I think tribalism transcends corruption as a cause for the underdevelopment of the continent. Countries are made of savage tribes perpetually tearing against each other
"He died young unfortunately, at the age of 58"...ooh my God. If only we could see the future. Thank you for your life. Thank you for this Ted Talk and for the books you've written. Rest in Power Sir
@@penzancegunner857 ..... I believe US the millennium generation will break the borders that where created to weaken us, combine and work together to improve the continent....for we are more eye opened and we are hungry for change in Africa
i live in SA, i was born in Zim, i am african and i want all my African brothers and sisters to be successful Africans. We can do it, if we can fix the corruption and nepotism, we need to look after mama Africa so that she may take care of us. we need to educate ourselves. we need to raise our moral standards and start to expect more from our leaders. Fire the bad leaders, point them out and shame them for stealing from their family, we are all Gods children, we can do it, we are blessed. . .
"We cannot keep making same mistakes (which have been made more than 75 years ago)...and expect different outcomes or better results...same like old chief did when offering a diamond mine to Mr Williamson unknowingly the value of a resource at hand..." Kaka Alli reminds me one thing on East Africa slavery.. I used to ask myself without proper answers on how could one or two Arabs with a machete and a single bullet gun put our grandpas like 300 of them on chains load them with elephant ivories all the way from Kigoma (along Lake Tanganyika) to Dar es Salaam and Kilwa (on Indian Ocean) more than 1000 km and ship them to Middle East, Zanzibar and Madagascar as slaves. And none of them could raise a word thinking he could be shot, but yes.. 10 to 20 could got shot by resisting these two Arabs and the rest could overwhelm them and liberate themselves.. but no one dared to! It is clear, same means same mechanisms, applying today in a modern world in a modern way, we are still chained at no machete, no gun point but through trade systems, technology and unfavourable policies guided by strong debt conditions, backed up by globalization, despite all the riches we have, we've lost a say in global decisions, thus getting dragged in, and because we are in need, we don't dare to say no. Our leaders are dancing in the tunes of the West and recently into Chinese rhythms..! The new Williamsons are now rushing to new adventures in Africa and we are applauding them, Now Africa has all it takes to make it another world, but we are waiting the Foreigners (non-Africans) to guide the process, to lead the way... how possible is this?
Ernelstein Goldberg the Third I am not African but Indian, and you need to brush up on ur History. Zimbabwe was a great international commercial hub in southern Africa. it was connected very well with major global powers like Indian city states, midditerranean merchant republics and Chinese empire at a time when Western European cultures were irrelevant in the Global geopolitics. And average IQ of an Ethiopian is actually on the higher side, because they have been civilized longer than some western European countries. You need to read and travel more.
Sometimes your weakness is a result of another's strength. Sometimes your strength comes when others become weak. Africa has doubts and fears. When those doubts and fears are overcome, Africa will lead the world.
Thank you Ali Mufuruki, your message is very clear for us (Africans) to coin our own way of development (rising), not as defined by outsiders! Those needing empirical evidences (for their diploma theses) should go to college/university debates. Otherwise the message is clear for us who want different Africa!! ...and yes, Africa is not (yet) rising!!
Empirical data is there for a reason otherwise how then do you compare or measure decline or growth in an environment ? Thesis that are prepared by students are often meant to be applied in the different governmental bodies as an engine to development and not just to enable certification. The so called Western world utilises them just for that ! If we in Africa have not been making use of the readily available data that higher learning students have been churning out then it is unfortunate and it is about time we wake up and start to do things ourselves. We understand our environment better than an outsider does and in so doing will be able to articulate our definition of growth.
Finally, First speaker that doesn't blame other countries for Africa's problems..... If you blame other people for your failures you will always fail..
What a brave & knowledgeable man he was. Sadly 7 years later we still seem to be stuck in the same situation. We need to become his ambassadors and share his message as far & wide on the continent. We focus far too much on minor matters while the rest of the world is making progress in all fields
Africa is not one country. It would be difficult for any continent to rise together. No on talks about the rise of Asia. That would be rediculous. We see the trouble Europe is having rising under one economy and aparently it is not easy to do. Africa is not rising like China because China is one country guided by one government.
