Tags
Africa in 2014, African Development, Bright Simons, Brookings Institution, Central Africa, Congo, George Clooney, IT in Africa, John McArthur, John Prendergast, Makhtar Diop, Robin Sanders, Senegal, World Bank
From L to R: McArthur, Diop, Sanders, Simons, Prendergast, and Sy (who is cut off)
Yesterday, I ventured down the street to the Brookings Institution for my first policy event of the year, ‘Top Priorities for Africa in 2014.’ The panelists (of which there was a large number) were quite impressive: Former US Ambassador to Nigeria and the Congo, Robin Sanders, Co-Founder of the Enough Project, John Prendergast, Bright Simons, President of a technology start-up in Ghana, Makhtar Diop, VP for Africa at the World Bank, and Amadou Sy, a Senegalese resident at Brookings. John McArthur did an able job filling in for the flu-stricken Helene Cooper as moderator.
While it was good to get back in the swing of things and hear from the prominent speakers, the broad nature of the topic, the large number of panelists, and the limited time available led to a lot of broad generalizations and generic prescriptions for the continent’s development. As I’ve said at similar events before, I’m sure that most of those in the audience would have been qualified to make the same remarks. Continue reading
