Despite COVID-19 Pandemic, Africa Still A Prime Investment Destination
Participants at a webinar to present the African Development Bank’s African
Economic Outlook Supplement to Asian audiences on Monday have endorsed the
report as critical for post-COVID-19 Africa.
The supplement revises the growth projections and outlook for Africa for 2020
and 2021 and highlights the impact of COVID–19 on Africa’s socio-economic
landscape. It recommends policy responses to safely reopen economies and
accelerate growth recovery.
“Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, investment opportunities still abound in
Africa,” said Tetsushi Sonobe, the Dean of the Asian Development Bank Institute
(ADBI). “Global markets are shifting to South Asia and Africa. In a sense,
Africa is not very far for Asian investors who might be interested in the
investment opportunities on the continent.”
Around 350 participants attended the virtual event, which was co-hosted by the Asia
External Representation Office of the African Development Bank. The audience
included government officials, representatives from the African diplomatic
corps in Asia, development professionals, representatives of civil society,
academics and think tanks, students, journalists, and the general public
Sonobe observed that Africa’s GDP growth is projected to quickly rebound in
2021 following steady growth before COVID-19.
Sonobe identified some of the potential opportunities highlighted in the
African Economic Outlook Supplement: “A large
market with a very talented youthful population; a three-trillion-dollar market
opportunity through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
agreements; greater manufacturing potential as low-cost manufacturing opportunities
continue to move to Africa; improved business environment; and improving
macroeconomic governance.”
Khaled Sherif, the African Development Bank’s Vice President for Regional
Development, Integration and Business Delivery said despite the pandemic
affecting all African economies, its magnitude will vary considerably from
country to country, depending on the economic characteristics and initial
conditions of the countries.
“This urges us to avoid the one-size-fits-all solution to address the effects
of COVID-19 in Africa. For that, the AEO Supplement notes that the continent
will need the support and expertise of all. This is an opportunity to enrich
the debate on what appropriate measures are needed to support African countries
to recover from the pandemic, drawing particularly from Asian experience,”
Sherif said.
The webinar noted that the policy recommendations of the African Economic
Outlook Supplement could be regarded as important opportunities for
investments. Participants also observed that although Africa is
human-resource-rich, Africa will need to work on closing its infrastructure gap
– an issue the African Development Bank has made one of its top priorities.
The African Economic Outlook Supplement underlines the urgency to build the
resilience of Africa’s healthcare systems and economies to improve countries’
preparedness for future shocks. This means that African countries will need to
rethink their current development strategies and priorities, which have clearly
shown their limitations.
“Policymakers must seize the new and real opportunities for participation in
global value chains, particularly with Asia and within Africa and build the
infrastructure needed to encourage large-scale teleworking, e-health, and
distance learning architectures for a rapid, resilient, and sustainable
recovery in a post-COVID-19 digital world,” said Chuku Chuku, Officer in Charge
of the Bank’s Macroeconomic Policy, Debt Sustainability and Forecasting
Division.
“The pandemic notwithstanding, Africa is open to business and we look forward
to working with our Asian partners.”
Released
annually since 2003, the African Economic Outlook provides compelling
up-to-date evidence and analytics to inform and support African
decision-makers.
Click here to access
the full report