[Originally posted on my blog Dago Tiako]

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     The second edition of BarCamp Madagascar was held on saturday, July 4th, 2009 at Ivotel Ambohidahy. Bloggers, journalists, citizens wanting to know more about new media attended the workshop.

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     This year Foko has choosen the topic "Crowd sourcing info in Madagascar” presented by Lova Rakotomalala. The new media which is a digital communication tool for spreading information using blog, twitter, youtube, flickr… The new media which is more and more appreciated due to its quick and instant flow is also growing in Madagascar. The need of new media has been highlighted during the crisis of Madagascar. Some boggers then took the floor to share their experiences. We could hear Andry (Foko Antananarivo), Jentilisa, Avylavitra, Stefane (Foko Antananarivo), Jaona (Foko Fianarantsoa), Patrick (Foko Toamasina), Gaetan (Foko Antsirabe). The main purpose was about the Madagascar crisis. It seems like all of these bloggers exactly knew that they were running into troubles and big risks trying to take pics and eye-witness riots but could not restrain themselves from blogging.

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     We also had the priviliege to hear about different social networks: twitter, facebook, friendfeed… the web 2.0 by Thierry Andriamirado. By the way, it was the first time for me to meet @tandriamirado and I was really pleased. A blog is not enough if none knows about its existence, we do need social networks to get the interest of the followers, to share and to spread information.

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     The former Minister of communication, Tsilavina Ralaindimby attended the Barcamp 2.0. He acknowledged that Malagasy bloggers have done a great job throughout the crisis.

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     After a short break, the workshop kept on with Chris and Afick from the region of SAVA. They talked about a current project of establishing social radios in remoted areas in Madagascar. Working with Radio Active and BBC, Radio Ciel of Antalaha is now efficient.

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     Claire, from Global Voice in French, talked about different cases of censorship all over the world. She said that nowadays, governments are aware of the power of internet and new media. This is the reason why they have created new systems to block disclosure of some information that may harm them. We recently heard about the case of Iran elections and the arrest of bloggers. Other cases of censorship are disappearance of the site or the bog, or some articles of the blog, or censored names which will be changed into unknown letters. How to avoid censorship? Claire advised each blogger to make sure to know the laws and regulations of their country in order not to give reason to the government to arrest them. Herdict.org has been created for each one of us about websites or blogs that do not run properly.

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     I attended the first edition of Barcamp Madagascar but blogging and stuff were too new for me to get really involved. This year was exceptionnally different because I sincerely felt concerned. Tahina and I should have even participated by presenting Foko-Ushahidi but I do not really know why at the last moment another guy has been invited by Stefane to talk about it. Anyway, it was cool.

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     Ushahidi which means “Testimony”is a social network which Foko has decided to work with inviting all citizens of Madagascar to report and to share any event, case, abuses… they have eye-witnessed by logging on http://foko-ushahidi.com or sending sms to (+261) 33 40 691 11.

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     I was so glad to meet, for the first time, Patrick from BUEC Toamasina (left on this picture with me). Nice to meet you dear :)

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     A big hand to all of us guys :) EDIT >

A few pictures of BarCamp Madagascar last Saturday have been showing up on Flickr, mostly from the bloggers r1_lita and Ariniaina. Here's a little preview, but do check out the full photosets here and here:

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     (Photo by r1_lita)

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     Popular blogger Harinjaka speaking about Foko's collaboration with Ushahidi. (Photo by r1_lita)

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     Thierry Ratsizehena (on the right) live tweetting the workshop (Photo by Ariniaina)

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     Lova Rakotomalala talking about expectations. Photo by Ariniaina EDIT >

[Originally posted on my blog harinjaka]

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     I was just back from a business trip Friday and saw Lova’s announcement on Facebook about his Seminar/workshop on crowdsourcing information in times of crisis in Madagascar… It’s a BarCamp.

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     To be honest, I decided to attend this BarCamp_mada 2.0 by curiousity and also to support my friend Lova Rakotomalala who was the guestblogger of this time event. I haven’t joined any BarCamp yet before, and missed the very first edition in Madagascar last year.

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     The keynote speakers was the former journalist at L’Express de Madagascar Alain Andriamiandravola … opening the un-conference with a short welcoming kabary. I have missed that ...

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     I arrived when Lova Rakotomalala the master of the ceremony called for increased collaboration between journalists and bloggers, especially in times of rapidly unfolding events.

