NYU: Fighting Poverty through Entrepreneurship

While most regions of the world witness increased living standards and greater economic opportunity, Africans continue to face famine, poverty, and political corruption.  Billions of foreign aid dollars spent by western governments have made little difference to the lives of ordinary Africans.  Yet while western elites hold conferences on how best to redistribute wealth, unsung African innovators are quietly erasing the effects of poverty at the local level. This fresh perspective-that solutions to Africa's poverty are not to be found in international aid bureaucracies but in Africa's entrepreneurs-is the focus of Enterprise Africa!, a project which uncovers examples of successful entrepreneurship in Africa and shares them with policy makers and opinion leaders world-wide.

This panel presentation, sponsored by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and New York University's Africa House and hosted by the Stern School of Business, kicks off a week of Enterprise Africa! events in New York and Washington, DC.  Drawing on two years of field research with African entrepreneurs, the panel will discuss specific and innovative ways that Africans are developing their own solutions to the problems of poverty, corruption, conflict resolution, and environmental degradation.  Participants will learn about what is working in African development and gain an understanding of the obstacles Africa's entrepreneurs must overcome to achieve long-term growth in their communities.