1 - Introduction

Summary

The continent of Africa is ripe with economic opportunity. The continent’s extractive industries alone have the potential to be some of the most lucrative in the world, given that it is home to some of the largest natural resource reserves on the planet. Approximately 30% of the world’s mineral reserves, 8% of the world’s natural gas reserves and 12% of the world’s oil reserves are found on the African continent. At the same time, Africa has one of the fastest-growing populations in the world, which has a huge potential to increase demand for goods and services on the continent. In 2019, four of the world’s ten fastest-growing economies were in Africa: Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana and Rwanda. The World Bank has also predicted that several countries on the continent, including, in addition to these four countries, Senegal, will see per income capital rates rising by more than 4% during 2022. All signs seem to be pointing towards strong economic growth and, therefore, opportunity in Africa, at least in the near future.

That said, even considering the increasingly positive prospects at Africa’s doorstep, an overwhelming majority of the continent’s 54 countries still face tremendous obstacles to meaningful growth. Poor infrastructure, an unskilled labour force, health concerns, climate change, weak security, corruption and poorly functioning judicial systems continue to drag down economies on the continent.

Africa’s ability to grow its economies and meet the demands of its growing population is heavily reliant on its ability to improve infrastructure. The continent continues to have inadequate transport, communication, water and power infrastructure, which is, in turn, having dire consequences in terms of the amount of investment being made in many countries.

While more and more countries in Africa have moved from authoritarian to democratically elected governments, there is a question as to whether elected democratic regimes on the continent are resulting in stronger development. In some cases, there is even a question as to whether elections are in fact democratic; however, the bigger issue now seems to be whether elected officials are equipped to promote long-term growth (or are even interested in doing so).