Cyclones, bomb attacks, wars and coups in various parts of Africa have increased the continent’s business risk in 2019. This is according to executive director and founder of EXX Africa, Dr Robert Besseling, who said there were however still pockets of optimism. “Economies like Ethiopia, for example, are growing again – achieving a record 8% GDP this year. Various other African countries in the east and west like Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal, or Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are all growing at record rates, often over 6% of real GDP growth. That’s what makes Africa exciting.” He said there were several key developments across the continent – among them the start of what could become the world’s largest free trade union. Besseling said while not everyone on the continent had bought into the agreement, it was good news for economic recovery overall. But, he said, there was no denying the risk factors on the continent. While countries in the past had been shielded from global events, they were now increasingly being exposed to global trends such as oil price volatility or interest rate hikes in large developed economies. Over and above local political, economic and security risks they could also be affected negatively by Brexit or the US-China trade war. He said Nigeria, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo were closely monitored internationally due to the important trade role these economies played globally. Nigeria, for example, had been cited as very risky prior to its elections earlier this year said Besseling, but had since stabilised.
