Growth despite security threats

Security threats are no longer inhibiting growth in Africa where business is booming. According to George Bennet, senior consultant for Control Risks, whilst high security risks traditionally prevented growth in countries the exact opposite is being experienced across Africa. With at least six of the fastest economies in the world currently in Africa, threats posed by security risks no longer inhibit growth. “Nigeria is a good example of a country that poses a high-level security risk yet is showing tremendous growth,” says Bennet. “Even though there are concerns with political instability and civil unrest, the economy is continuing to show positive growth.” In 2014 Nigeria officially overtook South Africa as the biggest economy on the continent, despite serious security risks thanks to the terrorism activities of groups such as Boko Haram. “What one will see is that companies will invest in securing these potentially insecure markets. While in the past they would have avoided these high-risk areas now they are being proactive about the risk and handling the situation from that point,” said Bennet. He said more South African companies – in light of the slow domestic growth – would also be stepping into these higher security risk regions.