Africa 2050 ─ Realizing the Continent's Full Potential

Africa is at a critical inflection point. After decades of disappointing performance a combination of sound macro policies and a commodity price bonanza has led to a dramatic and long overdue surge in African growth rates and concomitant improvement in social indicators.

This impressive performance has now created its own challenge for African leadership-the heightened aspirations of their own people and the expectation of the world at large. And responding to this challenge will definitely require more than staying the course-more of the same will not work. It will require bold and tenacious pursuit of multifaceted policies and initiatives that will call for intellectual integrity and single?minded determination combined with political courage at home and statesmanship abroad.

It is in this context that the experience of the other emerging markets economies may provide pointers as African leaders grapple with the complex multidimensional issues of not just maintaining but accelerating economic growth, prosperity and wellbeing of their populace. To set the stage for defining the opportunities and the promise that can lie ahead, this report sets out alternative scenarios of what the outcomes could be but not predictions of what they will be. This study also outlines a framework and action agenda that can deliver Africa's promise.

Theodore Ahlers, Senior Associate, Emerging Market Forum,Hiroshi Kato, Vice President, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA),Harinder S Kohli,Founding Director/Chief Executive, Emerging Markets Forum,Callisto Madavo,Visiting Professor, African Studies Program, School of Foreign Service atGeorgetown University,Anil Sood, Principal, Centennial Group Internatinal


Theodore Ahlers, Senior Associate at the Emerging Market Forum.

Hiroshi Kato, Vice President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Director of the JICA Research Institute.

Harinder S Kohli, Founding Director and Chief Executive of Emerging Markets Forum as well as Founding Director, President & CEO of Centennial Group International both based in Washington D C.

Callisto Madavo, Has been a visiting professor in the African Studies Program in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Anil Sood, Principal at Centennial Group International.