Transcript Of Bill Gates Speech To President Buhari Everyone Is Talking About
Last
week, Microsoft founder, Bill Gates was in Nigeria where he addressed a
special session of the National Economic Council, with Vice President
Yemi Osinbajo, state governors, and ministers in attendance.
He
spoke on why the government needs to change the narrative of
development efforts by focusing on human development, by investing on
education, health and creating opportunities for the people.
Below is the ful text of the speech:
Your
Excellency Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria; Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria; Senator Bukola Saraki, Senate President; Honorable Yakubu
Dogara, Speaker of the House; Your Excellencies, executive governors of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Royal fathers; Distinguished ladies and
gentlemen. And as you say in Nigeria, all other protocols observed.
Thank you for welcoming me to Nigeria.
I’ve been coming here
regularly since 2006, and I’ve always felt welcome. Nigerians usually
greet me warmly. The first time I met the Sultan of Sokoto, I was
honored that he greeted me with the gift of a white horse.
At some
point during every visit, though, some brave person eventually asks
me—very politely—”Why are you actually here?” It’s an understandable
question. Most American technology guys don’t wander around Nigeria
learning about its health system. But I think I have a good answer.
When
we started Microsoft 40 years ago, we wanted to build a successful
business, but we also wanted to make people’s lives better. We believed
computers could revolutionise the way people lived and worked. But back
then only big companies could afford them. We wanted to give everybody
access.
As I got older, traveled more, and learned more about the
world, I realised that billions of people had a problem that computers
couldn’t solve. They lacked the basics of a good life: food, shelter,
health, education, and opportunity.
And so I started my second
career with my wife Melinda. With the money I’d been lucky enough to
earn at Microsoft, we started working toward a different goal: a healthy
and productive life for everyone.
That’s why I come to Nigeria,
and that’s why Melinda and I will continue coming for as long as we are
able. Our foundation’s biggest office in Africa is here. We have
committed over $1.6 billion in Nigeria so far, and we plan to increase
our commitment. We have strong relationships with the federal
government, state governments, businesses, NGOs, and civil society
organisations. We are eager to support you as you work to make Nigeria a
global economic powerhouse that provides opportunity for all its
citizens—as you strive to fulfil this country’s immense promise.
?I’m blown away by how much Nigeria has changed in the past decade.
Consider
the technology sector. That energy I talked about during the early days
of Microsoft, our passion and our eagerness to take risks…. That’s the
same energy that powers technology hubs across Nigeria like Co-Creation
and Enspire.
The novelist Chimamanda Adichie, who my wife
especially admires, captured the country’s spirit when she said her
fellow Nigerians have “big dreams and big ambitions.”
This line
graph of Nigeria’s per capita GDP shows where those dreams and ambitions
can lead. With the exception of the recent recession, the slope goes
straight up. As a result of this growth, Nigeria is now the biggest
economy on the continent. You are rapidly approaching upper middle
income status, like Brazil, China, and Mexico.
?But growth is not
inevitable. Nigeria has unmatched economic potential, but what becomes
of that potential depends on the choices you make as Nigeria’s leaders.
The
most important choice you can make is to maximise your greatest
resource, the Nigerian people. Nigeria will thrive when every Nigerian
is able to thrive.
If you invest in their health, education, and
opportunities—the “human capital” we are talking about today—then they
will lay the foundation for sustained prosperity. If you don’t, however,
then it is very important to recognise that there will be a sharp limit
on how much the country can grow.
You see this risk in the data.
From the point of view of the quality of life, much of Nigeria still
looks like a low-income country.
Let me give a few examples.
In
upper middle income countries, the average life expectancy is 75 years.
In lower middle income countries, it’s 68. In low income countries,
it’s 62. In Nigeria, it is lower still: just 53 years.Nigeria is one of
the most dangerous places in the world to give birth, with the fourth
worst maternal mortality rate in the world, ahead of only Sierra Leone,
Central African Republic, and Chad.One in three Nigerian children is
chronically malnourished.
I do not enjoy speaking to you this
bluntly when you have been gracious enough to invite me here. But I am
applying an important lesson I learned from Alhaji Aliko Dangote.
Recently, Aliko and I were having a conversation with several governors
about their states’ official immunisation rates. Aliko’s way of
stressing the importance of accurate data was to tell us, “I didn’t get
rich by pretending to sell bags of cement I didn’t have.” I took from
that that while it may be easier to be polite, it’s more important to
face facts so that you can make progress.
On immunisation, you are
already living that lesson: last year Nigeria revised its immunisation
coverage numbers downward to reflect more accurate sources, and I
applaud you for those lower numbers. They may look worse, but they are
more real, which is the first step toward saving and improving more
lives.
I urge you to apply this thinking to all your investments
in your people. The Nigerian government’s Economic Recovery and Growth
Plan identifies “investing in our people” as one of three “strategic
objectives.” But the “execution priorities” don’t fully reflect people’s
needs, prioritising physical capital over human capital.
