Podcasts about Fred Swaniker

In this powerful episode of The Long Form Podcast, I sit down with Ghanaian entrepreneur Fred Swaniker — founder of African Leadership University (ALU), ALX, and Sand Technologies. We discuss his deep relationship with Rwanda and President Paul Kagame, the historic decision to cut ties with Belgium, and Africa's urgent need to adapt in the AI revolution. Fred shares insights on entrepreneurship, risks he faced after leaving McKinsey and his vision for African education. We also tackle audience questions on AI risks, ALU's rankings, youth unemployment, and Fred's personal hobbies. This is a must-watch for anyone interested in Rwanda, African politics, entrepreneurship, leadership, ICT, and the future of AI on the continent.Listen to the Long Form with Sanny Ntayombya podcast on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/rw/podcast/the-long-form-with-sanny-ntayombya/id1669879621Listen to the Long Form with Sanny Ntayombya podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7HkkUi4bUyIeYktQhWOljcFollow Long Form with Sanny Ntayombya on Twitter: https://x.com/TheLongFormRwFollow Long Form with Sanny Ntayombya on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelongformrw/Follow Long Form with Sanny Ntayombya on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@longformrwFollow Sanny Ntayombya on Twitter: https://x.com/SannyNtayombya About Long Form with Sanny Ntayombya:The Long Form with Sanny Ntayombya is a weekly podcast intent on keeping you up to date with current affairs in Rwanda. The topics discussed range from politics, business, sports to entertainment. If you want to share your thoughts on the topics I discuss use the hashtag #LongFormRw on Twitter and follow us on Twitter and Instagram on our handle @TheLongFormRwBe a part of the conversation.

Born in Ghana, Fred Swaniker, lived across Africa and realized that good leadership is key to a nation's success. Here's what we talk about in this episode: Business, Economy, Educationm, Entrepreneur, Future

Fred Swaniker believes Africa will struggle to move forward without more positive leaders working for the greater good.That's why he's committed to developing the next generation of trailblazing African leaders. Through the African Leadership Group and Sand Technologies, Fred hopes to train 3 million leaders by 2035 who can help tackle the root causes of some of the continent's most enduring problems.Listen to the latest Positive Leadership podcast episode now and don't forget to subscribe to catch every episode.Subscribe now to JP's free monthly newsletter "Positive Leadership and You" on LinkedIn to transform your positive impact today: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/positive-leadership-you-6970390170017669121/

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Welcome to the "News of the Entrepreneurs Talk Africa" podcast where our founders Marc, Jason, and Gerald explore the dynamic world of African entrepreneurship. They kickstart the series by delving into the current state of startup funding, the rise of generative AI, the shift in venture capital mindsets, and the impressive surge in female entrepreneurship across the continent.Timeline00:00:06 - Introduction to the podcast and hosts.00:00:57 - The trio begins their discussion on the current funding situation for startups in Africa.00:11:07 - Jason emphasizes the importance of investment opportunities for growth in fragmented ecosystems like Africa.00:12:34 - Gerald introduces a paradigm shift in companies' utilization of investment funds.00:13:47 - Jason points out investment opportunities from grant-giving organizations.00:16:39 - Marc shares details about the Africa Business Heroes program from the Jack Ma Foundation.00:19:04 - Gerald explores the expanding presence of tech hubs and incubators in emerging African markets.00:21:55 - The team dives into the importance and utilization of generative AI for African entrepreneurs.00:26:40 - Jason argues that AI has become a necessary tool for all businesses.00:28:04 - Jason provides insights into investment trends and prospects in Africa.00:30:46 - The hosts discuss the rise of female entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa.ReferencesGenerative AI: Explore further about AI on OpenAI and Technology Review's Article on GPT-4, as well as AI initiatives by Google and Microsoft.Discover thriving African entrepreneurs at FCB dot AI, She Leads Africa, Lionesses of Africa, and African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative.Venture Capital: Know more about Savvy, Fred Swaniker from ALU, and African tech hubs.Female Entrepreneurship: Learn about it from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and Soul Rebels.Additional resources: African Business Angel Network, DEG Developed PPP Ventures program, Go-Getters Agri Prize, Agri Hack, Africa Business Heroes program, Rwanda tech hubs: KLab, [Impact Hub Kigali](https://impacthub.rwEnjoy! And let us know what you think about this new season!

We know that local economies are not going to create enough jobs or income-generating opportunities for such a rapidly growing African population. But at the same time, for countries in the global north whose working-age population is shrinking, where's the labor going to come from?The solution to both of these problems might be the same:  remote work. In this episode, we're going to explore three buckets of remote work: the sexy, high-skilled remote work for product-led technology companies, the services-based IT work and business process outsourcing, and lastly, the increase of non-technical work that's delivered or fulfilled through digital means.4:39 - Exploring high-skilled remote work for product-led technology companies, with Andela's Jeremy Johnson. 10:18 - Andela's model, and the type of talent they've worked with, has evolved since its founding in 2014.12:30 - Product companies are looking for a specific caliber of talent from an experience level. What does this mean for the future of work in Africa if experience level is such an important requirement? This is where Fred Swaniker and the African Leadership Group come in, which is focused on connecting talent to global services companies. 19:28 - Whereas there's an ever-increasing demand for software developers, it takes a long time to train developer talent. So what about roles that aren't technical, but that can still be fulfilled with technology? We discuss with Shortlist's Paul Breloff.23:11 - The talent networks are going to play an increasingly important role in bridging supply with demand, with a sector-specific focus. Consider the model "Andela for X". 25:03 - One vertical platform creating opportunities for non-technical talent is Caret, the Nigerian-based platform focused on customer success. We speak to its founder, Tolu Agunbiade. 28:22 - A retrospective conversation between The Flip's b-mic Sayo Folawiyo and Justin Norman.Season 4 of The Flip is sponsored by MFS Africa.Follow The Flip on Twitter @theflipafrica and subscribe to our newsletter The Flip Notes at https://theflip.africa/newsletter.

