African Business 2020 edition

AFRICAN BUSINESS 

THE GUIDE TO BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT IN AFRICA 

2020 EDITION 

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IT’S A JUNGLE OUT HERE. 

A CONCRETE ONE TO BE PRECISE. 

South Africa: a nation that continues to inspire 

internal and continental transformation 

Since the advent of democracy 26 years 

ago, South Africa has been instrumental 

in promoting its African agenda on the 

premise of “African solutions to African 

problems”. This is based on the idea that Africans 

and African policymakers are inherently better suited 

to understanding and hence developing solutions to 

the challenges faced by its citizens. At the forefront 

of this common purpose is the drive to promote 

economic growth and sustainable development, 

not just for South Africa, but also for the continent. 

As part of these efforts domestically, President Cyril 

Ramaphosa in 2018 launched an ambitious five-year 

investment drive which seeks to raise $100-billion 

in domestic and international investments as 

a means to reignite the country’s economy. First 

successes were recorded at the inaugural South 

Africa Investment Conference 2018, where major 

local and international corporates pledged close 

to $20-billion towards investment in South Africa. 

The second South Africa Investment Conference 

built on the success of the inaugural event, 

with companies committing to invest a further 

$24.5-billion. Last year’s event was a continuation 

of government’s approach to engaging with the 

domestic and international business community. 

Rather than being a talk shop, the conference 

served as a platform for, among other things: 

• Announcing bold reforms to improve the ease 

of doing business 

• Highlighting future growth opportunities in 

South Africa and 

• Showcasing bankable projects that 

companies can consider for investment. 

The administration under President Cyril 

Ramaphosa has made the improvement of the 

country’s investment attractiveness a key priority. 

In his 2018 State of the Nation Address he notes, “We 

are urgently working on a set of priority reforms to 

improve the ease of doing business by consolidating 

and streamlining regulatory processes, automating 

permit and other applications, and reducing the 

cost of compliance.” 

But South Africa is not only focussed on 

boosting its own economy, it is also committed to 

continental growth for a prosperous Africa. As the 

incoming Chair of the African Union in 2020, South 

Africa is poised to assume an influential position 

to give substance to the African Continental Free 

Trade Area (AfCFTA) which came into force on 31 

May 2019 for the 24 countries that had deposited 

their instruments of ratification. 

Intended to create the world’s largest free trade 

area of over a billion people, there is no better and 

more sustainable way to bolster the economic 

growth of South Africa and the continent

than through accelerated intra-Africa trade. 

President Ramaphosa also recognises 

fellow African leaders’ shared commitment to 

fundamentally transforming Africa’s fortunes. As 

President Ramaphosa says, “The new generation 

of leaders of Ahmed Abiy’s ilk are bold, courageous 

and are focused on creating an Africa that is at 

peace with itself and growing the economies 

of African countries through innovation, 

infrastructure development and trade.” 

Investing in Africa 

South Africa has always been and remains 

committed to driving continental growth. As 

attested by the latest EY Africa Attractiveness Report 

of 2019, South Africa continues to be the most 

extensive investor into the rest of the continent, 

with the widest geographical spread, across the 

most sectors, among African nations. 

For example, 2018 saw South African investors 

place a record 10 projects in Nigeria, totalling 

$375-million. This was by far its greatest FDI 

commitment over the last five years. Kenya also 

saw a sharp rise in South African inward-bound 

investment during 2018, attracting $190-million 

in capital spread across six projects. On the other 

hand, South Africa’s FDI into both Ghana and 

Mozambique slowed in 2019, although from a 

relatively high base. 

These investments affirm South Africa’s 

strong commitment to trading with the 

continent, with the country ranking fifth- 

largest FDI investor into the continent globally. 

Elsewhere, the Minister responsible for Trade 

and Industry and Economic Development, 

Mr Ebrahim Patel, emphasised AfCFTA as the 

single biggest initiative that will expand markets 

for South Africa’s products and facilitate entry into 

those markets. AfCFTA agreements will, he says, 

“lay the basis for increased intra-African trade and 

can cement the continent’s position as the next 

growth frontier”. 

By promoting its investment proposition, 

location, infrastructure and logistics, South Africa 

has positioned itself as a destination of choice. 

As the most industrialised country on the African 

continent, South Africa continues to make massive 

investments in infrastructure development, with 

many international companies utilising the country 

as a strategic base for their operations on the 

African continent. 

South Africa has emphasised Africa’s progressive 

future and the need, now more than ever, for African 

states to trade with each other and, through the 

AfCFTA, improve access to existing markets, while 

forging access to new markets. 

“As African nations, there has never been a 

better time to deepen our collaboration to ensure 

the African Continental Free Trade Area, our most 

ambitious collective venture yet, is a success. This is 

an opportunity to grow our economies and to use 

our considerable collective resources to uplift our 

people,” says President Ramaphosa. 

As the incoming Chair of the African Union, South 

Africa will put great emphasis on giving effect to this 

agreement. 

Contact details 

Dr Judy Smith-Höhn, General Manager, Global 

Markets: judys@brandsouthafrica.com 

Dr Petrus de Kock, General Manager, Research: 

petrusd@brandsouthafrica.com 

Website: www.brandsouthafrica.com 

1 AFRICAN BUSINESS 2020

Gwede Mantashe, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy at Africa Oil Week 2019, talking to Sandisiwe Ncemane, CDC Project Development Manager: Energy. 

Photo: Supplied 

First LNG hub in SA to be established at Coega 

Coega SEZ is ready to welcome investors to its shores for gas opportunities 

In his speech at Africa Oil Week 2019, Minister for 

Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, 

urged investors to pursue investment opportunities in 

the proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub at the 

Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the Eastern 

Cape. 

“The call by the minister is certainly in line with the 

various activities the Coega Development Corporation 

(CDC) has been undertaking in the past couple of 

years to advance its gas readiness capabilities,” says 

Sandisiwe Ncemane, CDC Project Development 

Manager: Energy. 

“Within the next couple of weeks, the CDC will be 

engaging various stakeholders, both within the private 

and public sector, and inviting them to the Coega SEZ 

for a tour of the proposed sites and to update them on 

progress thus far,” says Ncemane. 

With an established market for LNG within Coega, 

over the years, the CDC, in collaboration with the 

Eastern Cape provincial government, has put in place 

extensive gas market analysis and preparation to 

enhance Coega’s readiness for the implementation of 

high impact energy programmes towards an integrated 

gas economy. 

“The AFRICAN Coega BUSINESS SEZ is one 2020 of the most advanced in terms 

2 

of preparations for the LNG hub and is the ideal 

location for the associated gas to power programmes. 

One of the critical game changers for the CDC is the 

cost factor. The 342MW Dedisa Peaking Power Plant 

currently in operation within the SEZ has existing 

environmental authorisation for a 400KV transmission 

line between the plant site and the Dedisa substation, 

which reduces the costs of the gas to power project for 

investors quite significantly,” adds Ncemane. 

Another factor is that the CDC, as early as 2006, 

undertook five environmental impact assessment (EIA) 

studies supporting the gas to power solution. 

“EIA studies were concluded for rezoning of land in the 

SEZ, the establishment of a 400KV transmission line 

between the plant site and the Dedisa substation, and 

the marine pipeline servitude EIA, which is currently 

underway. 

“Further, the 2015/16 department of mineral resources 

and energy and Transnet feasibility studies include the 

LNG terminal at the Port of Ngqura, identifying several 

berth options for its deep water seaport adjacent to 

the Coega SEZ. As part of the Coega environmental 

studies, in 2019, a draft scoping report was prepared for 

an integrated LNG terminal and gas to power solution 

at Coega,” adds Ncemane. 

“We are also encouraged by the recent comments

attributed to Transnet’s chief business development 

officer, Gert de Beer, on Transnet’s support and 

commitment of resources to the LNG hub intended for 

Coega,” says Ncemane. 

The Coega SEZ has world-class infrastructure; it has 

prime and serviced land that is available to host key 

gas-to-power projects with spin-offs for other sectors. 

In addition, the approved Coega Infrastructure Master 

Plan is in place. It defines the services corridor from 

the LNG project site to Dedisa substation as well as 

good access via the National Road (N2) and ancillary 

road network. 

The short-term outlook is to import liquefied natural 

gas to trigger the gas economy, which would stimulate 

the exploration and production of indigenous gas 

resources in the Eastern Cape. 

The case for the Eastern Cape 

The significance of the Eastern Cape is that it is 

endowed with the possibility of both onshore and 

offshore gas, gas-driven power generation, and gas 

importation, handling, transshipment infrastructure as 

well as industrialisation. Potential recoverable quantities 

of indigenous natural gas are in the order of 20-trillion 

cubic feet onshore (shale gas), and 26-trillion cubic feet 

offshore. 

The recent deep water drilling in Brulpadda 

(approximately one billion barrels) in the Southern 

Outeniqua basin could potentially unlock enough fuel 

to supply South Africa’s refineries for almost four years. 

It has the potential to unlock a value chain of marine 

maritime services located at Coega SEZ, which could 

in turn trigger opportunities eastwards and small 

harbours along the Wild Coast. In line with South 

Africa’s developmental programme, indigenous gas 

extracted in this province must be beneficiated within 

the country’s shores, maximising the economic benefit 

yield within the region. 

The Eastern Cape, through the department of 

economic development, environmental affairs and 

tourism (DEDEAT) has provided various gas support 

initiatives organised in a coherent framework and is 

well positioned to drive enablers for a gas economy. 

DEDEAT has initiated a strategic framing process for 

the provincial oil, gas and maritime complex, which has 

provided much impetus, clarity and support for the 

socio-economic development of the gas industry. 

At the Coega SEZ, within the energy sector, there are a 

multitude of operational investors, as a demonstration 

of the hard work, efforts and opportunities available in 

the Eastern Cape. 

Some of the projects include: 

• Dedisa Peaking Power Plant (Zone 13) – the 

342MW Peaking Power Plant, located in the 

Coega Special Economic Zone, is a R3.5-billion 

foreign direct investment. The project has been 

operational since September 2015 and created 

around 1 500 jobs during its construction phase. 

• Wind Tower Manufacturing (Zone 3) – wind 

tower assembling plant, a R310-million investment 

located at the Coega SEZ, which created 390 jobs 

during construction. 

• Lay Down Area (Port precinct / Zone 1) – 

abnormal cargo related to the Renewable Energy 

Power Producer Procurement Programme 

(logistics). This is a R9-million investment that has 

contributed to the distribution of wind turbines 

throughout the EC. 

• A Renewable Energy project – The first commercial 

wind turbine in South Africa, valued at R1.2 billion. 

In the 20 years since its establishment in 1999, the 

Coega SEZ has become one of the leading SEZs in 

Africa, as a gateway to African and world markets, 

a transshipment hub and Southern Africa’s most 

successful SEZ. To date, the CDC has delivered on 

its mandate to provide socio-economic development 

for the Eastern Cape, by enabling the creation of 

over 120 000 accumulative jobs since inception, 

with 45 operational investors, who have invested 

R11.579-billion in private sector investment and 

R9.53-billion in foreign direct investment. The CDC has 

also trained over 100 000 people since its inception. 

For investors who wish to take 

advantage of opportunities in the 

energy sector, please contact, Sandisiwe 

Ncemane on: 

E-mail: sandisiwe.ncemane@coega.co.za 

Telephone: +27 41 403 0630 

Fax: +27 41 403 0401 

CELEBRATING 

“In the broader perspective, the LNG hub at the Coega 

SEZ is perfectly located as it opens up a gas corridor 

1999-2019 

towards the East and West coasts, and is a response to 

the recently gazetted South African Integrated Resource 

Plan (IRP2019), which makes provision for additional www.coega.co.za 

3 AFRICAN BUSINESS 2020 

1 000MW gas driven power by 2024,” adds Ncemane. 

ISO 20000-1:2011 ISO 27001:2013 

OF EXCELLENCE 

ISO 9001:2015 ISO 14001:2015 ISO 45001:2018

AFRICA’S LEADING 

CONVENTION CENTRE 

The Durban International Convention 

Centre (Durban ICC) prides itself on 

being leading venue for meetings, 

business events, conferences and 

exhibitions on the African continent. 

However, this is not their own opinion, 

but rather the overwhelming feedback 

received from their clients who have 

voted it in the top 1% of Convention 

Centres worldwide, as well as “Africa’s 

Leading Meetings and Convention 

Centre” no fewer than 17 times! 

This world-class facility, renowned 

for its high standards of service 

excellence and has successfully 

staged some the world’s most 

prestigious and complex events. 

The Centre’s track-record includes 

the hosting of both the largest and 

second-largest conferences ever held 

on the African continent, (International 

AIDS Conference 2016 - attended 

by 22 000 delegates and the UN 

Climate Change Conference COP- 

17 held in 2011 - attended by 15 000 

delegates.) 

The Durban ICC is a versatile 

venue of enormous dimensions, 

flexible enough to meet any need, 

no matter how extraordinary. The 

Centre offers the largest column-free, 

multipurpose event space on the 

African continent. International and 

national conventions, exhibitions, 

sporting events, concerts and 

special occasions of every kind can 

be accommodated. Flexibility and 

versatility are key factors in the design 

of this state-of-the-art, technologydriven 

Centre. 

The Durban ICC’s highly experienced 

and friendly team will ensure that 

your event is seamlessly executed 

giving you complete peace of mind. 

Providing exceptional customer 

service remains the heartbeat of the 

AFRICAN BUSINESS 2020 

4

Durban ICC, striving to ensure that 

every delegate who walks through 

the five-star facility has a memorable 

experience. 

Delegates visiting the Centre can 

look forward to superb standards of 

culinary excellence and hospitality. 

As part of the Durban ICC’s gourmet 

evolution over the past 22 years in 

the industry, they are completely 

reinventing their culinary offering 

in order to showcase some of 

Durban’s authentic African Cuisines. 

Furthermore a wide range of new 

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Located in the City of Durban, 

affectionately known as South 

Africa’s entertainment playground, 

the Durban ICC offers you first-world 

convenience and a proudly African 

meetings experience. 

When one considers the Centre’s 

impeccable track-record, 

uncompromising commitment to 

service excellence and stunning 

destination it is clear to see why it 

is recognised as “Africa’s Leading 

Convention Centre.” 


CONTENTS 

CONTENTS 

African Business • 2020 • Edition 1 

Introduction 

Foreword 10 

African Business 2020 is a unique guide to business and investment in Africa. 

Special features 

Africa’s big chance 12 

Large infrastructure projects and an increase in intra-African 

trade could be the platforms to launch the continent into a new 

era of prosperity. 

Engines of growth 16 

Giant cities and development corridors are vehicles 

for tackling Africa’s infrastructure gap. 

Towards free trade 20 

A continent-wide free trade agreement promises to unlock 

enormous value. 

Success comes in many guises 28 

Ethiopia and Mauritius show there is no single formula for putting 

a country on the road to progress. 

Economic sectors 

Agriculture 32 

Huge challenges present massive opportunities. 

Mining 36 

The global economy is demanding new minerals, and Africa has them. 

Oil and gas 44 

Huge new gas finds could be transformative. 

Energy 46 

Africa’s development depends on a power revolution. 

Manufacturing 52 

Growing the sector is key to higher levels of development. 


6


CONTENTS 

Transport and logistics 56 

Far-sighted plans for freight can lift African trade. 

Aviation 58 

Movement towards open skies will see Africa fly. 

Tourism 60 

Hoteliers are attracted by high rates of return. 

Information and communications technology 64 

Africans are getting connected. 

Banking and financial services 66 

Innovation is paying off in finance. 

Regional profiles 

East Africa 68 

North Africa 70 

Central Africa 72 

West Africa 74 

Southern Africa 76 

Country profiles 

Kenya 69 

Morocco 71 

Democratic Republic of the Congo 73 

Nigeria 75 

Botswana 77 

South Africa 78 

Mozambique 80 

ABOUT THE COVER: Credit: Romolo Tavami/ 

iStock by Getty Images. 

GDP in Sub-Saharan Africa is two-fifths higher 

than it was two decades ago. The continent’s 

middle class is growing quickly, and the number 

of mobile phone and data subscriptions are 

accelerating at twice the global average. 

Massive investments in infrastructure and 

energy are preparing the continent for growth. 


8

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African Business 

A unique guide to business and investment in Africa. 

Credits 

Publisher: Chris Whales 

Publishing director: 

Robert Arendse 

Editor: John Young 

Managing director: Clive During 

Online editor: Christoff Scholtz 

Art director: Brent Meder 

Designer: Richard Smith 

Production: Lizel Olivier 

Ad sales: Gavin van der Merwe, 

Sam Oliver, Jeremy Petersen 

Gabriel Venter, Vanessa Wallace, 

Themba Khumalo, Shiko Diala 

and Sandile Koni. 

Administration & accounts: 

Charlene Steynberg 

and Natalie Koopman 

Distribution & circulation 

manager: Edward MacDonald 

Printing: FA Print 

Global Africa Network is proud to launch this inaugural edition 

of African Business 2020 at a time of energetic planning for a 

prosperous future for the continent. 

The African Union’s Agenda 2063 is much more than a 

document about a hoped-for future, it contains concrete goals and 

deliverables. The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa 

(PIDA) and the development finance institution, the African Development 

Bank (AfDB) are already rolling out valuable projects that are changing the 

reality on the ground in vital areas of the African economy. 

Perhaps the most significant event of recent times is the signing by 

African leaders of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement 

(AfCFTA) which will bring together all 55 member states of the African 

Union and cover a market of more than 1.2-billion people. African 

Business 2020 has articles on all of these recent trends, plus overviews 

of the key economic sectors and regional and country profiles. In 2019 

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed received the Nobel Peace Prize 

for peace-making efforts in his region. The economic dividends of 

peace are beginning to be felt. In 2020 South African President Cyril 

Ramaphosa assumed the mantle of AU Chairperson. He brings to the 

role considerable experience in conflict management, constitutionwriting 

and seeking consensus. 

Global Africa Network is a proudly African company which 

has been producing region-specific business and investment 

guides since 2004, including South African Business and Nigerian 

Business, in addition to its online investment promotion platform 

www.globalafricanetwork.com 

Chris Whales 

Publisher, Global Africa Network Media • Email: chris@gan.co.za 

DISTRIBUTION 

African Business is distributed internationally on trade missions, 

through trade and investment agencies in Africa; to foreign 

offices in Africa; at top national and international events; 

through the offices of African foreign representatives; as 

well as nationally and regionally via chambers of commerce, 

tourism offices, airport lounges, government departments, 

and companies. 

COPYRIGHT | AFRICA BUSINESS is an independent 

publication published by Global Africa Network Media (Pty) 

Ltd. Full copyright to the publication vests with Global Africa 

Network Media (Pty) Ltd. No part of the publication may be 

reproduced in any form without the written permission of 

Global Africa Network Media (Pty) Ltd. 

PHOTO CREDITS | Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa 

(AGRA), Ethiopian Investment Commission, iStock by Getty 

Images, Marriott Hotels. 

PUBLISHED BY 

Global Africa Network Media (Pty) Ltd 

Company Registration No: 2004/004982/07 

Directors: Clive During, Chris Whales 

Physical address: 28 Main Road, Rondebosch 7700 

Postal address: PO Box 292, Newlands 7701 

Tel: +27 21 657 6200 | Fax: +27 21 674 6943 

Email: info@gan.co.za | Website: www.gan.co.za 

ISBN 978-0-620-86689-7 

DISCLAIMER | While the publisher, Global Africa Network Media (Pty) 

Ltd, has used all reasonable efforts to ensure that the information 

contained in African Business is accurate and up-to-date, the publishers 

make no representations as to the accuracy, quality, timeliness, or 

completeness of the information. Global Africa Network will not accept 

responsibility for any loss or damage suffered as a result of the use of or 

any reliance placed on such information. 


10

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AFRICA OVERVIEW 

Africa’s big chance 

Large infrastructure projects and an increase in intra-African trade could 

be the platforms to launch the continent into a new era of prosperity. 

John Young 

In the first decade of the 21st century when commodity prices 

were booming, it was common to read about “Africa rising”. But 

increases in gross domestic product (GDP) and increased profits for 

oil and minerals producers did not bring much change for the vast 

majority of Africa’s citizens, nor did they deliver any major structural 

changes or useful infrastructure. 

Africa remains remarkably resource-rich and its growing 

population presents opportunities to build markets on a vast scale. 

Meaningful initiatives at regional and continental level suggest that 

Africa is now better prepared to set itself on a path to development 

and prosperity. 

The African Union (AU), development agencies and banks 

are pursuing policies and programmes designed to tackle the 

continent’s great problems, chief among them poverty, energy 

supply and infrastructure. 

Despite the poor performance of the oil and mineral giants 

(Nigeria, Angola and South Africa), Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing 

good growth rates. By 2021 five economies will exceed $100-billion 

GDP (Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, 

Nigeria and South Africa) with a 

further four topping $50-billion 

(Democratic Republic of 

Congo, Ghana, Ivory Coast and 

Tanzania). Cameroon follows 

closely behind (IMF). 

Africa’s growth rate in 2017 

was 3.7%. Ethiopia’s GDP grew 

7% for five years to 2018. Four of 

the fastest-growing economies 

in the world in 2019 were 

Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast and 

Rwanda (World Bank). 

Scoring well on the World 

Bank’s “Doing Business” list is so 

important that some countries 

are reported to have set up 


12


“war rooms” to tackle each 

category and so improve their 

ranking. In the 12 months to 

1 May 2019, 73 reforms to make 

doing business easier were 

recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Reforms included measures 

related to getting electricity 

and construction permits and 

paying taxes. 

Bad politics has often held 

Africa back and there are still 

areas on the continent where 

conflict or selfish elites block 

progress. There are insistent 

demands for change in 

Algeria and South Sudan, 

Somalia, Cameroon, Burkino 

Faso and other countries are experiencing armed conflicts. 

However, the new Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, was 

awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for his efforts in his region and 

the newest chairperson of the AU, Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, 

is a good symbol of a clean broom, following as he did a discredited 

leader who is widely believed to have allowed extensive looting 

of the state. Two years earlier, two Southern African leaders who 

collectively were in power for 75 years were ousted: Angola’s Jose 

Eduardo dos Santos and Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe. 

Challenges to opportunities 

The size of Africa’s population (currently estimated at 1.2-billion) 

represents both opportunity and challenge. The continent by 

2030 will increase the number of children in primary school from 

189-million to 251-million and by 2050 Africa will record 42% of all 

global births (UNICEF). 

The upside of this is that huge markets for goods will be created 



but housing, education and healthcare will have to expand. As things 

stand, about 120-million Africans are unemployed and about 40% of 

the population live below the poverty line ($1.25 daily). 

