Leaders of multinational enterprises and economists Wednesday
urged African countries to "look east" and learn experience from
emerging economic giants of China and India.
"The hunger of China and India for commodities is an opportunity
for Africa to create significant wealth and global champions in
that sector," Jim Goodnight, one of the co-chair persons of the
World Economic Forum African Summit that began in Cape Town on
Wednesday, told Xinhua.
"However, the risk is that African countries that are currently
benefiting from the demand will not invest current profits in long-
term priorities--education, health care, infrastructure. Commodity
prices will eventually go down and Africa needs to prepare
effectively for the downturn," said Goodnight, who is also the CEO
of SAS, a world's leading business-consultation-software supplier
based in the United States.
Africa is enjoying a record economic growth in 30 years with its
2005 growth rate registered at 5.8 percent. The latest data
released by the International Monetary Found (IMF) in its World
Economic Outlook predicted that last year's strong growth is to be
repeated this year at a prospected 5.5 percent.
Experts said China and India, having gone through a long journey
from poverty to boom in the past 30 years, are in many respects
role models for Africa whose 700 million people are trying to
review its growth path and find out a sustainable developing
pattern.
To echo the trends, a series of special sessions titled as "
Doing Business in China," "China and Africa in 2025: Making
Strategic Choices" and the like have been set to take place during
the summit.
"The responsibility and opportunity that a conference like this
provides is to showcase those economies and parts of the continent
that are doing well and doing great things and also acknowledge
that there are parts with challenges." Said Maria Ramos, Group
Chief Executive with Transnet, who is also co-chairing the
summit.
Steve Booysen, Group Chief Executive of Absa, one of Africa's
biggest banks, also expressed the same opinion in a previous
interview.
"China and India are growth and development role models, because
they have achieved excellent, consistent economic growth, they are
putting an enormous effort into developing their human resources
and technology so that these become productive assets and they are
both investing enormously in infrastructure. We face many of the
same challenges and can therefore learn from them, " said
Booysen.
"China and India also present an enormous market opportunity.
Both of these countries need our resources, they are big investors
in gold and other precious minerals and they have over 2 billion
consumers between them," Booysen added.
African exports to China totaled US$1.7 billion in 2005, an
eight-fold increase in the last decade. Experts said African
businesses should make an effort to become preferred suppliers to
these markets, so that Africa can supply raw material, and value
added products as well.
"Imagine, for instance, the impact on the South African
viniculture industry if Cape wine and brandy products can become
the leading wine and brandy brands in India and China," said
Booysen.
(Xinhua News Agency June 1, 2006)
