00:10Let me see how exciting it is to be here at this first Global Black Economic Forum
00:22that brings together all of you, top African-American executives, innovators, entrepreneurs, marketeers.
00:35But I see it as a little bit more.
00:40I see it as an essence movement
00:47to integrate the African-American economic community
00:58with the African economic community.
01:04And then an extension in integration with the global immunity.
01:13And so this movement, if we say it starts today, bringing together the African diaspora with all of you.
01:22And again, bringing to your knowledge some of the great things that are happening in Africa
01:30to be able to build our own African economic community.
01:36It's always said that an advice to you entrepreneurs is to find a need and fill it.
01:51That means having a passion for what you do.
01:55For what you do.
01:56I believe I heard the same sentiment with T.D. Jakes this morning, this afternoon,
02:04when I sat in on a little bit of the panel that was there.
02:08And I heard a little bit of the sentiment in the sessions just before me.
02:14I cannot think today of a better place to become a great entrepreneur and to fill that passion
02:29in the world's most rapidly growing population in Africa.
02:381.7 billion by the year 2030.
02:44A growing population that means economic expansion, demand for goods, services, education, housing,
02:59all the things you can think of that can become good potential for you doing businesses.
03:06And many of our nations have come a long way.
03:14Today, six of the 15 growing economies in the world are African.
03:31Some of you may have visited some of them.
03:34Some of you may have growing businesses in some of them.
03:39Three of them are in West Africa, Ghana, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire.
03:52Some of them are on the other side.
03:56Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, all of those.
04:04Currently, we have 400 companies in Africa that report an annual earning over $1 billion.
04:19Go look it up.
04:26Google it.
04:27I used to see African entrepreneurs, mega entrepreneurs, you know.
04:32And you see them.
04:33They're there in all areas of activities.
04:38To you, our friends, African entrepreneurs, just see Africa as a new area for business.
04:51A new area for growing your business.
04:57And just see it as a way to connect to your roots.
05:10To connect to your roots in a manner in which what you're doing has sustainable power.
05:16And that's business.
05:23When you invest in Africa, you create a partner.
05:29But you also meet that need.
05:33We need to ensure that the roots you have, who will not change, then also has the potential
05:46to be able to create an environment that makes it even bigger and better for you to do business,
05:54to make profits, to make money, and to yet fill the need of being able to support many of those
06:01over there whom you care for so much.
06:04That's a dual calling and a dual mission that can only happen when we get this integration going.
06:15Investing in Africa is more than profit.
06:20And we know that profit is important.
06:22I mean, that's what business is all about.
06:26But also, you help with those who are there, those who are trying to make it, who have gone
06:40through all the difficulties of economic reform, all the difficulties of not having the kinds
06:48of technological innovations that are necessary to cause business expansion to profit.
06:59Today, the young entrepreneurs of Africa are the ones who are changing it for us.
07:07They are bringing the technology, technology that they've obtained here because they're trained here,
07:13because they've integrated with you, they've worked with you.
07:16They've been able to benefit from the education that the institutions here have provided.
07:24But by going back, by your investing and your support, we see the economies of Africa expand.
07:34We see the job opportunities that are open to all the many other young Africans who are trying to make it.
07:41This, to us, is what brings about the partnership, the partnership that we all have been looking for.
07:53When Africans, and Africans in the diaspora, and African Americans can come together and see themselves as a total whole.
08:06That they can see the potential of an expanded Africa, a growing Africa.
08:13An Africa that provides the best potential to you for doing business.
08:23And by doing so, you also lift most of those who have been left behind, either because of lack of education,
08:32or lack of the technology that they need, or the management skills, that they then can see themselves being pulled up.
08:42And by being pulled up, they represent an even greater arena in which you can work.
08:49And let's talk about African women entrepreneurs.
08:59I was looking at some of the recent magazines and looking at the great African American women entrepreneurs here.
09:12And what they've done, how far they have come.
09:19And today, Africa has its share too.
09:24Not as many, perhaps not as large, but they are there.
09:33And this is where that connection is something we're trying to promote.
09:38But let's be clear, 89% of the women in Africa still remain in the informal economy.
09:50Still do not have the benefits of social protection, good labor laws that gave decent wages and what not.
10:01But those African American women who are investing and creating business in Africa, and there are many of them,
10:10are beginning also to change the environment for women entrepreneurs.
10:17And as I look around and see some of you, clearly entrepreneurs yourself, perhaps not yet doing business in Africa,
10:26but seeing the potential of being able to work with those who want to integrate with them,
10:34to make a big difference in the lives of those, the many women over there who strive to be able to improve their businesses.
10:47And while we have many strong entrepreneurs, the majority of them still need access to cash, to capital, to enable them to go to scale.
11:05That's also when it comes to women, a missing link.
