{{ThankGod Agbagu views the paved roads and skyscrapers that have sprung up in Lagos, Africa\u2019s largest city, as the signs of a brighter future.}}<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s development, progress,\u201d the 30-year-old tailor said in a July 30 phone interview from Nigeria\u2019s commercial capital. \u201cI definitely see many opportunities out there. Things may not really get better in my lifetime but maybe it will for those that come after us.\u201d<\/p>\n
A two-decade surge in growth in Africa suggests the poorest continent is starting to come to grips with its challenges and has raised the prospect of the \u201cAfrican lions\u201d emulating the \u201cAsian tiger\u201d economies in the 21st century. <\/p>\n
Africa\u2019s advantages include vast untapped resources, a youthful population and an expanding middle-class. Offsetting these are rampant poverty and inequality, a rise in Islamist militant violence and appalling infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Data collated by the African Development Bank support the premise of an Africa on the rise: Average life expectancy rose to 58 in 2011, from 37 in 1950, and primary school enrollment climbed to 77 percent in 2011, from 52 percent in 1990. Governance improved in 46 of 52 African countries in the 13 years through 2013, according to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which takes into account indicators such as safety and rule of law, human rights and economic progress.<\/p>\n
Faster-Growing<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing to stop Africa from benefiting from the reforms that we\u2019ve seen, to capitalize on that going forward, do more and become a stronger, faster-growing, more inclusive region like Asia,\u201d Stuart Culverhouse, chief economist at Exotix Partners LLP, said by phone from London on July 25.<\/p>\n
The International Monetary Fund said July 24 it estimates sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s economies will grow 5.4 percent this year and 5.8 percent in 2015, compared with 1.7 percent and 3 percent in the U.S. for the same two years respectively. The Washington-based IMF projected Chinese growth at 7.4 percent this year and 7.1 percent in 2015.<\/p>\n
Nigeria\u2019s economy, Africa\u2019s largest, has the potential to expand about 7.1 percent a year through 2030, McKinsey & Co. said in a July 24 report. That would make it one of the world\u2019s top 20 economies, with a consumer base exceeding the current populations of France and Germany, according to the New York-based company.<\/p>\n
Leaders Summit<\/p>\n
U.S. President Barack Obama will host more than 40 African leaders at a three-day gathering that begins in Washington today. The U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit is aimed at boosting economic ties and addressing Africa\u2019s infrastructure and investment shortage.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfrica has come a very long way from its era of aid-dependence,\u201d Sim Tshabalala, co-chief executive officer of Standard Bank Group Ltd., Africa\u2019s largest lender, said in e-mailed comments today. \u201cThe rapidly emerging middle class in Africa is driving large-scale diversification of Africa\u2019s economies, which offers immense opportunities for companies willing to invest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Africa\u2019s share of the global economy could triple by 2050, while average per-capita income could surge sixfold and 1.4 billion more Africans could join the middle class, under the most optimistic of scenarios sketched out in a study commissioned by the African Union and the Economic Commission for Africa. Prerequisites would be capable states, pragmatic leadership, strong institutions, peace and security and respect for the rule of law.<\/p>\n
Yet peace remains elusive in several African nations.<\/p>\n
Boko Haram<\/p>\n
In Nigeria, Boko Haram rebels have been fighting security forces for the past five years in a bid to impose Islamic law. The violence, which has spilled into neighboring Cameroon, claimed more than 2,053 lives in the first half of this year, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch.<\/p>\n
Conflicts have also been raging in South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Somalia, while an al-Qaeda-linked militant group, al-Shabaab, has staged attacks in Kenya, killing dozens of people.<\/p>\n
While hostility constrains economic development, the number of affected African countries has declined markedly over the past few decades, said Jacques Verreynne, an economist at NKC Independent Economists in Paarl, near Cape Town.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe overall economic prospects for Africa are positive,\u201d Verreyenne said in an e-mailed response to questions on July 28. \u201cCountries that have built up a proven track record of prudent policymaking and a willingness to reform have every chance of continuing to attract substantial amounts of foreign direct investment.\u201d<\/p>\n
New Companies<\/p>\n
