What Does The Current Crisis Teach Us And How Is It Connected To Our Launch At The WEF 2020?

Ubuntu Tribe Team
April 09, 2020
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COVID-19 has put us at the crossroads: is there a way back to “normal”?

Due to the coronavirus, we are facing a mounting crisis. More than a third of humanity – 3 billion people – is on mandatory lockdown. People are not only losing jobs and chances to connect with their communities – they are disconnected from the wealth-creation process and lack tools for making a living on their own. They are losing hope that something or somebody out there can help. They are trapped.

While most of us don’t know exactly how the situation will unfold, one thing is becoming clear. The world will not go back to “normal” as our “normal” does not seem to hold water. There are some very important lessons to learn and we had better listen closely.

A boy wearing a mask due to coronavirus. He holds a ball in his hands.

What is the current situation trying to teach us?

Unlike any other time in history, we now see how interdependent we all are – from Asia to the Americas, from animals to human beings, from the air we breathe to the amount of freedom we have. We also see how unprepared our existing system is, how insecure we can all become if something doesn’t go as planned. As we grow even more reliant on the existing centralized support and coordination mechanisms, we question if it even makes sense to stick to those mechanisms – or are we better off on our own? There is no doubt that something must be changed.

Leveraging technology to change the status quo and regain control

The need to collaborate and exchange value offline through centralized intermediaries is one of the core reasons why we feel so vulnerable at times like this. We simply have no tools to take care of ourselves. But it doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, there have already been many moments in history that proved to us how much our collaboration can be improved if we leverage technology – take the advent of the internet!

Internet = borderless information exchange

One of the biggest shifts in humanity’s productivity and development was when the internet became accessible. We learned to digitize information and instantly share it with anybody on the globe. It allowed humanity to get together as one team and exchange wisdom without borders. It boosted human advancement and lifted us to a new level of common knowledge. But most importantly – it acted as a stepping stone into the next level of exchange: the exchange of value.

Blockchain = borderless value exchange & collaboration

The recent advent of blockchain and tokenization suggests that it’s time to move forward. We already have the tech required to digitize value – not just information about it. We could digitize our work efforts, our money transfers, our assets – and truly own and exchange them through a trustless decentralized system. Not through sleepy bank clerks or greedy platforms that set unfair policies to benefit themselves. Not anymore.

But in order to get there, we have to boost digital transformation and embrace new digital tools, like the ones we’re creating at Ubuntu Tribe. Digital transformation and a shift to decentralized value exchange is what will make communities around the world more resilient and autonomous.

How can Ubuntu Tribe Help?

We have been backing the vision of free value transfer and digitalization since our inception 3 years ago. Now we’re going the last mile to bring it to life.

Several hands in a circle - the sign of unity and friendship. — The main principle of Ubuntu is “I am because we are”

Following the African wisdom of Ubuntu – meaning “I am because we are”, “Humanity”, “A universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity” – the high-level goal of what we do is to make the principle of the interconnectedness of the world’s components inherent to people’s economic and financial behavior.

How can we do it?
By building in particular impact mechanisms into our solutions and let people manage their own wealth and collaborate digitally and securely. We also democratize access to gold – history’s safest asset and a protection mechanism in times like today – by tokenizing and selling it for as little as 5 cents to anyone who has an internet connection. More about our solutions can be found on our Solutions page.

Why do we do this?
Because we believe that’s a sure way to solve the imminent problems that our capitalist society with highly centralized power is facing. And what we’re witnessing now is further motivation to get there.

Moreover, we actively spread our vision – including at the WEF 2020 where we officially launched our project

Even though our solutions are not 100% ready yet, we’re already actively spreading our vision. For instance, two months ago we co-hosted Davos Africa Night – an official side event of the WEF 2020 – together with our co-hosts Africa 2.0, Africa10, and Platform Capital and support from our sponsors – Africa50, Vlisco, Smart Africa, and Or Addict.

At the event, we presented the Ubuntu Tribe vision to 1000+ attendees including the top leaders of today. The astonishing feedback we received indicates that the greatest minds of the present think alike and Africa is indeed on the rise while solutions like ours will act as a major boost.

