The West must approach Africa in a new light

French President Nicholas Sarkozy said it well this past week at the France-Africa summit when he said this about Africa in today's world: “Africa’s formidable demographics and its considerable resources make it the main reservoir for world economic growth in the decades to come.”

Chatham House has a new report that states the relationship between the West and Africa should be looked at in a new prism. Asian countries seemed to have caught the changing winds especially countries like China, Japan, India but many western countries have yet to fully adjust to the changing reality. Russia has a renewed interest, Brazil as well.  France due to historical reasons will always have interest in Africa and the lastest summit hosted by French President seems try and a new course with Africa.  Reuters has a similar take:

For the past ten years, fundamental change has been taking place across large parts of Africa. Growth rates and stability have increased. Political, regulatory and security reform have deepened. Increasing investment from China, but also Brazil, India, Turkey, South Korea, Argentina and other ambitious emerging powers has acted for the most part as an accelerant.

Even the global financial crisis has in some ways hastened this process, for while in the short and medium term it had a devastating impact on millions across Africa, it has also revealed the true ebb of power from East to West, and encouraged the new economic actors of the G20 to chase access to the 40 percent of the world’s mineral resources, and 1 billion consumers gathered in Africa. Almost as important is the 25 percent of UN General Assembly votes that are represented by the continent’s 53 countries.

Meanwhile, many Western countries seem trapped in a humanitarian conception of Africa.

Popular media coverage and policy judgement is overwhelmed with a perception that Africa is simply a problem continent with little strategic value, except as a space where largess is shown and good things done to make up in some small way for the messy reality of international diplomacy.

This is not only delusional and self indulgent, but damaging. For emerging power interest is showing that Africa is not a space distinct from the rest of the world. Many of their investments are valuable and welcome, but others are as exploitative and damaging as anything under colonialism.

Without a Western strategic and business engagement – bringing with it a focus on sustainability, regulation and transparency, the progress of the past 10 years is unlikely to be sustained. For the truth is that China’s development policy is first and foremost about China’s development, not Africa’s, and as yet the governments of many emerging powers are not focusing enough on ensuring their investments in Africa are sustainable, and therefore equitable.

African leaders have never faced so much choice, but they need to show more foresight as well, for it is only by combining the energy of the emerging East, with the regulation of the West, that Africa’s, and the world’s interests will be served. That needs Western strategic engagement, but more fundamentally it requires more effective leadership from within Africa itself. Post financial crisis, the opportunities for Africa and the world economy, but also the risks, have never been higher.

These are the main highlights of the report by Chatham House:

• African countries are playing a more strategic role in international affairs. Global players that understand this and develop greater diplomatic and trade relations with African states will be greatly advantaged.


• For many countries, particularly those that have framed their relations with Africa largely in humanitarian terms, this will require an uncomfortable shift in public and policy perceptions. Without this shift, many of Africa's traditional partners, especially in Europe and North America, will lose global influence and trade advantages to the emerging powers in Asia, Africa and South America.


• China's re-engagement is for the most part welcome, as is that of the increasing numbers of emerging powers such as Turkey, South Korea and Brazil that see Africa in terms of opportunities - as a place in which to invest, gain market share and win access to resources.


• Economic fortunes across Africa are now diverging, making it less meaningful to treat Africa as a single entity in international economic negotiations. Despite this, it is in the global interest that the African Union should be granted a permanent place at the G20. In turn, a more focused, sophisticated and strategic African leadership is needed.

Nothing to disagree with, as a matter of fact these are the points that we at Stratsis Incite have been emphasizing all along.

Indian IT firms invests in Africa

Indian IT firms set up shop in Africa.

The Institute of Hardware Technology, an information technology training company based in India is set to open in East Africa to plug the IT resource gap in the region, a top official has said.

Mr Umesh Chaudhary, the managing director of the firm said the Delhi based-company will enter the region through Rwanda because of the country’s ease of opening and starting up a business, and then roll out to other EAC states.

But last week, the IHT team also approached the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) and held meetings with Dr. Maggie Kigozi, the executive director of UIA to seek advice on how to open business in the country.

IHT, which already has a presence in 120 countries across the world is moving into the region to improve on the ICT resource gap that exists in the five partner states, Mr Chaudhary told the Daily Monitor during the EAC Investment Conference in Munyonyo last week.

"We have seen an opportunity here and this country has potential for growth. But there is not of enough infrastructure to respond to IT students needs," he said.

He added: "This is the right place to come and establish an IT training institution." The company will come to compete for business with already established ICT institutions including; APTECH, Horizon, Monaco and ICT Labs with a presence in Kampala.

