On October 1, during its 16th Annual Meeting, the Valdai Discussion Club held a special session titled "Africa: Prospects, Opportunities, Risks, Threats".
After the end of the Cold War and ideological confrontation, Africa dropped off the radar of global politics. However, this relative oblivion did not last long. A lot of diverse demographic, social, religious-ideological, economic, and political processes are unfolding there. Strong population growth, generational change among its leaders, growth of national ambitions combined with increasingly bitter competition of external powers for economic opportunities make Africa a very dynamic, promising, but also highly explosive territory.