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     -Avylavitra, @jentilisa, @saveoursmile, but also FBC from all over the country talked about their personal experience of on site reporting and photo shooting during the protests.

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     -Thierry Andriamirado @tandriamirado made a terrific presentation on the role of social network in distributing information ( twitter, facebook, friendfeed)

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     -The former minister of Culture Mr Tsilavina Ralaindimby talked about new media and the war of content, he have end his talk by saying that FOKO will be a part of the commission of codification of the internet but Also the journalism codification in the country... have to be discussed but the invite is so cool.

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     -Christi Turner (of radioactive) have presented Radio Meva Ankarana 98.0 FM, Antsaravibe, Madagascar - Christi has just finished four years of community development work as a Peace Corps Volunteer in northern Madagascar. She coordinated the creation of a community radio station for the village, the first fully solar powered, wholly independent community radio station in the country. she and her team showed us some Radio station equipement wich was really interresting …her fluency in the Malagasy language is quite remarkable too.

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     -Lalah and Tahina were supposed to explain the details of Foko-Ushahidi project and how they manage the site but I have steal their time accidentally … after Claire Ulrich @claireinparis speech on the current state of online censorship worldwide.

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     Lova convinced me to participate and I knew that I had to share something. This is the main rule of a BarCamp right ? @pakisse suggested me to talk about MEGASEEDS and how we will bring peace and save Madagascar from political violence by planting high-yield rice…

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     After hesitation, I just took few minutes to explain to the crowd about how Foko and Ushahidi gathering and the chance we have in Madagascar on been part of Ushahidi beta program since almost a year now. We are also one of the countries and project that are using Ushahidi Engine to report violence.

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     My hope is that the violence happened in Madagascar on February 2009 won’t happen anymore again and many Malagasy people will be using the Foko-Ushahidi tool for other causes and events like Malagasy next election on 2010 for example.

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     People across the country can report fairly on the elections and relate events through SMS, email, and the web.

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     Foko-Ushahidi open many possibility for citizen reporting in Madagascar. @jelona, the coordinator from FBC Fianarantsoa is already volunteer for mobile health initiatives.

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     Many issues and organizations can be connected. I am wondering what’s will happen if we are using Ushahidi tool for corruption reporting in Madagascar or for conservation of the biodiversity mapping using GPS technology and digital camera, to store biodiversity data collected by rural communities... but those are an early thoughts and need huge financial and human resources.

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     I can say that Foko and Ushahidi team made big progress on this issue. Lalah,Tahina and all Foko members in field did a great step forward and effort too, and there is still a lot to do : like increasing awareness and vulgarising the phone numbers for the SMS’s, translating the web site in other language, especially in Malagasy to reach rural communities and more … involving private sectors like local phone "foza orana" operators and public sector like NGO’s and local communities.

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     During this Barcamp, my friend @RandyDonny from Randydoit share his strong experience in journalism with the crowd and close his session with a quick shot about a Radio Station that me and him are actually working on this time on furthering peace in Madagascar by dissipating rumors, avoiding propaganda and focusing attention on hard facts. Work's in progress …setting up Media for Peace and Human Dignity.

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     All this listed above were the part of the experience I felt during that camp. Also, I'd like to congratulate Lova Rakotomalala and Foko activists for bringing something great and beneficial for the youth in the country.

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     #TWISI: The Way I See It... (photo courtesy Avylavitra)

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     Barcamp_mada 2.0 was a huge success!

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     I have just realize how strong is FOKO - Madagascar today. @pakysse did a great Job as community organizer and "blogger evangelist".

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     It was really impressive to see all those Foko members … in real life.

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     The quality of BarCamp_mada 2.0 attendees were various and picture out the technology scene in Madagascar today.

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     Everyone in the audience could communicate in twitter language and enthusiastically engaged in each discussion on ideas, lesson learned from Madagascar 2009 crisis and the new media in 140-character.

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     A wifi connection problem and lack of plugs handicapped the live twitting and live blogging but the snacks and beverages was finger-licking so the organizational team is forgivable.

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     The hashtag #barcamp_mada or #madagascar was among the top trending topics on Twitter, but also #barcamp. I myself made a lot of mistakes that day, I have written #baramp instead of barcamp sometimes ... It's because of my sunglasses. EDIT >

Barcamp Abidjan'09 is a series of conferences and workshops that are going to take place on July 24 and 25th at l'Espace CRRAE-UEMOA in Abidjan. It will give the opportunity for companies, institutions and individual participants to exchange ideas, network and above all serve as a catalyst of good ideas and activities regarding web and information technologies in Côte d'Ivoire.