Urbanisation is already happening at a fast pace: this is again an 

opportunity and a challenge. The fact that Africa is arriving somewhat 

later in the digital age could be an advantage because there are 

opportunities to leapfrog technologies. This is happening in mobile 

banking, where mobile telephones are delivering financial services 

across the continent. 

The AfricArena conference is one of several platforms where 

African startups and innovators display their wares. Held since 2017 

in Cape Town, the conference has helped to cement ties between 

French tech companies and South African entrepreneurs. At the 2018 

conference, 70 startups from 32 countries pitched to more than 600 

conference attendees. A speaker noted that the continent has 442 tech 

hubs and thousands of digital entrepreneurs but there is a need for 

more Venture Capital (VC) funds. Jake Bright told the conference that 

there are 51 Africa-focused VC funds globally, 22 of which are locally 

run (Bizcommunity). 

Another scramble 

In March 2019, The Economist’s cover story was “The new scramble 

for Africa. And how Africans could win it.” After laying out the extent 

to which the familiar giants (US, EU and China) are investing in and 

finding partners in Africa, the newspaper noted that other nations 

such as Turkey, India and Russia are also showing interest. A McKinsey 

report is quoted stating that 10 000 Chinese companies now operate 

in Africa. In six years to 2016, 320 new embassies opened in Africa and 

Turkish Airlines now flies to 50 African destinations (The Economist). 

The argument that Africans can win the “scramble” is based on 

individual African nations avoiding bilateral agreements with much 

more powerful foreign partners. The preferential trade agreement 

with the US, AGOA, is about to 

come to an end and the Trump 

administration does not like 

multilateral deals. China often 

offers soft loans or grants to 

sweeten deals to poor countries. 

As The Economist editorial says 

of this power imbalance, “It 

could be reduced somewhat 

with a free-trade area or if 

African regional blocs clubbed 

together. After all, the benefits 

of infrastructure projects spill 

across borders.” 

As it happens, Africa 

has introduced a free trade 

agreement. In 2018 the African 

Continental Free Trade Area 

(AfCFTA) agreement was signed 

by 49 countries, making it one 

of the most comprehensive 

and potentially influential 

agreements ever signed on the 

continent. Since then, all but 

one country has signed the 

agreement. 

Although no-one expects 

that the agreement will 

immediately lead to borderless 

trade with no tariffs, there is 

great symbolic importance in 

the signing. Problems remain 

with the movement of people 

and certificates of origin among 

other things, and the more 

likely trend will be for regional 

economic communities (RECs) 

and large countries within RECs 

to accelerate steps towards 

integration. Large infrastructure 

projects such as rail and energy 

corridors that traverse the 

continent could be gamechangers. 

Regional corridors are 

intended to boost intra-African 

trade. The North-South Corridor 

in the Southern African region 


14


runs through 26 countries and ends at the Port of 

Durban. Ten corridors are being developed across the 

continent to make the movement of goods easier 

and to improve access to ports. 

Standard Bank has launched a product to assist 

African importers in evaluating and choosing 

Chinese suppliers. Faced with daunting variety, 

language and cultural differences, the prospect 

of having to pay cash upfront to unseen suppliers 

or limiting supply choices to a small group of 

previously used suppliers, African importers can 

use the Africa China Export Proposition (ACEP) to 

validate quality while having sight of the logistics 

process. Standard Bank is using its partnership 

with shareholder the Industrial and Commercial 

Bank of China (ICBC) to create the ACEP, which puts 

importers in touch with agents and is underpinned 

by a letter of credit. Standard Bank is Africa’s biggest 

bank and ICBC is the world’s biggest bank. 

Another country showing increased interest 

in Africa is Japan. To understand the scale of the 

potential investment from Japan, it is worth noting 

that there are currently about 13 000 Japanese 

firms invested in China. In 2017 there were 800 

Japanese companies in Africa, but the number 

is growing. In that year Japan imported African 

goods to the value of $8.3-billion. Foreign direct 

investment increased to $10-billion in 2016, from 

$3.9-billion in 2007. 

The Tokyo International Conference on African 

Development (TICAD) is held annually. Various 

bodies are promoting ties with Africa, such as the 

Japan External Trade Organization (JETO) and the 

Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation 

(JOGMEC), which focusses on resources. The Japan 

International Cooperation Agency (JICA) supports 

infrastructure projects such as a $140-million bridge 

over the Nile River in Uganda. 

Setting worthy goals 

The African Union’s Agenda 2063 lays out 

ambitious goals for the continent. The flagship 

projects designed to achieve these goals cover 

infrastructure, education, freedom of trade and 

movement of people, arts, culture and technology. 

The projects are: 

• Integrated high-speed train network 

• Formulation of an African commodities strategy 

• Establishment of the African continental free 

trade area (AfCFTA) 

• The African passport and free movement 

of people 

• Silencing the guns by 2020 

• Implementation of the Grand Inga Dam 

(hydropower) Project 

• Establishment of a single African air-transport 

market (SAATM) 

• Establishment of an annual African 

economic forum 

• Establishment of African financial 

institutions 

• The pan-African e-network 

• Africa outer space strategy 

• Cyber security 

• An African virtual and e-university 

• Great African museum 

• Encyclopaedia Africana. 

The African Development Bank Group 

comprises the African Development Bank (AfDB), 

the African Development Fund (ADF) and the 

Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF). The AfDB is a key funder 

of infrastructure projects and has set itself a set of 

goals known as the High Five: light up and power 

Africa; feed Africa; industrialise Africa; integrate 

Africa; and improve the quality of life for the 

people of Africa. 

The bank’s “African Economic Outlook 2019” 

highlights energy and infrastructure as key areas for 

investment. If Africa is to prosper, infrastructure has 

to be improved and built. An agreement between 

China and the African Union Commission as part of 

Agenda 2063 aims to link all of Africa’s capital cities 

by air, rail and road. On the energy front, one of the 

bank’s projects, the Desert to Power Initiative in the 

Sahel region, will bring power to 250-million people 

who were previously unconnected. 

Another key conclusion of the AEO 2019 

is that Africa should increase agricultural 

production in order to establish or increase 

manufacturing capacity. This would in turn lead 

to industrialisation. 

To quote the report, “To avoid the informality 

trap and chronic unemployment, Africa needs 

to industrialise and add value to its abundant 

agricultural, mineral and other natural resources. ■ 


SPECIAL FEATURE 

Engines of growth 

Giant cities and development corridors are vehicles for tackling 

Africa’s infrastructure gap. 

By John Young 

An investment in 2007 in an acre of land 

in Juja, a small town 30km north of 

Nairobi, would have earned a savvy 

speculator a return of 1 428% in 2019. 

That’s according to The Economist, which also cites 

an estate agency’s report that Nairobi’s land prices 

have risen sixfold in 24 of the city’s 32 suburbs and 

satellite towns in just over a decade. 

About 40% of Africans live in cities but that 

figure is climbing fast. By 2030, the continent will 

have six megacities. Accra, Cairo, Kinshasa, Lagos, 

Nairobi (pictured) and Johannesburg are currently 

big conurbations, but they are expected to grow 

even further. By 2050 there will be an additional 

900-million Africans living in cities, according 

to the African Urban Dynamics report of the Mo 

Ibrahim Foundation. 

One of the drivers of urbanisation is migration. 

The top five destinations for African citizens 

moving within Africa are South Africa, Ivory Coast, 

Uganda, Nigeria and Ethiopia. The United Nations 

Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) 

reports that migrants quite often make significant 

contributions to the host country’s gross domestic 

product (GDP). Migrants in Ivory Coast, for 

example, contribute 19% to that country’s GDP. 

Rapid urbanisation presents challenges in 

terms of providing the necessary infrastructure, 

but it also represents an opportunity for the 

private sector. Rapidly expanding markets offer 

private companies the chance to sell their goods 

and services and to build infrastructure, possibly in 

conjunction with state entities. 

Electrification, accommodation, transport, 

water and sanitation and telephony are just 

some of the types of infrastructure that cities 

need. Difficult and expensive as the provision 

of services is, large groupings of people can 

also be a blessing in that large-scale projects 

can be rolled out reaching tens of thousands of 

citizens. Urbanisation also creates ready markets 

for retail enterprises and a potential workforce for 

manufacturing and industry. 

The thrust of The Economist’s March 2019 


16


article (“Destroying the city to save it”) was that 

poor planning and corruption are threats to 

Africa’s hopes of making its cities more liveable 

and efficient. Using Nairobi as its example, the 

newspaper cited a shortage of skilled urban 

planners, weak government investment and 

unclear zoning laws as other barriers to success. A 

Nairobi city regeneration taskforce was established 

in 2017 and government plans to build 200 000 

low-cost houses. 

Whatever the obstacles, Africa has to find a way 

to deal with urbanisation. Several countries, Egypt 

and Senegal among them, are conceptualising 

brand-new cities where a fresh start can be made 

with good planning and sustainability as a part of 

the process. 

The African Development Bank’s latest 

estimates put Africa’s infrastructure needs at 

between $130–170-billion per year, with a 

financing gap in the range $68–$108-billion. The 

gap can’t be closed quickly but the bank (AfDB) 

makes the point that not being able to fully fund 

everything does not mean that a start should not 

be made. The bank has devoted 60% of its funding 

to infrastructure projects since 2009. In the five 

years to 2018, the AfDB allocated $6-billion to 

energy projects: more than 640-million Africans 

have no access to energy. 

Africa’s best chance of delivering infrastructure 

is through cities and development corridors. 

Cities allow for projects to be done on a big scale 

and development corridors can be tackled on a 

project-by-project basis with clear deliverables 

and timelines. Another fast-tracking device for 

infrastructure delivery is the Special Economic 

Zone (SEZ), a dedicated parcel of land which 

attracts investors with special incentives and 

bespoke facilities. 

Infrastructure 

The World Economic Forum calculates that for 

every dollar spent on infrastructure, an additional 

5% to 10% in economic growth is added. 

In 2016, commitments to Africa’s infrastructure 

were made totalling $62.5-billion. This was the 

lowest figure in five years, mainly because of a 

reduction in Chinese commitments. The sector 

which attracts the most funding is transport. The 

figure for transport has fallen somewhat in recent 

years, after peaking in 2014. In 2015, transport 

spending was $32.4-billion; in 2016 it was 

$24.5-billion. 

The number one source of infrastructure 

funding in Africa is national governments. In 2016, 

governments committed $26-billion. About half 

the funding for infrastructure in Africa comes from 

bilateral and multilateral institutions such as AfDB 

and the World Bank Group. Private investors raise 

about 4% of the funding devoted to infrastructure 

on the continent. 

Sectoral share of investment 

Transport: 39% 

Energy: 32% 

Water and sanitation: 17% 

ICT: 3% 

(Source: AfDB) 

With East Africa consistently showing good growth 

rates, it is no surprise to learn that infrastructure 

construction is expected to experience good 

growth in that region. GlobalData reports that 

the figure for infrastructure spend in 2017 was 

$25.9-billion in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. The 

analytics company believes this will likely to climb 

as high as $98.8-billion in 2022. 

The formation of the Sustainable Development 

Investment Partnership (SDIP) in 2015 has helped 

to focus funding on infrastructure. The World 

Economic Forum (WEF) and the Organisation for 

Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 

initiated the idea and a further 28 institutions 

have joined, including the Senegal Strategic 

Investment Fund (FONSIS), the Development Bank 

of South Africa (DBSA), US Agency for International 

Development (USAID), the Bill and Melinda Gates 



Foundation and the Industrial Development 

Corporation of South Africa (IDC). At the WEF 

hosted by Rwanda in 2016 a commitment was 

made to ensure that 16 infrastructure projects 

valued at more $20-billion would be implemented. 

As further proof that there is an appetite 

for investment in Africa, the Emerging Africa 

Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) announced that it had 

raised $385-million in a fundraiser in 2018. The 

EAIF, which is part of the Private Infrastructure 

Development Group (PIDG), is investing over a 

five-year term in what are called “fragile” states. 

To date, EAIF has invested nearly $1.3-billion 

which was pivotal in attracting more than 

$10.9-billion of private capital investment to 

over 70 projects in 22 Sub-Saharan countries. 

Allianz Investment Management and Investec 

Asset Management are investors in EAIF. Others 

include Standard Chartered Bank, the African 

Development Bank, FMO (a Dutch development 

finance institution) and KFW, the German 

development bank. AfDB is providing a total of 

$75-million over 10 years, Standard Chartered Bank 

is extending its existing lending to $50-million. 

Separate articles on energy, transport and 

logistics and ICT appear elsewhere in this journal. 

Cities 

Cement manufacturer PPC is gearing up for 

the exponential growth of African cities. The 

company’s roots are in South Africa, but it 

has invested, and is investing, in Zimbabwe, 

the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 

Rwanda, Botswana and Ethiopia. Its Rwandan 

investment has turned that country into a net 

exporter of cement. 

PPC’s projections are that producers of 

cement will need to provide 1 000kg per person in 

Africa for the next 35 years to keep pace with the 

coming building boom. The current average in 

Africa is 175kg per person against a world average 

of 500kg. Given that the production of cement 

is a big source of greenhouse gases, the planet 

will have to hope that African cement producers’ 

efforts to reduce carbon emissions are successful. 

An ambitious Egyptian project aims to create 

a new city east of Cairo, a response to projections 

that the capital city’s population will rise to 

50-million on its current trajectory. Intended 

to cover a land area of around 700km², the first 

phase caters for government departments, the 

parliament and housing. 

The development company is majorityowned 

by the state through the military and the 

China State Contracting Engineering Corporation 

(CSCEC) has a number of contracts within 

the development. CSCEC was also involved 

in the construction of the African Union (AU) 

headquarters in Addis Ababa and the Great 

Mosque of Algiers. In 2019 a cathedral and a large 

mosque were dedicated in what is being called 

the “New Administrative Capital”. 

The 390m Nile Tower will be Africa’s tallest 

building. Work on the huge building commenced 

in 2019 and it will provide 35 000m² of hotel 

accommodation and 60 000m² for residential 

accommodation. 

Other future cities include efforts by Lagos to 

reclaim land and build a new urban centre, Eko 

Atlantic City, and a Senegalese initiative to reduce 

pressure on Dakar with the creation of Diamniadio 

Lake City. The latter project, set to be completed 

in 2035, makes provision for a university, an 

industrial park, entertainment venues and state 

ministry buildings. The proposed city is close to 

Blaise Diagne International Airport. 

Several planning initiatives are tackling urban 

issues in the African context. One of them is 

“Future Cities Africa”, a joint initiative of Cities 

Alliance and UK’s Department for International 

Development. The aim is to assist cities to balance 

environmental risk and manage demographic 

change while at the same time achieving 

inclusive economic growth. Arup, an engineering 

and design company, has conducted studies on 

nine cities in four African countries as part of this 

project. The study is called “Future Proofing City”. 

One of the biggest issues facing cities is 

financing. Kampala has introduced property 

taxes as a new source of revenue, but as a 

representative of the Royal Institution of 

Chartered Surveyors told Summit Africa 2018, 

“To keep pace with urbanisation, cities can’t rely 

solely on user or property charges to retrofit and 

expand themselves.” 


18


Corridors 

Africa has several transport corridors and is planning 

many more. The African Union’s Agenda 2063 calls 

for all African capitals to be linked by road, rail and 

air. The African Union Commission and China have 

signed an agreement related to this goal. 

The AU’s Programme for Infrastructure 

Development in Africa (PIDA) was adopted 

as a strategic programme in 2012 but it has 

become much more active as “corridor thinking” 

has started to focus on hard issues such the 

standardisation of railway gauges, border control 

protocols and port efficiency. 

To get an idea how important these 

initiatives are, it is estimated that African port 

charges are 40% more expensive than the 

global norm and that more than 70% of delays 

in cargo delivery arise from wasted time spent 

in ports (AfDB). 

Transport prices dropped 70% under 

the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport 

Agreement in the five years to 2015 because 

logistics infrastructure was improved. In the same 

period, the Central Corridor (Dar es Salaam to 

Kampala) recorded 80% price rises. 

This is a selection of some of the corridor 

developments PIDA is working on: 

• Beira-Nacala Multimodal Transport Corridor: 

a modern railway system to be implemented 

between the ports of Nacala and/or Beira and 

the coal-exporting region of Moatize 

in Mozambique 

• Central Multimodal Transport Corridor: 

upgrading and modernisation of roads between 

Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the 

Democratic Republic of Congo 

• Djibouti-Addis Transport Corridor: upgrading 

of 710km of railway and six smart corridor 

modules between Ethiopia and Djibouti 

• North-South Multimodal Transport Corridor: 

a smart corridor system for road and rail on the 

multi-modal African Regional Transport 

Infrastructure Network in Southern Africa 

• Southern Africa Hub Port and Rail Programme: 

a master plan for regional port capacity in the 

Southern African Development Community. ■ 

A true pan-African bank 

Citi continues to invest in its technology, 

people and partnerships in order to 

consolidate its growth and development 

in the region. Underpinning all this 

momentum is its unrivalled global 

network and client-centric strategy to 

both product development and customer 

service. Citi gives companies that are 

looking to grow into, and out of, Africa 

access to the world’s largest transaction 

banking network while navigating the 

local nuances that come with doing 

business on the continent. Its focus is on 

being simpler, safer and stronger so that 

they can be the best for their clients in 

the long-term. 

Citi is a true pan-African bank with over 

60 years of experience on the continent 

across 15 presence markets covering 

Southern, East, Central, West and North 

Africa, in addition to a further 22 nonpresence 

markets. Citi serves as a core 

transactional banker to over 4,000 top tier 

corporate/multi-national clients in the 

region which accounts for over 80% of 

the Fortune 500 companies. 

Citi currently provides transactional 

banking services to over 40 Non- 

Governmental Organisations (NGO) 

across Africa to support day-to-day 

financing of critical projects in the 

region. Citi is committed to lend, invest 

and facilitate $100-billion over 10 years 

(2014-2024) toward activities that reduce 

the impacts of climate change and create 

environmental solutions that benefit 

communities on the continent. 



Towards free trade 

A continent-wide free trade agreement promises 

to unlock enormous value. 

By John Young 

The African Continental Free Trade Area 

(AfCFTA) will come into effect in July 2020. 

A single market of 1.3-billion people is 

expected to grow to 2.5-billion by 2050. 

The AfCFTA aims to accelerate the growth of 

intra-African trade and to use trade as an engine of 

growth and sustainable development, which will 

strengthen Africa’s voice in global trade negotiations. 

The AfCFTA head office will be in Ghana. 

Currently, trade between African nations 

is between 15% and 18% of total trade, as 

against 69% in Europe and 59% in Asia (United 

Nations Conference on Trade and Development 

(UNCTAD) and Brookings Institution). Tariffs on 

90% of all goods are to be removed. The Boston 

Consulting Group notes that exports between 

African countries grew from $41-billion in 2007 

to $65-billion by 2030 but this figure will rise 

exponentially if AfCFTA is implemented. 

One prediction is that intra-regional 

trade could increase by 52.3% by 2022 (UN 

Economic Commission on Africa). The African 

Union (AU) believes trade will increase by 60%. 

Just four countries currently account for 41.7% 

of intra-African trade, South Africa, Namibia, 

Nigeria and Zambia, according to the Export Credit 

Insurance Corporation of South Africa (ECIC). The 

ECIC has invested in the African Export Import 

Bank in an effort to boost intra-continental trade 

to $250-billion in 2021. The South Africa-Africa 

Trade and Investment Promotion Programme has 

the same goal. 

The passing of the African Growth and 

Opportunity Act (AGOA) in 2000 was a boon for 

39 Sub-Saharan African countries because 6 500 

products could be sold duty-free in the United 

States of America. The bill will expire in 2025 so it’s 

timely that Africa’s leaders are looking to stimulate 

growth in new ways. In the current political 

climate, it is unlikely that AGOA will be renewed. 

President Trump has declared himself strongly 

opposed to multi-lateral agreements. The AU will 

lobby for a continent-wide agreement, but the US 

is likely to seek bilateral deals. 


20


Trading with the world 

The United States is no longer number one when 

it comes to trading with Sub-Saharan Africa. 

China is first (about $150-billion in 2018), then the 

European Union (EU) with the US in third place 

($41.2-billion). 

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation 

(OPIC), the US government’s development finance 

institution, has committed tens of millions of 

dollars to development projects in Africa, including 

the Connect Africa initiative. 

The European Union Commission pledged 

to support the AfCTA with a €40-billion package 

that would attract investment and create jobs. 

The Africa-European Alliance for Jobs and Growth 

programme is intended to run from 2021 to 2027. 

China’s multinational Belt and Road initiative 

includes a $1-billion African infrastructure fund 

and in 2018 aid to the value of $60-billion was 

delivered to the continent. The total value of 

Chinese investments and construction in Africa 

amounts to close to nearly $2-trillion since 

2005 (American Enterprise Institute). McKinsey 

believes there are 10 000 Chinese businesses 

active in Africa. 

All of this illustrates the importance of Africa 

to the world’s leading trading nations: it would 

suggest that a “race for Africa” is underway. 

History and RECs 

The roots of the AfCFTA can be traced back to 

the 1980 Lagos Plan of Action and a plan in 1991 

to launch the African Economic Community. 

Neither of these were implemented but the goal 

remained alive. 

The Southern African Development 

Community (SADC) was established in 1992 and 

the SADC Free Trade Area (FTA) came into being in 

2008. The FTA covers 13 of the region’s 15 countries 

(Angola and the DRC have not signed) but only 

five countries are members of the Southern 

African Customs Union (SACU), Botswana, Eswatini, 

Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. The SACU was 

formed in 1910. 

Some of Africa’s Regional Economic 

Communities (RECs) have gone some way to 

achieving integration. Larger countries within an 

individual REC have tended to become a centre 

for trading, using the relationships they have 

with fellow members. Kamal Nasrollah, Partner 

and Head of the law firm Baker McKenzie in 

Casablanca, has studied this phenomenon and 

believes that the AfCFTA could use the example 

of these RECs. He cites Ivory Coast, Kenya, 

Senegal and South Africa and gives some detail 

on the Moroccan experience. 

Writes Nasrollah, “Morocco is also an active 

trade hub within the Union du Maghreb Arab 

(UMA) trade agreement as well as the various 

trade agreements it has entered into with the 

US, the EU and the Francophone Africa free-trade 

zone (UEMOA).” 

Challenges 

Although the AfCFTA has been signed, a range 

of complicated and detailed negotiations lie 

ahead. Topics include tariffs, service sector 

concessions and the exact outlines of rules of 

origin in each jurisdiction. 

Visa restrictions for business travellers and 

financial systems that are not compatible are other 

potential hurdles. 

