Who We Are
The Africa Growth and Investment Institute (AGII), through its research and media arm, the Africa Growth Forum (AGF), is a premier strategic institution dedicated to advancing Africa’s economic transformation.
Operating from Cape Town, South Africa, we bridge the gap between continental economic policy, private capital deployment, and ground-level African realities.
Our Core Philosophy: The Digital Industrial Revolution
During the First Industrial Revolution, global economic power was determined by physical assets: coal, iron ore, steel mills, and railway networks. Africa participated primarily as an exporter of raw materials, capturing minimal finished value.
In the modern economy, the inputs of power have shifted to compute, subsea fiber, power grids, and structured data. Without intentional architecture, the continent faces a parallel risk: digital extractivism, where operational and commercial data is harvested externally with minimal retained domestic value.
The Institute was founded on a sovereign thesis: foreign capital and technology are coming to Africa—the question is on what terms. We provide the frameworks, research, and advisory to ensure those terms create durable, mutual, and retained value within African economies.
Executive Leadership
Kennan Wright | Executive Director & Founder
Kennan Wright brings over two decades of senior international development and economic policy leadership across sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to founding the Institute, he directed multi-million-dollar economic growth and agricultural portfolios for the USAID Africa Bureau and the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).
His field leadership spans on-the-ground operational missions across Ghana, Cameroon, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. He is the author of Unlocking Momentum: A New Framework for Development in Africa and creator of the executive masterclass The Digital Industrial Revolution: AI, Data, and African Sovereignty.
Our Dual Mandate
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Public Thought Leadership: Publishing regular economic analysis on regional trade corridors, transboundary water systems, and infrastructure through the Africa Growth Forum.
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Commercial Strategic Advisory: Providing confidential, high-level counsel to corporate boards, infrastructure developers, and institutional investors deploying capital under the AfCFTA.
