Special Address: Stephen Jennings, CEO Renaissance Capital

Africa: The World’s Most Exciting Investment Story

Mr. Stephen Jennings, CEO of Renaissance Capital, delivered the GEG Special Address on Friday 5 November 2010 in Rhodes House. Mr. Jennings spoke of the challenges and especially the opportunities for investment in the continent in the coming years:

“I see the opportunity in Africa as greater than anywhere else in the world today not because Africa is different, but precisely because it isn’t a special case. The great majority of African countries will transform their economies in the coming decades just as most of Asia, America and Europe have done in their time. The difference with Africa is simply that the scope for catch up and convergence is greater and is likely to happen more rapidly. However, the convergence path of individual African countries will be highly idiosyncratic and organic. It will reflect the specific institutional, political and economic circumstances of each country rather than idealized Western notions of top-down institutional reform.”