Table des matières - Performances Group

Transcription

Semaine 19 – du 09 au 15 mai 2011
N°173
Table des matières
Africa is the next big frontier for Indian companies --------------------------------------------------------------- 3
Un tiers des Africains appartiennent à la classe moyenne ---------------------------------------------------- 4
Inde-CEDEAO : Un accord de coopération multisectoriel ----------------------------------------------------- 5
Gov’t to raise Rwf25b from BK, MTN shares ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5
Germany to invest 20m euros to boost SMEs in Nigeria---------------------------------------------------------- 6
The Comesa-Eac-Sadc tripartite arrangement --------------------------------------------------------------------- 7
African agriculture ministers call for improved infrastructure and business environment for
smallholder farmers --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8
Kenya confident on e-health services ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9
Africa development unbalanced --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10
Forbes announced Tuesday its 16th local-language edition, Forbes Africa, in partnership
with Africa Business News Publishing. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12
Rural Poverty Report 2011 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13
EAC / Private sector and civil society organizations form group to enhance involvement in
integration process -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13
African middle class reaches 300m ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14
Africa Transforms to 'Continent of Hope,' Says Annan --------------------------------------------------------- 15
Africa: 'Continent of Hope' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16
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Africa's tax systems face challenges ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18
China's boom swells the coffers of African economies -------------------------------------------------------- 19
New Report Showcases Growth of African Multinational Corporations ------------------------------- 21
COTE D'IVOIRE: Free health care, for now --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22
Africa requires U.S. $ 93 billion dollars for infrastructure -------------------------------------------------------- 23
Will manufacturing shift from China to Africa? -------------------------------------------------------------------- 24
Africa needs modern infrastructure to support economic growth--------------------------------------- 24
Why outsourcing could be Africa’s next big opportunity----------------------------------------------------- 25
Afrique de l'Ouest: Croissance - L'UEMOA parie sur la massification des prises de
participations dans les sociétés ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26
Le Sénégal lève 500 millions de dollars sur le marché international ------------------------------------- 26
UEMOA : les recettes budgétaires des Etats dépassent 1000 milliards de F CFA ------------------ 27
Inclusive business as part of the solution to Africa's development --------------------------------------- 27
Création d’une association des experts-comptables panafricains ------------------------------------- 28
Coca-Cola veut améliorer l’accès à l’eau potable en Afrique ------------------------------------------ 29
Africa trails China, India in race for funds by emerging markets ------------------------------------------ 29
Nous serons 10 milliards d’êtres humains en 2100 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 30
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Africa is the next big frontier for Indian companies
Sugan Palanee
May 10, 2011
The global investment paradigm is shifting from "should one invest in Africa" to "managing the risk of not
being in Africa". With South Africa, now part of the BRICS group of countries, India is more than well positioned to take advantage of the array of opportunities on offer in Africa, a continent with a population
of one billion, which include several thousands of Indian immigrants. Indian businesses are using the expatriate Indian network to tap the business opportunities in Africa.
Sugan Palanee, Senior Managing Partner, Ernst & Young, Africa
Africa appeals to potential investors for a host of reasons, as demonstrated by numerous studies. Not
surprisingly, natural resources have been the catalyst for Africa's growth. The continent has the widest
range of minerals, from gold, platinum and diamond to chrome, coal, cassiterite and coltan.
The continent has grown steadily at about 5.6 per cent between 2001 and 2008, thanks to a combination of structural economic and political reforms, stable macroeconomic conditions and increased foreign direct investment, or FDI, inflows - which quadrupled from just over $50 billion in 2003 to over $200
billion in 2008 - mainly from emerging economies.
At the World Economic Forum, discussions revolved around how 40 African multinational corporations,
labelled together as African Challengers, outperformed the Nikkei 225, DAX 30 and the S&P 500 on revenue and profit margins from 2003 to 2008. The African Challengers came from sectors in which Africa is
least developed. The largest proportion of these fast growing companies are in information and communications technology, financial services and logistics, besides mining and natural resources. In short,
where there are challenges in Africa, there are also investment opportunities - and not just in natural resources.
Where most people see problems, the African Challengers saw opportunity. For example, even in Africa's largest economy, South Africa, at least 40 per cent of the population has no access to banking. In
Nigeria and Kenya - the powerhouses of west and east Africa, respectively - the figure is much higher,
over 70 per cent. So, in Kenya, for instance, Safaricom, as Vodafone is known there, developed an innovative product to distribute banking services, called M-Pesa, which enabled customers without bank
accounts to pay for goods and services using their cell phones. The service has since been introduced
in South Africa and Tanzania.
With less than 5 per cent of Africa's population having access to the Internet, innovative investors took
full advantage of the lacuna to grow multinational mobile communication brands such as Celtel, which
was taken over by Zain. Bharti Airtel subsequently bought the Africa operations of Zain. Another African
success story is South African mobile phone operator MTN, which grew into a pan-Middle East and Africa player. Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, RwandaAir and Air Namibia are growing airlines, purchasing several aircraft and introducing new routes among African countries, and between Africa and Europe.
Other sectors ready for investment in Africa include infrastructure, energy, agriculture, real estate, tourism, construction, education and health care services. Infrastructure alone - in particular road and rail
construction - is expected to attract billions of dollars per annum over the next 10 years to enable Africa
to catch up. In agriculture, poor food security in Africa has seen many companies investing in innovative farming technologies and agro-processing. For instance, Rwanda benefited from the collaboration
with Starbucks to assist coffee farmers.
The poor infrastructure in some of the African countries has meant an increasing preference for valueadding investments - that is, investment that brings benefits to the locals as opposed to extraction and
export of raw material. However, countries such as China have successfully increased their presence in
Africa through a careful alignment of their own interests with the challenges facing African governments. Most of China's FDI in Africa is led by state-owned enterprises, and involve an exchange of infrastructure development in return for mineral rights. In some instances, however, China has been criticised
for violating labour laws in some of the countries in which it has made investments. For instance, some
rail infrastructure partnerships in Namibia were stalled due to disagreements over the treatment of
workers and/or the failure of China to develop skills among the locals. Similar challenges were faced by
Chinese oil companies in Nigeria.
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For all its challenges, Africa presents the most sustainable economic outlook for the future. It is not surprising, therefore, that Ernst & Young's Africa Attractiveness Survey (March 2011) found that the continent's improved business environment had made it more attractive in the past three years.
These are some of the many reasons why it is important for growing businesses to be in Africa. Whereas
China came into Africa via government intervention and led by state-owned enterprises, Indian private
sector giants like Bharti Airtel, HCL and the Tata group have begun exploring opportunities in Africa
proving the receptiveness of Africa to foreign investors. Things can only get better as the Indian government steps up trade relations with Africa.
What has worked in India must certainly work in Africa. It is a continent with a large population, spread
over arable land, with little or no infrastructure, much like India was 20 years ago. A billion people slowly
being economically emancipated, will be a big business opportunity - just as the India growth story over
the last couple of decades provided a big opportunity for Indian entrepreneurs and corporates.
(The author is Senior Managing Partner, Ernst & Young, Africa)
Un tiers des Africains appartiennent à la classe moyenne
Afrique du Sud Brics classes moyennes croissance développement économie pauvreté PIB
Il y a quelques temps encore, lorsque les économistes parlaient de l’Afrique subsaharienne, les analyses
portaient sur un seul pays: l’Afrique du Sud. Il y a encore une décennie, c’était le pays le plus riche,
avec des institutions solides et une bourse d’échanges. Mais surtout, l’Afrique du Sud possédait ce dont
aucun pays au sud du Sahara ne pouvait se vanter: une classe moyenne forte et prospère.
Aujourd’hui, la donne a changé. Plus d’un tiers de la population africaine, soit 313 millions de personnes
sur le milliard que compte le continent, font aujourd’hui partie des classes moyennes, selon une étude
publiée par la Banque africaine de développement, la BAD (PDF) en avril 2011. C'est presque
l’équivalent de ce que la Chine ou l’Inde compte comme classes intermédiaires.
L’Afrique du Sud n’est donc plus le seul îlot de prospérité en Afrique noire. Dans la plupart des pays du
continent, un grand nombre de personnes possèdent maisons et voitures, parfois plusieurs téléphones
portables, utilisent Internet et envoient leurs enfants dans des écoles privées ou des universités aux EtatsUnis, au Canada et en France. A titre d’exemple, le taux de ménages possédant un véhicule est passé
à 81% depuis 2005 au Ghana.
Pour Mthuli Ncube, économiste en chef à la Banque africaine de développement et auteur de l’étude,
avec ces nouvelles classes moyennes c’est bientôt la fin des clichés sur une Afrique où règnent famine,
pauvreté et désespoir:
«L’instruction est le principal facteur de l’émergence des classes moyennes. Nous devrions changer notre vision et travailler avec ces catégories sociales pour créer une nouvelle Afrique et veiller à ce que le
continent réalise son plein potentiel.»
Qui sont les classes moyennes?
Pour la BAD, les classes moyennes dans le contexte africain sont des personnes qui dépensent en
moyenne entre 2 et 20 dollars par jour (entre 1,4 et 13,9 euros). Elles sont constituées de salariés
d’entreprises privées ou parapubliques, de commerçants ou de patrons de petites et moyennes entreprises (PME). Les familles issues des classes moyennes sollicitent assez peu les hôpitaux publics et
préfèrent dépenser d’importantes sommes d’argent dans des cliniques privées. Par ailleurs, les classes
moyennes ont tendance à avoir de moins en moins d’enfants et à dépenser davantage pour leur alimentation et leur instruction.
Le rapport de la Banque africaine de développement souligne également que les classes moyennes
ont augmenté de 3,1% en Afrique au cours des 30 dernières années, soit légèrement plus que la population totale. La Tunisie, le Maroc et l’Egypte sont les pays où l’on retrouve le plus grand nombre de
classes moyennes en Afrique. Alors que le Liberia, le Burundi et le Rwanda ont le plus faible nombre.
Cela étant, les classes moyennes ont contribué à créer au moins la moitié du produit intérieur brut (PIB)
en Afrique, qui s'élève à 1.200 milliards d’euros. Et les prévisions parlent d’un taux de croissance qui devrait atteindre 5,5% en 2011.
Mthuli Ncube se demande quelle sera l’attitude du reste du monde face à cette nouvelle donne:
«Je pense que ceux qui veulent investir en Afrique ont là une occasion en or. Il existe des possibilités de
partenariats solides et efficaces.»
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L’émergence des classes moyennes représente également une source de démocratie en Afrique:
«Elles sont instruites et savent comment voter, elles savent ce qu’elles veulent et ont des intérêts à
défendre», ajoute l’économiste.
Petit bémol tout de même: malgré cette embellie, l’Afrique reste toujours très marquée par la pauvreté,
avec 61% de la population vivant sous le seuil de pauvreté, c'est-à-dire avec moins de 2 dollars par
jour.
