0:00:00.733,0:00:04.496
The narrative of a rising Africa[br]is being challenged.

0:00:04.496,0:00:08.703
About 10 years ago, I spoke[br]about an Africa,

0:00:08.703,0:00:11.631
an Africa of hope and opportunity,

0:00:11.631,0:00:13.834
an Africa of entrepreneurs,

0:00:13.834,0:00:17.224
an Africa very different from the Africa[br]that you normally hear about

0:00:17.224,0:00:19.900
of death, poverty, and disease,

0:00:19.900,0:00:22.021
and that, what I spoke about,

0:00:22.021,0:00:27.613
became part of what is known now[br]as the narrative of the rising Africa.

0:00:27.613,0:00:30.852
I want to tell you two stories[br]about this rising Africa.

0:00:30.852,0:00:32.826
The first has to do with Rwanda,

0:00:32.826,0:00:36.046
a country that has gone through[br]many trials and tribulations.

0:00:36.046,0:00:40.570
And Rwanda has decided to become[br]the technology hub, or a technology hub

0:00:40.570,0:00:41.918
on the continent.

0:00:41.918,0:00:45.206
It's a country with mountainous[br]and hilly terrain,

0:00:45.206,0:00:47.246
a little bit like here,[br]so it's very difficult

0:00:47.246,0:00:49.416
to deliver services to people.

0:00:49.416,0:00:51.290
So what has Rwanda said?

0:00:51.290,0:00:54.843
In order to save lives, it's going[br]to try using drones

0:00:54.843,0:00:58.096
to deliver life-saving drugs,[br]vaccines, and blood

0:00:58.096,0:01:00.226
to people in hard to reach places

0:01:00.226,0:01:02.866
in partnership with[br]a company called Zipline,

0:01:02.866,0:01:07.372
with UPS, and also with the Gavi,[br]a global vaccine alliance.

0:01:07.372,0:01:09.607
In doing this, it will save lives.

0:01:09.607,0:01:14.874
This is part of the type of innovation[br]we want to see in the rising Africa.

0:01:14.874,0:01:18.108
The second story has to do with something[br]that I'm sure most of you

0:01:18.108,0:01:20.641
have seen or will remember.

0:01:20.641,0:01:24.389
Very often, countries in Africa[br]suffer drought and floods,

0:01:24.389,0:01:28.105
and it's getting more frequent[br]because of climate change effects.

0:01:28.105,0:01:32.315
When this happens, they normally wait[br]for international appeals

0:01:32.315,0:01:33.893
to raise money.

0:01:33.893,0:01:37.231
You see pictures of children[br]with flies on their faces,

0:01:37.231,0:01:39.780
carcasses of dead animals, and so on.

0:01:39.780,0:01:42.805
Now these countries, 32 countries,[br]came together

0:01:42.805,0:01:45.321
under the auspices of the African Union

0:01:45.321,0:01:50.369
and decided to form an organization[br]called the African Risk Capacity.

0:01:50.369,0:01:53.745
What does it do? It's a weather-based[br]insurance agency,

0:01:53.745,0:01:58.195
and what these countries do[br]is to pay insurance each year,

0:01:58.195,0:02:01.055
about 3 million dollars a year[br]of their own resources,

0:02:01.055,0:02:05.861
so that in the event they have[br]a difficult drought situation or flood,

0:02:05.861,0:02:09.807
this money will be paid out to then[br]which they can then use

0:02:09.807,0:02:11.336
to take care of their populations,

0:02:11.336,0:02:14.081
instead of waiting for aid to come.

0:02:14.081,0:02:18.274
The African Risk Capacity last year[br]paid 26 million dollars

0:02:18.274,0:02:21.103
to Mauritania, Senegal, and Niger.

0:02:21.103,0:02:24.902
This enabled them to take care[br]of 1.3 million people

0:02:24.902,0:02:26.431
affected by drought.

0:02:26.431,0:02:28.845
They were able to restore livelihoods,

0:02:28.845,0:02:30.361
buy fodder for cattle,[br]feed children in school,

0:02:30.361,0:02:37.265
and in short keep the populations[br]home instead of migrating out of the area.

