During the engaging session, Mack emphasized the different ways that technology has and continues to enable Africa to skip steps in development, specifically, how IT assists in improving logistics, climate forecasting, pricing, marketing, and connecting Africans to international markets to name just a few examples.

“Technology,” Andrew explained, “is also changing Africa’s social economy." The reason is that “technology jobs tend to skew more toward youth and address issues of youth unemployment. Technology has no ethnicity, no regional bias and no gender, making it a perfect meeting ground for interest groups and people of all backgrounds.”

However, he stressed just how much more work needs to be done, saying that the development community is not taking IT seriously enough. "Currently, IT is not really one of the top priorities. There is a focus on traditional infrastructure, and an emotional and legitimate push for health and schools. However, we know the limitations of both of these paths, and it appears that at least in Africa, we're not getting the big improvements we're hoping for. Tech can help us pick up the pace and create jobs. I think it’s time we put a real push on.”

The Africa Business Forum was hosted at the IMF Headquarters in Washington, DC and provided an opportunity for potential investors to learn how to work in Africa, encourage partnerships between the public and private sector, and enable new business opportunities in IT, finance, agribusiness, energy, travel and tourism.