Magatte Wade: Why it's too hard to start a business in Africa -- and how to change it
Magatte Wade: Pourquoi il est trop difficile de lancer une entreprise en Afrique - et comment la changer
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,
c'est quelque chose qui m'est arrivé,
weeks ago, it happened.
I would ever hear it said to my face
je n'aurais jamais pensé entendre,
they filled it with so much hope.
ils l'ont rempli avec tant d'espoir.
renewed my commitment
mon engagement
partager avec vous aujourd'hui.
to share with you today.
that I am a haunted person.
que je suis une personne hantée.
les histoires impossibles,
après histoire après histoire
de gens comme moi
laying at the bottom of the ocean,
en ce moment, au fond de l'océan,
qu'on puisse faire ?
that's the best we can do?
tentent d'émigrer en Europe -
who are trying to migrate to Europe --
pour trouver un emploi.
to Europe to find a job.
when we're trying to cross through Libya
lorsqu'on essaie de traverser la Libye
maybe sometimes 500 dollars.
peut-être parfois 500 dollars.
of bodies that fall off an airplane.
de corps qui tombent d'un avion.
the landing gear of a plane
dans le train d'atterrissage d'un avion
from the moment you were a little girl,
depuis votre plus tendre enfance,
qui se répètent,
and they keep repeating themselves,
alors que mon peuple se meurt,
as my people are dying,
cette infériorité culturelle,
we have this culture inferiority,
de nous n'est pas suffisant.
that comes from us is not good enough.
by creating, it's Michelangelos.
en créant, comme Michel-Ange,
avec des problèmes
come to me with problems
à des alternatives.
of a couple alternatives.
savoir que tu as pensé à quelque chose. »
that you thought of something."
quelque chose ne va pas, arrange ça.
something is wrong, find a way to fix it.
les entreprises que je lance,
the businesses that I start,
de ma culture africaine.
the very best of my African culture.
21st century, world-class tendered,
est emballé, 21e siècle, de haute qualité,
sophisticated markets in the world,
les plus sophistiqués au monde,
c'était des boissons,
la troisième sera lancée le mois prochain,
third one is launching next month,
n'ont pas de travail.
sont, il n'y a pas d'emplois.
where they are, there's no jobs.
is the root cause of why they're leaving.
est la cause profonde de leur départ.
car ils n'ont pas d'argent.
because they have no money.
on n'a aucune source de revenu.
because you have no source of income.
une source de revenu ?
what is a source of income?
notre source de revenu, dites-moi ?
source of income, what is it, tell me?
réduisent la pauvreté,
ou moyennes entreprises, les PME --
and medium size enterprises, SMEs --
peut-être une seconde
for a small-business person
les choses pour les petits entrepreneurs
de facilité de faire des affaires
at the Doing Business index ranking
pour lancer une entreprise,
it is to start a company,
it is literally impossible
littéralement impossible
in these countries of ours.
ce que ça signifie
what it means on the ground
fabrication au Sénégal.
facility in Senegal.
que je ne trouve pas dans le pays,
that I can't find in the country,
on everything that comes in?
even to look for fine cardboard
ne vont pas venir ici
are not going to come here
3 000 dollars de carton
3000 dollars' worth of cardboard
de pouvoir en avoir -
so that I can have cardboard,
cinq semaines à arriver.
for another five weeks.
les lois les plus absurdes.
with the most nonsensical laws out there.
lancer des entreprises.
m'a dit des mots qui m'ont marquée,
said to me words that marked me,
à mes employés au Sénégal.
to my employees in Senegal.
elle s'appelle Yahara.
her name is Yahara.
suis venue à croire -
because I had come to believe --
comme des pauvres -
represented as poor people --
yes, maybe we are inferior.
oui, peut-être qu'on est inférieurs.
in the begging situation?"
just what I explained to you,
je ne suis pas le problème.
that I am not the problem.
lequel je vis, le problème. »
that's my problem."
they now change their outlook on life.
ils changeront leur vision de la vie.
of our solutions, then?
that we should be simplifying
que nous devons simplifier
of all of these countries?
de tous ces pays ?
from the other 50 countries
des 50 autres pays
fassent la même chose.
to do the same thing.
what are you doing?
everybody here in this room,
is educate yourself,
d'administration en ligne.
for e-government solutions.
contre la corruption ? »
how do we fight corruption?"
I'm here to tell you
qu'on peut le faire d'un trait de plume.
by the stroke of a pen.
lui dire quand et comment faire ça.
when and how to do that.
le fasse, alors faites-le.
for anyone to do, so do it.
that you want to fix corruption.
qu'on veut réduire la corruption.
from the other 50 countries
de 50 autres pays
contre la corruption.
apporter mes affaires dans le pays,
to get my stuff in the country,
devrais payer un pot-de-vin ?
that I would have to go a pay a bribe?
de lois horribles et absurdes.
you don't need to wait for anyone.
n'y a pas de souveraineté,
that maybe you have no sovereignty,
I have simple words for our "leaders."
j'ai de mots simples pour nos « chefs ».
of millions of young people
de millions de jeunes
de perspective dans la vie,
productivement, et tout est ok,
and everything is good,
il sort de mon chemin,
you get out of my way,
job, on crée ces emplois dont on a besoin,
we create all these jobs we need,
this very prosperous country
qu'elle aurait dû être depuis longtemps.
it should have been for a long time.
on progresse tous.
we move on with our lives.
the calm, productive way.
calme et productive.
ever even try to think
essayer de penser
if we don't go there.
si on n'y va pas.
happiness, human flourishing --
bonheur, épanouissement humain --
on fait notre travail.
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