Africa is at the foothold of enormous economic growth. Africa offers the finest return on investment in the world. As was emphatically stated by the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the period 2006-2011 saw Africa return the highest rate on inflows of Foreign Direct Investment, that being 11.4%. This, in comparison to the 9.1% in Asia, 8.9% in Latin America and a similar figure in the Caribbean, it is evident that “now is the time to invest in Africa”. The Global figure stands at 7.1%.

Examples of exceptional return on investment in Africa:

Sonatrach – turnover from oil and gas alone exceeded $33 billion

MTN – turned in the region of $10 billion

Dangote Group – turnover was in excess of $4 billion

All of these figures were measured in 2017.

A variety of factors were identified as being key to Africa’s prospects that will see Africa as a pinnacle destination for investment from Europe, North America, Asia and Latin American investors.

The growth prospects in Africa are amongst the World’s liveliest.

It has been identified that six of the world’s twelve fastest-growing countries are to be found on the African continent, that being Ethiopia, DRC, Cote d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Tanzania and Rwanda. In the timespan between 2018 and 2023, Africa’s growth prospects are bound to be amongst the highest in the world according to the IMF. The continent offers bountiful opportunities in sectors such as banking, telecommunications and infrastructure which are amongst the drivers of the current spike in the economic growth of Africa. These factors create clear investment opportunities for foreign investors.

The growing youthful population in Africa as to an ageing population in most other established regions, institutes a formidable market.

It is predicted that the African continent will grow from 1.19 billion citizens in 2015 to more than  billion by 2100. Statistically, more than 2 million Africans entered the consumer goods market in 2015. Improving this rapidly expanding market size calls for active engagement in the structural and economic transformation in Africa.

The youthful population on the continent contributes to the abundant availability of labour, which in turn alleviates the potential for label intensive industrialisation. The consequent lowering of production cost will create a scenario where benefits will far outweigh the cost of doing business on the continent.

Although these figures are escalating, the hourly wage in Africa is less than 50c compared to $10.5 in the UK, $7.25 in the USA and $6.57 in Japan. The participation of more foreign companies will surely aid in raising the wage rates in Africa, improve the labour efficacy on the continent and generate additional opportunities for the unemployed.

Africa is rich in natural resources, promising an affluent future for the development of value change.

The mining and agricultural sectors represent kingpins on national, regional and global value chains. More than 55% of the world’s uncultivated arable land is to be found on the African continent. This apart, the continent produced 13% of global oil in 2015, a big step-up from 9% in 1998. As a statistical trend, the production of natural gas and oil between 1980 and 2012, saw an escalation from 53.4 billion barrels to 130.3 billion barrels of oil. The figures for natural gas are as impressive.  It is a known truth that African also controlled more than half of the world’s diamond resources as of 2012. The DRC accounted for more than 58% of the world’s cobalt, while South Africa accounted for close to 70% of the world’s platinum production in 2016. By simply adding value to these commodities through investment, the global economic participation of Africa will become paramount over the next five decades.

Africa; a beehive of agricultural importance.

Currently, the agricultural sector in Africa provides employment for 2/3 of the continent’s working population. That accounts for an average of roughly 30-60% of the gross domestic product and in the region of 30% of the export value.