New Africa Rising: A conversation with Magatte Wade

Appearances

On Sunday I arrived in New York at Social Good Summit for my on-stage chat with firebrand serial social entrepreneur, Magatte Wade. Needless to say, even though I knew of her, of her passion, of her work, and of her vision; I knew nothing of her enigmatic presence. Magatte Wade is one of those people that knows how to “bring it.” From the minute she arrived in the Green Room to prep for our talk (which we happened to be sharing with Will.i.am – natch!) I knew it was going to be a good talk.

After our duet, Magatte spent a good three hours attempting to leave the building. So swarmed was she with networking opportunities and heart-felt appreciation – for the “breath of fresh air” she brought to development discourse – that her exist kept getting delayed. I am posting the video here because it is worth watching her in action. Normally I hate watching myself on camera but I am tempted to listen to our talk again because I was so “in the moment” and present as I interviewed her, I am quite sure I missed some quotable gems. See if you can spot the one that was retweeted the most.

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  • Jared Purdy
    September 25, 2013 at 1:34 pm

    Wow! Teddy, what a knock out interview, what an amazing person. I brought this story and the role of alternative, social media into me class today. Students were floored, particularly after the media barrage on Nairobi (necessary, but another single story or catastrophe). Interesting connection to Odwala (discovered their drinks two years ago while in Calif). I have yet to see her beverage line in Toronto, but now I’m going to go check out a couple of possible sources. She’s dynamite!

    • chief_doodle
      September 26, 2013 at 4:22 pm

      I really enjoyed speaking with her. When I think of Africa Rising, I think of visionary individuals like her – so passionate and vocal about their role in this new renaissance. I hope more of us are inspired by her work. How did your students react to the interview?

      • Jared Purdy
        September 26, 2013 at 7:25 pm

        They were visibly surprised. When I told them about her ranking by Forbes, they were even more blown away. There are a couple of Africans in the room, and they totally got the part about using indigenous plants to make soft drinks, it made total sense to them. It’s interesting because it is a course on social action, and, well, Wade definitely hit the ball out of the park on that account.

        • chief_doodle
          September 30, 2013 at 8:09 pm

          Excellent! Glad they were exposed to her thinking

  • Brandon Barney
    September 26, 2013 at 6:56 pm

    Teddy,

    I would love to talk to you more about the issues and topics that you would have covered with her if you were granted the extension that the conversation deserved. I’ve been conducting some ongoing research on African entrepreneurship for Digital Village Radio (public radio show that airs throughout Southern California). I host and produce segments that feature guests like Magatte Wade (we spoke to her husband Michael Strong last year and plan to have her on as a guest in the future) and I’d like to compare notes with you if you have some time. Thank you!

    Best,

    Brandon Barney
    Producer and Co-Host
    Digital Village Radio
    Saturdays 10:00-11:00 AM Pacific Time
    KPFK/Pacifica (90.7/93.7/98.7/99.5 FM)
    Los Angeles/San Diego/Santa Barbara/China Lake
    http://www.DigitalCulture.LA.
    *********************************************

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