World Economic Forum on Africa2008

World Economic Forum on AfricaCapitalizing on OpportunityCape Town, South Africa 4-6 June 2008

Report

The views expressed in this publication do notnecessarily reflect those of the World Economic Forum.

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1 | WorldEconomicForumon Africa

Page 3

Preface

Page 4

Summary: Capitalizing on Opportunity

Page 12

Re-engineering Growth

Page 16

Unfinished Business

Page 20

Innovate or Perish

Page 24

Partnerships without Borders

Page 28

Licence to Lead

Page 32

Acknowledgements

Contents



As many of those present were aware, this year’sWorld Economic Forum on Africa was our 18th year ofactivity in Africa. It is a continued honour for us tomaintain the trust of the community and to contributeto shaping the agenda in the current atmosphere ofcollaboration, opportunity and partnership.

The 2008 World Economic Forum on Africa focusedon the power of leadership to bridge the gap betweenthe region’s challenges and opportunities. In keepingwith a trend begun a few years ago, the greaterdiversity of both the African and non-African leaderspresent meant that we could do more. We exploredopportunities in more depth and tackled severaldifficult conversations on the challenges facing theregion. We were particularly encouraged by the spiritof openness and partnership evident in thediscussions.

We view this year’s deliberations as furtherconfirmation, if more were needed, that Africa’sstakeholders are ready to come together to ensurethat the region takes advantage of the opportunities athand. We witnessed a more confident community, onekeen to assert its place on the global stage, one thathas come of age.

Among this year’s many highlights was the inauguralAfrica Circle – a private gathering of members of thecommunity who have participated in our Africa

meeting for 10 years or more. They were honoured byKlaus Schwab, who presented a commemorative giftto each member. A session called “Coming of Age”saw interaction between some of the community’sveterans and several newcomers on theachievements, commitments and aspirations that weshare and on what more can be done to improve thecommunity’s effectiveness.

We would especially like to thank our meeting Co-Chairs, who were instrumental in helping us to shapethis year’s agenda: Aliko Dangote, President andChief Executive Officer, Dangote Group, Nigeria; E.Neville Isdell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,The Coca-Cola Company, USA; Wendy Luhabe,Chairperson, Industrial Development Corporation,South Africa; Sadako Ogata, President, JapanInternational Cooperation Agency, Japan; and SultanAhmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman, Dubai World,United Arab Emirates.

We expect this 18th meeting nurtured the friendships,insight and conviction needed to improve the state ofthe region.

Adeyemi Babington-AshayeAssociate Director, Acting Head of Africa

Preface


Summary: Capitalizing on Opportunity

“The opportunities, threats andchallenges Africans face require strongpartnerships among government,business and civil society. They alsorequire strong African cooperation andengagement with the world.”

Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World

Economic Forum

“It would be very important if wemanage our resources and the wealththey generate so they produce theadvances we need.”

Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa

When more than 800 business, government and civilsociety leaders from 50 countries met in Cape Townfor the 18th World Economic Forum on Africa, theoptimism generated by yet another year of strongeconomic growth in the continent was evident. “Africais becoming an interesting and exciting investmentdestination,” said Maria Ramos, Group ChiefExecutive of Transnet, South Africa. Thabo Mbeki,President of South Africa, commented, “There reallyhas been progress in addressing the issue of peaceand stability and democratization. This process isirreversible.” Added his Ghanaian counterpart JohnAgyekum Kufuor: “The opportunities for Africa areimmense.”

The sense of achievement, however, was tempered bythe shared appreciation that the going will only gettougher, given the slowdown in the global economyand rising energy and food prices. Nonethelessparticipants chose to remain resolute and to lookforward for ways in which Africa can bridge the gapbetween the challenges and opportunities and

capitalize on the drivers of growth. Africans, saidBingu Wa Mutharika, President of Malawi, “need tochange mindset from ‘afro-pessimism’ to ‘afro-optimism’.” Africa, he added, “is probably the richestcontinent in the world but the people are the poorest.Let us recognize that we have all the wealth to enableus to transform our continent and people from povertyto prosperity.”

The meeting began with an interactive brainstormingsession during which participants identified the majordrivers of change that Africa needs to be mostprepared for in the next 12 months. A similar surveyhad previously been conducted among the generalpublic. The participants’ overwhelming choice:education and skills development. “There is a gapbetween the skills of those in school and the jobs theywould aspire to fill,” remarked Sadako Ogata,President of the Japan International CooperationAgency and a Co-Chair of the meeting. The other topdrivers of change ranked by the group were: visionaryleadership, economic growth, robust infrastructureand food security (see Figure 1). The brainstorming


Figure 1: Africa Economic Brainstorming

Results of the public vote on the Drivers of Change

that will most impact Africa in the next 12 months

Results of the participants’ vote at the Africa meeting on the Drivers of Change

that will most impact Africa in the next 12 months

session nurtured an appetite for solutions and foraction that permeated the rest of the meeting asleaders joined interactive discussions to exploreseveral of these issues in more depth.

By identifying education and skills development as thekey priority, participants highlighted the need for Africato develop new leaders ready for a more competitiveand closely interconnected world where collaboration,innovation and entrepreneurship are the necessarytools of success. “Business needs to join withgovernment and civil society to improve skills,”advised E. Neville Isdell, Chairman and Chief ExecutiveOfficer of The Coca-Cola Company. Public-privatepartnerships are essential to addressing the skillsdeficit in Africa, Ogata said.

Indeed, “the opportunities, threats and challengesAfricans face require strong partnerships amonggovernment, business and civil society,” said KlausSchwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of theWorld Economic Forum. “They also require strongAfrican cooperation and engagement with the world.”As Aliko Dangote, President and Chief ExecutiveOfficer of the Dangote Group of Nigeria and a Co-Chair of the meeting, added: “Progress will nothappen by accident. There is much work to do and bycollaborating we will have a greater impact.”

"It's important to diagnose thelegislative framework of countries thatstand in the way of women so we canchange it to provide an enablingenvironment for all to lead better lives."

Linah Mohohlo, Governor of the Bank of Botswana;

Member, Africa Gender Parity Group


In stressing the need for strong leadership,participants acknowledged that for too long much ofAfrica’s ability to prosper was impeded by poorgovernance. But rather than blame colonial rule fortheir ills, new African leaders are taking responsibilityfor their actions and opening up their governancepractice to scrutiny and open criticism. “Unless we getleaders that see beyond the divides that the [colonial]system left us, very likely we will move one stepforward and two steps backwards,” said PresidentKufuor.

This shift in mindset is critically important at a timewhen Africa’s abundance of natural resources couldprove to be the key to unlocking the wealth that itspeople deserve, riches that must be managedproperly, transparently and efficiently to ensure thatgrowth is delivered equitably. “It would be veryimportant if we manage our resources and the wealththey generate so they produce the advances weneed,” Mbeki told participants.

Above all, it is important that Africans themselves takeaction, make the choices and find the solutions they

require. The world is coming to Africa. China andIndia, for example, have made relations with the regiona strategic priority. And the 2010 FIFA World Cup willbe a major opportunity for South Africa and itsneighbours to showcase the enormous progress thatthe continent has achieved. There will surely bedividends, but as Colin Coleman, Chief ExecutiveOfficer of Goldman Sachs in South Africa put it, “It isup to us to see what we do with it.”

The continent must find its role in the global village,said President Mutharika of Malawi. “This is a questionthat we have glossed over but yet is so fundamental.We have a role to play in the global arena.” That role isfor Africans alone to shape, he concluded. “Nobodywill develop Africa for us.”

The 2008 meeting was organized under five sub-themes: “Re-engineering Growth”, “UnfinishedBusiness”, “Innovate or Perish”, “Partnerships withoutBorders”, and “Licence to Lead”. Within these sub-themes, the agenda examined Africa’s challenges andopportunities, and the capacity for leadership tobridge the gap between them.