Lu sur Foreign Policy, Guardian
Inde-CEDEAO : Un accord de coopération multisectoriel
(PANA) - Signature entre la CEDEAO et l’Inde d’un accord de coopération multisectoriel - La Communauté économique des Etats d’Afrique de l’Ouest (CEDEAO) et l’Inde ont signé un protocole d’accord
pour renforcer la coopération multisectorielle dans neuf domaines-clé identifiés, selon un communiqué
de la CEDEAO reçu lundi par la PANA à Abuja. Ce protocole d’accord a été signé le 06 mai 2011 par
le président de la Commission de la CEDEAO, James Victor Gbeho et le Haut commissaire indien au Nigeria, Mahesh Sachdev. Cet accord prévoit l’établissement et le renforcement de relations dans les
secteurs bancaire, alimentaire et agricole, le bâtiment et la construction de routes, le transport ferroviaire et les autres moyens de communication.
Il couvre également la coopération dans les secteurs de la métallurgie, de la mécanique, de l’énergie,
du textile, du cuir, des transports et des communications, ainsi que l’électronique et la biotechnologie.
Les deux parties doivent mettre en place les procédures et mécanismes pour rendre opérationnel ce
protocole d’accord, comme les stratégies d’exécution, les programmes et activités.
’Ce protocole d’accord est un outil pour le développement qui a pour objectif de nous aider à réaliser
la vision régionale d’une institution tournée vers les populations en contribuant à améliorer le bien-être
de nos citoyens’, a déclaré M. Gbeho après la cérémonie de signature, qui s’est déroulée en présence
d’un ministre indien en visite.
Il a rappelé que la CEDEAO, qui devait initialement se consacrer au développement économique de
la région, avait dû étendre son rôle à l’arène politique afin de faire face à la dynamique de la région
et de créer un environnement favorable à la réalisation de son mandat initial.
A cet égard, il a souligné que l’organisation ’faisait de son mieux pour améliorer les conditions de vie
des citoyens de la région, conformément à sa mission et qu’elle attendait beaucoup de sa coopération avec l’Inde, qui a de nombreuses similarités avec les Etats membres de la CEDEAO’.
Le président Gbeho a salué le développement économique de l’Inde, qu’il a qualifié de source
d’inspiration pour les Etats de la communauté.
Le Haut commissaire indien a déclaré pour sa part que le protocole d’accord était un moyen potentiel
d’élargir la coopération entre la CEDEAO et son pays, qui avait déjà de bonnes relations bilatérales
avec les Etats membres de la Communauté.
Gov’t to raise Rwf25b from BK, MTN shares
By Gertrude Majyambere
Finance Minister, John Rwangombwa (File photo)
The Government of Rwanda plans to raise Rwf25 billion through the sale of its shares in Bank of Kigali
(BK) and MTN Rwanda to increase domestic revenues, the Finance Minister said on Monday.
The Treasury will include the expected proceeds in the budget for the next fiscal year.
“This is part of the Government commitment to promote accelerated economic growth under its five
year plan of EDPRS but also its the approach to liberalise the market,” John Rwangombwa, the Minister
of Finance and Economic Planning said Monday during a press conference on the budget framework.
The Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS), which runs from 2008 to 2012 is a
medium-term strategy towards the attainment of Rwanda’s ambitious long-term Vision 2020 that seeks
to transform the country into a middle class economy.
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Government intends to sell 20 percent of its shares in BK through an Initial Public Offer (IPO) due to be
launched by July this year.
This means 45 percent of the bank’s shares will be sold during the Initial Public Offer (IPO) with the bank
independently offering 25 percent to the public.
Government also plans to sell off its entire 66.3 percent stake in the bank.
“BK is confirmed; we are to sell our shares through an IPO. We started the process and it’s expected to
be concluded by September, including listing BK on the Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE),” Rwangombwa
said.
This will be the second IPO in the country following government’s sale of its 25 percent shares in Bralirwa
last year. The Bralirwa IPO was oversubscribed by 174 percent.
BK is Rwanda’s leading bank by assets. With plans to open 44 braches across the country this year, industry experts say the bank would be an attractive stock to investors given its rapid growth and stability.
The Minister said government is in negotiations with MTN Group, which has the right to first refusal to sell
the shares. South Africa’s MTN Group is the majority shareholder in MTN Rwanda, where the shareholding of the Rwandan government is 10 percent.
“We have two options; if MTN gives us (Government) the price we want, we will sell the shares to them
directly while the other option is through an IPO depending on the other investor,” the Minister said.
Part of the government’s commitment to sell its shares in major companies though IPOs is aimed at
supporting the growth of the country’s nascent stock exchange—the Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE)—
which was launched early this year.
Government believes that privatisation through the capital markets would increase products on the
market and give investors more options, boost market liquidity and ultimately support the country’s
economic growth through attracting more inventors and increasing national savings.
The Rwanda Stock Exchange has so far mainly attracted Treasury and corporate bonds, and also
boasts two cross-listed Kenyan companies, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and Nation Media Group
Germany to invest 20m euros to boost SMEs in Nigeria
German government will invest 20 million euros to boost Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in some
states in the Northern part of Nigeria.
Programme Manager of the German-funded Sustainable Economic Development in Nigeria, Mr Christian Widmann, made the declaration yesterday, in Abuja.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria that Niger State had already been selected for the programme,
while other states were still under consideration.
He said the programme would be operated through the German Development Cooperation (GIZ).
“The programme has total volume of 20 million Euro, but it is technical assistance in the first place for
expertise, for trainings and for capacity development.
“We will definitely continue with the Shea-butter exercise, but we might even expand it. We will also
look for other value chain that can be in the agriculture sector or can be in the none-agriculture sector
too.”
Widmann said the German government also had activities in micro-financing, but that the major focus
of the programme would be on the creation of more employment through the various SMEs.
He said that Niger State was selected among the states that the projects would be executed due to
the commitment of the government from the last project in that state.
“Niger State performed best; Nasarawa State performed least and in Plateau, due to the state of insecurity, we are yet to consider if we are going to work there, but they also performed relatively well in the
last project,” he said.
He said that the German government had been working across the country, especially in central Nigeria, noting that it would not work in Nasarawa and Plateau states due to some obvious challenges, such
as poor performance and insecurity respectively.
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Widmann said that the programme, which would run in three phases, was the second biggest SME
project the German government had in Africa.
He noted that the programme would run for three years, but it would be targeting seven years to round
it off completely for the various states to sustain it.
Between 2007 and 2010, the German government worked in three states in north central Nigeria.
The states included Nasarawa, Plateau and Niger and most of the projects were focused on micro financing, shea-butter production, reproductive and health care, HIV/AIDS and entrepreneurship training. The programme was targeted at self-sustainability.
The Comesa-Eac-Sadc tripartite arrangement
When the Heads of State and Government of COMESA, EAC and SADC met in Kampala on 22 October
2008, they conveyed in their Communiqué a sense of urgency in calling for the establishment of a single
Free Trade Area covering the 26 countries of COMESA, EAC and SADC. The political leaders directed
the Secretariats of the three organisations to prepare all the legal documents necessary for establishing
the single Free Trade Area (FTA) and to clearly identify the steps required for its establishment. At their
meeting on 9th November 2009 in Dar es Salaam, the Chief Executives of the three Secretariats cleared
the draft FTA documents for transmission to the Member States for consideration in preparing for the
next meeting of the Tripartite Summit. The Member States are in the process of reviewing the documents and proposing improvements. It is expected that when the Tripartite Summit next meets, the
Heads of State and Government will pronounce themselves on the way forward on the establishment
of the single FTA. The main FTA document is in the form of the draft Agreement for establishing the Tripartite FTA. It has 14 Annexes covering various complementary areas necessary for effective functioning of a regional market. The main proposal is to establish the FTA on a tariff-free, quota-free, exemption-free basis by simply combining the existing FTAs of COMESA, EAC and SADC. It is expected that by
2012, all these FTAs will not have any exemptions or sensitive lists. However, there is a possibility that a
few countries might wish to consider maintaining a few sensitive products in trading with some major
economic partners. For this reason, provision has been made for the possibility of a country to seek
permission for maintaining some sensitive products for a specified period of time. Some of the complementary areas covered include:
•
Promotion of customs cooperation and trade facilitation;
•
Harmonisation and coordination of industrial and health standards;
•
Combating of unfair trade practices and import surges, use of arbitration settlement mechanisms;
•
Use of simpler and straightforward rules of origin that recognise inland transport costs as part of
the value added in production;
•
Relaxation of restrictions on movement of business persons taking into account specific country
sensitivities;
•
Liberalisation of certain priority service sectors on the basis of existing programmes of the three
organisations;
•
Promotion of value addition and transformation of the region into an information- and knowledge-based economy through a balanced used of intellectual property rights and information
and communications technology;
•
Development of cultural industries on the basis of the rich cultural heritage in the region particularly in the arts; and
•
Development of sector strategies to increase productive capacity and link producers to buyers
and consumers.
The Tripartite FTA will be underpinned by robust infrastructure programs designed to catalyse the regional market through interconnectivity (facilitated for instance by all modes of transport and telecommunications) and to promote competitiveness (for instance through adequate supplies of energy).
The FTA proposal incorporates a roadmap towards the operationalisation of the FTA. It is proposed that
there should be a preparatory period for consultations at the national, regional and Tripartite level from
early 2010. Member States will use this period to carefully work out the legal and institutional framework
for the single FTA using the draft documents as a basis. It is expected that each REC will discuss the TriPerformances Veille
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partite documents, and that the Tripartite meetings at various levels will deliberate and reach concrete
recommendations. Upon signature of the FTA, Member States will have about six months to a year, to
finalise their domestic processes for ratifying the Agreement, establishing the required support institutions and adopting the relevant customs procedures and instruments. So far, the approval process has
faced some delays due to the inability to set an agreeable date for the Tripartite Summit to meet. It is
proposed that once this approval process is accomplished, the Tripartite FTA should be launched.
Throughout the preparatory period, strong sensitisation programmes will be mounted for the public and
private sectors and all stakeholders including parliamentarians, business community, teaching institutions, civil society, and development partners to secure optimum buy-in of the FTA. The main benefit to
be secured from the Tripartite FTA is the establishment of a larger market, with a single economic
space. Such economic space will be more attractive to investment and large scale production. Estimates indicate that exports among the 26 Tripartite countries increased from USD 7 billion in 2000 to USD
27 billion in 2008, and imports grew from USD 9 billion in 2000 to USD 32 billion in 2008. This phenomenal
trade increase was in large measure spurred by the free trade area initiatives of the three organizations.
