The rhetoric surrounding Africa, or at least the continent's economic development, appears to be changing.

Despite the ongoing global economic turmoil, a number of African nations have been making impressive strides in their development, a point underscored by The Economist's decision recently to run a leader describing Africa as the "hopeful continent," drawing a clear contrast to its cover story "The Hopeless Continent" a decade ago.

And the continent's leaders are now looking east for their inspiration. Rwandan President Paul Kagame, for example, has said he hopes to eventually transform his country's economy into the "Singapore of Central Africa." Such sentiments tap into the vast and growing repository of Afro-optimism, an optimism that sees sustained economic growth as the future, even as the north of the continent is embroiled in domestic political turmoil and uprisings.

So, is it Africa's time to replicate the economic growth feats of Asia? This may seem like a herculean task, but given the recent economic gains made in countries like Ghana, which posted 13.5 percent growth last year as it casts off the failed economic policies of the 1980s and 1990s, as well as the success of recent BRICS addition South Africa, there's now hope for an "African miracle."

But if Asia is the guide for Africa's economic miracle, then the Asian foundations of a strong state and supporting institutions must be made a reality in Africa. The examples of China and Japan loom large in the minds of many African leaders and elites. Yet in contrasts with these two Asian giants, the post-independent African state is still encumbered with significant structural weaknesses, a lack of professionalism and an excess of cronyism, patronage and other corrupt practices that would make even officials involved in some of China's most notorious cases of corruption blush. This lingering image has undermined efforts to settle on a positive economic agenda in Africa, even when visionary leaders of developmentally-oriented states such as Mauritius and Botswana have emerged.

David Fuller's view Africa has benefited considerably from globalisation, mainly as an exporter of commodities to China and other Asian countries. This has given Africa a base upon which it can build. Since most of Africa's countries can be described as frontier markets, they will offer cyclical opportunities for investors, as Eoin has previously discussed (Click on the 'Search' Facility shown in the menu upper left, fourth item down and type Africa in the box provided).

For Africa to become the next Asia, it would require the same social cohesion, mercantilist tradition and emphasis on education.