October 21, 2024 • 51 mins
In the inaugural episode of “A Legacy of Purpose: Conversations with Dina H. Sherif,” Dina engages in a powerful and candid conversation with His Excellency President Dr. Mokgweetsi E. K. Masisi of the Republic of Botswana. Together, they explore profound themes of leadership, innovation, and legacy-buildingas President Masisi guides Botswana through one of Africa’s most visionary transitions—from a resource-dependent economy to a dynamic, knowledge-based future.
The discussion explores the President’s belief in purpose-driven leadership, the need to reject outdated perceptions of Africa, and his commitment to making sustainable decisions that will shape the continent’s future. He shares insights into Botswana’s ambitious projects in entrepreneurship, innovation, and science and technology, including its upcoming collaboration with the Legatum Center at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) through, positioning the country as a hub for entrepreneurship and innovation on the continent.
This episode sets the tone for the podcast, highlighting how purposeful leadership and bold action can leave a lasting legacy of change and progress for future generations.
Key Topics Discussed:
- Botswana’s Visionary Transition: Moving from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-driven future focusing on innovation and human capital.
- Purpose-Driven Leadership: President Masisi shares his philosophy of leading with purpose and humility, driven by a mission to serve the greater good.
- Resetting Africa’s Narrative: President Masisi reflects on the need to reject negative stereotypes and position Africa as a center of innovation and talent.
- Innovation and Resilience: How Botswana plans to lead with technology and innovation, driving economic growth and creating opportunities for African entrepreneurs.
- A Legacy of Disruption: President Masisi’s hope to be remembered as a leader who disrupted the status quo for Africa’s collective prosperity.
Host: Dina Sherif
Produced by Donovan Beck
For Media Inquiries:
Donovan Beck
Communications and Storytelling Coordinator
Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship
Sloan School of Management
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
292 Main St, E38, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02142
don_beck@mit.edu
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dina Sherif (00:09):
Music. So it's an honor to welcome His Excellency
President, maitzi, Eric Masisi,to this podcast hosted actually
by the government of Botswana.
Thank you for that. Now, I metHis Excellency, President,
Masisi, in January of this year.
Wasn't too long ago, and eversince, we've been on this
incredible journey together. AndI could really talk for hours
(00:31):
about your Excellency's longcareer in public service and in
education, but what I reallywant to say is, from the minute
I met you, what I witnessed is aman who has a deep love for his
country and a deep love for thepeople of Botswana, and the
dedication to the future of yourpeople is not just humbling, but
(00:54):
it also led me to want to doeverything I can to support this
vision that you have forBotswana and by extension, like
me, you are very proud African,and you want to transform the
narrative of Africa, where weboth come from, to a place that
(01:14):
is dynamic, exciting and alsohome of innovation and
technology. I would say, youknow, in the world that we live
in today, it's very rare to findpeople who really walk the talk.
And you, President Masisi, younot only walk the talk, but you
walk the talk with a lot ofpurpose and grace and kindness.
(01:36):
And that's very rare. So I wantto say, welcome. Welcome to our
podcast. We're very excited tohave this conversation with you
and to talk a little bit aboutBotswana and your vision for
your country and for Africa. Sowe'll just get started. So I
really wanted to start off thepodcast with a question about
(01:59):
leadership and public service.
You've been in public serviceyour entire life. You've been a
teacher in an education. Youreally your entire career has
been about service. So what Iwant to ask you is, what does
leadership really mean to you inthe context of public service,
and what does it mean to youmore broadly in the context of
(02:20):
Africa, because in the currentmoment, and I was just speaking
to our foundry fellows aboutthis, there is a dearth of
leadership globally and on thecontinent, and I think it's
really important to take a pauseand talk about what leadership
really means.
H.E President Masisi (02:38):
Well.
Thank you very much. Dina, themagic of Egypt coming together
with the magic from Botswana, itshould make for an exciting
recipe. But you know that,having been said, it's a real
pleasure for me to be part ofthis podcast, and I'm very happy
to answer your question onleadership. For me, leadership
really involves a number ofcriteria attributes. Most
(03:03):
important is that when one isplaced in the rare privilege, an
honorable position of leadingeverything you consider must,
first and foremost, be in thepublic interest. But that's not
(03:26):
sufficient on its own, becausenot only should it be the public
interest, it requires you out ofanalysis and appropriate your
values to decide theprioritization of those things
(03:47):
that matter the most as theyaffect the outcomes in the
public interest, it also meansthe channeling of your energies,
the channeling of your talentsand your sheer willpower to
(04:08):
chart the course. It involvesrisk, but it means you are also
missioned and unafraid, butclear and level headed. And so
when I approach issues of thepublic service and I'm required
(04:31):
to take a decision or aposition, these are foremost in
my mind. What good does it bringto the majority, and is it
sustainable? Can I defend it? Myconscience is clear. I provide
the leadership required. Yeah,
Dina Sherif (04:55):
I love how you talked about how leadership is a
privilege. And I once heard yousay in a talk that leadership
means you have to drop your ego.
What is what does that mean forthose who are listening?
H.E President Masisi (05:13):
You know if, if you carry your ego around
with you, not only can it be adistraction, it can be an
annoyance to others. You know,our ego is really a
manifestation of self worth andvalue, sometimes and most times,
actually exaggerated to a pointof potential annoyance to
(05:37):
others. And so when you dropyour ego, you allow for either
the egos of others to prevail,but you don't allow your ego to
cloud your judgment and irritateothers. And therefore, you know,
turn people away, turn ideasaway, or turn resources away. So
(05:58):
your ego, as an individual, youare required to kill it only
just for purpose of achievingwhat you need.
Dina Sherif (06:08):
Yeah, I love that.
I love that, and it's so needed.
So I want to ask you about thestory of Botswana. It's a unique
one, and I remember in anotherspeech that you gave three years
ago at the Africa AmericaInstitute gala dinner, you spoke
(06:29):
about how in 1966 but when youbecame independent, Botswana had
only three kilometers of tarredhighways, roadways. It was
considered the fourth poorestcountry in the world. And a
little over 50 years later,which is really the span of my
lifetime, Botswana hastransformed, and it's
(06:51):
transformed into the continent'sbeacon of stability and
prosperity. You've transitionedto becoming a middle income
country you have a dream of nowtransitioning to a high income
country. Can you share with us,in brief, for those listening in
the story of Botswana from yourperspective, because you've
(07:13):
witnessed it all fromindependence and where do you
want to take the country next?
H.E President Masisi (07:19):
You know you correctly sum it up,
Botswana was one of the poorestcountries on Mother Earth when
it became independent. And itwas not new poverty. It was old
poverty. So it was multigenerational. We were resource
poor. We're capital poor, we'rehuman resource poor. We're poor
in every respect, waterdeprived, you name it. And the
(07:40):
reason in part, was because ourformer colonizers, the Brits,
had not found anything worthinvesting in, hardly and so we
had gotten used to, overgenerations, irking out a living
measly out of very little thatwe could master. And therefore
(08:00):
frugality became a second natureto us. Optimism and hope, steely
resilience became part of ourDNA. And so when after
independence, we were fortunateenough to through exploration, a
mining company discovereddiamonds, thank goodness, they
(08:22):
were not discovered beforeindependence, that's right. But
after they discovered it, theyhad the view and attitude. They
would just tell us about it asthe administration, and they
would be given a license tomine, and they would mine and
take all the profits. And wesaid, oh, we have a policy. And
the policy was really born outof mixed economy credentials,
(08:49):
which then out of advisementfrom some Canadian experts, was
that the state would intervene.
The state would be an investorin this entity. So the state
decided they would allow or talkto company to co own the rights
to mining, and that we knewentity given permission to mine.
(09:09):
And so the state authorized themining, the leasing of the land
and the mining operations, andalso derived benefit out of the
mining operations, because it coinvested based on its assets.