Strong trade performance is expected from the promotion of small and medium scale enterprises that
produce goods and services. Besides, the Tripartite economic space will assist to address current challenges resulting from multiple membership by advancing the ongoing harmonization and coordination
initiatives of the three organizations to achieve convergence of programmes and activities. This way,
the Tripartite will greatly contribute to African continental economic integration. The next big thing this
year will be the Second Tripartite Summit, planned to be held in South Africa. There will be preparatory
meetings leading to the Summit.
African agriculture ministers call for improved infrastructure and business environment for smallholder farmers
IFAD Cape Town conference highlights challenges and opportunities for boosting economic growth
and food security in region
Rome, 4 May 2011 – With the right policies and investment approaches, the agricultural sector can help
invigorate economic growth across Africa, government and private-sector leaders said at an event organized here earlier this week by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Africa 2011.
The conference, New challenges, new opportunities: African agriculture in the 21st century ,was held in
collaboration with the South African Institute for International Affairs (SAIIA) and featured the presentation of IFAD’s Rural Poverty Report 2011. Speakers included the agriculture ministers from South Africa,
Rwanda and the United Republic of Tanzania, other high-ranking government officials, as well as agricultural experts from the private sector and civil society organizations.
A keynote speaker at the event, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of
the Republic of South Africa, noted that well functioning agricultural markets are essential for rural
growth and poverty reduction, and that modern markets and value chains are bringing forth new opportunities for smallholder farmers on the continent. “Most rural households are connected with markets,
as sellers of produce, buyers of food, or both. However, the extent to which they are involved varies
considerably,” she said. “The rapid emergence of supermarkets, for example, is spurring the establishment of modern value chains, particularly for high-value foodstuffs. This is not only a source of opportunities for smallholder farmers, but also a means of creating demand for labor and services from other rural people.”
IFAD President, Kanayo F. Nwanze told the conference that, while donor support will continue to be important, the continent itself will have to generate the changes that will lead to transformation. Citing
the Rural Poverty Report 2011, he called for national policies and investment approaches to support rural infrastructure development and greater private-sector involvement in agriculture. “The report shows
that many poor people have the capacity and the desire to build better lives for themselves. What they
lack is access, opportunity and infrastructure,” he said. “It is time to stop treating them as charity cases
and instead focus on helping them to grow their businesses – first to achieve food security and then to
produce a surplus. By doing this we will allow them to break definitively out of poverty.”
Another keynote speaker, Jumanne Abdallah Maghembe, Minister for Agriculture, Food Security and
Co-operatives of the United Republic of Tanzania, emphasized the importance of creating a better environment for small farmers to develop their businesses. “There is a dire need to invest in smallholders,
particularly in creating rural infrastructure to support them as they develop their production capacity.
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By looking at the realities of regions and villages, and tailoring solutions for them, we can transform
lives,” he said.
At a spirited panel discussion moderated by BBC presenter Komla Dumor, panelists offered a range of
views and ideas on how to improve the economic climate for agriculture and rural businesses. They also
discussed how to help smallholder farmers to reduce the risks they face so that they can improve their
operations and expand rural education for a more knowledge-intensive agriculture.
“Agricultural production in Africa can be increased by a factor of 10 to 20,” said Agnes Matilda KalibataMinister of Agriculture and Animal Resources of the Republic of Rwanda. “But to do that we have to
educate our banks about supporting smallholders, as well as equipping our rural youth with a better
educational system and vocational training.”
Akin Adesina, Vice President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), emphasized that
making smallholder agriculture more profitable is the best way to lift rural people out of poverty and to
ensure food security. “We need to focus on value chains with the goal of getting our young people to
see agriculture as a good business for them to be in,” he said. “Africa must start using its own resources
to make this happen, by connecting banks and microfinance institutions with farmers themselves.”
Other participants on the panel included Pascal-Firmin Ndimira, Professor and Special Advisor to the
President of the Republic of Togo; Ibrahim Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer of the New Partnership for
Africa’s Development (NEPAD); Kavita Prakash-Mani, Head of Food Security Agenda at the global
agribusiness company Syngenta, and Mohamed Béavogui, Director for West and Central Africa at
IFAD.
Kenya confident on e-health services
As Kenyan telecom operators attempt to move toward
alternative revenue, health services have quickly taken
top priority. Safaricom and Telkom Kenya announced
they were embedding health services into their product offerings.
It is not an altruistic endeavor however, as both companies hope the move will see their profit margins increase, after prices wars have devastated the countries telecom sector in recent months.
This new battle has analysts worried that it could quickly become a heated struggle between companies if
efforts are not made to ensure price wars on e-health
services do not begin.
Khalil Juwalli, a Mombasa-based telecom expert, said that the government “should be an interlocutor
that makes certain customers do not suffer from any battles that take place between companies.”
He added that with voice earnings dropping as a result of the price cuts companies have made, “there
needs to be assurances that we don’t see more of the same with e-health, despite the massive optimism it is bringing to the table.”
According to Safaricom and Telkom Kenya, much of the focus will initially be on rural areas in the country through the virtual clinics, which they said would bring in “modest” consultation fees.
Safaricom said in a press release this week that they would soon roll out the service that would enable
patients’ access to medical services without hindrance and at affordable rates.
Being called Health Presence, this new product will give “a small clinic stationed in digital villages,
where patients can consult doctors through video conferencing facilities.”
Telkom Kenya has also announced a similar product for a text-based and call-in medical service
through France Telecom’s Orange Healthcare.
CEO Mickael Ghossein said the company expects “one million of its customers to use the tele-health
service by the end of the first year.”
By Staff
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Africa development unbalanced
Africa Progress Panel report says a lack of diversification in African trade explains why so little of high
GDP growth translates into tangible improvements to people’s lives
DES LATHAM
Published: 2011/05/05 11:51:28 AM
African countries are growing at the fastest rate of all economies in the world - but the World Economic
Forum African Progress Report warns the current economic growth is not all positive.
The report was launched at the World Economic Forum t in Cape Town this morning.
In it, the APP says distorted incentives have led most African countries to concentrate on export-led
growth policies focusing on the extraction of natural resources and raw materials rather than "value
addition and diversification".
"While natural-resource extraction has accounted for only about a third of Africa’s real GDP growth in
the last decade, more than 80% of the continent’s export earnings come from primary, generally unprocessed commodities," it warns.
And it says too many economies in Africa have grown by exporting single commodities.
These include copper exports from Zambia, aluminium from Mozambique, oil from Nigeria and other
west African and central African states, and Angola.
"This has resulted in unbalanced development, with weak links between export-orientated and other
sectors."
But there are exceptions such as Egypt, Tunisia and South Africa, where manufacturing and services
account for 83 per cent of combined GDP.
There are few competitive industries in African countries, and the problem is compounded by the poor
quality of Africa’s economic relationships, with both African and other countries.
The report paints a picture of an almost colonial pattern being repeated, with increased prominence of
non-European partners, particularly China, continuing what it calls the disadvantageous pattern of Africa exporting unprocessed commodities and importing cheap manufactured goods.
The pattern, says the report, is growing more entrenched as what it calls the "resource thirst" of emerging partners continues.
"With FDI concentrating in extractive industries, the Doha Development Round unresolved, and protectionism and other discriminatory measures against Africa unbroken, the continent has little opportunity
to escape this pattern and drive much needed economic transformation through trade diversification.
AFRICAN TRADE IS ONE-DIMENSIONAL
The progress report says the one-dimensionality of Africa’s global trade is all the more harmful, because
trade between African countries remains weak.
"Intra-African trade (is limited) to a mere 10% of total exports. In comparison, trade within the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) accounts for about 60% of the region’s total exports, and trade
within the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) accounts for 56% of total exports.
"It also explains why so little of the continent’s high GDP growth translates into social development and
tangible improvements to people’s lives. Driven by capital-intensive extractive sectors, the current type
of economic growth has little positive impact on employment and income levels and virtually no effect
on employment-intensive sectors such as agriculture."
[email protected].
GRAPHIC: Average projected real GDP growth for Africa
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GRAPHIC: African cost to export
GRAPHIC: Insufficient access to finance in Africa
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World Economic Forum to focus on realising continent’s potential
WEF urges Africa to join global market
Forbes announced Tuesday its 16th local-language edition, Forbes Africa, in partnership with Africa Business
News Publishing.
The new edition is scheduled to launch in October 2011, with English-language
distribution in South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya
“Forbes Africa is a very important step for our continued international expansion,” said Forbes Television and Licensing president Miguel Forbes in a statement. “The region is ripe for micro finance and innovative entrepreneurs. This is
Africa.”
The founders of Africa Business News Publishing also own Pan Africa Business
Media Holdings, which launched CNBC Africa in 2007.
Other foreign editions of Forbes are in China, Croatia, Bulgaria, India, Indonesia, Israel, Korea, Latvia, Middle East, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Turkey
and Ukraine.
Read more here.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011 at 5:25 pm and is filed under Forbes, Magazine industry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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Rural Poverty Report 2011
New realities, new challenges:
new opportunities for tomorrow's generation
The Rural Poverty Report 2011 provides a coherent and comprehensive look at rural poverty, its global consequences and the prospects
for eradicating it.
Released on 6 December 2010, the report contains updated estimates by IFAD regarding how many rural poor people there are
in the developing world, poverty rates in rural areas, and
the percentage of poor people residing in rural areas.
We need more food and we need it now. To meet the food needs of the 21st Century the nations of
the world must make it easy to live and prosper and rural areas. Moravavy Seraphine and her daughter
Maria are examples of what's at stake.
Since the last Rural Poverty Report was published by IFAD in 2001, more than 350 million rural people
have lifted themselves out of extreme poverty. But the new report notes that global poverty remains a
massive and predominantly rural phenomenon – with 70 per cent of the developing world’s 1.4 billion
extremely poor people living in rural areas. Key areas of concern are Sub-Saharan Africa and South
Asia.
Increasingly volatile food prices, the uncertainties and effects of climate change, and a range of natural resource constraints will complicate further efforts to reduce rural poverty, the report says.
But the report also emphasizes that profound changes in agricultural markets are giving rise to new and
promising opportunities for the developing world’s smallholder farmers to significantly boost their productivity, which will be necessary to ensure enough food for an increasingly urbanized global population
estimated to reach at least 9 billion by 2050.
Accordingly, “there remains an urgent need…to invest more and better in agriculture and rural areas”
based on “a new approach to smallholder agriculture that is both market-oriented and sustainable,”
the report says.
“The report makes clear that it is time to look at poor smallholder farmers and rural entrepreneurs in a
completely new way – not as charity cases but as people whose innovation, dynamism and hard work
will bring prosperity to their communities and greater food security to the world in the decades ahead,”
said Kanayo F. Nwanze, IFAD’s President.
“We need to focus on creating an enabling environment for rural women and men to overcome the
risks and challenges they face as they work to make their farms and other businesses successful,” he
said.