F

T

“Business needs to join withgovernment and civil society to improveskills.”

E. Neville Isdell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,

The Coca-Cola Company, USA; Co-Chair of the World Economic

Forum on Africa

“Unless we get leaders that see beyondthe divides that the [colonial] systemleft us, very likely we will move one stepforward and two steps backwards.”

John Agyekum Kufuor, President of Ghana


In an exclusive gathering, leaders who have participatedin 10 or more of the World Economic Forum’s Africameetings were honoured. Leading the classification,Thabo Mbeki and Trevor Manuel have both been presentat 17 of the Forum’s 18 Africa meetings.

Other leaders, with the number of meetings to whichthey have contributed, include: Bertram Lubner (16),

Antonio A. Matos (13), Lynda Chalker (12), Maria Ramos(12), Simba H. Makoni (11) and Abel Mkandawire (10).

Klaus Schwab thanked members for their trust andloyalty. He gave each a commemorative gift and askedthe community to stay engaged as the region enters anew age.

Africa Circle

From left to right: JaimeMoralesCarazo, Vice-President of Nicaragua; EliasAntonioSaca, President of El Salvador; PatrickManning, PrimeMinister of Trinidadand

Tobago; Susan L. Segal, President andChief ExecutiveOfficer, Council of theAmericas, USA;Manuel ZelayaRosales, President of Honduras; ¡lvaroColomCaballeros,


While Africa has enjoyed strong economic growth inrecent years, spreading peace, stability and bettergovernance, the downturn in the global economy andrising food and energy prices will make the goingmuch tougher. This sub-theme explored the need toovercome investment and infrastructure bottlenecks tokeep growth on track.

• African countries should address deficiencies inagriculture to increase productivity and empowersmall farmers.

• It is critical for African economies to diversify bydeveloping higher value-added products andservices to allow Africans to gain more value fromtheir economy.

• More investment is needed in infrastructure todevelop supply chains and improve efficiency.

• Public-private partnerships are necessary to developeducation and skills to build capacity.

• Deeper regional integration is essential to attractmore investment and create market power.

Unfinished Business

Business as usual will never be enough. What will ittake to bring the business environment up to globalstandards?

• Governments alone do not have the capacity todevise or deliver the solutions. Business clearly hasa role to play.

• Of special focus should be ways to tap thespending and investing power of those at thebottom of the economic pyramid.

• The agriculture sector should be a key priority,particularly for banks which need to find creativeways to make it easier for small farmers to accesscapital.

• Public-private partnerships can be an importantvehicle to unlock growth in key sectors.

• Climate change, water management, technologyand the African diaspora could also prove to beimportant sources of opportunities for newinvestment.


Innovate or Perish

From disruptive business models to new frontiertechnologies, innovation represents and createsopportunity. Economies have to find innovate ways todeliver better products and services to markets and totackle issues from water management, energy securityand health to climate change.

• To boost water efficiency, new models of usage,management and pricing are needed, as well asstronger linkages across sectors.

• The adoption of technology will be a major boost toproductivity, allowing economies to unlock value inpoorer communities and rural areas.

• Political will is necessary to boost public investmentin agriculture.

• Innovative solutions such as public-privatepartnerships and the better leveraging of existingdistribution and treatment networks could result inthe improved delivery of healthcare.

• Companies stand ready to work with governmentsbut the latter need to create aligned policyframeworks to make ventures viable.


Africa is in a position to build new and meaningfulglobal partnerships based on mutual respect ratherthan aid and charity. Only Africans will develop Africaand determine the continent’s future.

• Africa needs a consensus on how it wants to dealwith both traditional powers and emerging partners.

• African countries should focus on how to deepenpartnerships among themselves.

• Partnerships should not be used to shift blame.African nations should take responsibility for theiractions.

“There clearly is a crisis of leadershipnot just in Africa but in the world.”

Wendy Luhabe, Chairperson, Industrial Development

Corporation, South Africa; Co-Chair of the World Economic

Forum on Africa

“Progress will not happen by accident.There is much work to do and bycollaborating we will have a greaterimpact.”

Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dangote

Group, Nigeria; Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum on

Africa


Licence to Lead

Leadership is the ultimate force capable of bridgingthe gap between daunting challenges andunprecedented opportunities. This sub-themeexplored how leadership can turn adversity intoopportunity.

• Mediocre leadership and poor governance havebeen major impediments to prosperity.

• The continent has all too often experienced two ofthe most extreme forms of the lack of accountability– corruption and the unwillingness of leaders to stepdown following electoral defeat.

• Public institutions including political parties need tobe strengthened and made accountable.

• The quality of leadership in the middle levels of thepublic service should be improved.

• In general, there are signs that African leadership isimproving and accountability and transparencystandards are rising.

Democracy Around the World

Source: EIU

Full democracy (score of 8-10)Flawed democracy (score of 6-7.9)Hybrid regime (score of 4-5.9)Authoritarian regime (score <4)No Data

Note: Democracy index scores range from 0 to 10 (highest) indicating conditions in five areas: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. Labels indicate range of scores and are not intended to be descriptive.

From left to right at the Opening Plenary Session: Pierre Nkurunziza, President of Burundi; Bingu Wa Mutharika, President of Malawi;Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa; Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum; John Agyekum Kufuor,President of Ghana; and Raila Amolo Odinga, Prime Minister of Kenya


Achievements, Commitments and Aspirations

Among the Achievements

Boosting African Agriculture – At our 2007gathering, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa(AGRA) announced the appointment of former UNSecretary-General Kofi Annan as its first Chairman. Todate AGRA has invested US$ 330 million in Africanagricultural development.

Developing the Business Alliance AgainstChronic Hunger – Our initiative tackled the issue ofincreasing food production in Africa by sharing insightsfrom its existing projects. New strategies beingdeveloped include innovative financing mechanisms todrive agriculture-sector growth, sourcing from smallscale farmers and expanding the retail distributionnetworks of goods including seeds, fertilizer, food andfuel.

Managing Energy Poverty Action – In 2007, thegroup unveiled its bricks-and-mortar office housed bythe Development Bank of South Africa. The EnergyPoverty Alliance Management Unit (EPAMU) will furtherpromote the EPA’s objectives. EPAMU’s midterm goalis to build its institutional capacity to act as amatchmaker between leading companies,governments, local entrepreneurs and communities,as well as national and international finance institutionsand donors, to enable project financing and executionto address the challenges of energy poverty.

In a world where power is shared and decision-making is dispersed across time zones, peoplecannot be coerced, they must be convinced. TheWorld Economic Forum is proud to play a role in amultistakeholder world and a multistakeholderfuture.

We have selected a few achievements,commitments and aspirations to share with thecommunity. Some are supported by an individual,others by a coalition of members from ourcommunity, including the Forum itself. And in yetothers, the Forum has simply played a facilitatingrole to ensure progress. In all these cases, we aregratified to be associated with leaders in business,government, civil society and academia who arecommitted, through their actions, to improving thestate of the world.

It is our hope that the aspirations inspirecommitments in the coming period and that thecommitments this year translate into action andachievement.

Advancing Global Health – The Global HealthInitiative unveiled a host of practical tools forcompanies to use to help tackle tuberculosis.

Promoting Social Entrepreneurship – Finalists forthe 2008 Social Entrepreneur Award in South Africawere recognized. The Schwab Foundation’s AfricaSocial Entrepreneurs Meeting marked the firstgathering of more than 120 social entrepreneurs andresource providers in Africa focusing on innovative andentrepreneurial solutions to social and environmentalchallenges. The Schwab Foundation for SocialEntrepreneurship’s current network covers more than40 countries and includes 144 outstanding socialentrepreneurs reaching out to a total of 600 millionbeneficiaries.

Business Taking Action against HIV/AIDS – Toestablish HIV/AIDS workplace programmes:• Eskom has supported 42 suppliers in South Africa,reaching 20,000 people.

• Unilever has supported 70 small tea farms in Kenya,reaching 12,000 people.

• SAB Miller has supported 400 owner drivers and160 bars.

Incorporating African insights in globaldeliberations – Mining industry feedback wasincorporated into the global response to resourceendowment challenges and opportunities.

Launching Africa@Risk – The Forum’s Global RiskNetwork published its first risk report focusing on theglobal risks that impact the region.

Among the Commitments

Kenyan and international business leaderscommitted to engaging with the new governmentof Kenya to support government efforts to restoreKenya’s economic activity.

An energy financing mechanism that draws on acombination of funds from an array of sources(multilaterals, charitable organizations, other donors)and seeks to minimize the transaction costsassociated with the financing of rural electrificationprojects was developed.

Our Water initiative committed to developing waterforecasts which will raise awareness whilesimultaneously developing a Sub-Saharan waterworkstream that will spread best practices.

The Africa Gender Parity Group was launched thisyear, committing to disseminating best practices fornarrowing the gender gap across the continent.


To support Zimbabwe, a member of the YoungGlobal Leader (YGL) community has committed tohosting an international delegation of YGLs inZimbabwe to witness what is happening on theground. The objective is to focus on investmentopportunities that can help support Zimbabwe’seconomy.

Members of the YGL community have committed theirtime and expertise to teaching and mentoringyoung leaders at the African Leadership Academy.

The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund, a US$ 50million call for proposals to catalyse businessinnovation across several areas, was launched.

The African Development Bank has committed todeveloping a facility called the African FinancingPartnership (AFP) with other partners by 2008-09. TheAFP will harmonize procedures and enable themember institutions to increase their operationswithout increasing processing costs.

Among the AspirationsThe Africa community shared the aspiration thatZimbabwe would return to economic prosperity andthat the opportunity would arise for Zimbabwe’s manyinternational friends to partake in its reconstruction.

The community called for leadership to boost faith inthe policing of African societies and for an “all handson deck” fight against crime.

In an effort to increase access to HIV treatment,Unilever, Eskom, Volkswagen, Standard CharteredBank, SAB Miller and Heineken aspire to support allthe small and medium-sized enterprises in their supplychains to establish HIV/AIDS workplace programmes.Together, they could reach over one million people,but will need to partner with government to make thishappen.

Deeper partnerships among universities,businesses and governments in Africa are neededto ensure that universities are contributing to thecontinent’s growth.

The removal of constraints to intra-African tradeto allow capacity, efficiencies and scale to beimproved regionally must be sought even asnegotiations continue in the global arena.

The increased input and engagement of Africanbusinesses in global trade negotiations is desired asthey can bring knowledge and expertise to strengthenthe case presented by African governments.

There should be a continued dialogue with Africa’sdiaspora, possibly led by the African Union or theNew Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).“Africa has contributed perhaps least

to climate change but will sufferdisproportionately in coming decades.”

Sadako Ogata, President, Japan International Cooperation

Agency, Japan; Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum on

Africa



Since 2004, Africa has experienced economic growthof about 6%. The main factors behind this strongperformance are evident: the rise in global demand forcommodities, especially from fast-charging economiessuch as China and India, the establishment of peaceand stability in areas once plagued by persistentconflict, better governance in the public and privatesectors, increased budgets, and rising interest amonginvestors attracted by improved conditions andexpanding opportunities. The good news is spreading– this year, 31 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, sixmore than in 2007, are expected to report growthabove 5%.

Figure 1: Africa's Economic Prospects

Source: IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2008

Growth in Africa is expected to remain robust despite a global slowdown

7%

6

5

4

3

GD

Pgr

owth

2004 2005 2009F2008F2007

Africa

World

Sub-Saharan Africa

2006

But with the global economy slowing due to thedownturn in the US and high energy and food priceshurting both developed and developing countries, thecontinent is likely to find it increasingly difficult to soar(see Figure 1). Africa is entering a period when thestrength and resilience of its economies will be put totest. The question is whether the region can turnadversity to opportunity and find new drivers ofgrowth.

At the World Economic Forum on Africa, participantsidentified five key priorities for the continent to sustaineconomic growth:

• address deficiencies in agriculture to increase theproductivity of this critical sector

• diversify economies into higher value-addedproducts and services

• invest in infrastructure to develop supply chains andimprove efficiency

• focus on education and skills development toincrease capacity

• deepen regional integration to pool resources andcreate market power

“The issue of rising food prices is atime bomb.”

Jacob G. Zuma, President, African National Congress (ANC),

South Africa

“We all believe that agriculture is thebattlefield for economic growth inAfrica.”

Monty Jones, Executive Director, Forum for Agricultural

Research in Africa, Ghana


Overall, Africa needs to assess where its globalcompetitive edge lies. “There is a great potential ofgrowth in areas where we have unbeatablecomparative advantage,” said Salim Ismail, GroupChairman and Chief Executive Officer of GroupeSocota, Madagascar, in a session on trade. With aglobal food crisis emerging, agriculture could be onesuch sector. “How does Africa convert the food crisis

Figure 2: Agricultural Prices

Source: IMF; US Bureau of Labor Statistics; PwC analysis

Major cereals have doubled in price in little more than two years

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

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real

pric

es*

(100

=Jan

uary

2006

)

Jan-06

* Priced in US$; US-inßation adjusted prices with April 2008 as base month

Jan-08Jan-07

Wheat

Maize (corn)

Soybeans

Rice

into an opportunity?” asked Obiageli KatrynEzekwesili, the World Bank’s Vice-President, AfricaRegion. “Currently, yields in Africa are the lowest in theworld. We need a long-term approach.” Added MontyJones, Executive Director of the Forum for AgriculturalResearch in Africa: “We all believe that agriculture isthe battlefield for economic growth in Africa.”

There is certainly reason to believe that if Africancountries make the investments needed, agriculturalyields can increase. With food prices rising (see Figure2), there may now be enormous incentive for finallyaddressing deficiencies in the continent’s farmingsystems. “While between 70-80% of the population ofAfrica is engaged in agriculture, an average of only 3-4% of the continent’s national budgets is allocated tothe sector,” said Namanga Ngongi, President of theAlliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) inKenya. “Some countries have committed up to 10%of their budgets but they are few in number.”

Steps have to be taken to help small farmers increaseoutput and subsistence farmers access markets. Newfinancing models including subsidies and microfinance

Food security, geopolitical instability, economic shocks andclimate change all threaten Africa’s development, accordingto the Africa@Risk report. Released on the occasion of theWorld Economic Forum on Africa, the report features thelatest insights into trends, potential consequences andmitigation relevant to these four key risks facing Africa:

1.Food and Freshwater Security – How best can Africa copewith increasing food and freshwater insecurity? What arethe risks and opportunities for the region?

2.Geopolitical Instability – Can Africa sustain and consolidateprogress on transparent and democratically accountablegovernance? Can it increase its institutional capacity toprevent, manage and resolve both intrastate and interstateconflict?

3.Economic Shocks – Can African resource rich countriesreduce their commodity dependency by diversifying theireconomies? How can wealth be better distributed? Howcan African countries increase their trade benefits?

4.Climate Change, the Environment and Challenges toAfrica’s Development – How will global warming affectAfrica? How best can the region, countries, businessesand communities adapt to mitigate its effects?

In preparing thisreport, more than 20experts frombusiness, academia,non-governmentalorganizations andcivil society wereasked to consider thedrivers of the recentperiod ofunprecedentedgrowth in Africa andthe opportunities thatexist, as well as the threats to Africa’s continuing progress.The report concludes that for Africa – a continentcharacterized by huge opportunities and ever-increasingregional and global interdependence – the imperative is forcollective action to mitigate these shared risks.