And that's how the joint venturebetween De Beers, who is a
company, and the Botswanagovernment, formed debswana,
(09:31):
which initially was hugelyskewed towards De Beers, but
over time, we were able to getto a 5050, partnership, and that
is what made the difference. Sothe suaveness of accepting
advice, embracing it, thetransparency of declaring this,
(09:52):
the opportunity we gave toprivate sector to invest in
trust us. Even though weadmitted we knew nothing about
mining, we knew nothing about,you know, beneficiation and what
have you. And negotiations werejust novice. But it went on for
many years, and that's why,after every so many years, we
(10:13):
renegotiate the agreement. Andthe latest agreement that we
renegotiated from which forwhich we've agreed in principle,
the major elements of it we arederiving much more than we used
to. That's what charted a wayforward. So I think we have
(10:34):
learned over time to be bold. Wehave learned over time to be
committed to those things thatwould work for us, and we then
realized that we could notcontinue to invest the same way
we're investing, whichessentially was investment in
raw materials, investment intrade and processed no value
addition. And with the mind, wehad learned that if you take a
(10:59):
human being raw, take them toschool, they are able to think
new things, do new things,generate new ideas, and provide
services unique and distinctlydifferent from what they could
otherwise. You could do the samething to products. You can say
to critical minerals. You can dothe same thing to the human
(11:20):
mind. And so we have decidedthat we were going to value add
all our raw materials and derivemore value of it. We have
decided that we're going tobuild capacity human talent in
the negotiation for this. Andnow we get into an era, exciting
as it is, of innovation, scienceand tech, deep research, and
(11:43):
when we now got to partner withMIT, the world's premier
innovation university, cuttingedge research, We thought, we
belong here. We're not goinganywhere. And so we want to
partner with MIT to generate theecosystem for this research, the
(12:08):
ecosystem for this innovation,and generate new products
different from the diamonds,different from our beef,
different from our copper orcoal, what have you that we too,
can compete with the world.
Dina Sherif (12:28):
And this was done under this very radical, bold
plan, which you called reset andreclaim agenda. Those are bold
words. I'm sure they were chosenvery intentionally. Why choose
these words? And I'm a personwho believes that word words
matter. They matter, and theygive a lot of meaning to our
(12:51):
identity, to our pride and inour where we come from. And you
chose these words reset andreclaim. Why was that and why
was that important to use thosewords in the context of
Botswana?
H.E President Masisi (13:05):
You know, we have a history, as you said,
that's approaching close to 60years of development. I'm the
fifth president of the country,and I've had the benefit of
hindsight. We also have beendevastated before by a
(13:27):
devastating epidemic HIV andAIDS, and a very wise,
courageous leader we had inPresident who, when we were hit
hardest by that, did not buryhis head in the sand, he went
out to the world fully realizedthat we could not help ourselves
(13:48):
on our own, and proclaimed andsought help, because Botswana
faced as serious in existentialthreat. We could be wiped off
the face of the earth. We arevery small population, poor and
very vulnerable, yeah. Fastforward. The second pandemic hit
(14:09):
us, covid 19. Covid 19. Who'sthe president? It's me. And so
we had to delve deep. Weretreated. It began with my
private office staff, and gotinto deep thought. And out of
that, I came to the conclusionthat we could never achieve our
(14:32):
long term intentions as espousedin our long term vision 2036
which was to transition from anupper middle income economy,
which had been in for the last25 years, the upper middle
income trap, as you might knowit, if we did not do some things
radically differently,particularly borrowing from the
(14:54):
shock of the covid 19 and sothat's what we decided to do.
We're going to. Reset we'regoing to reclaim. And in doing
that, we're going to take a deepbreath and literally shed off
some things that we think won'tget us to where we need to, and
laser focus on those things thatcould. And that's how the reset
(15:19):
reclaim agenda came about, andyou know, at the bottom end of
it is a clear recognition thatwe need to make choices of what
we associate with, what we focusand what we spend our money on.
And research and development wastop most because we needed to
(15:39):
grow, diversify our economy, andthe best tool we had was our
minds. The best tool we had wasour mindset. The best tool we
had were the alliances that wehad developed over time. So
we're going to reach out, butyou know, you don't do that
(16:00):
without having skin in the game.
So I have recently pronounced asan investment in this ideal of a
reset and reclaim that we wouldnotch up our investment in R and
D so that it matches those ofdeveloped countries at 3% of GDP
in the shortest possible time,and that's why we brokered this
(16:22):
partnership. Yeah, MIT, and
Dina Sherif (16:27):
let's talk about that partnership. You know, a
lot of nations around the worldin what I call global growth
markets, or what many in thepast have called emerging
markets or developing markets orthe global South, all terms that
I reject, because we are thefastest growing nations in the
world right now with massivepotential, and the consumers are
(16:50):
all in our part of the world.
But a lot of countries aretalking about how they can
rapidly transition to aknowledge based economy to
support the growth and evolutionof innovation and technology for
the purposes of economicprosperity, which is what unique
said just right now, but you'rereally walking the talk in the
strategic partnership with theCenter for development and
(17:12):
entrepreneurship at MIT, ofwhich I'm the executive
director. And I say this becauseit's very rare. I think, you
know, I shared this before, butit was quite a shock to hear
that a government is signing anagreement with MIT to really
work with them and theircountry, not just their country,
but the rest of Africa, theregion they exist in, to support
(17:33):
this transition to a knowledgebased economy. And in April this
year, Your Excellency came witha number of people, from your
cabinet to MIT, you delivered akeynote address at our annual
conference, and during thatevent, you shared the importance
of nurturing vibrant ecosystemsto support innovation across the
(17:55):
country, to support the rapidlygrowing number of entrepreneurs
that are evolving across thecontinent. And you talked about
the need for science andtechnology to be the next
frontier backing economic growthin across the African continent.
So specifically, I remember youspoke about not just bringing
(18:19):
the world to see Africa and thepotential that is Africa, but
also about the significantimportance of exporting
innovation from Africa to therest of the world, which is
really our history pre colonialtimes. You know, pre colonial
times, Africa was one of themost innovative places in the
world, my country, Egyptincluded. So the question I have
(18:42):
for you is, in this moment, in2024 where the world is today,
which is a very difficult place,why is this all crucial for you?
And what role do you wantBotswana to play in this
shifting of narrative to sciencetechnology and innovation being
(19:07):
connected to the story ofAfrica?
H.E President Masisi (19:13):
You know, thanks for the question. In
Botswana, we have a historyrelative to Africa, the sub
region and the continentBotswana, has a history relative
to the rest of the world. As wealluded to earlier on, it's
almost just over 50 years agothat we gained our independence
(19:36):
as one of the, you know, poorestnations on Mother Earth, and we
have risen to become an uppermiddle income country. We are
the most stable in Africa. We'remulti party democracy, the
oldest, most mature. We intendto keep that record with these
credentials and now with therealization as I lead. My
(20:00):
government and country, and as acommitted pan Africanist, what's
good for the goose is good forthe ganda, if this is good for
my country, and I have everyempirical evidence to
demonstrate that I want toinvite not just the sub region
(20:20):
from which I come, I want toinvite extol the rest of Africa
to join in on this. And I'mprepared. I'm prepared. My
government's prepared to locateit in Botswana. My government's
prepared to co fund. Mygovernment is prepared to open
up using the very transparency,integrity we're known for, to
(20:45):
allow others to invest in thisideal. The ideal is based on the
logic that's there for everyoneto see. Africa is the youngest
continent in the world. Africais a continent that has the
greatest opportunity ofprosperity Africa, not only is
(21:05):
it young and has, has thegreatest potential prosperity.
Africa is endowed with adiversity of resources, water,
the land, you know, the mineralwealth, a clean air forest, you
know, and you name it, naturalgas. Natural Gas, you name it,
(21:26):
you know, Africa has a market,single market, as espoused
through the FCTA, that's thebiggest in the world, 1.3
billion and growing fastest,youngest, therefore the
potential for the being open tobeing traded with longest
(21:51):
presents itself.
Dina Sherif (21:52):
Of course. You know, I read a data, a statistic
recently, that over 40% ofAfrica's population is under the
age of 15. Only 3% of Africa'spopulation is over the age of 65
that means that in 10 years,they will all be consumers, they
(22:14):
will enter the workforce, andthat will open up massive
opportunities for investment.
But in 25 years, in fact, one infour people in the world will be
African. 25% of the globalpopulation will be African. So
which is why I think, for me,this idea of reclaim and reset
really matters right. Mattersnot just to Botswana, but to all
(22:37):
of our countries, because thisis the moment it is right now,
that moment. So I think youknow, following your visit, when
your excellency came to MIT, wesigned an MOU and we're about to
sign an agreement that willlaunch this multi year journey
together between our center atMIT, the government of Botswana
(22:59):
and the rest of Africa, and MITwill bring the best that we have
to offer in terms of buildingstrong and connected innovation
ecosystems to Botswana andbeyond Botswana, but at the end
of this five year partnership,and you know, I'm Pretty sure
that it will continue beyondthose five years. What will
(23:22):
success look like for Botswana,and what, what spillover do you
hope will happen in Africa as aresult of this particular
partnership with MIT in thisagreement?
