Transcript 0:00 [intro music] Welcome to Trend Lines, a podcast on global affairs brought to you by World Politics Review. My name is Peter Durrie. 0:12 We will hear about entrepreneurship in Africa from Ernest Nti-Agyemang later in the podcast, but first I'd like to ask you to find Trend Lines in iTunes or another podcast app of your choice and subscribe to it. 0:25 That way, each new episode will already wait for you on your computer or smartphone the moment we put it online, sparing you the hassle of searching through Twitter or the worldpoliticsreview.com website. 0:38 But now, let's get to our weekly briefing on world affairs. Joining me as usual is WPR Editor-in-Chief Judah Grunstein. Okay, uh, Judah, wh- which stories are we talking about today? 0:51 I'd like to start with the latest offering in our Global Agenda series on the most important challenges facing the world order. 0:59 Uh, this one's by Valerie Hudson, who writes that the most pressing problem the world faces is violence and discrimination against women. 1:07 Uh, she begins by pointing out the obvious, that in any other context of human relations, the violence committed collectively by men against women would be considered warfare or terrorism. 1:20 Uh, the statistics she then cites are, are chillingly convincing. 1:24 More than a quarter of women subjected to violence by men they know and/or live with, two-thirds of malnourished children are girls, two-thirds of the world's illiterate people are women, uh, women still sold as chattel in some parts of the world, and, uh, women are often the victims of sexual violence used as a weapon of war. 1:46 Uh, so Valerie argues that many of the other pressing problems that lead the news today, including terrorism and global warming, are actually traceable to this initial violence of men against women, what she calls, quote, "The first wound humanity inflicted upon itself." 2:03 Uh, as she explains, this is not an ideological position, but as her research documents, an empirical one. 2:10 Uh, she points out that female subordination through violence, inequality, and coercion correlates to the conflict zones we see in the world today. 2:19 Uh, she calls for more action to implement the legal instruments already in place to address these issues, such as the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, uh, which the US has signed, for instance, but not ratified. 2:36 Uh, she also calls for a coalition of political and spiritual leaders to seek change not only in the law, but in social norms and behavior. 2:44 She cites progress made in Malawi since 2014 to reduce and eventually eliminate child marriage as, uh, an example of how this kind of coalition can be effective, but clearly more needs to be done, uh, as our Global Insider interview series on women's rights and gender equality also makes clear. 3:03 But, uh, a very important article and a great addition to that series. 3:08 This call for a moral turn is really important, um, because, uh, I, I think that in most cases, uh, the legislative framework, uh, to protect women's rights and, and, uh, and, and punish, uh, aggressions against it are act- is actually there, but it's, it's still ignored in too many cases, and it's considered to be acceptable to be ignored in, in too many cases and in too many countries. 3:32 So I think that is a real- a really important point there. It's definitely a recurring theme in that Global Insider series, uh, legal protections that don't necessarily translate into societal change. 3:43 We also ran a briefing on Guinea-Bissau, a, a country that is seemingly in perpetual political crisis that I know you wanted to talk about. 3:53 Yes, uh, this is a very good briefing by Charles Pembroke, and Guinea-Bissau is one of these in- incredibly interesting countries, um, that, uh, that, that rarely make the news, uh, on, uh, in, in the mainstream media, um, but which ought to be looked at more closely. 4:09 So as Charles, uh, writes, uh, um, the country has never seen a elected government completing its constitutional term, and it has experienced nine coups and coup attempts since 1980, so a highly instable, uh, political scene with a, with a great influence of the military. 4:28 And, um, he goes into a bit of detail of the current, uh, political conflicts that paralyze the country, uh, mainly the question of the relative power, um, of the prime minister compared to the president, and, uh, continued, uh, problem in Guinea-Bissau, the role of the military in political affairs. 4:47 So President José Mário Vaz, uh, he has paralyzed the government of Guinea-Bissau by trying to limit the influence of a faction of the ruling party, dismissing a, a string of prime ministers associated with that, that faction, and ultimately putting his own ally into the position, uh, after, uh, the, uh, after the former Prime Minister Pereira, uh, tried to shift the balance of power away from the executive and thus the presidency. 5:12 The, the faction opposing the president, uh, has retaliated by blocking key legislation in parliament, including the budget, uh, ba- s- basically grinding, uh, the, the working of the government to a standstill. 5:24 And, uh, with Guinea-Bissau also being an, an exceptionally poor country, uh, that is certainly not to the, uh, advantage of the population. 