{"id":1423,"date":"2016-01-13T13:00:15","date_gmt":"2016-01-13T12:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/africa\/?p=1423"},"modified":"2016-10-27T14:13:31","modified_gmt":"2016-10-27T13:13:31","slug":"africa-rising-under-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/africa\/2016\/01\/13\/africa-rising-under-question\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cAfrica Rising\u201d \u2013 Under Question?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDo you really think Africa is going to take off<\/strong>?\u201d This is a question I often get both from Africans and from people in the West. My answer: \u201cIt\u2019s not going to happen tomorrow but I\u2019m convinced it will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

At any typical introductory talk about the continent chances are that the speaker will show two popular covers of The Economist<\/em>: \u201cThe hopeless continent<\/strong>\u201d (2000), and \u201cAfrica rising<\/strong>\u201d(2011). The latter came about a year after McKinsey <\/a>published their report<\/a> \u201cLions on the move: The progress and potential of African economies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last weekend I read an interesting article in Foreign Policy<\/a><\/em>: \u201cAfrica\u2019s boom is over<\/a>,\u201d by Rick Rowden<\/a> (thanks to my colleague Ulf Richter <\/a>from Nottingham University who shared the article with me). The author\u2019s main point is that without manufacturing industries, and under the current trade and investment treaties, Africa\u2019s growth will not take off. He points to the fact that the IMF\u2019s 2015 projection for growth in sub-Saharan Africa has been revised downwards from 4.5 to 3.75 % given the persistence of low commodity prices. He also offers an interesting discussion about why Africa has not industrialized, and the need to renegotiate treaties for industrial policies to be effective.<\/p>\n

\"To<\/a>
To take off Africa needs more local companies that go international<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The one point I want to highlight is this comment: \u201cIn Africa and Latin America, industrial policies often failed because they were focused inward on small domestic markets. Companies were often given support based on corruption or nepotism, rather than their efficiency. On the other hand, the successful East Asian countries focused on international markets, and they instilled discipline\u00a0in companies by cutting off support to those which failed to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is where I see hope for Africa\u2019s development: it needs to come from within.<\/strong> Colonization, foreign aid, and NGO support have failed in this \u2013 with my due respect, especially to the well-intentioned efforts of people collaborating with NGOs: these are still needed, especially so in the educational and healthcare areas.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s due time for Africans to take the leading role, and to do so in their own style<\/a>.<\/strong> The creation of indigenous companies that undertake internationalization initiatives within the continent is a critical part of the game in Africa <\/span><\/a>. It\u00a0will contribute to the creation of jobs for a growing population that is full of energy<\/a>, and to marketing growth. I have met many African entrepreneurs who are working in this direction. Africa needs more of these, and management education<\/a> is an urgent need. This is why I\u2019m convinced that Africa will take off even if it doesn\u2019t happen tomorrow.<\/p>\n

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\u201cDo you really think Africa is going to take off?\u201d This is a question I often get both from Africans and from people in the West. My answer: \u201cIt\u2019s not going to happen tomorrow but I\u2019m convinced it will happen.\u201d At any typical introductory talk about the continent chances are that the speaker will show […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1654,"featured_media":1424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99579,77626,99106],"tags":[100322,45494,121,560,157,124,80751,1007,1313,1362],"class_list":["post-1423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-african-economic-and-institutional-context","category-entrepreneurship-in-africa","category-future-and-perspectives-for-africa","tag-africa-rising","tag-commodities","tag-economic-growth","tag-education","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-imf","tag-internacionalization","tag-management","tag-sub-saharan-africa","tag-the-economist","megacategoria-mc-africa"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t