Did you ask Bono a question? If so, maybe he answered it.
Q. Multinational corporations have enormous purchasing power. Why can’t they buy from African suppliers?
A. Doing business is sexy. Trade is sexy. Aid is not sexy if you’re an African. Africans don’t want aid but they need aid. What they really want and what their heart desires and what they truly deserve is trade as a way out of their present circumstances; to do business and the dignity of doing business together on an even playing field.
So, the thing I will come away with at the end of this trip, apart from some of the more tragic moments that are hard to forget, is this rather intoxicating ‘can do’ attitude that we’ve just discovered in this new Africa, like the A to Z textile company we visited that makes bed nets and polo shirts for its next door neighbor. There are new burgeoning African businesses about to break through if we give them the right breaks.
...not really the answer to the question, but a very true and important point. Anyone else want to take a stab at answering?
Update: more from Bono.
Update: TEDblog was in Africa with Bono. So was NBC's Brian Williams. ONEBlog and CIPEBlog too.
Join the Conversation