African Economic Forum (AEF) - 2009

AEF 2009 will be held on Friday, March 27th and Saturday, March 28th at Columbia University in the City of New York.

Dambisa Moyo, Author Of Dead Aid

Dambisa Moyo is a Global Economist at Goldman Sachs in London. She previously worked at the World Bank in Washington DC. A native of Zambia, Southern Africa, Dambisa holds a Doctorate in Economics from Oxford University and a Masters from Harvard.

Dambisa's new book, Dead Aid illustrates how some aid to Africa has decapitated Africa's growth.

SOVEC - Social Venture Capital

From their site:

SOVEC is an investment fund set up by Dutch entrepreneurs, to invest in small and medium sized companies (SMEs) in Africa.

SOVEC therefore supports local entrepreneurs by investing capital and committing its own network of entrepreneurs who are prepared to invest their time, energy, expertise and business contacts. This helps entrepreneurs in Africa to build their businesses and create job opportunities.

Working Villages International

Forty years ago, the residents of the Ruzizi Valley, in Eastern Congo, had a peaceful prosperous happy life. Today, after more than a decade of civil war, the entire area is devastated, and the people have been reduced to the status of refugees, dependent on foreign assistance.

Now, in a unique partnership with Working Villages International, the people of Ruzizi are working hard to rebuild the paradise they once enjoyed. The development formula is simple – village based redevelopment with an emphasis on self-reliance and appropriate technology.

George Ayittey speech at World Affairs council in Houston

George and Bono at TED

George Ayittey has coined the term "Cheetah generation" for those who want progressive and sustainable change in Africa. George also believes cheetah's are not blinded by government corruption or coercion.

George goes into great detail about corruption and African economics in his speech he delivered at World Affairs council in Houston.

Watch his speech here

TED Global 2007 talks available online now!

TED has put online its videos of panelists from the TED Global 2007 conference in Arusha, Tanzania.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: Let's have a deeper discussion on aid

Listen to William Kamkwamba: How I built my family a windmill

George Ayittey: Cheetahs vs. Hippos for Africa's future

George Ayittey conversation about a Cheetah sustainable fund

George Ayittey & Bono

I had a wonderful conversation with George Ayittey last friday about the recent TED conference in Arusha, Tanzania. I have profound respect for George because he is a old-school pragmatic thinker. Dr. Ayittey is trained as an Economist, but he doesn't talk like most Economists who talk about Africa such as Jeffrey Sachs or others.

During our 30 minute conversation about the TED conference, George asked, "so Nii how do we get you TED Cheetah's to contribute to African development"? I thought about it for a second and said, "I would be nice if TED sponsored fellows to their respective countries to use their professional work experience to help a business for a month or so. I heard a pause, and George said, "well that is nice, but what about a fund, called a Cheetah Fund that is sustainable was set-up to help TED fellows or other African Cheetahs with funding for their respective businesses".

Wow, I said to myself, how come I didn't think about this before. African chiefs have been using this system for centuries before colonialism, we just have to go back to some of our indigenous roots. George mentioned that the fund would be sustainable by having the Cheetah's repay the fund the amount giving to him or her, this way the fund would be sustainable.

In Africa, before there was European colonialism, African tribes taxed each other to fund small-scale businesses. If a business would fail that tribe would pull it's resources together to help that particular business. African countries had these types of systems in place years before any Wall Street Hedge Fund, or a Silicon Valley venture capitalist like, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) were around.

We as Africans have to be progressive with our future and start addressing African opportunities. This Cheetah Fund is a good start to address African opportunities.

Ted Global &Tanzania the best experience of a lifetime!

I just got back from Ted Global in Arusha, Tanzania. I'm still trying to comprehend what I witnessed and heard last week, the thought-provoking and speaker line up was very good. I would also like to congratulate the TED staff on a wonderful organized conference. I can't imagine what it took to manage people, logistics and safety for all who attended. I want to thank Chris Anderson for having the foresight into putting his resources and energy into this endeavour, last but not least, I want to thank Emeka Okafor for organizing a good speaker line-up and picking to attend this conference.



TED Global as Dr. George Ayittey would call it was full of "Cheetahs". His definition of a Cheetah is someone who is provoking change, challenging old thinking and taking calculated-risks in Africa, I believe I fall in this category. This conference is a small step in changing mindset and debate about sustainability, accountability/governance, and overall growth on the African continent. Mark my words, the Africa's Cheetah's welcome the challenge of growing Africa!