The future is not just something that happens. The future is something we must imagine, design, and build.

There’s something deeply unsettling about how we’ve come to accept the world around us. We move through broken pavements, cross potholed roads, dodge open drainage trenches, and wait for water that never runs. And somehow, we call that “normal.”

But here’s the thing: this isn’t normal. It’s just stagnation dressed up as survival.

Our infrastructure is tired. The way we build, move, and live was designed for a time long gone. Our roads weren’t meant for modern logistics. Our homes—built with materials and methods that barely evolved—aren’t optimized for durability, affordability, or sustainability. Drainage systems? Half of them don’t even qualify for the word “system.” Clean water access? Still a luxury for too many.

The solution isn’t waiting for the government to fix things. It’s to build companies that fix them.

We need a wave of innovation not in the clouds, but on the ground—focused on the very basics of daily life.

Why not rethink how walking paths are built and maintained?
Why are we still stuck with outdated road construction materials?
Why do we build houses the same way we did 50 years ago—expensively, inefficiently, and unsustainably?
Why hasn’t someone disrupted how drainage works, or how we collect, purify, and distribute clean water?
The answers aren’t in speeches. They’re in startups.

Take BasiGo. A few years ago, the idea of an electric bus on Nairobi roads sounded like science fiction. Today, BasiGo is quietly reshaping public transport—not just by making it cleaner, but by challenging the assumptions that have kept it broken for decades. This is what innovation actually looks like. Not theory. Not hope. Execution.

So the question is:

What other parts of our infrastructure are waiting for a BasiGo moment?
Our public transport, our housing, our water, our urban design, our construction materials—all of it is ripe for a second look. A smarter take. A better version. But it won’t come from maintaining the status quo. It won’t come from boardrooms or ministries.

In fact, the best thing the government can do right now is to step aside—not because we don’t need them, but because we don’t need them to build. What we need is an environment that rewards risk, protects builders, opens doors, and keeps the red tape away from those solving real problems.

Progress won’t come from policies.
It’ll come from bold builders willing to say: this isn’t good enough. Let’s fix it.

We don’t need to settle for what we have.
We need to question it, redesign it, and rebuild it—smarter, cleaner, cheaper, faster.

The future won’t get better on its own.

It will only get better if we build it.