H.E President Masisi (23:38):
Well, listen to this. I'm listening.
We're launching, we're launchingthis $1 billion fund. Yeah,
right, yes. And bots governmentis putting money to it. Yes.
Botswana government is invitingglobal interested players,
people who think deep, long andfar, in the private sector, the
(24:00):
public sector, philanthropists,you name it, African bank, we
want to also get theinternational the World
Intellectual PropertyOrganization, involved, because
all these, when put together,will create An ecosystem that
will serve all Nation States ofAfrica in the transformation of
(24:28):
their countries using deepresearch, deep tech innovation
and the tools, the resources,The human capital as attracted
through our partnership withMIT, will be there for the
exploitation. I cannot imagine amore radical way, a more
(24:54):
opportune way, to transitionyour value proposition as a
country. Your company, successwill look like the world turned
upside down with respect to howAfrica has been trading with the
world right now, and what willbegin to converse with the world
(25:14):
as it gravitates around thecenter. Success will also
involve enhanced discoveries,whether in the you know,
pharmaceutical space, if youimagine the forest reserves in
Africa and the natural productsthat occur, and what research
(25:38):
and deep tech can generate outof those is not just for
Botswana. Botswana just providesthe ecosystem, the stability,
the grounding through thisagreement to springboard, yeah,
and take it to your country,whether it's in West Africa,
Central Africa, East Africa, youname it. This is the future.
(26:01):
What I also see as success iswhen the academic institutions
of Africa, some of the oldestbeing in Egypt, your own
country, come and enroll in thisecosystem and CO invest. The CO
investment need not necessarilybe in financial terms only. It
could be in human capital. Itcould be your laboratories. It
(26:23):
could be the partnerships withfinance, institutions, your own
country. This is groundbreakingwork, and I see this partnership
going way beyond five years. Isee this as a partnership that's
going to work for the world too.
It's symbiotic. MIT is going togrow, not just in reputation,
but it's in critical capacity togenerate earth shattering
(26:47):
research findings andpartnerships like never been
done before.
Dina Sherif (26:53):
So I want to pause because I think this. I want the
audience to understand thesignificance of what you would
like to launch, and this idea oflaunching a billion dollar fund
or an initiative to support thetransition of Africa to
(27:16):
knowledge based economies thatare fueled by innovation, and a
rapid expansion of innovationdriven enterprises and also deep
tech ventures. And deep techventures is really the
commercialization of R and D,which means that Africa will
become a place that isoriginating and creating new
(27:38):
innovation and taking it to therest of the world. Now the
creation of this independentbillion dollar fund out of
Botswana, the idea is to reallyuse a blended financing model to
bring in big foundations,philanthropists, high net worth
individuals who have a stake inthe game, a stake in Africa, to
co fund this endeavor with thegovernment of Botswana, but to
(28:01):
also invite other governments inAfrica to put money into this
fund with a vision of reallyconnecting the different
innovation ecosystems acrossAfrica, and to really work to
create shared r&d, to createhave faculty say in Cairo work
with faculty in Botswana andNigeria and Ghana, and really
(28:24):
see a force emerge out of Africafor this to be also become, not
just the youngest continent inthe world, but also to be one of
the most exciting places interms of giving birth to new
innovation in challenges thatreally impact us, climate,
agriculture, healthcare,education, all of this needs
(28:46):
innovation, and we have thecapacity to solve our own
problems, but we need to alsocreate an independent body that
will continue to fund theseendeavors, and maybe I know that
Botswana has the capacity to putextra money into R and D and to
support this, but not everyAfrican country has that same
privilege. And your vision oflaunching this particular fund
(29:10):
is really to even out theplaying field so that we can all
work together. So what is reallyfor you, for those who may be
listening in who work forfoundations or the UN or the
World Bank or the AfricanDevelopment Bank, or the afri ex
im bank, or really successfulentrepreneurs who really want to
(29:32):
see the next generation ofentrepreneurs thrive on the
continent. What is your call foraction really? What is this
movement that you really want toinvite people to join. Well,
H.E President Masisi (29:44):
you know, my call for action is for people
to realize a the the opportunitythat can be garnered out of
this, and part of it in simplelanguage, is that. Could be able
to come up with an idea, you canhave the ecosystem by which it's
(30:05):
funded, by which it is protectedand by which it's evacuated
through industry, if it's someant that by which it could be
negotiated to be taken to marketand the financing protected for
that. The idea is for if you'rein a country that is financially
(30:25):
not able to invest in this fund,you are a creative individual,
an innovative individual, foryou to know there is a place for
you to excel and succeed. Ifyou're a company or a high net
worth individual or aninstitution that has the
(30:46):
resources to invest for returnlike you've never imagined, and
the regulatory environment iscrystal clear, as Botswana
always has been, there's a homefor you, if there's a place for
you to find out if you know youcould learn how to there's a
(31:09):
place for you. If there's aplace for you that you've been
looking for that is costeffective to interact with some
of the best deep tech expertsglobally, it's in Botswana,
because MIT will bring them toBotswana, and by virtue of the
(31:32):
domiciliary of this agreement,the pricing is competitive. We
are wanting to share thisopportunity and not keep it to
ourselves as Botswana. We arewanting to be the brethren of
our neighbors, becauseprosperity for our neighbor,
(31:54):
prosperity for other Africans,addresses issues of migration.
They address issues of peace andsecurity. They address issues of
a healthy lifestyles. Theyaddress issues even of food
security, because the researchthat will go into this, the
(32:15):
peace dividend that will deriveout of more people living
better, and therefore rejectingwar as a means to try and
resolving a problem or and evenrejecting the incentivization of
conflict in order to get tominerals, should motivate those
(32:39):
like minded to see this as aPeace investment. I
Dina Sherif (32:44):
agree, and I
H.E President Masisi (32:45):
the UN and all those organizations that are
committed to development or tologically embrace this, support
it and put their money wheretheir mouths are.
Dina Sherif (33:00):
Yes, because I think one of the most ignored
pathways to peace is economicprosperity, yes and economic
prosperity will reduce conflict,will create peace, will improve
livelihoods, and that that is acore focus of why you want to
launch this fund. You
H.E President Masisi (33:20):
know, before you get onto the next
one, I'd want people to betested. Just do your maths. Just
do your analysis. This investingin this fund is the cheapest,
fastest way to reach realized.
SDGs,
Dina Sherif (33:36):
I agree. I'm with you there. I'm with you there.
There's no better way than tobuild up prosperity than bottom
up, through entrepreneurs,through innovation and through
massive collaboration in termsof economic prosperity. And I
think this fund could reallyunlock that for Africa and
beyond.
H.E President Masisi (33:57):
I'm excited.
Dina Sherif (33:57):
I'm excited right there with you, as you know, I'm
on your bus. So I want to askyou, you know, continuing on
with this, you know, I'mAfrican. You're African. And
when you're here, and we're heredoing this podcast in the United
States of America, and whenpeople talk about the narrative
(34:21):
of Africa, it's often framedwith this lens of poverty,
conflict, bad, politics,corruption, exploitation,
extraction, all these terms thatreally conjure up a negative
image and that also getsinternalized within our own
people. But we Your Excellency,and I for sure know that this is
(34:43):
not true, and Africa is a placeof hope, of growth, of dynamism,
but of community, because welove each other, we are deeply
bound. We love our communities.
We love supporting each other. Isay in Egypt, nobody dies of
starvation because somebody willgo out and find a way to give
that person food or or what theyneed. And that comes from the
(35:08):
communal part of our heritage.
Now, you know our our collectivenarrative of Africa has always
been one of growth and abundanceand hope and creativity. And
earlier on, you spoke about theincredible story of Botswana and
how it transitioned. But I alsowould like you to tell me how
(35:35):
you would like to define, ormaybe I should say, redefine the
narrative of Africa, for theglobal community and those
listening, what do we need toovercome as a continent, or,
more specifically, what do weneed to let go of if we're to
achieve this vision of being acontinent that exports
(35:58):
innovation, that is stable, thatis economically sovereign and
prosperous. What message wouldyou like to share about that
redefinition of our narrative?
H.E President Masisi (36:11):
Well, first, let me postulate that
this negative, condescendingnarrative of Africa being
essentially problematic,deficient in everything of
value, is not only false andbaseless, it is determined
(36:33):
deliberately as a precursor toconquest. And I want to invite
everybody who seeks peace tobegin by rejecting that notion.
