The New Africa: Towards a Better Narrative of the “Dark” Continent

[caption id="attachment_7711" align="aligncenter" width="640"] A view of bustling downtown Monrovia, Liberia by helicopter. Photo by United Nations Photo on Flickr. Creative Commons.[/caption]

For decades the narrative about Africa has been characterized by bleak descriptions of wars, disease, famine, and dismal records of governance. Africa is a continent blessed with much abundance unable to feed itself; a continent with the potential to generate 40% of the world's hydroelectric power supply unable to provide consistent electricity for its citizens and industry; and a continent with nascent democracy often marked by rigged elections, venal politicians, and surging democratic autocracy. The most scathing observation has come from Tony Blair, former prime minister of Britain, who famously referred to Africa as "a scar on the conscience of the world." 1

Africa's paradox as a continent of immense wealth surrounded by poverty and joblessness has been seared onto the consciousness of the world. Africa has the bulk of the world's diamonds, chromium, gold, cobalt phosphates, and manganese; contains substantial reserves of copper, platinum, petroleum, and natural gas; produces most of its cocoa, coffee, and palm oil; and has millions of acres of potential farm land;2 yet the continent continues to face profound challenges.

It is increasingly clear that many observers of the continent have not noticed that the Africa of three decades ago is different from the Africa today. Africa's political challenges mask the gains being made; behind the gloomy picture, incredible things are happening on the continent. Within two decades, the economy of Sub-Saharan Africa has doubled in size to more than $1 trillion. Inflation is down and debt is increasingly sustainable. The region was paying 4.6% of gross national income GNI to debt service in 1997, but this dropped to 1.9% by 2013.3 According to the World Bank, economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa rose from 4.7% in 2013 to 5.2% in 2014, and much of that growth came from investment in infrastructure and household income.4 Africa's economic prospects remain bright. Africa's overall growth momentum will continue, with GDP growth expected to accelerate to 4.6% in 2015 and 4.9% in 2016.5

There are many reasons to think that progress will continue to accelerate. Entrepreneurship is thriving, and the opportunities to do business on the continent are ever-expanding. We must bear in mind that in the midst of challenges lie opportunities. The young and growing middle class continues to bring forth innovation to find solutions to the numerous challenges Africa faces — with many of them becoming wealthy in the process. The continent is buzzing with new start-ups in IT, solar energy companies to address the problem of load shedding, and the innovation of mobile money that has enabled millions of Africans without access to banks to conduct swift business with their mobile phones. Mobile phones in particular have improved the way business is done. From M-Pesa in Kenya, to EcoCash in Zimbabwe, to MTN Mobile Money in Ghana, and a host of others, mobile money platforms have enabled rural farmers and micro-businesses with no access to the formal banking system to conduct business in a way that would have been unimaginable a decade ago. However while the mobile phone industry is booming, household wireless service provision remains under-invested — despite the expansion of the middle class, who can afford such services.

Important markets remain untapped, such as the production of quality but affordable sanitary pads for women. Approximately 51% of Africa's population are women, and most of them are within the reproductive age, indicating that the demand exists. Gaps like these are as much an opportunity for change as for investment. Africa also offers important platforms for export to global markets. Weaker consumer spending in the U.S. and Europe has prompted global retailers to search for lower-cost producers in Africa. For example, the Huajian shoe factory in Ethiopia currently produces shoes for international brands such as Guess, Naturalizer, Nine West, and Toms, which are destined for U.S. and European markets.6

Africa has enormous potential, despite views to the contrary. Chinese businesses are already exploiting such potential, and U.S. businesses must take the crucial first step of breaking what appears to be a deeply entrenched mental barrier towards doing business on the continent. Interestingly, several opinion surveys such as the Afrobarometer7 have shown that Africans generally exhibit a favorable disposition towards the U.S., but U.S. businesses have rarely utilized such goodwill. U.S. companies already in Africa must begin to consider opportunities that transcend Africa's traditional attraction of natural resource exploration, particularly oil.

The continent has made progress, and possibilities for businesses remain limitless. Africa could potentially become the next engine of growth for the world's economy in few decades; therefore, a carefully crafted business-oriented economic policy towards the continent would yield enormous benefits not only for investing global businesses, but also for Africa's ever-present youthful population. Of course, this would also require smart policy from African governments, truly actionable policies that should represent a refreshing change from the past. We must begin to highlight the positive things currently underway in the continent, instead of the doom narrative. Africa must begin to tell its own story--one thing African governments and policymakers have not done very well thus far.

12001 Speech at a Labour Party Conference.

2 George B. N. Ayittey Africa in Chaos, St Martin's Press: New York, 1998

3 Charles Kenny, Why Obama is selling Africa short,Bloomberg Business, July 22, 2015

4Africa's Growth Set to Reach 5.2 percent in 2014 With Strong Investment Growth and Household Spending, World Bank Press Release April 7, 2014

5World Economic Situations and Prospects 2015: The Global Outlook, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2014.

6 Simona Foltyn, Ethiopia: Booming Business, Underpaid Workers, Al Jazeera, December 29, 2014

7Afrobarometer Round 6 Data (2014/20115)

Isaac Debrah, a Wilson Center Africa Program Scholar, is Assistant Project Manager for Anglophone West Africa at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development. He obtained his Masters in Philosophy and Development Studies from St. Edmunds College, University of Cambridge, and his Bachelors in Sociology and Social Work with a minor in History from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana.