Ideas change everything

Why Africa must become a center of knowledge again

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Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò |

TEDGlobal 2017

• August 2017

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. Táíwò suggests that 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 reclaim its position as a locus of learning on behalf of humanity.

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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. Táíwò suggests that 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 reclaim its position as a locus of learning on behalf of humanity.

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This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

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About the speaker

Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

Historian, philosopher

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Drawing on a rich cultural and personal history, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò studies philosophy of law, social and political philosophy, Marxism, and African and Africana philosophy.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

Read our curation guidelines.

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