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Jul 29, 2019

“If we are serious about development what we should fundamentally do is strategic...for the government for the institutions to take over because they are responsible for their people. And the locals to also roll up their sleeves and not just treat them like subjects of aid but treat them like an active participants in the development imminent in their landscape. That’s  the way we need to think if we’re really serious about development. And you know, it’s all about investing in the people not investing in ourselves and doing projects that just make us feel good. There are a lot of tough decisions involved in making this happen it’s the road less traveled but that’s what we need to explore.” -- Abbey Wemimo 

Meet Abbey Wemimo, the founder of Clean Water for Everyone, a social venture that aims to provide access to clean and affordable water supply in underdeveloped nations by working with locals to achieve positive social, economic and environmental impacts.

In this episode we cover:
- Abbey's experiences as a child growing up in the slums of Lagos Nigeria.
- Why he launched Clean Water for Everyone (he almost died of Typhoid fever as a kid due to a lack of access to clean water).
- His early start to entrepreneurship (he used to sell snickers bars to his classmates during school breaks).
- The importance of empowering local communities to run their businesses, institutions, organizations, etc. themselves rather than creating a system of dependency, or as Abbey puts it, “treating local individuals like subjects of aid” (something I’ve personally been thinking about a lot and which Abbey and I talk about at great length during this episode).
- The importance of collaboration and working together to solve some of the world's most complex issues.
- Africa's economic boom (this is an exciting time for Africa!)
- What inspires him to persevere through the entrepreneurial challenges he faces.
- And so much more!

This was truly such an amazing conversation. Happy listening!