JACK MA, philanthropist and founder of Alibaba, wants to empower entrepreneurs in Africa as he moves on to the next stage of his life after leaving the company he started 20 years ago.

Ma spoke at the Forbes Global CEO Conference on Tuesday night at Shangri-La Hotel Singapore, where he was given the Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award at the gala dinner.

Of his African venture, he said “most entrepreneurs in other countries always want to go IPO. These people, they want to change Africa, they want to change their lives. What I can do is to empower the young people, young entrepreneurs.”

This is the first public speaking engagement for the 55-year-old executive since he formally stepped down as executive chairman of Alibaba Group last month. He had chosen to retire on Sept. 10, on his 55th birthday and the 20th anniversary of the e-commerce company he started with 17 other partners in Hangzhou.

He handed over his CEO reins at Alibaba to Daniel Zhang, in a transition that was announced a year earlier, but will continue serving on Alibaba’s board until its general shareholders’ meeting next year.

He also remains a lifetime partner of Alibaba Partnership, a group drawn from the senior management ranks of Alibaba Group companies and affiliates.

Ma’s exit comes as Alibaba grew to become Asia’s most valuable listed company, with a market capitalization of US$460 billion. It employs over 100,000 people, and has expanded into financial services, cloud computing as well as artificial intelligence (AI).

Ma currently owns a 5.3 percent of Alibaba’s stakes worth US$24.6 billion — about 10-fold the US$2.6 billion his 7.4 percent stake in 2012 was worth, according to a Bloomberg report.

He told attendees at his farewell event last month that he hopes to see Alibaba shoulder more responsibility to improve society amid the changes brought about by technologies like big data and 5G.

He said he will devote his time to philanthropy, especially in rural education. He was re-appointed as UN Sustainable Development Goals advocate in May.

Ma will be visiting Africa next month to give out the first Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative, which is led by his Jack Ma Foundation. (SD-Agencies)