Further to my immediately previous post on the @UN General Assembly’s “Correct the Map” resolution, I can see there is a real attachment to what must be the latest version of “MapQuest” - the new map of Africa reflecting its real size. As I alighted from a vehicle in a shopping mall in an East African country this afternoon, a vendor (in photo) accosted me: “New map? Old map? and brandished the “new” map. When will Africa learn to address its fundamentals? We got political freedom 60-70 years ago, but economic prosperity still eludes us: the average nominal GDP per capita for SubSaharan Africa remains $1,940 according to @IMFNews, while that of Asia is $9,445. We adopted Western liberal democracy but still rig elections and have the weakest institutions and rule of law that should underpin real democracy. We simply have periodic (s)election rituals where the great unwashed masses, for a little money, are bused out for rallies and endorse the same plutocrats every election cycle.(More on my 2019 Nigerian presidential candidacy, among many other subjects such as my 17-year #UN career across four continents and central banking and financial sector reform post Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in a memoir coming soon). We have adopted technology and are heavy users, but the manufacturers and the intellectual property are elsewhere. Nothing wrong with the #NewMapAfrica but it won’t create electricity, jobs, healthcare or skills that will power the continent’s exploding population curve in which we are on track to become 40% of the global workforce by 2050. Meanwhile China, anticipating the implications of declining population rate and increasing aging of its population, is steeped in #ArtificialIntelligence to fill the gap in the years ahead. Political independence (if, really) is critical, but it does not put food on the table of hungry and poor families. It’s nice to be “with it” with AI and the cell phone, but if we don’t turn it into PRODUCTIVITY, it’s simply fashion or a mood. Democracy is good, but we must make it real with what it really is, and its dividends, or else we are running anocracies ( a cross between democracy and autocracy). Africa needs both thinkers and doers: Futures Thinking. #CorrectTheMap #RiseforReal