-
Most of you will know
-
about the challenges faced
by my beloved continent, Africa.
-
Too many people are poor.
-
Millions of girls
don't have access to school.
-
And there aren't enough jobs
for the rapidly growing population.
-
Every day,
-
33,000 new young people
join the search for employment.
-
That's 12 million
for three million formal jobs.
-
In sub-Saharan Africa,
-
less than one in four young people
are likely to get waged or salaried work.
-
The chances of making a secure living
-
are even slimmer
for poor and rural young women.
-
They cannot afford an education.
-
And they do not have the same access
to wages, loans or land
-
as men.
-
This leaves entire communities trapped
-
in a vicious cycle of poverty,
inequality and hopelessness.
-
But I'm not here
to narrate the doom and gloom,
-
because we also know
that a youthful population
-
presents an opportunity
to kick-start economic growth
-
and solve global challenges.
-
And in fact,
-
there is a growing movement in Africa,
of educated young women,
-
who are stepping up and using
the power of their network
-
and a tool we call social interest
-
to uplift communities.
-
I'm one of the leaders
of the organization behind this movement.
-
An organization that also
supported me through school.
-
And I have seen social interest
multiply the impact of our work.
-
Social interest is a way
to pay back interest on a loan
-
through service, rather than dollars.
-
Sharing time and knowledge
through mentoring,
-
academic support,
-
business training to others in need.
-
This means the impact of a loan
is felt not by one, but by many.
-
Through this system,
-
we've been able to help
and send more and more girls to school,
-
support them while they are there,
-
help them start businesses
-
and ultimately,
lead in their communities --
-
all while providing funding
for the next generation.
-
Social interest can be used
-
to supercharge any movement
where the benefits can be paid forward.
-
Let me give you an example.
-
This is Stumai from rural Tanzania.
-
She tragically lost her father
when she was just three years old.
-
Leaving a disabled mother
to single-handedly raise her
-
and her five siblings.
-
Once Stumai completed primary school,
-
she was about to drop out of school
-
and become one of the 92 percent
of girls in sub-Saharan Africa
-
that never finish high school.
-
Instead, she got lucky.
-
She got support from a nonprofit
that paid her fees
-
and kept her in school.
-
But upon graduating high school,
-
she faced a daunting challenge
of what's next.
-
She knew she had to start
her own business to survive.
-
And to help her mother,
-
who had tried so hard
to keep her in school
-
by selling her only assets,
-
a stack of corrugated iron sheets
she had been saving
-
in the hope of building
a better home for her children.
-
Stumai also knew she wouldn’t get a loan
from a traditional bank,
-
which generally considers
young, rural women like her,
-
without land or assets, unbankable.
-
Through a special group
of lending partners,
-
she secured 350 dollars
to start a food shop,
-
selling vegetables, oil, rice,
tomatoes, onions and beans.
-
Fellow network members helped
to train her on basic business skills,
-
like creating a business plan,
-
working out profits, marketing,
-
keeping business records
-
and the value of savings.
-
And the business took off.
-
She repaid the original loan
within eight months,
-
and then borrowed 2,000 dollars
-
to start a motorcycle taxi
and courier business.
-
Stumai now owns two motorcycles
-
and employs two people.
-
And she has been able
to purchase land and build a house,
-
and the business continues to grow
-
from strength to strength.
-
Stumai repaid her interest
in social interest.
-
She paid social interest
-
by providing mentoring
to girls in a local high school.
-
She volunteered weekly as a learner guide,
-
delivering a life skills
and well-being curriculum
-
that helps children gain
the confidence to ask questions,
-
care for and support each other,
-
learn about health and nutrition,
-
set goals and learn how to achieve them.
-
Stumai says her greatest reward
is witnessing the girls she mentors
-
start to believe in themselves
and succeeding.
-
These days, Stumai also trains
other learner guides.
-
That's multiplying the number of girls
making it through school
-
and into secure livelihoods like she did.