In 2016 the Common Electronic Biometric 

African Passport was launched, and the AU 

produced a protocol on free movement of 

persons. Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa are 

among the countries that have not signed the 

protocol. The UN Economic Commission for 

Africa (UNECA) found that progress has been 

slow with respect to mobility (African Regional 

Integration Index). 

African visitors need a visa when visiting 

more than half of the nations on the continent 

and only Ghana and the Seychelles make visas 

available on arrival. According to The Economist, 

“it’s easier for Americans to travel around Africa 

than it is for Africans themselves” and the AU 

passport has so far only been used for heads of 

state and AU officials. 

Concerns about security and the perception 

that “people from other African countries are 



taking our jobs” will have 

to be addressed at national 

and local levels. South Africa 

has experienced outbreaks 

of xenophobia. Migration 

patterns will likely change 

if movement around the 

continent becomes easier. 

A lot of work needs to be 

done to synchronise financial 

governance policies and to put 

better technology in place so 

that payments can take place 

across jurisdictions. Debt and 

deficit policies must chime. 

The African Development 

Bank is supporting regional 

financial integration with 

programmes focussed on 

banking and financial standards 

and the African Peer Review 

Mechanism. Regional payment 

systems are being developed in 

each of COMESA, EAC, ECCAS, 

and ECOWAS. Other projects 

of the bank are the Africa 

Financial Markets Initiative, 

Making Finance Work for Africa 

and the Association of African 

Central Banks. 

Possibly the biggest hurdle 

to seamless trading is poor 

infrastructure but a great many 

projects are underway in every 

corner of the continent. 

Among the initiatives of the 

Programme for Infrastructure 

Development in Africa (PIDA) 

is the West Africa Hub Port and 

Rail Programme, a regional 

hub-port, rail-linkage and 

port-expansion plan. Kenya’s 

$68-million Naivasha Dry Port 

project supports this plan. 

The Southern African 

Development Community (SADC) 

has been active with multimodal 

projects such as the development 

corridors of Nacala, Maputo and Lobito (Zambia to Angola). 

The Trans-Maghreb Highway in North Africa, the North-South 

Multimodal Corridor and the Central Corridor project are among 

other ambitious projects intended to provide inter-regional 

connectivity. 

Who will benefit? 

A recent research paper suggests that manufacturing will be one of 

the sectors to gain the most from the AfCFTA. According to “AfCFTA’s 

US$3-trillion Opportunity: Weighing Existing Barriers against Potential 

Economic Gains,” the dropping of tariffs between African countries 

will allow for the replacement of imported manufactured products, 

industrial machinery and transport equipment, which currently make 

up over 50% of Africa’s import basket. 

The report, based on research done by international law firm 

Baker McKenzie and Oxford Economics, contrasts Africa’s export of 

raw material with this need to import manufactured goods. As a 

percentage of GDP, manufacturing averages 10% in Africa but the 

AfCFTA provides a chance for this to grow as markets open up. 

Improved infrastructure will further spur trade, and drive demand for 

more manufactured goods. 

Countries which currently have strong manufacturing bases will 

benefit the most from the deal. Countries with less manufacturing 

like Algeria and Sudan will presumably move to diversify their 

economies and start building manufacturing capacity. 

Another sector likely to benefit from the deal will be the 

services sector. 

Countries with good infrastructure stand to benefit as efficient 

ports, airports and railway systems will be better equipped to deal 

with increased volumes of trade. ■ 


22

10 REASONS 

WHY YOU SHOULD INVEST IN SOUTH AFRICA 

01. 

HOT EMERGING 

MARKET 

Growing middle class, affluent consumer 

base, excellent returns on investment. 

02. 

MOST DIVERSIFIED 

ECONOMY IN AFRICA 

South Africa (SA) has the most industrialised economy in Africa. 

It is the region’s principal manufacturing hub and a leading 

services destination. 

LARGEST PRESENCE OF MULTINATIONALS 

ON THE AFRICAN CONTINENT 

SA is the location of choice of multinationals in Africa. 

03. 

Global corporates reap the benefits of doing business in 

SA, which has a supportive and growing ecosystem as a 

hub for innovation, technology and fintech. 

05. 

FAVOURABLE ACCESS TO 

GLOBAL MARKETS 

ADVANCED FINANCIAL SERVICES 

& BANKING SECTOR 

SA has a sophisticated banking sector with a major 

footprint in Africa. It is the continent’s financial hub, 

with the JSE being Africa’s largest stock exchange by 

market capitalisation. 

The African Continental Free Trade Area will boost 

intra-African trade and create a market of over one 

billion people and a combined gross domestic product 

(GDP) of USD2.2-trillion that will unlock industrial 

development. SA has several trade agreements in 

place as an export platform into global markets. 

07. 

04. 

06. 

08. 

PROGRESSIVE 

CONSTITUTION 

& INDEPENDENT 

JUDICIARY 

SA has a progressive Constitution and an independent judiciary. The 

country has a mature and accessible legal system, providing certainty 

and respect for the rule of law. It is ranked number one in Africa for the 

protection of investments and minority investors. 

ABUNDANT NATURAL 

RESOURCES 

SA is endowed with an abundance of natural resources. It is the leading producer 

of platinum-group metals (PGMs) globally. Numerous listed mining companies 

operate in SA, which also has world-renowned underground mining expertise. 

WORLD-CLASS 

INFRASTRUCTURE 

AND LOGISTICS 

A massive governmental investment programme in infrastructure development 

has been under way for several years. SA has the largest air, ports and logistics 

networks in Africa, and is ranked number one in Africa in the World Bank’s 

Logistics Performance Index. 

YOUNG, EAGER LABOUR FORCE 

10. 

SA has a number of world-class universities and colleges 

09. 

producing a skilled, talented and capable workforce. It 

EXCELLENT QUALITY 

boasts a diversified skills set, emerging talent, a large pool 

OF LIFE 

of prospective workers and government support for training 

SA offers a favourable cost of living, with a diversified cultural, cuisine and 

and skills development. 

sports offering all year round and a world-renowned hospitality sector. 


Page | 2

AFRICA IS READY 

FOR BUSINESS 

…ECIC TAKES 

EXPORT TRADE TO 

ANOTHER LEVEL 

The Export Credit Insurance Corporation 

of South Africa (ECIC) is paving the way for 

South Africa (SA) to champion export driven 

industrialisation in Africa, while becoming a 

strong proponent of Intra Africa Trade. 

Since its inception in 2001, the ECIC 

has grown in leaps and bounds from just 

a capital of R1.6bn to a balance sheet 

of R26bn. It is now the core agency in 

promoting the country’s export trade and is 

the key insurer on behalf of government for 

capital goods and services. 

ECIC GIVES TWO 

TYPES OF COVERAGE. 

1. Political Risk Insurance (PRI) 

protects the goods and services 

or project or plant against arbitrary 

political annexation of that plant. 

These are such occurrences as 

nationalisation, expropriation 

etc. In the same vein, it provides 

protection against arbitrary adverse 

tax that may be implemented post 

implementation of the project, 

as well as foreign currency 

inconvertibility. 

2. Commercial risk insurance. 

This may entail Protection of the 

SA exporter against commercial 

insolvency of the buyer, 


24

ECIC CEO Kutoane Kutoane says the 

ECIC is geared to lead to export driven 

industrialisation in SA, something that 

is bound to impact positively on job 

creation and a healthy economy. “Since 

we are primarily a government agency 

that means our policies have to align 

with the intents and programmes of the 

National Development Plan (NDP). Some 

of these would be growing the economy 

and increasing employment and poverty 

alleviation. 

“We consider ourselves to be on the 

cutting edge of SA’s development 

agenda by way of actively promoting and 

facilitation SA’s export trade.” He says 

exports will earn foreign exchange and 

increase the country’s reserves, eventually 

stimulating the economic growth trajectory 

of the country. 


In the quest to achieve this, the ECIC is able to 

measure its impact. 

The ECIC is committed to sustainable business 

through innovative solutions, operational and 

service excellence, business development and 

strategic partnerships. In enabling frontier markets 

to optimise production, the ECIC is effectively 

motivating a positive socio-economic impact. 

OUR 

MISSION 

Our mission is to provide export credit and investment 

insurance solutions in support of South African capital 

goods and services by applying best practice risk 

management principles. 


26

ECIC AD 

Since 2001 we have continued to provide commercial and political risk insurance for cross-border transactions, offering risk mitigation solutions 

to South African exporters of capital goods and investors . We have partnered with credible financial institutions and believe through partnerships 

economic growth can be achieved. As Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa (ECIC) we are committed to supporting our South African 

businesses who export and invest in capital projects beyond our borders. 

If youʼre planning on exporting to or investing in capital projects beyond our borders, contact ECIC for assistance 

+27 12 471 3800 | info@ecic.co.za | www.ecic.co.za 

ECIC is a registered financial service provider with the FSCA No. 30656 

In partnership with 



Success comes in many guises 

Ethiopia and Mauritius show there is no single formula for putting a country 

on the road to progress. 

Both Ethiopia and Mauritius are members of the African Union 

(AU) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa 

(COMESA). Apart from these links, its difficult to see much similarity 

between the landlocked Ethiopia which stretches over 

more than a million square kilometres and the small island nation 

of Mauritius. 

What they have in common is that they have found a way to 

improve their economies. To do that, both nations’ politics needed to 

be less fractious. Mauritius has achieved that. Ethiopia shows signs that 

it is on the way to stability. 

The other common denominator is textile manufacturing, 

although the two countries approached the opportunity from 

opposite ends. Mauritius chose to focus on the high-end market 

and has developed the skills and quality-control protocols needed to 

supply that niche. Ethiopia is building a sector which can handle huge 

volumes. A Bangladeshi garment manufacturer has set up a factory in 

Ethiopia which supplies H&M and a Sri Lankan company, Hela Clothing, 

has produced and shipped its one-millionth garment from its factory 

in Ethiopia. This is part of a drive 

by Ethiopia to increase its annual 

export earnings in clothing from 

$145-million to $30-billion (CNN). 

In terms of a financial market 

index published by Absa in 

2019, the two countries are at 

opposite ends of the scale. The 

survey concluded that Mauritius 

ranked second in Africa (behind 

South Africa) in a set of indicators 

including market depth, access 

to foreign exchange and 

transparency. Ethiopia placed 

20th but – crucially and typically 

in the current environment – 

Ethiopia was sure to improve 

its position in 2020 because 


28


it is about to establish a stock 

exchange. 

Reforms in Ethiopia are just 

beginning, Mauritius has been 

a work in progress for several 

decades. 

Ethiopia 

The Nobel Peace Prize winner 

for 2019 was Ethiopian Prime 

Minister Abiy Ahmed. He 

won the award primarily for 

unblocking a post-war stalemate 

between his country and Eritrea 

and calming other regional 

conflicts, but he has also made 

big changes domestically since 

taking office in 2018. 

In the words of the Director 

of the Institute for Pan-African 

Thought and Conversation 

Adekeye Adebajo, Ahmed has 

been a “reformist new broom 

unleashing political freedoms, 

encouraging foreign investment 

and promoting reconciliation”. 

The peace dividend has 

allowed the construction of 

a vital rail link to Djibouti and 

encouraged a number of new 

investors to visit Ethiopia, mostly 

notably from Turkey. Chinese 

companies have long been 

present in the country, with the 

previous rulers of Ethiopia having 

been close to China. 

Ethiopian Airways has used 

the country’s strategic location 

between Asia and Europe to 

build Addis Ababa’s position as 

a freight and passenger hub. 

So successful has it been that 

in 2018 it replaced Dubai as the 

top transit hub for long-haul 

passengers to Africa. 

The country’s population 

of about 94-million is young 

(about 50% are younger than 15 and 70% are younger than 30) 

and the state is focussed on education. Science and technology are 

emphasised and the number of Ethiopians in higher education in 

2017 was five times what it was in 2005 (World Bank). 

Spending on public infrastructure has focussed on transport, 

energy and industrial parks. The percentage of public spending is 

due to come down, but it will be replaced by the private sector as 

a vigorous privatisation process begins. Manufacturing currently 

accounts for 10% of GDP so there is huge scope for growth. Other 

state-owned assets which will become available to private investors 

are in the following sectors: maritime, aviation, electricity, logistics and 

railways. Exports in renewable energy are expected to generate up to 

$1-billion annually. 

Mauritius 

Although Mauritius ranked second to South Africa in the Absa Financial 

Market Index, in almost every other index the island country is ranked 

number one in Africa. 

For “Doing Business in Africa: Sub Saharan Africa 2018”, the World 

Bank places Mauritius 25th in the world, and first in Africa. The Heritage 

Foundation’s 2019 “Index of Economic Freedom” has exactly the same 

result. This trend is repeated across a range of measures; a global 

competitive index rates the country 45th and 1st, the WEF’s enabling 

trade report gives scores of 39th and 1st. 

Where the country’s GDP per capita was around $400 at 

independence in 1968, it’s now above $10 000. Between 1977 and 

2008, the country’s growth rate performed well above the Sub-Saharan 

average of 2.9% at 4.6%. 

As a colony Mauritius was a sugar-based monoculture. Sugar 

accounted for 20% of GDP and 60% of exports. Today sugar cane is still 

in the export basket but there are also textiles, clothing, processed fish 

and cut flowers. Services exports such as financial services and tourism 

are rising, and medical tourism and higher education are seen as a 

high-value sectors worth investing in. 

The African Development Bank (AfDB) expects growth of more 

than 5% in several sectors including information and communications 

technology, retail and wholesale, food processing and financial services. 

In 2016 the Kenyan economy received $50-million of investment from 

Mauritius-based banks and financial institutions (AfDB). 

Mauritian post-independence politics was not always stable, but a 

parliamentary system and strong institutions have helped the country 

move forward. Property rights and an independent judiciary are factors 

that promote foreign investment. Shrewd investment in an Export 

Processing Zone helped to turn the economy away from a single 

commodity. Personal and corporate tax rates are a flat 15% and in 2018 

property transfers were simplified and other reforms were introduced 

to encourage entrepreneurs. ■ 


KEY SECTORS 

Agriculture 32 

Mining 36 

Oil and gas 44 

Energy 46 

Manufacturing 52 

Transport and logistics 56 

Aviation 58 

Tourism 60 

Information and communication technology 64 

Banking and financial services 66 

REGIONS 

East Africa 68 

North Africa 70 

Central Africa 72 

West Africa 74 

Southern Africa 76 

COUNTRY PROFILES 

Kenya 69 

Morocco 

Democratic Republic of the Congo 

71 

73 

Nigeria 75 

Botswana 77 

South Africa 78 

Mozambique 80 


30 

Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge, Lagos, Nigeria. (Effi/iStock).


OVERVIEW 

Agriculture 

Huge challenges present massive opportunities. 

Sector Insight 

AGCO has new African 

headquarters. 

Ivory Coast imports more rice from China than any other country. 

One-fifth of the world’s imported rice goes to West Africa. With 

Africa’s population expected to double to two-billion by 2030, 

these are perhaps not such surprising facts. But there was a time 

when many African countries were net exporters of food and the 

amount of land available for agriculture on the continent suggests 

that Africa should be able to feed itself. 

A quarter of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population is undernourished 

and yet agriculture is often the biggest contributor to GDP. In Guinea- 

Bissau the sector accounts for over 90% of exports, nearly 85% of 

employment and just over 45% of GDP. 

Agriculture is the second-largest contributor to the continent’s 

GDP, after mining and quarrying. South Africa, Egypt and Kenya have 

thriving agricultural exports, but most farming on the continent is 

on a subsistence basis. Roughly 6% (or 13-million hectares) of land is 

irrigated which means that the vast majority of farming relies on rain, 

a risky undertaking. In countries 

such as the DRC and Tanzania, 

only a small fraction of arable 

land is farmed. 

Access to appropriate 

storage, good transport and 

reliable power supplies are all 

constraints on African farming. 

High input costs for fertiliser, 

pesticide and seeds are 

additional problems. Access to 

good seeds has been sporadic. 

The Food and Agriculture 

Organisation (FAO) of the United 

Nations has warned that if things 

don’t change, Africa will in 2050 

be able to feed only 13% of its 

population. 

The scale of the problem 

actually holds the seeds of 

the solution. While demand is 

driven by a rising population 

and a more demanding 

middle-class, this is creating a 

market for agri-business which 

is expected to reach $1-trillion 

by 2030. This makes agriculture 

an investable sector. 

There is enough arable land 

in Africa for the problems to be 

solved, and for Africa to become 

a net exporter. Although 20% of 

Tanzania is suitable for farming, 

only 5% is currently cultivated. 

The World Bank calculates that 

Africa could farm on 202-million 

hectares of arable land. 

Access to new technology 


32

OVERVIEW 

also gives hope that progress 

can be quick. Smart phones, 

drones, hydroponics, improved 

genetics and precision farming 

equipment could be part of 

renewal strategies. 

Industrialisation 

If Africa can scale up and make 

agricultural production more 

efficient, the ramifications for 

the broader economy will be 

profound. 

Ethiopia cut poverty by 33% 

in just over decade, driven largely 

by annual agricultural growth 

of close to 10% (World Bank). 

The African Development Bank 

(AfDB) has flagged increased 

agricultural production as one of 

the keys to improved economic 

growth in countries which don’t 

have minerals. The 2019 African 

Economic Overview highlights 

the growth of Senegal, Rwanda 

and Ivory Coast and points 

out that increased agricultural 

production, if it is accompanied 

by an expansion of the value 

chain and development of 

processing facilities, can lead to 

the creation of manufacturing 

enterprises and ultimately play 

a role in industrialisation. 

Countries that currently 

rely too heavily on fossil fuels 

are looking to diversify into 

agriculture. Nigeria is increasing 

the contribution that agriculture 

makes to GDP. By contrast, 

Kenya’s recent oil discoveries are 

a welcome break for a country 

very reliant on a small basket of 

exports, tea and flowers chief 

among them. About two-thirds 

of employment is in agriculture. 

Plans and policies 

There are many people and organisations looking for agricultural 

solutions in Africa and investors are among them. 

In 2018 American agricultural company AGCO opened an African 

headquarters in Johannesburg. With global sales of $8.3-billion, the 

company already has an African parts warehouse, the AGCO Future 

Farm and Training Centre in Zambia and an Algerian joint venture to 

produce tractors. 

OLAM is a Singapore-based company that is increasing its African 

footprint, concentrating on developing capacity all along the value 

chain of selected foods. 

One of many non-governmental organisations working on 

practical solutions is the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa 

(AGRA). Started by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda 

Gates Foundation, AGRA’s goal is to improve food security for 

30-million farming households in 11 African countries by 2021. 

AGRA, whose field officers are shown in the picture, promotes 

better seeds, new crop varieties, fosters small business and works to 

improve soil health. 

In Kenya AGRA has highlighted the plight of potato farmers who 

have been short-changed by bad packaging. The crop is grown 

by about 800 000 smallholder farmers and contributes more than 

$500-million to the national economy. 

The AfDB has a unit called the Agribusiness Development 

Division and funds the Technologies for African Agricultural 

Transformation (TAAT), which aims to radically transform the sector 

through technology. TAAT works on soil fertility management, water 

management and training. It also advocates for supportive seed 

technology policies. 

Investment into agri-processing is promoted via Special Agri- 

Processing Zones (SAPZs). Ethiopia, Guinea and Togo have such 

zones which the AfDB, together with other investment banks 

such as the European Investment Bank and Korea-Exim Bank, has 

helped establish. 

The African Union (AU) has set up the Comprehensive African 

Agricultural Development Programme. The CAADP Compact has 

been signed by 44 countries to allocate 10% of their national budgets 

to agriculture and 39 countries have formulated national agriculture 

and food security investment plans. ■ 

Online Resources 

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa: www.agra.org 

Food and Agricultural Organisation UN: www.fao.org 

Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme: 

www.nepad.org/caadp 

International Food Policy Research Institute: www.ifpri.org 

Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation: www.taat-africa.org 


PROFILE 

Africa Biomass Company 

Offering wood-chipping solutions across the continent of Africa. 

Our mission 

To provide a worldwide service and infrastructure 

that is sustainable and above par, taking into account 

the unique requirements of each client, without 

deviating from our policy of innovative service and 

Company 

high ethical standards. 

Slogan 

Our values 

Human dignity; Integrity; Quality; Pro-trademark 

resolution; Innovation; Transparency; Individualism 

Since 2004, Africa Biomass Company has 

been at the forefront of the development 

of biomass processing such as wood chips, 

biofuels and more in Southern Africa. 

Under the mentorship of Johan du 

Preez, the co-owner of Môreson Grondverskuivers, 

known for service excellence in the agricultural 

industry since 1924, we established ourselves as 

market leaders of recycling agricultural wood 

waste over the past 10 years. 

Africa Biomass Company offers a viable, costeffective 

solution for our customers to recycle this 

unwanted woody biomass into usable forms. 

Towards the end of 2008, the need and demand 

for the chipping of orchards increased to such an 

extent that the strategy of hand-fed chippers was 

switched to that of horizontal grinders, fed by a 

mechanical loader. 

In collaboration with Môreson Grondverskuivers, 

we now offer a full range of services. 

Our vision 

Africa Biomass Company is your caring family, 

founded in faith, trading as world leaders in the 

recycling industry. 

Africa Biomass Company services and 

products 

Contracting 

• Orchard 

• Windbreak recycling 

• River rehabilitation 

• Recycling of waste wood 

• Tree (orchard) replanting (Eastern Cape) 

• Mulch spreading 

• Land clearing and land preparation (Môreson) 

• Woodchip mulch and biomass sales 

• Bandit agency (Southern Africa) 

• Dezzi equipment (Western Cape) 

• Workshop and field services 

• Part sales 

• Manufacturing 

• Accredited Operator Training Facility 

Orchard and windbreak recycling 

With the use of excavators with specialised 

attachments and three-wheel loggers, old orchards 

can be removed from root to top and fed into a 

horizontal grinder. 

Processing of waste wood into a viable 

product, that if applied correctly, could have a 


34

30% increase in water conservation as well as 

many other advantages. 

Land clearing services 

Africa Biomass Company is an expert at land clearing. 

We have an extensive range of highly specialised 

wood recycling machinery that will do the job 

quickly and efficiently. 

• Tree shears which cut and stack trees of up to 

550mm in diameter 

• Loggers to handle the timber rapidly and 

effectively. 

• Well-trained teams of chainsaw operators. 

Mulch and biofuel sales 

Woodchip according to specification, collected 

in mass trailers or in bags and transported to end 

user, where it can be used as woochip mulch 

or biofuel. 

Massive water savings 

In 2017 Africa Biomass Company was involved in 

many projects such as the removal of invasive 

eucalyptus trees in the Breede River and Berg 

River systems. 

