0:00:00.480,0:00:04.336
The narrative of a rising Africa[br]is being challenged.

0:00:04.360,0:00:08.816
About 10 years ago,[br]I spoke about an Africa,

0:00:08.840,0:00:11.536
an Africa of hope and opportunity,

0:00:11.560,0:00:13.496
an Africa of entrepreneurs,

0:00:13.520,0:00:16.976
an Africa very different from the Africa[br]that you normally hear about

0:00:17.000,0:00:19.776
of death, poverty and disease.

0:00:19.800,0:00:21.856
And that what I spoke about,

0:00:21.880,0:00:27.336
became part of what is known now[br]as the narrative of the rising Africa.

0:00:27.360,0:00:30.696
I want to tell you two stories[br]about this rising Africa.

0:00:30.720,0:00:32.496
The first has to do with Rwanda,

0:00:32.520,0:00:35.936
a country that has gone[br]through many trials and tribulations.

0:00:35.960,0:00:40.456
And Rwanda has decided to become[br]the technology hub, or a technology hub

0:00:40.480,0:00:41.816
on the continent.

0:00:41.840,0:00:44.856
It's a country with mountainous[br]and hilly terrain,

0:00:44.880,0:00:46.096
a little bit like here,

0:00:46.120,0:00:49.296
so it's very difficult[br]to deliver services to people.

0:00:49.320,0:00:51.016
So what has Rwanda said?

0:00:51.040,0:00:54.696
In order to save lives,[br]it's going to try using drones

0:00:54.720,0:00:57.936
to deliver lifesaving drugs,[br]vaccines and blood

0:00:57.960,0:00:59.976
to people in hard-to-reach places

0:01:00.000,0:01:02.496
in partnership with[br]a company called Zipline,

0:01:02.520,0:01:07.056
with UPS, and also with the Gavi,[br]a global vaccine alliance.

0:01:07.080,0:01:09.456
In doing this, it will save lives.

0:01:09.480,0:01:14.776
This is part of the type of innovation[br]we want to see in the rising Africa.

0:01:14.800,0:01:17.336
The second story has to do with something

0:01:17.360,0:01:20.376
that I'm sure most of you[br]have seen or will remember.

0:01:20.400,0:01:24.296
Very often, countries in Africa[br]suffer drought and floods,

0:01:24.320,0:01:28.016
and it's getting more frequent[br]because of climate change effects.

0:01:28.040,0:01:33.736
When this happens, they normally wait[br]for international appeals to raise money.

0:01:33.760,0:01:37.136
You see pictures of children[br]with flies on their faces,

0:01:37.160,0:01:39.656
carcasses of dead animals and so on.

0:01:39.680,0:01:42.696
Now these countries,[br]32 countries, came together

0:01:42.720,0:01:45.176
under the auspices of the African Union

0:01:45.200,0:01:50.216
and decided to form an organization[br]called the African Risk Capacity.

0:01:50.240,0:01:51.456
What does it do?

0:01:51.480,0:01:53.576
It's a weather-based insurance agency,

0:01:53.600,0:01:57.976
and what these countries do[br]is to pay insurance each year,

0:01:58.000,0:02:00.936
about 3 million dollars a year[br]of their own resources,

0:02:00.960,0:02:05.776
so that in the event they have[br]a difficult drought situation or flood,

0:02:05.800,0:02:08.416
this money will be paid out to them,

0:02:08.440,0:02:11.176
which they can then use[br]to take care of their populations,

0:02:11.200,0:02:13.976
instead of waiting for aid to come.

0:02:14.000,0:02:18.216
The African Risk Capacity[br]last year paid 26 million dollars

0:02:18.240,0:02:20.736
to Mauritania, Senegal and Niger.

0:02:20.760,0:02:26.216
This enabled them to take care[br]of 1.3 million people affected by drought.

0:02:26.240,0:02:28.576
They were able to restore livelihoods,

0:02:28.600,0:02:31.296
buy fodder for cattle,[br]feed children in school

0:02:31.320,0:02:37.096
and in short keep the populations home[br]instead of migrating out of the area.

