Africa Strategic Growth
To do business well in Africa today requires more than traditional economic analysis. It requires an understanding that Africa is a very diverse continent, with a vast array of different social structures, political systems, economies, products and markets.
For this reason, there is no single African growth story. And no business that seeks to operate across the continent can pursue a single African growth strategy. Africa is simply too large and too diverse. Yet, despite all this variety, most African economies share common features. Most are reliant on the extraction and export of raw materials. Most are constrained by inadequate infrastructure, low skills levels and limited industrial capacity.
This exposes many African economies to fluctuations in commodity prices and depressed global demand. The lack of industrial capacity means that many African countries are unable to extract sufficient value from their natural resources. They are not able to realise the potential benefits for job creation, improved export earnings and inclusive growth.
That is the part of the African story we know well. But the African story is changing. Africa’s future depends not so much on the rise of commodity prices but on the expansion and development of its human capital. A continent of over a billion people, Africa is said to have the fastest-growing middle class in the world. Opportunities that were not available a mere generation ago, are now within reach of millions more people.
More Africans are educated, more are employed, more own assets. Africa has a young and rapidly expanding workforce. Over the next few decades, as many other countries grapple with the challenges of an ageing workforce, Africa has the potential to become the most vibrant, innovative and productive region in the world. But to achieve this potential, African countries – individually and collectively – need to pursue deliberate political, social and economic measures. Many of these measures are described in the African Union’s Agenda 2063. And many of them are being implemented.