Sanisha Packirisamy, economist at Momentum Investments explains what the Fed's work to tame inflation will mean for the dollar and other currencies.    Better & Brighter, a company by a group of Cape Town kids, talk about their product, Vocabulary Word Pack, which helps their peers improve their lexicon.   Fred Swaniker, founder at African Leadership University is our shapeshifter for the week. He spoke about how their university is shaping the minds of future African leaders.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guest: Fred Swaniker | Founder at African Leadership University See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guest: Fred Swaniker | Founder at African Leadership University See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the podcast we are in Kenya, specifically a town called Mariakani which is about 2 hours away from Mombasa. I am speaking to a young lady who has defied the odds and pursued her dream of fixing problems with her coding skills. She codes about 100 hours a week but that doesn't stop her from being an avid reader and writer. She read 58 books in 2021 and has been a consistent writer of technical articles, newspaper content, blogs and much more. She is also the author of the book 'Of Scattered Tears' which is available on Amazon. When Mr. Fred Swaniker; Founder of African Leadership Academy spoke to her in 2021, he called it “The most inspiring conversation I've had this year”. Firdaus H. Salim is our guest on the podcast this week and she shares how and why she does all these hard things. Social Media LinkedIn: Firdaus H. Salim Instagram: Dear Young Afrikan Facebook: Dear Young Afrikan Mr. Fred Swaniker's article about Firdaus: “The most inspiring conversation I've had this year” The book by Firdaus: " Of Scattered Tears" Firdaus' blog - Betascribbles

Ep#45 Take Control of the Tech Talent Shortage with Fred Swaniker If you recognize the music, it's because it's similar to a famous Hollywood movie. Speaking of Hollywood movies, Brad Pitt has a talent agent, sports athletes have agents, why shouldn't the tech industry. My next guest is taking control of the tech shortage by sourcing the industry with the top talent globally, and he's created The Room where relationships are built, not transactions.

Ep#45 Take Control of the Tech Talent Shortage with Fred Swaniker If you recognize the music, it's because it's similar to a famous Hollywood movie. Speaking of Hollywood movies, Brad Pitt has a talent agent, sports athletes have agents, why shouldn't the tech industry. My next guest is taking control of the tech shortage by sourcing the industry with the top talent globally, and he's created The Room where relationships are built, not transactions.

Fred Swaniker is CEO of the African Leadership Group. He's been named one of the world's most influential people by Time Magazine. And the entrepreneur from Ghana has the ambitious goal of educating 3 million young people over 50 years. On Art of Power, Swaniker tells Aarti Shahani about his journey from child refugee to McKinsey management consultant to educator-activist, building schools across the continent of Africa, where almost 60% of the population is under 25. He also explains how he knows when an idea is worth pursuing. Most passions, he argues, are not worth your time.

Constraint breeds innovation. Africa's development challenges have catapulted the region to become the global leader in financial technology. Now those constraints are leading the continent to become a pioneer in the future of education. Over the last 15 years, Ghanaian-born education entrepreneur has launched the African Leadership Group (ALG), a formidable set of institutions from the renowned African Leadership Academy (ALA) to the African Leadership University (ALU). But when the pandemic halted ALG's momentum, Swaniker was forced to pivot and re-imagine the organizational structure entirely. Within months, his team unveiled a bold new business model to better support its mission of creating the next generation of African leaders. In this episode, the former McKinsey executive, who has been listed among Time's Most Influential People, opens up about ALG's unique approach to education. Not only has it helped graduates to land jobs with some of the world's top companies, but it's also attracted global attention for its practical approach to learning and leadership that turns traditional education on its head. Swaniker also shares personal lessons in navigating risk and why Africa must “think global” in order not to get left behind.

Africa's population is the youngest on earth and the fastest growing. Research recently published by the Lancet predicts that in the year 2100, five of the 10 most populous countries on earth will be in Africa. These demographic trajectories will have a dramatic impact on the global economy and who shapes it. This is clearly an opportunity for the continent and its leaders, but job creation in Africa is not keeping pace with this rapid population growth resulting in a 'ticking time bomb'. Yet for Fred Swaniker, Founder and CEO of the African Leadership Group, digital technology and the move to online is a chance for Africans to not only create jobs, but to reach new employment opportunities both on the continent and within the global jobs market. In this conversation with Fred, a leading voice on African leadership, we discussed the role of leaders in unlocking the continent's potential, and how investors can work to create sustainable job-creating private sectors.  The conversation is chaired by CDC's Head of External Affairs, Colin Buckley, and he's joined by Tenbite Ermias, Managing Director and Head of Africa. Additional links: Watch the event in full on our YouTube channel here Subscribe to our Insight newsletter here 

In this episode, the team discusses whether or not a college education is essential in Africa. To do this we are joined by Fred Swaniker who is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of the African Leadership Group. We are also joined by Faith Abiodun who is also an entrepreneur and the founder and executive director of Future Africa. We hope you enjoy!!!! Follow us on: Website: mindshack.org LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/mindshack-podcast/ Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCigY8gRK929-3X8xrfUOcNA Instagram: www.instagram.com/mind_shack_

Three big questions to ask yourself about your purpose: "Is it big enough, Am I uniquely positioned to pull it off, Am I passionate about it?" Does your mission keep you up at night, thinking of ways to accomplish it? I'd like to add a 4th question: Can you see yourself doing this for the rest of your life? These concepts are adapted from Fred Swaniker's article in medium, found here: https://medium.com/@FredSwaniker/resist-that-calling-it-s-probably-not-your-purpose-in-life-1dd33a297185

Are you born an entrepreneur, can we learn entrepreneurship or are we made entrepreneurs? To answer this question, we welcome a young professional who is in charge of the student venture project at the African Leadership University in Mauritius. Coming from a liberal art and alternative education background, nothing predestined Lucy Scott to be in charge of developing the entrepreneurial spirit and knowledge of students at ALU.This podcast is all about Lucy’s story, before, during (and after…) her tenure at ALU. Lucy goes over her learning experience of building Student Ventures at ALU, her challenges of being part of an ecosystem of startups and why entrepreneurship leadership is so important in today’s world.ALU has been founded by Fred Swaniker and watching his TED talk, titled The leaders who ruined Africa, and the generation who can fix it, will give you a wonderful idea about why leadership is core and center to ALU. "In Africa, more than anywhere else in the world, the difference that just one good leader can make is much greater than anywhere else," Fred Swaniker. But before you click on the link above, enjoy Lucy’s interview about leadership education and why entrepreneurship education matters!

When I took the Venture course by African Leadership University, I learned a very vital lesson in the module titled: The African Century. As I observe the challenges Nigeria and other African countries are facing, it dawned on me that the solution to these challenges is what Fred Swaniker shared in the lesson. Hence, I thought it wise to share part of the lesson with you. I hope it resonates with your heart as it did with mine. Enjoy! P.S: To get the best listening experience, I recommend you use an earphone

