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Fictions, Factors and Futures: Reflections on Africa's ‘impressive growth’

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Abstract

The vision of ‘Africa's Impressive Growth’ has been espoused to great excitement and acclaim in recent years, a reigniting of the euphoria of the independence era of African nations in the 1950s and 1960s. Geci Karuri-Sebina, Alioune Sall, Rasigan Maharajh and Alinah Segobye test the credibility of the claim and reflect it against six key developmental dimensions: political, economic, social, technological, learning, and ecological. They suggest that Africa needs a more grounded perspective on her future prospects, one that could be bright depending on improved education and leadership.

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Notes

  1. ‘…over the ten years to 2010, six of the world's ten fastest-growing economies were in sub-Saharan Africa. The IMF forecasts Africa will grab seven of the top ten places over the next five years… Over the next five years Africa is likely to take the lead. In other words, the average African economy will outpace its Asian counterpart’ – Africa′s impressive growth, The Economist, January 6 2011 – http://econ.st/fzB43R

  2. ‘Ke nako’ is a Sotho-Tswana phrase from Southern Africa which was part of South Africa's official 2010 Football World Cup slogan, ‘Ke Nako. Celebrate Africa's Humanity.’ Translated to English as ‘it is time’, it referred to the idea that it was Africa's time to be in the world's spotlight and should seize the moment.

  3. http://www.un.org/en/africarenewal/vol20no2/202-combating-inequality.html.

  4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian-African_Conference.

  5. http://www.actionaid.org/2012/03/brics-bank-new-model; http://marxistupdate.blogspot.com/2012/04/so-far-from-bandung-hunting-their-place.html.

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*This article is the product of a ‘light lunch’ conversation between a small group of African friends who are also scholars, activists, and futurists who welcomed this opportunity to exchange thoughts and ideas about Africa's present realities and future prospects.

Asks about the credibility and sustainability of Africa's growth and the need for education and leadership

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Karuri-Sebina, G., Sall, A., Maharajh, R. et al. Fictions, Factors and Futures: Reflections on Africa's ‘impressive growth’. Development 55, 491–496 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1057/dev.2012.75

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/dev.2012.75

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