Africa is proud. It's beautiful.
It's got intelligent people,it's got wonderful resources,
it's got capacity, and it ispotentially much more
(36:57):
prosperous, if not abused. Youknow, if you continually rape
somebody, they get hurt so badlythat they can't speak up for
themselves. And in the narrationof Africa, being as bad as
supposed to be, that's theeffect that it gets of it. So we
(37:19):
need to reject that turn theleaf completely. And then we can
stand up and compete. We, asAfrican people, need to let go
of that. And then we also needto, you know, speak up to those
who are caricature in this andask them to stop it, because
it's not serving us, it's onlyserving them. You have to
(37:44):
wonder, if we were so bad asdescribed, why is everybody else
running after us and the thingsthat we own, if it really was so
bad. So if you also think of theconcepts used, they're very
(38:06):
alien to us, like you say, weare Brother's Keeper. You know,
there's a communitarian spirit.
You look at the Africanlanguages, they're always
idiomatic expressions orProverbs, and describe and extol
virtues of sharing, virtues ofhelping others, virtues of
(38:31):
uplifting, virtues of growth.
These are the concepts, thethese. This is the language that
we need to put back into oureveryday narrative, and even the
projection that we have of themedia and the angling of our
cameras and the content of whatshared and described needs to
(38:54):
project this. And so I am filledwith the optimism that if we
step up and forwardsufficiently, this will come
through and through and instepping up, we need to be very
clear about what we focus on. Weare clear. We want innovation.
We want to dig in deep, get thevery best that we have and can
(39:20):
generate, and share it with theworld, and the world only owes
us a fair price. That's right.
That's all we aren't That'sright.
Dina Sherif (39:34):
100% I'm right there with you. You know, yeah,
it warms my heart right to hearyou say this, because sometimes
it gets lonely out there toconstantly be carrying the flag
of saying Africa is grand, andwe've always been that way, but
(39:54):
there was little blip in ourhistory, and we need to really
like you said. Turn that pageand move forward, because
there's only forward, and we wethe past is the past, so we need
to step forward with the sameconfidence and pride that you're
speaking with, because there wasa time where Africa was grand,
(40:16):
and it still is, and willcontinue to be. And I think, you
know, this is the beginning, andthere's really no time to waste.
We have so many jobs to create,so much to offer the world, and
we're ready to do that. So Iwant to give you an opportunity,
(40:39):
just very quickly, before wecome to a close. Your
Excellency, and I have spoken aswell as I have spoken with
members of your cabinet aboutyou know, Botswana has the
potential to be a true place forentrepreneurs to base themselves
out of in the interim, as wecontinue to see countries across
(41:04):
Africa really transition to morestable economies, Botswana is
there, and we see so manyamazing African entrepreneurs
leave the continent and come tothe United States or go to Dubai
or go to Europe, and we want toretain that talent on the
(41:24):
continent, and and Botswana hasthe potential to be a hub for
these innovation drivenentrepreneurs to base themselves
out of in a place of stabilityas they continue to grow, but
also as they start seeing theenormous potential of really
focusing on the entirety ofAfrica as a market. I'd love for
(41:47):
you to share with entrepreneursacross the continent who are
listening this invitation tocontemplate Botswana as a place
for them to come and basethemselves out of what is that
invitation? What does Botswanahave to offer?
H.E President Masisi (42:04):
You know, Botswana has a lot to offer
besides the sunshine and thewildlife and the
Dina Sherif (42:10):
good beef and the great beef and the wonderful
beef. That's right, diapersincluded,
H.E President Masisi (42:14):
we have a lot to offer in terms of our
governance ecosystem. We are,you know, among the least
corrupt countries in terms ofperceptions in Africa. For the
longest time, we have veryattractive tax regime which is
predictable and smooth inchanges, gentle, easy to
(42:42):
understand and well managed. Wehave no controls in our exchange
of foreign currency. So you canbring in as much money in
whatever currency you want andtake it out, and you can take
(43:03):
out as much money in whatevercurrency you want. We are
unintimidated by that. We have avery predictable, clear policy
environment for investment. Wehave the international financial
service center, and among thequick fixes we're going to make
of it is that we're going toboost it with localized banking
(43:24):
capacity so that we're notdependent on external banks as
we have been, and that's part ofthe attraction for this
investment fund that we Want toput in place. We have a very
stable government and governancesystem. Through our democratic
(43:47):
processes. Every five years, wego for general election like
we're going for general electionin October, the 30th, October,
we'll be casting a vote for bothparliament and local government.
It is where constituency basedsystems or present emerges out
of the majority number ofparliamentary seats the party
that the presidential candidatebelongs to. They become the
(44:09):
executive head of the countryfor a maximum of five years at a
time, and a total maximum forone person of 10 years. And then
they are required to step down,and there's automatic
succession, provided we havebeen doing this since we were
independent, so we're prettytrained at it. We have an
independent judiciary that'swell respected. We respect the
(44:32):
rule of law, and we pledge touphold it each time, so we
haven't scared anybody away. Wecan only attract much more. I
think some of our innovators andentrepreneurs have evacuated out
to the device or the US of theworld, because of the
(44:52):
attractiveness, the size ofmarket. They will come back. But
what they don't see, which I askthem to look. Through at
carefully is the rate of returnon investment is much higher in
Sub Saharan Africa than anywhereelse in the world, discounting
any risk, and we are the biggestrisk in Botswana. We also want
(45:18):
them to see that the market, asyou know, brokered by the
African continental free tradearea, the single biggest market
in the world, 1.3 billion younggrowing, fastest working
population, huge opportunitiesfor investment. We look at the
(45:39):
whole African landscape,infrastructure, energy, the
demands are massive. Not onlyare they massive, they will be
their longest and they just keepgrowing. When you add deep tech
to the rich endowment of naturalcapital in all these countries,
(46:00):
the potential for return isenormous, because you don't only
evacuate to the African market.
You can evacuate this to theworld, because they don't have
it. You look at the criticalmineral space, you know, we have
just licensed our firstmanganese mine in Botswana,
critical, and we're going to be,you know, manufacturing, you
know, 11. Electric batteries inan up so distant future, in
(46:24):
Botswana, Africa has the highestconcentration of the critical
earth minerals that are requiredfor clean energy. We have an
abundance of sunshine forphotovoltaic development, and
when you add all these together,you really cannot go wrong. So I
(46:46):
invite our entrepreneurs tothink deep and hard, do your
research. Come we're ready foryou. Amazing,
Dina Sherif (46:58):
amazing. We will definitely be sharing that with
the entrepreneurs who are partof our center too. So I want to,
I want to close, you know, many,many years ago, a friend of mine
asked me a question. She said,when you look back on your life,
how do you want to beremembered? And at the time, I
(47:19):
was in my late 20s, it was sucha profound question. And I
remember looking at her andsaying, you know, when my time
ends and people think of Dina, Iwant them to think that I led a
life of purpose, of meaning,that somehow not that my life
mattered, but that I didsomething that mattered to
(47:42):
others. Now, when you look backon your life, and you know
you're only going to be in thisincredible position of a head of
state for a short period oftime, and in the big scheme of
things, it's a very short periodof time. What do you want your
legacy of purpose to be for yourcountry, for Africa, for the
(48:05):
world. When people think of HisExcellency, President mahotsein
Assisi,
H.E President Masisi (48:13):
you know, I am only human, like we all
are, and I happened to be very,really privileged to have
occupied the position that Ioccupy, and with all the
humility I can master in termsof the challenges that have
(48:36):
presented themselves before me,and the seizing of those
challenges using my bestcapacities. I'd like to be
remembered forbeing the biggest disrupter for
good. I want when people thinkback, Inshallah, as you say, to
(48:57):
remember this one time when Ihad this very privilege,
what a profound change in theway we thought and behaved, I
cultivated and caricatured. Therest, really is the uptake?
(49:22):
Yeah, I acknowledge you so much.
Yeah.
Dina Sherif (49:27):
Well, I can say with confidence that you're
already on that path. So yourexcellency, our time together
has come to an end, but wereally want to wish Botswana
well in your upcoming election,we're excited to be on this
journey with you and to reallysee let's want to transition to
(49:51):
a full fledged knowledge economyand to start exporting not just
diamonds, but real innovation tothe rest of the world when it
comes to agriculture.
