About this report
Harith believes in the considerable potential of the African continent. Africa has weathered the global economic downturn in superior fashion compared to Europe and the USA, and as the second largest continent on the globe in terms of area and population, is poised for exponential growth. Supporting this prospect are continually improving regulatory conditions and governance.
Here are the statistics – of the world’s 15 fastest growing economies in 2011, 11 emerged from Africa with Ghana at the top at 12,2% GDP growth, notably ahead of China. As a continent Africa is forecasting real GDP growth of 4,5% for 2012. Considering that the most important metric of investment opportunity is GDP, African countries which have recorded strong economic growth should be attractive destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. FDI is currently estimated at US$40 billion annually and the World Bank expects a five-fold increase to US$200 billion per annum by 2020.
However, lack of infrastructure is a severe constraint to growth. The private sector has a pivotal role (not to mention responsibility) in developing infrastructure as African governments require global capital to help realise their objectives in this regard.
