国际英语新闻：World Economic Forum on Africa to discuss continent's next chapter of development

CAPE TOWN, April 30 (Xinhua) -- The World Economic Forum on Africa, scheduled on May 2-4 in Cape Town, South Africa, will see participants exchange views on how the continent can turn to the next chapter of development.

The meeting, expected to gather a record 900 participants from over 60 countries, will be held under the theme "From Vision to Action, Africa's Next Chapter," organizers said.

"We chose this theme because we feel it is very relevant for the events that are taking place on this continent, and the opportunity for growth and investment that the international and African communities are seeing," said Katherine Tweedie, head of Africa for the World Economic Forum.

Seven of the fastest growing economies in the world in the next five years will be in sub-Saharan Africa, Tweedie noted, saying that a lot of discussion will be devoted to explore drivers behind this growth.

Africa's economic growth in recent years have impressed the world. Though being the most underdeveloped continent, Africa have been more resilient than expected during the global economic crisis.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) have predicted that the continent's growth in 2011 will reach 5.3 percent.

Under one of the three thematic pillars, "Shaping Africa's Role in the New Reality," the meeting will explore how Africa can take on a leadership role in the new reality and guard against newly emerging global and regional risks. Participants will look at how Africa can strengthen its representation and negotiation capacity on global platforms such as COP 17 and the G20.

Meanwhile, the meeting will look into Africa's industrial diversification, which is widely considered as an effective way to increase competitiveness. Discussions under the thematic pillar of "Fostering Africa's News Champions of Growth" will focus on what innovative and entrepreneurial lessons drive Africa's fastest- growing companies, and how can Africa's emerging economies build capacity in science, technology and innovation to move up the value chain.

Another topic expected to attract much attention is Africa's inclusive development. In recent years, African decision makers have been looking for ways to attain inclusive development by translating economic growth into better lives for the people.

Marcus Courage, managing director of consulting group Africapractice, said ahead of the meeting that Africa must start measuring its economic growth in terms of job creation and progress of value addition of what it produces, rather than the gross domestic product (GDP), if it has to move from vision to action.