It is not foreign investment or importation of knowledge and capacity from the outside what Africa needs, but to unleash its own potential. As Paul Collier mentions in the introduction of Africans Investing in Africa, “although for Africa, the past decade has been economically benign, attention in the international business media has been narrowly focused” (p. 1). International investors have largely concentrated on the natural resources sector, but Africa has a lot more to offer. Africa’s economies have huge potential for growth diffused across many sectors.
Africans Investing in Africa is the result of a project conceived in 2011 by the Johannesburg-based Brenthurst Foundation and the Lagos-based Tony Elumelu Foundation. The book has sixteen different contributors hailing from respected universities and research institutions in Africa, Europe and North America; all of them with deep knowledge of the issues under consideration as well as a thorough mastery and experience in African affairs.