Editor's note: Caroline Kende-Robb is Executive Director of the Africa Progress Panel. Chaired by former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, the Panel is a group of 10 distinguished individuals who advocate for equitable and sustainable development in Africa.
(CNN) -- A decade after Angola emerged from devastating civil war, the sea front road that winds around the bay of its capital, Luanda, is now dotted with multi-million dollar condominiums, exclusive clubs, and boutique stores catering for the country's elite.
Most of Luanda's population, however, live in the nearby slums, where health facilities are non-existent and children must work, not study, to survive.
Africa's natural resource wealth has certainly fueled a decade of rapid growth, but most Africans have still not seen the benefits. More urgently, rapid population growth combined with deepening inequality could one day prove explosive.
It does not have to be this way, of course. Botswana successfully used its diamond wealth to develop quickly, growing from one of Africa's poorest countries at independence in 1966 to become a democratic, stable, and upper middle-income country. But countries such as Ghana and Liberia have also made impressive strides towards better natural resource management in recent years.With surging global demand keeping export prices high and new exploration revealing larger reserves than were previously known, Africa stands to reap a windfall from its natural resources.
The challenge is to translate this wealth into meaningful benefit for African citizens.