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<p>Imagination is more important than knowledge. Are creative industries Africa&#8217;s secret weapon to lead the global economy? How can the continent optimize and leverage on this? Join CNBC Africa as the leading industry experts from across the continent gathers at WEF Davos as they delve deeper into this.</p>


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DAVOS 2024: Creative Industries Africa: The Creative Cradle

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<p>During a time when the global economy is battling inflation, coupled with the call for countries to increase their effort to become more sustainable, how will Africa bond together to rise up to the challenge? A panel of industry experts joins to discuss sustainability and inclusion as Africa unite to rise together.</p>


DAVOS 2024: Sustainability and Inclusion: Together We Rise

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<p>Technology is advancing at an alarming rate. Artificial Intelligence – or AI – is a hot topic discussed at this year’s WEF. Africa is left asking itself whether it’s playing catch up or can Africa lead the pack. A panel of experts share their knowledge on blockchain, tokenization and what is the best way forward.</p>


DAVOS 2024: Technology to Leapfrog: Leading Innovation, Blockchain, AI & Tokenization

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<p>This Focus On episode looks at investing in Africa, a continent of 1.4 billion people and a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area deal and how foreign investors are perceiving the continent.</p>


DAVOS 2024: Focus On Financing Africa: Attracting Foreign Investment

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<p>At this year&#8217;s WEF meetings, South Africa is determined to establish itself as a thriving technological hub, enabling development through technological advancement and centering innovation at its core of governance and operations.</p>


DAVOS 2024: Focus On the development and progress of South African banking

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<p>As the world transitions to a new set of geopolitical, technological, demographic and environmental conditions, volatility in the global risks landscape is set to grow. As day 5, the final day of WEF 2024, comes to a close, policy makers and key stakeholders close off looking at the Global Risks Initiative. CNBC Africa speaks to public and private sector leaders about Africa&#8217;s position in global trade, digital and financial inclusion.</p>


DAVOS 2024: Day 5 Highlights

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<p>Experimentation and creativity are critical to increasing access to and use of financial services for individuals and small businesses, particularly in emerging markets where the financial inclusion gap is greatest. Drawing on examples of local pilots that have made a tangible difference to communities in different parts of the world, how can we leverage these successes at a time when resilience to economic crises is dangerously low?</p>


DAVOS 2024: Comparing Notes on Financial Inclusion

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<p>Ahead of the 54th Annual Meetings of The World Economic Forum, South Africa situates itself as a global player as they re-examine their economic operations, transparency and service efficiencies.</p>


DAVOS 2024: Focus On South Africa’s preparation ahead of WEF 2024

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<p>At the 54th annual meeting held by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, South Africa&#8217;s thriving private sector is showcasing how there is potential for growth and investment in the economy. Through government collaboration with the private sector, South Africa is capable of reaching global heights.</p>


DAVOS 2024: Focus On collaboration for an improved South Africa

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<p>AI is a hot topic this week at Davos. Leaders from across business and government highlight the challenges faced by global economies and address questions around opportunities and risks. One of the concerns raised is that jobs will change globally over the next five years, raising the pertinent questions around what the future holds for the youth and how best to maximize AI in trade.</p>


DAVOS 2024: Day Four Highlights

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<p>Seismic change is underway in Africa. The United Nations projects that sub-Saharan Africa will account for more than half of the growth of the world’s population by 2050.  As such, Africa is set to play a bigger role in shaping contemporary geopolitical and economic affairs. CNBC Africa brings you the stakeholder dialogue on An African Economy of Scale, from Davos Switzerland.</p>


DAVOS 2024: An African Economy of Scale

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<p>The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meetings continues on the third day with sessions focusing on green finances, artificial intelligence and how economies can be more resilient against high inflation. A new World Economic Forum report calls for a new approach to economic growth and a balance between long-term sustainability and equity. The CNBC Africa team brings daily updates from Davos, Switzerland on the happenings impacting Africa’s future.</p>


DAVOS 2024: Day Three Highlights

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<p>The services sector generates two-thirds of global GDP and over half of all jobs, yet trade in services costs twice that of trade in goods, with 40 per cent of these costs due to opaque and outdated regulations. Recent landmark agreements including the WTO Reference Paper on Services Domestic Regulation and the AfCFTA Protocol on Trade in Services are now coming into effect and giving much-needed impetus to global efforts to reduce restrictions in the sector. How can we reform outdated restrictions and build back trust in the services economy?</p>


