Lions and lines. In the Western world, the mere mention of the word "Africa" conjures up two enduring images: lions, as in beasts roaming an unspoiled savannah; and lines, unending queues of silent, starving people, waiting for harried aid workers to dole out a meager cup of corn or rice.

To be sure, there are significant pockets of poverty on the sprawling continent, but no more than in other parts of the developing—and developed—world. Yes, cyclical droughts do cause strain on food reserves, which has led to starvation. And yes, war-torn areas do exacerbate trafficking and slavery. You can't take a simplistic view of Africa—but you also can't paint the entire continent with a broad brush of despair, doubt and derision. Plainly put: The so-called cradle of civilization has significant success stories and untapped business potential, as well as economic growth.

The numbers don't lie. According to statistics developed by The Economist and the International Monetary Fund, seven of the 10 fastest-growing economies into 2015 will be African nations (Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Zambia and Nigeria). And that is after the joint research showed that the overall fastest-growing economy based on GDP from 2001 to 2010 wasn't China or India, but Angola.

In fact, in that time span, six of the top 10 fastest-growing economies were of African nations. Pool together African nations of the sub-Saharan region and the numbers are equally impressive: The region's GDP growth rate of 5.7 percent in the decade placed only second to Asia (7.9 percent) and handily beat Latin America (3.3 percent).

And the combined GDP was USD1.6 trillion in 2008, the last year for which the World Bank has tracked data. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, that will increase to USD2.6 trillion by the year 2020. Layered on that: an estimated USD860 billion worth of consumer spending in Africa.

So why are the images of lions and lines the prevalent ones of Africa? "There is a perception problem in the Western world about Africa," says Anton Roux, CEO, Aon South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. "I think two things Africa falters on, in general, are wide-scale public relations and branding efforts. For example, if you go back to the global economic meltdown in 2008, there wasn't a single bank on the African continent, to my knowledge, that failed. But these types of stories just don't get out."

Stephen Cross, CEO, Aon Global Risk Consulting, agrees. "People see and hear about Africa in the media, which provides an exaggerated and sensationalized viewpoint of poverty and political conflict for ratings," he says. "It's more localized than the impression that is given. That sort of coverage damages the ability of a country to attract multinational business and, more importantly, people willing to come in and help run multinational business. If there's an impression, real or imaginary, around the political stability of the location, asset allocation becomes a challenge."

'Open for business'

Carol Pineau knows Africa intimately, first as a reporter for outlets such as CNN, and then as a radio host on African issues in Paris. She also created Africa Open for Business, a film documentary that was screened at the Cannes Film Festival as a counterpoint to negative media attention and the typical portrayal of a continent of lions and lines.

"There was a frustration that there were good things happening on the continent and yet all media people ever wanted to talk about were refugees and conflict," she says, speaking of the impetus for her film. So her film outlines a different Africa: one of stock indexes, burgeoning cities, infrastructure and opportunity.

Besides trying to correct media—and public—misperception, Pineau also takes to task nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) whose sole operational purpose is in collecting and dispensing aid.

"The whole NGO focus of showing starving babies has become the iconic image of Africa," she says. "The problem is that every country in the world that's gotten out of poverty has done so through trade and investment, not donations. And when all you show are starving babies, you certainly won't be attracting trade and investment. Donations are only a band-aid effect. It will never really change the continent."