“I don’t feel pressure from being the President of the Toronto Raptors. I feel pressure from Africa.” The energy that entered the room when Masai Ujiri said that at yesterday’s NYU Africa Economic Forum is why I am still awake.
Masai went on to say that his work would be a waste if he didn’t have any impact in Africa to show for being NBA Executive of the Year or potentially winning an NBA championship. Boom!
Masai’s speech was the highlight of the NYU Africa Economic Forum, though three ideas from other speakers really got my brain going and I may dive deeper on them later this week.
Makhtar Diop, World Bank VP for Africa, explained how pursuing a credit rating for Senegal while he was Minister of Finance provided investors data they could understand, subsequently increasing their level of interest in placing capital in the country.
Ken Ofori Attah, retired CEO of Databank, stressed the importance of Diasporans marketing Africa well.
Eric Guichard, CEO of Gravitas Capital and Homestrings, highlighted the opportunity for the structuring of projects to satiate the perceived lack of capital and projects from the perspectives of companies and investors, respectively.
Kudos to the NYU Africa Economic Forum team for keeping me up way past my bedtime!
What else? What ideas struck you at the NYU Africa Economic Forum?
KWAME 
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