This Part 2 of my interview with Fred Swaniker, founder of Africa Leadership Academy (ALA), Africa Leadership Univerity (ALU) and ALX (among others). Fred is one of Time Magazine's Most Influential People in the World and has done the requisite mainstage TED talk. I believe this is the only time he has publicly talked about marketing.Subscribe to the podcast: Apple, Sticher, TuneIn, Overcast , Spotify. Private Feed.Transcript:Edward: This is part two of my interview with Fred Swaniker. Today, we're going to dive into his experience leading ALX. Fred, ALU is Africa Leadership University; ALA, Africa Leadership Academy; ALN, Africa Leadership Network. What does ALX stand for? Does it stand for anything?Fred: We wanted ALX to really stand for disruption. It's the anti-university, anti-high school, and we wanted to establish a new category of higher education and the future of learning, et cetera. It actually stands for whatever you want it to stand for. If you want to call it Alternative Learning Exchange, you can call it that. You want to call it Audacious Leadership Experience, you can call it that. Anything that you see as disruptive and unconventional, you can put that label on ALX. That was really the idea behind, like Google has Google X. We want to say this is a very different thing from traditional education. Edward: Explain to me what ALX actually is today.Fred: Think of ALX as a lifelong learning platform with programs that people can take at different stages of their lives. One of the things we believe is that the world has changed so fast, that what you learn in college quickly becomes outdated. You need to keep adapting your skills and learn new things, so you can remain relevant. But yet today, if you want to learn, you either go back to graduate school for two years or one year, or you're left with watching TED talks.So we thought we would build something that was more structured, that could walk with you along different stages of your life. We have different programs where you might have one program for recent college graduates, which is a six-month boot camp where they learn the skills that they should have learned in college, but they didn't. That would actually make them more highly employable, and then they get their first job.Edward: What are examples of those skills? Are you teaching them to code? Are you teaching them to do project management?Fred: Absolutely not. They're learning critical thinking skills, communication skills, leadership, how to manage projects, how to analyze data and make good decisions with it, how to manage themselves, how to manage up [...]. Basically, what you wish every entry-level grad would have, that they just know how to get stuff done, they ask good questions, they show up every day at work, and they're very driven and understand that, and are really open to learning new things.Let's face it. There are very few jobs straight off college where you need to be a specialist in anything. Investment banks will hire people who've done classics in history and engineering, and then they'll train them into what they want. What you're looking for is that adaptable person who's hungry to learn, and really has got these traits that make them highly employable. That's what we're trying to do within that program.Edward: How much of that is the person versus the training? How much is ALX that they're signaling, hey, I'm the type of person who likes to learn, and I want to come work for your company and I'll learn there, versus actual skills that they need to learn before they can start.Fred: It's a bit of both. We take them through a lot of learning by doing and giving them all feedback in ALX. One of the things we believe is that—there was a lot of research that shows—only 10% of any skill can be effectively learned in the classroom, 20% comes from your peers and mentors and coaches, and 70% comes from doing. But yet today, most education is only focused on that 10%. We try and really give people this simulation of the workplace for six months and we give them feedback and then they learn there. By the time they show up for work, they've really got the skills. We've basically done the work for an employer, that they would have had to do in upskilling someone for the world of work in their first year of employment. That aspect with ALX is the brand that we give because what we're signaling to the employers is that we have taken this person to a very rigorous selection process. We only admit about 1% of the people who applied to ALX. The employer knows that we filtered through a lot of folks so that immediately makes them take our talent more seriously.Edward: Why are they buying ALX? Are they effectively buying access to a job?Fred: We try and advertise that. We're saying that you're getting access to skills and networks that can create a lifetime of opportunities for you. You're also joining a club and lifelong community because the peers that you meet in ALX can open doors for you throughout the rest of your life and they can support you, et cetera. We are going to be your partner at different stages of your life. As you progress and you become a manager, you can come back to ALX for manager training. Then three years later, you need to learn data science, you can come up for ALX. We're constantly giving you feedback and identifying development needs, and we're walking with you throughout your career. That is what you're buying when you apply to ALX.Edward: Who are the buyers? Are they all university grads? Or before they graduate? Are they unemployed people? Are they trying to accelerate their existing careers?Fred: We have two main target audiences. One is the fresh university graduate. For example, in Kenya, it takes the average Kenyan college graduate five years to get a job. Many people have got a degree, they've got the theory, but they don't have the networks and skills. That's our target market for the first category. The second category are mid-career managers who want to accelerate their careers. We've got programs for those two different types.Edward: How are they finding ALX? How do your customers find you? How do the students find you?Fred: What's been really exciting is that most of them, the first cohort found us simply through three main ways. One is at the African Leadership Academy and African Leadership University. The two institutions that I built before ALX that built significant brands with them. We used to get thousands of people applying to both of those institutions for just a couple of hundred slots. We obviously had a lot of people who had tried again to ALA and couldn't get in. Tried again to ALU, couldn't get in. That's when we started ALX. Part of the reason they couldn't get into the ALX, ALU would also relate to cost. When we brought ALX to their city, then then they said, I've been trying to get into your institutions for several years, and now you're here in my backyard.”Many people just jumped into our ALX because of what we've done before.The second way in which they may have found us was through partnerships. We established lots of partnerships with universities because they have a problem. They're graduating kids and they're not getting jobs. We were a nice compliment to them; we're not competing with them at all. Youth groups and companies that are trying to connect with youth, et cetera. Finally, my personal brand. Over the years I have been able to build a following amongst young people because of the work I've been doing. I have about 200,000 followers on social media, so I just literally went and posted on those different platforms. That immediately spread and young people wanted to be part of it all.We didn't have to spend much money on marketing at all, to attract the first cohort. For the second cohort, they came because of word of mouth from the first cohort. We literally had kids who were standing in the streets of Nairobi telling everyone that they could meet, that you need to go to ALX because it's changed their lives. Their parents were telling their friends that you need to go to ALX because it changed their lives. At ALU, a customer acquisition cost was $3500 per student, at ALX it was $4 per student.Edward: Was that $4 per applicant or $4 per accepted student?Fred: Per accepted student.Edward: And you were only accepting 1 in 100 students? One in 100 applicants?Fred: Basically, we took 200 out of 14,000 applicants.Edward: So your cost per applicant is on the 6¢ range?Fred: Exactly. Basically, we spend almost nothing on marketing.Edward: Why are you accepting so few? Are they just not qualified? Or you just don't have the capacity or the throughput to put them in?Fred: A couple of reasons. One is we wanted to test the model first. We had to build up our capacity, our technology systems, people, et cetera. Two, we also want to make sure that we could place them into employment and entrepreneurship pathways, et cetera. We didn't want to have produced too much talent and not be able to…Edward: Meet your promise.Fred: Meet our promise, exactly. We wanted to just go a bit slower, develop the concept. But now, we're scaling significantly. We're going to train two million people in the next decade through ALX. We are really taking it up. Next year alone, we want to take about 50,000 people through ALX.Edward: How many of those applicants that came in, that you rejected, are you going to be able to accept in the future?Fred: Of those 14,000 I'd say we could probably have accepted 3000–4000 of them. I would say 20%–30% of them would have been eligible.Edward: The ones that aren't, is because you don't think you could train them well enough to get them a job after your program, and you just don't want to make that investment when you can't deliver?Fred: We have the luxury of choice, so we might as well just choose the top when we have so many applicants. It's generally easier to work with the best talent than the second-best talent. Since we have the choice, we might as well take the best talent. It's part of our brand as well, for the other side, for the employees, one of them if we can say, you can rest assured that we have only taken the top 5% or the top 10% of applicants. It enhances our ability to place them because the employers, the investors who might want to invest in them into their ventures, know that they have been through a very rigorous selection process. Therefore, it actually makes it easier to place them.Edward: You're in a place right now where you don't need to make any marketing investments really at all because you have a backlog of people, your operations are your bottleneck, not your