The removal and recycling of these alien trees, 

old or unwanted orchards, vineyards or windbreaks 

can be used as mulch which are spread in new and 

old orchards and vineyards. This has led to a massive 

water saving equal to the water usage of 50 000 

households for one year. 

CONTACT INFO 

Physical address: 2 – 4 Joubert Street, Worcester 

6850, Western Cape, South Africa 

Postal address: PO Box 1322, Worcester 6849 

Tel: +27 23 342 1212 • Fax: 086 515 5777 

Website: www.abc.co.za 

Willem van der Merwe, CEO: 

willem@abc.co.za 

Workshop and field services 

With an intimate understanding of the operational 

challenges of wood recycling in South Africa, we 

established state-of-the-art facilities to service, repair 

and rebuild wood chipping equipment of any make 

and size. 

An equally remarkable team of field service 

technicians delivers repairs, maintenance and spares 

to your site to optimise uptime and efficiency. 

Parts 

We have been widely commended as the company 

in South Africa stocking the largest range of industryrelated 

spare parts. 

Optimal production and uptime require quality 

components when needed. Understanding the 

industry through experience sets us apart from 

other suppliers. 

Delivering quality components on time is essential 

for running a successful operation. Our more than 

2 500 line items is made up of quality components 

sourced worldwide to meet requirements of our 

customers and our own fleet. 

Manufacturing 

Our legacy of innovation has been built on more 

than 80 000 hours of operational experience. This 

enabled us to develop and adapt machines for waste 

wood recycling in South Africa which truly adds 

value to the customer’s operation. 

A wide range of wood chipping, grinding 

and spreading equipment is manufactured 

locally to specification, as required for South 

African conditions. 

Calie Rabie, Western Cape Production: 

072 602 4543 

Fanie Fourie, Eastern Cape Production: 

073 402 0655 

Riaan Carstens, Bandit Agency: 

079 874 8624 

Quintis Wiid, Parts and Workshop: 

066 475 7039 


OVERVIEW 

Mining 

The global economy is demanding new minerals, and Africa has them. 


Africa’s first lithium-ion 

factory has been launched. 

Africa features prominently on most lists of global mineral 

resources. One Botswana diamond mine produces about 

quarter of the world’s annual diamond supply by value 

and the continent has recently moved close to 75% of 

global production of diamonds. Mining and quarrying is the largest 

contributor to GDP in Africa. 

The richness of Africa’s mineral resource is extraordinary. In 

several categories, Africa is either the global leader or it has the 

second-biggest reserve. These include cobalt, phosphate rocks, 

bauxite, industrial diamonds, platinum-group metals (PGMs), 

zirconium and vermiculite. 

Iron ore, copper, nickel, zinc, uranium, manganese, vanadium, 

ilmenite and gold, the continent’s biggest resource, are also found in 

large quantities. 

The mining sector is responsible for 90% of the exports of the 

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the figure is about 80% for 

countries such as Botswana (which has gold, nickel, copper and soda 

ash in addition to its rich diamond resource), Guinea (gold, diamonds, 

alumina and bauxite), Senegal (phosphate and diamonds) and Sierra 

Leone (diamonds). 

Ghana exported gold to the 

value of $8.3-billion in 2017, 

which was just less than half 

of the total value of exports, 

including crude petroleum. 

South Africa’s top three exports 

(out of a total of $108-billion) 

were gold ($16.9-billion), 

diamonds ($9.8-billion) and 

platinum ($9-billion) (OEC). 

Foreign interest in African 

mining is intense. Chinese 

companies are active in every 

part of the continent, including 

Ghana, in support of bauxite 

exploration and Zambia, as a 

partner in copper companies. 

More than 150 Australian 

companies operate in Africa 

and Japan is active through 

the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals 

National Corporation (JOGMEC) 

and several other companies 

such as Toyota Tshusho Corp, 

which is a minority partner in a 

Moroccan tin project. 

The merger of Randgold 

and Barrack in 2018 created 

a gold mining company with 

a market capitalisation of 

$19.4-billion. The new company 

is likely to increase its activity in 

West Africa where Gold Fields 

Ltd, Newmont Mining Company 

and AngloGold Ashanti have 

operations. 

Reliance on a single 

mineral creates an exposure 


36

OVERVIEW 

to price fluctuations that 

can trigger recessions. 

Other problems include 

political instability (although 

the outlook has improved 

recently), poor logistics, 

unreliable power supply and 

unpredictable regulatory 

regimes. This can include 

demands that local companies 

be included in transactions 

and variable tax and royalty 

conditions. The African 

Development Bank (AfDB) 

reports that mining royalties 

as applied in 2016 in Africa’s 21 

gold-mining countries, ranged 

from 2% to 12%. 

The Economic Community 

of West African States (ECOWAS) 

stated in 2000 that it intended 

to align countries’ tax and 

customs regimes and to create 

mining codes that did not differ 

sharply from one another. The 

code was not implemented but 

there is an increasing awareness 

of the importance of regional 

(and continental) consistency 

on this score. 

Another aspect that needs 

the attention for African mining 

to reach its full potential is 

geodata. There are very few 

places that have good systems in 

place to assist exploration efforts 

with reliable and detailed data. 

Minerals for the new age 

New finds of “old” minerals 

are happening across Africa: 

gold miners are very bullish in 

West Africa and Vedanta Zinc 

International is developing 

a huge mine in South Africa, 

but the big story is in minerals 

relevant to the new economy. 

The announcement by the AfDB that it was “getting out of 

coal” in 2019 was a clear signal that the move away from fossil 

fuels is gathering speed. The bank has created a $500-million 

green baseload scheme to assist African countries to transition 

from coal-fired power plants to renewable sources. The bank 

expects the fund to yield up to $5-billion in investments. 

The most important minerals in the age of computers 

and electric vehicles are cobalt, platinum, lithium, graphite, 

vanadium and manganese. Africa is a global leader in these 

minerals too. The DRC has more than 60% of the world’s 

cobalt resource. 

The critical metals in new battery production are lithium, 

graphite, cobalt and nickel. A research body estimates that 

the global lithium-ion battery market could be worth as 

much as $77-billion by 2024 (Transparency Market Research). 

Beyond the DRC, countries such as Madagascar, Morocco, 

Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe stand to 

benefit from this boom. 

The Global Battery Alliance claims that lithium-ion batteries 

can significantly reduce emissions in the power and transport 

sectors. At the 2019 Batteries and Electric Vehicle Conference, 

the MegaMillion Energy Company launched Africa’s first 

lithium-ion factory. The company will operate out of the Coega 

Industrial Development Zone in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. 

Also in South Africa, Thakadu Battery Materials is building 

a plant to beneficiate impure nickel to produce high-purity 

battery-grade nickel sulphate for the lithium-ion battery market. 

Copper and copper alloys are also important for electric 

vehicles, smartphones and computers. The Central African 

Copperbelt (encompassing parts of the DRC and Zambia) 

increased mined volumes to 2.2-million tons in 2018, more than 

twice the 800 000 tons mined in 2008. 

Platinum’s role in the creation of hydrogen makes it a vital 

component for the fuel cell industry. South Africa, which 

produces more platinum than all the other countries in the 

world combined, is investing in research into new uses of 

platinum. Zimbabwe also produces platinum. ■ 


Africa Mining Vision: www.africaminingvision.org 

Ecowas Federation of Chambers of Mines: www.efedcom.org 

Global Battery Alliance: www.weforum.org 

International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment: 

www.iaeg.info 

Investing in African Mining Indaba: www.miningindaba.com 

Mining Industries Association of Southern Africa: www.miasa.org.za 


FOCUS 

Palabora Mining Company 

A tale of a Chinese-owned mine that sparkles with hope. 

Palabora Copper (PC), also known as Palabora Mining 

Company (PMC), celebrates 64 years of operation this year 

(2020) – making it one of the oldest mining operations in 

South Africa. Since its incorporation in 1956, PC has been 

South Africa’s sole producer of refined copper, although the mine 

has other by-products such as magnetite, vermiculite, sulphuric 

acid, anode slimes and nickel sulphate. Despite its age, the mine 

still promises a prosperous future. 

Rio Tinto owned PMC, a PC mother-company, until 2013. When 

Rio Tinto left, PC was protected from potential jeopardy by the South 

African Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and in the majority, 

the Chinese Consortium, which is made up of HBIS, Tewoo, General 

Nice and the China-Africa Development Fund, which got involved 

through Smart Union Resources South Africa. This resulted in the 

Chinese Consortium owning 74% and the South African government 

owning 26%, jointly through the Industrial Development Corporation, 

the Black Empowerment Consortium and PMC employees and local 

communities. The new owners continue to maintain the mine’s 

compliance with South Africa’s regulatory requirements. 

When the Chinese Consortium acquired PC in 2013, PC was facing 

two ostensible scenarios: (a) culmination of the life of mine, and (b) 

no overhauling of the smelter, 

which was outdated and facing 

shutdown. Occurrence of the 

first scenario would have resulted 

in the loss of employment for 

more than 3 700 employees 

(direct and indirect) while the 

second scenario would have 

lead to the loss of employment 

of more than 700 employees 

off-stream (smelter). Soon after 

the sale transaction, the new 

owners fostered partnerships 

between PC, Chinese and other 

international and South African 

companies in various areas such 

as economic development, trade, 

skills and technology transfers to 

achieve ground-breaking and 

substantive results in extending 

the life of mine, refurbishing the 


38

smelter and building a floatation 

plant. The investment entails 

the development of a new 

underground block cave mining 

area known as Lift II together 

with supporting underground 

infrastructure and a large-scale 

new ventilation shaft. 

At the time of the acquisition, 

PC was already a wellestablished 

underground mine, 

having transitioned from an 

open-pit operation in 2002. 

The mine has maintained an 

average production (as per 

its design capacity) of around 45 000 tons per annum (tpa) of 

copper rod (beneficiated from 0.55% copper). The entirety of this 

production is generated from the Lift I block cave mine situated 

around 400m below the open pit. After conducting the necessary 

studies, it was determined that the establishment of a new block 

cave mine – Lift II – would be feasible in extending PC’s life of 

mine to around 2033. 

PC employs an average of 3 700 employees (Lift I and II) 

and seeks to remain industry competitive through its favorable 

conditions of employment and socio-economic development 

initiatives. The fact that the company regards this as important 

is reflected by the manner in which the safety and health 

of employees is observed, and in the investment made into 

socio-economic development initiatives in the Ba-Phalaborwa 

Municipal area. 

Lift I – Palabora Copper’s mine that sustains its sparkle 

Senior Manager for Ore Extraction 

and Processing, Expect Ntsepe. 

PC acknowledges that for it 

to continue being efficient, 

profitable and at the forefront 

of employment practices in the 

local mining industry, it needs solid leaders supported by unyielding 

and competent teams to safely extract and process its minerals. 

In the copper stream, in the Lift 1 block cave mine, an experienced 

strategist and collaborative technical miner who is an inspirational 

rock in his own right leads the team. This strategist is Expect Simlindile 

Ntsepe, a Senior Manager for Ore Extraction and Processing. Expect 

leads a great team and pushes it to safely extract copper from PC’s 

underground resource for the benefit of downstream performance, 

ultimately ensuring that copper is available for sale to PC customers. 

Expect is also PC’s 3.1(A) Appointee, meaning, he is a qualified and 

competent custodian of PC’s employees’ health and safety in terms of 

the South African law (Mine Health Safety Act, 29 of 1996). 

A tested Mining Engineer with a BTech in Mining Engineering 

and a Higher National Diploma in Metalliferous Mining, both from 

the former Technikon Witwatersrand, Expect rose through the ranks 

in the mining industry over more than 17 years. He held a number 

of technical, supervisory and managerial positions before becoming 

a Senior Manager for the Mining and Concentrator Division and PC 

Executive Committee (EXCO) member. His experience embraces 

practical mining operations, planning and designing of underground 


FOCUS 

infrastructure, process analysis, optimisation, 

improvement, strategic development and 

implementation, leadership and management, 

and budget projection and management. Expect 

was PC’s Manager for Mining Operations for more 

than five years before earning his current position. 

Expect brings many attributes to the PC copper 

bench, including Blasting and Mine Overseer 

Certificates as well as Mine Managers Certificate of 

Competency (MMCC). 

A relentless cooperative technical strategist, 

Expect is a national Council member of the 

Association of Mine Managers of South Africa 

(AMMSA) and the chairperson of PC AMMSA 

branch. In addition to his mining and leadership 

attributes, Expect is a sharp communicator who 

appreciates engaging stakeholders to ensure 

reaching amicable consensus. He constantly 

engages the Department of Mineral Resources 

(DMR) on issues related to mining to ensure 

alignment and compliance. In 2017, Expect and 

his Mining team won two awards from MineSAFE 

for Best Safety Performance in Class and Best 

Safety Performance in Copper Recovery. 

Expect’s lengthy experience, coupled with 

his suitable qualifications, is an assurance that 

PC will continue to be at the forefront of mining 

copper and meeting specifications and needs of 

its copper customers. 


40

Lift II – Palabora Copper Mine’s shared and sustainable future 

Shaft Sinking Project Manager, 

Thabo Mokoena. 

Lift II refers to the construction 

project of new declines 

underground which will 

connect the old mine (Lift I) and 

the new (Lift II). The project 

began in 2013. This is similar 

to constructing a new mine 

and so requires installing 

new infrastructure such as 

crushers, conveyor belt and 

ventilation shaft which is 

pictured on the next page. The 

new mine (Lift II) is situated 

400m below the old mine 

(Lift I) and is being constructed 

by a consortium of international 

and local contractors including 

the Australian Downer Group 

(Integrated Services Company) 

and the South African 

Mvusuludzo Projects which is a 100% black-owned and Level 1 

B-BBEE emerging mine contracting and development company. 

The shaft-sinking company, Murray & Roberts Cementation (SA), 

is responsible for sinking the ventilation shaft for Lift II project. The 

ventilation shaft-sinking project commenced in February 2019 and 

is expected to be completed in mid-2022. The initial phases of the 

project involved drilling and reviewing of holes to determine the 

best location to sink the shaft. The new ventilation shaft will be much 

larger at 8.5m finished diameter, and will extend 1 200m in depth. 

To ensure safety, Murray & Roberts Cementation (SA) deploys 

a sinking method, which entails using a four-deck sinking stage 

(for main shaft sinking comprising the top, electrical, working and 

observation decks). This gives personnel the ability to conduct 

various tasks simultaneously without compromising anyone’s safety 

at the bottom of the shaft. A shaft-sinking charging unit comprising 

emulsion tanks and pumps has been designed to facilitate shaft 

blasts safely and accurately with the maximum distance allowed for 

the stage above bottom not exceeding 70m. 

To achieve success and fulfilment in virtually all the endeavours 

of the shaft-sinking project, the Shaft Sinking Project Manager, Thabo 

Daniel Mokoena, is an allrounder who understands that definite 

actions stem from positive thoughts, collaboration, passion, skills and 

continuous learning to stimulate power and purpose for one, the 

team and Palabora Copper. A skilful Mining Engineer with a BTech 

and a National Diploma in Mining Engineering from University of 

Johannesburg and Technikon Witwatersrand, coupled with more 

than 18 years’ experience in mining and shaft-sinking project 

management, Thabo personifies the idea that learning comes 

through accumulated studying and skilfulness through experience. 

Thabo, something of a mining and leadership scholar, has also 

acquired Mine Managers, Mine Overseers and Blasting Certificates 

from the Department of Mineral Resources as well as qualifications 

in Senior Management Development from the University of 

Stellenbosch and an Advanced Project Management Certificate from 

the University of Cape Town. 

Thabo started his career as a Process Controller at Anglo Platinum 

Precious Metals Refinery and ascended through the ranks to Mining 

Engineering Trainee, Miner, Senior Shifts Supervisor, Study Mine 


FOCUS 

Overseer, Mining Engineer, Superintendent, Project 

Manager in numerous mines including various 

operations of Anglo Platinum, Murray & Roberts 

and Palabora Copper. He joined Palabora Copper 

as a Superintendent for Underground Mining and 

ascended to the position of a Project Manager for Lift 

II project, until he moved to his current position of 

a Project Manager for Lift II Shaft Sinking Project in 

January 2019. 

Thabo has fulfilled the expectation of the most 

effective miner of beneficial engagement, when he 

became the Chairperson and EXCO member of the 

Limpopo Region’s Mine Health and Safety Tripartite 

Forum in 2019, a position he will hold until the next 

election. Thabo’s obligation in the same Forum 

started in 2015 as the Deputy Chairperson, a position 

he held until 2018. Thabo is also a member of South 

African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM) 

and Associate member of Association of Mine 

Managers South Africa (AMMSA). 

PMC Vermiculite Business – a story of sustainability, resilience and agility 

Senior Manager for Vermiculite and 

EXCO member, John Makgatho. 

Palabora Copper (PC) is known 

for its copper, but the mine has 

also been mining vermiculite 

in a separate open pit since 

the early 1900s. The Vermiculite 

deposit is located within the Palabora Igneous Complex adjacent 

to the Kruger National Park, and one of the largest phosphate 

rock producers, the Foskor Mine. The crude vermiculite mineral 

is a magnesium, aluminium and iron silicate in a flaky form with a 

yellowish-to-brown colour. Vermiculite has a remarkable ability to 

expand significantly when heated at high temperatures (above 850 

degrees Celsius). Vermiculite is clean, non-toxic, non-combustible and 

insoluble in water or organic solvents and is an excellent insulator 

for thermal and auditory applications. It is used in the horticulture, 

agriculture, fertiliser, manufacturing and construction industries as a 

friction lining. PMC continues to be one of the largest producers of 

vermiculite in the world. 

PMC sells its vermiculite concentrate to local and international 

markets. Local markets access the products directly from the mine 

and international buyers from PMC subsidiaries located in Singapore, 

the United Kingdom and the United States of America. In 2011, the 

PMC Verimiculite Business was reconfigured to align the production 

with market needs and stabilise the supply to various global markets. 

Post 2011, the current Senior Manager for Vermiculite and PMC EXCO 

member, John Makgatho, headed the turnaround strategy to ensure 

that the Vermiculite Business continues to be sustainable, resilient and 

agile amid market challenges and changes. 

“Crucial to the success of PMC Vermiculite Business are our 


42

subsidiaries, PMC Vermiculite 

team and the broad PMC team 

as well as the leadership of 

PMC. Our vermiculite mine has 

been in existence for more than 

65 years and continues to be 

amongst the largest producers 

of vermiculite in the world. 

We intend to capitalise on this 

experience of more than 65 

years to continue operating into 

the future,” says John. 

The SAMI SHE Awards, 

formerly known as MineSAFE, 

have recognised the PMC 

Vermiculite Mine as “Best-in- 

Class” in the quarry business in 

South Africa for two consecutive 

years since 2018. The 2019 award 

included an input on “the most 

improved safety performance” 

and the Vermiculite Business 

scooped the award on 25 

October 2019 at Emperors 

Palace in Gauteng for the period 

2018/19. 

The vermiculite team 

collaborates with the PMC 

Asset Management Division 

to coordinate the PMC Energy 

Management Programme. 

Because of energy-saving 

programmes by the Vermiculite 

Business, Productivity South 

Africa nominated PMC as a 

finalist for its Energy Saving 

Management Programme 

and termed it one of the best 

sustainable projects in the 

mining industry in South Africa. 


OVERVIEW 

Oil and gas 

Huge new gas finds could be transformative. 


Kenya is the world’s newest 

oil exporter. 

By 2030, Mozambique could be the world’s third-biggest 

producer of liquified natural gas (LNG). The year 2030 is also 

the year in which natural gas is predicted to supplant coal as 

the number two fuel globally. 

According to PwC Africa’s Africa oil & gas review 2019 (from which 

these predictions are taken), new oil and gas discoveries, improved 

prices and investor interest have collectively led to a range of 

positive developments in the sector: investment in infrastructure, 

better regulation and governance, the development of relevant 

skills and the deployment of advanced technology. 

The potential is vast for both oil and gas. The number of African 

countries where successful exploration has taken place continues 

to rise. It now stands at 28, with new reserves unearthed in Ghana, 

Niger, Mozambique, Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, Mauritania, South 

Africa and Tanzania. New finds in the oil and gas sector have 

significant downstream repercussions, fertiliser plants and refineries 

become viable for example. 

Africa’s proven reserves of oil were calculated in 2018 to be 

125.3-billion bbl, which is about 

7% of global reserves and the 

continent exported 7.1-million 

bbl/d which is about 10% of 

world activity. 

Africa has 209.6tcf of 

proven gas reserves (2018). 

Almost all of the continent’s 

gas is produced by three 

North African countries 

(Algeria, Egypt and Libya) and 

Nigeria and Angola. But that is 

set to change. 

Africa’s refineries produce 

2.1-million barrels of oil 

per day but the continent 

consumes 4 mbpd. 

At least 30 countries have 

national oil companies (NOC) 

which aim to regulate and 

control the hydrocarbon 

sector. Foreign countries and 

companies often try to partner 

with these entities. The oil 

majors such as Shell, BP and 

Total have long been investors 

in the continent but since 

2000, China’s interaction with 

Africa has increased. 

Sinopec, formerly the China 

Petrochemical Corporation, is 

the biggest such company in 

the world and is one of several 

Chinese entities involved in 

more than 20 African countries. 

Japanese company Mitsui 

& Co has invested heavily 

in coal and gas projects 


44

OVERVIEW 

in Mozambique. These 

investments are supported by 

the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals 

National Corporation (JOGMEC). 

Gas 

Massive finds off the coast of 

Mozambique will potentially 

change the economic trajectory 

of that country. Senegal and 

South Africa are among a 

number of other countries to 

have reported new discoveries. 

As the CEO of the South 

African Oil and Gas Alliance 

(SAOGA), Niall Kramer, told the 

inaugural Mozvest conference 

in 2019, “It’s happy hour for 

gas globally – maybe until 

2023.” The conference brought 

together business figures 

from all over Africa to explore 

business relationships between 

South Africa and Mozambique. 

Kramer argued that a 

multinational collaboration can 

drive industrialisation, create 

jobs and improve economic 

growth. He pointed to the large 

scale of some investments 

in Mozambique (“ENI in 

Mozambique has reached FDI 

for $7-8-million on Coral FLNG,” 

he noted) and suggested that 

South Africa should transform 

into a gas-driven economy. 

From the Mozambiquan 

perspective, Lourenço Sambo, 

Director General of APIEX 

Moçambique, noted that megaprojects 

require extensive 

systems of complementary 

infrastructure and that the 

success of one industry spurs 

the growth of another. The 

country’s development corridors 

are designed to connect areas of trade and industry while tax 

incentives are playing a big role in attracting FDI. 