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     You can follow the event via:

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      * Official website http://www.barcampabidjan.com

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      * On Facebook http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=55363371762&ref=ts

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      * On Twitter http://www.twitter.com/barcampabidjan

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      * On webtv http://www.youtube.com/barcampabidjan

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      * The blog http://www.barcampabidjan.info

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      * REGISTRATION http://barcampabidjan-fbevent.eventbrite.com

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      * Contact: tel : (+225) 2022 9610 / (+225)01017053

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     It was on the 27th of June, this year, in Swaziland, venue at one of the most beautiful places in Southern Africa that is House on Fire.

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     I am going to be writing mostly about how did i find the first Barcamp Swaziland, and the things I liked about the whole workshop. Although i was the youngest (20yrs) at the barcamp but i won't deny that I enjoyed it to the core.

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     First and foremost I'd like to congratulate you guys for bringing us something great and beneficial for the youth of Swaziland.The whole workshop was interesting, very educative, very live and clear, well organised, a super venue, good music and food (he he he yeah, how can i miss that 1), had open and very kind members, non-boring views and points and last very beautiful and good equipment, and thanx for the handouts!

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     All this listed above were the part of the experience I felt during that camp, but next time i would like to see more time added on our sessions -the 15 minutes wasn't enough for me, and the topics to discuss (e.g. Programming, Facebook, networking topics, etc) were too many at a time, like they were 5 at 15 to 30 time to discuss. Out of all 5 I would attend 2 leaving the other 1 stil processing, which I find it difficult. What i would love here is to pick 1 or 2 topic like programming and do it in 20 minutes, ask questions, add points and etc, then the next topic.... I dont know what you think.

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     Overall, I enjoyed being involved in such a event. I met a lot of outgoing, free and friendly guys there. Some of them even promise to work with me in the future, like helping me because I'm still new in the field of IT and a lot more. We even made suggestions and gave possitive ideas about improving the structure or the shape of IT in Swaziland as it's still new and not highly considered yet the community need it, the youth seriously need it, to be more specific.

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     I would like to see Barcamp Swaziland coming back to our shores with more energy. From the day i saw BCSWAZILAND on my newspaper I knew i would love it.

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     Thanx barcamp, for bringing us the future of IT in Swaziland.

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     Thanx again for especialy You (the reader of this Article), for reading all my words.

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     God blesssss!!!

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     [Pictures by Katrina Heppler] EDIT >

Today at Ivotel in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, a bloggers BarCamp is taking place with the theme "Crowdsourcing information during the crisis in Madagascar". Organized by Foko Madagascar, the BarCamp will draw lessons from the experience of citizen journalism reporting during the power crisis that shook the country at the beginning of this year.

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     For more information, here's the announcement written by Lova Rakotomalala at a Foko blog:

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     The Malagasy blogging community is coming together with professional journalists and people curious about new media to discuss how citizen media can contribute to a more complete coverage of the crisis in Madagascar.

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     We will exchange ideas, lesson learned and shortcomings of digital media to inform and warn during crisis or events ( such as elections etc…).

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     The format of a BarCamp will be utilized but panelists will present their experiences and expertise beforehand to pose the bases of the conversation:

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     The projected order of presentation is as follow:

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     1) Former journalist of L’Express Madagascar Alain Andriamiadravola will open the un-conference with a short welcoming kabary

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     2) Lova Rakotomalala will present a call for increased collaboration between journalists and bloggers, especially in times of rapidly unfolding events.

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     3) Cyber Observer and pakysse will discuss his personal experience of on site reporting and photo shooting during the protests.

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     4) Thierry Andriamirado will present the role of social network in distributing information ( twitter, facebook, friendfeed)

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     5) Christie Turner ( of radioactive) and Rafiq (Foko) will present community radio intiation and management.

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     6) Lalah and Tahina will explain the details of Foko-Ushahidi and how they manage the site.

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     7) Tsiry will explain that conservation effort must go on despite the crisis and showcase Zebu Nation project.

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     Patie will elaborate on her photoworkshop with kids with Unicef

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     9) Claire Ulrich will present the current state of online censorship worldwide.

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     We expect powerful testimonies from many other bloggers ( Randy, Jentilisa, Avylavitra, saveoursmile and Thierry) and an engaged conversation with journalists on the ethics of news reporting.

