The second annual TED Global Conference provided a forum for experts to discuss the most pressing needs in African development, including humanitarian aid, capacity-building projects, and education.

Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) was established in 1984 with the goal of changing the attitudes and lives of people all around the world through technological innovation. TED Global, a sister organization, held its second Conference in Arusha, Tanznia in June 2007. The theme of the 2007 TED Global was “Africa: The Next Chapter”.[1]

Scholars from all over Africa and the world gathered with the challenge of taking eighteen minutes to express their ideas, accomplishments, and goals for the issues that need to be addressed in Africa today. Many remarks centered on the aid which the continent receives, including the politics of allocation and the comparative impacts of aid and wealth creation. Other matters, such as educating leaders and developing health policies, were also on the agenda.

One speaker, an African economist named George Ayittey, believes there is too much money being wasted on corruption, and he challenged the audience to consider who should benefit from foreign aid: African governments or their people. Ayittey also emphasized the fact that the vast majority of African leaders have failed their people, and he blamed these governments for usurping the economic vitality of their countries. What is now needed to resolve this imbalance is a system of wealth redistribution, not wealth creation. Ayittey laid out a framework of Africa’s three economic sectors: modern, informal and traditional. Of these sectors, the modern consists of the elite, is dysfunctional and struggles for political power; however, this is also where much development aid is sent. In constrast, the majority of the continent’s people work in the informal and traditional sectors; unfortunately, less foreign aid is directed to these sectors. The traditional sector is truly a free market economy: communities are able to use their own capital to raise their own profits and create more jobs. It is these important but underserved sectors that are key in understanding what is effective for the people. [2]

Following the same ideas as Ayittey, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former Finance Minister in Nigeria, stated her belief that organizations should listen to Africans and direct aid to private sector, which fosters the proliferation and sharing of ideas. Aid, she argued, should be used for building infrastructure in Africa. Okojo-Iweala expressed worry about where aid assistance is being channeled currently:  she believes it is treated as charity rather than support for building capacity. Ideally, aid should be a facilitator, not a problem solver: it should exist as a guarantee, so that people are willing to take risks. [3]

Patrick Awuah, co-founder of Ashesi University and Liberal Arts College in Ghana, believes in educating the leaders within communities, particularly leaders such as the Minister of Health, doctors, and nurses, because their actions impact the entire community directly. Awuah claimed that giving people the ability to formulate their own ideas can be empowering.  This necessitates infrastructure and empowerment, which community leaders can provide. Most foreign aid, however, does not emphasize ethics enough; consequently, the corrupt leaders and weak institutions that exist are based on entitlement as an alternative to ethics. Awuah seeks to be intentional about educating leaders and to train a new generation of thinkers, giving them the ability to challenge issues and solve problems.  For this, Africa must support its youth, who need the skills and abilities that institutions such as the Ashesi University can provide. [4]

Overall, the conference provided an outlet for innovative ideas about the challenges of African development.  Specifically, Okojo-Iweala and Awuah’s remarks echoed the IIJD’s belief that capacity-based development, which empowers its beneficiaries rather than providing them with charity, is the only way Africa will attain sustainable, long-term development.  Moreover, as Ayittey articulated, development will be impossible as long as corrupt, ineffective leaders inhibit their people from receiving a share in their country’s wealth.  Thus, Africa’s next chapter lies in institutional reform and capacity-based development; only this will ensure the resolution of the continent’s most urgent needs.