EAC / Private sector and civil society organizations form
group to enhance involvement in integration process
ARUSHA, Tanzania, May 9, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Private Sector and Civil Society Organizations in the region have agreed to develop a framework for dialogue amongst themselves and the EAC.
The creation of a Working Group comprising representatives from EAC, the East African Business Council, the East African Civil Society Organizations Forum was one of
the key action points agreed on at a regional Stakeholder Workshop held this
week in Arusha, Tanzania. EAC in collaboration with the GIZ and Trademark East
Africa hosted the 3 – 5 May workshop.
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The meeting that brought together key actors in the Private Sector and Civil Society from all the EAC
Partner States as well as Government representatives discussed modalities for effective and popular
participation and involvement in the EAC integration process.
Specific aspects and parameters for an effective dialogue mechanism that were discussed included
collaboration among the private sector, civil society and the EAC, inclusiveness of all relevant stakeholders as well as goodwill, legal mandate and implementation process, information and communication channels, monitoring and evaluation tools for the dialogue.
The meeting tasked the Working Group to prepare a log frame of key actions that are needed to develop the framework for consideration by the EAC Council of Ministers. The Working Group, with support
from Trade Mark East Africa and GIZ, will also develop the Terms of Reference for the Dialogue Mechanism.
Article 127 of the EAC treaty obligates the Partner States to provide an enabling environment for the
private sector and the civil society to take full advantage of the Community, and the creation of avenues for dialogue with the EAC is in consonance with a key operational principle that requires the
Community to be people-centered and market-driven.
The Secretariats of GIZ Arusha and EAC will coordinate the implementation of the workshop’s recommendations, with the latter tasked to organize a stakeholders’ workshop to validate the developed
framework for consideration by the EAC Council of Ministers.
SOURCE : East African Community (EAC)
African middle class reaches 300m
Cape Town- Africa's middle class is growing at a compounded rate of 3.1% per year and now accounts
for some 300 million out of the continent's one billion population, says African Development Bank chief
economist Mthuli Ncube.
Speaking on Thursday at the World Economic Forum on Africa, Ncube described the rise as "phenomenal" as the middle class stood at 135 million people in 1990, then rose to about 200 million in 2000, until it reached its present level.
"It is rising faster than Africa's population growth, which is growing at about 2.6% per annum," he said.
Ncube was presenting the bank's report titled: "The Middle of the Pyramid: Dynamics of the Middle
Class in Africa", in which the central message was that the rise of this group was helping to reduce poverty on the continent.
The report cautions, however, that there is a vulnerable category of people too.
"About 60% of the African middle class, approximately 180 million people, remain barely out of the poor
category. They are in a vulnerable position and face the constant possibility of dropping back into the
poor category in the event of any exogenous shocks," the report said.
Ncube said the rising middle class was characterised by being entrepreneurial in nature, often owned
their own home and cars, were spending more on imported goods and services, and were inclined to
send their children to private schools and universities often outside their home countries.
He said many of the middle-class lived outside their countries of origin and often sent money home to
support relatives who may still be considered poor.
"Zimbabwe was a classic case of this as some $1bn in remittances helped feed people in that country
as it went through its economic crisis," Ncube said.
Black diamonds
He described the middle class as "custodians of democracy" as they were more inclined towards demanding more accountability and transparency from their governments.
"They will demand more democracy, but in sub-Saharan Africa we probably will not see the violent revolutions that have occurred in North Africa as many countries do not have the homogenous populations as we have in the Arabic countries," Ncube said.
The report also pointed out that the African Development Bank's International Comparison Program results in 2005 showed that per capita expenditure among Africa's middle class had increased almost
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two-fold, compared to more marginal increases in other regional economies in the developed countries.
"Consumer spending in Africa, primarily by the middle class, reached an estimated $80bn in annual expenditures in 2008 - nearly a quarter of Africa's GDP based on 2008 purchasing power parity," the report
stated.
The rapid rise of South Africa's "black diamonds" - the term applied to black African people who have
become quite wealthy on the back of black economic empowerment, was the result of a particular
policy, Ncube said.
"One can debate if this was a good thing. However, the continued rise of this class should be based
more on entrepreneurship rather than just share transfers," he said.
Africa Transforms to 'Continent of Hope,' Says Annan
Cape Town — Despite high-profile setbacks, Africa has in the past decade changed from being "the
hopeless continent" to "the continent of hope", former United Nations chief Kofi Annan says in a report
issued Thursday.
"Countries
and
increasingly shifttion from Africa's
vast
potential
opportunities,"
tinent's quick reglobal financial
merous
examand
political
"feeding a redo' spirit."
companies are
ing their attenproblems to its
and
abundant
he says. The concovery from the
crisis, and "nuples of social
progress"
are
markable 'can-
"Hope, however,
is not enough,"
adds Annan. Violence, political
turmoil and uncertainty
"scar
too many parts
of the continent,"
increasing inequalities, food insecurity, the effects of climate change and difficulties in creating jobs for
the young. And Africa still has little influence on decisions affecting it which are taken by the international community.
Annan highlighted what he called "a palpable spirit of optimism" for the continent in the foreword to
the 2001 report of the Africa Progress Panel, an international review panel established to monitor
whether the world's leaders are meeting their commitments to Africa. The report was launched at the
World Economic Forum for Africa, which is meeting in Cape Town.
Annan, the leader of the panel, was scheduled to be joined at the launch by the former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, activist Graça Machel and Botswana's central banker, Linah Kelebogile Mohohlo, who are among other panelists.
The report notes that Africa grew more quickly than most parts of the world in the five years before the
2008-2010 global economic crisis, and that exports and foreign direct investment dropped during the
crisis, but that "most of Africa is now resuming its growth spurt." The report cites International Monetary
Fund predictions that sub-Saharan Africa's gross domestic product would grow in real terms by 5.5 percent this year and 5.8 percent in 2012.
However, the report adds, the average figure masks big differences between countries: "While the Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia are all expected to be
among the world's ten fastest-growing economies, the Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire,
Equatorial Guinea and Eritrea are projected to grow at rates far below the average."
The report also underlines a key problem of most of Africa's growth: that it is based in a number of countries on the extraction and export of natural resources and raw materials, such as minerals, without any
value being added by processing or manufacturing on the continent.
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"While natural-resource extraction has accounted for only about a third of Africa's real GDP growth in
the last decade, more than 80 percent of the continent's export earnings come from primary, generally
unprocessed commodities," the report says.
It adds that the economies of several countries are geared towards the export of single commodities,
including copper (Zambia) and aluminium (Mozambique). This has resulted in unbalanced development, with weak links between export-orientated and other sectors.
"With the notable exceptions of Egypt, Tunisia and South Africa, where manufacturing and services account for 83 per cent of combined GDP, 15 non-extractive sectors and competitive industries remain
heavily under-developed in most African countries...
"Driven by capital-intensive extractive sectors, the current type of economic growth has little positive
impact on employment and income levels and virtually no effect on employment-intensive sectors
such as agriculture," the report says.
Africa Progress Panel
An analysis by the McKinsey Global Institute, published by the Africa Progress Panel, shows how countries such as Libya, Angola, Algeria and Nigeria export unprocessed natural resources, while those such
as Egypt, Namibia, Morocco, Tunisia in South Africa are more economically diversified, producing more
processed goods.
Africa: 'Continent of Hope'
Kofi Annan
The foreword to the Africa Progress Report 2011, by the former United Nations Secretary-General:
The last year has been particularly eventful for the continent, and the world as a whole.
A growing debt mountain in the United States, uncertainty around Europe's common currency and the
consequences of the earthquake in Japan are reordering the industrialized world's priorities. This and
the lingering repercussions of the global financial crisis, accelerating shifts in the balance of economic
and political power, high food and fuel prices, and political change in North Africa have transformed
the policy space in which African leaders and their partners operate. By compounding existing challenges, but also by creating new opportunities, these dynamics are transforming prospects for ordinary
Africans across the continent.
The events of the last year have also accelerated changes in how Africa is perceived - and perceives
itself. The broader aftershocks of the financial crisis, including currency and price volatility, fiscal crises
and asset-price collapse, have proved that no region, for better or worse, can be seen as exogenous to
the world economy. They have also highlighted the need for new growth poles and markets to sustain
the economic order in the developed world. As a result, countries and companies are increasingly shifting their attention from Africa's problems to its vast potential and abundant opportunities. In the
process, they are redefining the continent's image.
On the continent, these shifts in perception are accompanied by a heightened appreciation of the
need for African self-reliance in an uncertain world, and by a palpable spirit of optimism despite some
high-profile setbacks. The fast recovery and strong growth rates of many economies, plus numerous examples of social and political progress, are feeding a remarkable "can-do" spirit. This is reinforced by
events such as the Football World Cup in South Africa, the peaceful referendum in South Sudan, the
adoption of new constitutions in Kenya and Niger, and unforeseen political change in Egypt and Tunisia.
What was termed "the hopeless continent" ten years ago has now unquestionably become the continent of hope. Hope that strong growth rates will translate into jobs, incomes and irreversible humandevelopment gains; that the continent's enormous wealth will be used to foster equitable and inclusive
growth and generate opportunities for all; that economic transformation and social progress will drive
further improvements in democratic governance and accountability as the middle classes grow and
demand more of their politicians and service providers; and hope that rulers who abuse their power to
enrich themselves at the expense of the poor and of democratic processes are, at last, seeing the writing on the wall.
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That many of these hopes actually seem attainable shows how far the continent has come. Hope,
however, is not enough. Positive trends are being offset in too many countries by structural governance
deficits.
Violence, political turmoil, and uncertainty still scar too many parts of the continent and add to the
challenges already at hand. The slow progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the
difficult task of providing productive employment for rapidly growing numbers of young people, increasing inequalities and food insecurity, the risk of contagion through increasingly interconnected systems and the effects of climate change all threaten past and future gains.
Despite repeated promises of reform by the world's most powerful countries and institutions, Africans also remain heavily marginalized in world affairs, with little say in and control over how decisions affecting
their countries are taken. The continent's enormous potential remains constrained by unfair global rules
and the ambivalent behaviour of many partners, particularly with respect to tariff and non-tariff barriers
to trade, distorting quotas and bloated subsidy regimes.
Given these obstacles and challenges, it is all the more remarkable that some countries in Africa have
shown such solid progress towards sustainable growth and development. They offer clear proof that,
with the right combination of leadership, focused development plans, and international support,
enormous advances are possible in even the most difficult circumstances.
However, all African countries face the increasingly difficult task of mobilizing resources in an age of
austerity. As pressures on aid budgets increase, and climate change adds new financing demands,
African leaders and international donors are realizing that they cannot drive development on their own.
Official development cooperation remains vitally important to build capacity, leverage other flows and
achieve specific results. Yet, there is also a growing need for partnerships harnessing a broader range of
actors and their energy, creativity and resources to fill the gaps.