To move in fast, Mr Clarence Fernandes IHT’s Senior Consultant, said they will soon set up in Uganda through a master franchisee which will provide services with their technical and financial support, based on the company’s global business model.

"The master franchise will be an IT professional who knows that market, in each of the countries and will help grow the IHT brand," said Mr Fernandes.
The company intends to extend its IT training services in both urban and rural areas like it has done in India in its years of improving IT access.
To stand out from competitors, Mr Fernandes said; "We will provide placement for IHT students not only in local but also global companies that’s our strength."

Global companies which recruit staff from the firm include; IBM, Bharti Airtel, TATA, Compaq, Siemens and The Gillette Company among others.  IHT already has a presence in Nigeria and is now moving to reap from the rapid economic and political integration of the region, which is enhancing the investment environment.

Other Indian firms that have joined Uganda recently, include telecoms; Essar Group, Bharti Airtel, and tea companies; Jay Shree and McLeod’s.

Africa growth potential similiar to India?

Africa resembles Indian economic growth potential according to Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal

In Africa, Bharti Airtel Ltd. appears determined to wade into a market loaded with poverty, promise and major legal tussles—just like home in India.

Bharti, headed by Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal, has seized on a potential $9 billion deal with Kuwait's Zain, or Mobile Telecommunications Co., that, if completed, would catapult the company into the ranks of major telecom operators in Africa. Combined with operations in India, Bharti would have significant footholds in two continental markets. The deal would include the assumption of $1.7 billion in debt.

Associated PressNigeria is Africa's largest cellphone market. Above, a man uses a gasoline generator to charge mobile-phone batteries for a fee in Lagos.

Bharti isn't the only telecom operator eager for a piece of Africa. On Tuesday, a consortium involving China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. bid $2.5 billion for the former state telecoms monopoly in Nigeria, according to the National Council on Privatization. The government privatization body said that the China Unicom-led consortium outbid four other contenders by more than $1.5 billion for Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd., or NITEL...

Bharti's bid also comes at a time when new undersea cables are reaching Africa, connecting the continent to the rest of the world.

"Zain's operations in Africa will always be attractive because of their footprint there," says Badii Kechiche, a senior analyst in London at Pyramid Research.

The talks mark the third attempt by Bharti's Mr. Mittal to gain a foothold in Africa, the world's poorest continent but with a population of about one billion and home to several fast-moving economies.

For global telecom companies, Africa offers strong growth potential. Cellphone penetration rates remain among the lowest anywhere. Zain has close to 42 million customers in the 15 countries the deal will include, with most markets having shown double-digit subscriber growth in recent years. There's room to grow: Cellphone penetration in these markets averages less than 40%, according to data from industry researchers Onda Analytics.

For Bharti, coming to Africa may seem like a coming home. Like Africa, India boasts high subscriber growth rates and large rural populations with little fixed-line infrastructure. There are common aspirations for owning a mobile phone, both as a tool for business and as a means to contact far-flung family members. And with growth has come aggressive competition.

Nigeria perhaps best highlights the potential pitfalls Bharti may face in entering the African market. With a population of nearly 150 million people and over 70 million GSM subscribers, Nigeria is Africa's largest mobile market...

In another sizable market, Kenya, Zain has similarly hit competitive headwinds. In the third quarter of 2009, Zain's market share was static at 17%.

Tata Motor sets sights on Africa.

At the recent Geneva Auto Show Tata motors state their deepening view on the African car market.

The Tata booth at the International Motor Show in Geneva stands out, and that's quite an accomplishment given it's sitting next to the high-shine polish of an Aston Martin and the leggy models posing alongside Lamborghini's station.

The Tata booth, like its automotive products, is scaled down. No glitz and no girls. Instead, India's top vehicle maker by revenue has two cars of note on display: a concept electric Nano and the Aria, a crossover with the frame of a small SUV and the curvature of a Minivan. Neither are necessarily sexy or powerful -- or any of the other Geneva Motor Show buzzwords....

"We're expanding in our 16 markets outside of India," said Abhay Deshpande, Tata's deputy general manager, in charge of vehicle integration with the Nano. "The Middle East, Africa and southern Asia are all very strong." When every other car manufacturer is drooling over the Chinese market, Mr. Deshpande says they're expanding in Africa instead.

"We're the number one brand in Ghana and have a strong market in South Africa and Senegal," Mr. Deshpande said.

Tata also just launched in Nigeria and Tanzania. By focusing on growth outside the traditional markets of Europe, Asia and North America, Tata wants to build brand allegiance in these areas before they become mainstream....

That's not to say they're ignoring Europe and the U.S. "The Aria and Nano are good for Europe and I think they will work in America, too," Mr. Deshpande said.

In the emerging markets, the Nano is priced at around $2,500.