From Vision to Action: Africa’s Next Chapter

Katherine Tweedie is guest blogging for the Forum. She is Director, Head of Africa at the World Economic Forum and is attending the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town.

Africa is writing an exciting new growth chapter driven by global demand and domestic dynamism. According to the IMF, seven of the ten fastest-growing economies over the next five years will come from sub-Saharan Africa with countries such as Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania and Ghana set to grow at rates of 7% and above. The story builds on progress made over the past decade including greater political and macroeconomic stability, increased private sector investment and broadening access to key social services, including basic health and education.

Africa’s global strategic importance has increased as both developed and emerging economies look to the continent for investment, trade and new business opportunities. At a regional level, an emerging middle class is contributing to greater economic diversification through rapidly increasing demand for consumer goods and services. This year’s theme From Vision to Action: Africa’s Next Chapter reflects the momentum taking place across the continent as a result of the concrete actions taken by Africa’s entrepreneurs, leaders and global partners. The meeting is an important platform to understand the key drivers behind Africa’s compelling growth path and critically, to assess emerging global and regional risks and their implications.

Innovation, IT and mobile telecommunications have played an important role in Africa’s success story to date and will feature prominently in our meeting agenda.  The session Technology Update: The Next Leap Forward will profile how organizations such as the Web Foundation and World Reader are using technology as a catalyst for change in the areas of healthcare, knowledge transfer and e-learning.  We also look forward to the perspective of Alcatel-Lucent‘s Adolfo Hernandez on the session Infrastructure – The Trillion Dollar Opportunity exploring how private sector investment can be accelerated to close Africa’s infrastructure gap.

The ability to continue turning vision into action and unlocking Africa’s significant potential will depend on the boldness, creativity and political will of its leaders. At such an important juncture, the Forum’s Africa Summit provides a unique opportunity to bring together a diverse, multi-stakeholder community committed shaping Africa’s next chapter.

This post is also available on the Alcatel-Lucent blog.