To
anchor the economy over the long term, investments in infrastructure and
competitiveness must go hand in hand with investments in people. People
without roads, ports, and factories can’t flourish. And roads, ports,
and factories without skilled workers to build and manage them can’t
sustain an economy.
In preparation for my visit, I asked a
research institute at the University of Washington to model Nigeria’s
economic growth under three scenarios related to health and education,
the core of how economists define human capital.
Here you can see
Nigeria’s per capita GDP growth from 2000 until today. If current
education and health trends continue—if you spend the same amount in
these areas and get the same results—per capita GDP flatlines, with
economic growth just barely keeping up with population growth.
?If
things get worse, it will decline. Unfortunately, this scenario is a
very real possibility unless you intervene at both the federal and state
levels. Because even in the worst-case scenario, your national income
level is about to make you ineligible for certain kinds of development
assistance and loans that you’ve been relying on to fund your health
system and other priorities. Without more and better spent domestic
money, investment in your people will decline by default as donor money
shrinks—a lose-lose scenario for everyone.
?What do I mean by
investing in your people? I mean prioritising health and education, the
factors included in the model I just showed you. I also mean continuing
to open up opportunities in the agriculture and micro-enterprise
sectors, as the government has proposed in the ERGP. I mean creating the
conditions where Nigerians can reach their goals while adding value to
the economy—the win-win scenario.
However, if you commit to
getting better results in health and education—if you spend more and
more effectively—per capita GDP will stay on its remarkable
pre-recession trajectory.
?This is the scenario we all want: Nigeria thrives because every Nigerian is able to thrive.
And the data makes it clear that this scenario is entirely within your reach.
?What
do I mean by investing in your people? I mean prioritising health and
education, the factors included in the model I just showed you. I also
mean continuing to open up opportunities in the agriculture and
micro-enterprise sectors, as the government has proposed in the ERGP. I
mean creating the conditions where Nigerians can reach their goals while
adding value to the economy—the win-win scenario.
Our foundation
doesn’t invest directly in education here, but the World Bank World
Development Report that just came out makes it clear that education
leads to improvements in employment, productivity, and wages.
Today, though, more than half of rural Nigerian children can’t read and write.
The conclusion is inescapable: Nigeria’s economy tomorrow depends on improving its schools today.
The same is true of health, our foundation’s primary focus area.
In
1978, Dr. Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, who later became the Nigerian minister
of health, helped establish primary health care as the global standard.
We now know that a strong primary care system takes care of 90 percent
of people’s health needs.
Tragically, 40 years after Dr.
Ransome-Kuti helped other countries set a course for the future, the
Nigerian primary health care system is broken.
The evidence for
this can be found in the epidemic of chronic malnutrition, or stunting.
As the name suggests, chronic malnutrition is not a disease children
catch. It is a condition that develops over time because they are
deprived of a diverse diet and the services a strong primary health care
system provides.
The consequences of stunting are devastating.
Though stunted children are defined as shorter than average, we’re not
particularly concerned about their height. What we’re concerned about is
their brains, or what Akin Adesina calls “gray matter infrastructure.”
This
is a picture of the brain of a single normally developing infant. And
next to it is a picture of the brain of a single chronically
malnourished infant. Every brain and every child are different, but you
can clearly see the difference in the number of neural connections in
these two brains. And once this kind of damage is done, it’s very hard
to repair.
In Nigeria, one in three children is chronically
malnourished and could therefore be at risk. This is a tragedy for each
one of these children; it is also a huge blow to the economy. According
to the World Bank, addressing the stunting crisis in Nigeria would add
almost $30 billion to the GDP.
So what will it take to solve stunting? It will take a focus on agricultural development, nutrition, and primary health care.
?In
Nigeria, one in three children is chronically malnourished and could
therefore be at risk. This is a tragedy for each one of these children;
it is also a huge blow to the economy. According to the World Bank,
addressing the stunting crisis in Nigeria would add almost $30 billion
to the GDP.
So what will it take to solve stunting? It will take a focus on agricultural development, nutrition, and primary health care.
A functioning primary health system has six features.
Adequate
funding.Good facilities located in the right places.Skilled and
dedicated health workers.Ample stocks of essential equipment and
medicines.Patients who know about the system and want to use it.And a
mechanism for collecting the data needed to improve quality.
I
believe the Nigerian primary health care system is not adequately
funded. But it also doesn’t get the most out of its current funding. I
want to re-emphasize that last point about data. More transparency would
lead to more accountability, which would strengthen governance,
leadership, and management, which would improve quality across the
board.
I visited a health clinic in Bodinga LGA in Sokoto
yesterday, and it reminded me why I do this work. I’d like to ask all of
you to spend one hour at a health center in the next month. I think
you’ll see how the system can be improved—and how much good it will do
when it is.
I know Nigeria can build up its primary care system,
because I’ve seen what you accomplish when you meet health challenges
head on.
As many of you know, we’ve been very close partners in your fight against polio.
As
you can see on this graph, the hard work of hundreds of thousands of
local leaders and health workers since the turn of the millennium has
paid off. Nigeria has not had a case of wild polio virus in more than a
year.