Such partnerships have already proven their transformative power.
Collaboration between the private sector and international philanthropists has led to significant reductions in malaria deaths. Partnerships between mobile-phone providers and governments have resulted
in greater access to credit in rural areas and transformed business across entire regions.
Partnerships between civil society and intergovernmental organizations have led to vastly improved
agricultural methods and inputs for smallholder farmers. By mobilizing resources, improving efficiencies,
or extending services, access and opportunities to previously marginalized segments of the population,
partnerships can clearly complement, expand and improve government-led development efforts. If
scaled up, they can even affect sustainable structural change.
Current dynamics are highly favourable for strengthening cross-sectoral collaboration. Over the last
years, new spaces have opened up for engaging actors around their comparative advantages and respective interests as the benefits of partnering have become more obvious. The private sector understands that it needs the access and knowledge of local partners and national governments to grasp
the enormous commercial opportunities at the bottom of the pyramid. Governments and civil society
organisations are recognizing the value of the resources, capacities, and expertise the private sector
can bring to their development efforts. As the interests of the various sectors continue to converge and
improvements in regulatory environments make cooperating easier and safer, opportunities for partnerships continue to grow.
The core elements of effective partnerships are well established, even though their combination may vary: political
leadership and vision from governments, along with a supportive regulatory, legal and fiscal environment; a private sector
incentivized to invest capital and ideas not just for immediate
returns but for longer-term change that will strengthen markets, value chains and social stability; civil society afforded
the space by business and government to keep both accountable for socially and environmentally responsible behaviour; and international organizations, African or otherwise,
able to advocate global standards and share best practices,
especially from other parts of the global South.
Africa Progress Panel
An analysis by the McKinsey Global Institute, published by the
Africa Progress Panel, shows how countries such as Libya, Angola, Algeria and Nigeria export unprocessed natural rePerformances Veille
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sources, while those such as Egypt, Namibia, Morocco, Tunisia in South Africa are more economically
diversified, producing more processed goods.
The idea of partnerships for development is hardly new. For over a decade, MDG 8 has been calling for
stronger partnerships as a basis for achieving all other goals. Despite the existence of many encouraging examples, and valuable lessons learned, we are still not seeing enough success stories replicated or
brought to scale to effect lasting structural change. Too many actors still see the risks of engaging in
partnerships rather than the opportunities, and too many states still fail to harness the developmental
potential of their civil society organizations or to provide the enabling environment and incentive structures to make partnerships attractive for private-sector actors. This results in missed opportunities to
tackle problems and drive progress. Given the transformative power of partnerships, it will be crucial to
overcome these blockages and convince all sides of the inherent benefits of partnering for progress.
This is the main purpose of this report.
Kofi A. Annan
Chair of the Africa Progress Panel
http://www.africaprogresspanel.org/en/pressroom/press-kits/africa-progress-report-20111/
Africa's tax systems face challenges
African countries face significant challenges in respect of the effectiveness of their tax systems, according to Logan Wort, CEO of the African Tax Administration Forum.
Wort was addressing the 2011 Deloitte Africa Tax Summit in Johannesburg.
He said the challenges resulted from high compliance costs, under-resourcing and the skills gap, underdeveloped compliance strategies, corruption and the quality of IT and processing systems.
"African countries also have very large informal sectors that can account from 40 to 60% of gross domestic product," he added.
Some modernisation processes, however, were underway.
For example, Wort said Tanzania's Tax Modernization Programme consisted of improving the legal
framework, broadening the tax base, strengthening the Tanzania Revenue Authority to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of tax administration, and improving the administrative infrastructure.
However, taxpayer service and education needed to be continued in Africa.
"Efforts should continue in this direction to establish trust and build a tax compliance culture. Changing
the culture of taxation will, however, take time and results will only be visible in the long run," Wort said.
Yet another common challenge was the tax evasion of multinationals. Transfer mispricing and false invoicing were common, he noted.
However, ATAF had made recommendations for a Transfer Pricing Project in Cairo in 2010.
"The purpose of the project is to assist in building the capacity of ATAF members to identify and address
those areas of risk to their tax bases from transfer pricing and thin capitalisation issues," the chief executive said.
Wort said that the taxation system in SA was "a different world" compared to some other countries on
the African continent.
"ATAF has been running training programmes for two years and when SA tax officials share their experiences during these programmes, they can be compared more to the experiences of UK or Canadian
revenue authorities than those of African authorities.
"In SA you're talking about things like close collaboration between Treasury and the SA Reserve Bankthis doesn't exist in many of our African member countries," he concluded.
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China's boom swells the coffers of African economies
LLOYD GEDYE | JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - May 06 2011 00:00
Chinese investment in Africa is the single most important development of the previous decade for the
continent -- and a pointer to its future, too. In 2010 China became Africa's largest trading partner, according to a new report by Renaissance Capital, titled "China in Africa".
China's trade with Africa, which now represents 10,4% of the continent's total trade, is currently more
than 10 times what it was in 2000, increasing from $11-billion to $129-billion. It is predicted that by 2015
Chinese-African trade may rise to as much as $400-billion a year. China's largest trade partners in Africa
are South Africa (25%), Nigeria (11%), Zambia (9%), Algeria (8%) and Sudan (6%).
According to the Chinese ministry of commerce, China has more than 1 600 companies in Africa, covering more than 83% of the continent. Chinese foreign direct investment in the continent has also resulted in an explosion in growth, quadrupling between 2005 and 2009 to $9,3-billion and predicted to
soar to $40-billion by 2015. These figures are based on data supplied by the Chinese ministry of commerce but, according to the US Heritage Foundation, Chinese investment in Africa was as high as $44billion between 2005 and 2010.
The biggest examples of that investment in the past decade include $8-billion invested with Nigeria National Petroleum in July 2010, $6,2-billion for railway construction in Algeria, $5,6-billion invested by the
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to buy a 20% stake in Standard Bank and $5-billion invested in
oil infrastructure in Niger.
According to the report energy, transport and metals dominate the investments, with $19,3-billion, $15billion and $13,9-billion invested respectively in those
sectors between 2005 and
2010.
Imports from SA
One of the most significant
qualities of Chinese-African
trade is the fact that, unlike
most of the continent's other
trade partners Africa holds the
upper hand in the relationship
because it has a trade surplus
with China. China's main dilemma is that its imports from
Africa are heavily skewed towards petroleum and minerals,
which constitute 65% of all
imports.
"In 2009, 30% of China's oil imports were sourced from the
continent, principally from
Angola (15,8%), Sudan (6%)
and Libya (3,1%)," says the
Renaissance Capital report.
"Oil represented 60% of Africa's
total exports to China." This is in
line with China's decision to
diversify its oil imports from the
less stable Middle East.
However,
this
resourcedominated import strategy has
a significant impact on China's
trade deficit with Africa, which
is a major headache for the
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superpower. According to the report, it is trying to address this through the terms and conditions tied to
massive loans Chinese banks are making to countries on the continent.
The report flags the fact that Chinese aid to Africa, which is estimated at $11,5-billion since the 1950s, is
being "overshadowed" by loans from the Chinese Eximbank (CEB) and China Development Bank.
The report states that CEB had loaned $7-billion to Africa by 2009 and the China Development Bank has
promised $10-billion in loans and had disbursed $5,6-billion to 35 projects in 30 African countries.
"China's cheap financing is giving it a dominant position in Africa, which will force developed and other
emerging market economies to fight harder for access to African resources and markets," says the report.
"In principle the projects financed by CEB must be undertaken by a Chinese company, with at least
50% procurement from China," says the report. "Consequently, the loans are a conduit through which
Chinese firms can enter developing markets.
"They are also an important means of trying to balance China's increasing raw material imports from
these countries with exports of Chinese goods and services," says the report.
It further states that this strategy was beginning to work in 2007, when China exported more goods to
Africa than it imported from the continent. In 2009 China saw a trade surplus with Africa, but the report
says this was due to the collapse of commodity prices.
"While China's exports rose 30% and reached a record high in 2010, the commodity rebound was so
strong that its trade went back into deficit," says the report.
China's main exports to Africa include machinery/transport equipment (41%), manufactured intermediary goods (31%) and manufactured consumer goods (18%).
Nigeria
Nigeria is key to China's plan to export goods to the rest of Africa, while oil makes up 93% of its imports
from the West African nation. However, only $832-million worth of oil was shipped in 2009, compared
with Angola's $14,6-billion.
According to the report China is one of Nigeria's largest sources of imports and a hub for Nigeria to reexport Chinese consumer goods to the rest of Africa. "There is a substantial Chinatown in Lagos, consisting of approximately 120 shops that sell Chinese consumer goods, imports and products manufactured
by Chinese firms in Nigeria," says the report.
About 50 000 Chinese nationals are estimated to live and work in Nigeria, which is also home to two
Chinese-funded special economic zones.
Zambia
Zambia and China have had a longstanding relationship that dates back to the ties between former
Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda and the Chinese government. No surprise, then, that when the
Bank of China opened its first Southern African branch in 1997, it was in Lusaka, or that China helped to
build the 1860 km Tazara Railway connecting the country's copper mines to Tanzania's port city of Dar
es Salaam.
Zambia was also the first country in Africa to develop a Chinese-funded special economic zone, in
2003. Copper is one of Zambia's biggest exports and the commodity made up 83% of its exports to China in 2009. China first became involved in the copper sector when the China Non-Ferrous Metals Corporation purchased 85% of the defunct Chambishi Copper Mine for $20-million and then spent a further
$130-million rehabilitating the mine. However, Chinese investment has led to some unrest in the past
decade, with Zambian miners and Chinese firms regularly clashing. Disputes have extended into the
sphere of local politics.
South Africa
South Africa accounts for a quarter of all Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa. The China Construction Bank and China Eximbank have offices in Jo'burg and the China-Africa Development Fund set
up in the city in 2009.
Key Chinese investments in South Africa include the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the
world's largest bank, which became Standard Bank's biggest shareholder in 2008, when it purchased a
20% stake for $5,6-billion.
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In 2006 Chinese company Sinosteel bought a 50% stake in Samancor Chrome for $230-million, while in
2010 the Jinchuan Group and the China-Africa Development Fund bought a 51% stake in Wesizwe Platinum for $230-million. Also in 2010 Chinese company First Auto Works invested $100-million in the transport sector in South Africa.
On the export front cheap Chinese textile goods have flooded into South Africa, putting extreme pressure on local manufacturers.
In 2006 China agreed to export restraints; however, according to the report, during the 18-month implementation period alternative suppliers from Vietnam, Malaysia and Mauritius filled the space in the
market left by the decreased number of Chinese imports.
