Great pleasure to introduce her moderator for the conversation, doug foster. Thank you and thank you for coming. Its great to meet you and have a chance to talk about the wonderful book. I wanted to start with the wonderful essay from the great kenyan satirist denyer banca pena who wrote that nine bloodedly good essay, how to read about africa by which he meant of course all of us who write about the continent should stop representing that. Hes down with the following. Broad brush strokes throughout are good. Avoid having the african carrot tears laugh or struggle to educate their kids or just make good mundane circumstances. How could the women except in about europe or america and africa. African characters should be colorful, exotic, larger than life, but empty inside with no dialogue, no complex resolutions in their stories come in no kirks to confuse the cause. Perhaps we could start there since it seems to me that your book is precisely what hes advocating in his essay and that is a portrayal of africans as people with their own agency. And idiosyncrasies and a sense of destiny. So what inspired the project in the first place . Were you fed up at the way africa was being reported on from what you call Poverty Point . Yes. That is the short answer. First and foremost, thank you all for being here and im glad you chose this particular essay, which does have a lot of resonance. He was writing about fiction, but when it comes to nonfiction, my discipline come in the narrative biases replicate ready reference poverty, we been in the most recent weeks where weve been again about the stories that have gotten our attention about africa, it hasnt been it is spending up a kidnapping of nigerian schoolchildren rather than a decade, weeks, months, years as well, unsexy economic development, for example. Its hard to grab our attention on the story is one of generally incremental positive gains. So to that extent, thats a very good example of the way the nonfiction media industry, the reporters community struggles to get the attention of the world at large surrounding issues about and development and ordinary africa. Now back to my book, i am proud that there are no animals in this book. A book with africa without animals. Until i looked at the manuscript when it was finished, i went through like i did it. No safaris, none of that. This book is a users manual for the africa you have not heard about. The very ordinary things. Given that my background is one of someone born in the u. S. , right here in chicago, was in a lot of time and countries in Subsaharan Africa. Its given me make perspective on where we are missing the mark, what we are not understanding and ordinary things like giving directions that here we would say we are coming to 700 pastry. If you were in nairobi where i was coming to be like okay, you will look for that petro station and then if you see a yellow building youve gone too far. So ask someone and then double back. So its all contextual. If these ordinary little differences between different types of societies that i seek to eliminate, which is not as sensational or is scripting us a story of the kidnapping or multimillion dollar spanking transaction, but its really the subs and so the real africa and the one i eliminate in the bright continent. Lets go there and talk about have been a homegrown chicagoan from a nigerian speaking family how that informs the way you approached the story wanted to tell. You know, i spent a lot of time in nigeria and not sort of shuttle he between washington or is working as a reporter covering american politics, covering the state Department ComeInternational Development and home really again illuminated for me where we were missing the mark. Not by the casual conversations and the fortune to go back and forth. Theres a lot of African Diaspora who do not have the opportunity to go home and feel like its another site of relevance for them. But it was when i was covering the United Nations week, which is the General Assembly every september. Ever comes to new york. Traffic is crazy. Every head of state and entourage is very new york. In 2010 was the 10th anniversary of the famous Millennium Development goals, which was the blueprint for solving property in 15 years with these simple steps. As a journalist, as an american journalist for an american publication, i was watching the presentation and the United Nations had a poster competition to commemorate the 10th anniversary. The winning poster they selected goes to the issue of agency we are mentioning. At the top of the photo, theres a photo of the book because its hard to describe, from the bottom up from the waist up there with the leaders of the g8 in their suit in yucatan because Angela Merkel was the lone woman in the pants to. From the waist down it had what i can only assume were sort of african children in a refugee camp. The mac break, no faces. No fleeces. They were reading online in the tagline read to your world leaders, we are still waiting. That just jolted my sensibilities. It took me out of my role as an american reporter and put me in the role of an irritated african because anyone whos spent time in Subsaharan Africas most people work twice as hard to get how this far. The idea someone could sit around and wait is preposterous. My first trip to nigeria or remember being floored about what you could buy in traffic. I was like 10 years old, nose pressed against the glass in traffic, seen people selling fruit, electronics, art, anything you could think of. Live animals, vcrs and the vhs tapes, which dates a little bit. An enormous amount of dynamism and force innovation. That ended up in the resonant game was necessity is the mother of invention. Africa is the mother of necessity. And we are missing not as the world, including the United Nations, the people who ought to be thinking most critically about what life is a contextually import countries. So that within a month i had liquidated all of my things and moved and started writing this book. As you set off, what were the misconceptions you were carrying yourself into that situation . What were the biggest surprises for you . Great question. I will answer them in two ways. One i think formality bias is a term i coined in the book to talk about the expectation that thinks a book is organized as they look in the United States for another wealth wealthy western country. As the presumption that getting directions means