According to Forbes, there’s an ongoing drastic shift towards financial sustainability currently taking place in Africa. Consequently, many financial analysts are being led to call it the next emerging market. Africa is the emerging continent, and the growth potential is glaring for everyone with foresight to see.
How Africa is growing.
- Africa’s stock markets are flourishing!
- In the past few years, funds focusing on sub-Saharan Africa are on a bullish trend.
- Based on current trends, Africa’s stock markets are considerably vast than those of Central Europe, and Russia when they broached to foreign investors in the 1990s. Africa’s stock market is currently seating at over $100 billion.
- Until 1989, only 5 Sub-Saharan African countries had stock markets. As at today, there are more than 19 stock exchanges in Africa, including countries like Zambia, Nigeria, Namibia, Botswana, Malawi, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, Cote D’Ivoire, and Egypt.
- In only 10 years (2010 – 2020), the capitalization of African stock markets more than doubled.
- The inflation rate in Africa is substantially under control, with the exception of Sudan 197.1%, Zimbabwe 99.3% and South Sudan 40%. Read more here about Africa: inflation rate by country 2021 | Statista
- The economic growth rates have been amplified through the rapid increase in the use of mobile phones.
- Banking services are becoming distended to serve the rising middle class.
- The amount of foreign investment and loans to Africa have soared to over $120 billion since 2015.
- Many countries like Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Botswana, Nigeria and Mozambique have been raised to a higher standard of “emerging markets” by the IMF.
Man Power Statistics on Africa.
The data below would be very informative to young Africans who are aspiring for success. Perhaps, if more people had this information, they would be blown away by the potential of the current and future African marketplace, and possibly take advantage of it
As per the United Nations population counter, the current population of Africa is 1.38 billion as of Tuesday, August 24, 2021. This means Africa’s population is equivalent to 16.72% of the total world’s population.
Africa ranks number 2 among regions of the world (roughly equivalent to “continents”), ordered by population.
The graph below is a beautiful infographic representation of that information.
Moreover, it is worth mentioning that the reason why immigration is encouraged by countries like Canada and Germany is because of their growing aging population. They have a very high percentage of people above the age of 65 who can no longer be a part of the work force. Countries depend on their workforce in order to build and grow their economies.
Africa’s population trend, compared to that of the G7, is evidence that Africa has a competitive advantage in terms of man power.
The Sweet spot about Africa’s growing population.
Firstly, as represented in the graph above, in a few years time Africa’s population will be doubled.
Secondly, Africa will also have the youngest population, with the fastest rate of urbanisation.
Thirdly, the young population growth rate implies that, there’ll be a growing demand for a variety of goods and services.
Thanks to the surging economies, popularity in education and disposable income, there’ll be high demand for things like restaurants, apparel, transportation, tourism, infrastructure, telecommunication, beauty products and much more.
In conclusion, despite the optimism and promising results brought forth by the continent, it is unlikely for Africa (as a whole) to grow as quickly as Asia or even Latin America.
However, “the best investment opportunities lie where perception differs from reality”.
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