“We've got to start looking at the Africans that are doing things, whether it’s for profit or non-profit, that are innovative, in the world-class stature, because I want for Africa to look at that and say, ‘That’s what I’m aiming for!’”

Magatte Wade, born in Senegal, educated in France, launched her entrepreneurial career in the San Francisco Bay area. Magatte has founded two companies based on Senegalese recipes and practices: Adina, which is the most widely distributed U.S. consumer brand founded by an African entrepreneur, and The Tiossano Tribe, producing luxury organic skin-care products. She serves on the board of Agribusiness in Sustainable Natural African Plant Products and the Sports for Education and Economic Development Academy. She also works as a mentor for developing world entrepreneurs for the MIT Legatum Center for Entrepreneurship and Development and as a partner to the First Lady of Senegal on the Association Education Sante. Magatte was a featured panelist at the 2009 Global Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh, and has spoken at Columbia, Wharton, Dartmouth, MIT, Babson, the University of Chicago, and many other universities. She writes for The Huffington Post, Barron’s, and other publications.