5:32 And, uh, as Charles lays out, there's a h- a deal has been negotiated with mediation of, of some of the re- re- of, of the regional, uh, partners of Guinea-Bissau to form a consensus government, but that deal, uh, uh, Charles says is, is very unlikely to be implemented anytime soon, as it leaves un- unresolved too many conflicts, uh, to be of real guidance. 5:52 And to make matters worse, uh, there's also currently a, a peacekeeping force of the regional bloc ECOWAS in the country, um, which is currently limiting the influence of the military, but that will force, will likely withdraw in 2017, and, uh, we can look forward to the opposing political camps renewing their engagement with, um, factions in the military, um, which will likely increase the, uh, risk of a- another coup. 6:20 You mentioned that, uh, it's a country that doesn't get a lot of attention. When it does, it's usually in the context of the, the very real problem of drug trafficking from South America, uh, through to Europe. 6:33 Uh, Guinea-Bissau has become a, a transit hub for, for that particular route. 6:38 A- at the same time, at WPR, this is part of what we consider our mission to be, is to actually cover countries that don't get a lot of attention, uh, in a, a domestic or a local context. 6:53 Uh, so it's a complicated country because of how politically crisis-prone it is, but one that deserves attention both because of, uh, the, the, the role it plays in, uh, transnational drug trafficking, uh, but also because, uh, not everything, uh, that's important makes headline news, and at WPR, that's part of what we like to do, is to, uh, cover things that aren't necessarily being covered elsewhere. 7:21 But that, of course, uh, doesn't keep you from covering news that does make the headlines, like the Syrian refugee crisis. 7:28 E- exactly, and, and in that case, what we like to do is find an angle of a headline story that hasn't actually been getting a lot of attention. 7:38 In this case, it's a briefing by Saskia van Genneken and Lorraine Charles on, uh, an aspect of the Syrian refugee crisis, uh, that is important, um, but isn't actually being addressed. 7:52 Uh, namely that their displacement in neighboring countries is now likely to be long-term, perhaps even permanent, and so we have to begin addressing how to help them make the transition from refugee to resident. 8:06 Uh, now the issue of refugees was addressed at the UN General Assembly last week, as well as at a leaders' summit called by US President Barack Obama on the sidelines. 8:16 Uh, the measures announced, including increased aid pledges and resettlement options, don't actually address these issues. 8:24 Um, the authors argue that, uh, the, the most important thing to address right now is the opportunity for these long-term ref- refugees to work. Um, they note that already many refugees are working, but informally. 8:40 Uh, 90% of Syrian refugees in Jordan and Turkey, for instance, live in urban communities, not in refugee camps, and they're taking informal jobs in sectors like agriculture, textiles, and, uh, construction. 8:54 But they point out that informal work has many disadvantages, so if a sustainable solution is to be found, it will have to include opportunities for formal employment. 9:04 Uh, now Turkey and Jordan have already taken some steps in this direction, but it's obviously a pl- politically thorny issue because you're talking about, uh, putting refugees to work in a domestic scenario where growth might not be, uh, robust. 9:20 So the international community needs to support these steps through incentives in bilateral aid, uh, but more importantly, private sector investment to require, uh, or to, to create conditionality. 9:33 In other words, you provide aid or investment in return for set-asides for hiring, uh, a certain number of Syrian refugees. 9:41 Um, there are also other administrative hurdles, uh, such as, uh, work permits and, and the like that Saskia and Lorraine talk about, uh, and offer practical ways over and around them, should be put in place as part of a sustainable approach to the problem. 9:57 But again, this is an aspect of the story, uh, that is not well covered within the broader coverage of the refugee crisis. Excellent. Uh, thanks so much for coming on the show again. It's been a pleasure, as always. 10:10 [Instrumental music] Young, innovative entrepreneurs building profitable businesses and providing valuable services to large sectors of society. This is not the picture that is usually painted of African economies. 10:25 But as I can attest from my own experiences on the continent, there's actually an astonishing amount of creative energy, especially with the younger generation. 10:34 Ernest Nti-Acheampong joins us now to dive deeper into the topic of youth entrepreneurship in Africa. [Instrumental music] My name is Ernest Nti-Acheampong. 10:45 Um, I'm a researcher at the African Technology Policy Studies network, uh, which is based in Nairobi, Kenya. 10:52 Over the years, uh, government has been unable to provide jobs for, um, a lot of our university graduates who are passing out, and so it has become critical for people to find jobs on their own. 11:08 Um, unemployment levels are quite high, and so people need to come up with initiatives and innovations that will also create jobs for themselves and others. And so, um, part of it has emerged as be, um, entrepreneurship. 11:24 And so the ability and capacity to innovate on one's own, um, to create jobs, um, without the help of, um, government absorbing, the public sector absorbing people, um, in terms of job, um, has come to be. 11:39 And so that pa- aspect has made entrepreneurship a big issue in, in the African context. 