It’s a week since global investors gathered in Abuja for the most longed World Economic Forum. Ever since, there have been reports on the gains of the forum, for Nigeria and for the African region. While the event lasted, global leaders and indeed industry captains from Africa tried hard to work-along, hoping and pretending that what is going on outside the walls of Abuja Central Business Area, venue of the conference, did not exist, or at most, matter. But thoughts and reminisces from correspondents present at the conference suggest that the global leaders were not fooled on the minuses presented by the growing security concern in Nigeria. In this report, CHIBISI OHAKAH looks at the suggestion that discussions on the future of Africa were, after all, were overshadowed by the insecurity question.
Commentaries from business leaders in Africa and their allies from Europe and America at the just concluded World Economic Forum (WEF) point more towards ‘pleas’ and ‘persuasions’ than mere assurances and encouragements. This was as a result of the fears and concerns openly voiced out by participants, most of who are regarded as global economic key-holders.
Chairman of BhartiAirtel Africa, owners of Etisalat telecommunication company, Sunil Bhati Mittal, said: Africa is an article of faith. I believe in this continent.Group CEO, First Bank Plc.MrOlabisiOnasanya, sounded like one telling his associates that the benefits of investing in Nigeria weighed more than the insecurity in the land. Hear him: Nowhere in the world do you get the kind of returns you get in Africa. I do not see anything hindering any investor from settling for Nigeria
For chairman ofEmaar Properties, Mohamed Alabbar, there is no pretence. “Africa is going through growing pains, but the potential is great,” he said.Emaar Properties is a Dubai-based global property and development company. They are looking at Nigeria for a
potential investment in property development, malls & retail and hotels resorts & hospitality.
Chinese Premier, Li Keqiangin his speech said “Africa’s rise will make the world more stable, more democratic, and more robust.” His response was to be expected given the long standing interest of the Chinese business conglomerates to the African region and Nigeria in particular. In another speech, he assured that “Africa’s people have taken their destiny into their own hands.”
Chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Heineken International, Jean-Francois van Boxmeer, shared Keqiang’s feelings, and chose to be blunt. He told the audience: “Don’t be afraid to invest in Africa. ….as the economies of Africa grow, progressive businesses will grow with them”
AfDB’s effort to dispel pessimism
With the assertion, “Africa is not burning,” president of the African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka, said, tried perhaps more than any other to dispel the pessimism at the World Economic Forum on the Nigerian security question. He tried to justify what is going on in Nigeria with what happens elsewhere. Back in the 1990s, Kaberuka recalled, many more people in Africa were plagued by war and terror. “Our presence in Nigeria is really a statement that terrorism cannot win.”
Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World Economic Forum was similarly pleased, as around 1,000 participants from Africa and other parts of the world attended the forum in Abuja, despite the terror attacks. “There were only a few cancellations,” he observed, before asking the audience to join him in a minute of silence for the victims of the violence.
President Goodluck Jonathanhad thanked the participants and emphasized that he saw their presence as “moral support in the fight against terror”. He had started in his speech while declaring the conference open, by thanking the participants for defying the security threat and the stories being bandied around the globe that Nigeria is insecure. Did Jonathan help matters with the picture of
Africa that he painted and the requests that he put on the table of the participants?
Said Jonathan,“The theme of our conference is on Creating Jobs and Forging Inclusive Growth. So let me use this occasion to make a few remarks which will help set the stage for our discussions.
Unemployment a as forerunner to restiveness
“First, the need to create jobs is a global problem. The International Labour Organization estimates that in 2013 over 200 million people were unemployed around the world; and this included about 75 million young people between the ages of 15-24. Practically all countries around the world are concerned about job creation.
The developed economies, such as the United States ofAmerica, the UK and the Eurozone countries are all monitoring their employment numbers very closely to see if their economies are recovering from the recent global recession. In southern European countries such as Spain and Portugal, unemployment rates have remained high in recent years at above 20%.
“In fact, there have been many reported cases of reverse migration of young graduates from Portugal and Spain, who are now moving back to their former colonies such as Angola, Brazil and Mozambique to seek jobs! In Africa, we also have our employment challenges. The unemployment rates today are over 20% in many of our countries – Nigeria at about 24%, South Africa at 25%” he said.
Jonathan implied that Africa’s unemployment problem is compounded by youthful population and pending demographic transition, stressing that while Africa’s population, that of Europe is aging, making his audience believe that Africa’s problem stem more for the youthful population than good governance an provision of dividends of democracy, which is the root of restiveness and militancy.
“We have the challenge to provide jobs, housing and healthcare. If you walk down the streets in Europe, the median age of the person you see is about 40 years. In Asia, the median age of the person on the street is 29 years. In Africa, this median age is only 20 years, so it means that about half of the population in Africa today is under the age of 20 years. Demographers are also predicting that this youth population is going to grow even further.
“McKinsey, the consulting firm, has calculated that an additional 122 million workers will enter Africa’s labour force by 2020. And that, by 2035, the combined size of the African labour force would be greater than that of the most heavily populated countries in the world, including China.
This is daunting, and should be a wake-up call to all of us in Africa to work harder on job creation with a great sense of urgency. We have a lot of young people who are unemployed but who also do not necessarily have the required competencies or skills, even if the jobs are available and that again, is a major challenge.”
Did talks impress investors?
Yet the statements failed to disguise the fact that the conference organizers had originally hoped to set a different focus: Africa as a continent of the future. A continent that is prepared and able to address the challenges it faces. The coordinating minister of economy and minister of finance, NgoziOkonjo-Iweala, spoke almost beseechingly when she first had to answer questions about Nigeria’s security situation.
In a response that went virile hitting the social media like wild fire, she retorted: “It appears that people are looking at the continent for the long-term. They are seeing the potential.
They are not looking at the short-term risks.” On the Boko Haram insurgency and the efforts government is making to protect lives and investments, she snapped that she was tired of discussing the issue.
One recorded in the international media as ‘Nigerian media advisor,’BiolaAlabi, also seemed concerned that Africa’s image in the international media is still dominated by negative headlines:
“We should not only talk about the kidnapped girls. We should also talk about Africa’s rise.” These positive developments, she said, have been reported by African media which have made sure that “we cannot hide the truth.” This, she said, did not only apply to the dimension of the terror attacks, but also to the fight against corruption. In addition to mainstream media, Africans who are active on the Internet have also spread the message, Alabi said.
China’s choice of praises
Given China’s unhidden, huge interest in the Nigerian economy, Li Keqiang’s responses retorts were seemingly obvious. Alongside Africa’s security concerns, the continent’s relationship to China also played a prominent role at the forum.
China’s premier Li Keqiang was the only non-African head of state present. He used the opportunity to praise the continent for its positive economic figures and promised support for Africa’s ambitious plans to develop its infrastructure. According to him, it is what Africa needs for a sustainable economic development.
In his thinking, continent-wide railway and road networks, as well as functioning regional airports, are all needed for further growth. On a more concrete level, China’s premier announced that he will raise the upper limit for credits to African countries from 20 to 30 billion US dollars (14.5 to 22 billion euros). He also promised to raise China’s development budget for Africa from three to $5 billion dollars. And he gave an assurance that “China will never tie its support for Africa to political conditions.”
Questions as to whether Africa is making itself more dependent on China did not go down well with many Africans attending the conference. As the finance minister, MrsOkonjo-Iweala, defiantly put it, “Of course the Chinese have their own interests at heart, but I think that Africa is mature now.”
She pointed out that the laws in countries like Nigeria, for instance, require foreign companies to employ a minimum number of local personnel. Not even China could work its way around that. “The Chinese definitely want a long-term relationship with us. They don’t only want to exploit our natural resources,” she said.
Growth without jobs
Participants wondered how Nigeria can grow without jobs for the teaming youths, and therefore wanted to know how Jonathan hoped to take insecurity off the Nigerian street. One major concern of the forum’s participants is the fact that little has changed on the African job market despite the high growth rates.
President of the Dangote Group, AlikoDangote, had a herculean task convincing fellow investors at the conference that all was good in Nigeria despite the security concerns. “The African environment is fine, we only have to become active”, he said, as he brushed aside the critics who still regard many African countries as a risky investment.
In addition to his focus on cement production, Dangote now has his eye on the food industry: “We want to create 180,000 new jobs in Nigeria.” This, he said, is the best recipe against terror. He also criticized the massive flow of capital leaving Africa: “You have to invest your own money as an African, to create confidence for the foreigners to bring in their money.”
US investment guru Bob Diamond supported this view. It is no longer about simply making Africa attractive for investors, he said. The time has now come for the African banking sector to open up to small and medium sized businesses in order to bring the money closer to the markets.