Magatte Wade: Why it's too hard to start a business in Africa -- and how to change it
Magatte Wade: Por qué es tan difícil iniciar un negocio en África y cómo cambiarlo
Magatte Wade creates jobs in Africa -- and calls attention to the obstacles to job creation on the continent. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
is something that happened to me,
con Uds. algo que me pasó,
weeks ago, it happened.
cuatro semanas que pasó.
I would ever hear it said to my face
que alguna vez oiría en mi cara dichas
me destrozaron el corazón.
they filled it with so much hope.
lo llenaron de mucha esperanza.
renewed my commitment
renovó mi compromiso
to share with you today.
compartir con Uds. hoy.
that I am a haunted person.
que soy una persona obsesionada.
son las historias imposibles,
tras historia tras historia
laying at the bottom of the ocean,
tendida en el fondo del océano,
lo mejor que podemos hacer?
that's the best we can do?
who are trying to migrate to Europe --
intentando emigrar a Europa...
para encontrar un trabajo.
to Europe to find a job.
when we're trying to cross through Libya
cuando intentamos cruzar Libia
maybe sometimes 500 dollars.
of bodies that fall off an airplane.
de cuerpos que caen de un avión.
the landing gear of a plane
en el tren de aterrizaje de un avión
muertos por congelamiento.
from the moment you were a little girl,
desde que era una niña,
and they keep repeating themselves,
as my people are dying,
mientras mi gente se está muriendo,
we have this culture inferiority,
esta cultura de inferioridad,
that comes from us is not good enough.
no es lo suficientemente bueno.
by creating, it's Michelangelos.
criticar creando, es Michelangelos.
"No me vengas con problemas
come to me with problems
en un par de alternativas.
of a couple alternatives.
that you thought of something."
que pensaste en algo".
something is wrong, find a way to fix it.
encuentra la manera de solucionarlo.
the businesses that I start,
los negocios que empiezo,
the very best of my African culture.
lo mejor de mi cultura africana.
21st century, world-class tendered,
siglo XXI, de nivel mundial,
sophisticated markets in the world,
más sofisticados del mundo,
third one is launching next month,
la tercera se lanzará el próximo mes,
where they are, there's no jobs.
is the root cause of why they're leaving.
es la causa raíz de por qué se van.
because they have no money.
because you have no source of income.
no tiene una fuente de ingresos.
what is a source of income?
¿cuál es la fuente de ingresos?
source of income, what is it, tell me?
de ingresos, qué es, díganme?
lo que arregla la pobreza,
and medium size enterprises, SMEs --
y medianas empresas, pymes...
for a small-business person
las cosas para una pequeña empresaria
at the Doing Business index ranking
clasificación del índice Doing Business
it is to start a company,
que es iniciar una compañía,
la parte inferior de esa lista?
it is literally impossible
literalmente imposible.
in these countries of ours.
what it means on the ground
lo que significa en el campo
facility in Senegal.
that I can't find in the country,
que no puedo encontrar en el país,
on everything that comes in?
en todo lo que entra?
even to look for fine cardboard
manufacturados a EE. UU.
are not going to come here
no van a venir aquí.
3000 dollars' worth of cardboard
USD 3000 de cartón.
so that I can have cardboard,
para poder tener cartón,
for another five weeks.
with the most nonsensical laws out there.
con las leyes más absurdas que existen.
said to me words that marked me,
unas palabras que me marcaron,
to my employees in Senegal.
a mis empleados en Senegal.
her name is Yahara.
su nombre es Yahara.
because I had come to believe --
había llegado a creer
como personas pobres--
represented as poor people --
yes, maybe we are inferior.
sí, tal vez somos inferiores.
in the begging situation?"
en la situación de mendicidad?
just what I explained to you,
lo que les expliqué,
that I am not the problem.
sé que no soy el problema.
that's my problem."
ese es mi problema".
they now change their outlook on life.
cambie su perspectiva de la vida.
of our solutions, then?
nuestras soluciones?
that we should be simplifying
que deberíamos estar simplificando
of all of these countries?
de todos estos países?
from the other 50 countries
de los otros 50 países
de esa lista, hacer lo mismo.
to do the same thing.
what are you doing?
¿qué están haciendo?
everybody here in this room,
is educate yourself,
educarse a uno mismo,
for e-government solutions.
de gobierno electrónico.
how do we fight corruption?"
¿cómo combatimos la corrupción?".
I'm here to tell you
by the stroke of a pen.
when and how to do that.
cuándo y cómo hacerlo.
a que alguien lo haga, así que háganlo.
for anyone to do, so do it.
that you want to fix corruption.
que quieren arreglar la corrupción.
from the other 50 countries
de los otros 50 países.
to get my stuff in the country,
para obtener mis cosas en el país,
that I would have to go a pay a bribe?
tendría que pagar un soborno?
leyes horribles, sin sentido.
you don't need to wait for anyone.
no necesitan esperar a nadie.
that maybe you have no sovereignty,
que tal vez no tienen soberanía,
I have simple words for our "leaders."
palabras simples para nuestros "líderes".
of millions of young people
de millones de jóvenes.
and everything is good,
productivamente, y todo está bien,
you get out of my way,
se quitan de mi camino,
we create all these jobs we need,
todos esos trabajos que necesitamos,
this very prosperous country
en este país muy próspero.
debería haber sido durante mucho tiempo.
it should have been for a long time.
seguimos adelante con nuestras vidas.
we move on with our lives.
la manera tranquila y productiva.
the calm, productive way.
ever even try to think
ni siquiera pensar.
if we don't go there.
pasar si no lo hacemos así.
happiness, human flourishing --
felicidad, florecimiento humano--
si hacemos nuestro trabajo.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Magatte Wade - Brand creatorMagatte Wade creates jobs in Africa -- and calls attention to the obstacles to job creation on the continent.
Why you should listen
Magatte Wade's first company, Adina World Beverages, brought Senegalese bissap to US consumers through Whole Foods Market, Wegmans and United Natural Foods, Inc. Her second company, Tiossan, brought Senegalese skin care recipes to US consumers through Nordstrom and boutique beauty retailers. Her third company, SkinIsSkin, manufactures lip balms based on Senegalese ingredients in Senegal and markets them in the US to reduce racial bias.
Based on her experiences creating consumer brands and building agricultural and manufacturing capacity in Senegal, Wade has spoken at dozens of universities including Oxford, Harvard, Yale, Columbia and MIT, among other, as well as at global conferences on innovation and economic development in France, Dubai, Guatemala, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and many more. She writes for the Huffington Post, Barron's, and the UK Guardian. She is a Young Global Leader with the World Economic Forum at Davos and has appeared on the cover of Forbes Afrique. She was also named one of the "Twenty Young Power Women of Africa" by Forbes US.
Magatte Wade | Speaker | TED.com