Africa’s first elected female head of state spoke directly to black entrepreneurs at Essence Festival’s inaugural Global Black Economic Forum when she called Africa “a new area for business.”
“See it as a way to connect to your roots in a manner in which what you’re doing has sustainable power,” said Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who led Liberia from 2006 to 2018 and is a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Sirleaf drew on the connection between Africa and Black Americans, saying both groups do support each other but should look for new ways of connecting, too.
“Make as much profit as you can,” Sirleaf said to a packed venue.
“But at the same time, you lift a nation, you lift a people, you lift a continent that will be able to reach out to you to expand the power you have in business and in politics.”