DAVOS 2024: Frictionless Services

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<p>In all corners of the world, local communities are working to protect their lands and traditions threatened by the climate and nature crisis &#8211; and exacerbated by rising security challenges. On the Frontlines for Nature is the theme for this panel discussion moderated by CNBC Africa Editor-in-Chief, Godfrey Mutizwa. Panellists discuss remarkable efforts in Africa and Latin America that are leading the way in restoring landscapes, supporting sustainable livelihoods and stabilizing some of the world&#8217;s most fragile geographies.</p>


DAVOS 2024: On the Frontlines for Nature


<p>KEY POINTS</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Nearly 2,500 global leaders from business, politics and civil society are expected to take part in a rare springtime version of Davos this week.</li><li>Organizers of the event had postponed the meeting from its traditional January slot over safety concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, in a welcome boost to local residents, the forum’s first in-person event has now returned after a two-year hiatus.</li><li>That’s not to say everyone is happy to see the return of the world’s business and political elite to the Swiss Alps.</li></ul>



<p>The World Economic Forum is trying to fix an image problem.</p>



<p>Nearly 2,500 global leaders from business, politics and civil society are expected to take part in a rare springtime version of Davos this week.</p>



<p>The annual meeting will see movers and shakers convene in Switzerland’s luxury Alpine ski resort of Davos for five days of conversation on issues including Covid-19, Russia’s war in Ukraine and the climate crisis.</p>



<p>Organizers of the event had&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/20/davos-world-economic-forum-postpones-meeting-due-to-covid.html">postponed the meeting</a>&nbsp;from its traditional January slot over safety concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, in a welcome boost to local residents, the forum’s first in-person event has now returned after a two-year hiatus.</p>



<p>The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/05/davos-2022-whos-coming-and-everything-else-you-need-to-know/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">theme</a>&nbsp;of this year’s event is “History at a Turning Point: Government Policies and Business Strategies.”</p>



<p>“It means a lot to us. It means a lot to the whole of Switzerland,” Samuel Rosenast, a spokesperson for the local tourism board, said in an interview with CNBC’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/tom-chitty/">Tom Chitty</a>.</p>



<p>Rosenast said the event was “unbelievably important” to those residing in Europe’s highest town, estimating that the resort could see a windfall of approximately 70 million Swiss francs ($72 million) in just this week alone.</p>



<p>“Every business is in contact with the World Economic Forum. The people know how important it is,” Rosenast said. “Most people here are looking forward to the World Economic Forum. They are happy that it takes place here again this year.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-symbol-of-a-failed-era"><a></a>‘A symbol of a failed era’</h2>



<p>That’s not to say everyone is pleased to see the return of the world’s business and political elite to the Swiss Alps. The event has been sharply criticized in recent years for being&nbsp;<a href="https://fortune.com/2015/01/22/davos-out-of-touch/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">out of touch</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/18/is-davos-nothing-more-than-an-overpriced-ineffective-talking-shop.html">ineffective</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/davos-is-broadly-irrelevant-there-is-no-case-for-guzzling-jets-and-gallons-of-dom-perignon-20220516" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">irrelevant</a>.</p>



<p>Three years ago, Dutch historian Rutger Bregman went viral at a Davos panel&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/19/rutger-bregman-historian-who-confronted-davos-elite-on-higher-taxes.html">when he called out billionaires for tax avoidance</a>. In a clip that has now been viewed nearly 11 million times, Bregman said that a global failure to effectively tackle tax avoidance was the primary cause of inequality.</p>



<p>“It feels like I’m at a firefighters conference and no one’s allowed to speak about water,” Bregman said at the time. “This is not rocket science … we have got to be talking about taxes. That’s it. Taxes, taxes, taxes.”</p>



<p>More recently, protestors, activists and people on the frontlines of inequality have sought to challenge the WEF over its “<a href="https://inequality.org/research/global-inequality-protest-davos/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">empty rhetoric</a>,” accusing Davos of representing “a symbol of a failed era” that should be left behind.</p>



<p>A report published Monday by global charity Oxfam found that 573 people became new billionaires during the coronavirus pandemic — at a rate of one every 30 hours. The brief, entitled “Profiting from Pain,” expects that 263 million additional people will fall into extreme poverty this year at a rate of 1 million people every 33 hours.</p>



<p>“Billionaires are arriving in Davos to celebrate an incredible surge in their fortunes. The pandemic and now the steep increases in food and energy prices have, simply put, been a bonanza for them,” said Gabriela Bucher, executive director of Oxfam International.</p>



<p>“Meanwhile, decades of progress on extreme poverty are now in reverse and millions of people are facing impossible rises in the cost of simply staying alive.”</p>



