African leaders just concluded the 30th African Union summit under the theme: “Winning the Fight Against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation”. Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni, in particular, had a lot to share on the Africa Business and Investment Forum, a roundtable to promote African trade and diversification.
Although the Ugandan president has been in the news for saying he loves Trump after his alleged “shit hole” comment about African countries, he seems to also believe that Africa is ripe for investment.
He outlined his outlook on Africa via his Twitter page and gave five reasons why people should invest in Africa.
- Ready market of demanding Africans
Museveni shared, “Fifty-three years ago, I took my first lesson in Economics and the teacher told us demand equalled desire backed by ability to pay. Desires of Africans are slowly but surely being backed by ability to pay.”
- Africa’s purchasing power is growing
Museveni explained, “The projection, which I suspect to be conservative, indicates that this purchasing power will be $36 trillion by 2050.
- African governments have and continue to address bottleneck concerns, hence making it easier for people to come and invest
Speaking specifically about Uganda, Museveni wrote, “However, we have now addressed most of these bottlenecks. Our electricity production is going up, and we are addressing the high cost of money and transport. My strategic thinking tells me that Uganda is the right place for investors to go.”
- The African Union is doing more to facilitate trade across the continent and that fares well for investors
“A key problem for Africa was the fragmentation into 54 small markets. African leaders are now addressing this. This AU Summit has discussed the Continental Free Trade Area, which we intend to actualize by March this year. It will help resolve the fragmentation problem.”
- You have what Africa needs
Museveni advised, “The business people here, especially the Americans, have the advantage of savings, technology and entrepreneurship, to tap into these opportunities.
American entrepreneurship should be stepped up. The Chinese are overtaking you. An entrepreneur is someone who has spectacles to see where there are opportunities. And the Chinese are doing this better.”
