Ozwald Boateng - Fashion Designer HARDtalk


Ozwald Boateng - Fashion Designer

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It is hoped that any bank will be able to survive for one month,

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without any help from their government. And now it is time for

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My guest today is global fashion icon and Ozwald Boateng. He was the

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youngest ever and first black designer Ann Taylor a London's

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prestigious Savile Row. Born to Ghanaian parents, he said his

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colour was irrelevant to his success and he put it to one side

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and got on with his career. Too many Africans, he is a role model.

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Why is he now making more of his African identity by championing

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investment in business on the Continent and could he have been

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Ozwald Boateng, welcome to HARDtalk. Why do you say that je African

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origin has been a relevant to your success? Mainly because as a

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designer for my first started, I didn't want my origins to help in

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any sort of stereotype in terms of my approach to design. What I did

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was I really focused on the work itself. I took the traditional

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British sit and I made it modern. That was very unique as a designer.

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I wanted the focus of that unique design approach to be the focus of

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the world's attention in terms of design, not me as an individual.

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What do you mean about not conforming to a stereotype? Do you

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mean they would have expected bold African patterns? In the design

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world, as a black man, I was very unique in that way. I didn't want

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the image of myself to get in front of me as a creator. Did you see

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your race as a handicap? I would not say a handicap but I was unique

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within the field. You can be in a field full of men and you can be

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the first woman. You want the work to speak for you. That is the

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approach that I took. That is why I always talked about it in that

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contest. In a recent documentary about due that fall due for a

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decade or so, a Man's Story, you said you wanted to forget your skin

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colour and get on with it. You said people did not know what you look

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like and did not know your name was African. They thought she won a

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middle-aged white man. Because they thought you were a middle-aged

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white man, if they had known you were a young black guy, they would

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have bodgers its. We talk about -- would have bought your suits. When

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you talk about Savile Row, when I started, I was 18 years old. I was

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very young. I was working in a very old and established business. I had

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a very strong point of view and a very unique point of view. I wanted

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the focus to be about the work itself as opposed to me as an

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individual. Then people judge you work differently and say "this is

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not for me." You need to be a different man to earn this. Had you

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had racist experiences in the past? Savile Row is very much a closed

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club, it was a bad point. I started by my fabrics at the beginning and

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a lot of the merchants, they were not easy on me, put it that way. I

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had to earn my respect with them. Can you think of a specific

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example? I would not necessarily get good terms in purchasing of my

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cloth. That made things harder for stub that was consistent. -- I was

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consistent and I was a respectful of them as merchants. They started

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to realise that actually I was quite good at what I was doing. I

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developed a reputation for that from that point. That is why, when

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you are starting to build the brand, when it opened and Savile Row, I

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was very clear about me being on the street, one, what I could do

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for the concept of tailoring globally. I also knew that by just

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being there and doing a good job, I could maybe affect attitudes around

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someone like myself being in that field. Can ask you about that?

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Savile Row, no easy thing to get in that part of London, Piccadilly, it

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is where the likes of Prince Charles, and fight it think he is

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one of your clients, Richard Branson, Hollywood stars, they buy

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assets from you. -- in fact I think he is. Were you not perhaps burying

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your race and identity deliberately in order to get on fine, arguably,

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you could have used your success as a vehicle, as a platform to promote

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better race relations? Promote a different vision of Africa. I think

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I was doing it anyway. I did not have to announce it. The moment you

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get into badges as when -- is when you have the opportunity of someone

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saying, he is a bladder Senna. have the badge of colour anyway.

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I'd do -- he is a black Taylor. I do. But it was not about that. I

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did not have that Preston me as an individual. Not only did you not

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use your success as a base to promote better race relations, you

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actually actively buried it. some extent. Is that a matter of

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regret for you? I don't think I buried it. I just did not make the

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.9. I think by not making it a point, -- I just did not make it

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the point. I think by not making it a point, by just being good at what

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I do, that helped to shift the perception of someone like myself

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being within that industry. Working in the way that I do. You were very

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successful in the late 80s, Ellen intos. -- Early 90s. I started to

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build a name. To you know what was going on in Africa at the time?

