The director of the African department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Abebe Aemro Selassie, considered on Saturday in an interview with Lusa that global investors have to look at Africa because the continent will play an increasingly preponderant role.
“Africa is going to have an increasingly important role, and that is why the private investor has to pay attention, otherwise he misses the next boat of growth,” said Abebe Selassie, when asked if the impact of the covid-19 pandemic has affected investors’ perception of the continent.
In the interview with Lusa granted by videoconference from Washington, the IMF headquarters, the director of the Africa department put forward several arguments to underline Africa’s importance to global investors.
“Africa’s GDP and population are the size of India, so you can’t have a global strategy without also having a strategy for Africa,” Selassie said, admitting that “an investor may look and think that it’s 54 economies and it’s too small, he may choose not to invest there, but he decides at his own risk because he may miss the next big source of growth and also of profit, frankly.”
Among the issues Selassie highlighted is the demographic developments in Africa, the youngest continent and one that will have the largest workforce in the coming decades.
“The demographic transition is underway. If an investor thinks about how to position his company ten years from now, if he thinks about how to sustain his business, he will see that the most abundant workforce is in Africa, since in 2030 half of those entering the workforce will be in sub-Saharan Africa, at a time when the working-age population will be shrinking in other regions of the world,” he commented.
In addition to this, the director of the Africa department also listed the growth not only of Africa’s middle class, but of the market itself.
“Perhaps even more importantly, if the investor is looking for consumer goods or construction goods, in fact the demand for all goods will come from Africa, so if you’re looking for a market you also have to look at the continent, the numbers are compelling, and the data is in, this is really going to happen,” he concluded.