Source: Mail & Guardian Online
Web Address: http://mg.co.za/article/2011-05-06-chinas-boom-swells-the-coffers-of-african-economies
New Report Showcases Growth of African Multinational
Corporations
Revenues outpace developed world and emerging market counterparts
CEO Strategies for Expansion Highlighted
CAPE TOWN, South Africa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Initiative for Global Development in conjunction with
Dalberg Global Development Advisors today released a groundbreaking report detailing how homegrown multinational corporations (MNCs) have expanded and flourished throughout Sub-Saharan Africa—despite an historic economic downturn in developed countries and slow growth in other emerging
markets. The report, Pioneers on the Frontier: Sub-Saharan Africa’s Multinational Corporations, is the first
of its kind to look at homegrown Sub-Saharan African MNCs and highlight steps taken by CEOs at some
of the top companies to expand their businesses across the continent and beyond, while contributing
to the development of the communities in which they operate.
“The strategies employed by these CEOs provide a blueprint for other companies who want to expand
and take advantage of the potential the continent has to offer.”
“This report provides a unique snapshot of a range of African companies that have experienced remarkable growth in spite of regional political barriers and global economic challenges,” said Jennifer
Potter, President & CEO of the Initiative for Global Development. “The strategies employed by these
CEOs provide a blueprint for other companies who want to expand and take advantage of the potential the continent has to offer.”
The top 30 Sub-Saharan MNCs profiled span industries varying from financial services and petroleum to
telecommunications and transport. Other, diversified businesses include hotel chains, retail companies
and agribusinesses. Annual revenues ranged from $240 million for Kenya Commercial Bank to $2.4 billion
for Oando, a Nigerian-based energy company. The top 30 Sub-Saharan MNCs grew at an annual rate
of almost 30 percent from 2006 to 2009, far outpacing their global competitors, including Standard &
Poor’s 500 biggest American firms.
“There is so much untapped potential in these markets—potential for revenue as well as opportunity to
create jobs and reduce poverty,” stated James Mwangi, CEO & Managing Director, Equity Bank, Kenya
and a member of IGD’s Frontier 100 network. “Partnerships are critical to achieving a company’s full potential, as Equity Bank’s success has shown. By using the strategies outlined in this report, and by thinking
long-term, other companies can grow and help change policies that will encourage additional economic development.”
The most successful companies have adapted modes of expansion that are recognized globally and
adjusted them to fit the unique characteristics of the countries in which they operate. Keys to success
shared by executives included taking time for due diligence, looking for the right policy environment,
being conscious of cultural differences and seeking long-term anchor clients and partners.
“Expanding beyond our base in Zimbabwe played an important part in AICO Africa’s growth and success. At the same time, it has benefitted millions of Africans who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods,” said Patrick Devenish, Group Chief Executive, AICO Africa Ltd. “Agriculture is fundamental to
Africa’s development and progress. As business leaders, we must continue to work with governments to
ensure that the right policies are in place for increased business expansion and cross-border economic
development.”
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The report underlines the private sector’s pivotal role in raising living standards in emerging economies.
“These homegrown multinational companies bring the best practices in management, operations and
governance wherever they go in the Sub-Saharan region,” said Daniel Altman, Director of Thought
Leadership at Dalberg Global Development Advisors. “They can professionalize markets in ways that
boost income and employment for entire sectors.”
The majority of executives interviewed for the report are members of the Initiative for Global Development’s Frontier 100 network, a group of leading African, South Asian, U.S. and European business executives working to increase investment and reduce poverty in Africa. The report was released during the
Frontier 100 Forum with business executives and government representatives discussing ways to improve
policy environments, ahead of World Economic Forum meetings in Cape Town.
About the Initiative for Global Development
Founded in Seattle in 2003 by Bill Gates Sr., Dan Evans, Bill Ruckelshaus, Bill Clapp and John Shalikashvili,
The Initiative for Global Development (IGD) is a global alliance of business leaders that champions public and private investments to advance economic opportunity and reduce poverty around the world.
Frontier 100, a program of IGD, connects successful CEOs operating in frontier and emerging markets
with leading CEOs from the United States and Europe to catalyze business growth that increases opportunity for people in developing countries.
Dalberg Global Development Advisors is a strategic consulting firm exclusively focused on raising living
standards around the world and addressing global challenges.
The Frontier 100 Forum is sponsored in part by Aon Corporation.
Notes to Editors:
Interviews with Frontier 100 CEOs are available upon request.
Daniel Altman at Dalberg Global Development Advisors can be reached at +1 212 338 4103.
Contacts
Initiative for Global Development
Mala Persaud, 202-841-9336
[email protected]
COTE D'IVOIRE: Free health care, for now
Photo: Alexis Adélé/IRIN
An offer of free health services has triggered long lines
at public hospitals throughout Côte d’Ivoire
ABIDJAN, 12 May 2011 (IRIN) - Many public hospitals in
Côte d’Ivoire are overflowing as people rush to benefit
from a brief period of free medical services, announced by the government as part of the recovery
from months of post-election chaos. But the health
ministry has been quick to point out that this is a temporary measure and fees will be reinstated at the end
of May.
Not everyone will benefit from the free care, announced in April. In some areas medicines and services are scarce after sanctions drained drug supplies, many health workers fled their posts, and hospitals were looted during the conflict.
After the November presidential run-off election both incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and rival Alassane
Ouattara claimed the presidency and the deadlock set off unprecedented violence throughout the
country. The 11 April arrest of Gbagbo began a process toward economic recovery and calm, but observers agree the tough work lies ahead; damage to an already faulty health system has been considerable.
“The timeframe [for free care] is too short,” Machiami Keïta, 27, told IRIN in the main city Abidjan. “Making health services free in public hospitals and clinics is very helpful after everything the people have
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been through… But I don’t think this will provide enough time for all those who will need medical care
to benefit.”
Rémi Allah Kouadio, the interim health minister, recently said on state television that medicines and
supplies were gradually being replenished, thanks in large part to partners that included the UN Children’s Fund, World Health Organization and Médecins Sans Frontières. “We cannot charge the population for medicines we’re receiving free.”
Restoring health facilities will take time. “Healthcare is free in our hospital but we don’t have a constant
supply of medicines,” said Georgette Atsé, a pharmacy worker at a hospital in Abidjan's Abobo District.
“Meanwhile, we are seeing several times more consultations than usual - in paediatrics, gynaecology
[and other departments].” People at the hospital told IRIN they had been waiting for several hours. “We
are barely past the crisis,” Atsé said. “Some staff are still absent, and buildings and materials have been
destroyed.”
Martin Kobenan, a doctor in the Marcory area of Abidjan, said the number of consultations had risen
from around 75 per day to as many as 300 per day. “But many of our health workers fled Abidjan during
the crisis and we’re still waiting for them to return.”
Karim Fofana, 26, said he had received a free examination at the Abobo hospital but could not afford
treatment and would probably see a traditional healer about his lung infection. “The doctor gave me a
prescription but not all the drugs are available here. I’d have to go to a private pharmacy but I haven’t
got a cent.”
There has long been debate in the developing world over whether user fees deprive the poorest
people of medical care, with some NGOs urging governments to make services free. Côte d’Ivoire,
once the economic powerhouse of West Africa, has maintained a policy of charging fees.
“Côte d’Ivoire’s policy is cost recovery for health services. This period of free care is exceptional; it’s due
to the crisis,” Siméon N’da, communications officer in the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene, told
IRIN.
The post-crisis measure highlights the challenges of providing medical care to poor populations, especially those affected by conflict. In the years following Côte d’Ivoire’s first-ever coup d’état in 1999, the
number of poor families has skyrocketed.
Africa requires U.S. $ 93 billion dollars for infrastructure
the continent could save 17 billion dollars through improving efficient use of existing infrastructure
LUSAKA (Xinhua) -- Africa’s largest trading bloc says the continent requires about 93 billion United States
dollars annually to raise infrastructure endowment to a reasonable level within the next decade, the
Zambia Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)- which has 19 member states- said
from the total of amount of money required, two thirds needed to be spent on capital development,
rehabilitation and the remainder on maintenance, Daily Mail said.
Sindiso Ngwenya, the organization’s secretary-general, said the continent could save 17 billion dollars
through improving efficient use of existing infrastructure although this still left a funding gap of 31 billion
dollars.
The official, who was speaking at a tripartite meeting of three regional groups namely COMESA, Eastern
Africa Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community in Lusaka , said however
that it was encouraging that governments were championing infrastructure projects in a “prioritized
manner”.
Under the North-South Corridor Aid for Trade program, a project driven by the tripartite initiative,
projects in various sectors have been prepared as funding documents, according to Daily Mail.
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Will manufacturing shift from China to Africa?
In 2000, when William Hickey, president and CEO of US-based packaging company Sealed Air, took a
long-term view on the future of his company, he predicted that by 2050 Africa would have replaced
China as the world’s manufacturing hub.
William Hickey
“Eleven years later I think we are behind . . . 2050 becomes a challenge [but] I still think it is doable,” Hickey said during a session at the
recent World Economic Forum on Africa, held in Cape Town.
Headquartered in New Jersey, Sealed Air manufactures a wide range
of packaging materials and equipment for the food, industrial, medical and consumer industries. The New York Stock Exchange listed
company has a presence across the world, including Africa.
“I know of one company, and only one at this point, that has moved
their manufacturing operations from China to Africa. I thought that
would be the tipping point, but that was six years ago and I know of
no other customer of ours that has moved its manufacturing from China to Africa,” Hickey noted.
He said Africa’s manufacturing sector faces numerous challenges, including a shortage of skills; rigid labour laws; inadequate electricity supply; cumbersome and expensive transport within the continent;
low levels of productivity; political instability; and corruption.
Hickey, however, remains an optimist on Africa. “But I’m hopeful, we are prepared to invest, and we
are prepared to help the continent . . . to overcome [these] issues.”
Africa needs modern infrastructure to support economic
growth
One of the major setbacks that affects development in Africa has to do with the lack of a strong infrastructure base.
This is because the absence of quality, widespread infrastructure, along with low access to information
and knowledge on a mass scale make it difficult to achieve export diversification and attract higher
foreign direct investment (FDI).
Infrastructural projects have been slow largely due to a private sector investment deficit. At about 15%
of GDP, private sector investment in Africa is estimated at about half the level in Asia. It is also important
to note that Africa‘s centres of economic activity have shifted markedly from the agrarian countryside
to urban areas. In addition, urban areas account for the bulk of domestic economic activity and more
than a third of the population live in cities or towns.
On a positive note, the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group recently approved the Bank’s Urban Development Strategy. The strategy is titled, “Transforming Africa’s Cities and
Towns into Engines of Economic Growth and Social Development”.
The main focus areas of the strategy will be on infrastructure delivery, governance and private sector
development. The AfDB has since the 1960s allocated about 15% – 20% of its total cumulative operations financing directly or indirectly to urban development.
