WEBVTT 00:00:00.013 --> 00:00:02.453 Let's start a green revolution in Africa. 00:00:02.453 --> 00:00:05.053 If Asia can lift itself out of poverty 00:00:05.053 --> 00:00:08.173 through a green revolution, why can't Africa? 00:00:08.173 --> 00:00:09.773 Alice, we're here in Davos. 00:00:09.773 --> 00:00:12.173 It is so great to see you. 00:00:12.173 --> 00:00:15.693 And one of the things that makes this a special Davos 00:00:15.693 --> 00:00:19.813 is it's a Davos that you're celebrating 20 years at AGRA. 00:00:19.813 --> 00:00:22.533 We at BCG are so proud of our partnership with you 00:00:22.533 --> 00:00:26.733 over a number of those years. But I wanted to ask you, 00:00:26.733 --> 00:00:29.333 20 years, okay, AGRA's been around 20 years, 00:00:29.333 --> 00:00:32.933 how do you today think about the state of 00:00:32.933 --> 00:00:35.693 agriculture in Africa, and what's needed from here? 00:00:36.933 --> 00:00:39.493 Thank you, Jim. It's good to see you too. 00:00:39.493 --> 00:00:42.933 So, 20 years ago when AGRA was started, 00:00:42.933 --> 00:00:45.133 the feeling then was that, 00:00:45.133 --> 00:00:47.533 let's start a green revolution in Africa. 00:00:47.533 --> 00:00:50.133 If Asia can lift itself out of poverty 00:00:50.133 --> 00:00:52.613 through a green revolution, why can't Africa? 00:00:52.613 --> 00:00:54.133 So let's start a green revolution, 00:00:54.133 --> 00:00:56.493 an alliance for a green revolution in Africa. 00:00:56.493 --> 00:00:59.613 But I think what we didn't quite take into consideration 00:00:59.613 --> 00:01:01.933 was how complex Africa was. 00:01:01.933 --> 00:01:04.293 How Asia, in many ways, had that one commodity 00:01:04.293 --> 00:01:07.173 they could all rally around, politically, socially, 00:01:07.173 --> 00:01:10.133 which was rice. And Africa doesn't have that one commodity. 00:01:10.133 --> 00:01:10.973 Africa is different. 00:01:10.973 --> 00:01:12.613 You have the maize in Southern Africa. 00:01:12.613 --> 00:01:14.493 You have the rice in Western Africa. 00:01:14.493 --> 00:01:18.093 But either way, it's diverse. It's complex. 00:01:18.093 --> 00:01:20.893 We didn't have quite the political will that Asia had 00:01:20.893 --> 00:01:22.413 around rallying around this. 00:01:22.413 --> 00:01:23.653 We didn't have the strong institutions 00:01:23.653 --> 00:01:24.573 and execution systems. 00:01:24.573 --> 00:01:27.453 I think Asia had gotten a lot of things right. 00:01:27.453 --> 00:01:29.973 And so for us, it wasn't a green revolution, 00:01:29.973 --> 00:01:33.173 it was a rainbow revolution, a complex rainbow revolution, 00:01:33.173 --> 00:01:36.093 but always one that still needs some work. 00:01:36.093 --> 00:01:37.573 I think we're going to find that 00:01:37.573 --> 00:01:40.373 there's going to be some places where it worked, 00:01:40.373 --> 00:01:43.733 some places where we really landed on the right policies 00:01:43.733 --> 00:01:45.213 and the right context, 00:01:45.213 --> 00:01:46.373 but I know we're going to find other places 00:01:46.373 --> 00:01:48.853 where it didn't quite work as well as we wanted it, 00:01:48.853 --> 00:01:50.693 but it's lessons that we need to learn, 00:01:50.693 --> 00:01:52.453 and also think about then 00:01:52.453 --> 00:01:55.933 what are those levers we need to take forward. 00:01:55.933 --> 00:01:57.973 Well, it's quite a road ahead. 00:01:57.973 --> 00:02:01.173 You have been in this role less than a year. 00:02:01.173 --> 00:02:03.253 Yes, ten months. Thank you. 00:02:03.253 --> 00:02:04.653 What I was going to say is that 00:02:04.653 --> 00:02:07.693 you've actually gotten a lot done already in ten months. 00:02:07.693 --> 00:02:09.773 But what I'm interested in is, 00:02:09.773 --> 00:02:12.293 now we're here at the beginning of 2026, 00:02:12.293 --> 00:02:14.494 what are your top priorities for AGRA 00:02:14.494 --> 00:02:16.534 as you look ahead to this year? 00:02:16.534 --> 00:02:19.254 So when I came in in March last year, 00:02:19.254 --> 00:02:22.334 I launched something I called AGRA 20, 00:02:22.334 --> 00:02:24.774 very much to link with our 20th anniversary. 00:02:24.774 --> 00:02:26.814 It was really, there was one part focused on 00:02:26.814 --> 00:02:29.014 getting our operations more efficient, 00:02:29.014 --> 00:02:31.454 getting our culture reset that was needed. 00:02:31.454 --> 00:02:32.734 Our brand needed some work, 00:02:32.734 --> 00:02:35.014 because I would talk to people about what is AGRA, 00:02:35.014 --> 00:02:37.654 and everybody has their own story of what AGRA is, 00:02:37.654 --> 00:02:39.894 and so we need to come up with that uniform brand. 00:02:39.894 --> 00:02:42.254 We needed to work on our making the place 00:02:42.254 --> 00:02:44.854 the best place to work, compensation and benefits, 00:02:44.854 --> 00:02:46.734 and also we needed to do work on business 00:02:46.734 --> 00:02:48.094 processes re-engineering. 00:02:48.094 --> 00:02:50.014 This is where BCG has been a fantastic partner, 00:02:50.014 --> 00:02:52.774 because BCG has a long history working with AGRA. 00:02:52.774 --> 00:02:56.094 You bring the numbers. You bring the best practice. 00:02:56.094 --> 00:02:58.654 So you bring a lot to our partnership. 00:02:58.654 --> 00:03:01.094 So the priorities, of course, is to get that implemented, 00:03:01.094 --> 00:03:05.014 the AGRA 20. So celebrate, but reset and rethink. 00:03:05.014 --> 00:03:07.294 So I'm pushing us to -- through our portfolio 00:03:07.294 --> 00:03:09.934 review -- I'm pushing us to say, let's go big. 00:03:09.934 --> 00:03:11.814 Go five things. Let's do five things, 00:03:11.814 --> 00:03:14.014 but really do them well and really measure them. 00:03:14.014 --> 00:03:16.574 So it's going to be a lot of work to get that done. 00:03:17.534 --> 00:03:19.134 So we're continuing basically with those things, 00:03:19.134 --> 00:03:22.174 the brand, the culture, the portfolio, 00:03:22.174 --> 00:03:23.374 the business processes, 00:03:23.374 --> 00:03:25.734 but also this consultation that I launched here, 00:03:25.734 --> 00:03:28.014 which we're going to be doing the whole year. 00:03:28.014 --> 00:03:29.014 Love it. 00:03:29.014 --> 00:03:31.014 Alice, it has been such a privilege 00:03:31.014 --> 00:03:33.534 to get to work with you and your team so far 00:03:33.534 --> 00:03:34.414 on this journey, 00:03:34.414 --> 00:03:36.414 and we're just so excited to see what's next 00:03:36.414 --> 00:03:37.494 under your leadership. 00:03:37.494 --> 00:03:39.094 Thanks so much for taking the time. 00:03:39.094 --> 00:03:40.574 Thank you so much.