-
Through her business profits,
she has been able to support her siblings,
-
three nieces and nephews
and other children in her community
-
to go to school.
-
She also regularly supports
other network members.
-
For example,
-
a young woman studying for a diploma
in community development.
-
In the past two years,
-
Stumai helped her with money for bus fare,
-
for sanitary pads, for soap
-
and encouraged her to keep going.
-
Stumai spends 370 dollars a year
supporting the education of others.
-
That's 17 percent of her gross earnings
from her motorcycle business.
-
This is the power of social interest.
-
Stumai's example shows
that if you help one girl,
-
not only to go to school,
-
but graduate and start a business,
-
she can in turn make a giant difference
-
in the lives of others and her community.
-
Had Stumai paid back interest
on her loan in dollars,
-
her success might have been felt by her
and her immediate family,
-
but because she paid interest
as social interest,
-
the impact was felt by her mentees,
-
her nieces, nephews, her employees
-
and so many others around her.
-
Stumai is just one example of many.
-
Today, we have 7,000
learner guides like Stumai,
-
working across Malawi,
-
Tanzania, Ghana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
-
And collectively,
-
they've helped children
do better in school.
-
The girls we work with
are nearly three times less likely
-
to drop out of school,
-
because learner guides make home visits
when girls fail to attend school
-
to help them back on track.
-
They also work with communities
and district governments
-
to address the challenges children face,
-
including preventing
or annulling child marriages,
-
connecting children facing hunger
or hardship at home
-
with local support,
-
or running study groups
-
so that children who might be
lagging behind in their studies
-
can get supporters and catch up.
-
They act as trusted sisters,
friends and guardians.
-
So far, nearly 6,300 network members
-
have borrowed close
to three million dollars,
-
with a repayment rate of those loans
at consistently above 95 percent.
-
And our 140,000 members,
-
they have invested their own resources
-
to support and send
-
over 937,000 children
to primary and secondary school.
-
Every young woman we work with
-
supports, on average,
another three children
-
outside of her immediate family
-
to go to school.
-
All without additional money from us.
-
We are building a powerful force.
-
Gaining ever greater momentum
-
as we open the door
for more and more girls
-
to go to school,
-
succeed, lead and in turn,
support thousands more.
-
This system,
-
supporting those once excluded
to transform their lives
-
and then step up for others,
-
can work for more than girls' education.
-
Of course, you need to get
your money back if you lend it.
-
But instead of demanding
interest in dollars,
-
can you consider using
social interest instead?
-
For example,
-
could young people
-
pass on the skills they learned
in training colleges?
-
Like Michelle,
-
who teaches brickmaking
in rural Zimbabwe.
-
Or Louisa,
-
who is training others
on climate-smart agriculture
-
in Malawi.
-
Or Fatima in Ghana,
-
who is training women
to help deliver babies
-
where expectant mothers
-
might not be able to make it
to the local hospital on time.
-
When I was growing up,
-
an elder in my village in rural Zimbabwe
-
once described the challenges I faced
in going to school.
-
She said,
-
"Those who harvest many pumpkins
-
often do not have the clay pots
to cook them in."
-
(Laughter)
-
What she meant was that,
-
although I got the best possible
results in my exams
-
when I finished elementary school,
-
my talent was of no value
-
if my family could not afford
to pay for me to continue my education.
-
Well, with this system,
-
we are not just providing pots,
-
or making a single meal
out of the pumpkins.
-
After all,
-
there are hundreds
of seeds in a single pumpkin.
-
We are saving the seeds,
-
planting them
-
and nurturing every one of them.
-
And the result?
-
A virtual cycle of prosperity,
-
equality and hope,
-
led by young women.
-
Because together,
-
we are shaking up the world.
-
Pamoja tunaweza --
-
that's Swahili for my network motto:
"Together we can!"
-
Thank you.
-
(Applause)