Africa: The Potential Opportunities in Energy and Telecom

In keeping with the tone of the speech, Naidoo didn't dwell extensively on the widely publicized challenges that Africa faces, including high rates of AIDS and HIV infection, malaria and other diseases, not to mention a lack of infrastructure that results in inadequate roads and poor public drinking water. But he did acknowledge that in focusing on the problem of economy of scale -- which he sees as critical to new development in Africa -- the continent's array of notoriously corrupt rulers will need to reform. "For scale to take place, governance becomes crucial," Naidoo said. "Because when we scale, the rule of law, the institutions, the infrastructure become really, really important."

To accomplish that, Africa is also going to need an investment of human capital -- particularly African-born leaders who are being educated or who have now migrated to the United States or elsewhere in the Western world. He made it clear that one of the reasons he so admires Ibrahim is that he never forgot his roots in the continent as he pursued his entrepreneurial vision.

In his role as CEO of the South African Chamber of Commerce in America, Naidoo is currently working to develop and promote a quarterly "African platform" in New York City, with the first one to be held in February. This kind of constant communication among interested parties, like those in his audience at Wharton, will be critical for the continent's future. "We are on the cusp of a lot of exciting things," Naidoo said. "It's going to take a lot of communication. Do not be a bystander: This is the time."

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