marketing. But presumably, if your aspiration is two million people through your program, you're going to need that marketing muscle later on. How do you work on that marketing muscle when there's no acute need for it?Fred: I've recently built a significant marketing team, I brought in a CMO and digital marketing expert, a content expert, and marketing automation, et cetera. We've got about (now) 20 people and a marketing team. We are now going to be more deliberate in spreading the word to allow us to build a massive funnel for us to be able to scale as fast as we can and as much as we'd like. We are doing that, but we still don't expect our customer acquisition cost to be very high because we're finding that our product has a really excellent product-market fit. What we've done is we've also flipped the entire pricing model. You don't pay upfront for ALX. You pay for it afterward only when you have a job.We've got an interesting subscription model. Essentially, the upfront cost of going through ALX is zero, so we've got a perfect product-market fit, you can say that. We are building a marketing function. We are also about to launch something that we call the Do Hard Things Challenge. Because we have so many more applicants than we can accept, we're putting a barrier in the process which is to say, we will change your life when you join the ALX. You will get connected to an incredible network and you'll get skills that will support you for the rest of your life. But before we invest in you and give you all these opportunities, you need to show us that you're a doer and that you are someone who is a self-starter.The Do Hard Things Challenge is basically asking young Africans to show us over a three-month period that they can get a job, any job. Go and volunteer, do anything, and hold it for three months. Start a venture or start a project in your community. If you do well in that, then we will consider you for our application. That's going to both build the buzz around what we're doing and it's also going to signal the kind of brand that we stand for, that we are a place for doers and not just talkers.Edward: I think you have the luxury of being able to invest in your brand because you don't have that acute fire that you need to put out next week. You're growing things for the long term, which is allowing you to invest for the long term. Fred: Exactly.Edward: That said, one of your important acute channels is universities and having the universities flow students into your program. How do you work with universities?Fred: As I mentioned, universities in Africa have a big problem because about 45% of university graduates are unemployed. In Kenya, it takes five years for college graduates to get a job. In Ghana, it takes up to 10 years to get a job. So we are solving a problem for them. When we started in Kenya, for example, I leveraged my relationships and my reputation to visit some of the different universities. The vice-chancellors literally rolled out the red carpet for me. They had me speak to all their students. They shared mailing lists of all their alumni and they sent out blasts to all of their alumni saying here's an incredible program that you can go to and that will help you find opportunities. They were a natural partner because we had what they needed. We also partnered with various youth groups and media organizations, anyone because youth unemployment is a massive problem in Africa. Because we were providing a solution to that issue, many, many partners wanted to collaborate with us.Edward: Who led those relationships? Did you call in the chancellors yourself?Fred: In some cases, I did that. In other cases, my team just went and visited different universities and met the career development center, the alumni centers, and formed those partnerships. But I didn't need to open the doors. Our offering was so compelling that they welcomed us with open arms in most places we went to.Edward: I find that when you do these partnerships, oftentimes you can get the top-down support, but then when it comes down to bottom-up and actually delivering on it, they sometimes drop the ball. How did you ensure these universities actually followed through and gave you the support they needed? Did they hand you the email addresses or they send the emails up themselves? If so, how did you make sure they were sending out the right emails to the right people?Fred: In some cases, yes. They handed out the email addresses. In Africa, we don't have these crazy data protection laws, but in some cases, they did that. I mean, this is a few years ago; I think now we would do things differently. In other cases, they send it out on our behalf. The way we made sure that it wasn't just some fluffy agreement at the top is that I made sure that I went into these relationships with people who could then do the follow-up with their next [...].I made sure I got a commitment from them about who exactly in your organization should we work with to execute this? Can you let them know that you have made this commitment? Also in some institutions, we built the relationships bottom up because we went straight to the person who actually had that email list or whose job it was to find jobs for the graduates. They were obviously struggling, so we went to them with a solution and it was definitely not a hard sell.Edward: Do you have an account management team that continues to oversee each of these relationships at these schools as you scale?Edward: Not formally. We are going to set up something like that, but again, because of the word of mouth of the first batch of students, those relationships over time become less and less important because we now have our own graduates to vouch for what we're doing. We have a net promoter score of about 85 and Harvard Business School has a net promoter score of 42.Edward: So your word of mouth is going okay for you.Fred: Yeah, it's going all right. Yeah.Edward: It's really fantastic what you're building, Fred. Before we go, I want to talk about your Quake book, but in your case, it's not really a book. It's more of a blog post, is that right?Fred: Yeah. It's this blog post by Paul Graham, the founder of Y Combinator, which talks about things that don't scale. It's his advice to some of the founders that go through Y Combinator, that in the early days, they should really focus on creating outstanding customer experiences and getting a few customers to love them. Then from there, you can actually get to scale. Actually, the first time I heard that concept was from Brian Chesky, the founder of Airbnb. I was attending a conference where he was speaking, and he was talking about how, when he had joined Y Combinator, they'd ask him, they said, where are your customers. He said, well, I've got about 100 customers on the East Coast. So, Y Combinator was like, why are you here? Get out of this office. Go to the East Coast and find out why those 100 love you. Brian and his co-founders went and spent six months in New York, living in those Airbnbs with those hundred clients, and understanding why they like Airbnb, what was working, what wasn't working, and they figured out all kinds of things. For example, if you take a picture of the apartment and put it online, you're going to have more people wanting to book, et cetera. From that, they perfected their product. Then a few years later, they had millions of customers. Brian was saying how, when most founders start companies, they try and get to scale immediately. They're trying to be big [...] doing stages. The first stage is you need to create your product. In the second stage, you need to get love, which is a few people really, really loving your product. That's doing things in very unscalable ways for those first 100 people. Once you have love, you finally get scale. That philosophy goes back to where we started in our podcast yesterday where I was talking about the different stages of relationship-building, where you need to go from connection to continuous interaction to trust, and then finally collaboration. It's really saying get those first 100 customers to really love what you're doing. Then from there, you can get to scale.Edward: Tell me about how marketing is dead.Fred: One of the things that I'm increasingly of the opinion is that we have lost control of our brands. Well, not exactly. We need to think about how we build our brands differently. Fifteen, 20 years ago, you could put up a billboard or TV advert or whatever, and claim whatever you wanted about yourself. But with the advent of social media today, we live in a world of Tripadvisor, where no one actually believes what you say as a brand.I believe that the way to build your brand right now is only through customer experience. You have to deliver exceptional customer experience and then let your customers be your ambassadors. Our job is to create platforms that enable our customers to tell others about the brand because whether it's your brand as an employer, no one will believe what you see on your website, they'll go to Glassdoor or they'll go to LinkedIn and find someone who works with you and ask them what it's like to work with you. If your brand is a hotel, no one will believe what you say. They'll go to Tripadvisor. Any other products, they're going to look for product reviews online, Yelp, et cetera. Especially as we become more and more digitized, it's so easy for anyone to set up a website, set up something, and claim whatever they want to claim. I was looking the other day about how many ecommerce sites exist. There are seven million ecommerce sites that exist, and yet Amazon has been able to build a business with a billion customers and a $1.7 trillion market cap. Look at Netflix and all these guys. They've been able to do that only by focusing on the customer experience. Because there's so much competition, everyone is out there claiming whatever they want. The thing I really believe is that in today's day and age, the only way you can truly build a sustainable brand is by delivering exceptional value to your customers. Anything else, any other claim that you make, you'll quickly get found out and then you lose trust with your customers.Edward: And I think it's almost a red queen situation in that, in many cases, features and benefits satisfy customers, but in overall customer satisfaction and user experience, customers are never satisfied. The bar is always increasing and getting harder and harder and harder, which means there's always work to be done.Fred: Exactly.Edward: Awesome. Thank you, Fred. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marketingbs.substack.com

