Renewal of Africa: The African Tree of Organic Growth Paradigm

Abstract

This chapter investigates the notion that the African renewal or renaissance can only take place through an organic growth process. The thinking about growth and development in Africa has evolved over time from a pure economic growth model towards an inclusive growth orientation, especially in the last decade. We demonstrate in this chapter that this thinking should be further refined to include organic growth. Organic growth is defined as the pursuing of a natural growth path to ensure the national well-being for all citizens of the country. The tree analogy was used to develop an integrated framework of organic growth that can be applied to all African countries: The African Tree of Organic Growth. The chapter also demonstrated the complexity of the African continent, necessitating that the discussion on organic growth needs to be individualised for African countries based on their unique context and stage of development. The success of China’s own ‘renaissance’ has proved that a transformational agenda directed at the conditions of a specific country can succeed in lifting a large segment of the population out of poverty. China has itself an impressive organic growth and development history, where the rents on resources were used to fuel economic and infrastructure development for the subsequent cycles of growth.