Sir if I may comment. If you have been in sub saharan African countries you will understand that these countries move economically, socially, and politically almost the same way. Furthermore, historically there are somehow the same people who use almost the same systems to thrive and survive. Just a simple example you will fine the same tribes accross neighbouring countries. This alone is significant if we want to explain simple economic behaviours, people often forget cultural dimensions yet they play an important role in determining behaviour towards resources allocation and distribution. It's true that there are different countries but they somehow resemble each other.
Yes Africa isn't one country, though the use of china i assume to relative to in size and potential that of china. Both country and continent have are relatively similar in economic scale. Now i believe that if we as a continent came together in an effort of helping each other we could rid ourselves of so many problems and most especially debt. A good example of this would be the country of Libya with Gaddafi, besides the dictatorial aspect of leadership. We also need to stop looking for help we're strong willed and can overcome this next step in rising.
You get what you pay for, that said, free education is not the answer. African people need to self actualise. Rural Africa is still very very tribal and yes, primitive. You need better leaders with moral backbones and stable family units. The value of life in Africa is direly low.
at his age this man ought to know there is no such thing as 'economic growth'. we are on a planet floating in space where nothing is being added or subtracted. so what exactly is growing? the finite resources on this planet naturally move in cycles. linear economics teaches growth that seeks to disobey these cycles. circular economies work better.
We have lost a gentleman. rest in peace kaka Ali. you were a gift to mankind. you will be missed. how untimely has your passing been. and it would been untimely whenever anyway. asante sana kaka. your commitment/openness was always exemplary
The African people must never be overtaking or controlled by any European, Asian, Russian, American or Arad nations influence ever again. Peace is achieved through equality amount societies. Example: Instead of Rich, middle class and poor, How about just Middle class. Dlion
When he said we in 2050 we are going to fight over fresh water and the country that borders all the 3 lakes is Tanzania which is my country, I had shivering sensation of doom.
He did not say that was inevitable, and even if he did it would just be a pessimistic guess. When the current 'leaders' and hoarders of wealth pass on, and that will be soon, our younger generations will have more of a chance to create more equality, and they will, we will: it is already happening, though it is subtle now, it will become more manifest and apparent in this coming decade of 2030. This rise in equality will create the will to share rather than fight. The idea of limited resources is propaganda created by those that profit from the idea of scarcity. For example, take diamonds, they are not that rare. Their value is artificially created by De Beers and others that keep secret and hold back how many diamonds actually exist. The number of diamonds out there is kept secret so that they can control their value, it is purely marketing, and has nothing to do with scarcity. If we can make our societies mindful and aware, we will move towards sharing, rather than fighting. The fighting and war only profits a very select few, and they do cultivate war, but that power is waning, as the war mongers die off. The western colonial mindset is dying, and it will create as much fear as possible as it is in its death throws, it will rattle like the snake that it is. We can, and are, moving in the right direction, time is on our side.... Though it is always two steps forwards, one step back. Time Come!
A great speech for what it asks the listener to engage and perhaps a call to action. Mufuruki is a formidable soft spoken giant of our time. In this synopsis, Ali is asking consortium of industry to leaders, captains of our inherited economic models, to prescribe to new realities and master these challenges as Asia did. I applaud him for raising the issues given his cadre and position in the emerging markets of East Africa. Politicians should borrow a page from his book of character and thought. God bless him.
PREEEEEAAAAAACH!!!!!! Louder for those at the back!!! THANK YOU!!!! PREACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How can we get every one in Africa to understand this?
Ali's talk is all inspiring..., very analytically and to the point, although lacking details (which is ok for the time frame accorded to the speaker)....!!! I wish our leaders and especially in the current leadership would adopt this philosophical approach in trying to resolve the in inherent and persistent social-economic ailments that have continuously impeded our development,,
I applaud this man for the rare quality of honesty in what he says. i'm sure his frustration makes him seethe but educating all peoples through the medium of TED will send his message further than raging against the injustice of it all.
The power of Africa is really in UNITY...just as it is for every world empire that existed in the past and today. Ancient Egypt, Assyrian, Persian, Babylon, Greek, Roman, US and EU and now China. To take control you must unite a people and pursue one vision as one people, one voice not two and nothing will stand in your path.