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     Ivotel is offering the conference room free of charge and Moov.mg is generously providing free high speed wifi. In turn, they hope to see a valiant online discussion about connectivity in Madagascar and a debate free of political propaganda.

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     Let’s honor the request.

Photo by Lova Rakotomalala

EDIT >

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     On December 22, 2008, over a hundred young Ghanaians met in Accra for BarCamp Ghana '08 to exchanged ideas on entrepreneurship, innovation and development for a rising Ghana. This summer, the conversations move to Washington, DC to bring together the African Diaspora to exchange ideas on doing business in Africa.

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     Join us at BarCamp Diaspora '09, under the theme "Investing our talent where it counts".

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     When: July 25, 2009 from 12pm - 6pm

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     Where: Kenney Auditorium, School of Advanced International Studies - Johns Hopkins

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     University

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     1740 Massachusetts Ave., NW

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      Washington, DC

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     You may participate online at the conference website if you are not close to the Washington DC area.

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     A BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering where attendees meet for discussions, demos and networking. Unlike a typical conference, at a BarCamp everyone is both a speaker and a participant. The content is provided by all attendees based on their interests, unified under the theme.

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     BarCamp Diaspora ’09 is a FREE event for anyone who is interested in using their skills, talent, and resources to benefit Africa. It will provide a great opportunity for the African Diaspora to network and collaborate on projects.

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     Register/RSVP today at the BarCamp Diaspora website

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     http://www.barcampghana.org/barcampdiaspora09/register

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     Help spread the word about BarCamp Diaspora '09 by grabbing badges and support us by donating to keep the participation costs low. You may also contact us for sponsorship opportunities.

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     See you there!

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     For more info on this exciting event, visit the BarCamp Diaspora website, BarCamp Ghana Twitter, or the Facebook event.

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     Please support this event by using one of the badges here as your facebook profile picture. EDIT >

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     In the verdant Ezulwini Valley, where you'll often pass King Mswati III's motorcade zooming down the road, Swaziland's first technology conference, BarCamp Swaziland, was held on Saturday, June 27th. It took place at the House on Fire venue, a fanciful, mosaic-encrusted amphitheatre which often hosts local performances. About sixty people attended, including local engineers, ISP's, artists, music promoters, software developers, and non-profits including the Grameen Foundation. BarCamp Swaziland was sponsored by YouthAssets.org, which empowers youths heading households in Swaziland. Other sponsors included Real Image Internet (Swaziland's leading ISP), Swazis Rock, i.t. solutions, PoeTree, SangoNet from South Africa, and Comparatio USA. Several rural youth who head households due to the loss of their parents attended and helped document the conference with Flip video cameras.

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     The IT guru at House on Fire, Mark Fulton, although he found out about the barcamp just the night before (suitably enough, in the actual bar where he was nursing a Windhoek), did a fantastic job of taking care of the attendees' wireless connectivity needs and managing the conference multimedia presentations. In addition, he gave Swazis a window into the truly geeky world of computer gaming - especially inspiring the youth. American bloggers Katrina Heppler and Shara Karasic helped document the conference.

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Key takeaways from BarCamp Swaziland:

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     1. There is a vibrant group of very smart geeks and creatives here who want to carry the barcamp torch forward.

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     2. There is lots of interest in blogging tools such as Twitter. Prediction: a year from now Africa watchers will have heard of some Swazi bloggers (will any attend Kelele?).

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     3. Local developers are developing software for the local business market - Wandile Nxumalo of Maestro IT showed off his new accounting software.

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     4. Technology coming soon to Swaziland includes wimax, mobile banking, and local mobile search - Ali Resting of Real Image Internet was a great resource for what's coming next.

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     5. There was interest in using social media to promote local artists and musicians.

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     6. There is a strong interest in using technology for social good - especially to help the many children orphaned because of HIV/AIDS.

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What people learned:

How important is technology in our community and to the world at large.

There is a community out here of especially young people interested or involved in IT - I need to network with these people.

How to use Facebook and Twitter.

About open source software and online community development.

That programming is not a joke and I'm into it!

That there are other IT folks around.

There is a lot happening in the mobile development sector in Swaziland.

There is more happening in technology than what meets the eye! Women in Swaziland or around the world can contribute in technology.

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What was your favorite part of BarCamp Swaziland?

Learning how we can develop IT in our community.

