Carte Blanche with Perry

The Great Inga Dam Hydro-electric power plant that is set to add 40,000MW to DRC`s power grid The DRC has grown at an average of 7.7% over the last five years, ahead of the sub-Saharan Africa benchmark and is forecast to grow by at least 8% this year according to the AfDB, making it one of the top rising economies in the world. The good Africa stories keep coming, battling against “old” Africa with its civil wars and people threatened with famine.Over the next 20 years, some estimates project that Africa will have at least two billion people. Of these, 1.2-billion people will be living in urban cities, and 300-million of that urban population potentially earning $20 a day. If these statistics become reality, Africa could be a $2-trillion market annually.  This paints a picture of a continent whose economic activity is on the rise. Six of the world’s 10 fastest growing economies of the last decade have been in Africa, hence the “Africa rising” catchphra...

Africa`s richest square mile and arguably its symbol of economic clout-Sandton City in Johannesburg, South Africa. In May 2000, The Economist ran with a cover titled, “The hopeless continent”, painting stark gloomy picture for Africa. Fast forward just over a decade later, and the narrative had changed. In its 2011 December issue, the cover of The Economist read, “Africa rising.” True to form, Africa had transformed from a warring, stagnant and object of disdain to a fast growing economic region alive with possibility. Africa continues to impress, and its development over the years has seen many lives transformed on the continent. For instance, between 1981 and 2005, Africa`s poverty headcount ratio rose at each three year interval from 205 million in 1981 to 395 million in 2005, statistics reveal. And in 2008, the ratio fell by 12 million to around 47%. The trend has been continuing since then. This data and several other indicators reflect the extent of the progress...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) board of governors as compelled by law and custom are meeting this week for their Annual Meetings in Kigali, Rwanda.  Running under the theme, “The next 50 years: The Africa we want”, it is fitting that this year`s meetings are being held in the East African nation. Rwanda, East Africa`s fastest growing economy most likely has been the poster child of the “Africa rising” narrative over the years. Africa largely remains a continent of paradoxes. Basing on the continent`s resource endowments, Africa is very wealthy. Yet the levels of poverty on the continent are appalling. According to the latest World Bank Poverty Headcount Ratio (which measures the number of people living under US$1, 25 per day as a percentage of the total population) about 48, 5 per cent of people in sub-Saharan Africa still live in poverty. For a continent which boasts of 6 of the last decade`s 10 fastest growing economies, this is a statistic that goes against t...