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MayJune2015

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30 BizEd MAY | JUNE 2015 BY WALTER BAETS ILLUSTRATION BY STEPHANIE DALTON COWAN IN 2003, THE WORLD BANK backed a US$4.2 billion oil pipeline in Chad with one caveat: that Chad's government use the oil mon- ey to support regional development. But just two years after the pipeline went into operation, Chad's government announced that it would use the profits for its own purposes, including buy- ing weapons. The good intentions of businesses often go wrong as well. Take TOMS Shoes' "Buy-One-Give-One" campaign, in which it sends a pair of shoes to Africa for each pair it sells. The company is providing shoes to communities that would much rather see solutions that alleviate their real underlying problems: unemployment and poverty. History o‡ers plenty of examples that show what can happen when Western solutions are imposed on African markets. Increasingly, more people are recognizing that Africa must find its own solutions. For instance, in 2013, IBM opened a new research center in Nairobi, Kenya. And, in 2014, the first African Think Tank Summit was held in Pretoria, South Africa, bringing together representatives from more than 45 think tanks from across the continent to discuss their role in gener- ating new ideas, influencing policy, and supporting sustainable development. These examples reflect the growing realization that, if we are to solve Africa's "grand challenges," the work must be done on the ground, not imposed from outside. To spur economic growth in Africa, business schools must produce more innovative entrepreneurs than ever before. But to do that, they first must change what—and how—they teach. THE RIGHT IDEAS

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