Over the past decade, Africa has thrown an “economic party” for the world. Impressive growth rates have been registered across the continent. Add that to the ever increasing population, growing urbanization and a rising middle class and you can understand why international investors are clamouring to reserve a VIP slot.
The United States has made significant commitments to Africa over the past couple of days that the U.S‐Africa Leaders Summit has been holding in Washington.
These commitments are triggered by the compelling opportunities on the African continent and, possibly, a desire to outpace China.
Historically, the US has been a major investor in Africa’s information technology, manufacturing and resources sectors but trade flows between both regions cannot be said to be particularly high. Mr Sim Tshabalala, CEO of the Standard Bank Group ‐ Africa’s biggest bank by assets ‐ reveals that US‐Africa trade stood at some $110 billion last year while trading between China and Africa surpassed $200 billion in the same year. “In that sense, the US plan to revitalize its commercial and trade links with Africa couldn’t come at a more opportune time,” he said.[eap_ad_2]
Long before this new interest by the United States, the European region and the BRICS have been “dancing” in Africa’s party. According to Tshabalala, Africa’s trading with
China, India and Brazil now accounts for 25 percent of African global trade, 22 years ago this figure stood at 3 percent. Firms from India, Brazil and South Africa continue to expedite their expansion in Africa while some one million Chinese nationals live and work in Africa building infrastructure and facilitating trade between both regions.
However, lots of opportunities remains abound for the world’s biggest economy. Africa still has a huge infrastructure gap, a need for aggressive leadership development and regional integration. “US companies can do very well in Africa provided they put in the effort to understand the continent’s markets in detail, rather than looking at the continent as a single, homogenous entity,” said Mr Tshabalala.
With properly positioned investments and partnerships, the US can also get to “dance” in the ongoing “African party. (VENTURES AFRICA)[eap_ad_3]