Africa’s frontier economies offer lucrative investment opportunities amid political uncertainty
The continent’s economic mosaic hides a number of gems
Ethiopia has become an African economic miracle, achieving double-digit growth since 2005, only recently slipping to about 8% a year. Its economy has grown tenfold since 2000, and may soon surpass Kenya as East Africa’s largest economy. Dollops of Chinese investment, the creation of industrial parks manned by low-cost labour, and an aggressive infrastructure programme have all contributed to this growth. The capital, Addis Ababa, launched a fully electric light railway system in 2015 and recently completed a 750km-long railway linking the landlocked country of 100m people to the port city of Djibouti. The government is building a hydro-electric dam on the Blue Nile River to provide power for the booming economy. Infrastructure, industrialisation and a light, regulatory touch are the engines powering Ethiopia’s economic success. Another African success story is Rwanda, which has achieved economic growth rates of 8% a year for the past 14 years. Under the iron hand of President Paul K...
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