Healthcare, education,transportation, our challenges
are endless, but that means theopportunities to solve are
endless, and we're reallygrateful to you for taking the
time to engage with us, to openyour country to us, to share
(50:13):
your vision and to reallyinspire others with this
wonderful vision you have. Andon behalf of us at the Center
for development entrepreneurshipat MIT, we look forward to
working with your nation andbeing a part of this journey.
And as an African, I'm 100% withyou about reclaiming and
resetting who we are and takingback our agency and moving
(50:37):
forward one step at a time. So Ithank you, and I'm so grateful
for the time that you spent withus today. Well,
H.E President Masisi (50:45):
thank you very much. I must with all the
humility again, Master. Thankyou for wishing my nation state
well at the upcoming generalelections. As I did tell you, we
have a term limit. I will bestanding for the last time. I
hope to win. If I don't, you cancome to my home village. It's
called moshopa. I will see youthere.
Dina Sherif (51:06):
I will absolutely do that. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Music. So it's an honor to welcome His Excellency
President, maitzi, Eric Masisi,to this podcast hosted actually
by the government of Botswana.
Thank you for that. Now, I metHis Excellency, President,
Masisi, in January of this year.
Wasn't too long ago, and eversince, we've been on this
incredible journey together. AndI could really talk for hours
(00:31):
about your Excellency's longcareer in public service and in
education, but what I reallywant to say is, from the minute
I met you, what I witnessed is aman who has a deep love for his
country and a deep love for thepeople of Botswana, and the
dedication to the future of yourpeople is not just humbling, but
(00:54):
it also led me to want to doeverything I can to support this
vision that you have forBotswana and by extension, like
me, you are very proud African,and you want to transform the
narrative of Africa, where weboth come from, to a place that
(01:14):
is dynamic, exciting and alsohome of innovation and
technology. I would say, youknow, in the world that we live
in today, it's very rare to findpeople who really walk the talk.
And you, President Masisi, younot only walk the talk, but you
walk the talk with a lot ofpurpose and grace and kindness.
(01:36):
And that's very rare. So I wantto say, welcome. Welcome to our
podcast. We're very excited tohave this conversation with you
and to talk a little bit aboutBotswana and your vision for
your country and for Africa. Sowe'll just get started. So I
really wanted to start off thepodcast with a question about
(01:59):
leadership and public service.
You've been in public serviceyour entire life. You've been a
teacher in an education. Youreally your entire career has
been about service. So what Iwant to ask you is, what does
leadership really mean to you inthe context of public service,
and what does it mean to youmore broadly in the context of
(02:20):
Africa, because in the currentmoment, and I was just speaking
to our foundry fellows aboutthis, there is a dearth of
leadership globally and on thecontinent, and I think it's
really important to take a pauseand talk about what leadership
really means.
H.E President Masisi (02:38):
Well.
Thank you very much. Dina, themagic of Egypt coming together
with the magic from Botswana, itshould make for an exciting
recipe. But you know that,having been said, it's a real
pleasure for me to be part ofthis podcast, and I'm very happy
to answer your question onleadership. For me, leadership
really involves a number ofcriteria attributes. Most
(03:03):
important is that when one isplaced in the rare privilege, an
honorable position of leadingeverything you consider must,
first and foremost, be in thepublic interest. But that's not
(03:26):
sufficient on its own, becausenot only should it be the public
interest, it requires you out ofanalysis and appropriate your
values to decide theprioritization of those things
(03:47):
that matter the most as theyaffect the outcomes in the
public interest, it also meansthe channeling of your energies,
the channeling of your talentsand your sheer willpower to
(04:08):
chart the course. It involvesrisk, but it means you are also
missioned and unafraid, butclear and level headed. And so
when I approach issues of thepublic service and I'm required
(04:31):
to take a decision or aposition, these are foremost in
my mind. What good does it bringto the majority, and is it
sustainable? Can I defend it? Myconscience is clear. I provide
the leadership required. Yeah,
Dina Sherif (04:55):
I love how you talked about how leadership is a
privilege. And I once heard yousay in a talk that leadership
means you have to drop your ego.
What is what does that mean forthose who are listening?
H.E President Masisi (05:13):
You know if, if you carry your ego around
with you, not only can it be adistraction, it can be an
annoyance to others. You know,our ego is really a
manifestation of self worth andvalue, sometimes and most times,
actually exaggerated to a pointof potential annoyance to
(05:37):
others. And so when you dropyour ego, you allow for either
the egos of others to prevail,but you don't allow your ego to
cloud your judgment and irritateothers. And therefore, you know,
turn people away, turn ideasaway, or turn resources away. So
(05:58):
your ego, as an individual, youare required to kill it only
just for purpose of achievingwhat you need.
Dina Sherif (06:08):
Yeah, I love that.
I love that, and it's so needed.
So I want to ask you about thestory of Botswana. It's a unique
one, and I remember in anotherspeech that you gave three years
ago at the Africa AmericaInstitute gala dinner, you spoke
(06:29):
about how in 1966 but when youbecame independent, Botswana had
only three kilometers of tarredhighways, roadways. It was
considered the fourth poorestcountry in the world. And a
little over 50 years later,which is really the span of my
lifetime, Botswana hastransformed, and it's
(06:51):
transformed into the continent'sbeacon of stability and
prosperity. You've transitionedto becoming a middle income
country you have a dream of nowtransitioning to a high income
country. Can you share with us,in brief, for those listening in
the story of Botswana from yourperspective, because you've
(07:13):
witnessed it all fromindependence and where do you
want to take the country next?
H.E President Masisi (07:19):
You know you correctly sum it up,
Botswana was one of the poorestcountries on Mother Earth when
it became independent. And itwas not new poverty. It was old
poverty. So it was multigenerational. We were resource
poor. We're capital poor, we'rehuman resource poor. We're poor
in every respect, waterdeprived, you name it. And the
(07:40):
reason in part, was because ourformer colonizers, the Brits,
had not found anything worthinvesting in, hardly and so we
had gotten used to, overgenerations, irking out a living
measly out of very little thatwe could master. And therefore
(08:00):
frugality became a second natureto us. Optimism and hope, steely
resilience became part of ourDNA. And so when after
independence, we were fortunateenough to through exploration, a
mining company discovereddiamonds, thank goodness, they
(08:22):
were not discovered beforeindependence, that's right. But
after they discovered it, theyhad the view and attitude. They
would just tell us about it asthe administration, and they
would be given a license tomine, and they would mine and
take all the profits. And wesaid, oh, we have a policy. And
the policy was really born outof mixed economy credentials,
(08:49):
which then out of advisementfrom some Canadian experts, was
that the state would intervene.
The state would be an investorin this entity. So the state
decided they would allow or talkto company to co own the rights
to mining, and that we knewentity given permission to mine.
(09:09):
And so the state authorized themining, the leasing of the land
and the mining operations, andalso derived benefit out of the
mining operations, because it coinvested based on its assets.
And that's how the joint venturebetween De Beers, who is a
company, and the Botswanagovernment, formed debswana,
(09:31):
which initially was hugelyskewed towards De Beers, but
over time, we were able to getto a 5050, partnership, and that
is what made the difference. Sothe suaveness of accepting
advice, embracing it, thetransparency of declaring this,
(09:52):
the opportunity we gave toprivate sector to invest in
trust us. Even though weadmitted we knew nothing about
mining, we knew nothing about,you know, beneficiation and what
have you. And negotiations werejust novice. But it went on for
many years, and that's why,after every so many years, we
(10:13):
renegotiate the agreement. Andthe latest agreement that we
renegotiated from which forwhich we've agreed in principle,
the major elements of it we arederiving much more than we used
to. That's what charted a wayforward. So I think we have
(10:34):
learned over time to be bold. Wehave learned over time to be
committed to those things thatwould work for us, and we then
realized that we could notcontinue to invest the same way
we're investing, whichessentially was investment in
raw materials, investment intrade and processed no value
addition. And with the mind, wehad learned that if you take a
(10:59):
human being raw, take them toschool, they are able to think
new things, do new things,generate new ideas, and provide
services unique and distinctlydifferent from what they could
otherwise. You could do the samething to products. You can say
to critical minerals. You can dothe same thing to the human
(11:20):
mind. And so we have decidedthat we were going to value add
all our raw materials and derivemore value of it. We have
decided that we're going tobuild capacity human talent in
the negotiation for this. Andnow we get into an era, exciting
as it is, of innovation, scienceand tech, deep research, and
(11:43):
when we now got to partner withMIT, the world's premier
innovation university, cuttingedge research, We thought, we
belong here. We're not goinganywhere. And so we want to
partner with MIT to generate theecosystem for this research, the
(12:08):
ecosystem for this innovation,and generate new products
different from the diamonds,different from our beef,
different from our copper orcoal, what have you that we too,
can compete with the world.
