Africa gets better connected – report

Global connectedness, measured by international flows of trade, capital, information and people, has yet to recover to its pre-crisis peak in 2007, according to the second edition of the DHL Global Connectedness Index (GCI). Drawing on over one million data points from 2005 to 2011, the index found that global connectedness grew robustly from the report’s baseline year of 2005 to 2007, and then dropped sharply at the onset of the financial crisis. Subsequent gains have been “modest”. Except in Africa. The countries with the largest increases in their global connectedness scores from 2010 to 2011 are Mozambique, Togo, Ghana, Guinea and Zambia – all of which are located in sub- Saharan Africa. South Africa is the Sub- Saharan leader, in 48th position overall – up three places from 2010, but only slightly higher than its best position in 2005. While this region remains the world’s least connected, it averaged the largest connectedness increases between 2010 and 2011, according to the report. The Netherlands retained its 2010 position as the world’s most connected country. Of the top ten most connected countries in 2011, nine of them are located in Europe – the world’s most connected region. Singapore is the only non-European country in the top 10. Countries with the “broadest connections” with the rest of the world are the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. According to Charles Brewer, managing director of DHL Express in sub- Saharan Africa, the report also shows that intra-Africa trade continues to lag far behind its European and Asian counterparts. An example is that only 7% of South Africa’s imports, and 16% of its exports are intra-regional. “If we want to improve this interconnectivity, we need to look at the ease of doing business across borders in the region and work towards regional trade agreements, customs improvements and border efficiencies, to name just a few.”