Africa: The Next Chapter

What better way to help a poor country like Tanzania than to give it some of your business? Arusha, with its excellent hotels and proximity to major tourist attractions (Serengeti and Mt Kilimanjaro) is well-placed to host international conferences. So it is great to see this conference scheduled for June 2007.



The TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference is an annual event where leading thinkers and doers gather for inspiration. Titled ‘Africa, The Next Chapter’, the conference will feature 50 extraordinary speakers who are shaping Africa's future though innovation and world-changing ideas.

Underlying this new initiative is TED’s recognition that Africa is at an important tipping point. Its problems and challenges are well known. But across the continent, tremendous change is afoot. Ingenious solutions are being applied to tackle some of the toughest health and infrastructure problems; businesses are being launched that are capable of transforming the lives of millions.

A new generation of Africans is emerging who refuse to be daunted by Africa's familiar litany of challenges, and instead believe an exciting future beckons. They include leading entrepreneurs, inventors, cultural ambassadors, scientists, designers, artists, writers, activists, musicians and mavericks making real change across the continent.

Leading the conference is TEDGlobal Program Director Emeka Okafor: entrepreneur, analyst and creator of the influential blogs Africa Unchained and Timbuktu Chronicles.

You can find more information about the conference at TED.

I am sure that conference delegates will want to visit the School of St Jude as an outstanding example of the new energy that is contributing to the fresh wind of change in Africa.