The business and investment community are beginning to become aware of the growing opportunities in Africa. Here is what just a few highly regarded experts and institutions are saying.
Five reasons why Kenya and Africa Should Take Off – Wold Bank, May 2, 2012
- Asia is growing richer and becoming more expensive. Outsourcers and importers will increasingly turn to Africa to glean the advantages they enjoyed in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
- Africa will be the new demographic powerhouse of the world, with the working age population expanding more rapidly than any other continent on the planet.
- Africa is quickly becoming urban, with most countries increasing urbanization by 1 percent each year.
- Expansion in education is paying off. Africans are better educated today than they were twenty years ago.
- Economic policies have substantially improved.
(Read the entire World Bank article at here)
Michael Spencer, founder and CEO of Smart Money LLC, says “The people of Africa are currently experiencing the fastest adoption of new technology ever witnessed in human history. More exciting still, is that this explosive adoption of modern technology is sparking a wildfire of entrepreneurialism across the continent. Two of the most important emerging fields fueling the fire are ‘social entrepreneurialism’ and ‘impact investing.’ These new fields provide more sustainable models for development than traditional humanitarian projects by focusing on maintaining profitability and positive social impact simultaneously.” Huffington Post, April 29, 2012. (read expanded article at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-spencer/africa-development_b_1462732.html)
Greg Barker, Director and Head of Investment Research at Sustainable Capital says Africa’s growing middle class is a Demographic Freight Train. Unlike other, often unreliable predictors of future economic growth, demographic trends have proven to be excellent predictors of future economic growth, Barker reports. The acceleration in the growth of the middle class in countries like Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa and Morocco are similar to the that of the United States in the 1960s. View this April 16, 2012 interview on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2LFmQMKzFc
Moody Corporation says, “Buoyed by strong domestic economic activity and elevated commodity prices, Sub-Saharan Africa’s (SSA’s) economy is expected to expand by 5.4% in 2012, up from 5.1% the previous year. Continued strong growth will help bolster SSA’s economic resiliency and, in turn, will attract growing investments into more diverse sectors of the region’s economy,” (Read the complete article. http://africainvestor.com/article.asp?id=10310)
“Farmers are going to be driving Lamborghinis and stock brokers will be driving taxis,” says legendary investor Jim Rogers. With the world’s population vaulting over the 7 billion mark last year more attention is being drawn to the future population increase and availability of food. Some are saying food will become the new oil. Some African nations have significant fertile farmland that is not producing up to it postential. Investments in land and technology that will boost the out put are poised to bring rich profits. Listen to this enthralling interview. http://www.globalaginvesting.com/downloads/audio/Greg-Mellinger-Interview-with-Jim-Rogers.mp3
Africa has many opportunities for business start-ups, partnerships, and investment. The continent’s build up to become the new Asia in the economic arena is in its early stages. Successfully entering into the African environment requires accurate research and experienced understanding of Africa culture.
Richard Chowning, Director of Africa Mentor, has more than 40 years experience in Africa. He has spent most of his life among African peoples and trained scores of Americans to work on the continent.
Some of the areas in which Africa Mentor can help you take advantage of African opportunities are:
- Preform due diligence research on African investment funds and venture capital opportunities with African entrepreneurs.
- Facilitate partnerships with Africa businesses
- Acquire quality outsourcing in Africa
- Coach and advise U.S. entrepreneurs in establishing businesses in Africa
- For more information about Richard Chowning and Africa Mentor see:
http://africamentor.com/
http://africamentor.com/blog/
Read Richard’s columns in the African Business Review:
African tech entrepreneurs promoted by Startup Weekends May, 2012
Kenya’s produce purchasing agents ride innovation wave April, 2012
Fareed Zein’s contribution to the birth of South Sudan February, 2012
Africa Mentor Contact Information:
email: richard@africamentor.com
phone: 903 624-4292
pdf copy of this document at http://africamentor.com/africanopportunities.pdf
