Dr Nik Eberl is the founder and executive chair: The Future of Jobs Summit™ (Official T20 Side Event). He is also the author of Nation of Champions: How South Africa won the World Cup of Destination Branding).
South Africans often ask what is wrong with our country. Perhaps a better question is: What are we building together? Throughout history, the world's most successful nations have not been defined by the challenges they faced, but by the projects they chose to pursue.
In 1961, United States President John F. Kennedy challenged America to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade. At the time, the goal seemed impossible. Yet the Apollo programme became far more than a space mission. It united a nation around innovation, ambition and belief in the future.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany embarked on one of the most ambitious nation-building projects in modern history: the reunification of East and West Germany. The task was not merely economic. It was social, cultural and psychological. It required a shared commitment to building a common future.
Singapore transformed itself from a small island with few natural resources into one of the world's most competitive economies. Rwanda rebuilt itself after one of the darkest chapters in modern history through a deliberate focus on national renewal and citizen participation.