Africa@Risk 2008

Report Highlights Four Key Risks Facing the RegionCOMMITTED TO

IMPROVING THE STATEOF THE WORLD

Africa@Risk

A Global RiskNetwork Briefing


schemes for small farmers are also needed, as well asways to bring them together to boost productivitythrough collaboration. Rural development is critical.“What these people need is a way to make money,”said social entrepreneur Nick Moon, Co-Founder andManaging Director of KickStart International in Kenya.

The plight of Africa’s farmers is inextricably linked tothe continent’s infrastructure challenges. Better waterdistribution and management, for example, willincrease irrigation. Only 4% of African farming isirrigated. The construction of roads and transport linkswill improve producers’ access to markets. “Farmersget just 12% of the proceeds from agriculturalproduce, with 88% lost to transportation, middlemenand other links in the supply chain,” explained JosephDaniel Taets, Managing Director and President,Europe, at Archer Daniels Midland International. “Thisinequity requires remedy to encourage greaterproductivity and diversification in the sector.”

Africa’s growth, argued Austine O. Ometoruwa,President and Chief Executive Officer of the AfricaFinance Corporation in Nigeria, is constrained by poorinfrastructure, particularly electricity and transport.Freight from Africa typically costs twice as much as itdoes for competitors in Asia and Latin America, while

“How does Africa convert the foodcrisis into an opportunity? Currently,yields in Africa are the lowest in theworld. We need a long-term approach.”

Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili, Vice-President, Africa Region,

World Bank, Washington DC

“Intellectual property and innovationallow Africa to compete internationally.We don’t necessarily need abundantenergy but rather need to figure out ourcompetitive advantage on theinternational market.”

Millard W. Arnold Jr, Executive Director, Murray & Roberts,

South Africa

Trevor Manuel, Minister of Finance of South Africa, and Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili, Vice-President, AfricaRegion, World Bank, Washington DC


product delivery times are as much as three timeslonger. Only 5% of Sub-Saharan Africans – and just3% of South Africans – have access to broadbandInternet; an African typically has to sacrifice up to 64%of his average monthly salary to afford it. Whiletourism could be a valuable new driver of growth forthe region, limited transport links across the continentare a major impediment.

The lack of infrastructure also hinders the continent’sability to diversify its economies. New growth willcertainly be driven by higher value-added businessesand enterprises. There is no reason why Africa shouldsimply export cashews overseas and not handle theprocessing of the nuts to gain more value. Thedevelopment of organic prawn farming in Madagascar,coffee packaging in Ethiopia and diamond cutting andpolishing in Botswana illustrate what can be done ifthe skills are available and the right investments aremade. In one session, Baledzi Gaolathe, Botswana’sMinister of Finance and Development Planning,proposed that Africa’s cattle industry could diversifyinto by-products such as hides and leather goods.But, he warned, even if Africa develops new value-added products, they might not be competitive in theglobal market, given tariffs and other trade barriers inthe developed markets, as well as logistics andsupply-chain costs.

Such challenges make it imperative that Africancountries focus on making the right decisions toenhance competitiveness. Investing in skillsdevelopment and education is critical. “We mustharness the resources and skilled manpower andinvolve our people more in development,” argued RailaAmolo Odinga, the Prime Minister of Kenya. “That waywe will be able to catch up with other parts of theworld.” Said Millard W. Arnold Jr, Executive Director ofSouth African construction group Murray & Roberts:“Intellectual property and innovation allow Africa tocompete internationally. We don’t necessarily needabundant energy but rather need to figure out ourcompetitive advantage on the international market.”

Finally, for Africa to develop new drivers of growth, thecontinent must deepen integration. As manyparticipants pointed out, the small size of several ofthe continent’s economies makes them unattractive toinvestors. Regional integration and the creation of anauthentic continental single market would be a majorboost to Africa’s competitiveness. ConcludedPresident Kufuor of Ghana: “Africa needs morecooperation through the African Union to organize andcoordinate how Africa relates with the rest of theworld.”

Kenya’s new leadership hailed their country’s revival followinglast year’s violent general elections. Participants at a dinnersession, including the new Prime Minister, Raila AmoloOdinga, echoed the campaign slogan of US presidentialcandidate, Barack Obama, who is of Kenyan extraction,“Yes, we can.”

Following the historic agreement between the two rivalpolitical parties, the Party of National Unity and the OrangeDemocratic Movement, the panellists affirmed that “a newKenya has been born” and “Kenya is now moving forward.”

The establishment of a new ministry for the metropolitan areaof Nairobi was discussed, aimed at the development of thecity. A new ministry has also been established for thenorthern province of Kenya, an area that has been neglectedhistorically but that the panellists affirmed has great potential,particularly in mining and agriculture.

A commitment was made to create a “cobweb” oftelecommunications connectivity while another undertaking,to provide free secondary education, has been advanced bythe new unity government as part of “Vision 2030”, a wide-ranging development plan.

A roadmap to a new constitution in Kenya has beenestablished, which Kenyan ministers said is likely to be inplace by the end of the year. Electoral reform is also beingtackled.

The issue of income disparity is being addressed partlythrough the devolution of power. An Ethnic and RaceRelations law has been passed to establish a permanentcommission to address ethnic disputes, while a Truth andReconciliation Commission had also been set up to addresspost-independence disputes.

Kenya’s Call: “Yes, we can.”


Unfinished Business

As African companies rise to the challenge of findingcreative ways to exploit the multiplier effect of theireconomic activities, business as usual will not beenough. What will it take to bring the businessenvironment up to global standards? Africa requiresfast-track solutions to reduce poverty and make thecontinent more competitive. Governments alone donot have the capacity to devise or deliver these.

Since 1980, economic growth has accounted for 80%of global poverty alleviation. This suggests thatinvestment and entrepreneurship, typically driven bythe private sector, are the most effective ways toreduce the number of poor people. The businesssector, in creating wealth for itself, has a major role toplay in generating wealth downstream in thecommunities in which it operates. “Business is goodat making things work,” said Pat Davies, ChiefExecutive of one of Africa’s most successfulcompanies, Sasol.

Already half of healthcare in subSub-Saharan Africa isbeing delivered directly by the private sector (seeFigure 1). Education is going the same way, with

private institutions increasingly offering betteralternatives to state facilities that suffer from poorquality due to lack of funding, mismanagement andskills shortages. Given the slow pace at which Africancountries have moved to address poverty, the conceptof public-private partnerships to find solutions toenduring problems is becoming more popular.

Source: National Health Accounts, WHO; McKinsey analysis.

Figure 1: Private Sector Health Services

Nigeria and Malawi have high rates of private-sector health services provision

20 60%5040300

Nigeria

Malawi

Uganda

Zimbabwe

Ethiopia

Angola

Rwanda

Kenya

Tanzania

Zambia

Namibia

10

Percentage of total health services provided by private sector

“I think the biggest obstacle in Africa isinfrastructure. The most important areroads as well as power. It's veryimportant for business.”

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman, Dubai World, United

Arab Emirates; Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum on Africa

“We need to approach people asuntapped investors, not just asuntapped consumers.”

Nick Moon, Co-Founder and Managing Director, KickStart

International, Kenya

More and more governments are setting up theframeworks for such partnerships, while the privatesector is proving a ready partner if the benefits arewell defined. Such partnerships provide a vehicle forbusiness and governments to address theimpediments to growth and investment resulting fromunsupportive policies that constrain growth andreduce the ability of the private sector to unlock it.

A growing area of attention for the private sector inAfrica is finding innovative ways to tap the spendingand investing power at the bottom of the economicpyramid. This requires a new way of looking atconsumers. Said Nick Moon of KickStart International:“We need to approach people as untapped investors,not just as untapped consumers.”