Under the strategy, the AfDB will assist regional member countries and urban communities’ efforts to
improve water supply, sanitation, drainage and solid waste management services; improve urban mobility through the development of mass transit systems; support energy projects, harness ICT to broaden
socio-economic activity and support the development of urban social infrastructure, particularly in the
health and education sectors.
In governance, the bank‘s strategy will aim to strengthen corporate governance and managerial capacity of municipal authorities to promote a culture of transparency; strengthen anti-corruption safeguards and build the capacity for urban planning. It will also support reforms such as fiscal decentralisation by helping municipalities to improve financial and administrative management systems.
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In the area of private sector development, the bank will strive to support private enterprises across the
business spectrum from small enterprises to mega entities. Assistance will also be focused on creating
conducive environments for private sector investment, including promoting and strengthening local financial markets.
Modern infrastructure, in our view is the spine on which economic development depends. In this regard,
we see as a strategic logic for most governments to promote Public-Private sector Partnerships (PPPs) in
the area of infrastructure development.
In addition, strategic development partners such as China, for example can also play an important role
in closing the infrastructure gap in Africa. Overall, policymakers in Africa should prioritise infrastructure
development projects given that investors are generally attracted to destinations with efficient transport linkage (internal and external) and reliable industrial energy supplies.
Article written by the Imara Africa Securities team. Imara is an investment banking and asset management group renowned for its knowledge of African markets.
Why outsourcing could be Africa’s next big opportunity
Reuters reports that intense competition in India’s business process outsourcing (BPO)
industry has forced technology firm Spanco Ltd to expand to Africa where it expects to
earn nearly half of its profits within two years.
Pravin Kumar, chief executive officer of Spanco BPO Services, said his company sees Africa as a solid
opportunity for the firm due to its proximity and almost similar time difference to the firm’s major
source markets – Europe and the United States – compared with India.
“We see a turnover of about US$100 million purely from the BPO business by 2013 from Africa. This year
we will do about $40 million,” said Kumar. “In two years’ time at least 40% of our profits will come from
here (Africa) purely in the BPO business.”
Spanco will launch operations in six countries including Kenya, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Chad,
Niger and Nigeria, riding on a contract the firm won from India’s Bharti Airtel to manage the mobile
provider’s contact centres.
The BPO industry is worth an estimated $30 billion in India but competition is intensifying. “The BPO industry is completely saturated in India . . . the benefit of expanding in India is not as much as that of Africa,” said Kumar. Spanco sees a substantial amount of its profits coming from Africa driven by the untapped potential in the continent’s BPO industry.
Kumar said by August this year 3,000 people will be working in its African operations. The number is expected to go up to 50,000 by 2013 and Spanco plans to make several acquisitions in the course of its
expansion drive.
Ghana has done particularly well in terms of positioning itself as an attractive BPO destination. A report, titled “The 2009 AT Kearney Global Services Location Index,” which ranked countries for their ability
to handle BPO, using a weighted combination of scores on 43 measurements grouped under three
main criteria: financial attractiveness; people skills and availability; and business environment, found
that while India led the rankings globally, Ghana had the top overall ranking in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Ghana scored the highest (followed closely by India) out of the 50 countries ranked on financial attractiveness, which measures compensation cost, infrastructure cost, tax and regulatory cost. Ghana
(3.26) scored considerably higher than South Africa (2.28).
According to the Kearney report, Mauritius also ranked favourably at 25th overall, thanks to strong
people skills and a favorable business environment.
Although Ghana ranked high in the Kearney survey for BPO desirability, South Africa remained the largest offshore destination in Africa by far, operating a successful contact-centre cluster in Cape Town
along with several research and development operations around its aerospace hub in Pretoria.
The above once again highlights that there is certainly more to Africa’s potential than commodities.
Article written by the Imara Africa Securities team. Imara is an investment banking and asset management group renowned for its knowledge of African markets.
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Afrique de l'Ouest: Croissance - L'UEMOA parie sur la
massification des prises de participations dans les sociétés
Dakar — La massification des prises de participations de sociétés dans d'autres entreprises devrait constituer "un atout important" pour la croissance économique au sein de l'Union économique et monétaire
ouest-africaine (UEMOA), a indiqué, mercredi à Dakar, Serigne Mbacké Sougou, le directeur de cabinet du commissaire chargé des politiques économiques et de la fiscalité de l'institution communautaire.
Au-delà des "succès" obtenus dans le domaine du financement du développement, "grâce notamment à la politique monétaire vertueuse, aux progrès réalisés dans le développement du marché financier régional et à l'amélioration de l'environnement fiscal, le financement des investissements à travers une massification des prises de participations de sociétés dans d'autres entreprises tel que nous l'envisageons, devra constituer un atout important pour la croissance économique au sein de l'UEMOA", at-il déclaré.
"C'est pourquoi, la promotion des sociétés d'investissement dont la vocation est de renforcer les fonds
propres d'autres entreprises à travers des prises de participation dans le capital de ces dernières, permettra une diversification dans notre espace communautaire des produits financiers pour assurer un financement efficace des entreprises, en particulier des PME/PMI", a-t-il ajouté.
Serigne Mbacké Sougou s'exprimait à l'ouverture d'un atelier de validation du projet de directive portant harmonisation de la fiscalité applicable aux entreprises à capital fixe au sein de l'UEMOA.
Ce projet est conjointement élaboré par la Commission de l'UEMOA, la BCEAO et le Conseil régional de
l'Epargne publique et des marchés financiers (CREPMF).
Il "vise ainsi à créer un cadre fiscal propice à l'essor des entreprises d'investissement à capital fixe dans
l'espace UEMOA grâce aux mesures fortement incitatives prévues à leur faveur", a-t-il expliqué.
Les entreprises visées sont les suivantes : les établissements financiers de capital-risque, les sociétés de
capital-risque, les établissements financiers d'investissement en fonds propres, les sociétés d'investissement en fond propres.
"Au demeurant, a relevé M. Sougou, plusieurs autres domaines relatifs au secteur financier nécessitent
une harmonisation du régime fiscal communautaire tant les pratiques sont divergentes dans l'espace
UEMOA, entraînant ainsi des distorsions dans le fonctionnement du marché commun".
Il a cité la fiscalité sur les intérêts et commissions perçus ou payés par les banques et établissements financiers ainsi que sur le crédit bail et le leasing, la fiscalité directe sur les revenus de créances, dépôts et
cautionnements, la fiscalité applicable aux transferts d'argent, le régime foncier et domanial, notamment en ce qui concerne ses implications en matière de garantie de crédits.
"Le texte qui est soumis à votre examen traite des aspects fiscaux liés à la création et au développement des entreprises d'investissement à capital fixe dont le cadre juridique a déjà fixé par la loi uniforme relative aux entreprises d'investissement à capital fixe, adopté par le Conseil des ministres de
l'UEMOA", a-t-il indiqué.
Le Sénégal lève 500 millions de dollars sur le marché international
Ouestafnews - Le Sénégal a annoncé avoir levé la somme de 500 millions de dollars (environ 231 milliards FCFA) sur le marché financier international pour financer « exclusivement » des projets
d’infrastructures routières et le secteur de l’énergie, aujourd’hui en crise.
Selon le ministre sénégalais de l’Economie et des finances, Abdoulaye Diop, cité par le quotidien gouvernementale Le Soleil dans son édition du 12 mai 2011, cet emprunt « n’entraine aucun surendettement » du pays.
Les « infrastructures » et « l’énergie » sont deux secteurs actuellement sous la tutelle du ministre Karim
Wade, par ailleurs fils du président Abdoulaye Wade, à qui le chef de l’Etat avait déjà confié la gestion
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des projets d’infrastructures dans le cadre de l’organisation à Dakar du sommet de la conférence islamique (tenue en mars 2008) à Dakar.
La transparence dans la gestion de ces projets avait à l’époque suscité une vive polémique ayant inspiré le livre du journaliste Abdou Latif Coulibaly intitulé « contes et mécomptes de l’Anoci », du nom de
l’Agence spécialement mise en place pour la construction des infrastructures relatives au sommet.
Avant de procéder à son emprunt, le Sénégal s’était soumis à une « notation » par le cabinet Moody’s,
qui lui avait attribué la note B1. Cette note se trouve au bas de l’échelle Moody’s, à la 13ème place sur
une liste qui en comporte 20. Selon les experts, cette notation correspond à un statut « hautement
spéculatif ».
La même note a été attribuée à la Grèce, actuellement en pleine crise économique, mais selon certains spécialistes, les «contextes» économiques des deux pays restent diffèrents.
Ouestaf News
UEMOA : les recettes budgétaires des Etats dépassent
1000 milliards de F CFA
Malgré un ralentissement constaté par la BCEAO dans son rapport sur la conjoncture du premier trimestre 2011, les Etats de l’UEMOA ont engrangé encore plus de recettes fiscales et non fiscales.
«Au Plan interne, la conjoncture interne dans les pays de l’Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA) a enregistré un ralentissement au premier trimestre », relève le rapport de BCEAO pour
le compte du premier trimestre 2011. Quoiqu’en léger retrait par rapport à la fin 2010, le taux d’inflation
(3,7%) au 31 mars 2011 est très élevé par rapport à celui affiché le 30 septembre 2010 (1,3%). Les prévisions tablent sur un taux d’inflation de 4% à la fin du deuxième trimestre 2011.
Cette progression des prix résulte du renchérissement des denrées alimentaires, de la progression du
prix des carburants (exprimé en Franc CFA, le cours du pétrole brut a progressé de 14,6% au premier
trimestre 2011) dans plusieurs pays de l’Union et des tensions inflationnistes en Côte d’Ivoire, moteur
économique de la région. Conséquence , une dégradation sensible de la position concurrentielle de
l’UEMOA, appréciable à travers un ralentissement du taux de change effectif réel (TCER) passé de 6,5%
au quatrième trimestre 2010 à 2,6% au premier trimestre 2011.
L’UEMOA maintient toutefois la progression des recettes budgétaires totales des Etats membres de passées à 1 061 milliards de F CFA contre 973,1 milliards un an plus tôt, en liaison avec la hausse respective
de 7,7% et 23,5% des recettes fiscales et non fiscales. La Banque centrale relève une hausse des ressources extérieures (appuis budgétaire apporté par les partenaires, dons, etc.) qui ont atteint 103,5 milliards en mars 2011 contre 82,1 milliards durant la même période de l’année dernière. A noter une forte
contraction des exportations entre les deux périodes (-737 milliards de F CFA) causée notamment par
la diminution sensible des flux entre la Côte d’Ivoire et l’extérieur.
MBF
Inclusive business as part of the solution to Africa's development
According to the Africa Progress Report 2011, launched last week, the continent’s economic recovery is strong but characterized by low quality growth that has only limited positive impacts on employment and income levels and is not sufficiently translated into poverty reduction
and the provision of vital public services.
