The discovery of oil has turned Ghana into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Ghana knows it has plenty to do to ensure the commodity remains a blessing but the early signs are good.

Ghana’s finance minister, Kwabena Duffuor, is focusing on maintaining the economy’s momentum. He is also at the forefront of efforts to ensure the country’s recently discovered oil riches are not squandered.

Ghana is making plenty of effort to diversify its economy. But cocoa, gold and oil will have the biggest impact on the economy in the coming years, so for now the country is reaping the benefits of high global prices for these commodities.

Egypt continues to be blighted by internal turmoil, but new prime minister Essam Sharaf says the future is bright, in spite of the challenges.

High oil prices have put Angola in an economic position that is the envy of most developing countries. However, Angola has been in this situation before. This time its government is vowing not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

A fall in oil prices brought Angola to its knees two years ago. A deal with the IMF has helped the economy to stabilise and signs of growth can be seen in Luanda, but to avoid a repeat of such economic hardship, more structural reforms are needed to make the country attractive for business.

Angola is increasingly attracting foreign investment, as companies start to look beyond the nation's onerous bureaucracy to its strong investment potential, political stability and increasing transparency.

New measures have been put in place to ensure Angola's local economy benefits from moves allowing international oil companies to develop the country's newly licensed deep-water reserves.

It has been a long time coming, but bankers are hoping Angola will be finally be able to issue sovereign bonds and raise at least $500m on the Eurobond market, thanks to the country's recent strong economic performance.