Dina Sherif (12:28):
And this was done under this very radical, bold
plan, which you called reset andreclaim agenda. Those are bold
words. I'm sure they were chosenvery intentionally. Why choose
these words? And I'm a personwho believes that word words
matter. They matter, and theygive a lot of meaning to our
(12:51):
identity, to our pride and inour where we come from. And you
chose these words reset andreclaim. Why was that and why
was that important to use thosewords in the context of
Botswana?
H.E President Masisi (13:05):
You know, we have a history, as you said,
that's approaching close to 60years of development. I'm the
fifth president of the country,and I've had the benefit of
hindsight. We also have beendevastated before by a
(13:27):
devastating epidemic HIV andAIDS, and a very wise,
courageous leader we had inPresident who, when we were hit
hardest by that, did not buryhis head in the sand, he went
out to the world fully realizedthat we could not help ourselves
(13:48):
on our own, and proclaimed andsought help, because Botswana
faced as serious in existentialthreat. We could be wiped off
the face of the earth. We arevery small population, poor and
very vulnerable, yeah. Fastforward. The second pandemic hit
(14:09):
us, covid 19. Covid 19. Who'sthe president? It's me. And so
we had to delve deep. Weretreated. It began with my
private office staff, and gotinto deep thought. And out of
that, I came to the conclusionthat we could never achieve our
(14:32):
long term intentions as espousedin our long term vision 2036
which was to transition from anupper middle income economy,
which had been in for the last25 years, the upper middle
income trap, as you might knowit, if we did not do some things
radically differently,particularly borrowing from the
(14:54):
shock of the covid 19 and sothat's what we decided to do.
We're going to. Reset we'regoing to reclaim. And in doing
that, we're going to take a deepbreath and literally shed off
some things that we think won'tget us to where we need to, and
laser focus on those things thatcould. And that's how the reset
(15:19):
reclaim agenda came about, andyou know, at the bottom end of
it is a clear recognition thatwe need to make choices of what
we associate with, what we focusand what we spend our money on.
And research and development wastop most because we needed to
(15:39):
grow, diversify our economy, andthe best tool we had was our
minds. The best tool we had wasour mindset. The best tool we
had were the alliances that wehad developed over time. So
we're going to reach out, butyou know, you don't do that
(16:00):
without having skin in the game.
So I have recently pronounced asan investment in this ideal of a
reset and reclaim that we wouldnotch up our investment in R and
D so that it matches those ofdeveloped countries at 3% of GDP
in the shortest possible time,and that's why we brokered this
(16:22):
partnership. Yeah, MIT, and
Dina Sherif (16:27):
let's talk about that partnership. You know, a
lot of nations around the worldin what I call global growth
markets, or what many in thepast have called emerging
markets or developing markets orthe global South, all terms that
I reject, because we are thefastest growing nations in the
world right now with massivepotential, and the consumers are
(16:50):
all in our part of the world.
But a lot of countries aretalking about how they can
rapidly transition to aknowledge based economy to
support the growth and evolutionof innovation and technology for
the purposes of economicprosperity, which is what unique
said just right now, but you'rereally walking the talk in the
strategic partnership with theCenter for development and
(17:12):
entrepreneurship at MIT, ofwhich I'm the executive
director. And I say this becauseit's very rare. I think, you
know, I shared this before, butit was quite a shock to hear
that a government is signing anagreement with MIT to really
work with them and theircountry, not just their country,
but the rest of Africa, theregion they exist in, to support
(17:33):
this transition to a knowledgebased economy. And in April this
year, Your Excellency came witha number of people, from your
cabinet to MIT, you delivered akeynote address at our annual
conference, and during thatevent, you shared the importance
of nurturing vibrant ecosystemsto support innovation across the
(17:55):
country, to support the rapidlygrowing number of entrepreneurs
that are evolving across thecontinent. And you talked about
the need for science andtechnology to be the next
frontier backing economic growthin across the African continent.
So specifically, I remember youspoke about not just bringing
(18:19):
the world to see Africa and thepotential that is Africa, but
also about the significantimportance of exporting
innovation from Africa to therest of the world, which is
really our history pre colonialtimes. You know, pre colonial
times, Africa was one of themost innovative places in the
world, my country, Egyptincluded. So the question I have
(18:42):
for you is, in this moment, in2024 where the world is today,
which is a very difficult place,why is this all crucial for you?
And what role do you wantBotswana to play in this
shifting of narrative to sciencetechnology and innovation being
(19:07):
connected to the story ofAfrica?
H.E President Masisi (19:13):
You know, thanks for the question. In
Botswana, we have a historyrelative to Africa, the sub
region and the continentBotswana, has a history relative
to the rest of the world. As wealluded to earlier on, it's
almost just over 50 years agothat we gained our independence
(19:36):
as one of the, you know, poorestnations on Mother Earth, and we
have risen to become an uppermiddle income country. We are
the most stable in Africa. We'remulti party democracy, the
oldest, most mature. We intendto keep that record with these
credentials and now with therealization as I lead. My
(20:00):
government and country, and as acommitted pan Africanist, what's
good for the goose is good forthe ganda, if this is good for
my country, and I have everyempirical evidence to
demonstrate that I want toinvite not just the sub region
(20:20):
from which I come, I want toinvite extol the rest of Africa
to join in on this. And I'mprepared. I'm prepared. My
government's prepared to locateit in Botswana. My government's
prepared to co fund. Mygovernment is prepared to open
up using the very transparency,integrity we're known for, to
(20:45):
allow others to invest in thisideal. The ideal is based on the
logic that's there for everyoneto see. Africa is the youngest
continent in the world. Africais a continent that has the
greatest opportunity ofprosperity Africa, not only is
(21:05):
it young and has, has thegreatest potential prosperity.
Africa is endowed with adiversity of resources, water,
the land, you know, the mineralwealth, a clean air forest, you
know, and you name it, naturalgas. Natural Gas, you name it,
(21:26):
you know, Africa has a market,single market, as espoused
through the FCTA, that's thebiggest in the world, 1.3
billion and growing fastest,youngest, therefore the
potential for the being open tobeing traded with longest
(21:51):
presents itself.
Dina Sherif (21:52):
Of course. You know, I read a data, a statistic
recently, that over 40% ofAfrica's population is under the
age of 15. Only 3% of Africa'spopulation is over the age of 65
that means that in 10 years,they will all be consumers, they
(22:14):
will enter the workforce, andthat will open up massive
opportunities for investment.
But in 25 years, in fact, one infour people in the world will be
African. 25% of the globalpopulation will be African. So
which is why I think, for me,this idea of reclaim and reset
really matters right. Mattersnot just to Botswana, but to all
(22:37):
of our countries, because thisis the moment it is right now,
that moment. So I think youknow, following your visit, when
your excellency came to MIT, wesigned an MOU and we're about to
sign an agreement that willlaunch this multi year journey
together between our center atMIT, the government of Botswana
(22:59):
and the rest of Africa, and MITwill bring the best that we have
to offer in terms of buildingstrong and connected innovation
ecosystems to Botswana andbeyond Botswana, but at the end
of this five year partnership,and you know, I'm Pretty sure
that it will continue beyondthose five years. What will
(23:22):
success look like for Botswana,and what, what spillover do you
hope will happen in Africa as aresult of this particular
partnership with MIT in thisagreement?
H.E President Masisi (23:38):
Well, listen to this. I'm listening.
We're launching, we're launchingthis $1 billion fund. Yeah,
right, yes. And bots governmentis putting money to it. Yes.
