Twenty years on since your mother, Professor Wangari Maathai, won the Nobel Peace Prize, how much does she influence your thinking even now?
We are working on a year-long celebration of the 20 years of the Nobel prize. In 2004, my mother was the first environmentalist and first African woman to receive the prize, and it has so many moments of resonance with things that we are still realizing 20 years later. We feel that it's really important to unpack the power of that prize, the foresight that she had, a lot of the warnings that she gave us, and just the way she so effortlessly and brilliantly wove sustainability with the environment. That message still resonates, and she made history 20 years ago. The power, beauty, wisdom and genius of the Green Belt Movement is really showing up again in ways that we had hoped would continue. I'm really proud of what they're doing now.
How far did this upbringing by a strong woman inspire you? Is being an environmentalist something you always wanted to do?
Actually, quite the contrary. My entire educational career was in public health, so I went in a completely different path. I was a scientist, and I remember feeling that we don't all have to do the same thing, and it was really important that we do something different, because she's done the environment thing. But I think, in retrospect, my mother planted the seed in all of us, actually in the family, but also in us as a country. A lot of what she said, a lot of what she did, a lot of what she wrote was often always for posterity.
[Growing up], we used to live in a rather small compound, and in that space, [my mother made us] plant something all the time. If people asked where we lived, they would [be told], 'just follow the trees', because it was the only compound, about a quarter of an acre, that was packed with green vegetation. It does influence your sense of what's beautiful...
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PLAYING THEIR CARDS RIGHT
THESE UGANDAN GAME DESIGNERS AND FOUNDERS ARE HOLDING UP A MIRROR TO SOCIETY WITH THEIR ART.
THE PLACE TO DO NOTHING
VILANCULOS IS MOZAMBIQUEâS UNTOUCHED GEM WITH ITS MAGNIFICENT SUN, SAND, SURF AND HORSES, AS THIS WRITER DISCOVERED.
ADVANCING AGRICULTURE
AFRICAN ENTREPRENEURS ABROAD ARE RETURNING TO PURSUE AGRICULTURE AND INVEST IN OPPORTUNITIES ON THE CONTINENT, PROVIDING SUBSISTENCE FARMERS WITH THE TECH TOOLS AND KNOW-HOW TO BRING CROPS LIKE FONIO AND CASSAVA TO THE WORLD'S TABLES.
CALL INTO QUESTION
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BOOSTS SMARTPHONES GLOBALLY, BUT AFRICA FACES CHALLENGES.
MICHAEL STRAHAN IS ON THE CLOCK
WITH THREE TV JOBS (AND COUNTING), THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAMER MAKES HIS DAYS SEEM LONGER THAN 24 HOURS AND REWARDS HIMSELF WITH A MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR WATCH COLLECTION. BUT AT 53, HE'S ALREADY DREAMING OF RETIRING. AGAIN.
KINGDOM CALLING
SAUDI ARABIA IS LOOKING HARD AT AFRICA TO UNLOCK GROWTH BEYOND OIL.
SPARKING COMPETITION
CHINESE BRANDS ARE GAINING MOMENTUM AND IGNITING A NEW ERA IN SOUTH AFRICA'S AUTOMOTIVE LANDSCAPE. WHETHER IT'S A SLEEK NEW SUV ROLLING OFF A CHINESE ASSEMBLY LINE OR A LOCALLY-PRODUCED VEHICLE DESIGNED TO COMPETE ON THE GLOBAL STAGE, THE INDUSTRY IS SPEEDING WITH POTENTIAL AND POSSIBILITIES.
NATURE'S WARRIOR
THE MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR AFRICA AND GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS AT THE WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE, WANJIRA MATHAI HAS LED THE GREEN BELT MOVEMENT IN KENYA AS THE FORMER CHAIR, THE ORGANIZATION HER MOTHER, THE LATE WANGARI MAATHAI FOUNDED IN 1977. FROM NAIROBI, SHE SPOKE TO FORBES AFRICA ABOUT ISSUES SUCH AS CLIMATE CHANGE, YOUTH LEADERSHIP AND LANDSCAPE RESTORATION - CRUCIAL CONVERSATIONS AS SHE HONORS THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF HER MOTHER'S NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. HERE ARE EXCLUSIVE EXCERPTS FROM THE INTERVIEW.
TALK AIN'T CHEAP
PODCAST SUPERSTAR ALEX COOPER BUILT A MEDIA EMPIRE IN THE STREAMING ECONOMY. IN AUGUST, SHE INKED A $125 MILLION DEAL WITH LEGACY RADIO SERVICE SIRIUSXM TO BRING A NEW GENERATION OF FANS TO THE AGING SATELLITE NETWORK. NOW SHE HAS TO DELIVER.
A NEW ERA IN ONCOLOGY: TACKLING THE DREADED 'C' WORD WITH AI
AS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESHAPES HEALTHCARE, THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER IS WITNESSING UNPRECEDENTED BREAKTHROUGHS, FROM MICROSCOPIC NANOROBOTS TO VIRTUAL TREATMENT TWINS. THIS ACCELERATION IN DRUG DISCOVERY IS JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF AI'S IMPACT ON ONCOLOGY, NOW AND IN THE FUTURE.