<p>In his youth, Philipp Wilhelm was one of those protesting the annual gathering of billionaires and political leaders in the town where he was born. Now, however, Wilhelm is the mayor of Davos, and his goal is to deliver a successful meeting.</p>



<p>“I protested during the annual meeting because, for me, it was important to express that it’s really crucial that we solve this climate crisis. And we need to make the world a more just place,” Wilhelm said.</p>



<p>Wilhelm said that he had taken part in protests because he felt it was essential to ensure that everyone arriving in Davos “gets the message that it’s really important to solve these issues.”</p>



<p>Wilhelm said he — and WEF — had changed their positions since his protesting days, adding that he believes he can influence policy more effectively in his current role.</p>



<p>When asked whether it was a concern that criticism of WEF had become too closely associated with Davos given that the town itself has become largely interchangeable with the forum, Wilhelm replied: “No it doesn’t bother me at all.”</p>



<p>“I think it is interesting that people know Davos as a place where people meet and discuss — and I mean it should be controversial. There should be a discussion about what is the right way to improve the state of the world,” Wilhelm said.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Davos 2022 is ‘one marker in time’</h2>



<p>“The forum’s work is ongoing. The meeting is one marker in time,” said Saadia Zahidi, managing director at the World Economic Forum.</p>



<p>“What we’ve been doing over the last two and a half years — while it hasn’t been visible through a particular meeting — is a set of work that is trying to make a dent on inequality and at the same time also make changes towards addressing one of the biggest existential risks we all face which is climate change.”</p>



<p>When asked whether rising income inequality had become a particular problem for the forum, Zahidi replied: “Inequality is a problem for the world. I think we know that societies that do not combat inequality will have slower growth.”</p>



<p>“And so there has to be an effort that addresses inequality. Now, what does that? Better education, better skills, better jobs, addressing issues like taxation and changing the nature of our economies so that they actually work for people and not just for the few,” Zahidi said. “That is going to be front and center on next week’s agenda.”</p>


Stefan Wermuth | Bloomberg | Getty Images

How Davos became the anti-establishment’s punching bag

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<p>The African Continental Free Trade Area holds immense potential for the social and economic development of Africa. Joining CNBC Africa to discuss how the project can boost trade and resilience in the continent is Chido Munyati, Acting Head of Africa at the World Economic Forum.</p>


WEF’s Munyati on how to strengthen intra-African trade

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<p>CNBC International spoke to Amjad Bseisu, the CEO of EnQuest about what the consequences are if UK and European investors push oil and gas companies to hard resulting in them not investing in European assets.</p>


Davos

DAVOS 2024: Creative Industries Africa: The Creative Cradle

DAVOS 2024: Sustainability and Inclusion: Together We Rise

DAVOS 2024: Technology to Leapfrog: Leading Innovation, Blockchain, AI & Tokenization

DAVOS 2024: Focus On Financing Africa: Attracting Foreign Investment

DAVOS 2024: Focus On the development and progress of South African banking

DAVOS 2024: Day 5 Highlights

DAVOS 2024: Comparing Notes on Financial Inclusion

DAVOS 2024: Focus On South Africa’s preparation ahead of WEF 2024

DAVOS 2024: Focus On collaboration for an improved South Africa

DAVOS 2024: Day Four Highlights

DAVOS 2024: An African Economy of Scale

DAVOS 2024: Day Three Highlights

DAVOS 2024: Frictionless Services

DAVOS 2024: On the Frontlines for Nature

How Davos became the anti-establishment’s punching bag

WEF’s Munyati on how to strengthen intra-African trade

World Economic Forum: EnQuest CEO on how to tackle the climate change crisis

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Davos

DAVOS 2024: Creative Industries Africa: The Creative Cradle

DAVOS 2024: Sustainability and Inclusion: Together We Rise

DAVOS 2024: Technology to Leapfrog: Leading Innovation, Blockchain, AI & Tokenization

DAVOS 2024: Focus On Financing Africa: Attracting Foreign Investment

DAVOS 2024: Focus On the development and progress of South African banking

DAVOS 2024: Day 5 Highlights

DAVOS 2024: Comparing Notes on Financial Inclusion

DAVOS 2024: Focus On South Africa’s preparation ahead of WEF 2024

DAVOS 2024: Focus On collaboration for an improved South Africa

DAVOS 2024: Day Four Highlights

DAVOS 2024: An African Economy of Scale

DAVOS 2024: Day Three Highlights

DAVOS 2024: Frictionless Services

DAVOS 2024: On the Frontlines for Nature

How Davos became the anti-establishment’s punching bag

WEF’s Munyati on how to strengthen intra-African trade

World Economic Forum: EnQuest CEO on how to tackle the climate change crisis

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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