Africa is open for business is the clear message businessmen and politicians and are sending from the Africa-Dubai Business Summit.
Investing in the continent is considered risky, and African businessmen and governments understand addressing this is one of the key challenges to overcome in order to attract further investment. Covid-19 saw foreign direct investment to Africa slashed by 16 percent, with commodity-based economies hit hardest, according to United Nations figures.
The resource-rich continent is home to some of the least affluent countries, with the lowest ease of doing business rates, but some countries, like Botswana, are actively looking to turn things around. An upper-middle-income country, its ease of doing business ranking is 87 out of 190 countries.
But continent-wide, players are looking for ways to boost FDI, and one way is to, in parallel, boost peace and security.
“Peace and security eliminates fear for investors, and a strong judiciary ensures investor confidence,” said Senator Aplonia Unzverengwi, Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution in one Zimbabwean province. “The current state of instability, civil unrest, and bombings in some areas challenges peace and stability, thereby directly affecting the cross-border trade of goods.”
Economic performance and peace are intrinsically linked and better economic performance leads to peacebuilding and vice versa, 2018 research from the Institute for Economics and Peace found. GDP is three times higher in highly peaceful countries compared to countries with less peace.
“No country or countries can develop or grow economically without peace and security among its population and within its borders,” said Unzverengwi.
At the conference, British-Zimbabwean businessman Uebert Angel called on governments in Africa to create favourable policies and frameworks for investors, adding that he is an advocate for African solutions to African problems, but he is “open to help in the form of partnerships from elsewhere”.
Salwa Abdulaziz Zein (pictured above), CEO, The Private Office of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Faisal Al Qassimi, said at the conference this week: “We are here to fashion a journey together [between Dubai and Africa] that will transform lives. If we did it with our limited, arid land, imagine what we can do in Africa.”
The UAE is the fourth largest investor in Africa and has invested in 71 different projects worth $5.64 billion, according to research consultancy Knight Frank.
Africa’s economies hold massive untapped potential for investment, and the continent is keen to rake in foreign money across sectors.
“Africa is open for business,” Angel said.
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