In 1960, GDP per capita in South East Asian countries was nearly half of that of Africa. By 1986, the gap had closed and today the trend is reversed, with more than half of the world's poorest now living in Sub-Saharan Africa. Why has Asia developed while Africa lagged?
Join JBS for a discussion with Dr Greg Mills, Head of the Brenthurst Foundation, and Emily van der Merwe, Economist at The Brenthurst Foundation, both authors of 'The Asian Aspiration', which chronicles the untold stories of explosive growth and changing fortunes: the leaders, events and policy choices that lifted a billion people out of abject poverty within a single generation, the largest such shift in human history.
The relevance of Asia's example comes as Africa is facing a population boom, which can either lead to crisis or prosperity; and as Asia is again transforming, this time out of low-cost manufacturing into high-tech, leaving a void that is Africa's for the taking.
