A New Direction for Development in Africa

Out with the Old, in with the New: A New Direction for Development in Africa

William Ruto, Kenya’s President and one of Africa’s most restless reformers, threw down a challenge in London last month. Speaking at the Africa Debate, he urged the continent to break free from tired development models that have kept it shackled for decades. His rallying cry: Africa must seize its own future by investing not just in crops and commodities, but in manufacturing, services, technology. And above all, people.

He didn’t sugar-coat it. Change means disruption. But short-term pain is worth long-term gain.

For too long, Africa’s story has been written around extractive industries - oil, gas, gold - and unprocessed exports like tea and coffee. That leaves countries exposed to global price swings and stops them climbing the value chain. Kenya knows this first-hand. A bad harvest or a drop in tea prices, and the whole economy feels it.

Ruto is right. But speeches don’t build factories. If Kenya wants to lead, it must show, not just tell, how to ditch these inherited frameworks and chart a bold, tailored path forward. One-size-fits-all prescriptions have failed. Africa’s strength lies in its diversity and in its ability to adapt to new realities: digital economies, green transitions, shifting trade patterns.

Agriculture and manufacturing remain the bedrock. Kenya’s farms generate a quarter of GDP and 40% of jobs. Smarter policies are boosting productivity, helping farmers withstand climate shocks. But without private-sector drive and regional partnerships, progress will remain patchy.

Still, the real prize lies in services, high-value, job-rich, future-focused. Finance. Tourism. Logistics. And above all, technology. Kenya’s fintech boom, with M-Pesa as the poster child, shows what leapfrogging looks like. The challenge is scaling up: spreading that energy from Nairobi to every corner of the country. Education and digital skills are the enablers. Demography doesn’t have to be destiny - it can be dividend.

None of this is easy. Kenya, like much of Africa, still bears scars from past mismanagement and corruption. Infrastructure gaps remain huge. Inequality is entrenched. Many Kenyans are still struggling to make ends meet. But there are green shoots. GDP growth is steady. Fiscal management is tightening. With the right choices, the future can look very different.

And here’s the catch: no country can do it alone. Regional bodies - the African Union Development Agency, the African Development Bank – are critical. They mobilise finance. They coordinate reform. They build bonds across borders. Weakening them would be a mistake. In a world of blocs, Africa needs its own.

Ruto’s message matters because it goes beyond economics. It’s about self-confidence. About Africa refusing to be trapped in roles others wrote for it. The 20th century was about extraction. The 21st must be about innovation.

That’s the choice: cling to old crutches, or step forward into a different kind of progress. One built on people, skills, and ideas, not just what lies beneath the soil.

Ruto has lit the match. The question is whether others will fan the flame.

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First Published in The Daily Nation 25th August 2025.