Each January the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings hosts a Foresight Africa event to bring attention to the most pressing events, issues and trends for the Africa region in the year ahead. This year’s event was held on January 9 and featured moderator Isha Sesay from CNN and panelists Steven Radelet of Georgetown University, Jeffery Sachs of Columbia University, and Laura Seay of Morehouse College. We also released a report and a series of short videos featuring analysis from the Africa Growth Initiative and its think tank partners from the region.
Considering that not everyone who is interested in Foresight Africa can attend an event in Washington D.C., this year I followed-up the event with a live twitter chat responding to questions and comments from the #ForesightAfrica hashtag. Below is an excerpt from our Q & A compiled on Storify.
I am a relatively new user to Twitter, but I am increasingly finding it valuable for adding more voices to the African policy dialogue in Washington. For example, yesterday’s twitter chat extended to users in Nigeria and Malawi as well as leaders in Africa from influential organizations.
In 2013, we at the Africa Growth Initiative plan on continuing the conversation on what matters in Africa. We will look very closely at the key issues that will likely impact economic growth and development in the region. In fact, on February 20, Brookings will be hosting an event on the implications of the upcoming Kenyan elections for that country and the East Africa Region. Thanks for joining the #ForesightAfrica conversation and please keep tweeting us your thoughts using this hashtag as we continue the dialogue on Africa throughout the rest of the year.
Commentary
#ForesightAfrica: Twitter Discussion Tackles Priority Issues in Africa with Mwangi Kimenyi
January 10, 2013