The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

March 6 is a very important date for me . I think you know why. March 23 is also very important. You might not know why. It's not because it is the date I am writing this blog post . It is because it is 23-3 , the date. You get it now? 233. #233moments . This is the date within #HeritageMonth that I chose to write about what I did on the date for which March is also called #GhanaMonth . I had a memorable day.  I wanted to go for the #HeritageCaravan this year. But even though I carved out the time; time, chance, expenses, responsibilities happened to it. I remember how I shouted "No, No, No" when I heard on the Citi Breakfast Show one morning in January that it was sold out. I'd come back to that in another blog post. I spent the first weekend in March in Elmina due to family engagements, great way to start the month actually. I kept wondering what I would do for Ghana's birthday . I was not going to attend the parade, I listed many reasons around that in an...

I haven't released my Togolese alter-ego. My friend Thelma gave me some helpful material to learn French but my fluency is nowhere close to what it could be. So allow me to start off this blog post with some more English. Or you can skip it all to the French part. I have already given you great info with the title of this blog post :-) It's very exciting for us at the GhanaThink Foundation to partner with the US Embassy in Ghana to organize TechCamp West Africa . Sounds a lot like Barcamp right? Yeah. You can learn more about multiple Tech Camps done all over the world at this website and at this wiki . Tech Camp West Africa will bring together some of the most influential, innovative and impactful young people in West Africa for a weekend of ideas, actions and projects. GhanaThink and the US Embassy in Ghana look forward to all the cool things that will happen this weekend of November 14-16 . We're looking for applicants, as this is open to citizens of Ghana, Togo,...

Earlier, the GhanaThink Foundation was approached by the US Embassy - State Department to collaborate and organize a Tech Camp. Sounds a lot like Barcamp right? Yeah. These Tech Camps are done and pushed by the Tech @ State Department. You can learn more about multiple Tech Camps done all over the world at this website and at this wiki . It's very exciting for us at the GhanaThink Foundation to partner with the US Embassy in Ghana to organize TechCamp West Africa . It will bring together some of the most influential, innovative and impactful young people in West Africa for a weekend of ideas, actions and projects. I am looking forward to all the cool things that will happen this weekend of November 14-16 . We will surely leverage the success of this event to do more with GhanaThink and in Ghana afterwards. Adapt, Empower, Measure! We're looking for applicants, as this is open to citizens of Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, Benin, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia. If you...

When I told some of my family members that I was going to Lome one evening, one of my cousins warned me about getting the appropriate documentation for when I was going to cross the border. I had heard similar stories. I could spend an amount of time at the Aflao border that would really be a bother to me. I have been to Lagos 4 times this year. Actually, West Africans shouldn't need visas to enter other West African countries. That's what we have ECOWAS for, no? As a Ghanaian, I didn't have to get a visa or pay any fees to enter Nigeria. Unless, Arik Air takes those fees as part of the airfare. I believed that the no-visa, no-fee paying rules would apply for a Ghanaian entering Togo. But no, it was not to be. I got down from the private car that transported us from the Tema roundabout to Aflao on Saturday. I walked towards the border, it was a short walk. I had my passport stamped by the Ghanaian authorities to indicate that I was leaving Ghana. They took like 5 GH...

Ne dis   à  personne que j'adore manger! Don't tell anyone that I love to eat! Msiniseme kama anapenda kula! I was keen on trying different Togolese dishes while in Lome last weekend. The first place I went after arriving was a Pizzeria to go meet some Global Shapers . I told them, "I want to know the best places for pizza in Lome but I definitely didn't come to eat pizza here" . And from what happened while in Lome, I didn't come to Togo to go eat rice either. Now, that's pretty awesome :-) My first real meal in Lome was at a spot (I still don't know the name). I was there with  +Wilfried Toussiné  &  +Amen AMOUZOU . We had akpan which is made of corn dough , together with some peppery sauce & mayonaise . We ordered two big tilapias and a lot of fried plantain . The food was tatalalicious to say the least. No wonder Wilfried's friend Rachel was oohing and aahing about Togolese food being better than Ghanaian food. Even the tilap...

