Contributor(s): Trevor Manuel, Professor Francesco Caselli | This public lecture is part of Growth Week 2013 which takes place at LSE from 23-25 September organised by the International Growth Centre. There will be two further public lectures featuring Professor Paul Collier and Professor Abhijit Banerjee. More information about these can be found at Growth Week 2013. Trevor Manuel, current minister in the Presidency and head of the South African National Planning Commission will be speaking on the opening night of Growth Week. Trevor Manuel was the South African minister of finance from 1996-2009 during the presidencies of Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe. He was a member of the ANC's National Executive Committee from 1991 to 2012. Among many international posts, he has chaired the International Monetary Fund's Development Committee, served as special envoy for Development Finance for UN Secretaries-General Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-Moon, and served on the Commission for Africa and the task team on Global Public Goods. In 2011 he became a co-chair of the Transitional Committee of the Green Climate Fund, a UN fund to help poorer nations combat and adapt to climate change. Mr Manuel has received numerous honorary doctorates and awards, being named Africa Finance Minister of the Year in 2007. Francesco Caselli is the Norman Sosnow Professor of Economics at LSE.