Africa-Press – Seychelles. Participants in the African Investment Forum’s “Trade and Investment” session, held in Abdijan, Cote d’Ivoire, concluded that the African continent has enormous potential and continues to be an attractive destination for investors.
According to the experts who participated in the “Market Days”, Africa faces external shocks that negatively affect socio-economic growth and development.
On the other hand, they said, the Covid-19 pandemic has compromised the sustained growth that the continent has enjoyed over the last 25 years and the Russia-Ukraine conflict is threatening populations with a serious food crisis.
During the session entitled “Trade and Investment”: How can Africa be more competitive in the global context”, the Minister of Trade, Crafts and Small and Medium Enterprises of Côte d’Ivoire, Souleymane Diarrassouba, the president of the African Import and Export Bank (Afreximbank), Benedict Okey Oramah, and the Secretary General of the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area, Wamkele Mene, presented the opening remarks.
Speakers were President of the East and Southern Africa Trade and Development Bank, Admassu Tadesse, and President of YAATRA Ventures, Rajakumari Jandhyala.
Also the director of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Mohan Vivekanandan, and the president and general director of Obara Capital, Bernard Ayitée. YAATRA Ventures is a platform that offers investors a specific approach to capital distribution in energy, infrastructure and value-added opportunities in Africa and emerging markets). Obara Capital is an investment fund that offers solutions and alternative financing for African companies and countries).
Africa’s potential in the world economy is growing. The majority of the population is young, a quarter of the world’s population is expected to live in Africa by 2050 (age 28), and the African free trade area is making progress. Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of unused arable land is in Africa, which is also rich in minerals (including cobalt and lithium, which are essential to produce batteries, and Africa is the world leader in agricultural products such as cocoa). , coffee, cotton, essentials and mahogany).
Minister Souleymane Diarrassouba emphasized the relatively low production costs on the continent. As he said, Africa is the most profitable region in the world, according to the OECD.
“Investors on the mainland and elsewhere should take advantage of the huge investment opportunities,” he argued.
Benedict Oramah called on African countries to redouble their efforts to make the free trade area fully operational, so that Africa does not lag further behind other regions in regional integration.
In turn, Wamkele Mene argued that the free trade area, representing a market of 1.3 billion consumers, will increase Africa’s global competitiveness for foreign direct investment and free up trade flows.
EURO ZONE RISES 0.6 percent
German industrial production grows
German industrial production grew more than expected in September, according to data from the federal statistics office on Monday, as factories churned out more consumer and capital goods despite continued supply chain disruptions.
Industrial production in the euro zone’s biggest economy rose 0.6 percent during the month, compared with a downwardly revised 1.2 percent contraction in August and above economists’ forecasts of 0.2 percent growth.
Underpinning the increase was strength in consumer and capital goods, which saw output grow 1.4 and 1.1 percent, respectively.
However, these increases were offset by a 0.9 percent monthly drop in output in energy-intensive industries.
Supply chain bottlenecks stemming from the war in Ukraine also continued to hamper the country’s broader manufacturing sector, the office said, particularly in order processing.
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