Another timely and straightforward article from Carlos Lopes, on Africa’s industrialisation. A great read!
Africa’s prospects are again being questioned for many reasons: some quite familiar, like commodity prices, debt or conflict; others less so, such as climate change, technology or migration.
To link the fortunes of a continent to its natural resources bounty should have been positive. Indeed, Africa has been blessed with mineral wealth, a remarkable blue economy, and incredible energy potential. However, paradoxically, these ingredients for growth have benefited others, empowering others’ industrialisation, creating value chain opportunities for others, generating employment elsewhere, or accumulating capital in other shores.
Unsurprisingly, part of the Africa Rising narrative matured around the commodity boom and the need to take note of the continent’s growing business opportunities. It was, therefore, only natural that such a narrative would change with the end of the so-called commodity super cycle; heralded with historic low prices for oil that hit hard some of the continent’s largest economies. Pundits were quick to identify the reasons for lowering expectations.
Full article here.
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