11:47 If you, if you take the whole population of Africa, which is about 1.2, um, billion, um, you have about two-thirds, um, up to, uh, two-thirds it's, it's more or less a younger generation. 12:01 Um, we classify them between the ages of 18 and around 35, thereabout. So you have a, a huge population, uh, mass of the population being in that age category. 12:12 And so what that means is that you have a younger, um, population in Africa who are still in their prime age And so in, in that aspect, what that means is that you have an advantage in terms of labor, you have an ad- advantage in ter- in terms of fresh thinking. 12:32 And so that becomes a, an essential component of, um, um, society and in terms of how the economy should grow. 12:41 And so increasingly you have, um, government, um, African Union and other, uh, regional institutions, um, thinking about this aspect of the youth as more of, um, a resource rather than a liability. 12:58 Um, so the, the opportunity is there for these, um, institutions and these, um, uh, regional bodies to tap into this younger generation to make an impact in Africa. 13:11 Because as you already know, Africa is increasingly, um, becoming a player in the global market as far as our economy is concerned. A lot of resources are being tapped into. 13:21 There are a lot of, um, rush from China, from other places, um, to tap into the growing economy of Africa. And, and the youth forms the backbone of this, um, economy that we have here. 13:34 So that makes it very critical for, um, attention to be drawn to that. 13:38 The government or the public sector is not adequate enough to absorb all these, um, young, uh, graduates and, uh, people, young people who, um, in the system. 13:50 And so it be- it becomes very critical in terms of how do we create jobs for these young generation in order not for them to be idle. 14:00 Um, if we will recall, part of this, um, Arab Spring, if you recall, um, occurred because of lack of, um, job for younger generations. And so if you leave the younger generation idle, they want to find something to do. 14:17 And in finding something to do, they want their voices to be heard. And most of the time when their voices are heard, that is not something pleasant for governments. That is not pleasant for countries. 14:28 And so it becomes very critical for people, um, um, for entrepreneurship become key, to become key in, in terms of policy. 14:39 And so part of it is that increasingly we have government, um, countries who are coming up with policies that promote entrepreneurship in, in, um, African countries so that the younger generation, the youth in Africa, can have access to opportunities to, uh, create jobs for themselves and for others. 15:00 [upbeat music] It may be small today, but it won't be after you win. 15:07 The Youth Enterprise and Innovation Competition, YUWIN, is a nationwide jobs creation project organized by the federal government to empower young Nigerians, and it is open to all young Nigerian businessmen and women, as well as aspiring young business people. 15:21 Winners from each geopolitical zone stand to get up to 10 million naira, as well as intensive trainings, seminars, mentorship, networking, and ongoing advisory support. 15:34 So for instance, in Kenya here we have the National Youth Policy, which is aimed at promoting the ingenuity in youth to create jobs for themselves. 15:44 And part of it, government has produced, um, provided that enabling environment through the establishment of the National Youth Enterprise Fund. 15:52 And part of it is also that when people start, um, establish their own startups, they need some kind of capital, um, to cushion them, to, to help them set up these, um, um, enterprises. 16:06 And so government has a fund through which people can access, um, funding to begin their startups, to begin their projects, and begin their businesses. 16:16 And so that is one thing that has also been established in Ghana, where you have a lot of commitment from the government on the policy side, as well as also providing capital, um, through, um, donors, through government COFX to ensure that some of these, um, enterprises and innovations that are being produced by youth are taking to practice so that jobs can be created from that. 16:43 So these are two key examples in, in, in, in Africa that, um, governments are pursuing to ensure that, um, um, younger generations are able to establish businesses on their own, and whilst doing that, they contribute also to the economies. 16:59 A lot of African countries are facing, um, uh, critical challenges when it comes to, um, corruption and, um, some of these, um, institutions are failing to do their job as far as, um, executing policies, um, that promote entrepreneurship, youth entrepreneurship in Africa is concerned. 17:19 Um, but at the same time, there are also checks. 17:22 Um, um, increasingly we are, people are becoming aware and accountable because of, um, technologies, because of media, because of all these, um, kind of, um, exposure that people are getting. 