Justice Malala

Why Africa Will Thrive Beyond The “Africa Rising” Narrative

In the 2000s international investors and analysts hailed the growth of Africa, with the Economist and TIME magazines running cover stories emblazoned with the slogan “Africa Rising”. This was a far cry from ten years before, when the Economist shocked the world with the cover that had an image of Africa and the depressing words “The Hopeless Continent”.

Now, many of those who heaped praise on Africa that this is the end of “Africa Rising”. They point to new conflicts in Burundi, presidents grabbing extra presidential terms, drought wreaking havoc across the continent, negative impacts of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and poor economic growth.

In this talk South African political commentator and author Justice Malala looks at the setbacks on the continent and considers whether this is truly the end of “Africa Rising”.

While confronting the continent’s problems, Malala also highlights positive aspects of the Africa story: the new era of co-operation ahead as the continent’s 54 countries intensify implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area agreement, peaceful elections continue to dominate, African-brokered peace deals are holding. While venture capital funding fell 35% globally in 2022, funding for the African sector grew 8% to $6.5 billion, with debt funding more than doubling to $1.5 billion, according to Partech’s 2022 Africa Tech Venture Capital Reads.

For American companies considering expansion, there is opportunity and good news. For example, the IMF forecasts that five African countries – Libya, Senegal, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Niger – will be among the top 10 fastest growing globally in 2023. Malala says astute business leaders should not look at Africa as one monolithic structure, but must learn to identify opportunities where they lie in democracies that are strengthening and are innovative.