Cohost Janet Bush talks with Carlos Lopes. He is a professor in the Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town. He’s also an affiliate professor at Sciences Po, Paris, an associate fellow in the Africa Program at Chatham House, and a member of the African Union reform team. Lopes was the policy director for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa. He serves as an advisor on MGI’s research on Africa, including our latest report, which discusses the continent’s human capital and natural resources and how they can help to accelerate productivity and reimagine Africa’s economic growth. His views are his own. In this podcast, he covers topics including the following:
The factors constraining Africa’s potential
The promise of AI for Africa
The threat and opportunity of climate change for Africa

<p>Cohost Janet Bush talks with Carlos Lopes. He is a professor in the Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town. He’s also an affiliate professor at Sciences Po, Paris, an associate fellow in the Africa Program at Chatham House, and a member of the African Union reform team. Lopes was the policy director for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa. He serves as an advisor on MGI’s research on Africa, including <a href="https://preview.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/reimagining-economic-growth-in-africa-turning-diversity-into-opportunity">our latest report</a>, which discusses the continent’s human capital and natural resources and how they can help to accelerate productivity and reimagine Africa’s economic growth. His views are his own. In this podcast, he covers topics including the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>The factors constraining Africa’s potential</li>
<li>The promise of AI for Africa</li>
<li>The threat and opportunity of climate change for Africa</li>
</ul>

Forward Thinking examines groundbreaking ways in which the world is evolving and how people and organizations can respond to changing demands and technologies. In each episode theorists, innovators, and business leaders discuss global trends—technology, artificial intelligence, globalization, urbanization, climate change, and more—with hosts Michael Chui and Janet Bush of the McKinsey Global Institute.

Thought leaders in business, economics, and technology discuss major global trends shaping our lives—from AI to urbanization—with the McKinsey Global Institute.

Forward Thinking

A leading African development economist talks about his belief in pan-Africanism and multilateralism.

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