Over the last few months, I’ve been both a speaker and a delegate at several conferences focused on the future of the global economy and that of the African continent. Three common ideas have emerged: Africa should focus on becoming a world leader in the green economy, the AI economy, and become an exporter of skilled labour.

It all sounds great, but I’ll tell you that none of these will save us from the poverty and inequality trap in which Africa finds itself. Leaving aside that the entire continent of Africa, all 54 countries and 1.5 billion people, won’t neatly fit into a singular plan, let’s focus on the strategies themselves.