Q&A: 60 seconds with Mokena Makeka

Mokena Makeka is the Creative Director and Managing Director of the Makeka Design Lab in South Africa and a member of the WEF’s Forum of Young Global Leaders. Here we speak to him about the upcoming World Economic Forum on Africa, taking place in Cape Town on 4th and 5th June.

As one of Africa’s brightest design talents, what’s your vision for Africa’s transformation?

Africa’s cities are experiencing their greatest transformation and will continue to do so on an unprecedented scale for at least three more generations. The implications and opportunities that arise from this demographic dividend and probably the world’s largest work force/consumer community  by 2035, imply a set of environmental, economic and spatial scenarios which can unleash new relationships between Africa and other continents. My vision is that this unique inflection point in Africa’s development will have positive global implications for trade, growth and a more just and equitable planet.

Give us some examples of African home-grown design excellence

Design is so broad! It includes architecture, fashion, food, urbanism, product design and even app design…but here goes….Southern Guild has set the bar for promoting high end design excellence from South Africa across the world. The Design Indaba conference hosted in Cape Town is the premier global conference for cutting edge and socially conscious design. Let’s not forget that the founder of Tesla is a South African and is on the verge of transforming the vehicle industry in the United States… Kisua is an amazing platform for African fashion design (Beyonce has worn Kisua) Haldane Martin makes exquisite furniture…where do I stop and where do I start?! The technology for paypal was designed in Africa… M-Pesa (M for mobile, pesa is Swahili for money) is a mobile-phone based money transfer and microfinancing service.. and last but not least  South Africa will be hosting the world’s largest and powerful radio telescope for interstellar research- built on the back of African engineering knowledge…

You recently became a WEF Young Global Leader – has this had an impact on you, professionally or personally?

It’s proving to be quite exciting and challenging, and has given an impetus to a range of ideas which have been brewing away in my head. It’s an incredible community of “doers and thinkers,” and I am already beginning to make an impact in the realm of transport, urbanism, public art, creativity and overall urban development allied to design.

What will you be doing at the meeting in Cape Town?

Cape town is a fabulous city, not without its social and developmental challenges, and complexities beneath its striking visual beauty. One can never gain enough insight into how a secondary city can make a global name for itself  through creativity, innovation. Cape Town’s story is a tale of two cities, with disparate concentrations of affluence and poverty that speak to the core question of mixed economies and mixed developmental models and their social implications measured and framed by  the power of design.

What one outcome do you want to see come out of Cape Town?

Through a series of discussions, and explorations into the city, I believe that a new and organic conversation can emerge: one that is framed by youth, social enterprise and a de- radicalized political agency that points towards a new abundance and sense of civic purpose for conservative capital forces. Cape Town is not a city that will give us answers, but will hopefully inspire new questions and perspectives about the complexities of Africa, race relations, economy, geography and her place in the global economic community.

Author: Mokena Makeka is the Creative Director and Managing Director of the Makeka Design Lab in South Africa and a member of the WEF’s Forum of Young Global Leaders.

Image: Beachfront hotels mark the skyline of the port city of Durban in South Africa’s eastern KwaZulu-Natal Province. REUTERS.