreneurship. We are in it for the very long haul. We are not in it to compete for what exists now but to create what will be tomorrow. In Collapse, Jared Diamond wrote beautifully about societies that were once thriving but became extinct, in my mind, due to maximization and the consumption mindset. ResurgeAfrique seeks to create thriving societies of tomorrow where decadence exists today. It is a radical mindset, a narrow road, a winding path and it is exciting to be on it.