From iOL

African presidents and policy makers are pushing back against pessimism to tell the world their continent’s economic boom is real and sustained, but they say it must work harder to roll back poverty and create jobs for its restless youth.

From Senegal to Nigeria and Rwanda, officials play down the impact on investment and capital inflows from the US Fed’s unwinding of its economic stimulus program, or from signs of slowdown in China and its appetite for African commodities. “You know, some people are talking about writing an obituary for Africa Rising … and I think it’s premature,” African Development Bank (AfDB) President Donald Kaberuka said in a recent interview, a message repeated during a Reuters Africa Summit held in several African capitals this week. Speakers said the drivers of Africa’s headline-grabbing growth in recent years – investment in natural resources, swelling population, rapid urbanization, an expanding middle class and mushrooming consumer demand – were undiminished.

Read more at iOL