Africa at a Tipping Point

At least for the last decade, awareness of the economic opportunities and political changes arising throughout many African countries has grown in Europe. “Africa rising” was initially coined as a slogan to capture the rapid economic growth of major African economies. Lately, it has increasingly been used for the political sphere, too.

Africa has seen an unprecedented series of democratic and peaceful transitions of power and decisive action. Regional and continental bodies like the African Union intervene when democratic rules are violated by politicians who kept on clinging to power.

While these achievements are to be cherished, there remains a lot to be done for Africa‘s overall economic and social development. This applies for instance to the fields of healthcare, education and science, conflict resolution, civil society development as well as in dealing with violent extremism. However, many European foundations, that are working in these areas, are reluctant to engage with and in Africa.

Nathalie Delapalme, Executive Director of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, shares the key results of the current Mo Ibrahim Index Report titled “Africa at a Tipping Point” to start a debate on where and how European foundations could get involved.