0:02:37.120,0:02:38.976
So these are the kinds of stories

0:02:39.000,0:02:42.616
of an Africa ready[br]to take responsibility for itself,

0:02:42.640,0:02:45.816
and to look for solutions[br]for its own problems.

0:02:45.840,0:02:48.336
But that narrative is being challenged now

0:02:48.360,0:02:53.176
because the continent has not[br]been doing well in the last two years.

0:02:53.200,0:02:56.136
It had been growing[br]at five percent per annum

0:02:56.160,0:02:58.096
for the last one and a half decades,

0:02:58.120,0:03:00.896
but this year's forecast[br]was three percent. Why?

0:03:00.920,0:03:05.096
In an uncertain global environment,[br]commodity prices have fallen.

0:03:05.120,0:03:08.296
Many of the economies[br]are still commodity driven,

0:03:08.320,0:03:10.880
and therefore their[br]performance has slipped.

0:03:11.480,0:03:15.456
And now the issue of Brexit[br]doesn't make it any easier.

0:03:15.480,0:03:19.096
I never knew that the Brexit could happen

0:03:19.120,0:03:23.256
and that it could be one of the things[br]that would cause global uncertainty

0:03:23.280,0:03:24.576
such as we have.

0:03:24.600,0:03:26.776
So now we've got this situation,

0:03:26.800,0:03:29.656
and I think it's time to take stock

0:03:29.680,0:03:34.536
and to say what were the things[br]that the African countries did right?

0:03:34.560,0:03:36.200
What did they do wrong?

0:03:36.840,0:03:39.296
How do we build on all of this[br]and learn lessons

0:03:39.320,0:03:42.120
so that we can keep Africa rising?

0:03:42.720,0:03:46.080
So let me talk about six things[br]that I think we did right.

0:03:46.720,0:03:50.016
The first is managing[br]our economies better.

0:03:50.040,0:03:54.296
The '80s and '90s were the lost decades,[br]when Africa was not doing well,

0:03:54.320,0:03:57.936
and some of you will remember[br]an "Economist" cover

0:03:57.960,0:03:59.976
that said, "The Lost Continent."

0:04:00.000,0:04:04.096
But in the 2000s, policymakers learned

0:04:04.120,0:04:08.376
that they needed to manage[br]the macroeconomic environment better,

0:04:08.400,0:04:09.936
to ensure stability,

0:04:09.960,0:04:12.576
keep inflation low in single digits,

0:04:12.600,0:04:18.176
keep their fiscal deficits low,[br]below three percent of GDP,

0:04:18.200,0:04:22.096
give investors, both domestic and foreign,

0:04:22.120,0:04:25.936
some stability so they'll have confidence[br]to invest in these economies.

0:04:25.960,0:04:27.456
So that was number one.

0:04:27.480,0:04:28.816
Two, debt.

0:04:28.840,0:04:34.536
In 1994, the debt-to-GDP ratio[br]of African countries was 130 percent,

0:04:34.560,0:04:36.816
and they didn't have fiscal space.

0:04:36.840,0:04:39.856
They couldn't use their resources[br]to invest in their development

0:04:39.880,0:04:41.336
because they were paying debt.

0:04:41.360,0:04:46.096
There may be some of you in this room[br]who worked to support African countries

0:04:46.120,0:04:47.416
to get debt relief.

0:04:47.440,0:04:51.896
So private creditors, multilaterals[br]and bilaterals came together

0:04:51.920,0:04:55.536
and decided to do the Highly Indebted[br]Poor Countries Initiative

0:04:55.560,0:04:56.816
and give debt relief.

0:04:56.840,0:04:58.936
So this debt relief in 2005

0:04:58.960,0:05:02.896
made the debt-to-GDP ratio[br]fall down to about 30 percent,

0:05:02.920,0:05:06.816
and there was enough resources[br]to try and reinvest.

0:05:06.840,0:05:09.296
The third thing was[br]loss-making enterprises.

