![\"Standard](\"https:\/\/www.wits.ac.za\/media\/wits-university\/news-and-events\/images\/news\/2023-jan-april\/Tooze_StandardBank.jpg\" "\\"Standard")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe discussion, which featured leading economic historian from Columbia University, Professor Adam Tooze, was hosted by Standard Bank as part of the launch of the Standard Bank Chair on African Trust Infrastructures in the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WiSER) at Wits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is the African century, there is no question about it,\u201d said Sim Shabalala, CEO of Standard Bank. \u201cWe have the privilege to operate in 20 African countries, and there is no question that Africans are getting wealthier, healthier and more productive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tooze said Africa\u2019s position in the future is \u201chistorically, radically novel\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you think of the return to centre-stage of Asia in the last 20 to 30 years, which is in a sense a kind of rightful correction of the world economy, which was so distorted by white dominance in the past 150 years, that is in a sense a return to a historical norm,\u201d said Tooze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe situation that Africa is entering into now is historically novel \u2013 fundamentally novel. Africa, up to now, has been characterised by low population density. And we are now entering a period where the African continent will actually be the dominant \u2013 not just in relative terms, in terms of the pace of demographic change, but in terms of the absolute size of the demographic change \u2013 the driver globally, and that is a situation where there has been no historical precedent for this before. This is the true revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While China\u2019s resurgence has been a restoration of an order that was normal before the 18th<\/sup> century, Africa\u2019s growth is a \u201crevolution\u201d, which is both a challenge and holds vast opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Africa has vast human potential that is opening up, Tooze believes investment is critical if Africa is to step up to this opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe capital to labour ratio \u2013 the wealth per capita in several African states \u2013 especially in West Africa, due to rapid population growth, has gone down over the last decade. So, the fundamental element in this equation, other than the human capital formation, is investment. There has to be [investment]. The huge African deficit is simply the capital to labour ratio. It lags far behind the rest of the world, and that vast human potential cannot be unlocked, unless that capital is unlocked,\u201d said Tooze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Standard Bank\u2019s Regional CEO for East Africa, Patrick Mweheire, said Kenya is an example of great positive growth in Africa. Unlike South Africa and Nigeria, the GDP of Kenya and other East African nations is growing faster than their population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKenya has become a major hub for a lot of global tech companies, who are transferring a lot of work that used to go to India and Eastern Europe to Nairobi,\u201d said Mweheire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shabalala explained East Africa\u2019s growth by saying that the region operates as an integrated region, with rational domestic and international policy formulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is an excellent example of rational policymaking and great financial management, which gives it a great competitive advantage,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is not surprising that that part of the world is beating South Africa hands down in human development. Nigeria and South Africa are the continent\u2019s biggest risk in GDP growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the first time in a very long time, the African continent is in a position to negotiate the best bargains for itself, said Shabalala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is a contestation for African resources that other parts of the world don\u2019t have, and we are in a position as Africa to negotiate excellent bargains for ourselves, because the Chinese, the European Union and the Americans want them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the challenges to overcome, however, is policymaking at a national and international level, as well as obstacles in moving people, goods, money, ideas, and data freely through the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we could wave the magic wand, we would get rid of all the blockages that make it difficult for people, goods, capital, ideas, and data to move between African countries. Again, the East Africans have done that, and that has made it significantly more competitive, and there is no good reason that we can\u2019t do that,\u201d said Shabalala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt makes so much more sense to make it easy for people to move, for capital to move, for ideas to move and for goods to move freely. It will be enhancing to welfare, it will be easier to produce goods, the continent will become more productive and with will become more competitive.\u201dI<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mweheire said Covid, the war in Ukraine, and other political and economic challenges in the past three years have led to a \u201cperfect storm\u201d that forced Africa to \u201cgrow up\u201d and solve its own problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat I\u2019ve seen is, we\u2019ve seen leadership actually show up,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has also forced us to come up with local solutions. A lot of conversations that we are having right now, we would not have had five years ago \u2026 I just feel that the African solutions for African problems discussion that we are having right now is very healthy. We\u2019ve realised that we are on our own, and that our problems are unique, and that we have to come up with our own solutions. The world has forced us to grow up and come up with our own solutions and that leaves me with huge optimism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tooze said that we are seeing a new form of globalisation that truly includes everyone, and not simply a globalisation that simply dictates to everyone from the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is a very optimistic and dramatic moment. I personally feel privileged to experience this moment. It is a transformative moment,\u201d he said. However, the flipside of this moment is extremely dangerous, and that is the polarisation of the old players \u2013 namely the United States and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shabalala said pessimism versus optimism is a choice, and the choice between the two has profound consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen confronted with risk and conflict, it is better to be optimistic, because you make better choices. You are more likely, in a company like ours, if you are optimistic to make an investment. If you are pessimistic, you are going to hold back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur relationship with Wits is based on optimism.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Africa is entering a century of global dominance in growth. Africa is entering a whole new era where it will be the global driver of growth in the next century. This is the combined view of scientists and corporate commentators who spoke in a panel discussion at Standard Bank on the future of Africa. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa-education-news","category-fau-members-news","category-fau-partners-news-4-edu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whedafrica.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whedafrica.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whedafrica.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whedafrica.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whedafrica.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whedafrica.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144,"href":"https:\/\/whedafrica.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions\/144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whedafrica.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whedafrica.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whedafrica.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whedafrica.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}