in general, the argument he's making could go for any town, in the US, or otherwise, not just African nations.<p>There are some things that are very difficult to change, and one is culture. ("face your studies")<p>For several sub-saharan African nations there's an emphasis put on schooling, and a few of those companies mentioned (read: MSFT and Facebook) would never have happened in cultures that don't respect people without college degrees.<p>Sure in the US, there's not much that respect for a drop-out either, but on the other hand it's not seen as insane to drop-out or to even start a business simultaneously while in school.<p>secondly, the entrepreneurial start-up mindset in America had it's beginnings somewhere, and in the subset branch of web 2.0/ software-based start-ups, just one company can literally change the whole game and influence myriads of others to come.<p>Intel, Microsoft, Facebook in 2004. The story of Zuck and Fbook has resonated in the heads of youths across the country, and one can point to him as an example of what could be.<p>All that's really needed for any region, or any university (for every Stanford there are a few hundred univerisites that produce no software start-ups of any consequence) is for one run-away success, and the rest will follow.