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There were a lot of Kus. A lot of images of Africans constantly

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depicted as starving and waiting for an active Western nation to

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come and help them out. You could have countered that, kind of. You

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could have been multi-dimensional, here I am an African, Ozwald

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Boateng, successful. I did not have that influence. As a designer,

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either they gathered momentum in people

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people would argue that there was a very Afro-pessimistic view of the

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Continent. You could have countered that. Not a bad point. You keep

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saying that. -- not at that point. Not at that point Machen time.

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There is something about that. I am more active now. I have been active

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since 2000, 2003/4. To a very effective change or do anything to

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change that the, I would have had to be in a position where I could

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have communication all editions. -- to change Africa. And 2001 or 2002,

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I met the President of Ghana. I had a conversation with him about

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development. I did not realise I could have a conversation and he

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would listen to me. You had this influence Budget did not realise?

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At the time, I didn't. I was developing as a brand. Developing

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his unknown individual. More often than not, you don't know how well

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you're doing. Not until you experience it. You said you

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awakened to you African identity by that. Why is it that in 2013 you

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are using African influences for the first time. That is not correct.

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What it is, I don't sue Scholar within my work. Not ride from the

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beginning because of -- don't use colourful stop this is the first

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time you are using an overtly African influence. I am using

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colour and an African context. Rich colours. I always said I used

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colour as a tool to make something very traditional look very modern.

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The way I am combining my collars, it has always had a strong African

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awareness. -- colours. The can compare your word to Vivienne

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Westwood or Jean-Paul Gaultier. They had been using African

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influences for years. You have it as a birthright and you chose not

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to. At the time, I needed to establish myself as a designer. I

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did not want to be established as an African designer. I think I am

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established to such an extent now that any embracing African fabrics

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and using them in an interesting way is it is no longer just badged

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as an African designer. It is a designer who is understood who has

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at the kindreds and this is how he wants to work with that. -- who has

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African roots. It is like Africa. It is badly marketed. It is great

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now to see the world starting to realise that Africa has a role. It

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is not just how much you can donate to it in it. You have said it is

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now added a's time. When you look at relations between Africa and

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Western nations, do you believe that now you can help to counter

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the view that consumer goods are only really desirable if they are

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made in the West and confirm to Western-style the standards? I see

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it like this, Africa has, bearing in mind it controls 50 % of all

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known resources, maybe more, now we have an opportunity for Afrikaner

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to actually have its own identity in terms what products it creates.

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-- For Africa a to have. My view of Africa, why you see me more

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naturally engaged, I think now it is working out its language what it

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is going to say about itself in terms of production. There is a

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real interest for companies to set up manufacturing bases in Africa up

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in a with there was not before. The raw materials were taken out and

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manufactured elsewhere. Everyone is realising that now is the right

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time to do that. I have definitely been campaigning and China mac

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changed that view. The image of -- as trying to change our view. The

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image of the charity work in Africa has been fantastic. People have

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done great things but, from a marketing perspective, the images

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the same. It is kids' staffing and flies. The marketing aspect, it

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does what is desirable, it is something that is Western. A

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professor at London University who studied clothing market across

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Africa told altitude that shoppers make choices based on style rather

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than sustainability and choose Western clothing because it has

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parallels with Western culture and matches what they see on TV. Do you

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believe that you need to inject something different into an African

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market and say, actually, draw on He seemed many Africans wearing

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amazing presence even though the fabric is made in Holland. -- you

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see. They do have an identity. It is about confidence. I have been

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told, when I am in Africa, they CIM successful. I am known for my

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designs. I am embracing the fabrics. It is reinforcing a confidence in

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self. But they are still chasing all those products that are made in

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the West. But it is just timing. There are still trying to figure

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out and understand what their new identity means. You see more

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Africans wanting to go back to Africa, now more than ever. The

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global crisis has been a great thing for Africa, in one way. It

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made everybody rethink. I am experiencing it with my own parents.

