The Hidden Drivers of Innovation in Africa | Binge Thinking BOS
About this Event
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TOPIC:
The Hidden Drivers of Innovation in Africa:
Why the Next Wave of Global Ideas Starts Here
SPEAKER:
Dr. Jonathan Greenacre, Boston University
There's a popular assumption that innovation can't thrive where corruption is high and courts are weak. Africa gets written off this way constantly. But the assumption is wrong, and the proof is already scaling. Hello Tractor, sometimes called the "Uber for Tractors," has reached 2.5 million farmers across Africa and the Global South. So what's actually making this possible?
In this talk, Dr. Jonathan Greenacre digs into the surprising institutions and contracts quietly powering this wave of innovation, using Kenya's M-Pesa as the centerpiece example. What started as a mobile payment app now serves 40 million customers in Kenya alone, and it's part of a mobile money movement that has grown to over 2 billion accounts worldwide, most of them in the Global South.
Topics include:
- Why "weak institutions" doesn't mean "no innovation"
- How M-Pesa turned a phone and a text message into a bank account for millions
- The contract structures firms use to expand into rural and frontier markets
- What Hello Tractor's success says about scaling innovation without traditional infrastructure
- Why the Global South may be writing the next chapter of the innovation playbook, not just following it
This talk explores how mobile money, shared tractors, and clever contracts are quietly rewriting what "innovation" looks like, and where it comes from next.
About the Speaker
Dr. Jonathan Greenacre is an Assistant Professor of Global Development Policy at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University. He earned his BA in History and Politics from the University of Sydney, his LLB from the University of New South Wales, and both his Master's in Law and Finance and his PhD in Law from the University of Oxford.
His research focuses on the contracts and institutions that support new technology in Africa and other developing regions, drawing on contract theory, law, and New Institutional Economics. He's studied "bridge contracts" that firms and governments use to expand into rural and frontier markets, with deep expertise in mobile money, Hello Tractor, and agency banking across the continent. He has advised the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the United Nations, and central banks across Africa and the Pacific.
Agenda
7:00 PM — Doors Open (Grab a seat and drinks!)
7:30 PM — Lecture Begins
8:10 PM — Audience Q&A
8:30 PM — Drinks & Conversation
9:00 PM — Event Ends
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 32.95
