Africa on the up and up
Africa's narrative is rising and things are steadily improving according to Galileo Capital chief executive officer Theo Vorster, who spoke at a Business 7 breakfast hosted by Namibia Media Holdings (NMH) last week.
According to Vorster, there are two factors that are going to propel Africa's economy forward - increased urbanisation and changing demographics.
“The narrative of Africa and what we see is not the case. There is no way you can tell me there is no future for Africa, forget about the old Africa,” he said.
Vorster said Africa's Gross Domestic Product had shown a steep improvement from US$587 billion to US$2 trillion over a 13-year period. Africa's GDP per capita also painted a positive picture, closing at US$1 866 in 2013 against US$720 observed in 2000.
According to Vorster, the Sub-Saharan African economy is expected to double in the next 15 years and he compared the sub-region to India in the 70s.
“That must be wonderful if you work in Africa. All the indicators are there that it will double. If we get a few things right, the size of the economy will double,” Vorster said.
Another positive for Vorster was the expectation that agricultural yields would not only match yields attained in the United States but surpass yields observable currently. This, according to him, is proof of improvements witnessed on the continent.
Turing his attention to Namibia, he said: “Things are much better here. There is structure, there is stability. We do not have that in South Africa. Our risk is that we get our own Donald Trump. Our risk is a populist coming through [and winning the elections in 2019].”
Commenting on the state of the economy, he ended on a positive note. “Our economy is picking up and Southern Africa is doing well.”
Releasing a forecast in October, the International Monetary Fund noted that growth in the SSA region had shown a decline for the first time in 20 years, a situation exacerbated by soft commodity prices.
“With lower commodity prices and a generally less supportive global economic environment, average growth in the region is foreseen to decelerate sharply to 1.5% this year, well below population growth, and in sharp contrast to the high growth rates of the past 15 years.” The jury is out on Africa's prospects.
OGONE TLHAGE
According to Vorster, there are two factors that are going to propel Africa's economy forward - increased urbanisation and changing demographics.
“The narrative of Africa and what we see is not the case. There is no way you can tell me there is no future for Africa, forget about the old Africa,” he said.
Vorster said Africa's Gross Domestic Product had shown a steep improvement from US$587 billion to US$2 trillion over a 13-year period. Africa's GDP per capita also painted a positive picture, closing at US$1 866 in 2013 against US$720 observed in 2000.
According to Vorster, the Sub-Saharan African economy is expected to double in the next 15 years and he compared the sub-region to India in the 70s.
“That must be wonderful if you work in Africa. All the indicators are there that it will double. If we get a few things right, the size of the economy will double,” Vorster said.
Another positive for Vorster was the expectation that agricultural yields would not only match yields attained in the United States but surpass yields observable currently. This, according to him, is proof of improvements witnessed on the continent.
Turing his attention to Namibia, he said: “Things are much better here. There is structure, there is stability. We do not have that in South Africa. Our risk is that we get our own Donald Trump. Our risk is a populist coming through [and winning the elections in 2019].”
Commenting on the state of the economy, he ended on a positive note. “Our economy is picking up and Southern Africa is doing well.”
Releasing a forecast in October, the International Monetary Fund noted that growth in the SSA region had shown a decline for the first time in 20 years, a situation exacerbated by soft commodity prices.
“With lower commodity prices and a generally less supportive global economic environment, average growth in the region is foreseen to decelerate sharply to 1.5% this year, well below population growth, and in sharp contrast to the high growth rates of the past 15 years.” The jury is out on Africa's prospects.
OGONE TLHAGE
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