Attractiveness and challenges
• Africa seen as the last frontier of growth
• ME opportunities often focused on oil and property
• Resources remain important, but Africa is slowly diversifying, with over 60% of growth
coming from non-traditional sectors – retail, manufacturing, financial services, telecoms, real
estate, tourism etc
• Geo-political risks (events in North Africa and the Middle East)
• Doing business in emerging markets requires a long-term commitment and a steady hand as risks may appear overwhelming at times.
Interesting facts
• As most economies contracted during recession, Africa’s GDP expanded by 2% in 2009, while
GDP dropped 4% in the US, 2.8% in the EU and 1.5% in Latin America
• Emerging markets out paced the developed markets with GDP growth of at least 6%
compared to global GDP growth of about 2.5% excluding the “shadow economies”
• Urbanisation: 40% of Africans live in the cities (67% or 1 billion by 2050, creating economies
of conglomeration. 52 cities in Africa have over 1 million people, and growing
• Africa entering a ‘take-off’ phase, due largely to a positive mix of socio-political and economic
forces (Democracy, fiscal discipline)
• FDI in Africa has increased from USD15 billion to USD 80 billion in 8 years
See the presentation here.