0:05:09.320,0:05:11.376
Governments were involved in business

0:05:11.400,0:05:13.656
which they had no business being in.

0:05:13.680,0:05:16.776
And they were running businesses,[br]they were making losses.

0:05:16.800,0:05:19.536
So some of these enterprises[br]were restructured,

0:05:19.560,0:05:21.976
commercialized, privatized or closed,

0:05:22.000,0:05:25.200
and they became[br]less of a burden on government.

0:05:26.080,0:05:28.480
The fourth thing[br]was a very interesting thing.

0:05:29.200,0:05:31.496
The telecoms revolution came,

0:05:31.520,0:05:34.096
and African countries jumped on it.

0:05:34.120,0:05:36.736
In 2000, we had 11 million phone lines.

0:05:36.760,0:05:42.096
Today, we have about 687 million[br]mobile lines on the continent.

0:05:42.120,0:05:43.936
And this has enabled us

0:05:43.960,0:05:46.616
to go, move forward[br]with some mobile technology

0:05:46.640,0:05:49.256
where Africa is actually leading.

0:05:49.280,0:05:51.816
In Kenya, the development[br]of mobile money --

0:05:51.840,0:05:54.616
M-Pesa, which all of you[br]have heard about --

0:05:54.640,0:05:58.096
it took some time for the world[br]to notice that Africa was ahead

0:05:58.120,0:05:59.656
in this particular technology.

0:05:59.680,0:06:02.896
And this mobile money[br]is also providing a platform

0:06:02.920,0:06:05.376
for access to alternative energy.

0:06:05.400,0:06:08.896
You know, people who can now pay for solar

0:06:08.920,0:06:13.136
the same way they pay[br]for cards for their telephone.

0:06:13.160,0:06:17.680
So this was a very good development,[br]something that went right.

0:06:18.240,0:06:22.736
We also invested more[br]in education and health, not enough,

0:06:22.760,0:06:24.416
but there were some improvements.

0:06:24.440,0:06:29.960
250 million children were immunized[br]in the last one and a half decades.

0:06:30.520,0:06:33.896
The other thing was[br]that conflicts decreased.

0:06:33.920,0:06:35.976
There were many conflicts[br]on the continent.

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Many of you are aware of that.

0:06:37.480,0:06:42.296
But they came down, and our leaders[br]even managed to dampen some coups.

0:06:42.320,0:06:46.376
New types of conflicts have emerged,[br]and I'll refer to those later.

0:06:46.400,0:06:50.016
So based on all this, there's also[br]some differentiation on the continent

0:06:50.040,0:06:51.496
that I want you to know about,

0:06:51.520,0:06:54.016
because even as[br]the doom and gloom is here,

0:06:54.040,0:06:58.016
there are some countries --[br]Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Ethiopia,

0:06:58.040,0:07:02.320
Tanzania and Senegal are performing[br]relatively well at the moment.

0:07:03.120,0:07:05.256
But what did we do wrong?

0:07:05.280,0:07:06.656
Let me mention eight things.

0:07:06.680,0:07:08.856
You have to have[br]more things wrong than right.

0:07:08.880,0:07:10.336
(Laughter)

0:07:10.360,0:07:12.736
So there are eight things we did wrong.

0:07:12.760,0:07:16.280
The first was that even though we grew,[br]we didn't create enough jobs.

0:07:16.800,0:07:18.696
We didn't create jobs for our youth.

0:07:18.720,0:07:21.656
Youth unemployment on the continent[br]is about 15 percent,

0:07:21.680,0:07:24.720
and underemployment is a serious problem.

0:07:25.400,0:07:30.936
The second thing that we did is that[br]the quality of growth was not good enough.

0:07:30.960,0:07:34.496
Even those jobs we created[br]were low-productivity jobs,

0:07:34.520,0:07:38.016
so we moved people[br]from low-productivity agriculture

0:07:38.040,0:07:41.976
to low-productivity commerce[br]and working in the informal sector

0:07:42.000,0:07:43.720
in the urban areas.

