Want to Make Poverty a Thing of the Past?

There’s Only One Solution

I was born in Senegal, about eighty kilometers south of Dakar on the Atlantic coast in a small town called M’Bour. 

When I was little, my parents left me in my grandmother’s care and emigrated to France in search of better opportunities. At age seven, I joined my parents in Europe, and over the years, I built a successful career in Silicon Valley and created profitable businesses in both Africa and the United States.

Through it all, I never forgot my humble beginnings—the dirt streets, traditional market stalls, and financial insecurity. Senegalese people work hard, and often in very hard conditions. Nothing breaks my heart more than witnessing the street vendors dangerously slaloming between moving cars or working the traffic jam and breathing in all the fumes under the hot, dizzying sun—all to earn just a little bit of money so their family can get by.

I’ve had a lot of professional triumphs in my life, but the way I see it, they were all leading up to a larger mission. My only reason for being alive on this earth is this: 

I want to contribute everything that I have to making sure that we eradicate poverty.

It’s 2023. Poverty needs to be history NOW. 

This is a message that most people can get behind. But things start to get sticky when it comes to talking about how we can accomplish it. 

There is no better solution to global poverty than entrepreneurship. 

To explain why, let me go back to basics. 

I invite you to imagine Country A. If you want to start a business in Country A, it will take you a month. You’ll have to fill out a stack of documents the size of a small child, shuttle between four or five government offices, and pay most of your yearly income to a variety of government officials and departments. 

If you succeed, congratulations—you’ll be among the 3 percent of businesses that operate with a formal status in your country. 

What does that mean? On the plus side, it means that you can grow your business without worrying about the government bullying you if you get too big. 

But on the minus side, your status now means that you’re subject to an endless parade of paperwork. You get to make 53 tax payments a year, which take more than 400 hours to calculate and file. 

If you want to import materials, expect to pay eye-popping customs fees. Need a photocopier that costs $1,000? Be prepared to pay $1,450 before all is said and done, because customs will want a 45 percent cut. 

Meanwhile, you don’t have freedom to hire and fire freely. Instead, you have to navigate a labyrinthine system of government regulations that make it harder for you to run your business while also failing to actually protect your employees. 

And good luck trying to access the banking and financial tools that you need to keep things up and running. 

Sounds like a dream, right? 

Now, let’s look at Country B and see how they do things. In Country B, starting a business requires one procedure, half a day, with 0.2 percent of average income per capita. And there is no minimum capital requirement.

Better yet? You can do everything online instead of running across town, chasing specific people, and waiting in endless lines. 

Equipment costs half of what it costs in Country A, and the customs tariffs run around 4 percent, instead of 45. You have the freedom to import any materials you need without worrying about massive overhead costs. 

And if your business needs flexibility to change staffing to respond to supply and demand, guess what. You can create contracts with employees at will, allowing flexibility on all sides. 

Let me ask you a question: 

Where would you do business? Country A or Country B?

It’s a no-brainer. And this is the calculation that entrepreneurs are making every day. 

Country A resembles nearly every country in Africa, while Country B resembles most wealthy nations. So is it any surprise that money continues to flow to Country B while Country A—and its citizens—stays poor? 

After reading this comparison, would you be shocked to learn that many of the best, brightest, and most talented entrepreneurs leave Country A in search of better opportunities in Country B? 

And is it any wonder that the people who do remain in Country A end up suffering because of this stifled business environment? 

When there aren’t enough entrepreneurs, there aren’t enough jobs. And if there aren’t enough jobs, people don't have enough income to take care of their basic needs. That’s why so many African countries are poor.

If we want to eliminate poverty, the answer is simple: 

Create jobs. Make it easy for entrepreneurs to build and run businesses. Get rid of the regulations that stifle economic prosperity, and create business environments that actually allow people to succeed. 

In most African nations, starting a business is like swimming through molasses. Commercial laws in Africa are among the worst in the world. You can look it up for yourself. Of the twenty lowest-ranked countries in the world for starting a business, Africa makes up thirteen of them. That’s nearly 70 percent!

We Africans will stay stuck in an endless cycle of poverty until these chains are finally broken and our markets are set free.

There is only one way for Africa to become prosperous, and it’s not through charity, aid, or education. It’s through businesses.

Perhaps you’re wondering why this matters to you. Maybe you’re not African, and your life is just fine. Why should you care? 

Because by 2050, 25 percent of the world’s population will be African. That’s right: one out of every four people walking this Earth will be African. And do you know what the average age is in Africa? Nineteen years old!

In North America and Europe, that number is thirty-eight and forty-two years old, respectively.

The future is African. Your fate, and everyone else’s, is tied to ours.

As an African entrepreneur myself, I’ve experienced the difficulties of doing business in Africa. The infrastructure is a mess; the regulations are absurd, and the bureaucracy is overwhelming. 

But there is hope. There is a path forward.

The path to prosperity in Africa is through Startup Cities. These are cities with their own commercial law and governance that are designed to provide a friendly and enabling environment where businesses can take hold and thrive, creating jobs and opportunities for everyone.

It’s not a fantasy; it’s a proven strategy. Countries all over the world have followed similar models that empower entrepreneurs and innovation. The result is always the same: wealth and prosperity for the citizens of those countries.

Startup Cities hold the power to break the chains of poverty in Africa. The creation of world-class business environments is the proven path to our prosperous future. And we are already on our way.

My parents were not entrepreneurs, but their thinking was entrepreneurial. My father told me never to come to him with a problem unless I also had a solution. My parents believed that no matter what is available and where you are, you should “turn everything that surrounds you into things that work for you.” That's why my lifetime mantra is to “criticize by creating.”

—Magatte Wade, from The Heart of a Cheetah

Friends, we are only 2 weeks away from the launch of my book The Heart of a Cheetah! In it, I explain at length about how Startup Cities can eliminate poverty and unleash prosperity in Africa.

You can pre-order The Heart of a Cheetah here.