Emerging African economic think tank, the Africapitalism Institute, will hold its inaugural board meeting on Wednesday in Abuja, Nigeria.

The institute, founded by Nigerian billionaire and Chairman of proprietary investment firm Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, was established in May 2014 with the aim of promoting an economically progressive Africa that is championed by the private sector.

The buzz surrounding the innovative concept, which canvasses for a comprehensive transformation of the continent through long-term investments in strategic sectors, has already attracted high calibre economic leaders such as Dr Jim O’Neill, creator of the terms “BRIC” and “MINT”, Jose Maria Aznar, Former Prime Minister of Spain, and Matthew Bishop, Globalization Editor of The Economist, to its board room; all of which will be present in its first ever executive meeting.

While the bulk of the Institute’s work thus far has been in emphasizing the private sector’s role in driving Africa’s growth, the Board will also discuss the forthcoming Africapitalism Index – a ground breaking, annual analysis of the way African economies are growing. The index, though long in the making, is the first of its kind.

To be launched later this year, the Index will take the global discussion about the African economic story several layers deeper, through a detailed benchmarking of the key drivers — and barriers – of growth. By quantifying and ranking economies based on how “Africapitalist” they are, or aren’t, the Index will establish a standard by which countries and other indices related to Africa are judged going forward.