The report also highlights how inclusive business models help to spread development on the continent
as “more and more companies are extending their business to Africa’s poor, whether as employees,
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producers, suppliers, distributors, customers or sources of innovation. In the process, they are increasing
access and opportunities, creating jobs, raising living standards, developing functional markets, cultivating entrepreneurship and spreading innovation.”
More broadly, this year’s edition of the report underscores the potential of partnerships harnessing a
broad range of actors and their capacities, resources, and expertise to deliver social and economic
development across the continent. It highlights a growing number of highly successful models that are
helping to mobilize resources, improve efficiencies, and extend access to goods, services and opportunities across Africa.
However, the report also acknowledges that despite all the value they can add to government-led development efforts, partnerships do not replace good governance, strong institutions and political leadership as the core ingredients of progress: “Partnerships are certainly not a solution for all of Africa’s
problems nor do they shift the primary responsibility of progress away from African leaders. But they can
certainly help to accelerate progress and help both Africa and Africans fulfill their vast potential.”
The Africa Progress Report is published by the Africa Progress Panel, which consists of a group of distinguished individuals chaired by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and whose objective is to track
and encourage progress in Africa, and to underscore shared responsibility between African leaders
and their international partners for sustaining it.
More information:
•
The full report, accompanied by a series of brochures highlighting some key messages and
graphics from the report, is available for download in English and French.
•
Read also: Private sector 'increasingly important' for development in Africa, The Guardian, 5 May
2011
Création d’une association des experts-comptables panafricains
par Sylvie RANTRUA
La Panafricaine des experts-comptables a été lancée début mai à Dakar. L’organisation professionnelle a pour objectif de faire entendre la voix de l’Afrique au niveau mondial.
Après trois jours de travaux, au Méridien-Président de Dakar (du 4 au 6 mai), la Panafricaine des experts-comptables (Pafa) est officiellement lancée. La toute jeune association professionnelle a désigné
son premier président, le Nigérian Sébastien Owuama. « Nous voulons (avec la Pafa) faire entendre la
voix de l’Afrique au niveau mondial (…), avoir une voix forte unanime », a-t-il indiqué. Son ambition est
de s’assurer que les pays non encore dotés d’associations professionnelles de comptables puissent en
créer.
Plateforme d’échange
En gestation depuis 2006, la Fapa a vocation, selon Mamour Fall président de l’Ordre national des experts-comptables et des comptables agréés du Sénégal, à devenir une plateforme d’échange et de
partage des informations techniques sur les meilleures pratiques de la profession comptable en Afrique
et dans le monde. Le délégué aux relations internationales de l’Onecca du Sénégal, Abdoul Aziz Dièye,
a souligné le caractère nouveau de l’idée de regrouper les ordres professionnels en Afrique. Selon lui, la
création de la Pafa permettra à l’Afrique d’avoir son mot à dire dans les instances internationales. Jusqu’à maintenant, les règles selon lesquelles la richesse est répartie sont déterminées sans la présence
de l’Afrique.
À la tête de la Pafa, S. Owuama, également président de l’Ordre des comptables du Nigeria, est entouré de deux francophones, le Tunisien Jelil Bouraoui et le Togolais Ekon Koffi. Jelil Bouraoui est membre de la Fédération internationale des comptables (IFAC, sigle anglais). Ekon Koffi, lui, est le président
de l’Ordre national des experts comptables et comptables agréés du Togo (Onecca). « Le nouveau
président est élu pour deux ans et le secrétariat de la Pafa est confié à l’Afrique du Sud », selon une
source proche de l’organisation qui note que des ordres professionnels comptables venant d’une trentaine de pays d’Afrique ont participé aux assises de Dakar.
(Avec APS)
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Coca-Cola veut améliorer l’accès à l’eau potable en
Afrique
LE CAP (© 2011 Afriquinfos) – En 20 ans la proportion d'ouest-africains ayant accès à l'eau potable a
considérablement diminué.
La mise en œuvre de l’initiative "Safe Water for Africa" a été annoncée lors du Forum Economique
Mondial sur l’Afrique qui se tient actuellement au Cap. Le projet servira à fournir un accès durable à
l’eau potable en Afrique.
L’idée est née grâce à l’association de la Fondation Coca-Cola pour l'Afrique, la spécialiste de l'alcool
et des spiritieux Diageo, la compagnie WaterHealth International (WHI) et la Société Financière Internationale.
"Safe Water for Africa" agira auprès des communautés locales afin de promouvoir à travers le continent
le modèle d'approvisionnement en eau développé par WHI. Un système autosuffisant constitué de petites structures modulaires contenant des équipements d'épuration qui traiteront l'eau grâce à un
procédé technologique utilisant la sédimentation, la filtration et les ultra-violets.
Avec un budget de 6 millions de dollars pour 2011, les premiers pays à bénéficier du programme seront
le Ghana, le Nigéria et le Libéria. L’idée est d’élargir le champ d’action à d’autres pays d’Afrique de
l’Ouest, pour fournir de l'eau potable à au moins 2 millions d’africains d'ici 2012 avec un budget total
de 20 millions de dollars.
Afriquinfos
Africa trails China, India in race for funds by emerging
markets
By COSMAS BUTUNYI
Sub-Saharan Africa only managed to get a few crumbs of the cake of private equity funds that was
baked for emerging markets during the first quarter of this year.
Only 1.5 per cent of the $10 billion total funds that were raised for emerging markets during the first
three months of the year were destined for the region, according to latest figures from the Emerging
Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA).
Although sub-Saharan Africa managed a very small portion of the funds that were raised in the emerging markets, it still turned out to be the region with the third highest amount among its peers, behind
Asia, which took the bulk of the funds at $9.7 billion, and Latin America and the Caribbean, which
raised $397 million.
This is a pointer towards a need for sub-Saharan Africa to either make itself more attractive to the private equity funds from across the world, or to tap into domestic sources of capital, if it cannot face up
to the competition.
On the emerging markets space, individual countries were better magnets of private equity funds during the quarter than all the countries of sub-Saharan Africa combined.
China, for instance, which has, among other factors, a huge population working for it, raised a whopping 36 times more, to net $5.7 billion.
Also putting up an impressive attraction for funds in the first three months of the year were India and
Brazil, raising $858 million and $150 million respectively.
Regional powerhouse
Within sub-Saharan Africa, its biggest economy, South Africa, as has been the tradition, hogged most of
the funds dedicated to the region.
According to EMPEA statistics, close to half, $74 million, out of the region’s crumbs of raised private equity funds were destined southwards.
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Last year, out of the $1.5 billion raised in the region, South Africa scooped $423 million.
Among the regions that sub-Saharan Africa outperformed when it comes to fundraising in private equity, is the Middle East and North Africa, which has lately been marked by uprisings that have been forecast to affect its performance.
While sub-Saharan Africa raised $156 million, the Middle East and North Africa raised $60 million.
Overall, the statistics from EMPEA indicate that the emerging markets could be up to a more successful
year, if the trend over the past two years is anything to go by.
The funds raised so far are about half of the totals raised annually over the past two years.
The improved performance was only about the funds raised, though.
The number of deals closed during the first quarter was about 10 per cent less than those seen in the
fourth quarter of last year.
In the last quarter of 2010, there were 222 deals, compared to the 199 in the first quarter.
This was the lowest number of deals in a quarter.
Nous serons 10 milliards d’êtres humains en 2100
Jusqu’ici, les prévisions démographiques
tablaient sur un pic de la population mondiale autour de 9 milliards d’individus, en
2050, avant sa stabilisation. Mais un récent
rapport des Nations unies change la
donne et prévoit une poursuite de la hausse
: la planète, qui devrait passer le cap des 7
milliards de personnes le 31 octobre, comptera 9,3 milliards d’individus en 2050 et 10,1
milliards en 2100.
Les causes de cette hausse ? Un taux de
fertilité qui ne décroît pas dans les pays
pauvres et qui augmente même dans plusieurs pays riches, comme les Etats-Unis ou la GrandeBretagne, alors que dans le même temps, les avancées médicales et l’amélioration du niveau de vie
permettent aux gens de vivre plus longtemps.
Un bonne part de la hausse de la démographie est attendue dans les “pays à fertilité élevée”, en particulier en Afrique, où la population pourrait tripler en un siècle et passer de 1 milliard aujourd’hui à 3,6
milliards en 2100, explique Terra Eco, qui livre quelques exemples de ces tendances. L’Amérique du
Nord devrait elle aussi voir sa population croître, de 344,5 à 526,4 millions. L’Europe, en revanche, est
bien partie pour suivre la courbe inverse, et atteindre 675 millions d’individus en 2100 alors qu’elle en
compte actuellement 738 millions. En France, la fertilité supérieure à la moyenne européenne devrait
nous émanciper des tendances du continent, avec une augmentation de 30% au cours du siècle (de
62,8 à 80,3 millions).
Une tendance inédite ressort de cette étude : la population chinoise, la première du monde avec 1,34
milliard de têtes, devrait atteindre un pic en 2035, à 1,5 milliard, avant de décroître. Les derniers résultats du recensement national, publiés il y a dix jours, montrent ainsi que la croissance démographique
chinoise a ralenti de moitié dans la dernière décennie, raconte le Guardian.
Selon le quotidien, la demande d’énergie pourrait ralentir plus tôt que prévu du fait, notamment, de
ces nouvelles tendances. Les projections du laboratoire national américain Lawrence Berkeley
prévoient ainsi une stagnation de la consommation d’énergie de la Chine dans 20 ans en raison d’une
baisse de la demande en acier et en ciment : “L’urbanisation, la construction de zones résidentielles et
commerciales, de routes ou encore de chemins de fer, atteindront un pic vers 2030 avec le ralentissement de la croissance démographique.” Une bonne nouvelle pour les émissions de gaz à effet de serre
qui devraient stagner ou même commencer à décliner dans moins de vingt ans.
Car la question de la démographie galopante interroge bien évidemment sur notre capacité à partager les terres, ressources et richesses, tout en limitant le changement climatique d’origine anthropiPerformances Veille
30
que. Selon le Fonds des Nations unies pour la population, le réchauffement planétaire ne peut être endigué que par une réduction massive de la population mondiale.
Faut-il pour autant réduire la natalité dans les pays où elle est la plus élevée, à savoir les pays en développement ? Pas forcément car, comme je le soulignais dans un article de janvier 2010 toujours
d’actualité, tout dépend de l’empreinte écologique des Etats, c’est-à-dire la multiplication entre le
nombre d’habitants d’un territoire et leur impact sur l’environnement. Chaque bébé qui naît aux EtatsUnis est par exemple responsable de l’émission de 1 644 tonnes de CO2, c’est-à-dire 5 fois plus qu’un
bébé venant au monde en Chine et 91 fois plus qu’un enfant qui voit le jour au Bangladesh.
Photo : AFP/ISSOUF SANOGO
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