Standard Bank estimates that about $128-billion needs to be 

spent on converting Mozambique’s resources into LNG and Domgas 

in the period 2017-2025. The Rovuma Basin is the site of three large 

LNG projects. Complementary industries and service companies 

will have be set up around these sites and the size of some of these 

plants will mean that new towns will be created with populations 

needing schools, shops and services. 

Algeria has three transcontinental export gas pipelines, two to 

Spain and one to Italy. However, there are very few trans-border 

pipelines elsewhere in Africa. 

A natural gas pipeline is being constructed between Tanzania 

and Uganda which will bring in about $25-billion in foreign 

investment to 2025. 

Oil 

In 2017 African countries accounted for 13% of global crude oil trade. 

Nigeria is the continental giant and earned $43.6-billion in petroleum 

exports in 2018. Other oil exporters are Algeria, Angola, Egypt, 

Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Chad. Chad’s oil exports 

were responsible for 89% of that country’s export earnings in 2018. 

Angola, once a giant in the field, has experienced steep declines 

in production volumes and the country’s offshore oil fields are 

nearing the end of their lives. The country has few other major 

industries although it is now looking to expand the natural gas 

sector. The decline in revenues has resulted in the country having to 

accept an IMF loan. 

Altogether there are now 21 African nations that have petroleum 

among their most important commodity exports. 

Senegal has found oil offshore and intends ramping up 

production. In September 2019, Kenya joined the group of oilexporting 

countries when it sent crude oil to the value of $12-million 

to China. Kenya’s oil reserves are estimated at 750-million barrels. 

Uganda has significant reserves. 

At least 14 countries were either planning to build new 

refineries in 2018, or upgrade existing facilities, according to Africa 

oil & gas review. ■ 


Egypt General Petroleum Corporation: www.egpc.com 

International Association of Oil & Gas Producers: www.iogp.org 

Mozvest: www.mozvest.com 

Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria: www.petan.org 

South African Oil & Gas Alliance: www.saoga.org.za 

South African Petroleum Industry Association: www.sapia.org.za 


OVERVIEW 

Energy 

Africa’s development depends on a power revolution. 

At a World Economic Forum on Africa, former United Nations 

Under-Secretary-General Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella, 

said, “Without access to affordable, reliable, sustainable 

energy, Africa cannot really take advantage of the Fourth 

Industrial Revolution.” 

The Sierra Leonean was also the chief executive officer of the 

Sustainable Energy for All Initiative, which aims for faster action 

towards the Sustainable Development Goal which calls for universal 

access to sustainable energy by 2030. Yumkella urged African leaders 

to do in energy what was successfully done in the mobile telephony 

sector – deregulate, privatise and incentivise. 

Africa had installed capacity of 96GW in 2015 and 600-million 

of its citizens do not have access to electricity. Sub-Saharan Africa’s 


Commodity traders are 

looking for opportunities 

in power. 

electrification rate is 32% 

(African Development Bank, 

AfDB). 

Although all infrastructure 

sectors need funding, the energy 

sector is where Africa has the most 

catching up to do. In response to 


46

OVERVIEW 

this imperative, the AfDB will invest 

$12-billion in the energy sector in 

the period 2016-2021. 

Diversification is an 

important goal for countries 

in the power sector, both to 

improve security of supply and 

to reduce the carbon footprint. 

Many nations are dependent 

on hydropower and that cannot 

always be relied upon. Finding 

the right mix is key. 

While South Africa has not 

excluded the possibility of 

building new nuclear power 

stations, no new allocations 

have been made in the most 

recent Integrated Resource Plan. 

Two nuclear reactors in Cape 

Town supply 6% of South Africa’s 

current grid capacity. Kenya 

has decided that the first of 

four new nuclear power plants 

should begin construction 

in 2024 and Nigeria has also 

included nuclear in its plans. 

Oil-exporting Nigeria has a 

Transmission Rehabilitation and 

Expansion Programme which 

aims to address the fact that its 

citizens spent about $14-billion 

every year on generators. 

South Africa’s enormously 

successful Renewable Energy 

Power Producer Procurement 

Programme (REIPPPP) 

encouraged foreign investors 

and local companies to bid for 

projects and started delivering 

power in record time. Between 

November 2011 and July 2016, 

commitments to the value of 

$14-billion had been received 

to invest in solar, wind or 

hydro projects. 

Egypt plans to source 20% 

of its electricity from renewables 

by 2022 and 42% by 2035 in 

terms of its 2035 Integrated Sustainable Energy Strategy. The plan 

outlines a system with 2% hydropower, 14% wind and 25% solar, 

most of which will be delivered by the private sector. 

Special Economic Zones are a favoured means of the delivery 

of infrastructure: having a concentration of industry in one place 

allows for economies of scale. A new business park in Ghana is to 

be powered solely by renewable energy. Siemens will produce a 

microgrid at Takoradi. 

Gas is proving popular as a source for power plants. Italian 

company Ansaldo Energia has more than 16 000MW in various parts 

of Africa and offices in six countries. Two peaking-power plants have 

been developed in South Africa and projects are underway in the 

Republic of Congo and Tunisia. 

A gas-fired power plant built by the Temane Energy Consortium 

will provide 400MW to Electricidade de Moçambique at Temane. The 

TEC, comprising Globeleq and eleQtra, has delivered gas-fired power 

projects in Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Tanzania. 

Regional cooperation is vital for functioning power grids. The 

various regional economic communities such as ECOWAS and SADC 

are key. A transmission line between the Democratic Republic of 

Congo (DRC) and Zambia is one of the projects being pursued by 

the Southern African Power Pool. 

Renewable energy 

In at least six African countries, hydropower is responsible for 90% 

of electricity production. Ethiopia is Africa’s biggest producer, at 

3 822MW. The controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam 

project will add a further 6 450MW, making it the largest single 

project on the continent, but there are serious disputes about who 

has what rights on the Nile River. Other countries almost wholly 

dependent on hydropower are the DRC, Namibia, Sudan, Togo and 

Zambia. Projects are underway in Angola, Ivory Coast and Sudan. 

The much-delayed Grand Inga project could be a game-changer 

if it ever comes to fruition. Inga3, a portion of the bigger plan to dam 

part of the Congo River, is estimated to cost $13.9-billion and will 

greatly assist mines in the Copper Belt. The greater project could 

produce as much as 50 000MW. 

The Global Wind Energy Council estimates that wind could 

supply 18GW to the SADC grid by 2030. That amounts to a third of 

the existing power pool in the region. The fact that such estimates 

are published is evidence of the ambitions of the promoters of 

renewable energy. A giant wind project at Lake Turkana in Kenya will 

supply 310MW from 365 turbines on 40 000ha. 

Africa has a plentiful supply of every kind of resource that 

could conceivably produce power. Japanese company Toshiba 

believes there is potential for geothermal power generation. It has 

established a plant in Kenya and signed agreements with Ethiopia, 


Djibouti, Tanzania and Uganda. 

Morocco has passed 

legislation allowing private 

producers to sell power to clients 

directly and a $140-million 

loan from the European 

Bank for Reconstruction and 

Development and the Climate 

Investment Funds’ Clean 

Technology Fund enabled 

ACWA Power Khalladi to build 

a wind farm which is now 

operational. 

Tanzania’s first wind farm is 

to be developed by a subsidiary 

of Australia’s Windlab Ltd. The 

300MW Miombo Hewani Wind 

Farm will cost $300-million. 

The Desert to Power 

Programme, the plan to build 

solar projects in the Sahel 

region, is backed by Africa50, 

the Green Climate Fund (GCF) 

and the AfDB. 

One of the biggest 

challenges faced by the 

renewable energy sector is the 

lack of skilled technicians. The 

International Renewable Energy 

Agency reports that only 16 000 

people work in the sector in 

Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding 

South Africa). 

Financing 

The AfDB’s investment portfolio 

of $52-billion will not include 

any new coal projects. The 

bank has declared that it wants 

to help Africa move away 

from fossil fuels. The AfDB has 

allocated $20-billion to solar 

and clean energy plans that will 

produce about 10 000MW for 

the Sahel’s rapidly increasing 

population. 

The European Bank 

for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is also funding 

renewable energy. A $202-million loan to the Egyptian Electricity 

Transmission Co will be used to integrate 1.3GW of new 

renewable energy generation capacity into the national grid. 

Entrepreneurs in the renewable energy sector are the target 

of the $120-million Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund. The Shell 

Foundation and FMO, the development bank of the Netherlands, 

are behind the initiative. 

Private-sector commodities companies are taking an interest 

in the energy sector. The Daily Telegraph reports that in November 

2019 Trafigura, a $180-billion commodities broker, launched a new 

division for trading in power and investing in power generated by 

gas and renewable energy. With demand for hydrocarbons likely 

to fall in response to environmental demands, gas, wind and solar 

power are obvious replacements, and the traders are following 

the trend. 

Microgrids 

Microgrid solutions are becoming more popular in sectors such 

as agriculture and mining. Financing for such projects can be 

problematic but there is an expectation that development financers 

such as the World Bank will provide solutions. Rapidly falling costs 

for solar photo-voltaic solutions are making the idea of power 

generation in remote areas more feasible. 

Technological advances should allow Africa to jump ahead, 

connecting in better and cheaper ways than was the norm in 

the past. French energy company EDF told Engineering News in 

2019 that it intends expanding its operations in Africa, including 

in microgrids and renewable-energy projects. The company 

cited the need to deploy appropriate technology (wind in South 

Africa, biomass in Ivory Coast, for example) and noted that it has a 

household off-grid solar kit. 

Several mining houses in Africa provide their own power 

solutions and are increasingly looking to renewable energy. Siemens 

and renewable energy company juwi have jointly developed a 

microgrid that is running successfully at an Australian gold mine. 

The Ethiopian Electric Utility is utilising AfDB funding to contract 

private contractors to develop minigrid systems for rural areas, 

including backup generators and battery storage. ■ 


Alliance for Rural Electrification: www.ruralelec.org 

Global Wind Energy Council: www.gwec.net 

International Hydropower Association: www.hydropower.org 

Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa: www.au-pida.org 

International Renewable Energy Agency: www.irena.org 

Sustainable Energy for All Initiative: www.seforall.org 


48

First LNG hub in SA to be established at Coega 

Coega SEZ is ready to welcome investors to its shores for gas opportunities 

1 

2 

Dedisa 400kV 

ESKOM Substation 

342 MW Dedisa 

Peaking Power Plant 

driven by diesel/gas 

6 

Zone 13 Gas-To- 

Power Power 

Plant Site 

Inter-modal 

transportation linkages, 

including good access to 

the National Road (N2) 

5 

Services 

Corridor 

4 

Refinery 

Port of 

Ngqura 

3 

FSRU & 

LNG Tanker 

LNG Terminal & 

Gas-To-Power Plant 

For investors who wish to take advantage of opportunities in the energy 

sector at the Coega SEZ, please contact, Sandisiwe Ncemane on: 

E-mail: sandisiwe.ncemane@coega.co.za 

Telephone: +27 41 403 0630 

Fax: +27 41 403 0401 

www.coega.co.za 


ISO 9001:2015 ISO 14001:2015 ISO 45001:2018 

ISO 20000-1:2011 ISO 27001:2013

PROFILE 

Superfecta Trading 

Provinding electro-mechanical services into Africa. 

Superfecta Trading is an electro-mechanical engineering 

company with a national footprint and a record of successful 

delivery of projects in all nine provinces. The company was 

founded in 2002 and has extensive experience in medium- 

and high-voltage products and related services. In 2018, after 16 

years of trading as a close corporation with the Registration Number: 

2002/024381/23, Superfecta Trading 209 (Pty) Ltd was founded with 

its new Registration Number: 2018/231813/07. 

Superfecta manufactures high-tension products under the TMA 

Dynamics brand and related services. TMA Dynamics products 

include transformers, mini-substations and switchgear. Superfecta 

also employs a team of mechanical experts. The company prides itself 

on the supply, installation and maintenance of mechanical work and 

boasts over 14 years of experience in the mechanical field. 

Superfecta has strategically partnered with three internationally 

recognised companies: Thomas C. Wilson (New York), Schneider Electric 

(South Africa) and Jinshanmen Electrical Co. (China). The partnerships 

have enhanced our performance and enabled us to be the providers 

of the latest technology. 

Ownership Status 

100% black-owned registered company, with 55% of the shares owned 

by women. 

Our Vision 

To be the leading electro-mechanical specialist in energy solutions 

across Southern Africa. Superfecta aspires to excellence, innovation 

and transparency; three prominent 

features that distinguish us in the 

marketplace and uphold our vision. 

Our Mission 

To enable our clients to ensure 

reliable energy supply through costeffective 

and quality manufacturing, 

supply, installation and maintenance 

of infrastructure. Superfecta strives 

to deliver the best solutions 

which are achieved with strong 

partnerships and joint ventures with 

local and international entities that 

share our values and objectives. We 

have a full complement of highly 

skilled engineers, technical and 

administrative staff. All efforts are 

geared towards compliance with 

health and safety standards. 

Sectors 

Superfecta works in a variety of 

sectors, including but not limited to: 

• mining 

• provincial and local government 

• utilities 

• transport 

• oil and gas. 

Professional Services 

Superfecta is a one-stop shop for 

all transformer and transformerrelated 

work and we pride ourselves 

on delivering a comprehensive and 

complete service, including the 

supply of transformers for: 

• The mining industry 

• Dry-type mining 

• Distribution transformers 

• Power transformers. 

All our transformers are SABS and 

IEC compliant and operate at 


50

PROFILE 

higher efficiencies than any other on the market. Our turnaround 

time is less than 60 days, which is a market-beater. 

What gives Superfecta a 

competitive edge in the industry 

is investment in the latest systems 

and technologies. The company 

invested millions of rands in an 

integrated maintenance software 

called Archibus. Our maintenance 

system goes above and beyond 

the management of the maintenance process and asset control by 

recognising that these processes are just a small part of a full life cycle. 

The intellectual capability of the system enables us to ensure that our 

customers are well taken care of by indicating when the following 

maintenance schedules should take place. We also provide our clients 

with 24/7/365 support. 

Transformer oils undergo electrical 

stresses while the transformer is 

in operation. This, combined with 

the contamination caused by the 

chemical interactions with windings 

and other solid insulations, gradually 

render it ineffective. Regular purification is paramount. We periodically 

test for electrical and chemical properties to make sure that the oil is 

suitable for further use and provide the purification services needed to 

extend the life of your transformer oil. This can be done online or offline. 

Superfecta has played a significant role in the economic 

development of South Africa, not only through employment, but 

also through infrastructure development both in rural and urban 

areas. We pride ourselves on having installed electricity in over 500 

households in rural parts of South Africa. The company has not only 

done an outstanding job but raised the bar in successfully electrifying 

villages in the geographically challenging landscape of KwaZulu-Natal. 

With a professional team of mechanical technologists, Superfecta 

prides itself on the supply, installation and maintenance of mechanical 

work. Our services include, but are not limited to: 

• Supply and installation of heat exchangers tubes, boiler tubes, 

steam pipes and primary air heater 

• Supply and replacement of pipe works (ash, sluice lines, etc) 

CONTACT INFO 

Physical address: 23 Catalunya Raceway Industrial Park, 

Gosforth Park, Germiston, Johannesburg 1419 

Telephone: +27 11 869 3607 

Fax: +27 11 825 0086 

Email: info@superfectatrading.co.za 

Website: www.superfectatrading.co.za 

• Replacement and new 

installation of steel pipe works 

• Supply and installation of 

pumps 

• Supply and hire of tube-testing 

machine, tube cleaners, vacuum 

leak dictator, tube cutters, 

expanding machine 

• Mechanical engineering (pipe 

fitting and rigging) 

• Steel pipe jacking and fitting, 

supply and install concrete jacks, 

jacks under roads and gas lines. 

All industrial concerns require 

a complex system of electrical 

networks to function efficiently 

and successfully. Superfecta both 

installs and conducts repairs to 

high-tension electrical circuits. 

We also oversee electrical 

reticulation (urban and rural), 

electricity meters (prepaid and smart 

meters) and electricity works. 

Clients 

Superfecta is an ISO 9001:2008 

certified company that fully 

embraces a Total Quality 

Management philosophy in 

streamlining all its business 

processes. Clients include Rand 

Water, FNB, MTN, Airports Company 

South Africa, Total, Transnet, 

Passenger Rail Agency of South 

Africa and Eskom. Superfecta has 

done work for the public works 

departments of three provinces, 

the City of Johannesburg and 

several other municipalities. ■ 


OVERVIEW 

Manufacturing 

Growing the sector is key to higher levels of development. 

Africa’s abundance of natural resources could form the basis 

for growth in the manufacturing sector as the continent 

aims to industrialise and to diversify its economy away from 

a reliance on its natural bounty in its raw form. 

Increased agricultural and mineral production will produce more 

material to be processed and manufactured. A report published by 

The Brookings Institution in 2018 estimates that business-to-business 

spending in manufacturing in Africa could be $666.3-billion by 2030. This 

figure represents a $201.2-billion increase over the amount for 2015. 

The African Union’s Agenda 2063 focusses on raising the 

continent’s industrial and manufacturing capacity. At the Africa 

Industrialisation Week held in Addis Ababa in 2018, various 

complementary plans were outlined to support this goal: 

the Accelerated Industrial Development of Africa (AIDA), the 

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa (PMPA), the SME 

Strategy, the Boosting Intra-African Trade and the African Continental 

Free Trade Area and the UN General Assembly’s Third Industrial 

Development Decade for Africa (IDDA III). 

The topics covered at the conference give a good idea of what 

the priorities are for continental manufacturing: 

• regional value chains and linking to global value supply 

• symposium on Special Economic Zones (SEZs) 

• green industrialisation 

• catalysing SMEs and the productivity of start-ups 

• youth entrepreneurship to reduce migration 


Vehicle manufacturers are 

setting up plants. 

• youth and women 

empowerment in 

enterprise development 

• financing industrialisation. 

The African Development 

Bank (AfDB) reports that growth 

spurts driven by manufacturing 

have a more lasting and 

deeper impact on a country’s 

economy than resource-driven 

booms. The AfDB concludes 

that, “The implications of such 

a strong association between 

manufacturing-driven growth 

episodes and jobs is that 

industrialisation is the key to 

the employment conundrum 

in Africa” (African Economic 

Outlook, 2019). 

Growing the manufacturing 


52

Excellence, innovation 

and transparency 

Staff at Superfecta Trading are electro-mechanical 

engineering specialists. 

As founder members of Superfecta Trading, Patrick and 

Abigail Mphephu have developed what used to be a 

company that dealt only in facility management into a 

multi-faceted electro-mechanical engineering enterprise 

whose partnerships with international companies gives them the 

scope to offer a broad range of products and services. 

General Manager, 

Noluthando Nkota 

Manufacturing is soon going to be part of the company’s portfolio. 

Superfecta will soon open a factory where it will manufacture 

transformers. With an increasing focus in South Africa on the need 

for local content, the potential for this aspect of the business to 

grow is enormous. Superfecta Trading is also looking forward to 

providing more job opportunities as the manufacturing side of the 

business takes off. 

Services offered 

System maintenance 

This includes: 

• Day-to-day/ad hoc 

• Preventative maintenance 

• Scheduled maintenance 

• Servicing and repairs. 

Mechanical 

With a professional team of 

mechanical technologists, 

Superfecta prides itself on 

the supply, installation and 

maintenance of mechanical 

work. 

Oil purification 

Transformer oils undergo 

electrical stresses while the 

transformer is in operation. We 

provide the online or offline 

purification services needed to 

extend the life of transformer oils. 

Electrification and distribution 

Superfecta is engaged in 

infrastructure development in 

rural and urban areas through 

an extensive programme 

of installing electricity 

infrastructure. 

High-tension electrical 

reticulation 

Superfecta installs and 

conducts repairs to hightension 

electrical 

circuits in many parts of South 

Africa, in urban and rural areas. 

Transformers 

Superfecta is a one-stop shop 

for all transformer and 

transformerrelated work 

and we pride ourselves on 

delivering a comprehensive 

and complete service. 


OVERVIEW 

sector across the continent 

will lead to industrialisation, 

urbanisation and more value 

being added. The bank reports 

that, “African countries with the 

highest shares of manufacturing 

in value added also have higher 

levels of development.” 

Food processing and 

beverage production are 

among the strongest sectors 

in Africa. The Dangote Group, 

which has interests in cement, 

sugar, salt, flour, pasta and 

beverages, is active in 16 African 

countries and has a turnover 

of $4.1-billion. Anheuser-Busch 

InBev has built or is building 

new breweries in Nigeria, 

Mozambique and Tanzania and 

intends to increase its local 

supply, which will help grow 

local businesses. 

A favoured strategy to 

encourage manufacturing is 

through Special Economic 

Zones. These come in 

different forms, including 

Free Trade Zones (FTZs), 

Export Processing Zones 

(EPZs) and industrial parks. 

Typically, these zones 

attract tax benefits and 

tariff exemptions. Zones in 

Ethiopia, Djibouti, Nigeria 

and Rwanda were established 

with the help of state-owned 

Chinese companies. 

Automotive drive 

The second-hand car market 

has for a long time held back 

automotive manufacturing on 

the continent as there was not 

sufficient demand for new cars. 

South Africa has a sophisticated 

automotive vehicle and 

components sector. In 2018 South Africa exported 23 988 vehicles 

to other African countries. Egypt and Morocco have automotive 

manufacturing capacity, but several international brands are showing 

interest in setting up plants in new locations on the continent. 

Whereas the global average is 180 vehicles per 1 000 citizens, 

Nigeria averages just 44 (Deloitte). With Africa’s middle-class set 

to grow exponentially in the next decades, the car market is 

likely to explode. 

Although South Africa’s automotive industry is healthy, it is 

strongly supported by various state incentives. As the Chairman 

and Managing Director of Volkswagen Group South Africa, Thomas 

Schaefer, explains, “If production stays far below a million cars 

production per year, we will never be profitable or sustainable, so 

Africa could be the key.” 

Schaefer is the president of the African Association of Automotive 

Manufacturers. He says of the potential of Sub-Saharan Africa, “When 

you look at the number of cars per thousand inhabitants in most of 

the African countries there is opportunity in places like Kenya and 

Nigeria. If you take away the used car drag, there’s no reason why 

their market could not grow. If Kenya came to a level like South Africa, 

they could achieve a market of five or six hundred thousand.” 

Volkswagen South Africa opened an assembly plant in Rwanda 

in 2018. The first phase of the company’s integrated automotive 

mobility solutions strategy will cost $20-million. In the same year, the 

company signed a memorandum of understanding to develop an 

automotive hub in Nigeria. Nissan signed a similar agreement in the 

same year with Ghana. Nissan has a semi-knockdown assembly plant 

in Nigeria, where it has an agreement with Stallion Group. 

