In the midst of a really busy schedule last week, I popped into Nairobi to speak at the British Council's Our Future Africa forum. I spoke on a panel analysing current trends that could threaten the continent's long-term stability. Among other things, I was clear that three things will unlock Africa's beautiful future:
1. Building institutions of governance that will enable credible leadership to emerge from within the youth. In an era of rapidly declining trust in public institutions, I believe that we must rebuild those same institutions and establish structures that enable accountability.
2. Empowering a true African middle class by deliberate investment in futuristic education that will drive entrepreneurship and employability. The fastest way to grow the middle class is to enable rapid integration of the unemployed into the work force by all means.
3. Pursuing sustainable economic growth while protecting personal freedoms. It is curious that the two fastest growing economies on the continent (Rwanda and Ethiopia) have all but adopted Chinese-style "democracy". Economic growth that doesn't protect personal freedoms is predictive of future crises because it alienates the same people it purports to serve.
I will elaborate on each of these in a series of op-eds, but I'm more encouraged than I've ever been to pursue a life that resonates beyond me. We can utilize Africa's youth bulge to generate real demographic dividends, but we can't wish it into fruition. We must be deliberate about it.
#FutureAfrica
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