Closer attention, for example, needs to be paid toconsumer spending habits. The assumption that low-income consumers make purchases based solely onprice is overstated and other issues such as relevanceto people’s lives, long-term investment and prestigevalue are also driving factors. Large companies canspur growth by creating linkages with and investmentin small and medium-sized enterprises, therebydeveloping the capacity of businesses to participatemore profitably in the supply chain.

Retailers and manufacturers are also unlocking valueat the bottom of the pyramid through their multiplicityof suppliers and inputs in addition to direct andindirect employment. Mobile phone companies haveindirectly generated thousands of jobs simply throughthe introduction of prepaid cards for users.


At the 2008 World Economic Forum on Africa, leaders ofglobal and regional business, government, civil society andinternational organizations met to define concrete businessstrategies to help address Africa’s growing food crisis.

Convened by theWorld EconomicForum’s BusinessAlliance AgainstChronic Hunger(BAACH),corporate leadersfrom multipleindustries definedstrategies forscaling upbusiness-ledsolutions for foodproduction andentrepreneurshipin hungry regions.They presentedthese strategies toheads of stateand government

as well as to other high-level public leaders, and discussedpriorities for public-private collaboration to maximize private-

sector partnerships to increase food security. BAACHpartners also took part in plenary and panel discussions tohighlight priorities for action to improve African food security.

BAACH was founded in 2006 by the Forum’s ConsumerIndustries community with the support of Kofi Annan todevelop business-led solutions to hunger. The Alliance is nowa vibrant cross-industry network of globally-leadingcompanies and partner institutions which is breaking newground in defining and catalysing action on businessstrategies to increase sustainable food production,particularly in Africa.

At the global level, the Alliance engages a wide scope ofleaders to build partnership and collaboration for improvedfood security. At the local level, BAACH established a KenyaAlliance led by 20 companies and organizations that areworking in a pilot district to develop and test business-ledapproaches to improving food production and incomes. Thisyear, Kenya Alliance partners are undertaking 14 pilotprojects in the district.

In 2008, the Alliance has partnered with the Bill and MelindaGates Foundation to conduct a global assessment ofscalable business models that contribute to sustainable foodproduction, engaging a wide range of industries andstakeholders.

Strengthening the Alliance Against Chronic Hunger

William V. Hickey, President and Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Sealed Air, USA, and David Mureithi,Managing Director, Unilever East and SouthernAfrica, Kenya

“Business is good at making thingswork.”

Pat Davies, Chief Executive, Sasol, South Africa


The agriculture sector could also turn out to be atimely opportunity with enormous potential. Theprivate sector has the ability, with the right incentives,to enable Africa to make a quantum leap in foodproduction. Such a leap would both eradicate hungerlocally and capitalize on opportunities presented bythe current world food crisis. Public-sector funding ofagriculture, however, remains low and despite pocketsof commercial agriculture, African farmers have notmoved much beyond subsistence farming.

Still, there has been progress in private-sectorinitiatives such as the use of small-scale farmerscontracted by large commercial enterprises in cottonand tobacco and in the production of fresh producefor large supermarket chains. The development ofagriculture needs to be supported by two areas thatare still problematic in African countries – finance forsmall farmers and land tenure.

Banks generally consider small farmers to be high risk.This is exacerbated by the fact that most land in Africais owned by the state and thus does not qualify ascollateral for bank loans. Given African governments’resistance to private land ownership, banks need toconsider innovative ways to unlock private funding foragriculture based on unconventional collateral optionssuch as warehouse receipts for stored food and atrack record of output. More creative use needs to bemade of land leases and property titles to realizevalue. Babatunde Raji Fashola, Governor of Nigeria’spopulous Lagos State, said his governmentunderstands that there is wealth to be unleashed atthe bottom of the economic pyramid by making use ofidle land. It was looking at ways to unlock thispotential by formalizing home ownership and propertytitle regulations.

“Water is the new oil.”

E. Neville Isdell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The

Coca-Cola Company, USA; Co-Chair of the World Economic

Forum on Africa

“The environment has totally changedbecause we have better politicalstability.”

Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dangote

Group, Nigeria; Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum on Africa


Climate change is another possible businessopportunity. The continent faces losses estimated atbetween 1.9% and 2.7% of GDP unless newstrategies are found not only to mitigate the effects ofit but also to adapt to it in the long term. Companiesstand ready to work with governments but the latterneed to create aligned policy frameworks to makeventures viable.

Water management is yet another area wherebusiness is becoming involved. As increasing scarcitypushes the price of water up, there is a goodbusiness case to be made for the better use of water.Meeting Co-Chair E. Neville Isdell, Chairman and ChiefExecutive Officer of The Coca Cola Company, said hiscompany has pushed for the introduction of waterefficiencies through the supply chain. For examplesugar producers have been asked to find way toreduce water in the growing process. “Water is thenew oil,” he said.

Source: Forbes magazine

African Multinationals

75

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Number of African multinationals on the Forbes Global 2000 list has grown,but not as quickly as companies from India and China

India ChinaAfrica

* based on an index of sales, profits, assets and market values

2004 2007

SouthAfrica

MoroccoEgypt

SouthAfrica

Technology is a key area of private-sector interventionin development, given its potential to drive educationand growth. But for it to spur growth, Africangovernments have to look at how they can help tobring down the cost of providing it. If the costs ofaccess are lowered, there will be significant spin-offeffects in key areas such as education, healthcare andsmall business.

Another challenge for business and government is toharness the massive inward investment from theAfrican diaspora, which in 2007 significantlysurpassed development assistance inflows. A greatdeal of the money goes into consumer spending. Themain hope is that the development of strong, privatesector-driven economies will draw back not justmoney from the diaspora into productive investmentbut also badly needed skills.

South Africa's Business Sentiment

Source: Rand National Bank/Bureau for Economic Research

Business conÞdence has fallen to its lowest level since 2001

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

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Nik Gowing, Main Presenter, BBC World News, United Kingdom, leading the discussion on food insecurity


Innovate or Perish

African countries have made progress towardstackling the significant problems that continue toimpede the continent’s development but the scale ofthe challenges requires innovative solutions to reallymove the continent forward. Such solutions requirebreaking the mould of traditional applications andmodels and finding new ways of doing things to fast-track development in ways that are also sustainableover the long term.

Areas that are key to the development agenda, suchas water, energy, health and education, have sufferedsome degree of neglect over several decades. Thishas affected the quality and quantity of delivery. Butthe pressures of globalization, climate change andcompetition for scarce resources are now pushingthese to the forefront of thinking about sustainablesolutions.

Broader participation by multiple stakeholders, ratherthan just governments and donors, is key to tacklingdevelopment issues effectively. The capacity to tackleproblems of healthcare, for example, has beenincreased by redefining health as an economic-growth

issue, rather than a sector-specific problem. Thissimple mindset change has allowed the problem tomove out of the ambit of health officials and into amuch wider engagement across many disciplines.

The same change in thinking is now required for otherareas, including water, which is quickly becoming thenew oil as climate change heightens concerns about

Source: World Bank, 2002

Figure 1: Water Consumption, by Use

100%

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“In many countries you can trackgrowth directly to broadband.”

Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, HCL

Infosystems, India

“You can have many mineral resources,but if you have no peace, there is noway to develop your country.”

Pierre Nkurunziza, President of Burundi

sustainable supply across the continent. It isestimated that nearly one in two people in Africa willlive in water stressed areas within 25 years, a regionthat already uses a lower proportion of water foragriculture than the rest of the world (see Figure 1).Thus water insecurity risks need to be mitigated nowin a manner that is beneficial to all stakeholders.

