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“Let your works and good deeds impact the lives of people, especially those who will never know you.”
African Development Group President Akinwumi Adesina gave an inspiring message of service during his commencement speech to the 2023 graduates of Calvin University, a private university in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the #UnitedStates.
Sharing his journey as a graduate student who arrived in the United States to study at Purdue University with just $750 and how his mentors encouraged him to seek to be a changemaker, Adesina told the new graduates to find their purpose in living for others. “Riches are fleeting, but real wealth is touching the lives of others. Stock markets oscillate up and down as people trade riches. But real wealth—the type acquired from the lives of those you will touch—lasts forever,” Adesina said.
Relaying a recent encounter with a woman in a Kenyan community where a bank-funded project provided electricity, Adesina said the bank has helped connect more than 20 million people to electricity, many of whom will never know his name or the African Development Bank. However, they will remember the impact of projects that change their lives, he said, citing the bank’s Desert 2 Power initiative, which harnesses the sun to deliver electricity–creating the world’s largest #solar zone.
The bank head told the students they had the power and skills to confront the world’s challenges, including #climatechange, food insecurity and access to affordable healthcare. “You are ready—and the world awaits you,” he said. “The future before us…is a future of exciting and infinite possibilities. You have a role to play in this unfolding chapter of history…I am confident that you will stand out and do exploits that will make our world a better place.”
Adesina urged the students to be changemakers that think with their heads but “act with your heart.”