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They are selling their property here. They are going back. You are

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one of three children. Your siblings are also heading back. Are

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you? I am about Emperor should show development. -- infrastructure

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development. I would love to see shopping centres. A development of

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new types of cities. With environmental awareness that are

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very interestingly designed. The landscape of Africa is so under

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fire. You can really make it something you dream about all read

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about inbox. It is possible. talked about the clothing industry

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and about helping bring investment to the Confederate -- confident.

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You said Africa could be the new hub for the textile industry

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worldwide. There are voices that say they do not want the sweatshops

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they have seen in some parts of Asia. Even if we want to come

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should be, you have to make sure it is done correctly. Yes. That is

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true. I agree. You have to start. There is a lot of rationale behind

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doing this and during bad. We need infrastructure. You cannot go to

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one country from the next because there is no decent road. This basic

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infrastructure needs to be dealt with. You set this -- set up this

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organisation, launched in 2009, to bring innovation and investment to

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Africa. Focusing on infrastructure. Not had much success. The thing is,

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like I said, there has been such bad PR on Africa. The men Ysaye

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Africa and Investment, people talk about governance, corruption, all

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the issues before you can even talk about the opportunities. You cannot

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blame them. You were quoted in the Guardian in March this year saying:

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Corruption in Africa, absolutely nonsense. I think corruption is

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everywhere. We can look at the financial crisis and talk about

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corruption. I said it was nonsense because there is too much focus on

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that. If you build the infrastructure so I can take

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advantage of my wealth, my assets that sit in the ground, then I had

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the resources to trade with you. Nobody disagrees. To say the

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government is corrupt is the reason why we cannot do that, or even

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start, it does not make sense. There are 54 countries. There has

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to be a few examples of countries their... If you group all the

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countries in one, there are a couple of problems in three

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countries. Where did you get that information from? You know the

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telecom Sudanese billionaire. Latest figures say state except

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there has been improvement of governments in Africa in the last

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couple of years. In many countries, they are going backwards. Like

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Nigeria of Kenya. Governance is a big issue and there are huge

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negatives. So we do not invest? So we do not China lift people are a

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poverty? -- we do not lift a people. You do not say governance is

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irrelevant. I say let's not have it be the first thing you say.

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need accountability. Make it transparent. I love that. Don't

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make it a bad excuse and not to invest. You need the accountability.

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Do you accept that? 100%. How do you bring it about? You are a big

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backer of these bonds. Members of the African diaspora can invest in

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bonds that can be used for infrastructure. When this idea was

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tried a few years ago in Ethiopia, people said if they do not trust

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the government as a guarantor. is why the African Development Bank

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is doing. They have a AAA rating rating. They are dealing with

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member states of the moment. That is great. It is about involvement.

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The bonds they are planning to do is $22 million. It is fantastic

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news for Africa. Many African nations do not have that sort of

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rating. The 54 African countries have their own reserves. They

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invest that in bronze on the other side of the globe, close to $1

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trillion. They do not invest in their own continent. That makes no

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sense. As a leading member of the African diaspora, had you invested?

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Absolutely. Not in the bronze, but in Africa. The the the the us

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poorer has a real role to play? Absolutely. -- de think the gifts

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poorer. -- African DS poorer. There is a real opportunity in Ghana and

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West Africa. There is no tax on goods coming in from Africa and

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into the US. There is a real incentive to develop manufacturing

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there. If you do not have to develop a textile company, because

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you do not know it -- do not have that know how bad is a problem.

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having the right tax and legal structures in place are people who

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invest know their money will be safe. They all say security. I saw

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a statistic on Russia right now. 45 African countries are better in

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terms of corruption than Russia is. How does that work? D believe that

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these kind of investments will filter down to those who are the

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poorest. If you build error road that connects two cities together,

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100%. You stand for the elite. Your suits. $30,000. Might average price

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is $2,000. The top? Top price is about $20,000. When you talk about

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a huge investment opportunities, there are still huge levels of

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poverty. Does that not strike you as a lot of money to put on your

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back? I am designing. That is what I do as a luxury brand. Having the

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African descent is an important message. It does not mean I do not

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care because I am in the luxury industry. You can reconcile that?

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care about one thing. I want to see Africa move forward. I want to be

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in the position where I can open a shop, many shops. It is a very

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important point. It does not mean because we are African, we cannot

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