The phenomenal mindset of Africa's future leaders | Nkosana Mafico | TEDxUQ

my name is ago sana and i was born in africa the country growing up I lived in a mud hut were tight with Nelson Mandela and I even had my own pet line called Simba I didn't wear any clothes growing up just a loincloth and because I'm African I'm of course a really good long-distance runner and basketball player sounds ridiculous right what thankfully it is this is actually me and my earlier years I was born in the African city of Zimbabwe in 1994 and grew up in a middle-income household I also attended an english-speaking private school so you can imagine my surprise when I arrived to Brisbane Australia 13 years ago and heard African related misconceptions and stereotypes for the first time I'm now a proud Australian citizen and adore I've been here for 13 years I still strongly identify as being Zimbabwean and to a great extent African identifying myself in this way has given me unique insight into how Africa is perceived abroad I've alternately come to the conclusion that the negative portrayal of the African continent the misconceptions and stereotypes I've heard over the years are largely as a result of the media you see for they the media the better story the story that was shocked and get more attention is the story that portrays Africa as a place of death disease and despair this focus and negativity results in a negative perception of the continent which in turn has negative implications for Africa and his people take for instance the recent Ebola crisis that affected several Western African countries last year during that time I had one of my non African friends come up to me and tell me that he had cancelled trip to South Africa because you're scared of casting a bola day this is literally my face I was like brah do you know how big Africa is do you know you could fit India China the United States Mexico within Africa this conversation really shocked me because I started thinking about what would happen if enough people decided not to travel to Africa other African countries based on something that was happening in only several Western African countries do you see how powerful perception can be in recent times African youth have taken to Twitter to share different side of the story in 2015 the hashtag the Africa the media never shows you went viral and pictured young Africans tweeting photos from their countries many of which was significantly different to what you see on TV you see for we African youth we acknowledge Africa as it currently is a place where death disease and despair do indeed exist we are ever also acknowledged Africa for what it has always been a beautiful continent with a vibrant energy and what it has become a future frontier characterized by trade creativity and entrepreneurship so why is Africa a future frontier and why are we Afghan youth so optimistic about Africa's future well if there's one thing you take away from my talk today let me be this Africa is a future frontier because Africa is the youngest continent in the world did you know that close to 70 percent of Africa's 1 billion plus population is under the age of 25 heads up who knew that incredible right you see for we African youth we are so optimistic about Africa's future because in 2050 Africa will be ours to run in 2050 we will be the face of a new Africa educated aspirational and actively working towards creating the Africa that we want now this isn't just wishful thinking the African youth I'm talking about already putting in the work to create this future and they're doing so by focusing on two key themes the first one is entrepreneurship with Africa's population expected to reach 2.4 billion by 2050 we need to create employment opportunities for all of his young people or else Africa won't be able to prosper one way to do this is to create new businesses African youth must therefore be entrepreneurial but must be so in a way that is inclusive and generates both social and economic prosperity fortunately there are African youth that have heard this call and are creating businesses to empower themselves and the continent take for example this young brother right here this is 19 year old Kelvin Durr from Sierra Leone and he's a recent feature of Forbes Africa's 30 under 30 list he's known for teaching himself engineering at the age of 13 building his own radio station generators batteries and transmitters using scrap pieces of metal he found around his house and in trash bins I don't know what you guys were doing at 13 but I wasn't I wasn't building transmitters and generators as a result of his accomplishments Kelvin is the youngest person in history to be admitted to MIT visiting practitioners program he is also the founder of Cado tech a company based in Sierra Leone that provides workshops resources tools and networks for African youth aged between 12 and 25 so they have the opportunity to take their future into their own hands I said with your Calvin story because it is a wonderful example of a young African that is creating both social and economic prosperity even Bill Gates is behind the push for African youth entrepreneurship just two weeks ago at the annual Nelson Mandela lecture he was quoted saying I was 20 years old when poor Allen and I sided Microsoft the entrepreneurs driving startup brew in Johannesburg Lagos and Nairobi are just as young and the thousands of businesses they're creating already changing lives across the continent but positive change won't just happen automatically within Africa it requires Africa to unleash a talent for innovation across its entire growing population this all depends upon if African youth are given the opportunity to thrive the opportunity to thrive leads us to the second theme in order for Africa to thrive African youth must embrace a borderless mindset currently in Africa there are 54 countries with borders that were created for Africans and not by Africans as a result country specific and tribal differences sometimes get in the way of progress just recently the civil war in South Sudan erupted after a period of ceasefire with all of this going on I turned to my social media to see what young South Sudanese were saying within my network and what I discovered didn't surprise me at all I saw a young South Sudanese coming together irrespective of their tribal and ethnic differences I saw also other young Africans from other backgrounds coming and rallying behind South Sudan in their time of need you see for we African youth and I speak especially for African youth living abroad we're not about the fighting we see the power in growing together and identifying ourselves as African and we want to move forward in this way within the continent this mindset is already signed to take effect just three weeks ago the African Union announced is Pan African passport a step towards realizing visa-free travel for Africa African citizens by the year 2020 so all of these examples I've given you today are great right but how do we actually teach African youth to the entrepreneurial and embrace a borderless mindset well there's already a lot of work being done within the continent to instill these notions within African mute for example through organizations like the African leaders network you also have President Barack Obama my man doing some great work with the young African leaders initiative and you also have of course the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation but when you think of African youth living abroad and especially in Australia more work is needed to instill these notions within them this is because African youth living abroad are the bridge and connection between Africa and the rest of the world we are therefore on the front lines when it comes to changing the perception of the African continent and enabling more investment into Africa in June 2015 I decided to join the front lines I created see ala the council for young Africans living abroad our vision is to help drive long-term social and economic change within Africa and we do this by developing African youth living abroad into borderless thinkers and future leaders through events conferences and advancement opportunities in pursuing our vision and mission we are also able to develop brand ambassadors for the African continent ambassadors were then able to go and change the perception of Africa one conversation at a time since we started a little over a year ago we've hosted over 20 events in four strange cities and have grown to a tribe of 23 volunteers we've also hosted one of Australia's first-ever national African youth conferences in this very building our slogan is together we grow and signifies our belief that Africa can grow and succeed if Africans work together and with the rest of the world now when it comes to investment we've raised money for a young South Sudanese University student to attend a youth summit in New York and a facilitated investment for a African Australian entrepreneur now as you can see I am investing in Africa and its people but it's much more than that for me I do what I do so in 2050 we can see in Africa that is led by young Africans like Kelvin a new generation of entrepreneurs and leaders who are accountable to their people respect the rule of law and create social and economic prosperity for everyone I do what I do so in 2050 we can see in Africa that thrives based on unity and the free movement of goods services and people and finally I do what I do so in 2050 we can see in Africa that is not just characterized as a place of death disease and despair it is also seen as a hub for creativity trade and entrepreneurship so if you buy into this vision like Bill Gates Barack Obama Kelvin doe and I do then hire African youth invest in African youth get to know African youth because if you help us grow we can help you grow and ultimately it is together that we grow thank

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 53,282

Rating: 4.901618 out of 5

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Australia, Global Issues, Africa, Business, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Future, Youth

Id: Nerg-Nx0f3c

Length: 12min 5sec (725 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 02 2016