Kenya is the focus of attention of several car makers. Peugeot, 

Volkswagen (VW), CNH Industrial and Nissan Motor have indicated 

plans to assemble cars in the country and it is thought that Renault 

and Mahindra & Mahindra are also interested. Kenyan company 

Simba Corporation, which was founded on vehicle sales and service, 

is looking to partner with one or more of these international brands. 

Simba already owns Associated Vehicle Assemblers, which assembles 

trucks on contract for the likes of Hino and Toyota in Mombasa. 

The 2016 decision of Beijing Automotive International Corp (BAIC) 

to build a $759-million plant at the Coega Industrial Development 

site in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, has everything to do with selling 

into the African market. ■ 


Accelerated Industrial Development of Africa: www.au.int/en/ti/aida 

Agenda 2063: www.au.int/en/agenda2063 

Association of Ghana Industries: www.agighana.org 

Federation of Egyptian Industries: www.fei.org.eg 

Kenya Association of Manufacturers: www.kam.co.ke 

SME Strategy: www.ifc.org 


54

advanced technologies in the commercial print, industrial print, 3D print/additive 

manufacturing, auto identification, bar coding and labelling sectors. 

As such, we are proud to be the sole distributor in Southern Africa for many of the leading 

internationally-renowned brands in those sectors in which we operate, such as HP Indigo, 

Komori, Flint, Fujifilm, Argox, CipherLab, Datalogic and Brother. 

And, with a focus always on providing highly skilled services and post-sales support, we’re 

ensuring our customers are maximising their potential for growth and profit - day in, day out! 

Kemtek’s three-dimensional growth 

An industry leader in printing sees good prospects in Africa. 

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WWW.KEMTEK.CO.ZA 

agreements for international brands such as Argox, 

Brother, Datalogic, Epson, Fujifilm, Honeywell, HP 

Indigo, and many more. 

Growth for Kemtek will come in three forms: 

expansion on the continent, expansion in the 

product range and development in the 3D printing 

market. Says CEO Johan Botes, “We’re seeing good 

Targeted industry product demonstrations and prospects in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Kenya, 

events are proving popular with customers and Malawi, Mozambique and a number of others. 

prospective customers alike. 

What we’ve done successfully is gain partners, 

bring them to South Africa, train them and maintain 

Over the past decade, the printing industry a strong relationship.” Kemteck has about 200 

has had a bad “rap”. Since the onset of resellers in 28 countries. 

the green mindset, people have made With 3D printing, there are significant 

assumptions that printing is wasteful opportunities for the African continent, where 

and bad for the environment, that it results in adoption of new technology is swift. Like mobile 

deforestation, and that it is expensive. In fact, using phones, 3D printing could be the killer app that 

the correct technology can result in cost-effective, enables Africa to leapfrog into a new age of 

environmentally-friendly printing which results in industrial production. 

brilliant marketing and other important benefits to 

business. Printing technology is also flexible – the Customer-oriented 

industry has a responsibility to keep up with latest The focus on the customer experience at Kemtek 

trends in order to remain sustainable and relevant. goes beyond the sales process and incorporates 

Whether it’s simple inkjet printing, digital printing or after-sales service, maintenance, repairs and 

3D printing, demand remains, and the world’s tech ensuring a quality experience. The company’s major 

companies continue to supply quality products to asset is its staff through which it delivers a wealth of 

this important sector. 

knowledge that is not found in other organisations. 

In South Africa, the current economic situation Kemtek differentiates itself through support, repairs, 

has seen slowing GDP growth. Together with the dealing with warranties and telephone support. 

perceptions of the print industry, this has resulted Kemtek is perfectly positioned to achieve its 

in a challenging trading environment. However, vision of further growth. With its stake in the 3D 

Kemtek Imaging Systems (Kemtek) is positioning printing industry, its ever-growing African operations 

itself for growth and maintaining a positive outlook. and its solid base in South Africa, this is a company 

Kemtek has been serving the print, labelling, bar that looks set to continue leading the way in the 

coding and associated sectors since 1988. Growth specialist sectors in which it operates. ■ 

has been gradual but through determination and 

a strong focus on staff, Kemtek is today recognised For more information, visit www.kemtek.co.za 

J25589_Kemtek_Propak_Advert_FA.indd 1 2019/02/14 16:12 

J25589 


OVERVIEW 

Transport and logistics 

Far-sighted plans for freight can lift African trade. 


Trains between Tangier 

and Casablanca travel 

at 320km/hour. 

also contribute to economic 

growth in minor urban centres 

and rural areas. 

Road 

Of the 15 big goals that the African Union (AU) has set in its 

Agenda 2063 programme, four are strongly related to transport 

and logistics: 

• Integrated high-speed train network: The project aims to 

connect all African capitals and commercial centres to promote the 

movement of goods, services and people. 

• Establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA): 

Accelerate intra-African trade and boost Africa’s trading position in 

the world. 

• Introduction of an African passport and facilitation of the free 

movement of people. 

• Establishment of a single African air-transport market (SAATM). 

The importance of transport and logistics is shown by 

the relative expenditure on transport infrastructure in Africa. 

Nearly 40% of all the money that is spent on infrastructure on 

the continent is spent on transport. This amounted to nearly 

$57-billion in 2015 and 2016. 

Africa’s first railways were built to serve the occupying colonial 

powers whose only concern was to get cash crops or minerals 

to the nearest port. This has made it difficult to trade and travel 

within Africa. Integration and coordination are integral to modern 

transport and logistics planning. An emphasis on developing 

functional corridors between the main centres in Africa and 

to ports is a feature of current regional plans. Corridors should 

The vast majority of freight 

within Africa is carried by road. In 

Nigeria the figure for passengers 

and freight is close to 90% but in 

that giant West African country, 

as elsewhere on the continent, 

there are plans to bolster the 

rail network and to move freight 

from road to rail. 

All of Sub-Saharan Africa had 

3 700km of highways in 2015, 

compared with 24 000km in 

India and 111 000km in China. A 

quarter of Africa’s road are paved 

against 60% in India (African 

Development Bank). 

There is no shortage of 

activity on the road-building 

front. Individual countries such 

as Ethiopia have built 2 700km of 

asphalt roads every year for the 

last four years. 

Most road-building in Africa 

is happening within a broader 

framework. The Trans-African 

Highway (TAH) network is a 

transcontinental road project 

overseen and developed by 

the United Nations Economic 

Commission for Africa (UNECA), 

the African Development 


56

OVERVIEW 

Bank (AfDB), the African Union 

(AU) and regional bodies such 

as ECOWAS and SADC. Nine 

highways are envisaged in the 

scheme which would eventually 

stretch more than 50 000km. 

TAH has been a long time in the 

works but regional actors have 

been building bits of it more 

quickly in recent years. 

Rail 

African development corridors 

are normally based on existing 

or planned railway systems. For 

landlocked countries, rail links to 

ports are the lifeblood of trade. 

A good symbol of the revival 

of the Ethiopian economy in 

north-eastern Africa was on 

display at the official opening 

on 1 January 2018 of the new, 

standard-gauge, Addis Ababa- 

Djibouti railway. Almost all 

Ethiopian trade passes through 

the ports of Djibouti and Doraleh 

and the new railway is one of the 

most important elements in that 

country’s new railway network. 

The Economic Community 

of West African States (ECOWAS) 

bases its integration plans for the 

region on the development of 

an integrated rail network. The 

rail component is critical to the 

ultimate success of the Northern 

Corridor, the multimodal trade 

route linking the countries of the 

Great Lakes Region with the port 

of Mombasa in Kenya. 

Creating standardised 

infrastructure is a vital part of 

all regional planning. In the 

rail context, this includes the 

standardisation of brakes, 

couplings and gauge. The 

Mombasa-Nairobi Standard 

Gauge Railway project is Kenya’s most ambitious infrastructure 

project since independence. 

China has been a leading funder of rail projects on the 

continent. This includes large projects in Angola, Djibouti, 

Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria. 

The goals set out in the 2018-2022 Strategic Plan of the Southern 

African Railways Association include increasing rail market share to 

at least 40% and advocating for pro-rail policies. 

The AU has plans for an African Integrated High-Speed Railway 

Network (AIHSRN) among its goals. AUDA-NEPAD, the development 

agency of the AU, has hired a consultant for AIHSRN and a first 

experts meeting was held in April 2019. The Kampala-Nairobi route 

is operational but not operating at full speed, unlike the Tangier- 

Casablanca line in Morocco, Al-Boraq, which can reach speeds of 

320km/hour. The continental plan is to build on existing networks 

by delivery new infrastructure along six east-west routes and four 

north-south lines. 

Ports 

Improving efficiency, increasing volumes and reducing costs: these are 

the most important priorities for African ports. The cost of using African 

ports is about 40% higher than the global average, and up to 70% of 

the delays in delivering cargo that are experienced are because of the 

time that containers spend in ports (AfDB). 

The number of large containers handled by Sub-Saharan ports rose 

rose to 15-million in 2014 but dropped to 14.1-million in 2016 (World 

Bank). Egypt deals with the most containers on the continent, followed 

by South Africa but Algeria has shown strong growth. West Africa is 

also increasing its capacity. 

All across Africa there are port expansion projects underway or 

new ports are being built. A notable example is the Lamu Port on 

the Kenyan coast. Lamu is the final (eastern) point in a new transport 

and infrastructure corridor linking Kenya’s coast with South Sudan 

and Ethiopia, thus extending the concept of the hinterland beyond 

Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. The LAPSSET Transport Corridor 

encompasses railways, highways, pipelines and even airports, at Lamu, 

Isiolo and Lake Turkana. There is a significant amount of competition 

on the east coast, with Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam also in the business of 

receiving and sending cargo. ■ 


AUDA-NEPAD: www.nepad.org 

Ethiopian Railways Corporation: www.erc.gov.et 

LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority: www.lapsset.go.ke 

Ports Management Association of West and Central Africa: 

www.agpaoc-pmawca.org 

Southern African Railways Association: www.sararail.org 


OVERVIEW 

Aviation 

Movement towards open skies will see Africa fly. 

Africa’s landmass covers 20% of the world and its population 

represents 15% of the world’s population but the continent 

delivers just 2.2% of airline passengers. Sub-Saharan Africa has 

fewer airline seats than Brazil. Some African cities connect to 

one another via the capital cities of their old colonial rulers in Europe. 

A lack of connections is one of many problems in the aviation 

sector. There are also high prices (departure fees are 30% higher than 

the global average), poor ground infrastructure and scarcity of skills 

and financing. 

But things are changing rapidly. The International Air Transport 

Association (IATA) anticipates annual expansion of African air traffic of 

about 5% every year for the next two decades. 

Although the eastern corridor connecting the strongest aviation 

hubs – South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia – remains the busiest lane on 

the continent, several other countries and airports are putting time, 

money and effort into developing their aviation infrastructure. 

The African Development Bank (AfDB), which has put $1-billion 

into African aviation over the last decade, has outlined why that kind of 

investment is a vital prerequisite for the continent’s future. According 

to the bank, a strong and efficient African aviation sector will boost 

productivity, employment and tourism and encourage regional 

integration, trade and investment. 

Ethiopian Airlines has shown the way. In a short space of time, 

this state-owned enterprise has increased its market share, found 


Boeing believes Africa 

needs to train 20 000 

new pilots. 

a way to operate profitably, 

bought new aeroplanes and 

rapidly expanded its routes to 

the extent that in 2018 Addis 

Ababa replaced Dubai as the 

leading destination for long-haul 

passengers into Africa (Reuters). 

The airline is planning to sell a 

stake to a private company in 

the near future. 

The tragedy that occurred in 

March 2019 when an Ethiopian 

Airlines Boeing 737 MAX crashed, 

ironically served to underscore 

how much credibility the airline 

had built up over time. Although 

serious questions were obviously 

asked of the incident, there was 


58

OVERVIEW 

no glib assumption that the 

airline or its pilots were at fault. 

African success story: 

Ethiopian Airlines 

Planes: 111 

Destinations: 119 

Passengers, annual: 

10.6-million 

(with partner airlines) 

Revenue 2017/18: 

$3.7-billion 

Profit 2017/18: $233-million 

Some work has been done 

on liberalising the African 

aviation market. The 1999 

Yamousssoukro Decision 

allowed Ethiopian Airlines to 

approach other airlines to be 

partners and to gain access to 

airports, but few other airlines 

followed suit. 

The decision by the African 

Union (AU) in 2018 to sign the 

Single African Air Transport 

Market is a sign that there is 

movement towards an “open 

skies” policy. The agreement 

was signed by 22 countries, 

representing about 75% of the 

intra-African air transport market 

(and 600-million people). 

The AfDB cites the case of 

Morocco as a success story in 

liberalising the aviation sector. 

Competition led to increased 

flights into the country and yet 

the state airline managed to 

keep going. Many state-owned 

airlines in Africa are too small 

and fly too few routes to be 

profitable. Even South Africa’s 

large state-owned airline is failing, although there are complex 

reasons behind that story. 

A related issue is the ease of entering a country. Rwanda and 

Seychelles have achieved positive results in tourist numbers and 

trade by introducing a much more relaxed visa regime, essentially 

allowing African travellers to get a visa on arrival. 

The journey ahead 

There is an appetite for investment in the African aviation sector. 

Turkish Airlines flies to 50 African cities and Turkish companies are 

involved in an air terminal development in Ghana. Airports Company 

South Africa (ACSA) is similarly engaged in airport developments 

across the continent. 

From the biggest to the smallest, airports are investing in new 

runways (Cape Town International Airport and Jomo Kenyatta 

International Airport), creating new terminals (Kotoka International 

Airport in Accra), rolling out a metro link to the airport (Abijan) or 

simply upgrading (Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja). 

Rwanda and Mozambique are building ambitious new airports and 

in January 2019 Ethiopia raised the bar when it unveiled its expansion to 

the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport terminal. Funded by China 

and estimated to have cost about $35-million, the project intends to 

increase annual passenger capacity from seven-million to 22-million. 

Boeing’s research indicates that to cope with the growth of the 

aviation sector to 2035 in Africa, a total of 20 000 new pilots, 24 000 

new technicians and 26 000 new cabin crew will be needed. 

The Managing Director for Boeing Sub-Saharan Africa and director of 

international sales in Africa, J Miguel Santos, sees this as an opportunity 

for training and employment. Writing in Business Day in 2018 Santos 

noted, “Considering that the 10 countries with the youngest populations 

are all in Africa, this will be a boon for youngsters seeking aviation careers.” 

A company such as Comair in South Africa is well-placed to deliver 

training. In addition to its training academy, to which more than 30 

airlines send staff, Comair has interests in technology support and 

hospitality. Comair runs the British Airways operation in South Africa 

and low-cost airline Kulula, as well as other companies that help it 

to avoid the shocks that the airline business can sometime produce 

(such as sudden fuel price increases). The African Airlines Association, 

headquarted in Kenya, also offers training courses. ■ 


African Airlines Association: www.afraa.org 

African Civil Aviation Commission: afcac.org 

Airlines Association of Southern Africa: www.aasa.za.net 

Comair Training Academy: www.aviationtraining.comair.co.za 

International Air Transport Association: www.iata.org 

International Civil Aviation Organisation: www.icao.org 


OVERVIEW 

Tourism 

Hoteliers are attracted by high rates of return. 

African tourism has weathered its fair share of knocks recently, 

but it has emerged stronger and is poised for strong growth. 

In 2017, tourism arrivals in Africa grew by 11.5% and hotel 

construction is booming. Travel and tourism grew in Africa 

at 5.6% in 2018, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council 

(WTTC). The global average was 3.9% in the same period. 

Accra, Cape Town, Lusaka and Lagos are among the cities 

that have shown the best occupancy growth. Lagos grew off a 

low base because of the recession of 2016 and Cape Town had its 

own challenges in that a severe drought brought it into the world 

spotlight. As it turned out, tourists continued to visit and entered into 

the spirit of water-saving. 

The Ebola health scare of 2013-2016 was more difficult to deal 

with, especially as some potential visitors failed to distinguish 

between regions where the virus was present and where it was not. 

The West African tourist market is showing good signs of recovery 

with a number of projects underway. 

This mirrors the continental trend. In 2019 Hotelier Middle East 

quoted an official from STR, a travel research company, saying, “There 

are now just seven countries in Africa with no internationally branded 

properties present, compared to 18 just six years ago. Accor and 

Marriott continue to lead the way in Africa, not just in terms of supply, 

but also pipeline.” 

French group Accor had 24 512 rooms across the continent 


Almost every African 

country has welcomed 

international hotel brands. 

in July 2019, while Marriott 

International had 24 508 

rooms. The groups were 

developing a further estimated 

35 000 rooms. In terms of 

individual brands, Hilton that 

has the most rooms, at 8 617, 

with Protea Hotels by Marriott 

second with 8 374 rooms. 

Marriott International 

expects to add 40 properties 

and over 8 000 rooms across 

the continent by the end of 

2023. Neal Jones, Chief Sales 

and Marketing Officer, Middle 

East and Africa, says, “Egypt 

and South Africa continue to 

be our two key markets, but 


60

OVERVIEW 

we are also seeing a lot of 

traction for our brands in West 

and East Africa. 

“While strengthening our 

footprint in existing countries, 

Marriott International is 

entering new countries like 

Benin, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, 

Liberia, Mozambique and 

Senegal. In 2018 we opened 

our first hotel in Mali, Sheraton 

Bamako (pictured), and the 

Marriott Hotel in Accra, Ghana,” 

added Jones. 

Jones says that the rate of 

return on foreign investment 

in Africa is higher than in any 

other developing region. 

He believes that African 

governments are prioritising 

tourism to help them achieve 

their development agendas. 

Says Jones, “Africa is embracing 

nature and wildlife tourism, 

international brands and 

technological changes, giving 

a much-needed impetus to 

inbound tourism.” 

Areas with potential for 

growth in the tourism sector 

include Tunisia, Zimbabwe 

(with a focus on ecotourism) 

and Tanzania, where the 

African Development Bank 

says there is “immense 

development potential”. 

Countries emerging from 

conflict such as South Sudan 

are obviously coming off a 

low base, but the potential 

is high. Several countries are 

prioritising tourism as a means 

to grow their economies and 

create jobs. 

The Meetings, Incentives, 

Conferences and Exhibitions 

(MICE) market is growing 

quickly in Africa, as much as 40% 

between 2008 and 2018, according to the International Congress 

and Convention Association (ICCA). The top three destinations are 

South Africa, Morocco and Rwanda but a Kenyan venue, the Kenyatta 

International Convention Centre in Nairobi, which used to host 12 

events a year, is now hosting more than 20. 

Air access 

A key challenge facing African tourism is accessibility. As Jones 

remarks, “You can build the best hotels and tourism infrastructure 

in the most beautiful setting, but if travellers cannot get to these 

places then there is little you have achieved. Connectivity and 

accessibility are key drivers of tourism.” 

A great deal can be achieved by good policy. An open-skies 

agreement between Morocco and the European Union in 2006 led 

to a 51% increase in seats by 2010. The Western Cape’s Air Access 

programme has been spectacularly successful in attracting new 

direct flights to Cape Town. A collaborative programme between 

city, province, state and private-sector actors, the initiative has led 

to 15 new routes being established. 

The creation by the African Union (AU) of the Africa Visa 

Openness Index acknowledges the importance of relatively free 

movement to the economies of the continent. HVS, in its Hotel 

Valuation Index (HVI), notes that countries such as Mozambique, 

Senegal and Uganda offer visas on arrival. 

Recent projects 

Hyatt Hotels & Resorts has six new hotels in development, in 

Morocco and Tanzania (where it already has properties) and 

in Algeria, Cameroon and Senegal. The company is further 

considering investing in Ghana, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, 

Kenya and Mozambique. 

Eleven new hotels are being launched by Bon Hotels 

International, which will take the number of hotels managed by 

the group in Nigeria to 25. Transcorp Hotels is building a 25-storey 

hotel in Lagos, Nigeria. 

StayEasy Maputo, a 125-room Tsogo Sun property, will be the 

group’s third in Mozambique and 11th in Africa outside South 

Africa. A new 199-suite hotel is being developed close to the 

Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park and the Zambezi National Park in 

Zimbabwe. Mbano Manor Hotel is just 4km from Victoria Falls. ■ 


Africa Tourism Association.org: www.africatourismassociation.org 

African Tourism Board: www.africantourismboard.com 

African Travel & Tourism Association: www.atta.travel 

World Travel & Tourism Council: www.wttc.org 


INDABA HOTEL, SPA & CONFERENCE CENTRE 

YOUR AFRICAN DESTINATION IN JOHANNESBURG 

Just north of the fast-paced business world of Sandlan in the upmarket residential suburb of Fourways, lies the 

258 bedroom lndaba Hotel, Spa & Conference Centre. It is a compelling blend of business-like convenience 

and efficiency, with a relaxed and warm country atmosphere. 

Coupled with easy and convenient access to all main highways, OR Tambo International Airport and a mere 

15km from Lanseria International Airport, the hotel features an impressive selection of some 24 multi-purpose 

conference venues that can accommodate up to 2 000 delegates in total with banqueting facilities for up to 

500 guests. 

With two restaurants on property, there is no need to leave the comfort of the hotel to enjoy world-class cuisine. 

Our 300 seater Chief's Barna Restaurant caters for all tastes with over 120 African-inspired dished ranging from 

North African Moroccan cuisine to Koeksisters and Melktert from the Cape - and with a "Shisa Nyama" grill 

boasting a variety of game meats sizzled to your specification, everyone is sure to find their favourite. 

Well known for the lavish full South African Breakfast Buffet, the Epsom Terrace Restaurant also boasts an evening 

Bistro Menu which will delight even the most demanding gourmet exacting standards. A traditional Carvery 

Lunch with live music can be enjoyed every Sunday with limited outdoor seating available for those who prefer 

dining al fresco- after all, Jo'burg really has the best weather in South Africa. 

Take a wander through the 17 hectares of lush bushveld gardens and you will find the Mowana Spa - a wellness 

sanctuary which will revive your senses, rejuvenate your body and soothe your soul. The Mowana Spa, which 

takes its name from the majestic Baobab Tree of African Lore and Legend, offers wellness journeys based on the 

recognised healing energy of Tribal Massaging. 


62

Signature Pamper Journeys include the decadent Mowana Full Day African Rejuvenation Spa pamper which is 

an indulgent spa experience including breakfast, lunch, complimentary beverages and six revitalising 

treatments; the romantic Mowana African Skies Night Spa pamper with includes dinner, complimentary 

beverages and three relaxing treatments; and the indulgent Mowana African Escape Spa & Stay Pamper 

Journey for the ultimate decadent relaxation. 

