Episode #486: Hearth of a Cheetah — Second interview with Magatte Wade

Ron and Ed are thrilled to have Magatte Wade back on the The Soul of Enterprise to talk about her new book, Heart of a Cheetah: How we have been lied to about African poverty and what that means for human flourishing. Magatte Wade is a bold Senegalese entrepreneur and unflinching prosperity activist, determined to shape the destiny of her African homeland. In her riveting memoir, she challenges Africans to redefine their narrative, casting aside imposed inferiority to reclaim their innate brilliance. This is not a recounting of poverty and politics. It's an indictment of a world that views Africa as nothing more than a colonial chessboard, with charity acting as the block that keeps Africans stuck.

About Magatte Wade

Magatte Wade is the Director of the Center for African Prosperity at Atlas Network, the leading organization of African free-market think tanks. She was listed as a Forbes “20 Youngest Power Women in Africa,” a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and a TED Global Africa Fellow.

Use these show notes to follow along with the audio:

Segment one

  • Magatte Wade first joined us WAAAAAAY back on episode number 160. Welcome back! https://www.thesoulofenterprise.com/160 

  • Magatte’s new book is about how Africa got to where it is today and how the poorest region in the world gets ahead from here. 

  • What is a Cheetah Entrepreneur? The cheetahs are those of us who are not waiting on anybody. It's up to us and we're not going to wait for anybody to improve our lives, especially not for government.

  • With respect to a free and open market, Magatte says, “To be free is to have a power of exit and for exit to be valid, it has to be something that's achievable.”

Segment two

  • Magatte has 3 reasons she believes Africa remains poor. 1) It’s the most over regulated region in the world 2) foreign aid 3) the anti capitalism bias of mainstream media, academia, and Hollywood

  • What do you think is a solution to poverty? “I kid you not. You will hear everything under the sun, but you won't hear the right response […] You're not going to hear the solution to poverty is prosperity.” —Magatte Wade  

  • This is PERFECT! “Poverty is solved by prosperity. Prosperity is built by entrepreneurs.” —Magatte Wade

  • Poverty, Inc. is a beautiful documentary that gives you a great understanding of how foreign aid goes straight back into the pockets of the donor countries through different NGO agencies. More here: https://www.povertyinc.org/ 

  • “NGOs know how to give a man a fish and how to train a man how to fish. You can teach a man how to fish, but until unless that man has access to the ocean it's still game over, it is still not happening.” —Magatte Wade

Segment three

  • 1/2 On segment three today, Magatte talked about her personal struggles to open up a business in Senegal a few years ago. For starters, to legally register her business was a process that could easily take two years!!!

  • 2/2 Once her business was registered, she needed employees. Copies of the employee agreement were physically taken to the labor inspection office after being reviewed by an expert. And that’s how regulation hurts. 

  • When starting a new business in Senegal: “At first we were going to three different government offices, once a month, just to pay payroll related taxes. Imagine the waste of time!” —Magatte Wade 

Segment four

  • What does Magatte think about the statement, “Africa is poor because it's overpopulated.” She says, “it's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. And also it's not understanding the history of the world.”

  • Related to so called “overpopulation” in Africa, Magatte says, “It's only when nations actually become more prosperous, that you have less kids.”

  • “If you cannot support me on my journey to 3.5 billion prosperous Africans by 2050. If you can support me in that journey, please get out of the way for your own sake,” —Magatte Wade

  • A big THANK YOU to Magatte Wade for joining us today. Her book, The Heart of a Cheetah, is available now. More information here: https://www.magattewade.com/book 

 
 

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