Discussion: The Fastest Billion

NYU Africa House Director Professor Yaw Nyarko moderated a breakfast discussion with the authors of The Fastest Billion: The Story Behind Africa’s Economic Revolution, Mr. Charles Robertson and Mr. Michael Moran. For far too long Africa has been seen as a continent of conflict and poverty. But there is growing recognition of another Africa – one of sustained growth and rising living standards. In his book, Charles Robertson, Renaissance Capital’s global chief economist, predicts African GDP to surge from $2trn to $29trn in the next four decades and for the continent to become a major driver of global growth. This book, the work of a group of African economists and highly respected analysts from Renaissance Capital, aims to accelerate the world’s realization that Africa has no intention of allowing the coming decades to add up to an “Asian Century”. Africa’s day has arrived.