The Connectivity Gap: Unlocking Global South Growth

For centuries, economic prosperity was powered by expanding globalisation. Now, as global growth plateaus, much of the Global South remains under-integrated into the world economy. Across many large developing countries, vast regions still lack adequate maritime, rail, and digital infrastructure. Ironically, these same areas hold the bulk of critical mineral reserves—yet without local processing, their value is exported as unrefined raw materials. Sub-Saharan Africa alone contains about 30 percent of known reserves, with the DRC producing over 70 percent of global cobalt, but earning only a fraction of final product revenues. Reversing this trend demands major global capital investment in connectivity to drive domestic manufacturing, strengthen regional value chains, and sustain global demand in the decades ahead.

Can large-scale and sustained investments in connectivity assist manufacturing and supply chain building in frontier economies?

What should be the role of multilateral bodies and public-private partnerships in facilitating this transformation?

What are the major economic, political and capacity challenges in planning, financing and building infrastructure in frontier regions?

Speakers

Kekeli Ahiable, Advisor, Trade and Infrastructure, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, United Kingdom

Kyungjin Song, Executive Director, Innovative Economy, Perth-USAsia Centre, Republic of Korea

Moderator

Balázs Sárvári, Senior Lecturer, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary

#geopolitics #india #globalsouth #capetownconversation