New models of usage, management and pricing arerequired as well as stronger linkages across sectors.Regional cooperation must play a greater role in futureplanning. About 60% of water sources in Africa areshared, making the continental dimension critical. Butis there sufficient political will to move forward? “Whilepolitically the continent talks about the need forregional solutions, the important steps that need tomake it happen are not happening,” the World Bank’sObiageli Katryn Ezekwesili, warned. “Governments talkregional when they act national.”

Innovative thinking is required to ensure thesustainability of water and other resources, particularlyamong poor communities that must be givenresponsibility for the management and sustainability ofsupply. In agriculture, for example, crops need to beadapted to make them more resistant to threatsposed by climate and disease. More sophisticatedfarming methods are required to increase food supply.

But political will to exploit the situation is also neededhere. High costs of doing business due to government


intervention in the economy are a constraint toinnovation in food production as is the lack of officialspending in agriculture required to attract investmentand move production beyond subsistence levels. Anaverage of only 3-4% of most countries’ nationalbudgets is allocated to the sector.

Technology is an important component of theinnovation that is required to push development. Thevery lack of development in most of Africa has allowednew technologies to be applied rapidly and effectively.Mobile telephony is a case in point. Yet over-regulationin many countries is constraining the use oftechnology, making it expensive for the private sector– and governments – to deliver. The high cost ofbroadband access in African countries as a result ofunsupportive policies has resulted in very lowpenetration rates, severely limiting the developmentbenefits to be gained from building a critical mass ofIT use.

The actions of governments in this regard flies in theface of success stories in other parts of the worldwhere technology has been key to economic growth.Apart from more obvious applications such as healthand education, cheap Internet access is a tool for thegrowth of micro and small enterprises, which unlockvalue in poorer communities and in rural areas.Governments need to release more spectrum andmake it available in big enough chunks to make it costeffective. Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman and Chief

Learning journey to the Green Point Stadium under construction, one of the venues of the 2010 FootballWorld Cup


Executive Officer of HCL Infosystems in India, said thesupply of broadband should be a national priority,given its importance as a driver of growth in countriessuch as Brazil and South Korea. “In many countriesyou can track growth directly to broadband,” he said.

Allied to the widespread provision of technology is theneed for innovative energy solutions, for example,carbon trading (see Figure 2). A coalescence ofdevelopments in African countries, including economicgrowth, poor governance, inadequate long-termplanning and climate change, has led to powershortages in every region, which has seriousimplications for development. Innovative off-gridenergy solutions, particularly in rural areas, as well as

Figure 2: Carbon Markets Take O�

European Emissions Trading Scheme went into e�ect in 2005

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2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

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Clean Development Mechanism

Joint Implementation andother compliance schemes

creative financing schemes for more traditional energyprovision, have to be developed to address theproblem at the scale that is required.

Crucially, energy savings will also need to come frommodifications to individuals’ behaviour in energy useand in preventive methods such as improved energyefficiency standards in new buildings and appliances,backed by legislation. Ideas from the youth, who willbe the main entrepreneurs and energy users in theyears ahead, can also be adopted.

Health, and particularly the enduring problems of HIVand malaria that are robbing Africa of skills andproductive labour, is another development challengerequiring innovative solutions. These can bedeveloped through the more effective use of public-private partnerships in terms of drugs, insecticides,interventions and investment. Better leveragingexisting medicine distribution and treatment networks,rather than focusing on narrowly defined interventions,would be a creative innovation. Existing schemes totreat river blindness, for example, could be extendedto rolling out bed nets and treating other diseasessuch as bilharzia.

During "The Rising Billions" session on the new consumers across Africa

A Watertight Future in the Balance


Significant disruptions to business due to water insecurity –across all sectors, and with all the associated technical,economic, political, environmental and social implications –are a reality today and are projected only to worsen in thefuture. Forty percent of Fortune 1,000 companies agree thatthe impact of a water shortage would be severe, but only17% are prepared for such a crisis.

Corporate leaders, government officials and experts cametogether in a workshop to examine the political andeconomic implications of water insecurity for the region. Theyalso developed ideas for a regional Sub-Saharan Africaworkstream to contribute to the three overall objectives ofthe World Economic Forum’s water project:

Raising Awareness:• Facilitate a platform for business to respond to emergingwater resource management plans in the SADC region andkey river basins in particular, and discuss the implicationsof these plans with governments and other stakeholders.

Leveraging Business Competencies:• Encourage water intensive companies operating in theregion to sign the CEO Water Mandate.

• Create a resource tool listing the various watermanagement initiatives and innovations that companies areundertaking and the impact they are having; a platform willenable stakeholders to access this information and tosuggest other activities to undertake to improve waterresource management.

Multistakeholder Dialogue:• Support existing innovative public-private initiatives thatfacilitate the development of win-win water projects – forexample, the NEPAD Business Foundation Water Initiative– by using the Forum’s regional platform to help bolsterand scale up these efforts to stimulate the implementationof a greater volume of bankable, public-private partnershipwater projects.



In the session “Taking Control of Global Partnerships,”moderator Siki Mgabadeli, Senior Business NewsAnchor at CNBC Africa, asked whether the titlereflects reality. Is Africa really in control of itspartnerships? The immediate answer from Al SayedMohd Sharaf, Chief Executive Officer of DP World inthe United Arab Emirates, was a simple “not yet.”

While it might have seemed glib, Sharaf’s responseechoed the consensus in the meeting that Africa isready for a more prominent part on the world stage.“Africa must be stronger to be a better trading partnerfor the North,” said Bingu Wa Mutharika, President ofMalawi (its trade with partners beyond Europe isgrowing - see Figure 1). “A partner who walks hand-

Source: IMF Direction of Trade Statistics

Figure 1: Africa's Trading Partners

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Trade is shifting away from Europein-hand is better than one who has to be carried.Africa is not willing to be carried anymore.”

The private sector seems poised to play a growingrole to help Africa become more competitive and forgeinternational alliances that extend beyond thecustomary handouts that have long characterized theregion’s relationship with rich countries. “We have aunique combination of developed world business skillsand having learned how to do business in emergingmarkets,” said Sasol’s Pat Davies. “This needs to beemphasized more, and we can lead the way.” TonyElumelu, Chief Executive Officer of United Bank forAfrica in Nigeria, added: “We need to realize thatnobody is going to develop Africa except us. To fixAfrica we need partnerships. I would like to call onAfrican businesses to build the readiness needed tocompete in the world. Externally people will realizethat Africa is a good destination for investment and weneed to be prepared.”

“Africa needs a consensus on how itwants to deal with emerging partnersand traditional powers.”

He Wenping, Research Fellow and Director, African Studies,

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), People's Republic

of China


Participants from outside the region agreed that Africashould solidify its base to take advantage ofinternational opportunities. Instead of worrying aboutthe existence or not of a Beijing Consensus on Africaas trade and investment with China blossoms (seeFigure 2), “Africa needs a consensus on how it wantsto deal with emerging partners and traditionalpowers,” said He Wenping, Research Fellow andDirector of African Studies at the Chinese Academy ofSocial Sciences (CASS) in the People's Republic ofChina.

For starters African countries might want to focus onbreaking down barriers among themselves. PresidentKufuor of Ghana described the difficulties of getting

Source: IMF Direction of Trade Statistics

Figure 2: Africa's Trade with China

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through customs at his country’s border withneighbouring Togo despite the fact that a single tribestraddles both sides of the boundary. “Africa needsmore cooperation through the African Union toorganize and coordinate how Africa relates with therest of the world,” said the president. Added ObiageliKatryn Ezekwesili of the World Bank: “Regionalsolutions are very important for Africa, especially whenyou look at the large number of landlockedeconomies.” Priorities should include regionalinfrastructure, notably cross-border railways, she said.

