Global Citizen VP Introduces Initiative That Will Aid Africa's Tourism Industry

Forbes

Liz Agbor-Tabi is Vice President, Global Policy at Global Citizen. Liz is passionate about social impact, global health, international development, and philanthropy. She’s had a unique blend of experiences, from working with vulnerable populations in NYC to developing and implementing cross- sectoral programs globally. Liz has over 18 years of healthcare, public health/policy, international development, and urban resilience experience across the United States, Africa, Latin America, and Asia.  Liz Agbor-Tabi joins 'Forbes Talks' to discuss the newest and largest Pan African Festival sponsored by Global Citizen; Move Africa.   0:00 Introduction 2:27 Africa's Growing Ecosystem 3:38 Global Citizen's Mission 5:29 Africa's Creative Industry And Growth Rate 6:53 Africa's Youth And Cultivating Talent In Tech Industries And Beyond  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 Hi everybody, I'm Diane Brady. I'm here with Liz Agbortabi, who is the Vice President of

00:07 Global Policy and Strategic Partnerships for Global Citizen here in Davos. Liz, welcome.

00:14 You made a big announcement today. Let's start with that.

00:17 Thank you, Diane. Thanks for having me. So we're just coming off the heels of the expansion

00:21 of our Move Africa initiative. Move Africa is a multi-year, multi-market Pan-African

00:29 campaign that is working to create really a sustainable live entertainment touring circuit

00:36 across the African continent. Usually when you hear that global artists are doing world

00:43 tours, there's typically one region that is excluded from those tours, and it's Africa.

00:49 Well, sometimes there's an exception, and there's maybe one show in Johannesburg. What

00:53 we're doing is creating an ecosystem to promote tourism, and that's touring for both global

01:00 international artists and local regional Pan-African artists. And in doing so, we're creating jobs,

01:09 we're creating significant social and economic impact, we're upskilling contributors to the

01:17 sector, and we're also creating an enabling environment really that says, "Welcome. Welcome

01:24 to Africa. We're open for business," and really helping to share and highlight the inherent

01:32 rich cultural heritage that's here on the continent.

01:39 Let's unpack this a little bit, because what's taken us so long? Why is it that artists will

01:44 only stop in Johannesburg? Is it because there hasn't been an infrastructure?

01:49 It's infrastructure. It's also the lack of gear. The lack of gear, there is a skills

01:56 gap also, so finding venues with appropriate contributors that have the skills to put on

02:04 world-class events is often challenging. And then sometimes it's just fear. It's just the

02:12 unknown. People don't know the region and aren't aware of just how much talent exists

02:17 here on the region. And so everything that we're doing is just demystifying these notions

02:24 that people have on tourism here.

02:27 So it's international artists going to the continent, but also it's a lot of the talent

02:31 within Africa, so we're creating more of an ecosystem there.

02:34 I think it's really important to note that what we're doing is highlighting the talent

02:39 that is here on the continent and ensuring that we can have a flow across the continent,

02:46 as well as flow of artists, international artists, global artists. So I think it's important

02:53 that this isn't misconstrued as an effort to simply bring global artists to the continent.

03:02 That would be part of the opportunity, but the bigger opportunity.

03:05 Absolutely. It's about creating a shared stage, a shared platform for artists to be able to

03:11 perform together. So what we did in Rwanda, for example, in December in Kigali, we brought

03:16 Kendrick Lamar, who's possibly one of the greatest artists of our time, and Kendrick

03:21 Lamar headlined the show and he shared the stage with local and regional artists. And

03:28 it was an homage to the rich Rwandan culture and it also celebrated North American sort

03:35 of rap culture as well.

03:39 Let me remind people about Global Citizen's mission, because I've certainly been to the

03:43 concert in Central Park, but especially in the context of Davos, tell us a little bit

03:48 more about the unique kind of proposition you bring.

03:52 Global Citizen is an organization that exists to end extreme poverty across the world. And

03:57 we do this through our unique pop and policy.

04:01 You have to earn your way into the audience.

04:02 You have to earn. Global Citizen events are typically earned. Access to our events are

04:09 earned and they're earned by taking action. And taking action means using your platform,

04:15 your voice, your agency to urge decision makers to make those policy shifts or to make the

04:24 financial commitments that are required to achieve the 2030 agenda. So we believe that

04:31 the 17 sustainable development goals, that if we can achieve those goals, we can end

04:37 poverty for everyone in the world by 2030.

04:41 I want to get back to Davos, because it's one of those things that oftentimes people

04:45 say global elite going to a ski resort in Switzerland. What's the value of this place

04:51 for you?

04:53 To end extreme poverty requires action taking from global citizens, so everyday people like

05:00 you and I, governments, the private sector, civil society and NGOs. And this is a nexus

05:07 of all of those sectors. And so being here in Davos enables us to be able to engage all

05:15 of the necessary actors that are required for us to achieve our mission. So of course

05:21 we wouldn't miss Davos.

05:22 Is there anything on your radar you want to put on ours, even in terms of the conversations

05:27 you're either hearing or not hearing?

05:29 Absolutely. I think Africa is so rich in terms of culture, heritage, and there's tremendous

05:36 untapped opportunity in the creative sector. And I think there's been for years, there's

05:46 been investors that have been sort of afraid of venturing into Africa. A lot of that is

05:53 driven by...

05:54 One billion consumers.

05:56 One billion consumers, 70% of the continent is under age 30. Africa's projected, that

06:03 youth demographic is projected to be the largest consumer base globally. And so there's tremendous

06:10 untapped potential there. And we just want to encourage investors to look at Africa,

06:17 to look at the rich cultural heritage and the creative economy, and to join us, global

06:24 citizens.

06:26 I know. I want to say one thing, which is having lived in Kenya, I think in many ways

06:31 with M-Pesa, they've actually been ahead of us in terms of e-commerce and such.

06:38 Absolutely.

06:39 In many ways. Great to have you here. Anything else you want to say in terms of even some

06:43 of the takeaways, how people should be thinking about both Davos and also the agenda for 2024?

06:50 People have called it the year of instability, the year of AI. What is it the year of for

06:53 you?

06:53 For me, it's the year of creating livelihoods and economic opportunities for a new era.

07:00 And thinking about the youth of Africa, and they don't want to be doctors and engineers

07:07 and lawyers. They are venturing into...

07:09 You and I are not either. So there you go. Not along with you.

07:12 I was.

07:13 Okay. Good for you.

07:15 But a lot of Africa's youth, given rapid urbanization and all of the changes that we're seeing in

07:22 Africa, are really vested in this creative economy. And so I think as we think about

07:31 creating jobs for a new era and a new future, let's think about how we can support this

07:37 growing demographic to meet their aspirations for livelihoods and economic opportunity.

07:43 Can't think of a better theme than that. Thank you for joining us, Liz.

07:46 Thank you so much for having me, Ben.

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