AFRICA
A new and evolving paradigm change is emerging in Africa which promises to focus attention from governments, international development organisations and investors around the world. It is one of the world’s fastest-growing regions and one that is poised to become a global player economically and consequently can no longer be ignored. It is a region that we at Pynnacle know well, and one that the IMF has also acknowledged:
“Sub-Saharan Africa's economic growth is expected to increase to six percent in 2014, from five percent in 2013, supported by investment in infrastructure and production capacity” while attributing the main factor behind the continuing underlying growth to “ ... strong domestic demand…and export capacity in many countries."
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) - 2013 (Reuters).
This region has come increasingly into more focus over the last decade and can no longer be ignored economically, socially as well as politically.
It is a region that we are frequently seeing increased activity by our clients and one that we have come to know very well over the past two decades with Nigeria as it’s biggest economy.
“By contrast, Nigeria - the Continent's top oil producer which overtook South Africa as its biggest economy this year [2014] after a dramatic GDP rebasing - is forecast to expand 7 percent this year [2014] and 7.3 percent in 2015"
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) - 2013 (Reuters).
Visionary Thoughts
Climate Change
“Someday, our children, and our children’s children, will look at us in the eye and they’ll ask us, did we do all that we could when we had the chance to deal with this problem and leave them a cleaner, safe, more stable world?” - President Barack Obama, June 25, 2013
For those who think climate change is another ‘reality TV show’…they’re right, with all of us as active participants. We all have a part to play, today. Action required is now to secure our planet & our children’s future. Business as usual is not an option!
Sustainable Development
Africa is and will remain one of the world’s fastest-growing regions for the foreseeable future. Real GDP rose by 4.9 percent a year from 2000 through 2008, more than twice its pace in the 1980s and ’90s. Telecommunications, banking, and retailing are flourishing, construction is booming, private-investment inflows are surging.
Undoubtedly, many of Africa’s 50-plus individual economies face serious challenges, including poverty, disease, and high infant mortality, yet Africa’s collective GDP at US$1.6 trillion in 2008, was roughly equal to Brazil’s or Russia’s. This acceleration is a sign of hard-earned progress and promise. What role will sustainable development play in Africa?
Digital Mobile Money
As enthusiasm for mobile-phone-based payments grows in Africa, operators are rushing to get a piece of potentially lucrative and ever-expanding markets and to challenge more popular and established mobile-payment services. So far, most of the talk about mobile money has been about the huge success of M-Pesa in Kenya and other countries since its launch in 2007. The mobile-phone-based money transfer system is now available in seven African countries and it has 16.8 million active customers, of which the vast majority are in Africa. It handles more than $1 billion in transactions per month in Kenya alone and it charges about 1% of the total amount being sent. Not surprisingly, the banking industry is keen to roll out similar services. With currency transactions constantly evolving, the question is which of these emerging payment solutions are likely to be sustainable into the future?
Sidebar Menu
News & Events