using google maps and you suddenly get where you are going. I think that extends to the role and reach of government by someone who is a good liberal, grew up in hyde park and covert american politics to realize the connection between the citizen and this date all across Subsaharan Africa was bankrupt and it has been a huge part of what i realized was driving all of the innovations i went onto document. And the reason why people were needed to generate systems of production for workers that had nothing to do for the formal sector. People finding ways to provide a safety net without a government support. People finding ways to create Health Solutions and Energy Solutions in the apps and electricity. All of these things driven by fundamental lack of belief in government. For me coming from a place where of course theres garbage collection, of course the lights are going to go out, that was one important difference for me in terms of trying to understand the political economy of what i was writing about. Im sure we can talk much more about that because theres lots of different ways to think about the role of the state of africa and everywhere. The second was agriculture. When i first started eating it and started to talk about it with folks come it was a book about the funds. Cell phones have come into africa and everyone is in no way the democratic moment. People are solving problems. All of that is true, but the very basic two out of every three people was touched by agriculture. Food production, Land Use Committee future of all about in africa is probably the most important thing. That was at the front of your consideration hyde park . That even now. This is so interesting given the essential nature of Food Production for the world is one of the things that should make africa a site of concern and importance for everyone is the idea that we need so much more food. We need more arable land than we have. We have quite damaging monocultures and capital labor intensive Food Production in africa is in natural solution and to hunger at the same time. That to me was the revelation and to realize theres so much to do there and had not occurred to me as something that was as important as it was in Subsaharan Africa. Im wondering what your own identity and background brought to the story in the places they created an obstacle. If i go into a small village in south africa to do my reporting and you go into a village in kenya or nigeria, theres a different reaction to that arrival, right . And curious how you thought about that as you are setting off because in some ways in terms of race and background and maybe some language i dont know you had a point of affiliation. In other ways he were an outsider. A single woman in her 20s living alone as you point out in the. Im curious about deeply into jason where were the trickiest click is a wonderful question. Nigeria is my country in your blood is my tribe. Everywhere else, including chicago through certain extent im traveling. I lived in kenya and i chose kenya for a particular reason. One is a tech explosion. The first story about that ended up being around these themes of the book was about google africa, how did the state offices that were plain hard work tumors in this exploding technology sector. So i went to kenya also in part because it wasnt nigeria and i could move between cultures and professional environments with more ease i thought than in nigeria but the expectations of me culturally. That proved to have been an important dispositive position. I also traveled to 17 countries over the course of the two years and in each place their advantages have been able to not invite people to begin performing. In many places the donor economy comes with white faces and provokes a certain set of behaviors and a certain sort of lack of discretion or lack of disclosure that it might be in the case for someone who looks like someone, even if theyre not the same background. So that was an advantage. My trip to somalia and Marcus Everett of countries with the disadvantage to be a woman. I faced this in washington as well, lets be clear. Knowing your stuff, having the right questions, understanding the informal expert patients in terms of your interaction with one, particularly in government really matter. I felt that was very uncomfortable and id never been in a situation like that despite having traveled in the middle east and reporting from israel and turkey. I thought not only was it odd that someone whos very american to be completely covered, but also so hot. It was like 95 degrees and i couldnt believe it. For the most part it cut both ways but is very enriching and humbling to travel to different cultures. One of the exciting things about the book is where the voices of so many young people and you point out 70 of the population in Subsaharan Africa is below the age of 30. Many commentators see including african heads of state he that sat as president s in modern south africa likes to say, the ticking time bomb. You see the flipside of that is a situation that creates tremendous potential. I mean, the demographics are shocking. It really my mind when you go down to the statistics and look at the youthful age. It is worth looking at the sort of charts that matthau, places like india, which is a similar profile, china has quite oddly unfair one policy kicks in. Western europe in general were the replaced rate for like 2. 1 people for every couple of notches not enough to sustain this sort of perfect dignity levels that at a macroeconomic level are for global competitiveness. You have this enormous youth bulge. I caught a Demographic Dividend and you have a workforce that is maturing. It can as a result of Public Health came from a living past childbirth, increasingly following through the educational endpoints to take ownership over both political situations that are 50 years old, so the onus well, adolescent ease and economy setters thinking ahead. Those dynamics are incredibly positive for Subsaharan Africa. What is frustrating and i hear this everywhere. Theres the mozambican anthropologist named us a note in one who talks. We should instead space between childhood and adulthood where you are stuck, we dont have Economic Opportunities that match or omissions. When the juggernaut gdp growth has not trickled down in the form of a job. When you work the informal dirt coming herbaceous, but she dont quite have all of the assets, whether tangible or skills base to move on with your life. You know, to get married to him to start a family, become an adult. Weve had is now the lots of these millions tens of millions of young people in Subsaharan Africa. When you look like it organization, those are the fruits of idleness with religious extremism. Thats one end of the spectrum. The other embassy and incredibly dynamic young people who i profile throughout the book to incredibly important things to solve problems locally and scale them to improve the continent and the world. So the frustrating thing for all these folks is not the economic soweto, but the political economy where their government Subsaharan Africa has largest gap between the age of leadership in each of the public and the world. In the United States 16 years. Iraq obama, what is he now . 