The future of Africa

This open access textbook offers a critical introduction to human and economic development prospects in Africa revolving around three questions.

“Cilliers refuses to adopt a fatalistic attitude . . . or to get stuck in simplistic models that equate GDP growth with genuine development . . . His very practical recommendations, largely focusing on issues of governance and policy efficiency, are based on solid empirical evidence and sound argument. This book can make a difference and will contribute to improving the human condition on our continent.” — Professor Maxi Schoeman, Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria

This book describes and models the impact of a series of fundamental transitions in health, demographics, agriculture, education, manufacturing, technology, trade integration, stability and governance that is needed if Africa is to narrow and start closing the gap in development between itself and the rest of the world. It is an updated version of Africa First! Unleashing a Growth Revolution that was published in South Africa by Jonathan Ball in 2020 and uses a more recent version of the International Futures forecasting platform with updated data and some modelling improvements, among various other changes. The structure of the book has also been rearranged to more logically first deal with health, then demographics, agriculture, education, etc.

About the author

Jakkie Cilliers is the founder of the Institute for Security Studies. He now serves as head of the African Futures and Innovation program and Chair of the ISS Board of Trustees. He is an extraordinary professor at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.