The launch of the Ubuntu Tribe project at an official side event called Davos Africa Night during the World Economic Forum 2020 in Davos — *Ubuntu Tribe Project Launch at an official WEF side event that we co-hosted: Davos Africa Night*

The main topic of the event followed the title “Making Wakanda a reality: How to Accelerate Africa’s Sustainable Growth through Digital Transformation”. Back then, our aim was to mainly discuss the future of Africa and how new tech can enhance it. But the lenses of today show that Africa is not alone on this journey and we all have a long way to go in the process of digitalization.

Davos Africa Night – an official WEF 2020 side event co-hosted by Ubuntu Tribe

The event was split into two parts: the business section and the inspiration section. The business section of the event hosted truly insightful discussions on Africa’s future led by our world-renowned speakers – from politicians and influencers, such as Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance of Nigeria, Elsie Kanza, Head of Africa at World Economic Forum, or heads of charity organizations – to business leaders, such as Jorge Sebastiao, the CTO of Huawei, or Tara Nathan, the Executive Vice President of Mastercard.

Mr. Joseph Okello, a man in a dark suit, is performing at the Davos Africa Night speaking about Refugee Camps — *Mr. Joseph Okello, a former-refugee speaking about Refugee Camps*

We were honored with high profile guests – counting multiple governmental delegations including from Ghana and Mali as well as a wide array of impact investors, NGO representatives, celebrities, asset managers, and a large tech crowd.

Our Founder, Mamadou Toure with Charlotte Hogg, CEO of Visa, at the Davos Africa Night — *Mamadou Toure (Founder of Ubuntu Tribe) with Charlotte Hogg (CEO, Visa)*

But there was one more thing about the Africa Night that you normally don’t expect from a WEF event: it was pure fun and inspiration! The event ended with an amazing vibe and a barefoot executive crowd dancing to the sound of Afrobeat music – led by the Queen Diambi of Congo! Africa Night was pleasantly labeled as one of the best and most authentic events of the entire World Economic Forum week. This is definitely something we like to recall in these bleak times – so make sure to see our videos and pictures and feel the vibes to cheer yourself up!

Our Founder, Mamadou Toure, with Ajaypal Singh Banga, CEO of Mastercard, at the Davos Africa Night — *Mamadou Toure (Founder of Ubuntu Tribe) with Ajaypal Singh Banga (CEO, Mastercard)*

Moreover, encouraged by such success, we decided to initiate a bigger movement in Davos next year by opening an entire Africa House for the WEF 2021 in collaboration with Africa10, Africa 2.0, Platform Capital and other prestigious partners. The House will continue the momentum and help us bring Africa back to the map of the world and promote sustainable practices for its inclusive development.

Marion Balandra, Ubuntu Tribe's Advisor, with Akufo-Addo, the President of Ghana, at the Davos Africa Night — *Marion Balandra (Ubuntu Tribe’s Advisor)* with Akufo-Addo (President of Ghana)

Summing up, Davos Africa Night marked the beginning of our journey towards stronger coordinated action and making the world a better place.

Obviously, hosting events is not all we aim to do: we’re ready to act!

As we were preparing to launch our ecosystem, we couldn’t do otherwise than take a step back and remind ourselves of why we engaged in starting the Ubuntu Tribe project in the first place.

Was our goal just to launch another tech solution? No. Our goal was to change the status quo, let people reunite with their Ubuntu, help those left behind.

That’s why, as the virus plunges humanity into a state of fear and uncertainty, we realize that the world really needs Ubuntu now. In this regard, we decided to mark pause on our race to launch and tackle the impending problem at hand, or more specifically – tackle the aspect of the overall problem where least help is being rendered.

Not many people see it but the fear caused by the virus has become even more contagious than the virus itself. This fear is devastating not only in how it affects our emotional state in the time of lockdown but also in how it affects our physical state and depresses our immune systems.

That’s why we’re about to launch a Global Campaign named «Love Over Fear»

Given the background of our founder, Mamadou Toure, and his connectedness with the world’s leaders, we are very well-positioned to leverage top influencers of the world to unite and show their love and support to those affected by the virus – be it emotionally or physically. At the same time, everybody else is welcome to participate in the spirit of Ubuntu. We challenge the entire humanity to show support to each other and amplify the love frequency around the world to conquer fear together!

Right now, we are engaging with our partners and influencers to finalize the campaign preparations. Once we’re through with this, our Newsletter subscribers will be the first to hear the details.