How Africa Can Catch up and Compete Globally

Throughout world history, every major industrial revolution or leap in innovation has had a single center of gravity. From Kemet (ancient Egypt) to Babylon, from China in Asia to the micro-industrial revolutions of Europe in Portugal, Spain, Britain, and later the United States, innovation has always flourished in one global hub at a time.

These hubs of progress became magnets for talent—whether locally nurtured through deliberate state policies or attracted from abroad—propelling civilizations forward before eventually losing their grip. Today, this same phenomenon is unfolding before our very eyes, with China emerging as the global hub of innovation in transport, energy, and telecommunications.

Jeremy Rifkin has highlighted in his book the ‘Third Industrial Revolution’ how these sectors—transport, energy, and communications—have shaped every industrial revolution. While Europe and its American descendants once dominated these transformations, the tides are now shifting decisively back to Asia, with China at the forefront.

This shift is no accident. While the United States benefited from a mixture of deliberate and accidental policy choices that created its industrial revolution, China’s rise has been the result of intentional, long-term planning.

Great thinkers like Kwame Nkrumah understood that industrial revolutions could be accelerated—not left to chance. But this required scale: larger political unions and access to vast material and human resources. That is why Nkrumah fought for African unity, to enable the continent to marshal its wealth and talent for a rapid leap forward—what I call The Great African Leap Forward.

This is the task before us today. Africa’s destiny—and the destiny of its people—cannot be left at the mercy of other civilizations. As Africa’s foremost industrialist, Aliko Dangote, has rightly argued, the continent must be built by Africans, not foreign investors. I, too, Kwame Gonza, stand firmly in this revolutionary tradition. My urgent call is for the creation of a Continental Railway Platform, linking all corners of Africa and connecting us to major global trade routes.

Never in its history has Africa embarked on such a transformative scheme designed to uplift all its people. Once these foundational infrastructures are built, Africa will unlock the full potential of its material wealth and human capital. Our diaspora will return, bringing knowledge and skills, while global talent will also be drawn to a rising Africa.

This is exactly the path China has followed. By taking control of its political destiny and building its economic foundations, China not only drew back its own diaspora but also attracted global innovators such as Wolfgang Egger, who helped shape the design language of BYD—now a global electric vehicle powerhouse.

China’s progress is staggering. It has built the world’s largest high-speed rail network—over 50,000 km, more than the rest of the world combined. It leads in telecommunications, being first to launch 5G networks. It has established its own space station. And in clean energy, China has become the global leader, with an installed capacity of 1,800 GW. Today, China accounts for 30% of global manufacturing capacity—greater than the U.S., Germany, Japan, and India combined. Compare that to Africa’s Installed capacity of 250 GW, India’s 350 GW and the United States’ 1,200 GW of installed power Capacity. It is therefore no accident or misfortune that Africa is where it is lagging behind everyone else while China is Leading in this new era.

Africa must act with urgency. The real competition is not at the level of individuals or companies—it is at the level of political organization. Everything else is a footnote.

African intellectuals who remain stuck in Western frameworks must abandon this dependency. The time for passive imitation is over. Africa must pioneer new ways of thinking and new models of progress.

The present and future Pan-African organizations such as the African Continental Unity Party (ACUP) are the ones which will continue to champion and represent such a vision and outlook. The continental order itself must be urgently reorganized if Africa is to not only catch up but enter a new era of Rapid industrialization and be a leader in global innovation.