How Entrepreneurship and Economic Liberty Can Transform Africa
About the Talk
Africa remains the poorest region in the world. Africans from my country, Senegal, often die at sea while trying to reach Europe to get a job. Why does Africa remain poor? Because it is the least economically free region in the world. Endless red tape, high tariffs, and uncertain property rights and rule of law prevent African entrepreneurs from creating and growing legal businesses that can scale. Around the world, most jobs are created by fast growing small and medium sized businesses (SMEs). What can you do to support African entrepreneurs in obtaining the economic freedoms that people from developed nations already enjoy? What can you do to make Wakanda real?
About the Speakers
Magatte Wade is passionate about creating jobs and prosperity in Africa through entrepreneurship and economic freedom. She was born in Senegal, educated in France, and launched her entrepreneurial career in San Francisco. She is fluent in and conducts business in Wolof, French and English. Magatte's current product line, manufactured in Senegal, is skin is skin, a lip balm dedicated to reducing racial discrimination. Her previous companies, Tiossan and Adina, brought Senegalese recipes and ingredients to U.S. markets in skin care and beverages.
Based on her experiences creating consumer brands and building agricultural and manufacturing capacity in Senegal, Magatte has spoken at dozens of universities including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, MIT, etc. as well as at global conferences on innovation and economic development in France, England, Dubai, Guatemala, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Rwanda, Gabon, Senegal, and more. She writes for the Huffington Post, Barron’s, and the U.K. Guardian. She is a Young Global Leader with the World Economic Forum at Davos and has appeared on the cover of Forbes Afrique. She was also named one of the “Twenty Young Power Women of Africa” by Forbes U.S.
Magatte’s work was recently profiled in a FEE documentary, "Made in Meckhe" and TED recently released her talk "Why it’s too hard to start a business in Africa – and how to change it."