2025-01-14
8 分钟The Economist Hello, this is Rosie Bloor,
co-host of The Intelligence, our daily news and current affairs podcast.
Welcome to Editor's Picks.
We've chosen an article from the latest edition of The Economist that we thought you might enjoy.
Please do have a listen.
In the coming years, Africa will become more important than at any time in the modern era.
Over the next decade, its share of the world's population is expected to reach 21%,
up from 13% in 2000, 9% in 1950 and 11% in 1800.
As the rest of the world ages, Africa will become a crucial source of labour.
More than half the young people entering the global workforce in 2030 will be African.
This is a great opportunity for the poorest continent.
But if its 54 countries are to seize it, they will have to do something exceptional.
Break with their own past and with the dismal statist orthodoxy that now grips much of the world.
Africa's leaders will have to embrace business, growth and free markets.
They will need to unleash a capitalist revolution.
If you follow Africa from afar, you will be aware of some of its troubles,
such as the devastating civil war in Sudan,
and some of its bright spots, such as the global hunger for Afrobeats.
Streams on Spotify rose by 34% in 2024.
Less easy to make out is the shocking economic reality documented in our special report this week,