So, I’m a little bit addicted to making websites that might have social impact. My latest is CheetahVillage.com, a social networking site for emerging African leadership. The name is taken from a 2007 speech (below) from Ghanaian economist George Ayittey.

I’ve been reading lots of books and articles on globalization and economics and it seems clear to me that there is financial wisdom in building networks with Africans, Indians, Chinese, and billions of others who have previously been at the economic margins.  Growth is happening quickly, especially now that the internet is penetrating the most remote places on earth.  It’s a new and fascinating day.

On the geek side, CheetahVillage.com is an installation of the new BuddyPress 1.1 social networking platform which was released on September 30.  Don’t be fooled by the simple user interface, it’s a remarkably powerful tool.  I’m not a tech guy but I try to act like one.  I’m just a very inquisitive and stubborn person.  I spent several hours trying to figure out how to configure MySQL and PHPmyadmin.  Almost destroyed my computer in a fit of rage or two, but I finally found everything I needed to learn in message boards.

Now, I just need to recruit people to use the site…

YouTube – George Ayittey: Cheetahs vs. Hippos for Africa’s future.