Hanna Tetteh, Ghana's minister for trade and industry. Photos by Feng Yongbin / China Daily

"It is not as straightforward as that, however. Manufacturing is not just about cheap labor anymore. We have had some successes in this area with countries like Kenya, in particular, doing well."

Some argue that whatever path they take, Africans themselves are culturally different and cannot adapt to the work ethic that drives Western and Asian economies.

Verhoeven at Oxford University rejects this view.

"I don't think there is an inherent cultural problem in African countries, that they appear to be lazy etc. I think all this has a lot to do with the conditions they find themselves in," he says.

He says the problem for entrepreneurs is that they are operating in a market where regulations and the rule of law are often weak.

"I know some people who run a business who know that if they work harder, 95 percent of that money will be confiscated off them by a rival business elite which will get the court to take over their business. You cannot blame a guy for not working hard in that situation."

Grimm at StellenboschUniversity says one of the reasons Africa will find it difficult to replicate the development that took place in China is that they lack the diaspora of wealthy of overseas Chinese, who played a major role in the early stages of China's development after reform and opening up.

"The African diaspora tend to be younger and many of them don't have wealth to invest. There are supposed to be more nurses in London from Malawi than there are actually in Malawi.

"There is some evidence of people returning to Ghana wherever there is an opportunity in their own country but the numbers are not great."

With the tropical rain crashing down outside his office, one of Africa's new generation of thinkers James Shikwati, director of the Inter Region Economic Network think tank, says Africa should not make any choice between a Western or Eastern mode of development.

"We are in a unique position to gain from both sides. If we are able to negotiate between them right we hit the goal," he says.

Contact the writers at: andrewmoody@chinadaily.com.cn and zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn