Hussein Shobokshi IN a recent important economic study that covered some of the main or significant factors which will determine global trends, Africa was clearly highlighted to be the new low cost manufacturing base for the world. This base currently well established in Asia will move to Africa as labor is much cheaper there and the required infrastructure is slowly being developed. The last decade has seen a massive surge in the interest of investors in the Dark Continent. Funds have been pouring in Lagos, Accra and Nairobi. Sub-Saharan Africa is a surprising magnet for money managers. Foreign Direct Investment has dramatically increased by about 50 percent since the year 2005. Respected global financial houses such as JP Morgan have added Nigeria to their emerging markets index while also predicting that this will bring in over 1.5 billion US dollars in bonds to Nigeria which should help the country finance its infrastructure. At the same time there are many skeptics about the continent's “great golden age” who believe that this concept is extremely overblown. They say that the majority of African states are trapped in an ugly combination of poverty, corruption and misery. A new study which was conducted by a leading global institution declared that nine out of 11 countries in the world that are at the level of extreme risk of having a severe food crisis are African. Numbers on the other hand are telling us something important and worth paying attention to. The IMF states that Africa is enjoying 5 percent growth in its GDP in 2012 (predictions earlier were at 5.4 percent) and that is leaps and bounds more than the anemic growth in Europe for example. Africa is a great magnet for investors; its population is young, lives longer than it used to and is getting better healthcare and education. Rapid urbanization is improving efficiency and bringing a large number of investors to the continent's capital cities. Technology is playing an important role in improving the livelihood of the people through mobile phone networks. The last point is the great improvements that have been made in governance. Africa has been the hub of corruption for long but recent global corporate and government governance initiatives have resulted in a great improvement in the climate. People now want to work and invest in Africa. A well-known recruiting firm recently released a survey indicating that salaries in Africa-based positions have gone up by more than 30 percent. Simply put, Africa today is what China and India were ten years ago!