0:02:37.265,0:02:40.962
So these are the kinds of stories[br]of an Africa ready to take

0:02:40.962,0:02:46.044
responsibility for itself, and to look[br]for solutions for its own problems.

0:02:46.044,0:02:47.671
But that narrative is being challenged now

0:02:47.671,0:02:49.283
because the continent[br]has not been doing well

0:02:49.283,0:02:53.277
in the last two years.

0:02:53.277,0:02:56.517
It had been growing[br]at five percent per annum

0:02:56.517,0:02:58.211
for the last one and a half decades,

0:02:58.211,0:03:01.434
but this year's forecast[br]was three percent. Why?

0:03:01.434,0:03:05.183
In an uncertain global environment,[br]commodity prices have fallen.

0:03:05.183,0:03:08.370
Many of the economies[br]are still commodity-driven,

0:03:08.370,0:03:11.710
and therefore their[br]performance has slipped.

0:03:11.710,0:03:15.506
And now the issue of Brexit[br]doesn't make it any easier.

0:03:15.506,0:03:19.372
I never knew that the Brexit could happen

0:03:19.372,0:03:23.517
and that it could be one of the things[br]that would cause global uncertainty

0:03:23.517,0:03:24.765
such as we have.

0:03:24.765,0:03:26.755
So now we've got this situation,

0:03:26.755,0:03:29.701
and I think it's time to take stock

0:03:29.701,0:03:32.445
and to say what were the things

0:03:32.445,0:03:34.500
that the African countries did right?

0:03:34.500,0:03:36.421
What did they do wrong?

0:03:36.421,0:03:39.318
How do we build on all of this[br]and learn lessons

0:03:39.318,0:03:42.902
so that we can keep Africa rising?

0:03:42.902,0:03:46.553
So let me talk about six things[br]that I think we did right.

0:03:46.553,0:03:50.104
The first is managing[br]our economies better.

0:03:50.104,0:03:54.560
The '80s and '90s were the lost decades[br]when Africa was not doing well,

0:03:54.560,0:03:55.991
and some of you will remember

0:03:55.991,0:03:58.506
an Economist cover that said

0:03:58.506,0:04:00.200
"The Lost Continent."

0:04:00.200,0:04:04.245
But in the 2000s, policymakers learned

0:04:04.245,0:04:08.503
that they needed to manage[br]the macroeconomic environment better,

0:04:08.503,0:04:10.065
to ensure stability,

0:04:10.065,0:04:12.666
keep inflation low in single digits,

0:04:12.666,0:04:17.104
keep their fiscal deficits low,[br]below three percent of GDP,

0:04:17.104,0:04:22.332
give investors, both domestic and foreign,

0:04:22.332,0:04:26.295
some stability so they'll have confidence[br]to invest in these economies.

0:04:26.295,0:04:27.709
So that was number one.

0:04:27.709,0:04:29.040
Two, debt.

0:04:29.040,0:04:34.325
In 1994, the debt-to-GDP ratio[br]of African countries was 130 percent,

0:04:34.325,0:04:37.048
and they didn't have fiscal space.

0:04:37.048,0:04:40.024
They couldn't use their resources[br]to invest in their development

0:04:40.024,0:04:41.339
because they were paying debt.

0:04:41.339,0:04:46.306
There may be some of you in this room[br]who worked to support African countries

0:04:46.306,0:04:47.572
to get debt relief.

0:04:47.572,0:04:51.994
So private creditors, multilaterals,[br]and bilaterals came together

0:04:51.994,0:04:55.707
and decided to do the Highly Indebted[br]Poor Countries Initiative

0:04:55.707,0:04:56.928
and give debt relief.

0:04:56.928,0:04:59.084
So this debt relief in 2005

0:04:59.084,0:05:03.159
made the deb-to-GDP ratio[br]fall down to about 30 percent,

0:05:03.159,0:05:07.039
and there was enough resources[br]to try and reinvest.

