Africans in the Diaspora urged to exploit continent’s economic potential

THE Executive Director of London-based African Partnership Development, Mr. Tunde Alabi, has challenged Africans in the Diaspora to tap into the multi-million pounds opportunities which African economies present.

Speaking at the 2015 African Financial and Investment Review on “Africa: Exploring the opportunities of strong emerging markets” held at the London Stock Exchange, Alabi stressed that the dynamic performance of Africa’s emerging markets during the global crisis and ability to bounce back have put emphasis on the opportunities available on the continent.

Speaking before an audience comprising chieftains of industry, businessmen and politicians, Alabi particularly tasked Africans in Britain, especially investors, to look back home and take the opportunities offered by Africa’s resilient economy to invest on the continent.

Quoting scholars who had written glowingly of the vast opportunities which African economies embody, he estimated that by 2020, the collective GDP of the emerging markets would overtake that of the developed economies, adding, “in the next 10 years, consumer spending in emerging markets is expected to grow three times faster than consumer spending in developed nations, reaching a total of $6 trillion by 2020.”

He noted that in 2013, GDP growth in Africa was an average of 4.8 percent and 5.3 percent in 2014, adding, “meanwhile, the GDP growth in the EU for the same period of 2013 was 0.1 percent, 1.3 percent in 2014 and about two percent in 2015.”