On Sustainably Industrializing Africa: Seeding Fruitful Partnerships Towards a Prosperous Continent
The past week, I, together with three other MIT founders, was invited to Morocco by OCP (Office Chérifien des Phosphates) to explore ways it could potentially collaborate with CassVita. OCP is a major player in the chemicals industry and a leading exporter of phosphates, phosphoric acid, and phosphate fertilizers. Throughout my week-long visit, I was fascinated by OCP’s culture – from its low employee average age (35) to its relatively high female-male ratio to its impressive contribution towards reverse brain drain as well as its multiple community initiatives. Flying back, I decided to pen a few thoughts.
By 2050, global population is projected to increase by 2 billion to roughly 10 billion. A quarter of these people is estimated to live in Africa. This is a mind-blowing fact and it comes as both promise and peril as it could result in either reaping demographic dividend or a global catastrophe. This is where OCP and CassVita’s visions intersect. We both believe that the industrialization of Africa through such transcontinental partnerships is an essential ingredient in closing this demographic loop. Why? Well, if we don’t build industrial capacity, how will these people be fed? This is a mega-vision whose seeds need to be sown now – it cannot wait.
But we also believe that, more than just industrialization, it is also about community empowerment. In addition to the question of nutritional sufficiency, we also need to ask ourselves, “What will these excess people do for a living?” Thus, the challenge is not just about OCP levering its industrial capacity to feed the soil in order for CassVita to have the capacity to feed the world’s growing population, it is also about creating sustainable jobs in the industrialization process to keep this growing population engaged – it is about our social commitment and our environmental responsibility.
This OCP trip was graciously planned by Dr. Jinane Abounadi, MIT Sandbox’s Executive Director and a long time entrepreneurship mentor. During our second day (spent at Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique – UM6P), Jinane made a stunning presentation about the MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund Program, showcasing the fantastic work she is leading at MIT. Her second slide during this presentation constituted an insightful quote from Franklin Roosevelt, which I found both symbolic and inspiring.
Symbolic because the author and our team in Morocco seemed to have experienced a similar sequence of events. During the Casablanca Conference, a crucial inflection point in the Second World War, Winston Churchill persuaded Roosevelt to take time away to visit Marrakesh so they could drive through the Atlas mountains and experience the scenery. What’s more, the morning of Jinane’s presentation, we had driven from Casablanca to Marrakesh, through the mountains, and the experience almost felt like driving backwards through time. But what’s even more magical about driving backwards through time [historically] is the insights it offers into doing things differently. In this quote, Roosevelt was making allusion to the technological advancements that happened in response to the war and building momentum to channel the same energy used to establish these inventions towards rebuilding that which had been destroyed by the war. Which leads me to the question: what if we didn’t build technologies in a reactive manner but were keen proactively tackle future challenges? What will a clairvoyant industrialization look like?
I also found Roosevelt’s quote inspiring – because it reechoes the idea that with “vision, boldness, and drive, we can [in fact] create a fuller and more fruitful employment and a fuller and more fruitful life.” It makes salient the hope that, with just enough commitment, OCP and CassVita can jointly take advantage of future trends to make the world more livable for everyone.
