A Universal Language Of Optimism In Divisive Times: Entrepreneurship

Dark clouds appear everywhere right now. Inflation and recession fears. Autocracy and protracted war. Inequity and endemic Covid. Yet in April, I was sitting in Gaborone, Botswana, for the inaugural Under 30 Summit Africa, surrounded by something entirely different: optimism. On a continent of 1.4 billion people, 70% of who are younger than 30, hundreds of leaders from 40 countries grasped that the biggest challenges present the biggest opportunities, and that a path forward—the only realistic one to create the tens of millions of jobs required there—exists in entrepreneurship. For four days, this cohort learned, taught and, most of all, engaged, with intent and hope.

Forbes saw that in March as well, when we transformed International Women’s Day from a hashtag into a community, bringing hundreds of amazing women to Abu Dhabi for four days of cross-generational mentorship. We saw it after Memorial Day, when we took the Under 30 Summit EMEA to Jerusalem, bringing together Jews and Muslims, Israelis and Arabs for a day to accelerate coexistence through collaborative prosperity. And you can see that capitalistic purpose throughout this issue, whether it’s the Collison brothers streamlining digital finance on the back of nine lines of code, the African immigrants who created a unicorn by helping the continent’s consumers transfer money much more cheaply or Perth Tolle’s index fund that doubles as an engine for political freedom.

In a world that seems riven by divisiveness, entrepreneurship remains a universal language of progress. No matter how 2022 and beyond play out, we’re going to keep speaking it, confident that our best days lie ahead of us, as long as we stay true.