The discussions were very informative, everyone giving input was great.

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How would you make the next conference better?

I would try to bring something that I have made myself - like my own program.

Introduce barcamp to the community (friends and relatives).

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     If you would like to help organize future technology conferences in Swaziland, join the BarCamp Swaziland Facebook page. EDIT >

BarCamp Swaziland, the first technology conference in the last absolute monarchy in Africa, is taking place in Mbabane, Swaziland, on June 27th, 2009. Swaziland recently created a new Ministry of ICT, and local technology is rapidly emerging. With 90% of the Swazi population within range of a mobile phone network, the first BarCamp Swaziland will be focused on mobile use. Local youth participate and report from the conference - conducting interviews and blogging. BarCamp Swaziland aims to encourage local technology by sharing best practices and building partnerships, as well as identifying Swazi technology interests and trends. YouthAssets, a non-profit focused on empowering youth in Southern Africa, is a main sponsor of the event.

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     BarCamp organizer Sabelo Dlamini, YouthAssets board member, says: “Organizing BarCamp Swaziland is quite an experience. Technology is just coming in to Swaziland. To have all the practitioners together in one place is going to spark new ideas – it will be a powerful event. The BarCamp will bring people together.”

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     For more info on the event, visit the BarCamp Swaziland blog, wiki, Twitter, or Facebook. EDIT >

We recently had the pleasure of getting a wrap-up of BarCamp Nigeria via Google Talk from one of its main organizers, Tim Akinbo. Tim Akinbo is a Nigerian web developer who is currently working on a project with UNICEF and the National Malaria Control Program in conjunction with the Ministry of Health to develop a mobile SMS-based monitoring and distribution system.

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     BarCamp Nigeria took place in Lagos on April 25, 2009.

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     How was BarCamp Nigeria?

Tim Akinbo: It was simply awesome! There are just so many things to say about it, I don't know where to start. We had between 70 and 80 people in attendance.

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     Why did you see a need for BarCamp Nigeria? How did it start?

It all started with BarCamp Africa. I told a couple of friends about it and about the virtual participation [editor's note: we had live audio streaming from Nigeria at BarCamp Africa '08], and that inspired one of my friends, Ayodeji Adewunmi to organize BarCamp Nigeria. I was enthusiastic and we put our heads together to see how we could organize BarCamp Nigeria. And shortly after BarCamp Africa, a couple of us went to Ghana for BarCamp Ghana.

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     Did you have sponsors?

Yes! We got a lot of support. We had sponsorship for the venue,which was provided by TOM Associates. Our sponsors included TOM Associates, Afrigator, Startups Nigeria, and Blue Identity - there's a full list on the BarCamp Nigeria site.

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     So were people in the tech community excited about it?

Are you kidding? Someone called me during BarCamp Nigeria to ask if we could make it monthly. Lots of people got to know about it late, and weren't so happy about it since they wanted to be there.

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     How did people find out about it?

We used only social media to spread the news about it -- blogs, Facebook and Twitter. We got some of our media partners to blog about the event.

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     Did people living outside of Nigeria get involved?

Yes, we had a number. I can remember a Nigerian living in Ghana who flew in to attend. We had Justin Hartman of Afrigator and Rafiq Phillips of Feedalizr fly in from South Africa to attend.

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     Who were the keynote speakers?

Justin Hartmanof Afrigator and N'dee Victoria Uwadoka, who works with Microsoft Nigeria as the PR and events manager for Anglophone West Africa. She manages the company's image agenda, media relationships, agency support and strategic events in the area.

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     What were their main messages?

Justin related his experience with Afrigator - there were many questions on how they got funding and what they did to become popular. It turns out (like in many cases) that they just wanted to create something that gave them a view of the conversations going on around in Africa. Victoria gave a wonderful presentation on how Web 2.0 tools can be used for societal good.

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     So what kind of other sessions were there? What did people want to talk about?

We had breakout sessions on search engine optimization, running an Internet-based radio station, long-tail marketing in Africa, open source software, RapidSMS and mobile applications, e-learning, and increasing social media adoption in Nigeria.

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     How would you describe the Nigerian tech scene to people living outside Nigeria? How is business using technology, and how is technology helping social change?

The Nigerian tech scene is booming. There are a lot of initiatives going on. A huge number of companies are adopting technology to solve their daily problems. And even the government is pushing technology. Recently, the government adopted the use of e-payments to handle payments of salaries to workers and payments to contractors. A colleague of mine told me about a project he worked on, that uses SMS in reporting torture cases.

