Here’s your Daily Brief for September 9th:

African Entrepreneurs – (via Freakonomics Blog / NYT) – A cool write-up featuring Appfrica’s John Gosier and Magatte Wade of “Adina for Life” beverage company (which is AWESOME!). This blog post profiles three innovators in Africa introducing new solutions to their countries’ and continent’s unique challenges. They all seek to depart from the traditional foreign assistance paradigm and move towards a new approach to development.

John Gosier, Appfrica

John is well known on the Internet and in ICT4dev circles, as he does awesome work incubating tech. ventures through his company Appfrica Labs and his blog posts add a very interesting African perspective on the tech. industry. Appfrica allows budding tech. entrepreneurs a steady salary, an inspiring environment, and the mentorship that is needed to follow their passions and get projects out the door. Gosier has positioned Appfrica to be a leader in African tech. innovation.

Magatte Wade, Adina for Life

“Adina for Life” is an awesome beverage company that was featured at SOCAP09 this year. It’s a seriously tasty lineup of drinks! The story behind the company is equally as awesome. Adina was started by a Senegalese entrepreneur who was, “disdainful for foreign aid, skeptical of the viability of the technology industry in Africa in the near term, and placing no faith in the ability of microfinance to transform lives on a large scale.” Magatte Wade focused on the labor-intensive manufacturing sector (with a social conscience) to bring about societal change in her country.

“Wade acknowledges that African manufacturers will be unable to compete with countries like China and India on cost, but she believes the continent can transform itself into the producer of the world’s high-end, organic, socially responsible brands.”

Bicycles For All Occasions (via Beyond Profit) – I posted an article a while back on the Bambulance, here’s a similar article by Beyond Profit magazine featuring a company called Zambikes which is working in Zambia. What I like about this article is that it features the “business model” approach that I was looking for in Bambulance.

“Zambikes not only supplies new bikes to communities, but also has spawned a local industry by training workers to fabricate parts locally, assemble bikes, and provide maintenance.”

Here’s some more cool information on their business model.

Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report Recommends Extending AGOA Trade Preferences to Boost African Apparel (via The Whitaker Group) – I love the content that comes through Whitaker Group – Here’s an interesting report on AGOA released by the GAO. Also, check out Rosa Whitaker’s piece on“Debunking Myths About AGOA”.