Empowering Africa's tomorrow, together

When the history of the 21st century is written, Africa will have a central place. Just how central depends in no small part on what its current generation of leaders does today. For Africa to succeed it will be absolutely imperative for its leaders to introduce and practice good governance and to give and demonstrate the assurance of transparency and accountability – including in the private sector. Prosperity and growth will require a bold willingness to diversify Africa’s economies away from its natural resource dependence, but to also put a concerted focus on its manufacturing strength, technology development, and services. Investing heavily in education and innovation, and in leveraging technology to make quality education accessible to all, will be an absolutely critical imperative. The Africa of the future will put greater emphasis on the development of human capital, on upskilling within companies, and on designing growth in a way that is inclusive and creates broad-based prosperity. Considerable investment will be needed in infrastructure, not just any infrastructure, but in sophisticated, clean, and lean infrastructure, because sustainability must be at the core of Africa’s development model. The continent’s growth needs to be anchored by an ‘African Green Deal’ that creates jobs and future-focused industries, always with a focus on sustainability. Absolutely pivotal to Africa’s success will be plenty of regional co operation, the largest free trade area in the world, and most importantly the will and vision from leaders in the public and private sectors to embrace the values, purpose, and dedication to see this through. Along the way on this path to 21st-century prosperity, Africa will need to avoid multiple traps, the resource curse, and large-scale conflicts. While African countries have always engaged in healthy competition, in the 21st century they will realize that it is their collective strengths and qualities - and the ability to unlock growth from intra-African markets - that is the continent’s strongest asset.

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