0:05:07.039,0:05:09.522
The third thing was[br]loss-making enterprises.

0:05:09.522,0:05:11.631
Governments were involved in business

0:05:11.631,0:05:13.748
which they had no business being in.

0:05:13.748,0:05:16.979
And they were running businesses,[br]they were making losses.

0:05:16.979,0:05:19.601
So some of these enterprises[br]were restructured,

0:05:19.601,0:05:22.248
commercialized, privatized, or closed,

0:05:22.248,0:05:24.204
and they became less of a burden

0:05:24.204,0:05:25.653
on government.

0:05:25.653,0:05:28.777
The fourth thing was[br]a very interesting thing.

0:05:28.777,0:05:31.685
The telecoms revolution came,

0:05:31.685,0:05:34.204
and African countries jumped on it.

0:05:34.204,0:05:36.899
In 2000, we had 11 million phone lines.

0:05:36.899,0:05:42.210
Today, we have about 687 million[br]mobile lines on the continent,

0:05:42.210,0:05:43.806
and this has enabled us

0:05:43.806,0:05:46.847
to go, move forward with[br]some mobile technology

0:05:46.847,0:05:49.363
where Africa is actually leading.

0:05:49.363,0:05:52.257
In Kenya, the development of mobile money,

0:05:52.257,0:05:54.722
M-PESA, which all of you have heard about,

0:05:54.722,0:05:58.189
took some time for the world to notice[br]that Africa was ahead

0:05:58.189,0:06:00.048
in this particular technology.

0:06:00.048,0:06:02.977
And this mobile money is also[br]providing a platform

0:06:02.977,0:06:05.476
for access to alternative energy,

0:06:05.476,0:06:08.354
you know, people who can now pay for solar

0:06:08.354,0:06:13.172
the same way they pay for cards[br]for their telephone.

0:06:13.172,0:06:17.990
So this was a very good development,[br]something that went right.

0:06:17.990,0:06:22.774
We also invested more in education[br]and health, not enough,

0:06:22.774,0:06:24.632
but there were some improvements.

0:06:24.632,0:06:30.552
250 million children were immunized[br]in the last one and a half decades.

0:06:30.552,0:06:33.905
The other thing was[br]that conflicts decreased.

0:06:33.905,0:06:36.010
There were many conflicts[br]on the continent.

0:06:36.010,0:06:37.490
Many of you are aware of that.

0:06:37.490,0:06:42.522
But they came down, and our leaders[br]even managed to dampen some coups.

0:06:42.522,0:06:46.353
New types of conflicts have emerged,[br]and I'll refer to those later.

0:06:46.353,0:06:50.315
So based on all this, there's also[br]some differentiation on the continent

0:06:50.315,0:06:51.666
that I want you to know about,

0:06:51.666,0:06:54.032
because even as[br]the doom and gloom is here,

0:06:54.032,0:06:57.994
there are some countries --[br]Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, Ethiopia,

0:06:57.994,0:07:01.661
Tanzania, and Senegal[br]are performing relatively well

0:07:01.661,0:07:03.218
at the moment.

0:07:03.218,0:07:05.179
But what did we do wrong?

0:07:05.179,0:07:06.939
Let me mention eight things.

0:07:06.939,0:07:10.573
You have to have more things[br]wrong than right.

0:07:10.573,0:07:12.991
So there are eight things we did wrong.

0:07:12.991,0:07:17.035
The first was that even though we grew,[br]we didn't create enough jobs.

0:07:17.035,0:07:18.810
We didn't create jobs for our youth.

0:07:18.810,0:07:21.918
Youth unemployment on the continent[br]is about 15 percent,

0:07:21.918,0:07:25.569
and underemployment is a serious problem.

0:07:25.569,0:07:31.224
The second thing we did is that[br]the quality of growth was not good enough.

0:07:31.224,0:07:34.745
Even those jobs we created[br]were low-productivity jobs,

0:07:34.745,0:07:37.802
so we moved people from[br]low-productivity agriculture

0:07:37.802,0:07:42.028
to low-productivity commerce[br]and working in the informal sector

0:07:42.028,0:07:44.002
in the urban areas.

