UNGC rallies world to Africa’s $3tr market opportunities

The Assistant Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the United Nations Global Compact, Sanda Ojiambo, has said that Africa’s potential $3 trillion market presents a significant opportunity for business, trade and investment.

Speaking at a virtual briefing preceding the upcoming Global Africa Business Initiative (GABI) ‘Unstoppable Africa’ forum, which will take place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, later this month, Ojiambo said Africa’s GDP growth at four per cent, is expected to outpace global average (2.7 per cent).

GABI is the premier African private sector-led global platform that galvanises leaders in the private, public and social sectors to invest in Africa.

Adding that the opportunities for growth and investments are vast, she said the continent accounts for 60 per cent of the world’s uncultivated arable land, the world’s youngest population with 60 per cent being under the age of 25 and a population expected to double by 2050, reaching 2.5 billion from 1.4 billion in 2020.

With the number of unique mobile subscribers expected to grow from 515 million in 2021 to 613 million in 2025, she pointed out that foreign direct investment increased from $39 billion in 2020 to $97 billion in 2021, at a rate of 147 per cent versus 77 per cent globally.

Ojiambo said all these point to the fact that the numbers, people and opportunities are there and urged Nigeria and the rest of Africa to create a seat for themselves at the table of decision-making.

Calling on global businesses, governments, and investors to rally behind Africa’s growth vision, she said the forum, which is held yearly, will gather influential leaders from all walks of life, setting the stage for discussions and partnerships.

“This year, the conference will focus on solutions for clean energy, unlocking inclusive growth through trade, Africa’s digital revolution, sport and exporting our creativity to the world,” she stated.

Speaking on the challenges of small and medium enterprises, she said they include access to capital, access to market and building sustainability/resilience.

“In terms of access to finance, governments need to invest in Africa’s economic development.

A lot of global financial institutions still operate out-of-date infrastructure and are not in touch with the current realities of many African economies. We must challenge this infrastructure because why is it that when African countries borrow, they are subjected to 12-14 per cent interest rates whereas when other economies borrow, it is at two to four per cent interest? This is why African countries slide into debt. We know it is not about borrowing alone but responsible use of the debt but even accessing these resources is problematic,” she added.

She said these trickles down to traders and businesses at retail levels, which cannot access funding at an affordable rate and this must change. She said they hope that the economic partners the conference brings together address the need for financial reform.

According to her, there are so many missed opportunities for us because Africa is not embracing our regional economic partnerships and the AfCFTA.

“We must strengthen domestic trade by revamping infrastructure, removing tariffs, and trade barriers, and eliminating endless customs and paperwork needed to trade across borders. This is because if you multiply these across the whole of Africa, you will see how burdensome it is. We must harmonise and regularise trade across borders, reduce tariffs and remove unnecessary obstacles if we want to improve trade across the continent,” she stated.