The TRUE Africa 100 is our list of innovators, opinion-formers, game-changers, pioneers, dreamers and mavericks who we feel are shaping the Africa of today and tomorrow. We’re featuring them over 100 days and we’ve asked each of them three questions.
Cameroonian Mamadou Touré is behind Africa 2.0 Foundation, a ‘D-ink Tank’ as he puts it, which is a think tank that does things. He is also the CEO and founder of Ubuntu Capital, an investment and advisory firm, based in South Africa. In 2014, Forbes listed him as one of the 10 most powerful leaders in Africa and he was part of the Forum of Young Global Leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year.
Naming your organisation Africa 2.0 sounds like the continent needs to push the reset button. Who is going to do this and how?
We named it ‘2.0’ as a way to announce the next version of Africa. The continent needs to ‘reset’ as you say. Since independence, progress has been limited. There is a strong need to leapfrog the growth of the continent by leveraging a new generation of leaders from the private sector, civil society and the government. They need to be capable of collaborating; they need to design and execute a common vision to establish a prosperous, united and inspiring Africa.
We have a unique opportunity, but are we prepared? Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.
Most socio-economic miracles such as South Korea or Singapore – who both had a lower or equivalent GDP to our countries at the time of independence – were achieved over one generation. I believe Africa is at a tipping point. We have a unique opportunity to make history if the upcoming generation take up the challenge to take our beloved continent to the next level.
As Frantz Fanon said, ‘Each generation must discover its mission, fulfil it or betray it, in relative opacity.’ We have a unique opportunity, but are we prepared? Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.
You’re an advocate of #FABA (For Africa By Africa). What do you mean by that?
The term FABA is an acronym similar to FUBU (For Us By Us). FABA stands for ‘For Africa By Africa’. FABA can be adopted by anyone who wishes to place a ‘Proudly African’ stamp of approval on an item, a person, an event or an idea. #FABA will be used on social media platforms and on brand collateral. The aim is for #FABA to become a well-known and recognisable icon.
It is about celebrating African achievements and using technology, creativity, arts and culture to push the new African agenda. It is meant to promote positive image of Africa and strengthen the ties that bind Africans to each other.
Believe it or not, but for me the African of the year should be Barrack Obama.
Although #FABA was predominantly created to encourage Africans and people of African descent to take their destiny at hand and celebrate their achievements, we also welcome non-Africans to join the movement by celebrating their contribution to the empowerment of the continent. Africa does need the rest of the world to succeed but the rest of the world will only come once Africa makes the irreversible step towards building its own success.
Who’s your African of the year?
Believe it or not, but for me the African of the year should be Barrack Obama. In addition to hosting the first ever US-Africa Leaders Summit last year, he confirmed his commitment to the continent this year with his important trip to Kenya and Ethiopia. He actively engaged with African youth through the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi, despite the US and global media categorising Kenya as a terrorist hotbed or the announcements that he would not go and see his family in Kenya (which he did).
He is also the first US (or should I say Kenyan-American) president ever to sit at the African Union together with African presidents. Although his Power Africa initiative is yet to deliver on its promises (mostly due to US budget constraints and hostile congress) it had the merit of shifting the narrative around Africa energy sector. It played a big catalyst role in raising awareness of the international community to support and invest in the power sector on the continent. I recently set up my own advisory and investment firm – Ubuntu Capital – and I could already see the difference from my former role as managing director at General Electric in charge of investments and project finance.
That’s what Africa needs! It needs a committed and enlightened generation of leaders working together towards a common destiny.
Last but not least his Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), which aims at setting up Regional Leadership Centers (RLCs) in Ghana, Senegal, South Africa and Kenya with young people from all sub-Saharan African countries, is a significant breakthrough. YALI is led by USAID and partners include MasterCard and Microsoft. Africa 2.0 has been selected among the consortium winners in partnership with GIMPA in Ghana and CESAG in Senegal to run those RLCs. This is a great example of empowering African organisations to groom the next generation of African leaders.
Previous US presidents set up programmes (some which were useful to Africa, others less so) that had a direct benefit to the US. The AGOA allowed access to cheaper goods from Africa and only benefitted certain countries. In this case YALI is a long-term investment. It is an investment to nurture and groom a new generation of African leaders over a generation. In that sense it aligns with Africa 2.0’s mission statement: ‘Gear for success a generation capable of standing on its feet, collaborating collectively to build their nations, becoming self-reliant and uplifting its people through inclusive growth’.
That’s what Africa needs! It needs a committed and enlightened generation of leaders working together towards a common destiny.
Visit the Africa 2.0 Foundation
Come back tomorrow for the next TRUE Africa 100 and keep up to date using the hashtag #TRUEAfrica