His speech is well organized although it flows all the way without concrete empirical foundation. Indeed Africa is rising from the scratch, not from the mountain. And also it is ridiculous to compare percapita energy consumption of one French citizen to the African! For France, it tooks more than hunders of years of socio economic progress to reach the current level. But for for Africans, it starts in a very recent time. I think it very important to be rational
I completely agree Wondmagegn - he picks and chooses what examples he would like to use to make his silly points. First he says let's compare China to Africa, but when it comes to energy, he chooses to compare it with France? He brings up AIDS - which all evidence has shown is a very bad idea in Africa - and says it's a good thing, but the only examples he can come up with for the successful application of AIDS is when used for the reconstruction of infrastructure destroyed during war. Which doesn't even remotely apply to Africa! His entire talk is a whine about what isn't working without any specific discussion/suggestions about what can work. You, Speaker, are not what Africa needs! Anyone can complain! BTW you can harness fresh water from the ocean if need be, so your friend is an idiot! Dislike!
Leila Mufuruki Looks like this is your dad, that’s why you are in his side. I am from Tanzania probably where the speaker is from. He is a good speaker but some of his comparisons are kind not related. How can you compare the aids for the reconstruction of wars to the aids of moving from scratch?Again, he mostly blame without giving the solution on what to do. But in general I like his speech though.
Wondmagegn Tafesse it is not ridiculous, its actually sad you think it is, and to be clear he was stating that the comparison is unfair, that a single town in France produces more power than the whole of Africa. that is sad, worse is that Africans are doing it to themselves.
Wondmagegn Tafesse, that is the problem, precisely. The fact that you feel a comparison between the energy consumption of an African and a French citizen is ridiculous. You speak of "hundreds of years of .. progress", yet a big part of Africa was [some still is] considered French territories. So would a Frenchman in French Sudan/Mali from 70 years ago be comparable to a Frenchman in France? If yes, then it's not about Africa, it's about who the person is, regardless of location and that's plain racist. If not, then while France was progressing, she [like they used to say], along with other colonial powers were exploiting African resources [including human] and now when trying to rise, Africans are told to accept a low standard and celebrate Titles of Big Deals Signed, even if it means most of the profit is going elsewhere. I think Ali Mufurki hit the point most people are missing, the need to realize that having double standards only hinders the growth of the poor one and if comparisons should only be drawn after the same time is invested "progressing sociologically & economically", then Canada, my second home is a fairly new country so is a comparison between a Canadian and a French acceptable? And by the way, fiber optic [which I believe is an indication of technological progress] was in Botswana years before any Canadian Telecom company installed one fiber optic cable. So where does that put the comparison between the African & the North American? I believe all humans should have the right to strive towards the same high standard of living, without yourself or like-minded people telling them not to aim high and to accept a 3% graduation rate .. I don't think an African should be contempt getting electricity at the current rate because he or she is "African" and they should be "rational" .. The only way to RISE is to think how Ali thinks and know the reality, know the real data of what business is run in Africa and the real value behind the resources, raise the standard higher to achieve real growth and NEVER EVER accept any way of thinking that believes your standard of living depends on where or who you are. The standard should be the same and if countries or continents are moving at different rates, that's okay, as long as we're all aware of the standard and not fooled by a "fake standard that's moved closer to give the illusion of success and achievement" .. Correct me if I'm wrong Ali Mufuruki
jose kabig, simple, by asking yourself: Were African nations a part of the war? I say yes. You may say no, not directly .. but the truth is directly or not, African nations were colonized by the powers fighting, African resources were used to help fund the fighting, African people were used as soldiers to fight a war not even theirs & lawless areas then became labs, camps & waste dumps .. and you wonder how aid to African nations is compared to that for reconstruction after war? Man, the place is still a mess because of mysterious wars and you can't even acknowledge the damage from previous ones? If we deny history, choose to overlook or ignore its relevance, then sure let's call it aid for moving from scratch cuz you people never had civilization and other nations are waaay ahead so don't even bother comparing yourself to them .. If you're really from Tanzania, then this must be self-hate .. It's either you're not African and want Africans to stay at a lower level or if you are African, then you don't mind lowering the ceiling and not only that, but would actually try putting others down if they move it up. You say the speaker mostly blame without giving the solution - Not true .. His entire speech is a solution, only if you get it You have a strange look on the topic of what aid should be called, but that's a matter of opinon. You attack who agrees with him, disregard Leila Mufuruki's remarks and her own opinion, claiming she's a bias family member who's only supporting him - Low blow And then at the end you say "But in general I like his speech though" - Does not make any sense
I don't understand why he is comparing Africa to China. That comparison cannot be made. A better comparison would be comparing Asia to Africa or a specific African country to China.
