RenCap writes book on Africa’s economic transformation
Renaissance Capital, a leading emerging markets investment bank has outdoored a new book titled The Fastest Billion: The Story Behind Africa’s Economic Revolution.
The book, authored by Charles Robertson, Global Chief Economist for Renaissance Capital and a leading authority on emerging and frontier markets, together with 10 economists and analysts from the Firm, aimed at accelerating the world’s realisation that the economies of most African nations have transformed beyond recognition and are set to surpass the growth seen in Asia and India over the past 30 years.
This was contained in a statement issued in Accra on Wednesday.
“From the vantage point of many in the West, Africa remains a continent of woe – a place riddled with ethnic conflict, corrupt dictatorships, religious strife, war and famine”, the statement said.
It added that the flawed mythology that treated Africa as a homogenous disaster area was being challenged. “Seven years after entering Africa, and building the largest on-the ground presence of any international investment firm, Renaissance Capital’s Fastest Billion demonstrates that Africa’s day has arrived.”
The authors write a compelling account of the African economy today, showing how Africa’s accelerated economic growth has unleashed some of the most exciting business and social opportunities the world has ever seen.
They also demonstrate how Sub-Saharan Africa is charging forward on almost every front, and will surpass China and India as the economic growth story of the future.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, who wrote the foreword for The Fastest Billion, writes: “After decades of genuine struggle, Africa’s time has arrived, and its people are crying out to be recognised. Africa, as this book’s title rightly projects, will be quickest to succeed. The Fastest Billion argues that the best-performing nations of Sub-Saharan Africa today are poised for their own historic period of growth, driven not just by the continent’s rich, and still largely untapped, natural resources, but also its growing domestic strengths, its agricultural potential and its unique internal dynamism. For those still capable of being startled by the thought of Africa as a golden opportunity for investors, the book is a revelation.”
Charles Robertson adds: “Africa has firmly shifted into the high-growth camp after two decades of stagnation. The continent is thriving, with some of the fastest-growing countries doubling the size of their economies each decade. We believe now is Africa’s moment. The continent has all the necessary elements in place for a period of accelerated growth. Renaissance believes Africa’s economy will grow from $2 trillion today to $29 trillion by 2050 – greater than the current economic output of both the US and eurozone. Renaissance wants to take our readers on a journey of Africa to reveal what is making Africa the most exciting continent to do business in, and why we believe Africa will be the most rewarding place to do business in for the next 30 years.
Source: GNA