The outlook for Africa
remains positive despite
economies slowing down,
says Duncan Bonnett, a
director of African consultancy
firm Africa House.
“We keep reading the
headlines and hearing
about the doom and
the gloom but in fact
the outlook for Africa
is very positive,” he told
FTW. “There is a lot of
noise at the moment
about Africa slowing down and
that it still has more problems and
challenges but in fact the picture
is far healthier than one might
think.”
He said whilst the World Bank
was estimating growth of around
3% for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
at present, if one took South
Africa out of the equation the rest
of the SSA would be growing at
around 4%.
“If we then take Nigeria and
Angola out of the picture, as both
these economies have been really
hard hit by the low oil
price, then the growth
for the rest of SSA is
around 5.5%.”
He said this was far
more positive than
negative.
“The good news is
often drowned out by
headlines of the doom mongering
– and far too many people are
fixated on the negative. In fact
it is one region in the world
where there are still very good
opportunities to be found.”
He said analysis undertaken
earlier this year was in fact
forecasting growth of up to 10%
for SSA in the next decade.
“And we are seeing this at
ground level in the countries
where we work. If you look at
investment in manufacturing
at the moment and just take a
snapshot of SSA, then there are at
least 75 greenfield or brownfield
cement projects under way right
now. That is enormous,” he said.
“It means that we are more than
doubling the SSA cement capacity
every two years. The knock-on
effect of that is just as huge as
not only is the quality of available
cement better but we are also
improving on the cost of it. That
means we can build better across
SSA whether it is a small house or
a hydropower dam.”
The African story, said Bonnett,
was a positive one that would
remain so for years to still come.
INSERT
10% Projected growth for SSA
in the next decade.
‘Africa outlook healthier than one might think’
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