17:36 And so in as much as there are problems that, uh, um, we are facing, 17:42 by virtue of the awareness that, um, there's a need, there's that need, um, for people to be accountable, we are increasingly having some of these problems that we are facing in terms of, um, implementation of some of these funds and, and policies, um, kind of improving a bit. 18:01 But at the same time, young people are not sitting down and relying on government to, um, kind of, uh, push them when it comes to their enterprises. Um, people are, um, entering into innovative, um, 18:16 um, uh, activities trying to woo investors, trying to kind of, um, sell their ideas to other companies, be it private sector or other, um, corporations who are interested in some of these innovations. 18:32 And so you see part of Um, young people exposing their innovations outside the boundaries of their country. 18:41 And so we have a lot of these innovations that goes beyond just, um, um, the count- the innova- um, the, the boundaries of the countries where these in- innovations originated. 18:52 And so that part of it has been able to conquer some of these challenges of, um, corruption or challenges of east, um, countries, and, um, uh, challenges. 19:03 And part also is coming from the regional bodies and continental bodies who are fully aware of the fact that if Africa has to employ its youth, then they also have to do something at a regional and continental level. 19:18 And so we have a lot of some of these, um, prize awards, um, um, innovation, venture capital that are also promoting, um, um, entrepreneurship, um, through giving funds, giving capitals for people to venture into some of these, uh, enterprises they have developed. 19:38 And so if you look at it from that broader picture, then you see that you have a lot of innovations that are coming up. People are really excited about these things, and they are promoting them vigorously in Africa. 19:50 The kind of, um, entrepreneurs and technologies that are being produced cuts across, um, different sectors, um, of the economy. 19:59 So for instance, in agriculture, um, particularly, we've had a lot of innovations that are aimed at, um, various things in agriculture. 20:07 So for instance, we have, um, mobile phone, uh, technology applications that provide information on market prices for crops and for, um, harvest and for climate information. 20:22 [upbeat music] The Horn of Africa is in the middle of its worst drought in more than sixty years. As many as twelve million people could be facing famines. 20:33 Two seasons with no rain have led to crop failures and food shortages in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes in search of food. 20:47 Many heading for what has become the world's largest refugee complex. 20:51 [upbeat music] For instance, we recently, we had this, um, climate, uh, information awards in Kenya, where we're looking at the various innovations that provide information on, uh, climate for farmers to make decisions in terms of how they will cope with climate change. 21:11 And one of them was, um, called the Power Farms. 21:15 It is, it's like I've explained, provide very, um, important information for farmers to know that, um, during the course of the year, this is, um, the weather conditions, the climatic conditions, um, this is what I need to do in order to prevent, um, drought, uh, so that I can increase productivity. 21:35 At the same time, it gives information about, um, the market. If I produce this amount of crop, this quantity of crops, this is how much I'm going to get. Uh, so it gives you that pricing information on prices. 21:50 It gives you information on climate so that you know how to plan your, um, um, farming. 21:57 Uh, one is also called, um, Land Info, which is also on climate change as well because, you know, uh, back here, climate is a, a big issue, especially drought and, and, um, flooding. 22:10 And so people are very, very, um, the, the, the aspect of information on climate, um, uh, issues are critical to farmers. 22:19 And so they require a lot of information on these things in order to inform them of, um, land, um, um, farm management decisions. Um, when you go to, uh, places like Ghana, they have also, um, other, um, technologies. 22:34 So we have something they call the, um, mHealth. Um, this, this is, um, a kind of a system that is able to track fake drugs, um, fake, um, drugs, um, that are administered, uh, by, um, licensed chemical pharmacy shops. 22:51 You know, there are a lot of fake, uh, drugs in the system. And so once you're able to, um, uh, use the barcode on the drug, uh, you, you kind of scan it, you're able to detect whether this drug is original or is fake. 23:06 And so these are able to help people identify what kind of drug they are buying for their health. Um, there are quite a number of applications, mobile applications that have come up. 23:17 And also, at the same time, we have a lot of, um, what do I say? Um, systems that are being put in place. 23:26 So for instance, we have agriculture, um, um, irrigation systems that uses, um, uh, that reduce the volume of water that is needed. And so that one is suitable for drought, um, prone areas. 23:40 So these are all technologies and innovations that are kind of contributing to, um, the local economy in terms of growth in, um, productivity and also, um, to sustain, uh, good health. 23:54 Part of the issue now is to develop technologies that are able to solve the problems that are specific to Africa. So mainly you are thinking about the African context as, as at now. 24:06 Um, I was in, I told you, I was in Beijing last, um, two weeks, and I was impressed with some of the things they have done. And I was just looking at the progress they have made over the years and how they started. 