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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cogito Ergo Sum who wrote (67194)	10/14/2010 12:52:10 PM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 219176

USD magnet: African Renaissance must be resurrected: African’s must chart their own course forward, despite the enormous impediments. A true African Renaissance will be driven by innovation and entrepreneurship which requires two crucial elements: the availability of skills and access to no strings attached capital. What is Africa’s biggest economic strength? Paul Kibuuka is CEO and Director of Tax Services at Kibuuka Consulting Group, where he strategically and proactively advises management and shareholders of Multi-National Enterprises (MNEs) and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on tax aspects of investments, operations and of cross-border holding structures and transactions within Uganda and East Africa. He recently posted a discussion topic on the social and business networking site, LinkedIn where he posed the question: What is Africa’s biggest economic strength? The responses have been diverse and reveal the complexities of not only how those outside of Africa perceive Africa, its challenges and its opportunities but also it highlights that there is no single solution to a lot of the issues raised. A common thread, however, was the response that Africa’s biggest economic strength is its population and people and its mineral and natural resources. AFRICA’S POPULATION Most of the contributors to this discussion agreed that Africa’s population remains one of the biggest and most underused economic strength of the continent. It was also pointed out that Africa is a large consumer market currently and that this will grow in the coming years leading to huge business opportunities for years to come. But then, the questions arose about the ELIGBLE population – a continent with over 900 million, what percentage are eligible consumers who can afford premium priced brands and that only about 10% of Africa’s wealth is actually banked with 40% of it being banked elsewhere (off the continent) Comparisons between Africa and India and China were rife – and gave this discussion and added dimension. The first counter-argument to this was that Africa is a consolidation of 53 countries, each with its own Government and policies while India and China are countries. It was offered that India is ‘completely over hyped’ and that with the caste system India is just as fragmented as the 53 states of Africa. In addition some members of the discussion felt that India’s FDI environment was not friendly to investors at all. Africa’s population was justified as being strength since by 2014 it is predicted that the workforce will be over 1 billion – the biggest in the world. The large young population of Africa can help to shift Africa to a knowledge based economy and a future destination of human resource development and outsourcing. NATURAL RESOURCES Second to Africa’s population is undoubtedly the abundance of natural resources in Africa : minerals, water, land, oil and gas. Challenges abound however as to how African countries and more importantly indigenous people can harness this and create wealth and development. Suggested solutions were varied. One perspective was that what was key was to make sure that beneficiation of Africa’s resources takes place in Africa, and taking it one step further, ensuring that African’s and local business were engaged in this. There was consensus that there was potential in sustainably managed agribusiness where smallholders are the strength of the value chain., however it was also noted that there is currently a ‘land grab’ occurring in many African countries, where foreign nations are buying up large tracts of land to grow food for import back to their home countries. Land is available and many countries have the potential to become sustainable food producers. Africa may have the natural resources, however without scientific planning this will amount to nothing if there are no people to harness it and convert it into wealth. AFRO-CENTRIC SOLUTIONS In the mainstream media, Africa is depicted as full of strife, hunger, disease and war. It is an opportune time for an African think-tank that can provide African solutions to the challenges facing the continent. African’s have to create their own unique solutions that safeguard culture and the environment are acceptable to the diverse people who inhabit the continent. Many participants in this discussion raised the issue of the African Diaspora as being a positive force in Africa’s development. The Diaspora can be part of Africa’s ‘brain-gain’ and countries like Kenya and Ghana are succeeding in attracting back the Diaspora in numbers. It may also be a time to both embrace the technology available and at the same time trust in the knowledge and culture of traditional Africa and tap into what can also be seen (indigenous knowledge) as a huge strength for Africa and African society. If African’s cannot organize, one view is that they will be swallowed wholesale by ‘predators’ such as multi-national corporations, speculators, governments, churches, NGO’s and anyone else ‘steeped in good intentions’ . One person offered that the good news is that there was a ‘third way’ for Africans: their own. A final angle is that the vision of an African Renaissance must be resurrected: African’s must chart their own course forward, despite the enormous impediments. A true African Renaissance will be driven by innovation and entrepreneurship which requires two crucial elements: the availability of skills and access to no strings attached capital.