Lost in Translation, Found in Innovation: My Sierra Leone Keke Adventure

Picture this: me, wandering the streets of Freetown, Sierra Leone, looking more lost than a tourist on a map-less safari. My mission? Find a taxi. But instead, I got a crash course in the local ride-hailing scene, and let me tell you, it was an adventure for the books.

A friendly local pointed me towards these motorbike taxis called “Keke.” They sounded intriguing, but let’s say they’re not strictly part of the Uber network.

Trying to hail a Keke was like playing a real-life game of Frogger, except with less predictable traffic and more dust. You wave, they swerve, you negotiate a price (in rapid-fire Krio, of course), and hope for the best.

Frustrated, I lamented to a young guy about the lack of a centralized booking system. And that’s when he dropped a bombshell: “Oh, I do that.”

Wait, what? This entrepreneurial fellow had collected phone numbers from various Keke drivers and was acting as a one-person dispatch service. Need a ride? Call him. He’d find you a Keke and send it your way. It was like Uber but with a human touch (and probably a lot more colorful language).

 He confessed his dream of building an Uber-like app for Keke, and I was blown away. Someone was living the problem, innovating a solution without a fancy office or Silicon Valley funding.

This encounter was a humbling reminder that innovation only sometimes happens in tech hubs or boardrooms. It’s often born out of necessity, in the streets where challenges are real and solutions are creative. It also highlighted the untapped potential in developing countries, where a little support and resources could turn a local workaround into a thriving business.

So, remember my Keke adventure in Freetown the next time you struggle to hail a ride. And remember, innovation can be found in the most unexpected places, even if it means dodging a few motorbikes. Join Global Impact Innovations (www.global-impact-innovations.com) to make a dream come true.