From its burgeoning youth population to its expanding influence on the global stage, Africa’s potential, challenges and new global leadership were at the heart of discussions at this week’s Annual Meeting in Davos.

Leaders from government, business and civil society gathered to explore the continent’s demographic dividend, address persistent divides in digital access and healthcare, and recognize Africa’s growing role in shaping international affairs. Here were the topics that came up.

Africa’s economy: young and fast

If there was one word that might summarize discussions at Davos as it relates to Africa, it might be: optimism. “I have to say, I’m excited about where we’re going as a continent,” said Godfrey Mutizwa of CNBC Africa, in a panel he moderated about Africa’s momentum.

One big source of excitement across sessions was what might be called Africa’s vitality. Often referred to as “the young continent,” Erika Kraemer Mbula, Professor of Economics at the University of Johannesburg, was quick to correct that. “When I talk to my historian and paleontologist colleagues, they always remind me that this is the oldest continent when it comes to the origin of civilization; it is the cradle of humankind. It’s a youthful continent rather than the youngest.” The figures she shared speak for themselves. “60% of our population is below the age of 25. By 2050, about one out of three working age people globally will be African. So it’s about how we use this as an opportunity for transformative change.”

This youthfulness translates into a continent characterized by a “cutting-edge spirit of innovation,” said Wamkele Keabetswe Mene, Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat.

Bridging divides

Capitalizing on all the continent has to offer, though, will require bridging deep gaps.

For example, when it comes to health, South Africa’s Minister of Health Pakishe Aaron Motsoaledi spoke of the “existing gross inequalities in the health status of people between developed and developing countries” but also “within the borders of countries themselves. It is politically, economically and socially unacceptable.”

Closing some of these deep gaps will be a priority of his, he said, referencing South Africa’s two-tier system, where the wealthiest in society have access to world-class services and everyone else has to make do. “In South Africa, and I’m not exaggerating, our inequality is worse than in any other country when it comes to healthcare.” According to figures shared by the minister, 51% of the country’s healthcare spending goes to the richest 14% of the population.

Digital divides were another topic that came up across the sessions. According to the International Telecommunication Union’s latest data, only 38% of people in Africa are using the internet, compared to the global average of 68%. In the Intelligent Age, where rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and blockchain offer many new opportunities, bridging this digital divide could be a game-changer. For example, as Paula Ingabire, Rwanda’s Minister of Information Communication Technology and Innovation, said, a report her department recently commissioned showed the financial boost potentially offered by AI. “What we are seeing is even with basic use cases that we can deploy, a potential to create at least 6% GDP contribution,” she said.

Financing change

Africa is full of people brimming with ideas on how to tackle the above challenges and more. But without access to resources, these ideas will remain just that.

“We don’t have a problem of entrepreneurship in Africa,” said Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Executive Chairman, Cassava Technologies. “We have a lot of entrepreneurs, more than in any developed country, because our kids leave school knowing that if you don’t start something, you’re not going to be employed. But we have not put in place an ecosystem to support startups. There is no concept of it.”

The challenge for Africa’s women entrepreneurs runs even deeper, said Fatoumata Ba, Founder and Executive Chair of Janngo Capital — and also the founder of Africa’s first unicorn, the term used to describe startups that reach a valuation of $1 billion. “African women have the highest rate of female entrepreneurship globally at 26%. Yet according to the African Development Bank, they are facing a $42 billion funding gap,” she said. “Access to capital is a very important topic to tackle.”

A new era of African leadership

In December, South Africa assumed the G20 Presidency, the first time in the intergovernmental forum’s history that it will be hosted on the African continent. In a special address at Davos, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa shared his vision for his country’s and the continent’s leadership over the coming year, highlighting the unique role they might play in reigniting global cooperation after years of deepening divides.

“As we confront the challenges of the 21st century — from climate change to pandemics, to addressing the challenges of poverty to terrorism, from migration to artificial intelligence – we are again called upon to harness that most powerful, and most enduring, of human attributes: mutually beneficial cooperation and collaboration,” he told participants at the meeting.

Already, on many of these challenges, Africa has been stepping up to the plate. For example, in a week that saw some countries backtrack on their climate commitments, African countries have been doubling down on theirs.

Take the announcement of the Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor. This historic initiative will see an area covering 540,000 km² — the size of France — become protected through partnerships with communities that integrate conservation and restoration with green economic development.

The initiative was spearheaded by the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo was in Davos to present his hopes for what could be achieved — from both an environmental and a societal perspective. “This project aims to protect some of the most intact tropical forests on the planet, while preserving extraordinary biodiversity, including some iconic species…that are unique to the Congo Basin,” he said. “But this initiative goes far beyond simple environmental preservation…It will create over 500,000 jobs, including at least 20,000 specifically for young men and women who’ve been demobilized from armed groups.”

Other initiatives announced in Davos hold great hope for the future. For example, Angola, Gabon, Senegal and Kenya joined the Global Plastic Action Partnership, a global effort now made up of 25 countries to address plastic pollution through systemic waste solutions and a circular economy.

In Pretoria, South Africa, a new centre for the energy transition was announced, part of the World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution initiative.

And the Forum, in partnership with the Global Center on Adaptation, is creating a new platform to boost private investment in climate adaptation in Africa. While a formal launch won’t take place until spring, the CRDB Bank Group has already committed $1 billion.

Aside from climate change, Africa has been showing leadership in other areas, too. For example, at a time when some of the most basic democratic norms are being increasingly challenged, countries on the continent have been leading by example, as Duma Gideon Boko, the recently elected President of Botswana told participants.

“When power changes, it occasions a great deal of consternation, a great deal of anxiety. We are never sure whether it will happen at all…and whether those who are in power are fully committed to the fundamental tenets of democracy,” he explained. “In Botswana, a party that had been in power for 58 years faced the unexpected spectacle of a decisive loss at the polls, and many questioned whether the outcome would be accepted, whether power would really change hands. Well, in Botswana it did — it was peaceful; it was seamless.”

What’s clear, then, is that increasingly, the future of Africa is no longer being shaped by forces outside the continent: it is coming from inside. “We are the ones charged with the responsibility to develop, and we are responsible to our people,” explained Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Executive Chairman at Cassava Technologies. “Africans must develop Africa; it’s our continent.”