Demographics, Tech & Trade: Africa's New Era of Development скачать в хорошем качестве

Demographics, Tech & Trade: Africa's New Era of Development

While much of the world is consumed by conflict and fragmentation, the African continent remains the clearest source of long-term optimism — not just for those who live there, but for prosperity in the rest of the world as well. Its promise lies in scale and timing: The youngest population on earth, vast mineral wealth, and the chance to attempt structural transformation in the hyper-tech age. The continent is also central to the Atlantic–Indo-Pacific system, and its coming rise would, in many ways, be a return to older realities: from Mediterranean trade networks that shaped modern capitalism to East African states that pioneered cross-oceanic commerce. However, most African countries still sit at the edges of global value chains, exporting raw materials and importing finished goods, capital, and technology. The African Union’s induction into the G20 and AfCFTA’s push for frictionless trade are meaningful steps, but familiar hurdles remain: The resource curse, firms that struggle to scale, and competitive politics that can turn violent. This panel will ask whether African nations can build durable developmental models in a fragmenting world with fewer certainties. Will the region's states amass global influence by building world-class economies, or will greater geopolitical weight come first and accelerate economic transformation? How can the youth bulge we see in many countries of the continent be harnessed to build dynamic economies? What investments in human capital will make this possible? What are the various ways in which African nations are setting out to ensure that domestic resources translate into manufacturing and technology capacity rather than just raw material exports? Which new partnerships—whether with India, the Gulf, or emerging regional powers—can offer genuine co-development instead of repackaged extraction? What models of investment in infrastructure show promise for inclusive growth in the region, and how can they be scaled up? Scene Setter: Sudhakar Dalela, Secretary [ER], Ministry of External Affairs, India Speakers: Olivier J. P. Nduhungirehe, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Rwanda Musalia Mudavadi, Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Kenya Gwendoline Abunaw, Managing Director, Ecobank Cameroon, Cameroon Karim El Aynaoui, President, Policy Center for the New South, Morocco Moderator: Sunaina Kumar, Director, Centre for New Economic Diplomacy, Observer Research Foundation, India