Of course not all cooperation need focus on joiningtogether to meet foreigners. For instance, partnershipswill be key to any solution to the continent’s foodcrisis, panellists in the session on food securityagreed. Monty Jones of the Forum for AgriculturalResearch in Africa called for “empoweringsmallholders to make sure they can accessinformation and outside inputs and have their voices

“To fix Africa we need partnerships. Iwould like to call on African businessesto build the readiness needed tocompete in the world.”

Tony Elumelu, Chief Executive Officer, United Bank for Africa,

Nigeria


heard. If that happens, I foresee a considerableincrease in production.”

The private sector is already working with smallfarmers to move in this direction and can do more inpartnership with governments, multilateral agenciesand civil society organizations, said Gareth M.Ackerman, Chairman of Pick ‘n Pay Holdings, SouthAfrica, and Aliko Dangote, President and ChiefExecutive Officer of Dangote Group, Nigeria, a Co-Chair of this year’s World Economic Forum on Africa.Ackerman recommended more partnerships betweenlarge and small retailers to help “shorten supply lines”.Dangote described efforts by his company to provideloans, supply fertilizer and build silos for small farmers.“I suggest that we give them loans,” he said. “If not,they will not survive.”

One of the most promising cooperative initiativesoutlined at the meeting addressed a pressing healthproblem that respects no border – malaria. With thebacking of regional health ministers through theSouthern African Development CoordinationConference (SADCC), a team of specialists from civilsociety organizations, private companies and publicagencies recently completed an expedition along theZambezi River by boat to examine medical,organizational and practical issues related tocontrolling the disease. The effort was coordinated bythe Geneva-based Roll Back Malaria Partnership(RBM) and included hands-on support from the ExxonMobil Corporation in addition to sundry private-sectorsponsors.

Finally, the meeting included a healthy warning aboutnot reducing the term “partnership” into a buzzworddesigned to avoid responsibility and divert blame. “Alot of people talk about partnerships because theywant to duck tough decisions,” cautioned a panellistin one session. “All too often it means ‘We’ll make thedecisions and you come and pay the bill’.”

“A partner who walks hand-in-hand isbetter than one who has to be carried.Africa is not willing to be carriedanymore.”

Bingu Wa Mutharika, President of Malawi

From Left to right: Jendayi E. Frazer, US Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of African Affairs; SadakoOgata, President, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Japan; Pat Davies, Chief Executive, Sasol,South Africa; Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development of the United Kingdom

South Africa is facing an emerging threat of TB/HIV co-infections and fatal drug-resistant strains of the disease. Witha staggering 70% of TB patients in South Africa infected withHIV, the importance of an integrated approach to care isclear.

The Global Health Initiative of the World Economic Forumand the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership launched a new toolkit thataims to boost the involvement of South African companies intackling the TB/HIV crisis, providing these companies theopportunity to catalyse effective public-private partnershipsto facilitate successful patient and programme management.

Combined with the technical expertise and knowledgeavailable under the Department of Health in South Africa,companies can provide a critical mass of resources for thesuccessful integration, management and care of TB andTB/HIV co-infections. This could eventually lessen the

economic impact of TB, which results today in a decline inworker productivity estimated at US$ 13 billion annually.

On a practical level, the toolkit will help companies leverageopportunities and increase activities in the prevention andmanagement of TB/HIV in the workplace. These measureswill in turn help alleviate the burden and costs associatedwith absenteeism, disrupted workflow and reducedproductivity. By engaging proactively with the community,which forms a key component of the overall businessenvironment, businesses can offset the marginal cost ofpartnering with local stakeholders with the huge benefits theywill reap through greater efficiency in the workplace and thegood will in the community.

New Toolkit Boosts South African Companies’ Response to TB Threat


Protecting Your Workforce fromTuberculosis

COMMITTED TOIMPROVING THE STATE

OF THE WORLD

Fact Sheets for Health Professionals

World Economic ForumGlobal Health InitiativeIn cooperation with

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Protecting Your Workforce fromTuberculosis

COMMITTED TOIMPROVING THE STATE

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World Economic ForumGlobal Health InitiativeIn cooperation with

May 2008

A Toolkit for an Integrated Approach to TB

and HIV for Businesses in South Africa

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Licence to Lead

“There clearly is a crisis of leadership not just in Africabut in the world,” said Wendy Luhabe, Chairperson ofthe Industrial Development Corporation of SouthAfrica, and a Co-Chair of the World Economic Forumon Africa. Luhabe decried what she called “theconspiracy of silence among African leaders” thathinders efforts to “translate challenges into what wewould consider to be unprecedented opportunities”.

At the same time, participants in the interactivesession “Africa Economic Brainstorming – Drivers ofChange” ranked “visionary and selfless leadership”second only to “education and skills development” askey to economic progress in Africa over the next 12months (see page 5).

That assessment set the tone for the meeting. Indeedno term was repeated more frequently in Cape Townthan “leadership”. Even some of the leadersthemselves got into the act. According to PrimeMinister Odinga of Kenya: “What we see is acontinental problem – the problem of bad governance.We always blame colonialism. But the mediocrity withwhich Africa has been ruled has been responsible.”He called on leaders to speak plainly and openlyabout the continent’s shortcomings: “Let us say whatwe mean and mean what we say when we talk aboutAfrican development.”

Leadership is one of those slippery terms that arehard to define but easy to identify. Nelson Mandelahad it; others clearly not. While no one attempted todefine the term, a number of key elements inleadership development emerged from thediscussions: accountability, public institutions includingpolitical parties, the civil service and youth.

The region has all-too-often experienced two of themost extreme forms of lack of accountability:corruption and an unwillingness of leaders to stepdown following electoral defeat. “Corruption iseverywhere [around the world],” said Jendayi E.Frazer, US Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of

“There is a lot of talk aboutaccountability to the people. And, yes,there is still a lot to do. But there hasalso been a huge amount of progress.”

Mike Hart, Chief Executive Officer, Africa Region, Standard

Chartered Bank, United Arab Emirates


African Affairs. “The issue is to establish the rule of lawso that those corrupt individuals can be heldaccountable.” President Mbeki of South Africadiscussed the succession issue. “Practices include thepossibility of defeat in elections and that you leavepower if you lose,” he said. “I think everyoneunderstands what needs to happen.”

Accountability was also discussed in terms ofpersonal traits. Leadership depends crucially onintegrity, said Jonathan B. Majiyagbe, Chair of theRotary Foundation Trustees at Rotary International,USA. He noted that this is of great importance whenpeople tend to tell their leaders only what they want tohear.

Institutions, including political parties, can sometimesdetermine the effectiveness of leadership for an entirenation. For instance, in democratic countries where apopular political party holds a de facto stranglehold onpower, a ruling party crisis can evolve into a nationalone. The debate in one session hinged on whether acertain African country with a strong ruling party hadtwo centres of power or none. Either way, participantsseemed to agree that the effect of the party’s crisis onpublic governance has been detrimental.

Leadership is needed not only at the top but also inthe middle levels of public administration. In onesession, panellists tried to explain why talented youngpeople fail to go into public service. One reason is thatthey see little link between the efforts civil servantsmake and the results of their agency or department,

“Corruption is everywhere [around theworld]. The issue is to establish the ruleof law so that those corrupt individualscan be held accountable.”

Jendayi E. Frazer, US Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of

African Affairs

“What we see is a continental problem –the problem of bad governance. Wealways blame colonialism. But themediocrity with which Africa has beenruled has been responsible.”

