Africa Is A Land Of Promising Opportunities … Saudi African Conference

By : Mohammed Hassan Mohammed Al-Naimi

The Abundance Of African Natural Resources Is One Of The Most Important Factors Attracting Investments In Africa, As African Countries Occupy Two Thirds Of The Agricultural Land In The World As A Result Of The Availability Of Multiple Sources Of Water, As Well As Many Minerals Such As Platinum, Chromium And Manganese Are Available In More Than 19 African Countries, Gold Is Also Available In Mali, Ghana, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe And Eastern Sudan, Diamonds Are Available In Angola, Botswana, The Democratic Congo, South Africa, Namibia, Copper Is Available In Zambia, And Sudan, Congo, Oil, Gas And Coal Are Also Available In About 46 African Countries, Where Africa Alone Has About 124 Billion Barrels Of The Oil Reserves, I.E. By 12% Of The Global Reserve Ratio According To Opec.

On The Other Hand, Environmental And Biological Diversity Is One Of The Catalysts For Attracting Investment To The Continent Of Africa, As The Continent Of Africa Represents The Second Largest Continent In The World In Terms Of Population, Which Means The Availability Of The Labor Element Necessary For Economic Activity, As Well As The Availability Of Demand For Goods And Services, As There Are Multiple Sources Of Water From Rains, Rivers And Lakes, Agricultural Land Is Available And Varies Between Tropical Areas, Savannah And The Mediterranean Basin, In Addition To Desert Areas That Can Be Exploited In The Cultivation Of Dates And Cotton, As Well As The Availability Of Fish Wealth In West Africa, And Agriculture In Africa Helps To Establish The Timber Industry, Which Contributes About 6% Of The Gross Domestic Product For The Continent There Is A High Quality Of Wood Concentrated In Central Africa, Gabon, Congo And Cameroon, And These Woods Are Exported To Several Countries Such As The European Union And Japan.

The African Continent Has Huge Potential, Strategically, Economically And Humanly, It Is The Second Continent In The World In Terms Of Area And Population, Africa Also Has Oil Discoveries And Enormous Mineral Wealth, Its Exports Reach 300 Billion Dollars Annually, Africa Is Characterized By An Abundance Of Arable Land, With An Abundance Of Water Sources From Rains And Rivers, In Addition To Large Areas Of Pastures, And Enormous Fish Resources, And With The Successive Economic Developments In The African Continent, The Economic Growth Rate Reached 3.5%, Amid Expectations That The Size Of The African Market Will Reach About A Trillion Dollars By 2030.

The Potential And Wealth Of Africa Represented A Reason For International Competition On The Black Continent, According To Various Tools And Means, Including Economic, So That Many Countries Seek To Strengthen Their Relations With The Black Continent, Using All Possible Tools, Foremost Of Which Is Investment.

According To The African Development Bank, The African Economy Will Grow Faster Than The World In 2023-2024 Despite The Shocks, With The Average Real Gdp Rising By About 4%, And Africa’s Economy Is Expected To Grow Faster Than The Rest Of The World Over The Next Two Years In 2023 And 2024.

According To A New Report By The African Development Bank Group Entitled “African Macroeconomic Performance And Prospects, Its Real Gdp Is Expected To Grow By About 4% On Average, Which Is Higher Than The Projected Global Averages Of 2.7% To 3.2%, Said The President Of The African Development Bank Group Adesina Akinwumi.According To The Report, The Estimated Average Growth Of Real Gdp Slowed From 4.8% In 2021 To 3.8% In 2022. Despite This Slowdown, 53 Out Of 54 Countries Recorded In Africa, Positive Growth.

It Is Expected That South Africa Will Briefly Surpass Nigeria And Egypt As The Largest Economy On The Continent During The Next Year, According To Imf Estimates, And The Fund’s Forecasts Estimate That South Africa’s Gdp Will Reach 401 Billion Dollars Based On Current Prices In 2024, Compared To 395 Billion Dollars In Nigeria And 358 Billion Dollars In Egypt, The Most Industrialized Country In Africa Is Likely To Occupy The First Place For Only A Year Before Coming After Nigeria Again, Then Falling To The Third Place After Egypt In 2026, According To The Report Issued In 2023, While Imf Data Show That Nigeria’s Economy Has Outperformed South Africa’s A Year Ago In 2018, However, Its Fortunes Dwindled As Oil Production Declined And It Began To Suffer From Runaway Inflation And The Devaluation Of Its Currency, The Naira, And The Imf Expects Gdp To Grow By 3.1% Next Year, Compared To 2.9% In 2023.

The Total Private Wealth Currently Existing On The African Continent Is 2,4 Trillion Us Dollars And The Number Of Millionaires Is Expected To Grow By 42% Over The Next 10 Years, According To The Latest 2023 Report Of Wealth In Africa Published By Henley And Partners In Partnership With The New World Wealth Foundation .

The Report Reveals That The “Big Five” Private Wealth Markets In Africa – South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya And Morocco-Together Account For Almost 56% Of The Continent’s High-Net-Worth People.

Pricewaterhousecoopers International Professional Services Published A Report Entitled” The World In 2050″, In Which It Predicted That The Major Emerging Market Economies Will Grow Twice As Fast As The Advanced Economies, And By 2050 Six Of The Emerging Market Economies Will Become Today Among The Seven Strongest Economies In The World, Surpassing The United States, Which Will Fall From Second To Third Place, Japan, Which Will Fall From Fourth To Eighth Place And Germany, Which Will Fall From Fifth To Ninth.

The Report Predicts That Some Countries With Relatively Weak Economies, Such As Vietnam, The Philippines And Nigeria, Will Rise To Advanced Ranks Among The World’s Largest Economies In The Next Three Decades.

There Are Many Entrepreneurial Investment Opportunities Waiting For Saudi Arabia In Africa, Also South Of The Sahara, And This Can Be Clearly Seen Through The Global Startup Ecosystem Report For 2023, Which Showed The Brightness Of The Star Of The Kenyan Capital “Nairobi” As A Leading Center Of Technological Innovation In Sub-Saharan Africa, Where The Financial Technology System In The City Accounts For About 41% Of The Total Venture Capital Transactions In The Field Of Technology During The Period From 2018 To 2022 In Sub-Saharan Africa, The Value Of The Startup Ecosystem In “Nairobi” Increases By About 281% During The Period From July 2019, And Until December 2022, To Strengthen Its Position As The Best Destination In The Continent Is In Front Of Entrepreneurs.

The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia Announced To Pump Up To 41 Billion Dollars In The Form Of Investments, Financing And Development Projects In African Countries, And His Highness Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Said In A Speech At The Saudi-African Summit Held On Friday In Riyadh November 2023, That The Kingdom Is Looking Forward To Pumping New Saudi Investments In Various Sectors On The Continent By More Than 25 Billion Dollars, Securing And Financing 10 Billion Dollars From Exports And Providing Additional Financing By 5 Billion Dollars To Africa Until 2030, In Order To Develop Partnership Relations With The Countries Of The Continent And Develop The Fields Of Trade And Integration.

The Crown Prince Also Announced The Launch Of The Custodian Of The Two Holy Mosques Development Initiative In Africa By Launching Development Projects And Programs In The Continent Worth More Than A Billion Dollars Over A Period Of 10 Years.