52 . Pavia and kimber in his 80s to come and look of a celebrated his 90th birthday. Were talking about folks who are geriatrics and a population that is under 30 and hungry and concerned and motivated, but the cap is 46 years compared to 16 in the United States. Beyond the reach of economy is not a ticking time bomb in terms of the population being dangerous, but its about sitting around and waiting for the sold leaders to move on and for young people to assert authority within these quite hierarchical civil structures where people are encouraged to defer to others and wait their turn. Its a recipe for frustration, but the book in the profiling different people taken on the challenge in a way that is mr. Do for young everywhere. One of the things you encourage us to do in the book is to drop archaic language, first world, third world, developed world, developing world and you encourage us to replace it with the word fat and lean. I wonder whether you are trying to poke us for having really bad diet or where you are driving setback is ancient. I assume moving away from developed and developing is important because we want to look at the situation from the hideout, not from the top down and if we stay developed and developing, we assume other people are amateur to reup where we have been in the u. S. Right. That is a dangerous assumption. So it is provocative. The story tell about this as i do want to say the west seems silly given how much Economic Committee is happening in the eastern hemisphere as it were. Im obsessed with maps. The book is all about maps in terms of being a way of thinking about orientation. From family to technology. Orientation has been ridiculous. Even the border since its a contender themselves part of the problem. Likewise the termite developing is very normative. It assumes that its one direction. Its linear. You start in the stone age and end up in las vegas and thats how it should be. I disagree with that. There elements of advanced economies are wealthy societies that are problematic in a sort of documented a few of them in an oped for the New York Times and i wrote about this fat and lean idea. You think about oil dependence, overleveraged households, died in consumption. Energy use. So to the extent that consumption is an issue for very wealthy countries, the slowing economy spur is constrained and where recycling is obvious, it is an offense he come and there is something behavioral to look at and learn from these lean economies and also innovation is something we talk about so much of this contemporary moment in always been to me a little miss guided when you think about American Innovation are Silicon Valley innovation where youve got super cool iphone apps, will find you a parking space or track whatever. It is innovation towards trivial issues. I wanted to focus on lean economies in the book because these are innovations for the most incredibly important issues of the time. If youre going to see Retail Solutions for off grid energy, you see them in africa first. Erasing them right now because the pain point there because energy is and cant have. Because people live in a state where they could go off at any moment. For Public Health i think finding ways of decentralizing care. We spent 18 of gdp on health care in the night stays. Its not any better. I covered the debate in washington. When you look at timeshifting because theres so few resources on the continent, nurses do the work of doctors. Community Health Workers who are trained to do the work of nurses. My people do the work of community Health Workers. Task shifting is the watchword. You see people pilot this, but it fell across Subsaharan Africa is a response to resource scarce be in an important way of bringing this sort of bowling alone problem if you are familiar with out where no one knows when another, where people dont have as many friends as they used to, where communities are fragmented and theres no local culture, sort of village spirit for lack of a better word to use yell across Subsaharan Africa terms of relationships and extend relationships are your responses and mentioned earlier to state failure, but also lean body politic. Settee enough that, you use the word cant shoot for make do for hassle. The are a couple other examples of that in practice because the other thing in this book is the exit tatian that theres only things in africa or only things in u. S. Or europe or africa and to learn rather than the other way around. Well, the book is literally only about that. It was about the specific creativity born of necessity. Something like task shifting for Public Health is a good example. Something like off grid energy solution. The paradigmatic one is Global Financial services. When you are in an environment cannot talk about kenya where this really exploded. Mobile money, the ability to use your cell phone as a bank account to send money, to become iou 10 bucks or less in it to you phone to phone. Lets try that. Exploited in china because theres 40 Million People in 2500 atms in their checking accounts and very few mortgages and no access to finance. Its a cash economy. People keep money in coffee cans and mattresses and pillows and theres no formal hand reached out from the Banking Sector to empower people who do have assets, who are not to report, but are not able to participate in the Global Financial system, let alone the regional financial system. Global money was the telecoms it actually began its mobile airtime transfers for the telecom enabled people to send minute, backing up, it is all prepaid because theres no credit reporting system and theres few