Raila Amolo Odinga, Prime Minister of Kenya


said Leslie W. Maasdorp, Vice-Chairman at AbsaCapital, South Africa, and a Young Global Leader. Headded that the public service has not marketed itselfwell among recent graduates. Daniel Kaufmann,Director for Global Governance at the World BankInstitute, cited several other factors:

• low salaries compared to the private sector• a selection process that does not necessarily favourthe best people

• the lack of clean government – no good swimmerwants to dive into dirty water

• the lack of meritocracy• poor training programmes• the lack of prestige in comparison to private-sectorjobs

Even if they have a leg up on the public sector, privatecompanies are not satisfied with the volume of youngexecutive prospects entering their ranks. “We seequality but there are just not enough of them,” said E.Neville Isdell of The Coca-Cola Company, a Co-Chairof the World Economic Forum on Africa.

Despite the widespread concern, some participantsmade a forceful argument that things are indeedgetting better on the leadership front. “There is muchbetter clarity in the political leadership on the continentabout where we need to go,” Mbeki observed. “Thereis greater clarity on how to respond to economicchallenges. And there is an appreciation of the needto deal with conflict.” Added Mike Hart, ChiefExecutive Officer, Africa Region, at StandardChartered Bank, United Arab Emirates: “We need togive Africans and African countries more credit. Thereis a lot of talk about accountability to the people. And,yes, there is still a lot to do. But there has also been ahuge amount of progress.”

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem of Dubai World and a Co-Chair of the meeting said: "Kenya gave a goodexample of reconciliation – the leaders have decidedthat the country and the well-being of the peoplecome before their political ambitions.” He added, “Thisis positive news for investors because they will seethat at the end of the day what is better for thecountry and the people will stay."

The openness, frankness and resolve with whichleadership was addressed by all stakeholders werewidely appreciated. “This is the first Forum,” notedLuhabe, “that is looking at how we can understandthe role, relevance and quality of leadership in Africaand use it as a bridge to capitalize on theopportunities the continent offers.”

“There clearly is a crisis of leadershipnot just in Africa but in the world.”

Wendy Luhabe, Chairperson, Industrial Development

Corporation, South Africa; Co-Chair of the World Economic

Forum on Africa

Wendy Luhabe with Cosmas Okoli, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Mobility Aid Appliances Researchand Development Centre (MAARDEC), Nigeria, and Vincent Maphai, Chairman, BHP Billiton, South Africa

Top female and male leaders from across the continent launchedan Africa Gender Parity Group at the World Economic Forum onAfrica. The group of business, government, media, academicand civil society decision-makers are collaborating on ways forcompanies and countries to eradicate gender inequality andbetter engage women in the economy.

Members of the Africa Gender Parity Group include PhumzileMlambo-Ngcuka, Deputy President of South Africa; Linah K.Mohohlo, Governor of the Bank of Botswana; Jay Naidoo,Chairman of the Board, Development Bank of Southern Africa,South Africa; Elisabeth Tankeu, Commissioner, Trade andIndustry, African Union, Addis Ababa; Reuel Khoza, Chairman,Nedbank Group, South Africa; Mandisi Mpahlwa, Minister ofTrade and Industry of South Africa; William Mzimba, ChiefExecutive, Accenture, South Africa; Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke,Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian StockExchange, Nigeria; Gisele Yitamben, Founder and President,Association pour le Soutien et l’Appui à la Femme Entrepreneur(ASAFE), Cameroon; Nyasha P. Zhou, Chief Executive, PGIndustries (Zimbabwe), Zimbabwe.

At their first meeting at the World Economic Forum on Africa, theGroup called for:• Greater government commitment and funding for primary,secondary and tertiary education, focusing in particular onincreasing the retention rates for girls

• Better legislation to fight discrimination against women,including in the area of property rights, and effectiveimplementation of this legislation

• A comprehensive overview of the policies and programmesthat have been effective in narrowing gender gaps in theregion’s best performing countries and a transfer of these bestpractices to low performing countries

Africa lags behind most parts of the world in closing its gendergap on education and health, but is well ahead of manyemerging regions on closing the gap in political empowerment.In the World EconomicForum’s Global Gender GapReport, which ranks 128countries according to thesize of their gender gaps,the performance of Sub-Saharan African countries isgreatly varied. South Africa,ranked 20, is a leader in theregion, boosted by itsscores on the politicalempowerment of women.However, the region alsocontains some of the lowestranking countries in theworld, including Zimbabwe(88) and Nigeria (107),hampered by particularlypoor performances in theareas of education andhealth.

Africa Gender Parity Group Works to Close the Continent’s Gender Gap

“Women account for asizeable portion ofAfrica’s economies andcould contributeconsiderably more ifthere were greater genderequality. The AfricaGender Parity Groupbelieves both women andmen need to worktogether to close thegender gap, and thusbetter leverage women’stalents to increaseproductivity andprosperity in all ofsociety.”

Saadia Zahidi, Head of the GenderParity and Women Leaders Programme,World Economic Forum



Acknowledgements

Strategic Partners

ABBAMDArcelorMittalAudiCACiscoCitiDubai WorldEDFErnst & YoungGoldman SachsHPHSBCIntel CorporationJPMorgan ChaseMerck & Co.Merrill LynchMicrosoft CorporationNikeStandard CharteredUnilever

Regional Partners

Absa CapitalEskom Holdings

Meeting Supporters

African Rainbow Minerals (ARM)CNBC AfricaFirst Bank of NigeriaMagna CartaMurray RobertsOandoSasol

Service Providers

TelkomTransnet

The World Economic Forum also thanks CNBC Africa as host broadcaster, and City Year for its support.

The World Economic Forum wishes to recognize the support of the following companies as Partners orSupporters of the World Economic Forum on Africa:



Contributors

Børge Brende is Managing Director, Regional Agenda Teams, at the World Economic Forum.Adeyemi Babington-Ashaye is Associate Director, Acting Head of Africa at the World EconomicForum. The World Economic Forum on Africa was under his direct responsibility, with StéphaneOertel, Community Manager, Africa, responsible for Programme Development; SophieBussmann-Kemdjo, Community Relations Manager, Africa; Alex van Praag, CommunityRelations Manager, Africa; and Nadine Bonard, Associate Director, Events, the meetingCoordinator.

Samantha Tonkin, Senior Media Manager at the world Economic Forum, worked with AlejandroReyes, Dianna Games and William Hinchberger to produce this report.

The World Economic Forum would like to express its appreciation to the summary writers fortheir work at the World Economic Forum on Africa. Session summaries are available on ourwebsite at: www.weforum.org/africa2008/summaries

Editing: Fabienne Stassen Fleming, Senior Editor

Design and Layout: Kamal Kimaoui, Associate Principal, Production and Design

Photographs: Eric Miller and Matthew Jordaan

The World Economic Forum would like to recognize the support of PricewaterhouseCoopers incompiling data and statistics for this report.


This publication is also available in electronic form on the World Economic Forum’s website at the followingaddress:

World Economic Forum on Africa Web report:www.weforum.org/pdf/summitreports/africa2008 (HTML)

The electronic version of this report allows access to a richer level of content from the meeting, includingphotographs and session summaries.

The report is also available as a PDF:www.weforum.org/pdf/summitreports/africa2008.pdf

Other specific information on the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town, South Africa, on 4-6 June2008, can be found at the following links:

www.weforum.org/africa2008www.weforum.org/africa2008/interviewswww.weforum.org/africa2008/programmewww.weforum.org/africa2008/partnerswww.weforum.org/africa2008/summarieswww.weforum.org/africa2008/regionalupdatewww.weforum.org/africa2008/privatewww.weforum.org/africaprivate/knowledgeconcierge2008www.weforum.org/africa2008/webcastswww.pbase.com/forumweb/africa08www.twitter.com/davos

The World Economic Forum is an independentinternational organization committed to improvingthe state of the world by engaging leaders inpartnerships to shape global, regional andindustry agendas.

Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and basedin Geneva, Switzerland, the World EconomicForum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied tono political, partisan or national interests.(www.weforum.org)