This Part 1 of my interview with Fred Swaniker, founder of Africa Leadership Academy (ALA), Africa Leadership Univerity (ALU) and ALX (among others). Fred is one of Time Magazine's Most Influential People in the World and has done the requisite mainstage TED talk. I believe this is the only time he has publicly talked about marketing.Subscribe to the podcast: Apple, Sticher, TuneIn, Overcast , Spotify. Private Feed.Transcript:Edward: My guest today is Fred Swaniker. Fred was born in Ghana but had to leave the country when he was four years old to escape a military coup. By the time he was 18, he'd lived in four African countries. Today's episode dives into his career, Macalester College, McKinsey, Stanford, Africa Leadership Group, ALA, ALU, ALN, and a mainstage TED talk. Fred's latest venture is ALX, a leadership development and talent sourcing platform. We are lucky to have him here today.Fred, you've never had a CMO role per se, but you've largely been the one responsible for growing your businesses, and I've never met anybody in my life who's better at fundraising. I think fundraising (in general) is a sales skill, but I would argue you've managed to do it by building a brand and then having people throw money at you. Where did you learn your marketing skills? How did you become a marketer?Fred: I wish it was as easy as you make it sound that people just throw money at me. I think that my approach to fundraising has really been one of not trying to do the hard sell. I really believe in establishing relationships and win-win partnerships that enable us and whoever we are partnering with to both achieve our goals.We've been able to raise about US$600 million in the last 15 years, from [...] different ventures, and I would say that probably about 50%–60% of the funds that were raised, I never asked for it. Our approach is really to inspire people and just share the stories of what we're doing, and those who are interested in what we're doing will step up and will join us, those who are not will move on. Maybe it could be the way I was brought up. My parents always told me never to go and ask people for money. I always thought, can I find a way to build a relationship that adds value and shows people the worthiness of what we're doing? If people see that, then they'll come to us and they'll participate in our vision.Edward: Fred, what happens before the building of the relationship? That before you can build a relationship with someone who's willing to write you a hundred million dollar check, you must have built a personal brand or a company brand that gets you there. How did you do that?Fred: Over the years, I've developed a framework that I use for establishing relationships, and I break it down into four steps. First, I met thousands of people around the world. Every person that you meet, there's some connection that you have. Maybe there's some mutual interest, you share a joke, there's some chemistry that you have with someone. That's stage one, which is the connection. Then maybe you exchange business cards, you exchange emails, et cetera.Then you enter the second stage which is a continuous interaction. This is when you're exchanging communication, you're meeting up for coffee every now and then, having lunch, you actually have some dialogue and then mutual exchange. Only a few of the connections move to that stage of continuous interaction. From the continuous interaction, people start to see whether you are someone who delivers on what you say you're going to do, and you establish credibility based on integrity, et cetera.From there, you get to trust, which is the third phase. Once you have trust, finally, and only once you have trust, then you get to collaboration, which is where someone could say, I'm going to invest in you. I'm going to donate funds. I'm going to join your board, et cetera. I think one of the mistakes I made earlier in my career was I would rush straight to stage four (collaboration) without going to the continuous interaction and building trust first. That's the way I approach relationships.Edward: How did you learn that, though? You made that mistake early in your career. How did you come to the realization that there was this four-step process? Did you read about it? Did you learn it from a mentor? Did you figure it out on your own?Fred: I read about this. There's one book that I read called Mega Gifts. It's written by this guy called Jerold Panas who interviewed about 100 people who had given more than $1 million to things, and asked them why they gave. It was really fascinating just learning about some of the philosophy behind that. Before that, when I started the African Leadership Academy, I had never raised money before really. I went to see the Dean of the Stanford Business School where I went, and I said, you raised a lot of money. How did you do it? That time, the Stanford Business School had just raised US$300 million from Phil Knight, the founder of Nike. I went to see him and I said, how did you do this thing. He said, “The first thing you do is never ask for money the first time you meet someone. Just show them what you're doing. Get them involved in what you're doing in some way. Invite them to see the campus. Get them onto a board or something. Then, only once you've built a relationship with them, do you then engage them in possibly supporting you financially.” I must say that there'd been some times when that rule didn't work. I remember very early on, I met this very successful technology executive. She came to South Africa on a business trip and we met. We had this lovely lunch and at the end of the lunch, she said, so Fred, why did you want to see me today? I was like, well, perhaps you can help us structure some thinking about our technology strategy for the university, for the [...] I said, okay, that sounds good. She had a relationship with the President of South Africa in terms of that. So I said, perhaps you can connect us to him, et cetera? Then she goes, is there anything else? I was with my co-founder, Chris Bradford, and he's kicking me under the table, as in, asking for the money.I was just remembering this advice from the dean who said, don't ask for the money the first time you meet someone, and this was the first time we ever met. I decided to just take a chance because she was really saying, ask me for the money. I said, we're hoping perhaps you could support us financially, and she said, I thought you'd never ask. She said, I was sold on your idea when I heard about it, so consider it done. She gave us $100,000 the next week, and she went on to give us about $500,000 over the next few years. Ultimately, you have to read the signals and understand when someone is ready to be asked. I think a lot of marketing is like that. You're taking someone through a journey with you and people have choices about where they can spend their money. If you wait too long before you ask for the money, you lose the deal. If you don't wait long enough and you asked too soon, you also lose the deal. So it's about really knowing when is the right time when you read the signals about whether this person is really interested in your product or service, and they've demonstrated through their actions and their behaviors that they're really interested in what you have to offer. At that point, it's a mutually beneficial partnership.Edward: That's great, Fred. I want to go back and understand the path of how Fred became Fred. I have this theory that what people do when they're 12–14 years old affects them for their entire lives. I'm not even sure what country you were living in when you were 12–14 years old. What were you doing around that age?Fred: I was there in between Botswana and Zimbabwe at that time. I had just started high school, I guess.Edward: What did you care about? What were you spending your time doing? What were you passionate about at that age?Fred: At that time, I was always reading about different kinds of technologies, and I was very passionate about planes. I was curious about how they worked. I used to read a lot about different kinds of planes around the world. I was always trying to invent things with my friends. I also started getting a bit into the business. I remember at the time, these Nike shoes and Reeboks were coming out and they were very popular. My family was from Ghana originally and we used to go back home every now and then. There were these secondhand Nike and Reebok shoes that have been brought imported to Ghana. It's kind of gross now that I think back then. You could buy them there at a really low cost. I would bring them back to Zimbabwe and try to sell it to my friends.I also was very passionate about gathering people. My home was the place where most of my friends from school would come and gather in the afternoons and we would just hang out. I loved bringing people together and having them connect with each other. If I look today, a lot of the work that I do, it has really been involved in building networks. I can say, perhaps that was shaped by that early experience because if I think about what we have done in creating that leadership group, it's been a massive exercise in networks. We've created a network of about 30,000 people with some of the most influential people in the world who have joined us in this mission. It has led to all sorts of exciting collaborations. Part of it is I really enjoy bringing people together and creating communities. I think perhaps that started then.Edward: So Fred, a lot of what you did as a child influenced your mission in life. Did you have skills when you're a child that influenced your career trajectory and where you are today? Was it these connection skills? Fred: One of the skills that I learned was how to adapt very quickly and to build relationships with new people. I was born in Ghana. I left there when I was four, and went to Gambia. Then when I was eight, I went to Botswana. When I was 12, I went to Zimbabwe. As a result, I had to learn how to adapt to different environments very quickly. I'd been to a new school every few years and I had to quickly make friends with different people. So, relationship building became something that I practiced very early on. As I mentioned earlier, I used to bring my friends together every afternoon and we'd just hang out, play games, and so forth. That became a skill as well. I believe I'm really good at designing experiences for people that make them have fun, and that makes them enjoy being in a place. That probably comes from some of those things that I was doing at that age.Another skill that I would say I developed is the ability to see patterns. A lot of my ideas today come from exposure to different countries I've been to, different people that I've met. I fill my life with a lot of diversity. That catalyzed a lot of the innovation for me because I'm able to connect the dots between something that is actually in this country, or that I heard from this person that I spoke to, or an idea that I read about in technology or in healthcare that I can bring into my work in education. I'm constantly scanning the universe to see what's going on and I'm able to bring together ideas from these creative persons to create new products that are quite distinctive. I think part of that comes from the fact that I was always in different environments and I had to absorb very quickly in this new environment that I went to, to be able to survive.Edward: You went to university at Macalester College. How did you come out different than when you went in?Fred: Macalester—if you don't know about it—has a culture that cares very much about social justice and about the world. When I went in there, I would say that I cared about the world, but I wouldn't say that I was obsessed about making a difference. I was going there to get a degree and get a job. But when you go to Macalester, every other week, there's some kind of protest against some social injustice. I remember the students took over the President's Office once because Macalester was buying their athletic gear from Nike. At that time, Nike had sweatshops in Southeast Asia. There was always this protest or that protest. It was very clear that you had to make a difference in the world.I would say that my social conscience changed. Even though my very first job outside of Macalester was not something that I would say was altruistic and made sense—I was working with McKinsey management consulting—I saw that very much as a means to an end because, by the time I left, I had really seen that I could make a difference in Africa. In fact, one of the things I did in my final year at Macalester was I wrote my honors thesis, where I looked at the trends that had happened in Africa in the last 50 years. I saw some exciting changes that were happening at that time. I predicted what I was going to do. Also, I predicted how Africa was going to evolve over the next 50 years. Many of the trends that I saw influenced my passion to go back to Africa. I would say that what Macalester did, it really made me a lot more passionate about the world, about making an impact in the world. The time that I had there enabled me to really do this honest thesis, understand that Africa was about to undergo a massive transformation, and it made me really excited about going back to play a role in that transformation.Edward: Fred, what would have happened if you hadn't left Africa then? If you had gone to college in Africa, instead of going to Macalester, how would your life have been different?Fred: My life would've been different in a couple of ways. Number one is I don't believe how to build networks. Some of the networks that I have today led me to do what I'm doing. My networks probably would remain very Africa-centric, maybe very Ghana-centric, or Zimbabwe-centric, whichever country I would have gone to. The second way my life would have been different is I wouldn't have developed such a global perspective. A lot of the work that I do, even though I'm based in Africa, involves leveraging global networks, global insights, global technology. I always think about what's going on in the world and how do I bring it to Africa, and how do I take Africa to the global stage. Finally, I don't think that I would have been as dedicated or passionate about social transformation because (like I said) you can't go to Macalester and not believe that you have to make a difference in the world. Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the UN, had been to Ghana. He had been to Macalester a few decades before me. I remember being there and everyone's like, oh, you're from Ghana. Kofi Annan also went here. It was almost like you're expected to live up to his track record. I think those influences would not have been there if I hadn't gone to Macalester.Edward: It's interesting. By leaving Africa, you became more passionate about Africa.Fred: Exactly. What's interesting is when I arrived there I remember walking into the cafeteria at Macalester. In Africa, most people watch American TV, so a lot of people were always trying to mimic American accents. That was the cool thing. But when I landed in Macalester and I went to the cafeteria and I asked for food, there was a woman behind the counter. Actually, she was quite cute, and then she said, I love your accent. I suddenly realized that actually my African accent was cool in the US. That made me a lot prouder to be an African, and I really dived in more into it. The fact that I lived all across Africa really made me reflect on how special it was to be an African.Edward: Fred, what were the biggest failure points in your career? Where did things not go as expected?Fred: Oh, I've had so many failure points, but maybe I'll talk about two. One was about a year-and-a-half into my career at McKinsey. A client asked for me to be taken off the project. That was a real blow to me because my career had been rising very much in McKinsey at that time. I'd always had really great reviews on all my projects. But I had really pissed off the client that basically the CEO asked that I remove them from the project team. What had happened was I was a young kid. I was 22–23 and I was advising very senior people in the company. I thought I needed to show them how clever I was. I was always showing them how they were wrong and I was right about whatever idea I had, coming in and advising them then. I guess I thought that that was the way I should show value. I basically came across as an arrogant old prick. I learned a big lesson then, that when you are working with other people, you actually shine if you resist from showing off what you know. You actually will do a much better job at building relationships with others if you make them look great, instead of you trying to be great in the situation. What a very powerful lesson. It made me a lot more humble and made me realize that just because you think you know or thinking of the answer, doesn't mean you need to tell everyone about it. That was a very powerful lesson.Another lesson I learned was, after Stanford Business School, I started both the African Leadership Academy and something called Global Leadership Adventures at the same time. GLA was a summer program where we're going to bring kids from all across Africa, so all around the world to come to keep time for three months. It was the very first summer, and I went and rented out this holiday resort by this beautiful beach in Cape Town. The holiday resort could take about 150 people. I believed that we were going to get 150 kids from the US to show up in Cape Town, paying us $4,000 for a one-month experience each.I booked out the whole place for three months, then we went on the road trying to sell this thing. I signed a terrible legal agreement that committed me to pay for the full thing no matter how many students showed up. Lo and behold, we only got 35 kids to pay. I was [...] for 150 rooms. They just would not let me out of that contract. I ended up giving away another 30 slots for free. We had 70 kids who started being in that summer program, but I had to pay for 150 rooms. That was a very powerful lesson in being very humble when you make your financial projections for a startup, and also making sure you have a good lawyer when you're signing contracts. These are some of the powerful lessons that I learned from my failures. I can just go on and on and on, but I can only say I've grown simply because of my failures.Edward: I think being a bit more humble can be a lesson for all of us. We'll pick this up tomorrow in part two. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marketingbs.substack.com

