Had a great time speaking at the London Leadership Forum on Friday, June 28 in London UK. See below the synopsis of my talk at the Forum which was organized by the London think-tank, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue 

The African Spring: How ‘Afropreneurs’ will shape Africa’s future

African populations are growing rapidly. It is expected that by 2040, the total African population will be the largest in the world, surpassing both China and India. Jobs are not keeping pace with population growth rates and issues of unemployment acutely affect the growing ‘youth bulge’ across the continent, which has implications for political stability across the continent, as has recently been witnessed by many of the northern Arab States, and even more recently in Mali and Northern Nigeria.

The real solution to these issues, however lies in African people themselves – human creativity and hard work, the spirit of entrepreneurship and the creation of small businesses in their millions – leading to job creation, enhanced socio-economic stability, and the consequent benefits of greater purchasing power, which buys quality education and healthcare.

My talk  dwelt on my work with the Wennovation Hub in Nigeria where we work with Nigeria’s unemployed youth to help create social ventures that solve problems in the sectors of agriculture, health and energy. These ventures have the potential to not only create the jobs Nigerian people desperately need but also solve some of the social problems facing the nation.

After my talk, I stopped by to say hello to ‘Iya Charlie’ on my way to visit the Churchill War Rooms

Later that night, I gave a short speech at a dinner  at Brooks in London, in honor of the University of Oxford’s Weidenfeld Scholars and alumni.