The Africa 21st Century Clock: Reawakening Africa at 6 a.m.

At the dawn of the 21st century, the World Bank and four other global institutions posed a pivotal question to the continent: Can Africa claim the 21st century? A generation later, as Africa enters the second quarter of the century—analogous to 6AM on a 24-hour clock—the challenge remains urgent. This white paper is our response.

The Africa 21st Century Clock is a bold, people-driven, technology-enabled mechanism to shape and track Africa’s century-long transformation. It invites African citizens, leaders, businesses, institutions, and partners to co-create a shared vision of Africa by 2100—through three transformative milestones: Development by 2050, Competitiveness by 2075, and Power by 2100.

At its core, the project comprises three institutional components:

The Regulator – A participatory framework led by the African Union to aggregate citizen visions into a dynamic blueprint of Africa’s future.
The Timekeeper – A real-time data aggregation and visualisation engine that tracks Africa’s progress across social, economic, and political indicators.
The Alarm – A civic mobilisation system powered by media and civil society to awaken urgency, accountability, and collective action.

The Africa 21st Century Clock is a call to reimagine Africa’s destiny, to unite around a shared vision, and to take decisive steps—day by day, year by year—towards becoming a global force by the end of the century.