Will Afrika finally keep its promise?
Here are some take aways based on an interview for The Guardian by Akinwumi Adesina, head of the African Development Bank. A Triple A-rated bank. Akinwumi says the prospects are good for a continent with the workers of the future and the best investment opportunities. He himself says: "Don't believe me, believe the data".
Akinmwumi cites the following African statistics:
- "The bank's 81 shareholders have provided us with a capital increase of the bank by the end of 2019, from $93 billion to $208 billion the highest capital increase in the bank's history."
- Corruption, he said, is actually less in Africa than in other parts of the world. "The global financial crisis that brought down the world in 2008 - that was not in Africa," he said. "We don't have Wall Street. UN development programme staff. Do you know what they told me? That corruption in Eritrea is 0%."
- Africa's population will be 1.72 billion by 2030. Seven years from now. That's bigger than China, bigger than India. 477 million of them are young people, between 15 and 35. That is a skilled workforce; that would be labour, a workforce for the world.
- Africa has 60% of the world's solar power. That's a $100 billion investment opportunity for Africa to enlighten itself, but also to harness renewable energy and reduce global emissions.
- 65% of the world's uncultivated arable land is in Africa. So what Africa does next with agriculture and how we all invest in agriculture will determine the future of food in the world.
Of course, things are not going well everywhere in Africa. This is no different from other continents in the world. But there are some consistently growing countries in line with data from McKinsey / Wereldbank (see figure below). Kenya, where we are based with Orange Nile, is one of them.