0:07:44.240,0:07:48.040
The third thing[br]is that inequality increased.

0:07:48.600,0:07:53.576
So we created more billionaires.

0:07:53.600,0:07:56.296
50 billionaires worth 96 billion dollars

0:07:56.320,0:08:01.160
own more wealth than the bottom[br]75 million people on the continent.

0:08:01.920,0:08:03.496
Poverty,

0:08:03.520,0:08:07.896
the proportion of people in poverty --[br]that's the fourth thing -- did decrease,

0:08:07.920,0:08:12.016
but the absolute numbers did not[br]because of population growth.

0:08:12.040,0:08:14.616
And population growth is something

0:08:14.640,0:08:18.056
that we don't have enough[br]of a dialogue about on the continent.

0:08:18.080,0:08:21.216
And I think we will need[br]to get a handle on it,

0:08:21.240,0:08:24.496
particularly how we educate girls.

0:08:24.520,0:08:29.160
That is the road to really working[br]on this particular issue.

0:08:29.880,0:08:36.696
The fifth thing is that we didn't invest[br]enough in infrastructure.

0:08:36.720,0:08:38.816
We had investment from the Chinese.

0:08:38.840,0:08:42.056
That helped some countries,[br]but it's not enough.

0:08:42.080,0:08:45.416
The consumption of electricity[br]in Africa on the continent

0:08:45.440,0:08:49.016
in Sub-Saharan Africa[br]is equivalent to Spain.

0:08:49.040,0:08:52.496
The total consumption[br]is equivalent to that of Spain.

0:08:52.520,0:08:55.176
So many people are living in the dark,

0:08:55.200,0:08:58.776
and as the President of the African[br]Development Bank said recently,

0:08:58.800,0:09:01.080
Africa cannot develop in the dark.

0:09:02.120,0:09:04.256
The other thing we have not done

0:09:04.280,0:09:09.696
is that our economies[br]retain the same structure

0:09:09.720,0:09:11.336
that we've had for decades.

0:09:11.360,0:09:13.016
So even though we've been growing,

0:09:13.040,0:09:15.736
the structure of the economies[br]has not changed very much.

0:09:15.760,0:09:18.336
We are still exporting commodities,

0:09:18.360,0:09:22.216
and exporting commodities is what?[br]It's exporting jobs.

0:09:22.240,0:09:25.536
Our manufacturing value-added[br]is only 11 percent.

0:09:25.560,0:09:30.096
We are not creating enough[br]decent manufacturing jobs for our youth,

0:09:30.120,0:09:32.736
and trade among ourselves is low.

0:09:32.760,0:09:36.256
Only about 12 percent of our trade[br]is among ourselves.

0:09:36.280,0:09:38.976
So that's another serious problem.

0:09:39.000,0:09:41.096
Then governance.

0:09:41.120,0:09:43.536
Governance is a serious issue.

0:09:43.560,0:09:45.776
We have weak institutions,

0:09:45.800,0:09:50.816
and sometimes nonexistent institutions,[br]and I think this gives way for corruption.

0:09:50.840,0:09:56.056
Corruption is an issue that we have not[br]yet gotten a good enough handle on,

0:09:56.080,0:09:58.696
and we have to fight tooth and nail,

0:09:58.720,0:10:02.296
that and increased transparency[br]in the way we manage our economies

0:10:02.320,0:10:04.776
and the way we manage our finances.

0:10:04.800,0:10:09.536
We also need to be wary of new conflicts,

0:10:09.560,0:10:11.496
new types of conflicts,

0:10:11.520,0:10:14.736
such as we have with Boko Haram[br]in my country, Nigeria,

0:10:14.760,0:10:16.816
and with Al-Shabaab in Kenya.

0:10:16.840,0:10:20.176
We need to partner[br]with international partners,

0:10:20.200,0:10:23.056
developed countries,[br]to fight this together.

