Africa: Facts & Stats

ECONOMY

Industry:

Africa is the least industrialized continent; only South Africa, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia in general have substantial manufacturing sectors. Despite readily available cheap labour, nearly all of the continent's natural resources are exported for secondary refining and manufacturing. According to the AFDB, about 15% of workers are employed in the industrial sector.

The multinational corporations that control most of the world's major industries and their financiers require political stability before erecting an expensive factory and risk losing that investment through nationalization. An educated populace, good infrastructure and a stable source of electricity are essential to investments. These factors are rare in most countries in Africa. Other developing regions of the world such as India and China have been more attractive to companies looking to build a new factory or invest in a local enterprise.

Many African states used to limit foreign investment to ensure local majority ownership. Close governmental control over industry further discouraged international investment. Attempts to foster local industry have been hampered by insufficient technology, training, and investment money. The paucity of local markets and the difficulty of transporting goods from major African centres to world markets contribute to the lack of manufacturing outside of South Africa and Egypt.

Countries such as Mauritius have plans for developing new "green technology" for manufacturing. Developments such as this have huge potential to open new markets for African countries as the demand for alternative "green" and clean technology is predicted to soar in the future as global oil reserves dry up and fossil fuel-based technology becomes more economically nonviable.

Agriculture:

Around 60 percent of African workers are employed by the agricultural sector, with about three-fifths of African farmers being subsistence farmers. Subsistence farms provide a source of food and a relatively small income for the family, but generally fail to produce enough to make re-investment possible. Larger farms tend to grow cash crops such as coffee, cotton, cocoa, and rubber. These farms, normally operated by large corporations, cover tens of square kilometres and employ large numbers of labourers.

In modern years countries such as Brazil, which has experienced great progress in agricultural production, have agreed to share technology with Africa to greatly increase agricultural production in Africa to make it a more viable trade partner. Increased investment in African agricultural technology in general has the potential to greatly decrease poverty in Africa. The demand market for African cocoa is currently experiencing an enjoyable price boom. The South African and Ugandan governments have targeted policies to take advantage of the increased demand for certain agricultural products and plan to stimulate agricultural sectors. The African Union has plans to heavily invest in African agriculture and the situation is closely monitored by the UN.

Communication and information technology:

The continent has the largest growth rate of cellular subscribers in the world. African markets are expanding nearly twice as fast as Asian markets. The African cell phone has created a base for cellular banking. Namibia has attracted international attention with new phone services and liberalization of regulatory controls in Kenya are producing a boom in Internet services demand and demand for modern communication technology.

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