Kwame Som-Pimpong

  • Build Something From Nothing

    Several years ago, my friend Odini told me that he was going to make ties. As an aspiring dandy, I was super excited about the idea, but could not have imagined where Odini and his partner Josh Moore have taken Res Ipsa.  Some time after Odini told me that they were going to try and…

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    When Aubrey Hruby and several Finance ministers of African countries waited for the Globe at Google headquarters to rotate to the African continent so they could see how many hits the continent was getting at the time were stunned to see just a couple dots as compared to completely outlined countries for the rest of…

  • No. 83: Growing Exports to Nigeria Can Be Atlanta’s Secret Sauce

    Atlanta is a top-10 exporter amongst US cities to Nigeria. I hope the city puts more energy behind its connection to the country. The city recently completed its Metropolitan Export Plan with support from JP Morgan and the Brookings Institution. Currently, the only African countries an exporter in Atlanta can get information about exporting to…

  • No. 82: Davidson Alums to Play a Big Role in 2016 NC Senatorial Race?

    North Carolina Democrats are beginning to roll out plans for unseating Republican Richard Burr from the Senate. This is set to be an interesting election if rumors are correct that former UNC president Tom Ross and current US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx are eyeing a run for the seat. Both are Davidson grads and Tom…

  • No. 81: There’s Not Enough Space in This Room for Both God and Fear

    Be sure to subscribe to David D.’s The Freedom Ring. He’s calling up sung and unsung players in the Civil Rights movement and documenting their stories. His first conversation was with his dad, David Dennis, Sr. Amazing stories about how he got his start in the movement, people he met along the way, and some…

  • No. 80: Can Tech and Government Work Together?

    What does it look like for tech startups and governments to work together well? Andreessen Horowitz posted a new podcast with Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser today to discuss this, alongside former DC mayor Adrian Fenty. Pretty good conversation. Some of the topics covered in the conversation, included: 1. Catching up to the technology startup sector…

  • No. 79: Mother Ghana is Struggling

    My neck hurts after shaking my head while reading this Economist piece on Ghana’s economic woes.

  • Three Lessons from the Beginnings of the Venture Capital Industry

    I didn’t set out to create an industry.  “Something Ventured,” a piece covering the early days of the venture capital industry really helped me get a better grasp of the nascent stages of Silicon Valley. To hear the stories of  Three lessons stood out from the documentary: 1. Opportunity is in R&D We’ve seen venture…

  • No. 78: Shoutouts 

    There should be an app that tracks when you’re bragging about your friends and sends them updates when you do.  One of my good friends and daughter’s godmother, Livi, is pursuing her PhD at the University College London and got upgraded from a Master’s candidate to a PhD candidate a few days ago after writing…

  • No. 77: Improving My Podcast Listening Experience 

    Imagine navigation apps like Waze and Google Maps being able to recognize what podcast or radio show you’re listening to and adopting the voice of the host or artist you’re listening to in providing directions.  Waze currently overshadows my podcast listening.  The volume on the podcast I’m listening to lowers when the Waze navigator tells…

  • No. 76: What Does a Potential Liberty Global-Vodacom Deal Mean for Safaricom?

    Liberty Global and Vodacom are in talks for some sort of deal. Early rumors were that the two were considering a merger, which would be one of the biggest ever, but Vodacom denies a merger being part of deliberations.  What’s interesting about this news, besides John Malone continuing to take over the media world, is…

  • No. 75: Why Akinwumi Adesina Won the African Development Bank Presidency

    Bobby Pittman, head of Kupanda Capital, did a nice interview with the Center for Global Development where he serves as a board member alongside the likes of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Lawrence Summers. He highlights the reasons Dr. Adesina won the AfDB presidency, and some things on which he will have to focus. Three points that…

  • No. 74: Corruption: FIFA or Wall Street

    A couple of weeks ago, several banks agreed to pay criminal fines close to $9 billion for currency rigging, a felony crime. Around the same time, the corruption deal with FIFA started heating up.  I get that billions of people love the beautiful game and the corruption in the sport has been ongoing for decades.…

  • No. 73: Why You Should Pay Attention to Africa’s Retail and Fashion

    For us, today, Africa is more important than the U.S. In five to 10 years, Africa can become the new frontier for luxury. – Ermenegildo Zegna While reading this Quartz piece on Africa’s fashion opportunity, I came across this Global Retail Development Index put together by A.T Kearney. The Index ranks the top 30 developing…

  • No. 72: International Company ABB Invests in Michigan

    Every time I see announcements of foreign companies locating operations in the US, I dream about more African companies doing the same. Companies like United Bank for Africa have US operations, but I am talking about big announcements at the scale of Porsche’s $100 million investment in its North American headquarters near Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in…