Mo Ibrahim spoke on the opening plenary of the 2017 Africa CEO Forum in Geneva, Switzerland. The panel focussed on Reinventing the African ‘Business Model’ and Mo covered topics such as governance, youth, technology, agriculture, education and business.
In his remarks, Mo stressed that young people are the hope of Africa and that change will come from them.
Other comments from Mo:
We don’t need a new economic model – Africa is a continent not a company! Africa needs good governance!
Agriculture is the most important industry in Africa. We need to find a way to make agriculture sexy again.
Young people are the greatest constituency in Africa. Don’t ask for empowerment, you need to go and take it.
Why do we do business? Number one is for profit, number two is for the people and number three is for the planet.
Other panellists included:
- Akinwumi Adesina: President, African Development Bank
- Sarah Kebet-Koulibaly: Vice President Portfolio Management, IFC
- Naguib Sawiri: CEO, OTMT Investments.
As part of continued discussion on youth, this year’s Ibrahim Forum, which is part of the Ibrahim Governance Weekend taking place from 7-9 April in Marrakech, Morocco, will include a session on The need for an inclusive economic growth and jobs for Africa’s youth.