Botswana government is invitingglobal interested players,
people who think deep, long andfar, in the private sector, the
(24:00):
public sector, philanthropists,you name it, African bank, we
want to also get theinternational the World
Intellectual PropertyOrganization, involved, because
all these, when put together,will create An ecosystem that
will serve all Nation States ofAfrica in the transformation of
(24:28):
their countries using deepresearch, deep tech innovation
and the tools, the resources,The human capital as attracted
through our partnership withMIT, will be there for the
exploitation. I cannot imagine amore radical way, a more
(24:54):
opportune way, to transitionyour value proposition as a
country. Your company, successwill look like the world turned
upside down with respect to howAfrica has been trading with the
world right now, and what willbegin to converse with the world
(25:14):
as it gravitates around thecenter. Success will also
involve enhanced discoveries,whether in the you know,
pharmaceutical space, if youimagine the forest reserves in
Africa and the natural productsthat occur, and what research
(25:38):
and deep tech can generate outof those is not just for
Botswana. Botswana just providesthe ecosystem, the stability,
the grounding through thisagreement to springboard, yeah,
and take it to your country,whether it's in West Africa,
Central Africa, East Africa, youname it. This is the future.
(26:01):
What I also see as success iswhen the academic institutions
of Africa, some of the oldestbeing in Egypt, your own
country, come and enroll in thisecosystem and CO invest. The CO
investment need not necessarilybe in financial terms only. It
could be in human capital. Itcould be your laboratories. It
(26:23):
could be the partnerships withfinance, institutions, your own
country. This is groundbreakingwork, and I see this partnership
going way beyond five years. Isee this as a partnership that's
going to work for the world too.
It's symbiotic. MIT is going togrow, not just in reputation,
but it's in critical capacity togenerate earth shattering
(26:47):
research findings andpartnerships like never been
done before.
Dina Sherif (26:53):
So I want to pause because I think this. I want the
audience to understand thesignificance of what you would
like to launch, and this idea oflaunching a billion dollar fund
or an initiative to support thetransition of Africa to
(27:16):
knowledge based economies thatare fueled by innovation, and a
rapid expansion of innovationdriven enterprises and also deep
tech ventures. And deep techventures is really the
commercialization of R and D,which means that Africa will
become a place that isoriginating and creating new
(27:38):
innovation and taking it to therest of the world. Now the
creation of this independentbillion dollar fund out of
Botswana, the idea is to reallyuse a blended financing model to
bring in big foundations,philanthropists, high net worth
individuals who have a stake inthe game, a stake in Africa, to
co fund this endeavor with thegovernment of Botswana, but to
(28:01):
also invite other governments inAfrica to put money into this
fund with a vision of reallyconnecting the different
innovation ecosystems acrossAfrica, and to really work to
create shared r&d, to createhave faculty say in Cairo work
with faculty in Botswana andNigeria and Ghana, and really
(28:24):
see a force emerge out of Africafor this to be also become, not
just the youngest continent inthe world, but also to be one of
the most exciting places interms of giving birth to new
innovation in challenges thatreally impact us, climate,
agriculture, healthcare,education, all of this needs
(28:46):
innovation, and we have thecapacity to solve our own
problems, but we need to alsocreate an independent body that
will continue to fund theseendeavors, and maybe I know that
Botswana has the capacity to putextra money into R and D and to
support this, but not everyAfrican country has that same
privilege. And your vision oflaunching this particular fund
(29:10):
is really to even out theplaying field so that we can all
work together. So what is reallyfor you, for those who may be
listening in who work forfoundations or the UN or the
World Bank or the AfricanDevelopment Bank, or the afri ex
im bank, or really successfulentrepreneurs who really want to
(29:32):
see the next generation ofentrepreneurs thrive on the
continent. What is your call foraction really? What is this
movement that you really want toinvite people to join. Well,
H.E President Masisi (29:44):
you know, my call for action is for people
to realize a the the opportunitythat can be garnered out of
this, and part of it in simplelanguage, is that. Could be able
to come up with an idea, you canhave the ecosystem by which it's
(30:05):
funded, by which it is protectedand by which it's evacuated
through industry, if it's someant that by which it could be
negotiated to be taken to marketand the financing protected for
that. The idea is for if you'rein a country that is financially
(30:25):
not able to invest in this fund,you are a creative individual,
an innovative individual, foryou to know there is a place for
you to excel and succeed. Ifyou're a company or a high net
worth individual or aninstitution that has the
(30:46):
resources to invest for returnlike you've never imagined, and
the regulatory environment iscrystal clear, as Botswana
always has been, there's a homefor you, if there's a place for
you to find out if you know youcould learn how to there's a
(31:09):
place for you. If there's aplace for you that you've been
looking for that is costeffective to interact with some
of the best deep tech expertsglobally, it's in Botswana,
because MIT will bring them toBotswana, and by virtue of the
(31:32):
domiciliary of this agreement,the pricing is competitive. We
are wanting to share thisopportunity and not keep it to
ourselves as Botswana. We arewanting to be the brethren of
our neighbors, becauseprosperity for our neighbor,
(31:54):
prosperity for other Africans,addresses issues of migration.
They address issues of peace andsecurity. They address issues of
a healthy lifestyles. Theyaddress issues even of food
security, because the researchthat will go into this, the
(32:15):
peace dividend that will deriveout of more people living
better, and therefore rejectingwar as a means to try and
resolving a problem or and evenrejecting the incentivization of
conflict in order to get tominerals, should motivate those
(32:39):
like minded to see this as aPeace investment. I
Dina Sherif (32:44):
agree, and I
H.E President Masisi (32:45):
the UN and all those organizations that are
committed to development or tologically embrace this, support
it and put their money wheretheir mouths are.
Dina Sherif (33:00):
Yes, because I think one of the most ignored
pathways to peace is economicprosperity, yes and economic
prosperity will reduce conflict,will create peace, will improve
livelihoods, and that that is acore focus of why you want to
launch this fund. You
H.E President Masisi (33:20):
know, before you get onto the next
one, I'd want people to betested. Just do your maths. Just
do your analysis. This investingin this fund is the cheapest,
fastest way to reach realized.
SDGs,
Dina Sherif (33:36):
I agree. I'm with you there. I'm with you there.
There's no better way than tobuild up prosperity than bottom
up, through entrepreneurs,through innovation and through
massive collaboration in termsof economic prosperity. And I
think this fund could reallyunlock that for Africa and
beyond.
H.E President Masisi (33:57):
I'm excited.
Dina Sherif (33:57):
I'm excited right there with you, as you know, I'm
on your bus. So I want to askyou, you know, continuing on
with this, you know, I'mAfrican. You're African. And
when you're here, and we're heredoing this podcast in the United
States of America, and whenpeople talk about the narrative
(34:21):
of Africa, it's often framedwith this lens of poverty,
conflict, bad, politics,corruption, exploitation,
extraction, all these terms thatreally conjure up a negative
image and that also getsinternalized within our own
people. But we Your Excellency,and I for sure know that this is
(34:43):
not true, and Africa is a placeof hope, of growth, of dynamism,
but of community, because welove each other, we are deeply
bound. We love our communities.
We love supporting each other. Isay in Egypt, nobody dies of
starvation because somebody willgo out and find a way to give
that person food or or what theyneed. And that comes from the
(35:08):
communal part of our heritage.
Now, you know our our collectivenarrative of Africa has always
been one of growth and abundanceand hope and creativity. And
earlier on, you spoke about theincredible story of Botswana and
how it transitioned. But I alsowould like you to tell me how
(35:35):
you would like to define, ormaybe I should say, redefine the
narrative of Africa, for theglobal community and those
listening, what do we need toovercome as a continent, or,
more specifically, what do weneed to let go of if we're to
achieve this vision of being acontinent that exports
(35:58):
innovation, that is stable, thatis economically sovereign and
prosperous. What message wouldyou like to share about that
redefinition of our narrative?
H.E President Masisi (36:11):
Well, first, let me postulate that
this negative, condescendingnarrative of Africa being
essentially problematic,deficient in everything of
value, is not only false andbaseless, it is determined
(36:33):
deliberately as a precursor toconquest. And I want to invite
everybody who seeks peace tobegin by rejecting that notion.
Africa is proud. It's beautiful.
It's got intelligent people,it's got wonderful resources,
it's got capacity, and it ispotentially much more
(36:57):
prosperous, if not abused. Youknow, if you continually rape
somebody, they get hurt so badlythat they can't speak up for
themselves. And in the narrationof Africa, being as bad as
supposed to be, that's theeffect that it gets of it. So we
(37:19):
need to reject that turn theleaf completely. And then we can
stand up and compete. We, asAfrican people, need to let go
of that. And then we also needto, you know, speak up to those
who are caricature in this andask them to stop it, because
it's not serving us, it's onlyserving them. You have to
(37:44):
wonder, if we were so bad asdescribed, why is everybody else
running after us and the thingsthat we own, if it really was so
bad. So if you also think of theconcepts used, they're very
(38:06):
alien to us, like you say, weare Brother's Keeper. You know,
there's a communitarian spirit.
