Sangu Delle: In praise of macro -- yes, macro -- finance in Africa
Sangu Delle is an entrepreneur and clean water activist. A TED Fellow who hails from Ghana, he sees incredible potential in the African economy. Full bio
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in Africa are not working very well.
in African development-related aid
is lower than it was in the 1970s.
the IMF and the World Bank --
shows little empirical evidence
silver bullet is microcredit.
on this romanticized idea
is an entrepreneur.
in 40-plus countries across Africa
want jobs instead.
pan-African titans
he founded Celtel International in '98
cellular provider
across 14 African countries by 2004.
than the everyman entrepreneur model,
of diffusion and knowledge-sharing.
leads to growth through competition.
to each of 500 banana farmers
their surplus bananas
at the local market.
to one savvy entrepreneur
that yields 40 percent additional income
and creates 50 additional jobs.
Kenyan entrepreneur Eric Muthomi
factory called Stawi
banana-based flour and baby food.
to create value for not only its owners
an ownership in the business.
and try to help him become a Mo Ibrahim,
local and global partnerships,
during the Berlin Conference of 1884 --
were not exactly consulted --
with small populations:
Cape Verde, 500,000.
with trade barriers and other impediments,
across the continent
outweigh the challenges,
Stawi's markets from just Kenya
and anywhere else that will buy our food.
empower farmers, create jobs,
and we hope to become rich in the process.
achieve the same feel-good
to buy a goat on kiva.org,
higher-impact entrepreneurs
that scale pan-Africa
for which our forebearers fought
for economic freedom
so desperately need,
this is strong rhetoric.
between microcredit
and growing regular investment.
a role for microcredit at all?
innovative way
to the bottom of the pyramid.
at the Marshall Plan
and we need jobs.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sangu Delle - EntrepreneurSangu Delle is an entrepreneur and clean water activist. A TED Fellow who hails from Ghana, he sees incredible potential in the African economy.
Why you should listen
Born in Ghana, Sangu Delle's childhood home was a refuge for victims of torture and violence from neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone. Delle graduated from Harvard College with highest honors in African Studies and Economics. He was awarded the Soros Fellowship and pursued a Juris Doctor of Law and MBA at Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School, respectively.
At Harvard, enrolling in the Social Engagement Initiative program that bridged the academic study and practical service gap, Delle co-founded cleanacwa (formerly the African Development Initiative) in 2007, which today is currently working to bring clean water and sanitation to over 200,000 people in 160 villages in the Ayensuano, Suhum and Nandom districts in Ghana. Delle is also passionate about mental health and wellness, and was a founding member of Harvard University’s Mental Health Alumni Special Interest Group.
Delle has previously worked at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Valiant Capital Partners. Convinced that the real needs of communities can best be met through entrepreneurship, in 2008 he founded an investment holding company, Golden Palm Investments(GPI) to fund promising start-ups that can have social impact and generate jobs. GPI has backed technology startups such as Andela, Flutterwave and mPharma. GPI has also built a portfolio of greenfield companies in healthcare, agriculture and financial services. Delle serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GPI.
Delle has received several international accolades including being named a 2016 finalist for “Young CEO of the Year” by the Africa CEO Forum, Africa’s “Young Person of the Year” in 2014 by the Future Africa Awards, selected as a 2014 TEDGlobal Fellow, Forbes’ top 30 most promising entrepreneurs in Africa and Euromoney’s “Africa’s Rising Stars” award. Institut Choiseul and Forbes Afrique named Delle as one of the top “100 Economic Leaders in Africa” in 2015. Mic named Delle as one of 9 entrepreneurs in the millennial generation making a difference.
Delle is a Trustee of the Peddie School in NJ and serves on the Advisory Board and chairs the Leadership Council of Harvard University’s Center for African Studies. He also serves on the inaugural West Africa Advisory Group of the Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University.
Delle loves the outdoors and trekked Mount Everest in 2013 and summited Kilimanjaro during the summer of 2015.
Sangu Delle | Speaker | TED.com