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     So the government is supportive?

That's right Shara, the government is very supportive although they can be slow. Pretty much what happens in a number of places - politics, bureaucracy...

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     How is Internet speed and access? Do people access Internet on mobiles?

People access the Internet a lot on mobiles. When you get to the major cities, you can get decent Internet connections for good prices -- not as fast as you would get in the US, for example, but usable.

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     How is technology changing Nigerian culture? Is it for the better?

I can't really say -- it's got its good parts and bad parts.

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     The good part is that we're more efficient, we live improved lives. The economic status of a lot of people has been improved, and communication is improved. The bad part is that we have replaced a lot of face-to-face interaction with phone calls. We have fewer family meetings -- what's the need when we can make a phone call and resolve our issues? Some of my couisns, I haven't seen in years, but we've had at least several phone calls.

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     What would you say were the main takeaways from BarCamp Nigeria? And what advice would you give to African countries who want to organize their first BarCamp?

First off, concerning takeaways...we realize that although Nigeria has a buzzing tech industry, we don't have a buzzing tech community. And so BarCamp Nigeria was organized. From BarCamp Nigeria, it is our hope that the tech community will thrive and that we'll see a lot of collaboration and learning from each other in the coming days.

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     Advice I'd give to those organizing barcamps in Africa...don't take yourself too seriously, just get something going. Don't be too concerned if people aren't following you initially -- once you gain good enough momentum, others will join. And I think you really have to know why you're organizing the barcamp.

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     Talk to people and you'll see a lot of support. In Nigeria, gaining trust can be difficult, but once people see how passionate you are and how determined you are, they'll support you. We had to change the date of BarCamp Nigeria twice. When we were first organizing the event, we had a lot of our priorities mixed up. The first date we selected was too soon and we hadn't gotten some of the basic things we needed, like a venue, and hadn't yet done enough to inform the community, so we had to change it.

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     And then, we thought we'd do a better job by having an events manager help, but we were disappointed when all of the sudden, things changed. We had to swallow our pride and shift the date again. We had already sent out notices about the date and changing it again was really frowned at by the community. All of a sudden, the events manager just stopped communicating, and all attempts to reach him were futile. The date came and passed and till this very moment, we still haven't heard from him. We learned the hard way not to delegate core responsibilities to a third party.

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     A lot of the people who criticized us when we changed the date eventually came to support us. We were determined to have the barcamp come rain or shine, whether we had the experience in organizing events or not. And it paid off.

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     Are you glad you did it?

Glad? I am ecstatic!

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     So, what do you see happening with technology in the next 5 years in Nigeria and West Africa in general?

Only time will tell, but we're really progressing strong. Being at BarCamp Ghana really confirmed this...there are a lot of talented developers in Africa, and all we need is some little coordination. Things are very, very, very promising. There are people doing cool stuff here...subscribe to a blog like Startups Nigeria -- there Loy Okezie showcases Nigerian web startups.

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     Where are people getting investment money? Bootstrapping? Or are there funds?

Bootstrapping is the popular option, although when it comes to Web 2.0 usage, it's still very low.

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     In terms of mobile innovation, it seems like you're leapfrogging the U.S.

Yes, probably.

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     So, what would you tell people interested in investing in African technology businesses?

I would say that it's definitely a growth region, and if you're interested in investing for the long term, this is definitely where to invest. There's a lot of latent potential, If you do invest, be ready to spend on infrastructure, since we are grossly lacking. Also be very flexible, especially when it comes to dealing with governments. It might be slow start, but it's definitely a good start.

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     What would you tell those interested in outsourcing to African developers?

There are cost advantages in outsourcing to African developers. I would recommend testing your developers before committing big projects to them. I can't say from an African perspective, but a lot of Nigerian developers lack mentorship, and so write not very good code. If anyone's interested in outsourcing to Nigeria for example, I would recommend that you look at it from an investment point of view that will pay off eventually. Get them in on the project with other good developers in other countries.

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     And a strong tech community can help with the mentorship part...

True.

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     Is there a special way to say thank you in Nigeria?

In Yoruba it's ose (pronounced oh-shey), and in Hausa it's nagode (na-go-de).

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     Ose! Nagode!

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     Pictures courtesy of Oluniyi David Ajao. See the rest of his full BarCamp Nigeria Flickr photoset here. EDIT >