Ugochukwu Chukwujiaka sat down with Fred Swaniker, the founder of African Leadership Group to explore questions about education entrepreneur, the building and running of Africa Leadership University, and the key ingredient of a successful global education company. Fred is deeply passionate about Africa and believes that the missing ingredient on the continent is good leadership. In line with this, he has co-founded three organizations that aim to catalyze a new generation of ethical, entrepreneurial African leaders: African Leadership Academy, African Leadership Network, and African Leadership University. Collectively, these institutions aim to groom 3 million leaders for Africa over a 50-year period. A passionate entrepreneur, Fred also served as Founder and CEO of Terra Education, a global education company that today provides leadership training to about 4,000 people annually at 46 sites in 20 countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. Swaniker has been recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and was listed by Forbes Magazine among the top ten young ‘power men’ in Africa. Fred has an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, where he was named an Arjay Miller Scholar, a distinction awarded to the top 10% of each graduating class. He holds a BA in Economics with a minor in Mathematical Statistics from Macalester College (magna cum laude). He was born in Ghana but has lived and worked in about 10 different African countries.

第三十課：Wakanda /wəˈkændə, -ˈkɑːn-/ a fictional country located in Sub-Saharan Africa created by Marvel Comics. 以漫威超級英雄黑豹的家鄉，瓦甘達，作為發想跳板，做了一集非洲專題。趁機跟大家聊聊阿共仔的非洲陰謀、價值百萬的蝙蝠大便，和這張我差點坐在車上被非洲大象踩扁的照片（咦~有押韻耶XD）。 就算我們現實生活中的非洲大陸，沒有瓦甘達等級的超未來科技，但擁有全世界最年輕人口的這塊疆土，正在經歷一場空前絕後的脫胎換骨，我們不能傻傻地一無所知，一如我們就算沒被大象踩扁過，也該知道大象朝你拔山倒樹而來時，你得閃（別像我，傻傻地坐在車上大口喘氣大膽拍照）！ 做了一集非洲專題，跟著大家一起長點知識。今天內容可能有點硬。。。但是夠硬的知識，才給力！ _____本集摘要_____ 「瓦甘達」在曼威漫畫中的設定，是一座手握未來科技而極其富庶的國家。無形中反映了一些現實，也因此成為了某種非洲人民的希望象徵。 非洲確實遠遠落後於已開發國家的標準，但是非洲大陸卻穩坐世界最年輕人口的寶座，代表的是源源不絕的創造力和生產力。 年輕無庸質疑是非洲的本錢，但是當年輕人佔據將近於總失業人口的一半時，就是一個極大的隱憂。 中國一帶一路計畫明著是要幫助非洲經濟建設，然而是真的有幫助到嗎? 迦納的青年創業家Fred Swaniker認為，將非洲視為是需要被救助的，會讓非洲錯失許多大好機會，應該要做的是投資非洲，並不是救濟非洲。 有一些發明，確實需要科技的輔助，但更多的商機，反而是回歸就地取材以及更緊密的人跟人之間的連結和互動。 _____本集內容為2019年製作_____ 《那些老外教我的事》由好家庭聯播網：台中古典音樂台FM97.7，台北Bravo FM91.3聯合製播。 2020年最新內容，每週六的下午5點，可以在古典音樂台官網在線直播收聽。（http：// www .family977.com.tw） 有話想說？可上《那些老外教我的事》 FB找煥恩聊天。（https://www.facebook.com/LessonsFromLaoWai/）

