Africa: emerging market of the 21st century
July 15, 2010 Leave a Comment
As the Economist recently reported, Africa has in the last ten years gone from being the ‘hopeless continent’ to something of a powerhouse of economic growth.
Annual output across Africa grew by 4.9% between 2000 and 2008, twice as fast as in the 1980s and 1990s and faster than the global average of 3.8%. Foreign direct investment is higher in Africa than in India and is rapidly approaching levels seen in China. And growth has happened outside the natural resources sector, in services and agribusiness.
Economic growth is pushing up standards of living, to the extent that around 200 million Africans will enter the market for consumer goods in the next five years. It is hardly surprising that the world’s largest consumer good firms are pouring into the continent, which for them is simultaneously a source of cheap labour and a growing base of consumers. As discussed in previous posts, innovation is thriving in a continent where few markets are saturated, and where products and services can be consumed in new, more efficient ways: a source of valuable lessons for the West.
There is a lot that Western companies and individuals can learn from Africa. Let us help you to learn it directly!
