Opinion
Africa continues to grow
Sub-Saharan Africa is shedding its reputation as an “economic laggard”. The West should pay attention.
In the first decade of the 21st century, six of the world’s ten fastest-growing economies (Angola, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Chad, Mozambique, and Rwanda) were from Africa. And in eight of the past 10 years, it has grown faster than Asia.
Ghana, “graduated” to middle-income status last year.
The telecom revolution is continuing to generate vast, unanticipated benefits. For example, farmers with phones now have access to timely market information, which makes it possible for them to bargain more effectively with middlemen.
“Mobile money” — credits transferred securely from one phone to another by instant message — makes banking possible where bricks-and-mortar banks hardly have a presence.
The nexus of mobile telecom networks and financial services has spawned a collection of tech-oriented businesses in Nairobi, with Safaricom, Kenya’s largest mobile supplier, at its hub. The not-fully-realized value of wireless technology is encouraging entrepreneurs to think big. Very big: the Indian telecom Bharti Airtel paid US$10.7 billion in 2010 for the African mobile-phone networks of a Kuwaiti-based Zain Telecom.
