.

FROM PROMISE TO POWER

The African Century Forum (ACF Africa) is an emerging global community of Africans and friends of Africa who believe that the continent’s future will be shaped not simply by what Africa possesses, but by what its people are able to build together. Its purpose is to connect people and ideas, nurture trust and collaboration, and help turn Africa’s potential into shared progress.

The Forum is being developed as a virtual meeting place across countries, generations and sectors. It will bring together entrepreneurs, professionals, investors, academics, thinkers, policymakers and emerging leaders from Africa and around the world—people with different experiences, perspectives and capabilities—to exchange ideas, build relationships and collaborate on practical pathways to Africa’s transformation.

THE BOOK BEHIND THE FORUM

ACF Africa grows out of my forthcoming book, The African Century: From Promise to Power, which draws on more than four decades of experience across Africa’s public, private and international development sectors. Informed by work with African institutions, entrepreneurs, development organizations and leaders, the book asks what will determine whether Africa’s promise is translated into broad-based prosperity and greater agency.

Its central argument is that the continent’s deepest constraint is not a shortage of ideas, capital or natural resources. It is the patient, often unglamorous work of building institutions that can convert these assets into broad-based prosperity. That argument rests on five foundations: strong institutions; social trust; productive enterprise and capital formation; regional integration and resilience; and leadership that thinks in decades rather than election cycles. These are not separate items on a checklist. They are interdependent forces that can reinforce—or undermine—one another in practice.

The book is in publication with Morgan James Publishers, a New York-based publishing house, and is scheduled for launch in early 2027. The intention is to launch the book and the Forum together: the book will set out the ideas, and the Forum will bring them into conversation with a wider community, where they can be explored, challenged, developed and translated into practical action.

THE FORUM

The Forum will begin as an accessible digital community connecting people across Africa and around the world. Through curated conversations, knowledge exchange, webinars, courses and masterclasses, members will share ideas, develop partnerships and explore opportunities for collaboration. The Forum will also facilitate the sharing of articles, videos and other resources and, over time, convene in-person gatherings across Africa.

Its value will lie in what members can accomplish together. By bringing people across generations, disciplines and sectors into conversation, ACF Africa will create opportunities to challenge conventional thinking, draw on complementary experience and capabilities, and turn shared interests into collaborative initiatives. Its ambition is to build a community in which ideas lead to relationships, relationships to action, and action to tangible contributions to Africa’s economic and social transformation.