Introduction

Since the turn of the millennium, seven out of the ten fastest growing economies in the world have been African, tangible proof of the continent's upward trajectory. Although 10 African countries do still have an African Union (AU) or United Nations (UN) peacekeeping presence, 85 per cent of Africans enjoy peaceful, relatively stable conditions, and these economies generate 95 per cent of the continent's GDP.

Following a 20 per cent decline between 1980 and 2000, average incomes in Africa have risen by 30 per cent since 2005. Strong commodity prices have been central to this turnaround, but other factors such as enhanced governance and macroeconomic management have played a part. Rwanda and Ethiopia, for example, although not blessed with oil or mineral wealth, have become strong performers due to their strategic efforts to galvanise their economies by attracting relevant human capital and investments. Yet significant challenges remain (Kararach, 2014a). Overall, absolute poverty has fallen, but in most places the majority of the population lives in relative poverty due to persistent inequality, which has the potential to destabilise these societies.

While some social indicators such as school enrolment and child mortality have been improving, inequalities remain entrenched, and have, in many instances, worsened. Job creation is a huge challenge in the face of a demographic ‘bulge’ of educated youth, and the underlying causes are not difficult to discern. There has been limited structural transformation or diversification. Agriculture's share of GDP has declined, but this is not counterbalanced by enhanced value addition or industrialisation. There is a general view that manufacturing growth has been hampered by fragmented markets, while poor infrastructure, particularly a shortage of energy and port capacity, remains acute (AfDB, 2014). There is increasing pressure to develop ‘smart’ policies and programmes to enhance productivity, sustain economic growth and engender greater social inclusion. Looking beyond the MDGs, the goal of eliminating poverty could be achievable within the coming decade or so, if the right policy and programmatic frameworks are put in place and bottlenecks are eliminated.

Africa is made up of 54 disparate countries in five regions, and is not a single monolithic whole. The 2014 Ebola crisis in three countries in West Africa has once again demonstrated the tendency of those outside the continent to classify it as a distinct entity.