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Recently, I took a trip that might seem counter-intuitive for someone so deeply interested in technology… Rather than yet another sojourn to a hub like Silicon Valley, or an excursion to scope out the burgeoning European communities in Berlin or Estonia, I went to the last place you would expect: a little incubator off of a dirt road in one lesser known cities of Ghana… Kumasi Hive.

I did this for a few reasons. First, I prefer to travel off the beaten path. My journey through technology was born before the pastimes of geeks had become global blockbusters… before names like Zuckerberg and Musk rolled off the tongue. Tech was far from popular when I got interested… Especially for a kid who was just barely middle class and already ostracized by skin color and relative poverty. But I learned that you can find real gems in the places where no one’s looking. A diligent prospector can find a fortune in plain sight.

But I wasn’t just taking a shot in the dark… Kumasi hive was somewhat known to me. Years back, I visited Ghana to meet the parents of a former girlfriend. It was a big deal for me at the time. I was working remotely for a small startup company and my income wasn’t at all steady or impressive. But I saved up for a few months and was able to spring for a five-week trip over the holidays.

What I found was breathtaking. Bustling cities surrounded by beautiful countryside… Mountains wreathed by tropical forests leading to pristine rivers and beaches. And amongst it all a people that were more driven than any I’d ever seen. Compared to the laid back Austinites I’d grown accustomed to, Ghanaians were ambitious almost to a fault. There was such a drive for money and power that it often put people at cross purposes. It’s this craven ambition that drives much of the endemic corruption that eats away at the society.

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ARED’s Henri Nyakarundi presenting at Hardware Africa: 2015 at iSpace in Accra, Ghana

But this immense drive for personal progress made for a very unlikely tech scene. As I explored the capital city, I came across a collection of entrepreneurs from all over the continent that had flown in to show off their companies.  In an attempt to win additional funding and acclaim, each one completed a series of speed interviews with entrepreneurs that had come for the purpose of picking out the most worthy company. Thanks to my work in the Austin startup community, I was able to parley a spot as one of the expert interviewers. In the process, I met many brilliant innovators working on an assortment of hardware technologies from IOT enabled smart tractors to massive solar-powered coolers.

Simultaneously, I heard about a new tech incubator being formed further north. It was this company’s founders who had helped to organize the event I was attending (along with iSpace, another tech incubator in Accra). Right then I made a note to keep track of the Hive and watch its progress. I didn’t know when… but I knew then that I would be back in Ghana one day. I wanted to see more of what she was capable of.

The Hive didn’t disappoint. Today’s Kumasi Hive is a three-story building dedicated to technology skills building and company incubation. Within those walls, you can find experts to train you on just about anything short of rocketry… Artifical intelligence, robotics, internet of things… you name it, they’ve got a class for it.

For my part, I endeavored to impart some of my knowledge in the blockchain space to those who were interested. What resulted was a deep and wide-ranging discussion about the implications of this technology for the developing world. I have a personal theory that Africa’s naturally decentralized nature, with every man as his own enterprise, will allow for a lot of synergy with the technology… As a collaborative technology, blockchains have the potential to empower people in myriad ways and drive investment that might never come from the kleptocratic states and extraction driven capitalists that surround them.

That remains to be seen… I won’t claim to know what the future holds. But I do know that I’ll be watching. And I won’t be alone.