http://www.mbendi.com/a_sndmsg/news_view.asp?PG=295&I=145377
FRANKFURT, Germany, January 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
Improvement in infrastructure key challenge for development of the region
Risk of external shocks not averted
With an economic growth of 6 per cent forecast for 2014, sub-Saharan Africa
continues to defy the weak global economy. "The international financial
crisis has scarcely affected the region," is the conclusion reached in a
new study by Commerzbank. On the one hand, this was due to the somewhat low
dependency on exports, which amounted to just less than 20 per cent, to the
ailing European countries. On the other hand, the countries in the region
rich in raw materials were benefitting from the ongoing high prices for raw
materials, and were increasingly developing into lucrative growth markets
arousing international interest. Even though there were still deficits in
terms of the democratisation and efficiency of the political institutions
in individual countries, political and economic stability had increased.
There are many reasons for the improved crisis-resistance: Debt relief on
the part of the World Bank and the IMF has contributed to this, as has the
increasing democratisation of countries, which also encompasses minorities,
thus promoting stability and growth. "An important key to the long-term
increase in economic dynamism and the export earnings of sub-Saharan Africa
is the development and improvement of infrastructure," said Rainer Schäfer,
head of Commerzbank's Country Risk Analysis. To date the infrastructure had
essentially geared to the transport of mineral resources and agricultural
products. Despite the progress attained with the number of ports, many
land-locked states only had limited access to cost-favourable transport by
sea.
Yet the latecomer position in the global development carousel of the region
also offers opportunities such as technological "leapfrogging", the
skipping of individual development stages, states the study. It was
possible to tackle electricity bottlenecks, triggered by growing demand for
energy in the wake of robust economic growth, from the very outset thanks
to environmentally-friendly, cheap, and effective technologies. "A great
deal of appropriate opportunities open up to foreign investors with the
corresponding know-how in the field of renewable energies such as solar
technology, wind power, and biogas from biomass," explained Florian Witt,
regional head Africa department at Commerzbank's Financial Institutions.
Ethiopia, Malawi, und Mozambique were already focusing on biodiesel from
the jatropha plant, which thrived on low-yield soils.
As a result of its wealth of raw materials sub-Saharan Africa is heavily
dependent on the global economy. The key sectors produce for export, which
generates hard currency for vital imports. For this reason, in its study
Commerzbank analyses how resistant sub-Saharan Africa is to external
shocks: Ongoing weak global economic growth had to date only affected
sub-Saharan Africa to a minor degree. Discoveries of oil fields, like in
Angola for example, had placed the national economies on a new footing. The
economic catching-up process was in full swing and a weak global economy
would not stop this. A further factor was the strategic significance which
above all China attached to sub-Saharan Africa so as to safeguard its
supply of raw materials, and which had prompted it to make further
investment in the region.
"Even if the risk of external shocks cannot be fully excluded, we believe
that the probability of a disaster hitting the countries of sub-Saharan
Africa and severely affecting further economic development is, on the
whole, low," is the conclusion reached by Rainer Schäfer and Florian Witt.
With 6 representative offices between Cairo and Johannesburg, as well as
500 bank and 250 institutional clients, Commerzbank is the number one among
the German-speaking banks for corporate client business in Africa. It has
been active there for 60 years already and maintains business relations to
50 of the 54 countries on the continent. It cooperates with governments,
local banks, and central banks above all. Commerzbank processes 11 per cent
of all euro payments to other countries from Africa and 35 per cent of all
trade financing with Germany.
The study can be downloaded at:
https://www.commerzbank.de/media/en/research/economic_research/sonderstudien/afrika_studie_d.PDF
About Commerzbank
Commerzbank is a leading bank in Germany and Poland. It is also present
worldwide in all markets for its customers as a partner to the business
world. With the business areas Private Customers, Mittelstandsbank,
Corporates & Markets and Central & Eastern Europe, it offers its private
and corporate clients as well as institutional investors the banking and
capital market services they need. With some 1,200 branches Commerzbank has
one of the densest branch networks among German private banks. In total,
Commerzbank boasts nearly 15 million private customers, as well as 1
million business and corporate clients. In 2012, it generated revenues of
just under EUR 10 billion with approximately 56,000 employees on average.
Press contact:
Martin Halusa: Tel.: +49-69-136-85331
Kirsten Böddeker: Tel.: +49-69-136-85466
Topics:Results / StatisticsLocation:Africa; Angola; Bahrain; Benin;
Botswana; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cameroon; Cape Verde; Central African
Republic; Chad; Comoros; Congo; Côte d'Ivoire; Democratic Republic of The
Congo; Djibouti; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Gabon; Gambia;
Germany; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Iran; Iraq; Israel; Jordan; Kenya;
Kuwait; Lebanon; Lesotho; Liberia; Madagascar; Malawi; Mali; Mauritania;
Mauritius; Mayotte; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria; Oman; Palestine
National Authority; Qatar; Réunion; Rwanda; Saint Helena; São Tomé and
Príncipe; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; Somalia; South
Africa; Swaziland; Syria; Tanzania; Togo; Uganda; United Arab Emirates;
Yemen; Zambia; ZimbabweIndustries:Banking and
FinancingReference:PRN:enUK201401218102Contact E-mail Address:N/ADate
Posted:22.Jan.2014 23:30:00 [GMT+2:00]
Expiry Date:23.Jan.2024
Received on Sun Mar 09 2014 - 12:02:07 EDT