0:07:44.002,0:07:48.358
The third thing is that[br]inequality increased.

0:07:48.358,0:07:53.536
So we created more billionaires.

0:07:53.536,0:07:56.613
50 billionaires worth 96 billion dollars,

0:07:56.613,0:08:01.935
own more wealth than the bottom[br]75 million people on the continent.

0:08:01.935,0:08:06.544
Poverty, the proportion of people[br]in poverty, that's the fourth thing,

0:08:06.544,0:08:10.242
did decrease, but[br]the absolute numbers did not

0:08:10.242,0:08:12.101
because of population growth,

0:08:12.101,0:08:15.900
and population is growth is something[br]that we don't have enough

0:08:15.900,0:08:18.317
of a dialogue about on the continent.

0:08:18.317,0:08:21.144
And I think we will need to get[br]a handle on it,

0:08:21.144,0:08:23.923
particularly how we educate girls.

0:08:23.923,0:08:30.172
That is the road to really working[br]on this particular issue.

0:08:30.172,0:08:36.864
The fifth thing is that we didn't invest[br]enough in infrastructure.

0:08:36.864,0:08:38.935
We had investment from the Chinese.

0:08:38.935,0:08:41.838
That helped some countries,[br]but it's not enough.

0:08:41.838,0:08:45.612
The consumption of electricity[br]in Africa on the continent

0:08:45.612,0:08:49.295
in Sub-Saharan Africa[br]is equivalent to Spain.

0:08:49.295,0:08:52.680
The total consumption is equivalent[br]to that of Spain.

0:08:52.680,0:08:55.264
So many people are living in the dark,

0:08:55.264,0:08:58.897
and as the President of the African[br]Development Bank said recently,

0:08:58.897,0:09:02.267
Africa can not develop in the dark.

0:09:02.267,0:09:04.307
The other thing we have not done

0:09:04.307,0:09:09.815
is that our economies retain[br]the same structure

0:09:09.815,0:09:11.591
that we've had for decades.

0:09:11.591,0:09:13.895
So even though we've been growing,[br]the structure of the economies

0:09:13.895,0:09:15.690
have not changed very much.

0:09:15.690,0:09:18.530
We are still exporting commodities,

0:09:18.530,0:09:22.410
and exporting commodities is what,[br]it's exporting jobs.

0:09:22.410,0:09:25.748
Our manufacturing value-added[br]is only 11 percent.

0:09:25.748,0:09:30.253
We are not creating enough[br]decent manufacturing jobs for our youth,

0:09:30.253,0:09:32.933
and trade among ourselves is low.

0:09:32.933,0:09:36.354
Only about 12 percent of our trade[br]is among ourselves.

0:09:36.354,0:09:39.099
So that's another serious problem.

0:09:39.099,0:09:41.171
Then governance.

0:09:41.171,0:09:43.768
Governance is a serious issue.

0:09:43.768,0:09:46.120
We have weak institutions,

0:09:46.120,0:09:51.052
and sometimes non-existent institutions,[br]and I think this gives way for corruption.

0:09:51.052,0:09:56.348
Corruption is an issue that we have not[br]yet gotten a good enough handle on,

0:09:56.348,0:09:58.880
and we have to fight tooth and nail,

0:09:58.880,0:10:02.398
that and increased transparency[br]in the way we manage our economies

0:10:02.398,0:10:04.898
and the way we manage our finances.

0:10:04.898,0:10:09.814
We also need to be wary of new conflicts,

0:10:09.814,0:10:11.308
new types of conflicts

0:10:11.308,0:10:14.846
such as we have with Boko Haram[br]in my country, Nigeria,

0:10:14.846,0:10:17.017
and with al Shabaab in Kenya.

0:10:17.017,0:10:20.288
We need to partner[br]with international partners,

0:10:20.288,0:10:23.353
developed countries[br]to fight this together.

