Why Africa must become a center of knowledge again | Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 19 September 2017

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How can Africa, the home to some of the largest bodies of water in the world, be said to have a water crisis? It doesn't, says Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò -- it has a knowledge crisis. According to Taiwo, a lack of knowledge on important topics like water and food is what stands between Africa's current state and a future of prosperity. In a powerful talk, he calls for Africa to make the production of knowledge within the continent rewarding and to reclaim its position as a locus of learning on behalf of humanity.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This TED Talk features historian and philosopher,
0:03.7	Alufamy Taewo, recorded live at TED Global 2017.
0:09.7	What stands between Africa's current prostrate condition
0:13.4	and a future of prosperity and abundance for its long-suffering populations?
0:19.7	One word.
0:21.7	Knowledge.
0:23.8	If Africa is to become a continent that offers the best life for humans,
0:28.2	it must become a knowledge society immediately.
0:32.9	This is what I have called Africa's knowledge imperative.
0:39.0	Our universities must reduce emphasis on producing manpower
0:42.8	for running our civil society, our economy,
0:47.2	and our political institutions.
0:50.4	They should be dedicated mainly to knowledge production.
0:59.0	What sense is there in producing civil engineers who are not supported by soil scientists and geologists
1:03.0	who make it their business to create knowledge about our soil and our rocks?
1:09.0	What use is there in producing lawyers without jurists who produce knowledge
1:15.6	of the underlying philosophical foundations of the legal system,
1:22.6	we must seek knowledge.
1:25.6	We must approach the matter of knowledge with a maniacal commitment without let or hindrance.
1:34.3	Though we must seek knowledge to solve problems we know of,
1:38.3	we must also seek knowledge when there is no problem in view,
1:43.3	especially when there is no problem in view, especially when there is no problem in view.
	...

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