Our commitment to service excellence and staff empowerment through training and mentoring will ensure that 

your needs are met and your expectations exceeded as you enjoy a Day of Pampering at Mowana Spa. 

The lndaba Hotel and Mowana Spa are also PROUDLY GREEN ensuring responsible tourism and minimising 

carbon footprint through extensive recycling of waste products, water-wise gardening, greening conference 

initiatives, better material choices, minimising power usage and buying local - after all, a better place to live is a 

better place to visit. 

The lnverroche Gin School located at lndaba Hotel is an educational and exciting journey through the endless 

world of Gin. Life is a journey, and so is creating your personalised bottle of Gin. With your presenter being an 

able guide and a knowledgeable expert, you will be taken back in time to this spirit's origin hundreds of years 

ago all the way lo the great popularity it enjoys today. You will learn new things and have a laugh with friends 

about facts you would barely believe to be true. 

As in life, making your own Gin is a process with many important steps. The experience gives everyone involved 

the opportunity to express themselves and their unique personalities in a special and creative way. 

The lndaba Hotel is sure to meet all your business and leisure requirements. We look forward to welcoming you 

to our oasis in the City. 

15 MINUTES FROM SANDTON ... A MILLION MILES AWAY 


OVERVIEW 

Information and Communications 

Technology 

Africans are getting connected. 

Under UN Sustainable Development Goal 9 (Industry, Innovation 

and Infrastructure) there is a call for “affordable, universal 

Internet access by the year 2020 to improve socio-economic 

development”. 

The African Union’s Agenda 2063 outlines a number of outcomes 

it wants to see by the time its agenda is implemented. One of them 

reads as follows: electricity supply and Internet connectivity will be 

up by 50%. 

These are ambitious goals, but technological advances mean 

that Africa is in a position to leapfrog over old methods. There are 

already a great number of Africans connected via smartphones or 

computers, but more still needs to be done. In 2018 there were 

456-million mobile phone subscribers. The number is expected to 

grow to 535-million by 2020. 

Tanzania has 6.4-million users of the M-Pesa mobile phone 

payment system. Senegal expects to achieve a 95.3% mobile phone 

penetration rate in 2021. 

The broadband working group of the World Bank, reporting in 

2019, stated that less than a third of Africa’s population has access to 

broadband connectivity. If the goal of achieving universal, affordable, 

and good quality Internet access by 2030 is to be achieved, an 

investment of $100-billion would be required. 

The number of broadband connections in Africa crossed the 

400-million mark in 2018 (which was nearly 20 times more than in 

2010) but the regional average broadband penetration was only 25%. 


A Kenyan company 

is offering free WiFi. 

Mobile broadband coverage 

in Africa is still at 70% of the 

population. 

Key areas identified by 

African ICT ministers at a meeting 

organised by the International 

Telecommunications Union are 

infrastructure, investment, digital 

transformation (including digital 

platforms and services), digital 

skills and entrepreneurship, 

cybersecurity, a common 

digital market and policy 

and regulation. 

Smart Africa is an initiative 

backed by all the leaders of the 

AU to promote and expand the 

telecommunications potential 

of the continent. Examples 

of projects under the Smart 


64

OVERVIEW 

Africa banner are data centres 

(Djibouti), innovation and 

entrepreneurship programmes 

(Egypt), e-payments (Ghana), 

cyber security (Ivory Coast) 

and smart energy and the blue 

economy (Togo). 

Several countries’ overall GDP 

growth has been boosted by 

the telecommunications sector: 

Benin (10.6%) and Gabon (18%) 

are examples and Ethiopia is 

expected to see a spike when 

parts of its telecommunications 

network are privatised. Mobile 

operator association GSMA 

expects mobile phone and 

data usage to grow in Africa at a 

compound rate of 4.5% to 2024. 

The high price of data in 

most African countries is a serious 

obstacle to the development and 

deepening of the sector. 

Infrastructure 

An extensive network of undersea 

cables links Africa to other parts of 

the world. New cables along both 

the east and west coasts have 

been undertaken in recent years 

or are under consideration. The 

planned Djibouti Africa Regional 

Express (DARE) submarine fibre 

optic cable system is expected 

to cost $59-million while the 

South Atlantic Cable System 

(SACS) connected Angola to 

Brazil in 2018. 

The World Bank invested 

$500-million into the Regional 

Communication Infrastructure 

Program to improve 

communication lines in Africa, 

which expanded capacity in 

the Sub-Saharan region from 

just 80Gbps in 2008 to 15.7Tbps 

in 2012. 

An extension of a submarine cable to Ivory Coast was celebrated in 

2019. Private company MainOne laid an open-access submarine cable 

with broadband to West Africa in 2010. Landing stations along the 

coast of the West Coast helped to make the Internet widely available 

all the way to Nigeria. Branching stations were later added at Senegal 

and now Ivory Coast has its own. MainOne launched a data centre in 

Abidjan but the cable is carrier-neutral so other services can use it. The 

electronics on the cable have also been upgraded. 

Satellites are a critical part of the telecommunications network of 

Africa. Content and data providers typically use satellite services where 

no fibre network is available. SES Africa has a fleet of satellites that 

orbit four times closer to earth than other models. Vodacom Business 

Nigeria is partnering with Intelsat to offer more to its customers in the 

enterprise and Internet of Things sectors. 

Several African countries are participating in the Square Kilometre 

Array (SKA) radio telescope project. Based in South Africa, SKA’s Africa 

programme will see the creation of the AVN (the African Very-Long 

Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) network). The other participating 

countries are Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, 

Mozambique and Zambia. 

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation, a self-sustaining 

US government agency, has a three-year plan (Connect Africa) to 

invest $1-billion on projects that include telecommunications and 

Internet access. 

Startups 

A Kenyan company has found a way to offer WiFi for free. BRCK has 

700 000 active unique visitors per month and operates out of 2 700 

sites in East Africa. It has its own operating system, Moja, and is robust 

enough to be installed in taxis. 

In reporting on the introduction of BRCK to South Africa, TimesLive 

quoted World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck saying, “Between 25% 

and 33% of SA smartphone owners don’t use cellular data with their 

devices because they can’t afford to.” 

Founders Factory Africa is supporting tech startups across Africa. 

The plan is to assist with the launch of 140 small businesses between 

2019 and 2025. Standard Bank, which has a presence in 22 African 

countries, has invested in Founders Factory Africa and may be able to 

help individual entrepreneurs expand their businesses through local 

knowledge and access to markets. ■ 


Connect Africa: www.opic.gov 

International Telecommunication Union: www.itu.int 

Research ICT Africa: www.researchictafrica.net 

Smart Africa: www.smartafrica.org 

West African Telecommunications Regulatory Assembly: www.watra.org 


OVERVIEW 

Banking and financial services 

Innovation is paying off in finance. 

The Central Bank of Kenya plays an important role in the country’s economy. 

The number of banks in Africa is diminishing but the number 

Africans who use banks is growing rapidly. Consolidation 

of the banking sector is taking place simultaneously with a 

rollout of technological innovation that is making banking 

services more accessible. 

Where 170-million Africans had access to banking in 2012, that 

number grew to nearly 300-million in 2018. The consulting group 

McKinsey expects that number to reach 450-million by 2022. 

Mobile telephony is at the heart of the expansion. The highly 

successful M-Pesa launched in 2007 in Kenya. M stands for mobile and 

pesa is the Swahili word for money. M-Pesa is operated by Safaricom 

and Vodacom and now has 37-million customers in seven countries, 

the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, 

Mozambique and Tanzania. 

The average monthly amount processed by M-Pesa is $1.9-billion. 

Similar services are offered in Zimbabwe by EcoCash, Ethiopia’s M-Birr 

and services like MTN Mobile Money, Orange Money and Airtel Money. 


M-Pesa has 37-million 

customers. 

A first-generation mobile 

phone with USSD technology is 

the only requirement for users to 

make payments, send money or 

apply for loans. Traditional banks 

are putting huge amounts of 

money into technology in an 

attempt to head off fintech 

startups and telecommunication 

companies from encroaching on 

their territory. ■ 


66

OVERVIEW 

Banks 

Kanika Saigal, writing in 

Euromoney in 2019, describes 

the evolution of Africa’s 

banking sector as “colonialism 

to consolidation”. After 

listing the actual or mooted 

departures of former colonial 

or international banks from 

Africa since 2015 (Barclays, BNP 

Paribas, Credit Suisse, HSBC 

and RBS), Saigal notes that 

larger local banks have bought 

up smaller entities. This came 

about largely because of new 

rules about capitalisation and 

had quick results in Nigeria 

where 24 banks were left 

standing out of 89. Results 

have been slower in other 

regions, most notably in Kenya 

where 40 licensed banks serve 

a population of 45-million. 

However, innovation 

and profitability seem to be 

combining in the banking 

sector. Saigal quotes Kenya 

Commercial Bank CE Joshua 

Oigara saying, “The continent’s 

overall banking industry is the 

second-fastest growing, the 

second-most profitable of any 

global region and a hotbed of 

innovation.” 

Standard Bank’s history 

involves both colonial and 

African components, but its 

current ownership reflects a 

major modern trend. The bank’s 

market capitalisation at the end 

of 2018 was $20-billion and the 

group’s largest shareholder is 

the Industrial and Commercial 

Bank of China (ICBC), the 

world’s largest bank, with a 

20.1% shareholding. 

Development and trade finance 

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is the principal funder of 

development projects on the continent. In 2019 the bank’s capital was 

increased by $115-billion to $208-billion. 

AfDB is strongly focussed on infrastructure development and 

energy is the most important priority within that brief. In announcing 

the capital increase, the bank reported that since 2015, its projects had 

connected 16-million people to electricity, provided 70-million with 

agricultural technologies, given 55-million better access to transport, 

nine-million people access to finance and 31-million people with 

access to water and sanitation. 

The New Development Bank, a relative newcomer arising out 

of the establishment of BRICS, is another infrastructure funder. The 

International Finance Corporation, the private-sector focussed 

member of the World Bank Group, now has 21 offices in Africa and 

singed long-term financing deals worth $3.5-billion in 2017. The IFC 

intends to grow new markets by reducing risk. 

The Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa (ECIC) 

provides export credit and investment guarantees, stepping in where 

commercial banks might be risk-averse to support private investment. 

The European Investment Bank is the investment arm of the 

European Union and often partners with African institutions. 

China has a wide range of financial entities who are active across a 

range of sectors in Africa. These entities include the China Development 

Bank (CDB), the China International Trade and Investment Corporation 

(CITIC), China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation (CECIC), China 

Export Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure) and the China Export- 

Import Bank. 

Exchanges 

There are 27 stock exchanges in Africa, 25 of which are members 

of the African Securities Exchanges Association. Ethiopia intends 

launching a stock exchange in 2020. The African Exchanges Linkage 

Project (AELP) aims to assist cross-border trade and the settlement 

of securities, increase continental investment flows and to add 

depth and liquidity to African financial markets. Seven exchanges 

are currently participating, representing 85% of the continent’s 

securities market capitalisation. ■ 


Africa Financial Markets Initiative: www.africanbondmarkets.org 

African Securities Exchanges Association: www.african-exchanges.org 

Association of African Central Banks: www.aacb.org 

Financial Action Task Force: www.fatf-gafi.org 

Making Finance Work for Africa: www.mfw4a.org 


PROFILE 

Region: East Africa 

The population of COMESA members in 2016 was 492.5-million. 

across the region. These include a trade and development bank, 

a clearing house, a leather products institute, re-insurance and 

monetary institutions and a trade insurance agency. 

A third grouping, the Intergovernmental Authority on 

Development (IGAD), tackles drought and desertification in the 

Horn of Africa. The member states of IGAD are Djibouti, Ethiopia, 

Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, the Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda. 

Climate 

Tanzania is not a member of the 

East Africa’s biggest Regional 

Economic Community (REC), 

the Common Market for Eastern 

and Southern Africa (COMESA), but it is a 

member of two other blocs, the Southern 

African Development Community (SADC) 

and the East African Community (EAC). 

This type of overlapping membership 

is fairly common but can create problems 

if an REC concludes a deal with a foreign 

trading partner such as the EU. African 

planners are hoping that the continentwide 

African Continental Free Trade Area 

(AfCFTA) will iron out the anomalies that 

come with multiple membership of RECs. 

The EAC comprises six states: Burundi, 

Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda 

and United Republic of Tanzania. 

The member states of COMESA are 

Burundi, the Comoros, the Democratic 

Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, 

Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, 

Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Sudan, 

eSwatini, Seychelles, Uganda, Zambia and 

Zimbabwe. 

COMESA has several institutions 

which support trade and investment 

East Africa has been experiencing extreme weather patterns in 

recent years, including droughts and storms. The high altitudes 

of the Ethiopian Highlands and the mountains of the lake region 

combine to create a cooler and drier climate than one might 

expect for the region’s latitude. Rather than equatorial weather, 

it is closer to a temperate upland climate with low temperatures. 

Snow occurs on the highest peaks such as Kilimanjaro. 

Savanna conditions allow for the cultivation of maize, cassava, 

potatoes, millet, pulses, sorghum and beans. Cash crops include 

cashew nuts, tea, coffee, cotton, tobacco, sisal and cloves. 

Economy 

East Africa was the fastest-growing African region in 2018 (5.7%) 

and was projected to go beyond 6% in 2020. The region is Africa’s 

most integrated in terms of market access (African Development 

Bank). COMESA established a Free Trade Area in 2000, which led 

to an average growth in intra-regional trade of 7%. 

Countries within the region have been cooperating on crossborder 

infrastructure and transport projects, expanding access to 

electricity and building capacity in renewable energy projects. 

The ICT sector is receiving investment. 

Strong foreign direct investment is led by Chinese and 

Turkish involvement in Ethiopia. The diverse nature of the region’s 

economies makes for an attractive investment proposition. 

Standard Bank expects the development of the Uganda-Tanzania 

pipeline to attract capex of $25-billion. Tourism is a strong earner. 

Resources 

Nickel, uranium, copper, oil, diatomite, gold. 


68

PROFILE 

Kenya 

Kenya is investing heavily in transport infrastructure. 

Capital: Nairobi 

Other towns/cities: Mombasa, 

Kisumu, Nakuru 

Population: 48.3-million (2018) 

GDP: $87.9-billion (2018) 

GDP per capita (PPP): $3 467 

Currency: Kenyan Shilling 

Regional Economic Community: 

Common Market for Eastern and Southern 

Africa (COMESA), East African Community 

(EAC), Intergovernmental Authority on 

Development (IGAD) 

Landmass: 569 140km² 

Coastline: 536km 

Resources: Limestone, soda ash, salt, 

gemstones, fluorspar, zinc, diatomite, gypsum, 

graphite, tea, coffee, corn, wheat, sugarcane. 

Main economic sectors: Agriculture, 

tourism, horticulture. 

Other sectors: Oil, ship repair, ICT, steel, 

lead, manufacturing. 

New sectors for investment: 

Oil, infrastructure. 

Key projects: Presidential “Big Four” 

priorities: manufacturing, universal 

healthcare, affordable housing and food 

security. Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia- 

Transport (LAPSSET) corridor project. 

Various cross-border railway projects. 

Chief exports: Tea, flowers, coffee, fish, cement, 

petroleum products. 

Top export destinations: Uganda, Pakistan, US, 

Netherlands, UK, Tanzania. 

Top import sources: China, India, UAE, 

Saudi Arabia, Japan. 

Main imports: Motor vehicles, oil, machinery and 

transportation equipment, iron and steel. 

Infrastructure: 16 airports with paved runways; pipeline 

for refined products (1 432km); 177 800km of highway 

(14 420km paved); the Northern Corridor (a multimodal 

trade route) links the landlocked countries of the Great 

Lakes Region with the maritime seaport of Mombasa 

(which has an LNG terminal; other seaports: Kisumu, 

Lamu. 

ICT: Kenya is ranked 138 on the ICT Development 

Index 2017 (ITU). Mobile phone subscriptions per 100 

inhabitants: 90. 

Climate: Tropical on the coast and dry inland. Mount 

Kenya is Africa’s second-highest mountain. The Kenyan 

Highlands is a fertile agricultural production region. Varied 

wildlife abounds. Lake Victoria is the second-largest freshwater 

lake in the world and the largest tropical lake. 

Religion: Christianity, Islam, traditional. 

Modern history: Worse than usual floods and 

landslides have hit Kenya recently, attributable to 

changing weather patterns. The country has experienced 

violence from Al-Shabab, a Somalian grouping, which 

made attacks on civilians in 2013 and 2015. 

The presidential election of 2007 led to a major social 

and political crisis. A peaceful election was held in 2013 

but the winner, Uhuru Kenyatta, was accused of crimes 

against humanity in the earlier election. He won the 2017 

election, but it was overturned by the Supreme Court. 

Kenyatta came out on top again when the opposition 

boycotted the second running. The World Bank believes 

that the new Kenyan constitution of 2010 is improving 

accountability and encouraging investment at local level. 

The document provides for a bicameral legislative house, 

devolved county government and a judiciary which is not 

dependent on politicians for tenure. 


PROFILE 

Region: North Africa 

There are several ways of defining North Africa. 

Climate 

The Community of Sahel-Saharan 

States (CEN-SAD) covers many 

countries, including most of 

West Africa, but includes neither 

Algeria nor Liberia, which is a member 

of the Economic Community of West 

African States, ECOWAS. 

An effort began in 1988 to create 

the Arab Maghreb Union to strengthen 

ties between five states on the northern 

coast of Africa, but not including Egypt. It 

never got off the ground. 

The member States of CEN-SAD are: 

Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Central 

African Republic, Chad, the Comoros, 

Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, the Gambia, Ghana, 

Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Libya, Mali, 

Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, São 

Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, 

Somalia, the Sudan, Togo and Tunisia. 

The population of the CEN-SAD area was 

estimated at 553-million in 2016 (UNCTAD). 

The Sahel-Sahara region experienced 

waves of instability after the Libyan 

revolution with armed Islamist groups 

rising in Mali and northern Nigeria. The 

G5 Sahel Joint Force was established in 

response in 2017. A CEN-SAD counterterrorism 

centre is based in Cairo. 

The three outstanding features of North Africa help to define 

its climate: the Nile River in the east, the Atlas Mountains in the 

west and the Sahara Desert to the south, the largest sand desert 

on earth. Mediterranean conditions occur along the coast, 

bringing rain in winter and relatively mild temperatures. Crops 

include onions, figs, olives, oranges, cauliflower and tomatoes. 

The hot desert and semi-arid regions are located further inland. 

Temperatures range widely and can reach 130°. Desert crops 

include cotton and date palms. 

Economy 

The Arab Spring and falling oil prices had a significant impact 

on the economies of North Africa. Libya’s political turmoil 

had a huge impact on the region’s GDP. Oil production levels 

rose after 2016 but are still only a fraction of levels achieved 

before the revolution. 

North Africa contributes disproportionately to African 

GDP growth figures, up to 40% (African Development 

Bank). Most of the economies of North Africa have 

diversified production systems and manufacturing and 

industrial capacity. 

Morocco receives about 11-million tourist arrivals. Egypt 

experienced a significant drop in revenue from tourism after 

the political upheavals of 2011. By 2017, a recovery was 

underway and Egypt earned $21.1-billion and Tunisia earned 

$5.17-billion (World Travel and Tourism Council). 

Casablanca Finance City has been established in 

Morocco in an attempt to attract investors to Africa. Tunisia 

has plans to privatise large parts of its economy and Egypt is 

building a mega-city to ease the overcrowding in Cairo. 

Morocco and Tunisia have integrated supply chains 

which are linked to the European market. Other countries in 

the region have focussed on the upstream side (AfDB). 

Resources 

Oil, natural gas, phosphates, iron ore. 


70

PROFILE 

Morocco 

The Green Morocco Plan is boosting the agricultural sector. 

Capital: Rabat 

Other towns/cities: Casablanca, Fez, 

Tangiers, Marrakesh 


GDP: $117.9-billion (2018) 

GDP per capita (PPP): $8 586 (2018) 

Currency: Dirham 


Community of Sahel-Saharan States 

(CEN-SAD) 


Coastline: 1 835km 

Resources: Fish, salt, phosphates, iron ore, 

manganese, lead, zinc. 

Main economic sectors: Fishing, 

phosphate mining, automotive, tourism. 

Other sectors: Textiles, chemicals, clothing, 

agriculture. 

New sectors for investment: Transport 

and logistics, renewable energy (target of 

50% of installed capacity from RE by 2030), 

food processing, construction, leather. 

Key projects: Industrial Acceleration 

Plan stresses diversification (automotive, 

aeronautics and electronics). Investment 

into Peugot plant will double capacity. 

Reform of tax system. Combating poverty 

measures through job creation and social programmes. 

Green Morocco Plan. 

Chief exports: Citrus fruits and market vegetables, semiprocessed 

and consumer goods (textiles), phosphates. 

Top export destinations: Spain, France, Italy, US. 

Top import sources: Spain, France, China, US, Germany, 

Italy, Turkey. 

Main imports: Crude petroleum, textile fabric, 

telecommunications equipment, wheat, gas and 

electricity, transistors, plastic. 

Infrastructure: Free trade zone at Tangiers; Tangier-Med 

(largest port in Africa and Mediterranean); LNG terminal 

at Jorf Lasfar; high-speed rail link between Tangiers and 

Casablanca; 944km gas pipeline; 57 300km of highway; 

oldest library in world, University of al-Quarawiyyin Library 

in Fez; 31 paved airports. 

ICT: 58% Internet users. ICT Development Index 2017 

(ITU) ranking: 100. 

Climate: Northern part of country is Mediterranean, with 

wet winters and dry summers. Further south is semi-arid 

which becomes desert and the Atlas Mountains form a 

rain shadow for the interior. 

Religion: Predominately Muslim. 

Modern history: Situated between Europe and Africa 

and with coastal and desert regions, Morocco has 

experienced a wide variety of influences including a 

period under French rule from 1912 to 1956. Cultural 

influences come from African, Arabic, Berber and 

European sources. 

Morocco joined the African Union (AU) in 2017, 

having left the AU’s predecessor over that body’s 

recognition of the independence of Western Sahara. 

Morocco believes the region is part of its territory and the 

dispute is unresolved. Morocco also disputes Spain’s right 

to several coastal enclaves. 

Morocco is a kingdom and has been ruled by 

Mohammed VI since 1999. A new constitution was 

introduced after the “Arab Spring” of 2010, giving more 

powers to the prime minister and parliament. Huge 

investments into infrastructure are paying off. The country 

achieved an average capital investment rate of 34% 

between 2008 and 2018 (African Development Bank). 


PROFILE 

Region: Central Africa 

The Central African region has a population of approximately 158-million. 

