Africa Needs Free Enterprise, Not America’s Handouts

At the December 2025 Wendy P. McCaw Reagan Ranch Roundtable, serial entrepreneur Magatte Wade delivers a powerful message that challenges conventional wisdom about poverty in Africa. What if the root cause isn’t what you’ve been told?

Drawing from her personal journey from rural Senegal to Silicon Valley, Wade reveals how big government policies and socialism—not lack of intelligence, education, effort, or even colonialism—are keeping millions trapped in poverty. She argues that overregulation stifles innovation and prosperity, while foreign aid often perpetuates dependency, corruption, and poverty.

Yet, there’s hope. Wade expresses optimism about Africa’s younger “Cheetah Generation,” a rising wave of entrepreneurially-minded people determined to transform the continent’s economy through free enterprise, personal responsibility, and self-reliance.

Wade’s message is more than a critique—it’s a call to action for anyone who believes in dignity, prosperity, and the power of entrepreneurship.

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