24:18 And they had-- Looking at what they did, they were interested in solving their problems before they are able to market what they have achieved. 24:29 And so they wanted to build technologies that had succeeded, and based on that, they would able to, um, put it across or worldwide. 24:40 So for Africa to move beyond our region, we need to also ensure that what we are producing can stand the test of time, can succeed before it goes out. So that is going to take a longer period. 24:56 But if you also look at it from this angle where, for instance, in Silicon Valley, they have this huge, massive hub where you have technologists, innovationists all across coming from various countries to establish their businesses, their developed technologies from. 25:14 When you have that niche established in certain place, then you are talking about how you can attract various innovators and entrepreneurs from various countries to come and make an impact. 25:28 And part of it is also about internationalization. So this is our first Global Entrepreneurship Summit in sub-Saharan Africa. We wanted to come here. I wanted to be here because Africa is on the move. 25:45 Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in the world. People are being lifted out of poverty. Incomes are up. The middle class is growing. 25:59 And young people like you are harnessing technology to change the way Africa is doing businesses. And that creates incredible opportunities for Africans and for the world. 26:09 It means more growth and trade that creates jobs in all our countries. It's good for all of us. This continent needs to be a future hub of global growth, not just African growth. 26:26 Most of the time you have technologies that are oriented towards African problems, which might be unique from the rest of the world. So we will get there, hopefully. I'm very optimistic. 26:38 But at the same time, it's going to take a longer period. And the fact that we need to understand that increasingly we have a global market that we have to reach. 26:50 And so if we have to do that, we have to open our systems. We have to develop that infrastructure that is standard globally in order to attract innovators all across the world. 27:02 Because trust me, there are a lot of guys I met in the U.S. last year who are of African origin, who complain that they cannot come and set up infrastructure in Africa because there's no conducive environment for them. 27:16 But they wish that they could do that. And so that when they have come out, then they will be proud to say that these are products that are also coming from Africa. 27:26 So that thing eventually will materialize, but it will need a lot of work in terms of awareness, in terms of understanding the dynamics at play when you want to reach the global market. 27:40 There is that optimism in the air in terms of where Africa wants to go. We have our limitations as a continent. 27:49 And I always say that one of the challenges when it comes to resources, materials and natural resources, everything is here. But then when you look beyond that, 28:01 then you have the issue of institutions that is crippling progress as far as Africa development is concerned. 28:09 And so what we need to do is to transform our systems in terms of social innovation, in terms of social orientation, in terms of building the capacity of people to understand the direction that Africa wants to go, especially in terms of entrepreneurship, because it has become a critical aspect of Africa moving forward towards 28:34 this agenda we call the 2063 agenda. The 2063 agenda is the agenda for development for the whole of Africa, where we are looking to achieve certain milestones. 28:48 So, for instance, we're talking about having a single market, a single passport in Africa, eradicating poverty by that time and so forth, which aligns to the sustainable development goals. 29:02 And so institution-wise, there's a lot of work to be done for people to create that enabling environment to ensure that people are really on the move. People have 29:16 when you want to establish a business, it doesn't take you one year to establish a business. When you want to push through 29:26 documentation, it doesn't take you reduce all these blocks and bureaucracies that are in the system to ensure that some of these environment are safe and conducive for people to do business. 29:37 So these are some of the things that really needs to be done for Africa to really move forward. But like I said, we 29:47 it is interesting what is happening across Africa with young people who are so enthusiastic about what they are doing. People are increasingly buying into the idea of making something out of 30:03 themselves and also to create that product which we'll be proud of as Africans. Many thanks to Ernest for these insights. 30:16 His in-depth article on the topic is now online on worldpoliticsreview.com. Don't forget to subscribe to Trendlines in iTunes or another app of your choice. 30:25 And if you want to stay up to date with WPR's coverage of world affairs, you can also subscribe to the WPR newsletter on worldpoliticsreview.com. Trendlines is produced and edited by me, Peter Dury. 30:37 You can follow me and World Politics Review on Twitter, and you can find links to the pieces covering the issues we talked about in the show notes on worldpoliticsreview.com. 30:47 Have a fantastic weekend and see you next week for a new episode of Trendlines.
