GLOBALSpeeches 2007
Business: the real poverty killer - Sustainable development in Africa
01/11/2007
Speech given by Jeroen van der Veer, Chief Executive of Royal Dutch Shell plc at the Symposium on Sustainable Solutions for Africa, Delft University of Technology, 01 November 2007
Speech given by Jeroen van der Veer, Chief Executive of Royal Dutch Shell plc at the Symposium on Sustainable Solutions for Africa, Delft University of Technology, 01 November 2007
In this speech, Royal Dutch Shell’s Chief Executive, Jeroen van der Veer, gives his vision of how to drive forward Africa’s economic development. He stresses two points, the first being that for Africans to climb the prosperity ladder, they must also climb the energy ladder and switch from burning biomass to more modern and cleaner energy. The second point is that business is the real poverty killer. Governments and industry should work together to encourage Africa’s entrepreneurial spirit. Royal Dutch Shell is one of Africa’s largest private investors. The Shell Foundation, a charity, uses micro-credits to help Africans set up small and medium enterprises.