0:10:23.353,0:10:26.781
Otherwise, we create a new reality[br]which is not the type we want

0:10:26.781,0:10:28.316
for a rising Africa.

0:10:28.316,0:10:32.094
And finally, the issue of education.

0:10:32.094,0:10:35.252
Our education systems[br]in many countries are broken.

0:10:35.252,0:10:39.939
We are not creating the types of skills[br]needed for the future.

0:10:39.939,0:10:43.012
So we have to find a way[br]to educate better.

0:10:43.012,0:10:46.367
So those are the things[br]that we are not doing right.

0:10:46.367,0:10:49.523
Now, where do we go from there?

0:10:49.523,0:10:52.465
I believe that the way forward

0:10:52.465,0:10:54.160
is to learn to manage success.

0:10:54.160,0:10:57.875
Very often, when people succeed[br]or countries succeed,

0:10:57.875,0:11:00.626
they forget what made them succeed.

0:11:00.626,0:11:04.816
Learning what you're successful at,[br]managing it, and keeping it

0:11:04.816,0:11:07.989
is vital for us, so all those things[br]I said we did right,

0:11:07.989,0:11:12.136
we have to learn to do it right again,[br]keep doing it right.

0:11:12.136,0:11:15.716
Managing the economy well,[br]creating stability is vital,

0:11:15.716,0:11:19.316
getting prices right,[br]and policy consistency.

0:11:19.316,0:11:21.504
Very often, we are not consistent.

0:11:21.504,0:11:24.579
One regime goes out, another comes in[br]and they throw away

0:11:24.579,0:11:27.506
even the functioning policies[br]that were there before.

0:11:27.506,0:11:28.757
What does this do?

0:11:28.757,0:11:31.090
It creates uncertainty for people,[br]for households,

0:11:31.090,0:11:32.504
uncertainties for business.

0:11:32.504,0:11:35.174
They don't know whether[br]and how to invest.

0:11:35.174,0:11:39.575
Debt: we must manage[br]the success we had in reducing our debt,

0:11:39.575,0:11:41.962
but now countries are back[br]to borrowing again,

0:11:41.962,0:11:45.644
and we see our deb-to-GDP ratio[br]beginning to creep up,

0:11:45.644,0:11:46.892
and in certain countries,

0:11:46.892,0:11:49.327
debt is becoming a problem,[br]so we have to avoid that.

0:11:49.327,0:11:50.788
So managing success.

0:11:50.788,0:11:53.503
The next thing is focusing[br]with a laser beam

0:11:53.503,0:11:55.410
on those things we did not do well.

0:11:55.410,0:11:57.358
First and foremost is infrastructure.

0:11:57.358,0:12:00.974
Yes, most countries now recognize[br]they have to invest in this,

0:12:00.974,0:12:03.358
and they are trying to do[br]the best they can to do that.

0:12:03.358,0:12:04.335
We must.

0:12:04.335,0:12:06.464
The most important thing is power.

0:12:06.464,0:12:08.768
You cannot develop in the dark.

0:12:08.768,0:12:11.071
And then governance and corruption:

0:12:11.071,0:12:12.321
we have to fight.

0:12:12.321,0:12:15.050
We have to make our countries transparent.

0:12:15.050,0:12:18.649
And above all, we have to[br]engage our young people.

0:12:18.649,0:12:21.068
We have genius in our young people.

0:12:21.068,0:12:22.223
I see it every day.

0:12:22.223,0:12:25.738
It's what makes me wake up[br]in the morning and feel ready to go.

0:12:25.738,0:12:28.270
We have to unleash the genius[br]of our young people,

0:12:28.270,0:12:29.437
get out of their way,

0:12:29.437,0:12:31.476
support them to create and innovate

0:12:31.476,0:12:32.547
and lead the way.

0:12:32.547,0:12:35.505
I know that they will lead us[br]in the right direction.

0:12:35.505,0:12:37.609
And our women, and our girls:

0:12:37.609,0:12:40.652
we have to recognize that girls[br]and women are a gift.