0:10:23.080,0:10:24.976
Otherwise, we create a new reality

0:10:25.000,0:10:28.256
which is not the type[br]we want for a rising Africa.

0:10:28.280,0:10:31.816
And finally, the issue of education.

0:10:31.840,0:10:35.136
Our education systems[br]in many countries are broken.

0:10:35.160,0:10:39.696
We are not creating the types of skills[br]needed for the future.

0:10:39.720,0:10:42.360
So we have to find a way[br]to educate better.

0:10:42.920,0:10:45.640
So those are the things[br]that we are not doing right.

0:10:46.240,0:10:48.640
Now, where do we go from there?

0:10:49.240,0:10:53.936
I believe that the way forward[br]is to learn to manage success.

0:10:53.960,0:10:57.696
Very often, when people succeed[br]or countries succeed,

0:10:57.720,0:10:59.920
they forget what made them succeed.

0:11:00.680,0:11:03.216
Learning what you're successful at,

0:11:03.240,0:11:05.656
managing it and keeping it[br]is vital for us.

0:11:05.680,0:11:07.896
So all those things I said we did right,

0:11:07.920,0:11:11.816
we have to learn to do it right again,[br]keep doing it right.

0:11:11.840,0:11:15.416
Managing the economy while[br]creating stability is vital,

0:11:15.440,0:11:18.936
getting prices right,[br]and policy consistency.

0:11:18.960,0:11:21.336
Very often, we are not consistent.

0:11:21.360,0:11:23.616
One regime goes out, another comes in

0:11:23.640,0:11:27.096
and they throw away even the functioning[br]policies that were there before.

0:11:27.120,0:11:28.376
What does this do?

0:11:28.400,0:11:30.776
It creates uncertainty[br]for people, for households,

0:11:30.800,0:11:32.176
uncertainties for business.

0:11:32.200,0:11:34.896
They don't know whether and how to invest.

0:11:34.920,0:11:39.256
Debt: we must manage[br]the success we had in reducing our debt,

0:11:39.280,0:11:41.816
but now countries[br]are back to borrowing again,

0:11:41.840,0:11:45.256
and we see our debt-to-GDP ratio[br]beginning to creep up,

0:11:45.280,0:11:46.736
and in certain countries,

0:11:46.760,0:11:49.256
debt is becoming a problem,[br]so we have to avoid that.

0:11:49.280,0:11:50.736
So managing success.

0:11:50.760,0:11:53.416
The next thing[br]is focusing with a laser beam

0:11:53.440,0:11:55.296
on those things we did not do well.

0:11:55.320,0:11:57.176
First and foremost is infrastructure.

0:11:57.200,0:12:00.776
Yes, most countries now recognize[br]they have to invest in this,

0:12:00.800,0:12:03.416
and they are trying to do[br]the best they can to do that.

0:12:03.440,0:12:04.656
We must.

0:12:04.680,0:12:06.336
The most important thing is power.

0:12:06.360,0:12:08.616
You cannot develop in the dark.

0:12:08.640,0:12:10.896
And then governance and corruption:

0:12:10.920,0:12:12.136
we have to fight.

0:12:12.160,0:12:14.936
We have to make our countries transparent.

0:12:14.960,0:12:18.536
And above all, we have to[br]engage our young people.

0:12:18.560,0:12:20.776
We have genius in our young people.

0:12:20.800,0:12:22.056
I see it every day.

0:12:22.080,0:12:25.616
It's what makes me wake up[br]in the morning and feel ready to go.

0:12:25.640,0:12:28.016
We have to unleash[br]the genius of our young people,

0:12:28.040,0:12:31.296
get out of their way,[br]support them to create and innovate

0:12:31.320,0:12:32.536
and lead the way.

0:12:32.560,0:12:35.256
And I know that they will lead us[br]in the right direction.

0:12:35.280,0:12:37.456
And our women, and our girls:

0:12:37.480,0:12:40.536
we have to recognize[br]that girls and women are a gift.

