This week at the World Economic Forum – May 2

Welcome to this week’s update from the World Economic Forum.

Most shared this week

What are the threats to our digital future? From regulation to  broadband penetration (report), and how to rewire policies (blog).

Piketty and the pay gap. Will wealth equality replace income inequality as the top global risk?

On Forum:Blog

Growth, jobs, education. Sebastian Buckup unpacks the Africa summit programme, as participants pack their bags for Abuja.

Homosexuality is not un-African. A Ugandan professor condemns homophobia and makes a plea for a traditional African value: tolerance.

The domino effect in tackling poverty. Japan helps Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka helps Tanzania. OECD’s Jon Lomøy on how aid is changing.

A good advertisement for sustainability. After the launch of the Effie award, how marketing can make us conscientious consumers.

We need to put a price tag on carbon, and fast, says Global Agenda Council expert Lars Josefsson.

Machines are taking over. They drive cars, crunch data, interpret images – and society is not prepared for the consequences.

The World Economic Forum in the news

Nigeria hosts the World Economic Forum to make the case for Africa’s promise. (BusinessDay)

“Nigeria’s ‘African Davos’ will focus minds on problems, as well as potential.” (Reuters)

Is innovation exploding or expiring? Sebastian Buckup weighs up the evidence. (Techonomy)

China is poised to overtake the US as the world’s biggest economy (Economic Times, Business Insider). But it won’t pursue colonial path in Africa, says premier. (Daily Sun)

The circular economy. How to build a less wasteful more prosperous society. (Co.Exist)

Global Shapers ring the bell in Lagos. The Nigerian Stock Exchange had a visit from the World Economic Forum. (AllAfrica.com)

An Abuja reading list

Africa’s economy

Africa is refuting the usual economic pessimism. Its story includes the stuttering spread of democracy, impressive growth and a continent that now has more people who are overweight than go to bed hungry each night. There’s more detail, country by country, in the Forum’s Africa Competitiveness Report.

How can Africa develop its infrastructure? Governments need the right tools to attract investors.

Slowdown in commodity demand could hit Africa, warns the IMF.

Rising inequality in Africa weighs on new consumers. The fragility of its new middle class is evident in cities like Abuja.

Africa’s path to prosperity means fixing inter-regional trade.

East Africa’s new great oil game. With new railways, roads, pipelines and power grids, East African nations are forging political alliances that will allow them to reshape the region.

How Nigeria’s economy grew 89% overnight. Explaining April’s GDP recalculation, which made the country Africa’s biggest economy.

Africa and the world

China’s presence in Africa. Not as big as you might expect: “China’s investment in and trade with Africa represents 3 percent and 5 percent of its global investment and trade respectively.” Germany could help Africa’s industrialization, but for Europe the relationship is shifting from aid to trade, and Russia is reasserting its role in the region.

Indian exports to West Africa hit a record high. They are up 22 percent this year. Until 1999 India’s trade with Africa exceeded China’s.

America Is ‘Coming to Africa’ – an African perspective on this summer’s US-Africa summit in Washington DC.

Nigeria

Terrorists are threatening girls’ education, kidnapping over 200 schoolgirls in northern Nigeria. Boko Haram is the terrorist group believed to be responsible.

How Bitcoin is moving money in Africa. The continent is experimenting with the virtual currency.

Nigeria’s Nollywood, where the average movie costs just US $25k. One World Economic Forum Global Shaper on tackling the industry’s pirates. 

Have something for our reading list? Drop me a line.

Coming up next week

From China and Africa’s deepening economic ties to the future of agriculture, and a tale from the frontier of the fight against infectious diseases – Forum:Blog will feature over 20 posts from participants in Nigeria next week.

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Author: Adrian Monck is Managing Director of Public Engagement at the World Economic Forum.

Image: A man reads a book in front of a World Economic Forum logo, January 29, 2011. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann