After years in which the growth of the African economy was struggling to take off, the African continent presents many opportunities for members of the diaspora who wish to settle in Africa. What are these opportunities related to a return?
What are the African perspectives?
Forecasts of the International Monetary Fund predict a continuation of the growth momentum of the African economy during the coming years. The increases that notably occurred in Rwanda, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya are around 6 to 8% in 2016.
Added to this is the demographic explosion over a shorter or longer term which means development of infrastructure, education, health, transport, etc. This development implies interesting opportunities for the African diaspora wishing to settle in Africa.
Important issues for development
Many industries are to explore. Starting with solar energy. With the vast majority of African countries benefiting from more than 300 annual days of sunshine and lack of access to electricity for more than 600 million Africans, solar energy has many advantages. The startup M-Kopa gives Kenyan, Ugandan and Tanzanian people access to electricity.
Agribusiness is also an area that offers many opportunities. Africa is home to over 20% of uncultivated arable land, despite the fact that the continent imports about 70% of its wheat consumption. The Beninese start-up e-MAS aims to professionalize the different forms of agriculture and all the actors involved in the agricultural value chain by relying on ICT.
Digital technology: a must-have
We must not forget the digital, thanks to which many African countries have skipped steps and especially in the banking and telepayment sector. Among the latest solutions proposed, the Ivorian startup Timonn presents a solution to avoid using cash when paying for a product, which helps to overcome the problem of the circulation of money.
Initiatives are very numerous and concern many sectors of activity. Using the knowledge and expertise of the diaspora, Africa can boast of positioning itself in the ICT field as a future competitor of the United States and Europe.
Actors in the digital economy sector can look to Africa as a very promising market.
Technological zones as well as incubators have developed throughout the African continent, like the Technopark located in Casablanca or the CcHub in Lagos.
Nevertheless, the challenge related to the installation of adapted infrastructures must be raised in order to offer the possibility to digital to develop. This imperative requires investments in terms of infrastructures, sector of activity in search of sharp profiles.
Africa offers many opportunities for members of the diaspora who wish to return to live either in their country of origin or in another African country. The skills of this diaspora are unfortunately lacking in Africa. Putting its skills and know-how at the disposal of the development of the African continent is an opportunity to seize.
Leave a Reply