Join the conversation on the top priorities for Africa in 2021

Today, the Brookings Africa Growth Initiative (AGI) launches its annual flagship report, Foresight Africa.

COVID-19 has turned 2020 into a year like no other, a year of historic consequence for Africa and the world. While our immediate future will inevitably be consumed with addressing the virus and its consequences—and ensuring that no African is left behind in the rollout of vaccines—we also can’t allow the virus to destroy the gains in growth, livelihoods, and unity we have made in recent decades. There must be a balance. It is with these contrasting themes in mind that we’ve organized the 2021 edition of Foresight Africa.

With its array of contributions, this year’s edition of Foresight Africa reflects both the diversity of the continent and the common threads that bind it together.

Beginning with the cover, we introduce design features that embody the narrative within. While recognizing the havoc the virus has wreaked, we see our shared response to it as a source of light, spreading hope and unleashing a new dawn on the African continent. We hope, in this edition, you will be inspired by the renewed solidarity among Africa’s leaders and by the region’s young entrepreneurs, who are succeeding in Africa against all odds. In addition to including prominent thought leaders from the region, we’ve made particular effort to bring in new voices to inform the debate on alternative futures for Africa. Moreover, each chapter begins with a salient quote from an eminent woman, emphasizing the transformative leadership of women—in management roles, on the front lines of the pandemic, and in everyday life. Thus, as we seek to maintain the hallmarks and traditions of Foresight Africa, we, like the world, cannot escape the virus, but Africa, alongside its global partners, can overcome it.

With its array of contributions, this year’s edition of Foresight Africa reflects both the diversity of the continent and the common threads that bind it together. With that aim, we set out to promote and inform a dialogue that will generate sound practical strategies for achieving shared prosperity across the continent. Our goal is to initiate a global conversation on Africa that brings in perspectives from the region, the U.S., and elsewhere.

We hope you will engage with us by commenting on our Foresight Africa papers, blog posts, and graphics, and by sharing your thoughts on the top priorities this year. You can use #ForesightAfrica and follow the debate or send your thoughts to @BrookingsGlobal to join the conversation on Twitter. You can also leave comments on our related blog posts.

We hope you can join us for our launch event on Wednesday, January 27.

We will follow up on these discussions and post additional contributions from other experts on AGI’s Africa in Focus blog throughout the year.