Africa secured 5.7 percent of global foreign direct investment projects last year, up from 3.6 percent a decade earlier, accounting firm EY said in its 2014 Africa Attractiveness Survey, released on May 15. More than 400,000 new companies were registered on the continent last year, according to the Tunis-based African Development Bank.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are more business opportunities here than elsewhere,\u201d Ghanaian Sebastian van Leeuwen, 35, who co-owns a property rental company and cleaning business, said in a July 29 interview from Accra. \u201cThe market is less saturated and there is less competition.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rosy economic data and outlook mask the abysmal living standards that still confront most of Africa\u2019s 1.1 billion people.<\/p>\n
Ebola Outbreak<\/p>\n
The worst-ever outbreak of the Ebola virus in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, which has claimed more than 800 lives since March, has highlighted West Africa\u2019s health-care deficiencies. The disease, which is spread via contact with bodily secretions and can cause bleeding from the eyes, ears and nose, kills as many as 90 percent of those who contract it.<\/p>\n
African nations occupied the bottom 18 positions in the United Nations Development Program\u2019s 2014 ranking of levels of development in 187 nations. About 72 percent of sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s population, or 585 million people, live in or on the brink of poverty, the agency said in a July 24 report.<\/p>\n
Africa has the potential to help itself, with the number of oil- and gas-producing nations set to rise to 45 within a decade from 22 currently, said Renfrew Christie, dean of research at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will bring large new money, which could be used for investment and education,\u201d Christie said in an e-mailed response to questions on July 29. \u201cBut oil has caused war throughout history, as evidenced by the Middle East right now. It\u2019s vital we keep the peace so oil and gas money can be invested productively.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jobless Growth<\/p>\n
While Islamist militant violence is on the rise in Africa, it doesn\u2019t pose the same threat to stability and growth as civil wars and violent coups, which are on the decline, according to Mark Rosenberg, Africa director at Eurasia Group in New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cA longer-term risk to the \u2018Africa Rising\u2019 scenario is the potential for jobless growth,\u201d Rosenberg said in an e-mailed response to questions on July 25. \u201cIt\u2019s not yet clear that current growth paths will create jobs for newly urban citizens with higher expectations and access to more information.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert Schrire, a politics professor at the University of Cape Town, expects African nations to show varying degrees of progress, depending on how they address security and governance challenges.<\/p>\n
Winners, Losers<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are always looking for the new Asia,\u201d he said in a July 25 phone interview. \u201cI think Africa is going to be one of those stories that is always seen as promising but never actually delivers. There may be some winners, like Botswana. There are going to be chronic failures — probably Congo and Angola. I\u2019m not too optimistic about Nigeria and it\u2019s touch-and-go for South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rehema Juma, a Kenyan business developer, sees Africa taking decades to realize its full potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor now I don\u2019t see things changing,\u201d Juma, 30, said in a July 26 interview in Nairobi. \u201cPolitics and corruption will stifle development no matter how many resources we discover. Probably my grandchildren may see a change and a bright Africa, when our democracy matures and corruption gets minimized.\u201d<\/p>\n
bloomberg<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
{{ThankGod Agbagu views the paved roads and skyscrapers that have sprung up in Lagos, Africa\u2019s largest city, as the signs of a brighter future.}} \u201cThat\u2019s development, progress,\u201d the 30-year-old tailor said in a July 30 phone interview from Nigeria\u2019s commercial capital. \u201cI definitely see many opportunities out there. Things may not really get better in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000053390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[99],"byline":[2389],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-15716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-greatlakesnews","byline-mike-cohen-rene-vollgraaff-and-yinka-ibukun"],"bylines":[{"id":2389,"name":"Mike Cohen, Rene Vollgraaff and Yinka Ibukun","slug":"mike-cohen-rene-vollgraaff-and-yinka-ibukun","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2389,"name":"Mike Cohen, Rene Vollgraaff and Yinka Ibukun","slug":"mike-cohen-rene-vollgraaff-and-yinka-ibukun","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":{"id":2000053390,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton15716.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton15716.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton15716.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton15716.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton15716.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton15716.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000053390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15716"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=15716"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=15716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}