I have decided to adopt this title for today's post ironically but do not think it is appropriate, as the subject hereunder discussed construes serious matter.
In other form, I would have asked if increasing private sector involvement, to an extent that overwhelms public sector and charity altogether will be enough to bring the ever sought human development on the African continent.
Statistics on foreign aid to African's development (estimated at more than $600 billion since 1960s) hint that the continent has been huge receiver of hundreds of billions of dollars of donors' money, but evidence suggests that these funds have been the curse that has fed today's rampant extreme poverty and isolation for the populations and unparalleled levels of corruption amongst politicians and local businesses.
Africa has increasingly become an attractive place for private business ventures in sinc with China's interest on the continent, fuelled by its thirst for natural resources. The continent has been seeing a growing number of western private investors, adventurers and mercenaires all interested to level of returns unseen nowhere on earth. Some are organized to modern forms of private equity firms developing ventures in various sectors, from agri-business to mining, to oil&gas, to energy, to sustainable ventures having the aim to reinvest profits locally. A few are simply mainstream investment banks moving ahead of the curve and snapping already organized local bunch of Harvard alumni that have headed home attracted by opportunities otherwise increasingly less available in the Western hemisphere.
I recently came across a Business Week article which details struck but comforted me by its level of details and evidence brought about to support the report: "Can Greed save Africa?". This article by Roben Farzad looked at a collection of successful ventures started on the continent by improbable business people who have had the courage and the guts to take risk and exposure to the continent, against all the negative press and scare Africa normally boasts.
The article features Mozambique as a hot spot, alongside traditional places with huge opportunities like Nigeria, Kenya, and Zambia. Mozambique only recently gained business prominence following decades of war that had ravaged the country and depleted one of its most precious resource: its human capital.
The following pieces will help assess information on the advancement of private sector involvement in Africa and the benefits it might be bringing to the continent in terms of employment, western business mentality and above world average growth:
- Can Greed Save Africa by Roben Farzad http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_50/b4062046700574.htm
- Africa Sees 27% Surge in FDI by FT Andrew England
http://www.ft.com/intl/world/africa
- Sub-Saharan Inequality Threatens Stability by FT Katrina Manson
http://www.ft.com/intl/world/africa
In other form, I would have asked if increasing private sector involvement, to an extent that overwhelms public sector and charity altogether will be enough to bring the ever sought human development on the African continent.
Statistics on foreign aid to African's development (estimated at more than $600 billion since 1960s) hint that the continent has been huge receiver of hundreds of billions of dollars of donors' money, but evidence suggests that these funds have been the curse that has fed today's rampant extreme poverty and isolation for the populations and unparalleled levels of corruption amongst politicians and local businesses.
Africa has increasingly become an attractive place for private business ventures in sinc with China's interest on the continent, fuelled by its thirst for natural resources. The continent has been seeing a growing number of western private investors, adventurers and mercenaires all interested to level of returns unseen nowhere on earth. Some are organized to modern forms of private equity firms developing ventures in various sectors, from agri-business to mining, to oil&gas, to energy, to sustainable ventures having the aim to reinvest profits locally. A few are simply mainstream investment banks moving ahead of the curve and snapping already organized local bunch of Harvard alumni that have headed home attracted by opportunities otherwise increasingly less available in the Western hemisphere.
I recently came across a Business Week article which details struck but comforted me by its level of details and evidence brought about to support the report: "Can Greed save Africa?". This article by Roben Farzad looked at a collection of successful ventures started on the continent by improbable business people who have had the courage and the guts to take risk and exposure to the continent, against all the negative press and scare Africa normally boasts.
The article features Mozambique as a hot spot, alongside traditional places with huge opportunities like Nigeria, Kenya, and Zambia. Mozambique only recently gained business prominence following decades of war that had ravaged the country and depleted one of its most precious resource: its human capital.
The following pieces will help assess information on the advancement of private sector involvement in Africa and the benefits it might be bringing to the continent in terms of employment, western business mentality and above world average growth:
- Can Greed Save Africa by Roben Farzad http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_50/b4062046700574.htm
- Africa Sees 27% Surge in FDI by FT Andrew England
http://www.ft.com/intl/world/africa
- Sub-Saharan Inequality Threatens Stability by FT Katrina Manson
http://www.ft.com/intl/world/africa
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