formal addresses. So how could you oppose traditional telephone accounts. Because it is prepaid, people change minutes back and forth. I say dud, here is 10 minutes for the taxi ride. It was a barter economy. People realized what an incredible idea this was an use it and use it as a classic or b. Telecom realized what was happening in my 500,000 grant from the u. K. Development agency decided to pilot a real Banking System using cell phone and long story short, 86 of households and can you the system in a Stephen Caldwell 35 million a day. It is enormous. It is lifechanging. It allows people to build assets. It allows people to have meaningful Financial Lives and what is most exciting is people are layering on more complicated Financial Service is like access to credit and loans in rudimentary credit reporting scheme now. I think without that come without a cell phone nowaks us to finance, the situation like the United States should never have invented money here. We would never have thought of this. The sort of necessity driven innovation is an excellent example of something that is of the problems of Development Economist have been struggling over forever, how to improve Financial Lives of the poor. So thats a great example in the book is full of other ones like that. We are going to begin to take questions if people want to go to the microphone. Ill be due that i will ask one more. Ive got tons. I dont want to dominate the questioning. So one of the beautiful examples of a new kind of approach to media in this book is issued jaws, the comic book and radio show. I wondered if he would talk about how these new ways of reaching people with news about everything they need to know about the connection between guiding your 16th in order to keep predators from being able to go after them to investigative reporting about fraud in the teaching scheme, how that works. Explain the pete dye, too. Shoe jazzes a radio show and comic book published in kenya for use. It was generated by the release nation to use media in africa can its mostly the videos and not they were verney type about the demographics. There is an extremely Large Population that is not engaged in a way that is thoughtful and developing skills in developing the kind of capacities people are not getting in school. So it doesnt ayn rand about the defunct efficient educational system, free educational system and effort tips for making money, improving your life, participating in Civil Society and the reach is really remarkable. Theyve embraced the souls of where the young people are ready are graphic novel is so different of a textbook. Text that is alienating graphic novel, which is serialized of this incredible cast of characters about dyeing your chicken feet which keeps them from getting stolen by hawks. This is a big problem for people are trying to raise livestock, but theres all this attrition. So they put this in the magazine and encourage people to do it. They also have a radio show. Radio is the killer media across the sahara in africa. It reaches everywhere where hdtv has. I think whats really interesting is they completely ignore the educational system and try and reach those folks who have dropped items goal or who are sort of not perfectly welleducated, but so interested in improving their lives and they reach out to them in a way that is social in a way that, you know, a book is one thing, but a magazine party, but you can pass around till it falls apart. So in terms of the medium as well as message oka south African Youth and its a great model. Beyond that, i would critique myself a little bit for not focusing as much on media and focus on technology, family, commerce, used in agriculture and energy. But media, someone is a reporter and sure you would agree it is a vital ingredient of Civil Society and democratic culture and something essential for people to participate. Its as important as water and electricity in my opinion. For some really amazing Media Ventures that can reach people. I didnt cover enough of them, but its clearly an important tool for the sort of development agenda. I mentioned this part of the first question what i need in a word about africa and i wanted to ask you about the other sensational thing he did in the last year, which was to come out as a man. Theres not much in this book about the struggle about lgbt people to extend for themselves themselves probably eight years or so and im incredibly proud of him. It was incredibly courageous. It was in a secret. Thats also the thing. Ive written about the ugandan bill, david pozzi the nps sponsored. As in uganda a couple of months and during the time this is going on i read about it in the context of being one of those classically cynical political distractions. This is a place where you have young people without jobs, a president thats been there since 1986 in people who are not aired with homosexuality per se as much as these other things. This is something thats been used as a wedge issue, has been used as a crude ploy by politicians in that country to distract from other more complicated issues in the political scene. More broadly however, in africa is quite real and its quite dangerous to be out. Defense in the country or city, and a place like nairobi, cop car, cape town commandos are different in rural areas. I did note that uganda had its first pride parade this week, which is remarkable given the danger involved in that and we could quibble about whether what the nature of the danger is, whether its the population that is feeling animosity or whether its political class. Either way its a big problem. I point to my Discussion Community norms in the boat. Family is an important dynamic in Subsaharan Africa. Your shelter against everything and its the thing people look to to drive norms and to create support systems. So the discussion within the top little bit about fgm and senegal and gambia where it is illegal, but it has been practiced for centuries. So the norms in the community in senegal where they were trying to eradicate the days are that you have to do it because it was like wearing white on your wedding day. So over the course of one generation and i would say steady work within these communities for 15 years, but in one generation to norms have shifted. Its no longer a good. The problem is solved by people standing up in a grain collectively and publicly to affirm that they would not cut their daughters. So once everyone