Climate 

The Regional Economic 

Community (REC) of the Central 

African region is the Economic 

Community of Central African 

States (ECCAS). 

ECCAS was established in 1983 when 

the Customs and Economic Union of 

Central Africa (UDEAC) joined forces 

with the Economic Community of the 

Great Lakes Countries (ECGLC) and the 

island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe. 

The member states of ECCAS are Angola, 

Burundi, Cameroon, Central African 

Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic 

Republic of the Congo, Equatorial 

Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda and São Tomé 

and Príncipe. ECCAS contributes to 

peace-keeping through the Mission for 

the Consolidation of Peace in Central 

African Republic (MICOPAX). 

The six members of the Economic 

and Monetary Community of Central 

Africa (CEMAC) share a common 

currency, the Central African CFA franc 

managed by the Bank of Central African 

States. The countries are Cameroon, 

Chad, Central African Republic, 

Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the 

Republic of the Congo. 

The region covers 6.5-million square kilometres. The place 

where the rains from the north-east meet the winds from the 

south-east is called the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). 

The ITCZ crosses the equator twice a year, creating two rainy 

seasons and two dry seasons. Thunderstorms are common. 

Rainfall in the southern section is more variable and proximity 

to the coast influences weather patterns, as does topography. 

The equatorial region is the wettest part of the continent 

and its evergreen tropical rainforest is the second-biggest on 

earth. The Congo Basin is Africa’s biggest water catchment 

area. Variations on climate extend north and south of the 

equator, starting with the savanna forest, and getting drier 

the further one travels away from the equator. In the most 

northerly part of the region, the thorny steppe occurs, which 

is typical of the Sahel. 

Economy 

Commodity prices play a big role in the fate of the economies 

of the Central African region because minerals and oil are the 

two biggest assets currently being utilised. The vast forests 

contribute to the export baskets of many nations but there are 

concerns that illegal logging may be reducing this resource. The 

powerful rivers of the region present further opportunities; the 

Congo Basin has 44% of all Africa’s estimated internal renewable 

water reserves (African Development Bank). 

Political instability hinders growth. Three of the region’s 

states are considered “fragile” (Central African Republic, Chad 

and the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Cameroon 

is experiencing severe tensions between English-speaking 

regions that want to secede from the predominately 

Francophone country. There is little integration within the 

region and infrastructure is under-developed. The region’s 

abundant natural resources could fuel the development of a 

manufacturing sector. 

Resources 

Oil, timber, copper, cobalt, diamonds, uranium, gold, gas, fish. 


72

PROFILE 

Democratic Republic of the Congo 

Conflict has held back development in this resource-rich country. 

Capital: Kinshasa 

Other towns/cities: Lubumbashi, 

Mbuji-Mayi, Kananga, Kisangani 


GDP: $47.2-billion (2018) 

GDP per capita (PPP): $932 

Currency: Congolese Franc (CDF) 


Common Market for Eastern and Southern 

Africa (COMESA), Economic Community of 

Central African States (ECCAS) 

Landmass: 2 267 048km² 


Resources: Cobalt, copper, niobium, 

tantalum, petroleum, industrial and gem 

diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, 

uranium, coal, timber, germanium, lithium, 

granite, coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber, tea, 

cotton, cocoa, quinine, cassava, bananas, 

plantains. 

Main economic sectors: Mining, 

agriculture. 

Other sectors: Mineral processing, 

consumer products, metal products, timber, 

cement, ship repair. 

New sectors for investment: Energy (vast 

hydropower resources), agriculture (DRC 

has 80-million hectares of arable land), 

infrastructure. 

Key projects: The DRC participates in the Extractive 

Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). 

Chief exports: Cobalt, diamonds, copper, gold, cobalt, 

wood products, crude oil, coffee. 

Top export destinations: China, Zambia, 

South Korea, Finland. 

Top import sources: China, South Africa, Zambia, 

Belgium, India, Tanzania. 

Main imports: Mining and other machinery, transport 

equipment, fuels, food. 

Infrastructure: 26 airports with paved runways; 

pipelines (62km gas, 77km oil, 756km refined products); 

roads 152 373km of which 3 047km paved (2015); railway 

4 007km (2014); seaport at Banana; river or lake ports at 

Boma, Bumba, Kinshasa, Kisangani, Matadi, Mbandaka, 

Kindu, Bukavu, Goma, Kalemie; waterways 15 000km. 

ICT: ICT Development Index 2017 (ITU): 171. Mobile 

phone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 42 (2017). 

Internet users percent of population: 3.8% (2016). 

Climate: Most of country is in a central tropical basin. The 

Congo Basin is the continent’s largest water catchment 

area. Hot and humid in equatorial river basin. Cool and 

dry in southern highlands. Cool and wet in eastern 

highlands, with alternating wet seasons. 

Religion: Mostly Christian. Also Kimbanguist, Muslim 

and others. 

Modern history: Instability has been a constant 

in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Joseph 

Kabila became president when his father Laurent was 

assassinated in 2001. After winning elections in 2006, 

he controversially won a second term in 2011 and then 

refused to leave office in 2016. Eventually, in 2019, new 

president Felix Tshisekedi took office. 

Although the country has vast mineral and timber 

resources, virtually unlimited hydropower potential and 

millions of acres of fertile soil, it struggles to produce enough 

food to feed its population. Conflict within the country and 

on its eastern border has created thousands of refugees and 

resulted in a lack of investment in infrastructure. 

The World Bank reports that in 2018 the DRC emerged 

from the economic recession triggered by the decline in 

the global prices of its main export commodities. 


PROFILE 

Region: West Africa 

The United Nations population estimate for West Africa is 381-million (2018). 

crops are groundnuts, sorghum and millet. Further south is 

the Sub-Humid Zone which includes Guinea-Bissau, Benin 

and the central parts of Nigeria where grass and shrubland 

predominate. The Humid Zone comprises the Guinea Zone 

(annual rainfall up to 1 800mm) and the Forest Zone. Both 

areas have tsetse fly, so livestock are less common. Multiple 

crops are cultivated and when dense tropical forests are 

cleared in the south, the land can carry oil palms, coconuts, 

rubber and cocoa (FAO). 

Economy 

The member states of the 

Economic Community of West 

African States (ECOWAS) are 

Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, 

Ivory Coast, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, 

Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, 

Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. 

The languages in which ECOWAS 

conducts its business reflect the varied 

colonial history of the region: French, 

English and Portuguese. The main 

body of ECOWAS is the Authority of 

Heads of States and Government. 

Other institutions include the Council 

of Ministers, the Commission and the 

ECOWAS Bank for Investment and 

Development (EBID). The peacekeeping 

force of ECOWAS has deployed joint 

military forces in times of instability, 

most recently in the Gambia. 

Climate 

The region’s climate varies from very 

dry in the north to humid in the south. 

In the Sahelian Zone the dry season 

can extend to 10 months and cattle, 

sheep and goats graze on grassland. 

Cotton is the main cash crop and food 

The Nigerian economy contributes about 70% of regional 

GDP, so when that large oil producer experiences a recession, 

growth figures for the region are disproportionally affected. 

Low oil prices led to such a recession in 2016. 

After several good years of growth, average GDP growth 

in West Africa was down to just 0.5% in 2016. In 2017 it 

recovered to 2.5% and three of the six African countries 

in the World Bank’s top 10 in terms of growth predictions 

in 2018 were in West Africa: Ghana (8.3%), Ivory Coast 

(7.2%) and Senegal (6.9%). Nigeria has also done better 

with improved commodity prices and the completion of 

successful presidential elections in 2019. 

The African Development Bank’s West Africa Economic 

Outlook 2018 notes that most of the region’s economies are 

dominated by the service sector and that manufacturing 

is the smallest contributor to GDP in all of them. AfDB 

predicts that gross capital formation will grow quickly as the 

region moves away from reliance on demand from private 

consumption (70%). 

Several of the region’s economies are dependent on 

single commodities which makes them vulnerable to 

price shocks. More than one country is looking to join the 

existing producers of oil and gas, but the creation of stronger 

manufacturing bases is the key to more stable economies 

and more formal jobs. 

Resources 

Oil, gold, phosphate, iron ore, bauxite, diamonds. 


74

PROFILE 

Nigeria 

Africa’s most populous state is also rich in resources. 

Capital: Abuja 

Other towns/cities: Lagos, Port Harcourt, 

Ibadan, Kano, Benin City, Jos, Ilorin 

Population: 203.4-million 

GDP: $397-billion (2018) 

GDP per capita (PPP): $5 990 (2018) 

Currency: Naira 

Regional Economic Communities: 

Economic Community of West African 

States (ECOWAS), Community of 

Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) 



Resources: Natural gas, petroleum, tin, iron 

ore, coal, limestone, niobium, lead, zinc. 

Main economic sectors: Services, 

agriculture, industry, crude oil. 

Other sectors: Fertiliser, food products, 

chemicals, ceramics, rubber, textiles, wood, 

hides and skins. 


Agri-processing is boosted by processing 

zones for staple crops. Services sector is 

growing fast and mining, quarrying and 

manufacturing are showing promise 

(African Development Bank). 

Key projects: Economic Recovery and Growth Plan 

(industrialisation), Power Sector Reform Programme. 

Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Act 2017 

has stimulated lending to small, medium and microenterprises 

(SMMEs). 

Chief exports: Petroleum and petroleum products, 

cocoa, rubber. 

Top export destinations: India, US, Spain, China, France. 

Top import sources: China, Belgium, US, 

South Korea, UK. 

Main imports: Machinery, chemicals, transport 

equipment, manufactured goods, food. 

Infrastructure: 40 paved airports; railways 3 798km 

(2014); highways 195 000km, of which 60 000km paved 

(2017); waterways 8 600km (Niger and Benue Rivers and 

other waterways); pipelines for oil, refined products, gas, 

LPG and condensate; seaports at Calabar, Lagos and Bonny 

Inshore Terminal; LNG export terminal, Bonny Island. 

ICT: Internet percent of population: 25.7% (2016). Mobile 

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 76 (2017). Ranked 143 

in world, ICT Development Index 2017 (ITU). 

Climate: Coastal areas experience equatorial conditions 

and mountainous south-east is cooler. Central plateau is 

tropical while northern areas are dry and arid. 

Religion: Muslim about 51%, Christian about 47%. 

Modern history: Africa’s most populous country 

comprises more than 250 ethnic groups. Nigeria is a federal 

state with 36 states and one territory (to govern the capital 

city). The 2007 elections were the first where a civilian 

government handed over to a civilian government. In 2015, 

Muhammadu Buhari won as an opposition candidate, 

another electoral first for Nigeria. Buhari, who himself had 

previously led the country as a major-general, also won 

the 2019 election. Depressed oil prices have constrained 

economic growth, but there are plans to improve 

electricity generation and to diversify the economy. 

Security concerns include religious clashes in the 

central districts, attacks by Boko Haram in the northeast 

and activists campaigning for a greater share of oil 

revenues. Despite these challenges, Nigeria accounts for 

about 70% of regional GDP. 

75 WESTERN AFRICAN CAPE BUSINESS 2020

PROFILE 

Region: Southern Africa 

The Southern African region had a population of 312.7-million in 2016. 

destructive cyclones in recent years and many parts of the 

region were hit by severe drought after 2016. 

South of the Zambezi River, semi-arid areas receive 

some rains, but temperatures remain high. In the savanna, 

temperatures are cooler than in the tropical areas. The South 

African Highveld comprises a temperate upland climatic 

region with temperatures that vary between warm and very 

cold depending on altitude and thunderstorms are frequent. 

A humid subtropical marine climate occurs on the south-east 

coast. On the southern coast, Mediterranean conditions occur. 

The executive arm of the Southern 

African Development Community 

(SADC) has eight directorates 

which deal with matters 

such as policy, defence, trade, finance 

and investment, infrastructure, agriculture 

and social and human development. 

The member states of SADC are 

Angola, Botswana, the Democratic 

Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, 

Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, 

Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South 

Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 

The Southern African Customs Union 

(SACU), which is based in the Namibian 

capital of Windhoek, is a customs union 

among Eswatini, Botswana, Lesotho, 

Namibia and South Africa. 

Climate 

The fact that Africa narrows in the 

south means that oceans play a 

greater role in climate than they do 

in the wider, northern part of the 

continent. The south is generally cooler 

and more humid. The eastern coast 

and hinterland have experienced 


Economy 

The southern region is relatively well integrated and 

communications is supported by good infrastructure. 

South Africa has the most diverse economy with a 

sophisticated banking and financial services to back it up. 

Manufacturing, industry, retail and construction are other strong 

sectors. The regional economy’s growth has been affected by 

the weak performance of South Africa. Commodity price 

fluctuations have something to do with the slump, but the 

most important reason was an outbreak of looting that became 

known as “state capture”. 

Mining and tourism are key sectors across the region. In 

Malawi, 80% of the population are dependent on agriculture 

but productivity levels are low. A very stable country, Malawi 

has adopted a vision to lift its people out of poverty focusing on 

education, energy, agriculture, health and tourism. 

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is home to a vast 

array of minerals. Botswana is the world’s leading diamond 

producer. Mauritius is forging ahead as an investment 

destination in high-value fields. Investment in renewable 

energy in Tanzania is on the rise. The discovery of big gas fields 

off the coast of Mozambique could be a game-changer for 

the whole region. The country is already a contributor to the 

Southern Africa Power Pool through its hydropower projects. 

Resources 

Gas, oil, manganese, iron ore, diamonds, gold, zinc, copper, 

potash, phosphate, ilmenite, rutile, cobalt, platinum 

group metals. 

76

PROFILE 

Botswana 

Botswana has the world’s single richest diamond mine. 

Capital: Gaborone 

Other towns/cities: Francistown, 

Molepolole, Maun 


GDP: $18.6-billion (2018) 


Currency: Pula 


Southern African Development Community 

(SADC), Southern African Customs 

Union (SACU) 


Resources: Diamonds, copper, nickel, salt, 

soda ash, potash, coal, iron ore, silver. 

Main economic sectors: Mining, tourism. 

Other sectors: Services, meat processing, 

textiles. 

New sectors for investment: Sustainable 

tourism, agri-processing, leather and leather 

products, renewable energy, mineral 

beneficiation. 

Key projects: National Development Plan 

11, focus on business reforms and export 

diversification strategy. The Botswana 

Investment and Trade Centre aims to 

attract foreign direct investment and there are proposed 

amendments to immigration laws. 

Chief exports: Diamonds, copper, nickel, soda ash, iron 

and steel products, textiles. 

Top export destinations: Belgium, India, UAE, South 

Africa, Singapore, Israel. 

Top import sources: South Africa, Canada, Israel. 

Main imports: Machinery, electrical goods, transport 

equipment, textiles, fuel and petroleum products, wood 

and paper products, metal and metal products, food. 


31 747km of roads, of which 9 810km is paved (2017); 

888km of railway (2014). 

ICT: Mobile phone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 146 

(2017). ICT Development Index 2017 (ITU) ranking: 105. 

Climate: Semi-arid, warm winters and hot summers. 

Kalahari Desert in the south-west and the Okavango 

Delta in the north is a huge inland river delta. 

Religion: Nearly 80% Christian. Also Badimo and others. 

Modern history: Botswana has made the most of its 

natural resources and succeeded in turning what was a 

poor country at the time of its independence from Britain 

in 1966 into the ranks of middle-income countries. The 

country has enjoyed long periods of political stability and 

runs credible elections. 

Diamonds and tourism are the two big earners for the 

country. Both sectors have been carefully monitored and 

governed. The tourism sector caters to high-end visitors 

and access to the sensitive Okavango Delta is strictly 

controlled. Despite these positive factors, Botswana has a 

high rate of HIV infection and has a number of challenges 

including rural poverty and shortages of water and power 

in many areas. It is difficult to get services to sparsely 

populated parts of the country. 

The Botswana Democratic Party has won every 

election since independence. Sir Seretse Khama was 

the first President of Botswana, from 1966 to 1980. More 

recently his son Ian was president and in 2018, Mokgweetsi 

Masisi become the fifth president of Botswana. 


PROFILE 

South Africa 

A new president has promised to tackle corruption. 

Capital: Pretoria (Tshwane) 

Other towns/cities: Johannesburg, Cape 

Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, East London, 

Bloemfontein 


GDP: $368-billion (2018) 


Currency: Rand 


Southern African Development Community 

(SADC), Southern African Customs Union 

(SACU) 

Landmass: 1 214 470km² 


Resources: Coal, gold, chromium, 

antimony, iron ore, manganese, nickel, 

zinc, rare earth elements, uranium, 

diamonds, platinum, copper, corn, wheat, 

sugarcane, fruits. 

Main economic sectors: Mining, 

automotive manufacture, agriculture, 

tourism, financial. 

Other sectors: Agri-processing, chemicals, 

fertiliser, iron and steel, machinery, food 

and beverages, boat and yacht building, 

ship repair. 

New sectors for investment: Renewable energy, 

water, tourism. 

Key projects: National Development Plan (NDP) aims 

to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality. Renewable 

Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement 

Programme (REIPPPP). 

Chief exports: Iron ore, manganese, gold, diamonds, 

platinum, other metals and minerals, machinery and 

equipment, agricultural products. 

Top export destinations: China, US, Germany, Japan, 

India, Botswana, Namibia. 

Top import sources: China, Germany, US, 

Saudi Arabia, India. 

Main imports: Machinery and equipment, chemicals, 

petroleum products, scientific instruments. 

Infrastructure: Roads 750 000km, of which 158 124km 

paved (2016); railways 20 986km (2014); 144 paved 

airports; four crude oil refineries; multi-product pipeline 

from coast to inland areas; major ports at Cape Town, 

Durban, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay and Saldanha Bay. 

ICT: Mobile phone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 168 

(2017). Internet percent of population: 54% (2016.) ICT 

Development Index 2017 (ITU) ranking: 92. 

Climate: Coastal areas range from dry along the 

Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean in the south-west to 

subtropical on east coast. Interior is mostly dry and 

semi-arid. The Drakensberg Mountains separate the east 

coast from the interior. 

Religion: Christian, traditional, Muslim. 

Modern history: After an intense struggle against the 

racist policy of apartheid, democratic South Africa installed 

Nelson Mandela as its first president in 1994. Thabo 

Mbeki’s two terms as president were marked by efforts 

to connect with other African countries. He was ousted 

by his party, the African National Congress, before the 

end of his term. President Jacob Zuma was also removed 

by the party, amid accusations that the president and 

his supporters were responsible for wholesale looting of 

the state. President Cyril Ramaphosa was inaugurated in 

February 2018. Several arrests were made in late 2019. 


78

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AFRICA’S LEADING CONVENTION CENTRE

PROFILE 

Mozambique 

Huge natural gas finds could be transformative. 

Capital: Maputo 

Other towns/cities: Matola, 

Nampula, Beira 


GDP: $14.7-billion (2018) 


Currency: Mozambican Metical 


Southern African Development 

Community (SADC) 



Resources: Coal, titanium, natural gas, 

hydropower, tantalum, graphite, beryllium, 

corundum, cotton, cashew nuts, sugarcane, 

tea, cassava. 

Main economic sectors: Mining, gas, 

agriculture. 

Other sectors: Petroleum products, 

chemicals, textiles, cement, glass, asbestos, 

tobacco, food. 


Gas-to-liquids and gas-to-power. Energy, 

agriculture, logistics and tourism. 

Key projects: The country is in debt 

distress and the economy needs to be 

reformed. 

Chief exports: Bulk electricity (hydropower), aluminium, 

prawns, cashews, cotton, sugar, citrus, timber. 

Top export destinations: India, Netherlands, 

South Africa. 

Top import sources: South Africa, China, UAE, 

India, Portugal. 

Main imports: Machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel, 

chemicals, metal products, textiles, food. 


pipelines 972km gas, 278km refined products; railways 

4 787km (2014); roads 31 083km of which 7 365km paved 

(2015); seaports: Beira, Maputo, Nacala. 

ICT: Mobile subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 45 (2017). 

Internet percent of population: 17.5% (2016). 

ICT Development Index 2017 (ITU) ranking: 150. 

Climate: Tropical and subtropical. Tropical cyclones have 

hit the country hard in the last decade. Most of the country 

is coastal lowlands with mountains on the western edge 

and uplands (middle) and plateaus in the north-west. 

Religion: Christian and Muslim account for about 80%. 

Modern history: Bad weather has played a big part in 

Mozambique’s economic fortunes in recent years. The 

tropical cyclones Idai and Kenneth led to agricultural 

production dropping. This, coupled with falling 

commodity prices, had a dampening effect on the 

economy. 

A devastating civil war lasted from independence 

from Portugal in 1975 to a peace treaty between Frelimo 

and Renamo in 1992. Frelimo leader Joaquim Chissano’s 

18-year stint as president ended in 2004 and two 

presidents from the same party have been in power since 

then. Elements of Renamo continued to fight through to 

recent times. A constitutional amendment giving more 

power to provinces may prove sufficient to finally end 

that conflict, but the northern province of Cabo Delgado 

has been the site of several extremist attacks unrelated 

to Renamo. The 2011 discovery of vast fields of offshore 

natural gas has the potential to completely transform 

the country and massive investment commitments have 

already been made by international companies. Income 

from the sale of liquefied natural gas should generate 

billions of dollars after 2022. 


80

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St Helena 

Ndola 

Lusaka 

Victoria Falls 

Kasane Livingstone 

Ndola 

Harare 

Lusaka 

Maun 

Victoria Falls 

Bulawayo 

Kasane Livingstone 

Harare 

Maun 

St Helena 

Bulawayo 

Polokwane Phalaborwa 

Windhoek 

Beira 

Gaborone 

Vilanculos 

Walvis Bay 

Hoedspruit 

Skukuza 

JNB Nelspruit 

Polokwane Phalaborwa 

Windhoek Sishen Gaborone 

Vilanculos 

Walvis Bay 

Kimberley 

Sikhupe Hoedspruit 

Upington 

Skukuza 

Richards Bay 

Bloemfontein MaseruJNB 

Pietermaritzburg Nelspruit 

Sishen 

Durban 

Kimberley 

Sikhupe 

Upington 

Mthatha Richards Bay 

Bloemfontein Maseru Pietermaritzburg 

East London 

Durban 

Cape Town George Port Elizabeth 

Mthatha 

East London 

Tete 

Nosy Be 

Pemba 

Nampula 

Nosy Be 

Pemba 

Antananarivo 

Nampula 

Beira 

Tete 

Antananarivo 

47425 

Cape Town 

George 

Port Elizabeth 

47425 

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IT’S A JUNGLE OUT HERE. 

A CONCRETE ONE TO BE PRECISE. 

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Brand South Africa

African Business 2020 edition

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