0:12:40.560,0:12:42.056
They have strength,

0:12:42.080,0:12:44.216
and we have to unleash that strength

0:12:44.240,0:12:47.176
so that they can[br]contribute to the continent.

0:12:47.200,0:12:51.016
I strongly believe[br]that when we do all of these things,

0:12:51.040,0:12:54.256
we find that the rising Africa narrative

0:12:54.280,0:12:55.856
is not a fluke.

0:12:55.880,0:12:57.120
It's a trend.

0:12:57.720,0:13:01.536
It's a trend, and if we continue,[br]if we unleash our youth,

0:13:01.560,0:13:02.896
if we unleash our women,

0:13:02.920,0:13:04.936
we may step backwards sometimes,

0:13:04.960,0:13:06.856
we may even step sideways,

0:13:06.880,0:13:08.496
but the trend is clear.

0:13:08.520,0:13:10.536
Africa will continue to rise.

0:13:10.560,0:13:14.296
And I tell you businesspeople[br]in the audience,

0:13:14.320,0:13:17.776
investment in Africa is not for today,[br]is not for tomorrow,

0:13:17.800,0:13:21.056
it's not a short-term thing,[br]it's a longer term thing.

0:13:21.080,0:13:23.496
But if you are not invested in Africa,

0:13:23.520,0:13:24.936
then you will be missing

0:13:24.960,0:13:29.216
one of the most important[br]emerging opportunities in the world.

0:13:29.240,0:13:30.456
Thank you.

0:13:30.480,0:13:33.000
(Applause)

0:13:39.227,0:13:41.896
Kelly Stoetzel: So you mentioned[br]corruption in your talk,

0:13:41.920,0:13:45.416
and you're known, well-known[br]as a strong anticorruption fighter.

0:13:45.440,0:13:47.976
But that's had consequences.

0:13:48.000,0:13:50.936
People have fought back,[br]and your mother was kidnapped.

0:13:50.960,0:13:52.520
How have you been handling this?

0:13:53.280,0:13:55.456
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala:[br]It's been very difficult.

0:13:55.480,0:13:59.816
Thank you for mentioning[br]the issue of the kidnap of my mother.

0:13:59.840,0:14:02.416
It's a very difficult subject.

0:14:02.440,0:14:06.296
But what it means[br]is that when you fight corruption,

0:14:06.320,0:14:09.736
when you touch the pockets[br]of people who are stealing money,

0:14:09.760,0:14:11.616
they don't just keep quiet.

0:14:11.640,0:14:15.296
They fight back, and the issue for you[br]is when they try to intimidate you,

0:14:15.320,0:14:18.776
do you give up, or do you fight on?

0:14:18.800,0:14:21.936
Do you find a way[br]to stay on and fight back?

0:14:21.960,0:14:26.216
And the answer that I had[br]with the teams I worked with

0:14:26.240,0:14:28.016
is we have to fight on.

0:14:28.040,0:14:29.856
We have to create those institutions.

0:14:29.880,0:14:33.096
We have to find ways to stop these people

0:14:33.120,0:14:36.296
from taking away[br]the heritage of the future.

0:14:36.320,0:14:38.216
And so that's what we did.

0:14:38.240,0:14:41.856
And even out of government,[br]we continued to make that point.

0:14:41.880,0:14:45.856
In our countries, nobody,[br]nobody is going to fight corruption

0:14:45.880,0:14:47.416
for us but us.

0:14:47.440,0:14:49.656
And therefore,[br]that comes with consequences,

0:14:49.680,0:14:51.576
and we just have to do the best we can.

0:14:51.600,0:14:55.016
But I thank you and thank TED[br]for giving us a voice

0:14:55.040,0:14:58.336
to say to those people, you will not win,

0:14:58.360,0:15:00.696
and we will not be intimidated.

0:15:00.720,0:15:01.936
Thank you.

0:15:01.960,0:15:03.176
(Applause)

0:15:03.200,0:15:06.666
Kelly Stoetzel: Thank you so much[br]for your great talk and important work.

0:15:06.690,0:15:10.060
(Applause)