Africa - Business Growth, New Consumers

Boston Consulting Group recently published a thought provoking report "The African Challengers: Global Competitors Emerge from the Overlooked Continent".  The report calls the perspective that a continent with only 4% of the world's GDP is "out of date".  The report states:

"Between 2000 and 2008, Africa's annual GDP grew by 5.3% (adjusted for PPP), compared with 4% globally.  The rise in commodity prices partly explains this performance, but exports and local demand also played strong roles."

As always, the BCG report is thorough, with explanation and data to back up claims, and visuals and graphs to explain the information.  Download the complete report here.

List of the top global challengers according to the report:

This growth has the affect of opening up the markets for imports of consumer goods, and new services as the shopper/consumer strength grows with the PPP.  Exciting times!  And with the FIFA World Cup 2010 providing a showcase opportunity, BCG's timing is apropos and perhaps African markets are moving from Frontier to Emerging.

Desertec: Solar and Wind Energy

A project to generate energy for Europe from North Africa is being initiated by Desertec, see here.  Financial Times writes:

"... the most ambitious solar project is in north Africa. The Desertec Industrial Initiative is a plan to build a vast network of solar power plants and wind farms, covering the desert and stretching for hundreds of miles, and connected to an advanced electricity grid that will carry power generated round or under the Mediterranean sea to feed Europe’s appetite for energy.

Desertec – backed by a coalition of more than 10 big name companies, including Munich Re, the German insurer, Deutsche Bank, utilities RWE and Eon and Siemens – is likely to cost about $400bn (€302bn, £262bn). If successful, the project could supply as much as 15 per cent of Europe’s electricity needs by 2050."

What I found interesting is Desertec's request for donations for the project via the web, see here.  Desertec is empowering the individual to act through a validated message of need, yet the value needs to be made clear for the "call to action" to be advocated.