Abstract: Demography will shape Africa’s future. Africa’s current population is 1.3 billion. Some forecast that, it will double by 2050. This essay contends that narratives about Africa tend to be negative. If Africa is home to 2.6 billion people, or a quarter of the world’s population, Africa will play a decisive role in shaping the future of the world. A number of socio-economic indicators support an African Century narrative, which would result in a shift from policies driven by perception to those driven by reality. The youth bulge in Africa, if managed properly is, for instance, not just a fuel for African economies, but also for the rest of the world, especially Europe. Chinese investors in Africa adjust to the local context extremely quickly, and are not perceived as expatriates having living standards way above the rest. They instill an entrepreneurial “can do” attitude against adversity. Chinese perception of risk is also very different from traditional western investors. These characteristics make China a good partner for the industrialization policies being pursued by African countries.