21st World Economic Forum kicks off in Cape Town

The 21st World Economic Forum meeting on Africa kicked off in Cape Town today with foreign business leaders saying the continent was on the verge of unprecedented growth and one African warning that the momentum could easily be lost.

Around 900 delegates including six heads of state have registered for the three-day talkfest, which is an offshoot of the annual WEF meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Robert Greenhill, managing director of the privately funded forum, told an opening press conference that Africa was breaking out of poverty and stagnation and presenting new models of leadership and new ways to solve problems.

"Africa is poised potentially to enter a new period of unprecedented growth. There is a dynamism that goes beyond the resource boom," he said.

Eskom chairman Mpho Makwana, one of six co-chairmen of the meeting, said each successful event hosted in Africa, such as the FIFA soccer world cup, helped to build the continent's reputation for economic stability and business potential.

But Nigerian businessman Jubril Adewale Tinubu, group CEO of Oando plc and also a co-chairman of the event, cautioned the continent's development remained vulnerable.

"Africa is quite unusual in the sense that there is a common trend of problems across the country, but very very different ways in which different countries have resolved them.

"If we do not continue to focus on the positive trends which have created this increased economic stability around the continent then we face the challenge of simply regressing," he said.

The forum runs until Friday and includes several sessions in which President Jacob Zuma, Pravin Gordhan, the finance minister, and economic planning ministers Ebrahim Patel and Trevor Manual will participate.