11:09Women, political leadership.
11:11If I didn't talk about that, we would all leave from here and say you didn't see it all, you didn't hear it all.
11:21We're so glad what's happening in America as we look at all the many strong women, black women,
11:33who are now taking the leadership role in your political arena.
11:42And why we applaud it is because that's how policies change.
11:52That's how laws are made.
11:56That's how stereotypes diminish and practices are reformed.
12:08And so we're all looking at how we, there, can build upon the many world women leaders.
12:19And there's so many of them, you know them all, in all parts of the world.
12:25Asia, Latin America, North America, all those places, they stand out.
12:35Europe.
12:39But they are the example.
12:43The ones that stand alone.
12:46And our role is to change that.
12:51Is to ensure that there's sufficient number of women leaders all over the world, building upon the record that's already there.
13:01Whether we're talking about Rwanda, that has the highest number of women parliamentarian in the world.
13:07Whether we're talking about Ethiopia, that has the largest number of women in appointed executive positions.
13:15Whether we're talking about you here.
13:19And all of those that stand out right now without calling names in your own congress and the positions they take.
13:29You know, I, I'm tempted to say, are there any, are there any sorrows here, aka sorrows here?
13:41Not calling names, just pointing to you that you've got the power.
13:49I believe that when we all come together in the way we can, a great Africa is a great African American community.
14:11A thriving African economic community provides to you, in integration, the greatest asset that you need
14:27To break some of the barriers that may be holding you back.
14:33Some of those barriers that have long held some of the African entrepreneurs back.
14:39And today as I see what's happening here, I only hope that all that was being done here, and all that is being said here,
14:50In all the panels that have taken place, and will continue to take place over the next two days,
14:56That they'll be streamed into our African communities.
15:00Into our business communities over there to see the progress that is here, the potential that is there.
15:08And globally what this represents to each and every one of you, as an entrepreneur, as a business.
15:15As somebody is there to make as much money as you can, much profit as you can, that's what it's all about.
15:22But at the same time you lift, you lift a nation, you lift a people, you lift a continent.
15:32That will be in a position to reach out to you and to expand the power that you have in business and in politics.
15:44Sometimes we get a lot of rhetoric that tends to cut off the flow of ideas from one region of the world to another.
16:06Such action has the possibility to stem collaboration, innovation, and the exploration of new opportunities.
16:21But we need to know that many of the world's thinkers, business leaders, and artists have benefited from migration.
16:37Either first hand or as the children of migration.
16:43We try to look at some of the examples of those in your community, leaders of the black community who have benefited from collaboration between Africa and other nations.
16:59We try to look at some of the people who have benefited from the people who have benefited from the people who have benefited from the world.
17:17We try to look at some of the people in the world while working on the world, as well as the world in the world.
17:20And in and out of the world, this is a huge thing to do.
17:21in Africa, benefits from American know-how and expertise. Oscar-winning
17:32actress Lupita Nyong'o was raised in Kenya and educated in the United States.
17:45Her performance are an inspiration to the black community worldwide. And as ESSEN
17:53promotes integration in music, in culture, in the arts, we need to place to remember
18:05all of those who have come into this country and have found a place and have
18:12integrated so well. Just as we try to integrate the economic community, we also
18:21see not only the success, but the potential of the integration in the culture,
18:28in the world of arts. I too was in exile. I too might have been considered a migrant. I too
18:37cross borders to be able to come to this country in difficult times of my own
18:45country and to seek an education, to expand my knowledge, to be able to be part of what
18:53it takes to compete internationally in your sphere of profession. And that tells me how
19:03important it is for us to integrate in Africa. Today, I start with, I end with where I started. The
19:18integration of the African American business community with the African business community. What this means for you,
19:32what this means for you, and your future. Africa is a young continent, growing, technologically improving,
19:48infrastructure more advanced today, leadership becoming much more capable, intense, competitive with others. There's no doubt, in my mind, and I hope when I leave here today, in your mind, you'll see that Africa, for you,
20:17you, is what will make you a greater person, a stronger entrepreneur, a nation, that can stand up for what you want as part of the black community. The one to stand behind you, to be there with you when you make your demands, and you change your life.
20:44You make your demands, and you challenge the status quo, and you want to get those policies going beyond today's rhetoric, that you can be assured, that you can call upon Africa, and Africa will be there, not only to make you a strong entrepreneur, and to make sure you make all the money and all the profit you can, but in politics,
21:12you will be able to take your rightful place, like you were yesterday, when you stood behind Barack Obama.
21:19And Africa applauded him, for being what he was, and what he stood for, and what he just stands for. As you look across the ocean, you'll see many of us, who are there, holding the banner for you, carrying the cross.
21:21for you, and making the cross for you, and making the
21:51nothing you great. God bless you.
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