How a Quarter of Humanity Can Thrive in Africa by 2050
By Phuthuma Nhleko
In the next twenty-five years, Africa’s population is predicted to double in size to 2.5 billion.
By 2050, one in four people on earth will be African. This raises a critical question: how can Africa accommodate and benefit from this huge demographic shift? The Invisible People frames this challenge as a defining moment for the continent.
An introduction to the new African renaissance
In The Invisible People, former MTN CEO Phuthuma Nhleko calls for a new African renaissance based on three pillars.
The first pillar involves building a confident common identity rooted in Africa’s long and rich history. It also involves celebrating Africa’s fundamental contributions to modern civilisation, religion and culture. In The Invisible People, this identity forms the foundation for Africa’s future agency.
The second pillar focuses on unleashing the kind of economic development that has so far eluded Africa. This requires leveraging Africa’s significant assets and resources, abandoning outdated and inadequate economic models and carving a new path grounded in a Pan-African vision. It also requires technological and economic leapfrogging, as argued in The Invisible People.
The third pillar involves bolstering Africa’s geopolitical influence. This means redefining Africa’s relationship with the US and China and embracing a strategic path in its own interests. It also means taking its rightful place in world affairs as home to a quarter of humanity, a core argument in The Invisible People.
An insightful and inspiring journey through history, economics and geopolitics, The Invisible People will change the way that people view the future of Africa and the world.
About the author
Phuthuma Nhleko is a celebrated business leader and former CEO and chairman of mobile network operator MTN. He is currently the chairman and co-founder of Phembani Group, a South African-domiciled resource and energy-focused investment holding company. He is also a director of IHS Towers and Engen Petroleum (Pty) Ltd, and chairman of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and Pembani Remgro Infrastructure Fund (PRIF), which invests in infrastructure projects on the African continent.
Nhleko’s previous directorships include BP plc, Anglo American plc, the Nedbank Group, Old Mutual SA, Johnnic Holdings, the Bidvest Group, and Alexander Forbes. He was voted Sunday Times Business Leader of the Year in 2009. He holds a BSc in civil engineering from Ohio State University and an MBA from Atlanta University (renamed Clark Atlanta University). Nhleko is also a Transformational Leadership Fellow of the Blavatnik School of Government and Public Policy at Oxford University.
- PUBLISHER | Penguin Random House SA |
- ISBN | 9781776392766 |
- Recommended Retail Price | R360.00 |
- Classification | Viewpoint |