Life is short. My time in this African country is shorter. This is a mantra I developed with my Google colleague +Ayite Gaba  and one I live by when visiting African countries. Thanks to +Wilfried Toussiné , I was able to discover Lome by night yesterday. Here is my then real-time account :-) La Villa is a club for most of #Togo 's expat community. Another popular club is Privilege in #Lome . It has a namesake in #Accra . — Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 15, 2013 These two clubs were the places I'd been told to visit. Wilfried ensured those were the stops for tonight. Was looking forward to going to Privilege , which is the name for another club in Accra. I found out later that the two have no proper relation. At La Villa lounge in #Lome , #Togo . A lot of expats here- Europeans & Asians, a lot of foreign music too. — Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 15, 2013 La Villa had as many expats as advertised. Lebanese, Chinese, French people, etc. A mix...

I walked into Togo yesterday. It was kinda surreal crossing the border to go to Togo. This was the first time I was in a Francophone African country. Finally . I thought about being in a country whose languages I couldn't speak. Anyway, here is the first part of my experiences in Lome so far. Blogging this from the cheap hotel I am at that has great free-wifi too. Je suis à Lomé :-) Je suis très heureux. C'est Togo! Jolie Jolie. #team228 #mightyafrican — Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 14, 2013 I had to post my first tweet in Togo en Français . Oui. I saw a billboard on one of the main roads in #Lome that looked like it had @deborahvanessa7 's picture. Sister Debbie, you go far o! #Togo — Mighty African (@mightyafrican) December 14, 2013 I told the taxi driver this but of course, he had no idea who Sister +Deborah Vanessa  was.  +Edward Amartey-Tagoe  says  +Nana Kofi Acquah  took a picture of it once. I should search for it since I am ...

Yesterday as I was leaving the Meltwater Incubator , I saw a gentleman I knew jogging (running) like he was going somewhere far he wouldn't get to quickly if he walked. I knew who he was. I drove the #vimride past him, stopped, reversed till I got to him and offered him a ride. He was going to Papa's Pizza. I also knew he was Francophone. " Where are you from? " I really should have said this in French but hey, I am sure I could say that easily after this weekend. Togo. " Oh, I want to go to Togo.   In fact, I am going there this weekend ". No, didn't tell him so because he's from Togo, I had already decided to go to Togo . For more than 2.28 weeks now. #Team228 , ou es tu? Earlier this year, I set a goal . I was going to visit Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire or Togo before the end of the year. I almost went to Burkina Faso twice. No, not to go and congratulate them after beating us in the African Cup of Nations. Once, to attend FESPACO and ...

It's been a long time since I did regular posts on things related to technology. Thanks to a recent Facebook post and some comments from friends, I am expecting to birth a series. We're calling it the "Vim Tech List". Yup, it has a hashtag too #VimTechList . You know what Vim is already from regularly reading this blog or from here. Tech is tech, list is list. For the first instalment, I want to delve into games. I'd list 5 great games you can get from the Google Play Store which are all built by Africans. Say #morevim to that. I've always used an Android phone since December 2010. Once I joined Google, I became more interested in using apps that were African. Thankfully, the Android Developer Challenge  (ADC) was concluding and many great African Android apps had been built. The Android Africa Challenge  (AAC), led by tech community leaders on the continent, also followed. When I got my recent Nexus 4, I wanted to download even more new African Android a...

This wasn't quite a Togolese weekend, but then again Togo's independence day was April 27. While browsing my Gabonese friend's Facebook page, I discovered that one of Africa's top music groups, Toofan, were going to be performing in Accra at a concert . Cool Catch eh? We were going to have a dose of Togolese music in Accra. Blog post material be that. But first, I said Togolese duo Toofan is performing in #Accra tomorrow. C'est bon! Obragada! On va vous deloger! youtube.com/watch?v=oz9vzW… Way to go! #togo — Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) April 25, 2013 Watching Toofan music videos has made me realise I might have forgotten how to "dance". I can only do some two-steps & #azonto these days. — Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) April 25, 2013 After getting to the concert, it struck me. I was going to hear a lot of French (that I didn't understand). Was a good opportunity to learn a few more French phrases et al. There were so many Francophone Afri...