Namukaya Sandra well I guess what I'm saying is I don't understand how one can clump all the African governments into one and then compare that to the one government in China or the one economy in China. Africa has so many different countries all of which have a different economy. people compare the United States to China all the time and China has more than three times the population of the United States. that's just the very bad comparison. A continent cannot not be compared to a country.
You are right about that.... but let's agree that irrespective of the difference in diversity and all... which by the way I agree has a big role to play.If only one African country took half of China's policies that country would be so much different. Let's say even if we picked just any other country let's say Malaysia, Korea name it, I think we have just accepted to run against S.America and yet we have a lot of potential. Point is, even if just one African country was compared to one Chinese province or one Asian country we would loose.Reason, we don't make deliberate efforts to be better, we have settled for what the rest of the world has to plan for us, and yes people are selfish, they think if one's neighbour became half as better off, they would be made worse off.Ans none is even penalised for this.
Namukaya Sandra the countries in Africa have a lot of great potential. The continent of Africa is more minerally rich than any other continent on the face this planet, and yet the people in many African countries suffer and live in poverty. the most important variable in being successful is education. Europe has set up some very good universities for education; why won't Africa establish some very good universities and then keep the people who become educated from those universities within the confines of the country that they were educated in so that they can grow these various African economies? there are some countries in the world that guarantees their citizens of free education all the way up through college. countries in Africa could do the same thing and it would benefit them greatly, don't you think?
ur wrong. his comparison was demographic. africa has about one billion people. and as he pointed out, China had about one billion twenty years ago. hence his comparison.
We need more people like this guy in the lecture circuit because he does not mask all the sadness with lies. He does not say every economic market is booming in africa. He admits things are not going good, why is it that. Then he ends with that he believes things can rise but we need to do this and this and stop doing this. Maybe easier said than done but he admits it, states the problems, and looks formpossible resolutions to get the motor going. Thats how you do it!
"nothing changes in Africa in the way we live and the way we are led", that's very powerful. Mistakes committed 75 years ago are still the same mistakes we are committing today. We are so engrossed in celebrating the presence of the white messiah in our midst. Africa will change when we stop idolizing people and start seeing the reality for what it is.
Work, planning and organizing are essential to real progress. But when you have the most powerful forces on earth working against you at every turn it's very difficult if not completely impossible to get your footing.
I totally agree with you Ali. The way african lead and are led is the reason of our sinking process! Until the masses and the political class change in order to start a takeoff process for the development of Africa.
Well said! And you received a good applause. But allow me to argue with you on this question " is Africa Rising " . Africa is not a country. It is a continent with small countries which were not made by Africans themselves. In 1884-5 Western nations sat in Berlin to divide Africa into small pieces, for themselves! "Scramble for Africa." It was a stressful time for our Father to waking up to find their land is divided up. The rising of Africa begun when they managed to decolonise the continent. Another step and the most important one is economic freedom which is on the way. Uniting the continent by getting rid of borders created in Berlin is another. When this is achieved, that's when we can be talking of economic development as Africans. Now comparing our African development with that of other nations who were never subjugated, dehumanized, tearing their family apart in slavery and colonisation, can never be fair at all. Yes I agree that we should never be content with Western world telling us that we are doing well. We can never do well if Africa is still colonised. As long as these borders exist, we as a nation can never be spoken of as being free. Colonial borders must disappear. If you take a look at the world map, Africa is the only continent chopped up in these little countries. Therefore we can never be compared with China America England Germany France etc in economic muscles. We will be there soon when we have one currency. We don't need Aid! We need trade.
We partially agree with you Mr Alli on a number of issues as you are spot(though that is not to mean that your assessment/ assertion were a complete reflection of why Africa is what it is today).
That’s so true Africans have unlimited access to gold, diamonds, and silver but don’t know the value of it. If we could realize this and use this to advance ourselves then I believe that our “rising” will happen very quick in comparison to other continents. We should start focusing on helping and developing ourselves before giving all we have to others.
riveting lecture by an excellent man. may they heed to mind like this in Africa. I want them to succeed but everyone has to start "raising" the expectations.
Africa Will rise surely its our turn now our continent Will hold the youngest population in the world in few years soon .... lets move and participate in our level to make Africa great again . Action speaks louder than words.