0:12:40.652,0:12:42.163
They have strength,

0:12:42.163,0:12:44.217
and we have to unleash that strength

0:12:44.217,0:12:47.247
so that they can contribute[br]to the continent.

0:12:47.247,0:12:51.323
I strongly believe[br]that when we do all of these things,

0:12:51.323,0:12:54.216
we find that the rising Africa narrative

0:12:54.216,0:12:55.754
is not a fluke.

0:12:55.754,0:12:57.445
It's a trend.

0:12:57.445,0:13:01.632
It's a trend, and if we continue,[br]if we unleash our youth,

0:13:01.632,0:13:03.047
if we unleash our women,

0:13:03.047,0:13:04.625
we may step backwards sometimes,

0:13:04.625,0:13:07.091
we may even step sideways,

0:13:07.091,0:13:08.620
but the trend is clear.

0:13:08.620,0:13:10.824
Africa will continue to rise.

0:13:10.824,0:13:13.783
And I tell you businesspeople[br]in the audience,

0:13:13.783,0:13:16.874
if investment in Africa[br]is not for today,

0:13:16.874,0:13:19.111
it's not for tomorrow,[br]it's not a short term thing,

0:13:19.111,0:13:21.101
it's a longer term thing.

0:13:21.101,0:13:23.515
But if you are not invested in Africa,

0:13:23.515,0:13:25.095
then you will be missing

0:13:25.095,0:13:29.321
one of the most important[br]emerging opportunities in the world.

0:13:29.321,0:13:30.394
Thank you.

0:13:30.394,0:13:35.339
(Applause)

0:13:38.447,0:13:41.949
Moderator: So you mentioned[br]corruption in your talk,

0:13:41.949,0:13:45.747
and you're known, well-known[br]as a strong anti-corruption fighter.

0:13:45.747,0:13:47.622
But that's had consequences.

0:13:47.622,0:13:50.827
People have fought back,[br]and your mother was kidnapped.

0:13:50.827,0:13:53.591
How have you been handling this?

0:13:53.591,0:13:55.071
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala:[br]It's been very difficult.

0:13:55.071,0:14:00.036
Thank you for mentioning the issue[br]of the kidnap of my mother.

0:14:00.036,0:14:02.536
It's a very difficult subject.

0:14:02.536,0:14:06.416
But what it means is that[br]when you fight corruption,

0:14:06.416,0:14:09.999
when you touch the pockets[br]of people who are stealing money,

0:14:09.999,0:14:11.529
they don't just keep quiet.

0:14:11.529,0:14:15.492
They fight back, and the issue for you[br]is when they try to intimidate you,

0:14:15.492,0:14:19.106
do you give up, or do you fight on?

0:14:19.106,0:14:21.987
Do you find a way[br]to stay on and fight back?

0:14:21.987,0:14:26.015
And the answer that I had[br]with the teams I worked with

0:14:26.015,0:14:27.836
is we have to fight on.

0:14:27.836,0:14:29.966
We have to create those institutions.

0:14:29.966,0:14:33.192
We have to find ways to stop these people

0:14:33.192,0:14:36.562
from taking away[br]the heritage of the future.

0:14:36.562,0:14:38.304
And so that's what we did.

0:14:38.304,0:14:41.823
And even out of government,[br]we continued to make that point.

0:14:41.823,0:14:45.654
In our countries, nobody,[br]nobody is going to fight corruption

0:14:45.654,0:14:47.528
for us but us.

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And therefore, that comes[br]with consequences,

0:14:49.911,0:14:51.722
and we just have to do the best we can.

0:14:51.722,0:14:53.727
But I thank you and thank TED

0:14:53.727,0:14:56.634
for giving us a voice,[br]to say to those people,

0:14:56.634,0:14:58.593
you will not win,

0:14:58.593,0:15:00.667
and we will not be intimidated.

0:15:00.667,0:15:02.837
(Applause)

0:15:02.837,0:15:06.297
Moderator: Thank you so much[br]for your great talk and important work.

0:15:06.297,0:15:10.047
(Applause)