Africa consumer spending to hit $2.3trn

There’s clear evidence of sustained demand growth across Africa. Consumer spending will reach $2.5trn by 2030, while business-to-business investments will reach over $3.5trn in the same period.

These and other good news for Africa were made known in Rome at the conference: Africa, Challenges and Opportunities: Italy and the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org).

While speaking, Giovanni Tria, Italian Minister of Finance and Economy, said, “The current narrative about Africa is all wrong. Africa today has five distinctive advantages. A huge land mass of 30 million square kilometers, huge resources, a fast-growing population, fewer conflicts, major developments in education, and an economy that has consistently expanded over the last 15 years, even though it still only accounts for 3% of global GDP.”

He added that “Africa is a continent of great change and opportunities. However, Europe finds it difficult to understand that its future lies in the South and not in the North.”

Also speaking, Akinwumi Adesina, President, African Development Bank, said, “With a growing middle class and rapid urbanisation, consumer demand from a burgeoning middle class will turn the continent into a prime collective investment opportunity that cannot be ignored. This is proof positive of an Africa in the process of full transformation. Africa is the new international investment frontier.”

Africa is currently home to five of the world’s fastest growing economies, and only 4 African countries out of 54 will record negative growth in 2018, compared to 8 in previous years.

With $11.6 billion, Italy was the largest European investor on the continent in 2017, and the third largest after China and the United Arab Emirates.