Chris Bradford is driven to build transformational educational institutions. Over the past fifteen years, Chris has guided the development of African Leadership Academy, which he co-founded with Stanford MBA classmate Fred Swaniker in 2004. African Leadership Academy seeks to transform Africa by identifying, developing, and connecting the continent’s future leaders. In this interview, Chris breaks down the recipe for creating a world-class purpose-driven institution. Chris seeks to build strong organizations that transform societies by empowering individuals to reimagine what is possible for themselves and their communities. He relishes the process of “cathedral building”: ensuring that organizations are built to last and thrive beyond their founders. Prior to ALA, Chris co-founded Terra Education and worked at organizations including Procter and Gamble, BCG, and the Broad Foundation. He also worked as a teacher at Oundle School, a boarding school in England. Chris is a graduate of Yale University (BA) and Stanford University (MBA, MA Education).

Fred Swaniker, the Ghanaian co-creator and Chairman of the African Leadership Group is well known for not just complaining about the lack of leadership in Africa, but actually doing something about it."Development will be driven by the sum total of the skills, knowledge and experience that a society possesses", says Swaniker, who want to take our current moment to think about what the continent can do differently.

Invest Africa is a leading pan-African business platform that promotes trade and investment in Africa. In this podcast series we will explore Africa's key economic trends and the issues facing businesses and investors across the continent. The Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) estimates that 30m jobs on the continent are at risk. Listen to our interview with Fred Swaniker, Founder & CEO of African Leadership Group to look at the impact of COVID-19 on human capital in Africa, how technology will shape the future of education across the continent in light of the pandemic and the importance of leadership decisiveness for African organisations to weather the storm. Thank you to Nicholas Norbrook, Managing Director of The Africa Report for chairing the discussion and to our partners, Jersey Finance.

