Dar es Salaam. The Africa List and the CEO Roundtable (CEOrt) hosted an Iftar dinner on Friday to celebrate Dalberg’s 10 years in Africa by launching the book “17 Big Bets for a Better World”.
Speaking during the event, Dalberg Group Executive Director James Mwangi said the book underlines the role that the private sector plays in building Tanzania’s economy, while addressing issues that affect Tanzanians.
The event was attended by more than 150 business leaders in Tanzania, representing diverse sectors, including finance and banking, telecoms, agribusiness and manufacturing.
“The private sector is a major driving force in developing our economies and a key partner in the type of work we do – working on the most pressing development challenges,” he noted.
Reflecting on the launch in the Tanzanian context, Mr Mwangi remarked: “The book presents 17 bold and innovative ideas to reduce global poverty and improve lives.”
It tackles, he added, the type of questions that Dalberg has been addressing in Tanzania and the rest of Africa for the past decade.
In the book, some of the world’s most renowned leaders highlight how we can collectively reach Sustainable Development Goals set forth by the UN last year.
“The book presents fresh and credible solutions to human challenges through 17 transformational ideas for positive change,” he said.
To further the discussion on Big Bets in the Tanzanian context, Mr Mwangi spoke about a new concept dubbed ‘off-grid societies’ and why solutions must be created for serving them.
He said in the past off-grid societies had been used to refer to those without energy access, but it was high time it was defined as those that did not have access to the 20th century infrastructure such as roads, bank branches, hospitals and schools.
“Finding solutions to reach these unconnected populations is extremely important if we are to achieve truly inclusive growth. To enhance this requires us to devise new business models and leapfrog technologies that require formal infrastructure, such as phone networks or roads to function. These are challenges that could unlock a huge amount of growth in the country, hence calling for the private sector’s leaders to get behind,” he said.
Source: The Citizen
