Monday marked Archbishop Desmond Tutu's 88th birthday and to celebrate, Zimbabwean-born entrepreneur and philanthropist Strive Masiyiwa addressed the ninth annual Desmond Tutu International peace lecture. Masiyiwa's lecture focused on the scourge of corruption in Africa and what can be done to do eradicate it.
This is what he said in seven key quotes:
Corruption destroys nations
“Nations are destroyed by corruption and yet we speak about it in a cynical way. Come elections, up comes the topic of corruption and then it dies away. You ask me about public trust, but our people don't believe we can do anything because of impunity. Corruption has no colour, no religion, no gender. I have met corrupt women. I have met corrupt men. I have met white corrupt men.”
You can succeed without corruption
“One of my commitments is to mentor young people, particularly those who are entrepreneurs. I seek to teach them not only the craft of the entrepreneur, but I also try to share with them some of the things I have experienced, to encourage them that it is possible, here in Africa, to run a successful business without corruption.”
Corruption is no secret
“We need to protect laws that help whistle-blowers. The only people who think corruption is secret are the corrupt themselves. Everybody can see what's going on, but we haven't built a culture of indignation to say 'let's do something about this'.”
Entrepreneurship will change Africa
“We have to start to build businesses. We almost have to start building businesses when we're in high school because if we don't, everything we fought and hoped for is on the line. But how do we do it if young people in Africa are corrupt? Black and white. Is it a perception, is it real?”
We need enforcement
“We need smart policy-making, or a smart legislature that aligns with the rhetoric we speak on corruption. We say a lot on corruption, but we don't find enough legislation to support the level of rhetoric. Those who are involved in corruption know it. We need enforcement.”
There has been progress
“As hard as it might look today, as bad as it might look today, it's never been this better in this fight. Doing business in Africa has never been this easy, but we have work to do.”
Africa needs more Zondo commissions
“We have to go the full mile with the Zondo inquiry. It must end up with prosecutions. It must end up with those found to have let us down taking punishment for it, not because we seek vengeance but because we seek justice to ensure we have foundations for a just, fair, dignified society.”
We're losing money
“Around $13.4-trillion a year is lost to corruption. Think about that, what we could do with that.”
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