EPISODE 3: Higher Ground: Reimagining Higher Education“Talent is distributed evenly around the world. What is not is opportunity.”Around the world universities have closed their physical doors and temporarily moved online due to Covid-19. That creates all kinds of challenges. But it’s also a chance for us to re-examine the very idea of a university in the 21st century.Higher education has been broken for a long time. With costs out of control, in many parts of the world a university education is a privilege most could only dream of. While a mismatch between what’s taught and the skills needed for the 21stcentury means many graduating students are burdened with debt and can’t find jobs. Across Africa higher education has for too long been seen as a luxury the continent cannot afford. According to the World Bank, in sub-Saharan Africa just 9% of young people enrol in a tertiary education. That compares with 60% in the UK, and 88% in the US.Yet a vanguard of unconventional startup universities is flourishing there. One of them is perhaps the boldest experiment in higher education on the planet – the African Leadership University or ALU. Peter talks to ALU’s founder, Fred Swaniker, about his vision to transform higher education in Africa by making it cheaper, more accessible and purpose-driven. His goal is to develop 3 million ethical and entrepreneurial leaders for Africa and the world by 2035.Could this be the future of higher education? Peter explores global trends and possible solutions with international education specialist David Johnson. Reimagine is a new podcast series about people who are inventing the future. Presented by Oxford Answers and the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School. New episodes on Thursdays.Featuring:Dr David Johnson of the Centre for Comparative and International Education at the University of Oxford.Fred Swaniker (@FredSwaniker), founder and CEO of the African Leadership Group.Host:Peter Drobac (@peterdrobac), Director of the @SkollCentre for Social Entrepreneurship, Oxford Saïd Business SchoolResources:https://www.alueducation.comWant to learn more about the show? Check out www.reimaginepodcast.com.Have a question for Peter? Email him at peter@reimaginepodcast.com.Credits:Producer/editor – Eve Streeter for Stabl

Fred Swaniker is the founder of the African Leadership University, which recently launched a School of Wildlife Conservation to help young Africans develop the skills and knowledge necessary to “own and drive” the conservation agenda on the African continent. Swaniker sees Africa's natural heritage as a strategic advantage for the continent, and argues on this episode that the immense young workforce can be engaged in its conservation in many ways, from management to filmmaking, science communications and technology. He also shares highlights from ALU’s recent "Business of Conservation Conference" in Kigali, Rwanda. Here’s this episode’s top news: Jeff Bezos establishes $10 billion ‘Earth Fund’ to combat climate change Deforestation in Brazil continues torrid pace into 2020 Rhino poaching in South Africa declines for fifth straight year Learn more about African Leadership University's School of Wildlife Conservation at its website, www.sowc.alueducation.com. If you enjoy this show, please invite your friends to subscribe via Android, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, Pandora, or wherever they get podcasts. Please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep this show growing, Mongabay is a nonproft media outlet and all support helps! See our latest news from nature's frontlines at Mongabay's homepage: news.mongabay.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by searching for @mongabay. Feedback is always welcome: submissions@mongabay.com.

On this episode of Macalester Big Questions, alumni Fred Swaniker talks with President Brian Rosenberg about the history of Africans -- like Kofi Annan -- in shaping the world, and the potential for global leadership among youth across the continent. Swaniker is a native of Ghana, and a co-founder of the African Leadership Academy.Support the show (https://secure.macalester.edu/giving/)

The 2018 Ontario provincial election is on June 7, 2018. Darnell & Joel use the principles established in the previous episode - Voting part 1 - to analyze three components of the party platforms: 1. Taxes/Deficits 2. Childcare 3. Education 6CR #10: Cannabis Legalization Reference Links: Globe & Mail: Ontario election guide Macleans: Ontario election 2018 platform guide Libertarian Party platform Reality Check: Is Ontario's debt really that bad? Ontario launches plan to teach high school kids financial skills Child Care and Early Years Act Economist Don Boudreaux quotes:  "The best regulator is the market...the competitive market" "If your spending other peoples money it is easy to spend" Fred Swaniker - education in the 21st century 6CR #2: Ontario's Full Day Kindergarten Program Give us your two cents via: Facebook Twitter sixcentsreport@gmail.com https://sixcentsreport.podbean.com/

In Episode 42 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Fred Swaniker about the future of African leadership and education in the 21st century. By the year 2050, the human population will increase by a staggering 2.4 billion. According to data from the UN World Population Prospects, the figures are cause for great concern. Researchers worry that our planet may not have the carrying capacity to sustain a population of this size; however, their primary concern stems from the fact that a majority of the increases will take place in the world’s most depressed areas. In fact, experts predict that approximately 50% of the increase will take place in African countries. Put another way, by 2050, a quarter of the world’s population will live in Africa. Some may contend that there’s no real cause for concern — 2050 is still decades away and that we have plenty of time. This leaves out the crucial fact that in just seventeen years, Africa will have the largest workforce in the world. By giving these individuals the tools and resources necessary to succeed, we can help ensure that they become valued and productive members of society. By ensuring that they have the opportunities necessary to participate on the world stage, we can secure for future generations an era of unimaginable innovation and prosperity. The alternative? The mass unemployment, starvation, poverty, and displacement of over a billion people — a global catastrophe the likes of which we’ve yet to witness in the modern age.    The difference between the abundance narrative and the scarcity narrative rests on one simple thing: Education and the leadership skills that it fosters. Seventeen years is just 6,000 days away. Time is short, and it’s passing remarkably fast. We must act now. And we are. Fred Swaniker is the co-founder of three organizations that aim to catalyze a new generation of ethical, entrepreneurial leaders in Africa: the African Leadership Academy, the African Leadership Network, and the African Leadership University. His paradigm-shifting approach to education is transforming how we conceptualize learning. But more than that, through his work Swaniker is empowering a generation and creating a revolution in Africa. In this episode, Swaniker talks with host Demetri Kofinas about the difference between financial poverty and poverty of the spirit, the importance of faith and determination, and why our future depends on empowering Africa. Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod

African Leadership Academy (ALA) is an institution focused on developing Africa’s next generation of leaders. ALA provides practical leadership education, networking and mentoring opportunities for its students, as well as financial incentives to remain on the African continent. Fred started ALA when he was 27 years old. Fred speaks with Jessica Harris about how he […]

Fred Swaniker, founder of the African Leadership Academy whose TEDtalk has been watched over a million times, says the continent has the potential to solve its problems. But is hampered by leaders who don't serve the people. Speaking to Tim Modise he says the much touted growth rates are misleading as they don't lead to employment and economic opportunities for Africans. Swaniker says for South Africa’s economy to grow substantially, it has to become the preferred home for talented Africans from around the world: "A wide range of current policies undermine the country’s potential and role as economic leader on the continent." - Tim Modise

Fred Swaniker, founder of the African Leadership …

Fred Swaniker's African Leadership Academy and his African Leadership Network are already helping thousands of young people become entrepreneurs activists and professionals. His latest effort the African Leadership Universities could multiply that exponentially. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Fred is deeply passionate about Africa and believes that the missing ingredient on the continent is good leadership. In line with this, he has founded two organizations that aim to catalyze a new generation of ethical, entrepreneurial African leaders: African Leadership Academy and the African Leadership Network. [saf feature=”itunes” cta=”Subscribe & Listen in iTunes”] In recognition of his work in developing Africa’s future ... Read More

CliffCentral.com — Penny has comedian Celeste Ntuli in studio talking about her one-woman show, 'Home Affairs'. She also speaks to Fred Swaniker from African Leadership Network.