You look at the Africanlanguages, they're always
idiomatic expressions orProverbs, and describe and extol
virtues of sharing, virtues ofhelping others, virtues of
(38:31):
uplifting, virtues of growth.
These are the concepts, thethese. This is the language that
we need to put back into oureveryday narrative, and even the
projection that we have of themedia and the angling of our
cameras and the content of whatshared and described needs to
(38:54):
project this. And so I am filledwith the optimism that if we
step up and forwardsufficiently, this will come
through and through and instepping up, we need to be very
clear about what we focus on. Weare clear. We want innovation.
We want to dig in deep, get thevery best that we have and can
(39:20):
generate, and share it with theworld, and the world only owes
us a fair price. That's right.
That's all we aren't That'sright.
Dina Sherif (39:34):
100% I'm right there with you. You know, yeah,
it warms my heart right to hearyou say this, because sometimes
it gets lonely out there toconstantly be carrying the flag
of saying Africa is grand, andwe've always been that way, but
(39:54):
there was little blip in ourhistory, and we need to really
like you said. Turn that pageand move forward, because
there's only forward, and we wethe past is the past, so we need
to step forward with the sameconfidence and pride that you're
speaking with, because there wasa time where Africa was grand,
(40:16):
and it still is, and willcontinue to be. And I think, you
know, this is the beginning, andthere's really no time to waste.
We have so many jobs to create,so much to offer the world, and
we're ready to do that. So Iwant to give you an opportunity,
(40:39):
just very quickly, before wecome to a close. Your
Excellency, and I have spoken aswell as I have spoken with
members of your cabinet aboutyou know, Botswana has the
potential to be a true place forentrepreneurs to base themselves
out of in the interim, as wecontinue to see countries across
(41:04):
Africa really transition to morestable economies, Botswana is
there, and we see so manyamazing African entrepreneurs
leave the continent and come tothe United States or go to Dubai
or go to Europe, and we want toretain that talent on the
(41:24):
continent, and and Botswana hasthe potential to be a hub for
these innovation drivenentrepreneurs to base themselves
out of in a place of stabilityas they continue to grow, but
also as they start seeing theenormous potential of really
focusing on the entirety ofAfrica as a market. I'd love for
(41:47):
you to share with entrepreneursacross the continent who are
listening this invitation tocontemplate Botswana as a place
for them to come and basethemselves out of what is that
invitation? What does Botswanahave to offer?
H.E President Masisi (42:04):
You know, Botswana has a lot to offer
besides the sunshine and thewildlife and the
Dina Sherif (42:10):
good beef and the great beef and the wonderful
beef. That's right, diapersincluded,
H.E President Masisi (42:14):
we have a lot to offer in terms of our
governance ecosystem. We are,you know, among the least
corrupt countries in terms ofperceptions in Africa. For the
longest time, we have veryattractive tax regime which is
predictable and smooth inchanges, gentle, easy to
(42:42):
understand and well managed. Wehave no controls in our exchange
of foreign currency. So you canbring in as much money in
whatever currency you want andtake it out, and you can take
(43:03):
out as much money in whatevercurrency you want. We are
unintimidated by that. We have avery predictable, clear policy
environment for investment. Wehave the international financial
service center, and among thequick fixes we're going to make
of it is that we're going toboost it with localized banking
(43:24):
capacity so that we're notdependent on external banks as
we have been, and that's part ofthe attraction for this
investment fund that we Want toput in place. We have a very
stable government and governancesystem. Through our democratic
(43:47):
processes. Every five years, wego for general election like
we're going for general electionin October, the 30th, October,
we'll be casting a vote for bothparliament and local government.
It is where constituency basedsystems or present emerges out
of the majority number ofparliamentary seats the party
that the presidential candidatebelongs to. They become the
(44:09):
executive head of the countryfor a maximum of five years at a
time, and a total maximum forone person of 10 years. And then
they are required to step down,and there's automatic
succession, provided we havebeen doing this since we were
independent, so we're prettytrained at it. We have an
independent judiciary that'swell respected. We respect the
(44:32):
rule of law, and we pledge touphold it each time, so we
haven't scared anybody away. Wecan only attract much more. I
think some of our innovators andentrepreneurs have evacuated out
to the device or the US of theworld, because of the
(44:52):
attractiveness, the size ofmarket. They will come back. But
what they don't see, which I askthem to look. Through at
carefully is the rate of returnon investment is much higher in
Sub Saharan Africa than anywhereelse in the world, discounting
any risk, and we are the biggestrisk in Botswana. We also want
(45:18):
them to see that the market, asyou know, brokered by the
African continental free tradearea, the single biggest market
in the world, 1.3 billion younggrowing, fastest working
population, huge opportunitiesfor investment. We look at the
(45:39):
whole African landscape,infrastructure, energy, the
demands are massive. Not onlyare they massive, they will be
their longest and they just keepgrowing. When you add deep tech
to the rich endowment of naturalcapital in all these countries,
(46:00):
the potential for return isenormous, because you don't only
evacuate to the African market.
You can evacuate this to theworld, because they don't have
it. You look at the criticalmineral space, you know, we have
just licensed our firstmanganese mine in Botswana,
critical, and we're going to be,you know, manufacturing, you
know, 11. Electric batteries inan up so distant future, in
(46:24):
Botswana, Africa has the highestconcentration of the critical
earth minerals that are requiredfor clean energy. We have an
abundance of sunshine forphotovoltaic development, and
when you add all these together,you really cannot go wrong. So I
(46:46):
invite our entrepreneurs tothink deep and hard, do your
research. Come we're ready foryou. Amazing,
Dina Sherif (46:58):
amazing. We will definitely be sharing that with
the entrepreneurs who are partof our center too. So I want to,
I want to close, you know, many,many years ago, a friend of mine
asked me a question. She said,when you look back on your life,
how do you want to beremembered? And at the time, I
(47:19):
was in my late 20s, it was sucha profound question. And I
remember looking at her andsaying, you know, when my time
ends and people think of Dina, Iwant them to think that I led a
life of purpose, of meaning,that somehow not that my life
mattered, but that I didsomething that mattered to
(47:42):
others. Now, when you look backon your life, and you know
you're only going to be in thisincredible position of a head of
state for a short period oftime, and in the big scheme of
things, it's a very short periodof time. What do you want your
legacy of purpose to be for yourcountry, for Africa, for the
(48:05):
world. When people think of HisExcellency, President mahotsein
Assisi,
H.E President Masisi (48:13):
you know, I am only human, like we all
are, and I happened to be very,really privileged to have
occupied the position that Ioccupy, and with all the
humility I can master in termsof the challenges that have
(48:36):
presented themselves before me,and the seizing of those
challenges using my bestcapacities. I'd like to be
remembered forbeing the biggest disrupter for
good. I want when people thinkback, Inshallah, as you say, to
(48:57):
remember this one time when Ihad this very privilege,
what a profound change in theway we thought and behaved, I
cultivated and caricatured. Therest, really is the uptake?
(49:22):
Yeah, I acknowledge you so much.
Yeah.
Dina Sherif (49:27):
Well, I can say with confidence that you're
already on that path. So yourexcellency, our time together
has come to an end, but wereally want to wish Botswana
well in your upcoming election,we're excited to be on this
journey with you and to reallysee let's want to transition to
(49:51):
a full fledged knowledge economyand to start exporting not just
diamonds, but real innovation tothe rest of the world when it
comes to agriculture.
Healthcare, education,transportation, our challenges
are endless, but that means theopportunities to solve are
endless, and we're reallygrateful to you for taking the
time to engage with us, to openyour country to us, to share
(50:13):
your vision and to reallyinspire others with this
wonderful vision you have. Andon behalf of us at the Center
for development entrepreneurshipat MIT, we look forward to
working with your nation andbeing a part of this journey.
And as an African, I'm 100% withyou about reclaiming and
resetting who we are and takingback our agency and moving
(50:37):
forward one step at a time. So Ithank you, and I'm so grateful
for the time that you spent withus today. Well,
H.E President Masisi (50:45):
thank you very much. I must with all the
humility again, Master. Thankyou for wishing my nation state
well at the upcoming generalelections. As I did tell you, we
have a term limit. I will bestanding for the last time. I
hope to win. If I don't, you cancome to my home village. It's
called moshopa. I will see youthere.
Dina Sherif (51:06):
I will absolutely do that. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
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