Edwin's Corner

Lee Kuan Yew Divock Origi was sweating profusely in the tropical sun. His demeanor was calm, as he observed the tactical game being played before a capacity crowd of 210,000 spectators in Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay.  The emotional tension was palpable, pulsing through out the stadium and across the world. This was the most watched game in history and more than 6 billion people around the globe were watching it. This was the final of the World Cup 2030, and Kenya a newly industrialized country, had advanced to this level despite insurmountable odds.   The advance had been unpredictable, and Kenya was carrying the weight and aspirations of a recently more assertive Africa. World Cup Trophy Half of the stadium was filled by East Africans a cohesive bunch who had congregated from around the world to witness this feat. Africa was one, in standing, and to attest to this the VIP section had all the leaders of African nations in attendan...

Fairchild founders Gordon Moore, C Sheldon Roberts, Eugene Kleiner, Robert Noyce, Victor Grinich, Julius Blank, Jean Hoerni, and Jay Last (L-R). (Computer History Museum) The arrival of the digital era was marked by the exponential uptake of the microchip across a number of industries and their radical transformation. Central to how rapidly this era took root was predicated on Moore’s Law. Coined by the co-founder of Intel, it stated that the number of transistors being integrated on a single microchip would double every two years, with no cost increase. As this digital revolution was taking shape in the late 1950s and early 1960s most African countries had begun to unshackle themselves from their colonial masters.   The microchip industry averaged global sales of $26.16 billion for the month of March 2014, and has players from all around the world. From humble beginnings in the 1950s when the ‘Traitorous eight’ created the first commercially viable mi...

Mongol Warrior after war The Roman Church branded them as the angels of the apocalypse. They were depicted as brutal, flesh eating and greedy. This was the dark ages, and folklore was more accepted than facts. It is noted that some of the worst wartime atrocities with estimates of up-to 80 million dead were committed as the Mongol conquered the known world in the 13 th and 14 th century. At their zenith they ruled an area extending from the Sea of Japan to the East, to Central Europe to the West, from Siberia in the north to the Indian subcontinent in the south. It is still considered the largest contiguous land empire in history; six times the size of Alexander the Great’s Macedonian Empire. The Mongol empire ruled for a strikingly short time span, but their mark is evident in today society, from trade, to culture, art, to military strategy their contribution is extensive. The Mongol empire has more to offer today’s businesses than was previously assumed...

The Interview An accident vehicle The July morning air is heavy and cold; the clouds seem to stifle every equatorial ray that wants to filter to the ground. A man wearing a petrified look is busy sweeping a concrete block, the building I am walking to has seen better days, and holds a colonial feel: present, ancient and minutely imposing. On the side of the building is a tin hut; this is the residence of the traffic police department. The officer I meet rigidly sits on a rickety chair with an oversized occurrence book in his hands. Would he like to comment on the ‘cashless matatus’? No comment, the relevant traffic police officers are out in the field covering an event the president is attending. Outside the clutter is palpable, old vehicles that were impounded decades ago that were never collected sit side by side with mangled car wrecks, evidence of the high number of car accidents that are prevalent on the Kenyan roads.   Impounded motorcycles Impounded m...