?But the graph also shows that you’ve reported zero cases
before, only to learn that the disease was still circulating in tiny
pockets hidden by insecurity. It would be catastrophic to let your guard
down when you’re on the verge of eliminating the disease once and for
all.
I believe—because I have seen your work in the field as
recently as yesterday—that you will do what it takes to end polio in
Nigeria. We will be here, working side by side with you, until you do.
?Though
health is our foundation’s primary area of expertise, it’s not the only
thing we do, and it’s not the only thing I mean when I say Nigeria
should invest in its people. Healthy people need opportunities to
thrive.
One of the most important of these opportunities is
agriculture, the sector that nourishes most Nigerians and supports half
the population, especially the poorest.
The agricultural sector is
a pillar of the Nigerian economy. It accounts for a large proportion of
your GDP, and during the oil price collapse and recession, it helped
cushion the economy. But it still has a lot of potential to grow.
?The
majority of Nigerian smallholder farmers lack access to the seeds,
fertilizer, and training they need to be more productive, and they lack
access to the markets they need to profit from their labor.
The
government has taken important steps to fill these gaps, with both more
investment and a series of smart policies to encourage private sector
investment.
These reforms lay the foundation for a booming
agricultural sector that feeds the country, helps end chronic
malnutrition, and lifts up tens of millions of smallholder farmers. I
urge you to build on this good work.
?One of the barriers that
continues to prevent smallholders from thriving is their lack of access
to finance. Like good roads, finance connects farmers to opportunity,
yet only 4 percent of Nigerian farmers currently have a loan to grow
their business.
In a country where three quarters of people have
mobile phones, digital financial services provide a solution to this
problem. In fact, digital finance offers the potential to boost the
economy from top to bottom.
Right now, more than 50 million
Nigerian adults are at the whim of chance and the informal economy. With
access to digital financial tools, they can cope better with disasters
that threaten to wipe them out, build assets and a credit history, and
gradually lift themselves out of poverty.
Consider the impact this
would have on businesses. Of the 37 million micro, small, and medium
enterprises in Nigeria, more than 99 percent are micro. Their lack of
access to finance is a leading reason why these businesses can’t grow.
With digital payments, savings, and credit, they will finally have the
resources to plan for the future.
?According to the best
estimates, digital financial services will create a 12.4 percent
increase in Nigeria’s GDP by 2025. Meanwhile, oil accounts for about 10
percent of Nigeria’s GDP. Imagine adding another oil sector and then
some to the economy, but one whose benefits spread far and wide and
reach almost every single Nigerian.
?There is another benefit to
digital financial services that will make everything I’m urging you to
do much easier: it will vastly improve the government’s ability to tax
and spend efficiently.
Let me pause for a moment to say, I am
confident that one thing you’ve been thinking as I’ve been talking is
that, while you would like to spend more on health and nutrition and
education and agriculture, you don’t have the money to do everything. I
appreciate the fact that what you can spend is a function of what you
raise.
Nigeria’s government revenue as a percentage of its GDP is
by far the lowest in the world, at 6 percent. That makes investing in
your people difficult. The next lowest country, Bangladesh, collects 10
percent of its GDP. If you got yourself up to second-to-last in the
world, you would have an extra $18 billion to budget. Obviously, you’re
aiming higher than that, but it gives you some idea about the scale
we’re talking about.
?We want to support you in your work to
mobilise more resources to invest in your country. That’s why our
foundation is working with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to help states
track internally generated revenue.
Ultimately, raising revenue to
invest in growth will require delivering on the government’s
commitments to the Nigerian people, and convincing them that they will
get a return on their taxes.
Right now, Nigeria’s fiscal situation
is at what you might call a low equilibrium. In return for low levels
of service, people pay low levels of tax. We hope to help you reach a
higher equilibrium rooted in effective and transparent investments in
people. This equilibrium would trigger a virtuous cycle.
More
government revenue would lead to more money to spend on health and
education. Better health and education, and investment in sectors like
agriculture, would lead to more productive farms and factories. More
productive farms would lead to more prosperous farmers who could expand
their farms or invest in other businesses, especially if they had access
to credit and other financial tools. These thriving farms, factories,
and new businesses would lead to more government revenue. And the cycle
would start again.
Triggering that cycle will require bolder
action—action you have the power to take as leaders, governors, and
ministers focused on Nigeria’s future.
CONCLUSION
Nigerians are known around the world for their big dreams and big ambitions.
Together
with the Dangote Foundation, we will be here to help you achieve your
dreams and ambitions. You have the support of the international
community. The Nigerian private sector will continue to invest. We are
eager to help, but we know we can’t lead. You must lead.
I believe
in the grand vision of Nigeria’s future. I believe in it because I’ve
seen it. It’s represented by this line—the line that depends on healthy,
educated people and the surge of economic activity they will unleash.
?And that means that the future depends on all of you—and your leadership in the years to come.
Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, registering for his permanent voter’s