Skip to main content

Dubai hosts summit, positions self as Africa investment hub

Image
By
African officials, including four heads of state, convened with international CEOs at a summit Wednesday in Dubai, part of its push to position itself as a link for huge potential investments on the continent.

“We are looking at the fastest growing economy of the world … Six out of the top 10 fastest growing economies are just next to us in Africa,” said the president and CEO of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hamad Buamim.

Experts at the opening of “Next Generation Africa”, Dubai’s fourth Global Business Forum on Africa, said the continent’s 54 countries — home to a fifth of the world’s population — require tens of billions of dollars in investment in infrastructure, energy and other sectors.

Investment, Emirati officials hope, will be channeled through Dubai, a trading hub and member of the United Arab Emirates.

“We believe that Dubai’s strategic goals can be aligned with Africa’s ambitions as it enters a new phase of development,” said the Dubai chamber chairman, Majid Saif al-Ghurair.

The number of African companies registered in Dubai jumped to 17,000 last year, an increase of 41 percent from 2015, according to Ghurair.

Trade volume between UAE and Africa totals around $35 billion and has been growing at a double-digit rate annually.

“We see potential of a growing economy that has a lot of future … Africa is a great market,” Buamim told AFP on the sidelines of the two-day forum that has attracted four heads of state from Africa, several ministers and hundreds of investors and experts.

He said the forum is held to help channel investments to Africa through Dubai.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame told the meeting that Africa is witnessing speedy reforms and a faster pace of integration, especially among a number of regional economic blocs formed in the continent.

“A number of steps have been taken and progress has been made … In the next five to 10 years, we will see progress,” in the integration between the various economic blocs, Kagame said.

The president said a number of economic unity initiatives had been adopted in Africa in the fields of customs unions, infrastructure projects, electricity links and railway networks.

“Later on, the regional economic communities will join together … integration is happening,” said Kagame, as he called for greater investment inflow into Africa.

The Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA) said last month the continent must double its spending on infrastructure over coming years after a decline in 2016.

Last year, total investment in transport, energy, water and IT/communications amounted to $62.5 billion, down from $78.9 billion in 2015, it said.

Investments worth between $120 billion and $140 billion is needed in the short-term, said the report.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Post

Buhari tells Nigerians to change for a better future

By
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday set out his vision for a better Nigeria, imagining an incorruptible paradise where drivers don’t run red lights and internet scams are a thing of the past. In Buhari’s Nigeria, police turn down bribes from rich men driving SUVs, militants in the oil-rich Niger delta lay down their arms, rubbish is thrown in bins, not the street, and workers are on time. “I won’t sell my body for marks,” a student is quoted as saying in a promotional video to launch the initiative before a gathering of high-profile politicians in the presidential villa in Abuja. “I no go do yahoo yahoo or 419 again,” says another in pidgin English, referring to the online scams originating from Nigeria that have snared victims around the world. The “re-orientation campaign” conjures up images of social engineering and Big Brother-style state control but Buhari maintained it was first and foremost about a change in “mindset”. “We must resist the temptation to fall bac...
Post a Comment
Read more

Eating a combination of chilli and ginger could help prevent cancer

By
Past studies have suggested that capsaicin (an active component of chili peppers) may cause cancer. But in a new evidence by scientists, it was observed that the spicy compound in ginger, 6-gingerol, could counter the harmful effects of capsaicin. Researchers at the American Chemical Society, Washington DC, USA found out that eating chilli and ginger together could help prevent cancer. The compounds in ginger and chilli – capsaicin and 6-gingerol –bind to the same receptor on cells. They fed mice prone to lung cancer either capsaicin or 6-gingerol, or a combination of the two compounds. Mice fed with just capsaicin alone developed lung tumours, while those fed with 6-gingerol also had the disease. Interestingly, a large part of mice fed with both capsaicin and 6-gingerol didn’t develop lung cancer. Scientists are, however, optimistic that future studies will focus more on how exactly the compounds interact to help reduce cancer risk.
Post a Comment
Read more

Meet Ime Archibong; the Nigerian who runs things @Facebook

By
Looking at Facebook’s Director of Strategic Partnerships, Ime Archibong, one sees the figure of a Hollywood honcho; the type who keeps you glued to the tube in a box office thriller-crime movie. With his huge, tall frame sitting on a well built macho body, Archibong could have passed for another Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallion of Rambo fame. The difference, however, is that Archibong plies his trade in Silicon Valley and not in Hollywood. He directs activities at Facebook and not on a movie set. He leads the team focused on accelerating Facebook’s product strategy by establishing partnerships, driving product integrations and unlocking new business opportunities with leading companies across multiple industries and sectors. Call him Zuckerberg’s deputy and you would not be far from the truth, because they seem to be Siamese twins in fashioning new ideas that have transformed Facebook into something much more than a social media initiative. The fact that they are ...
Post a Comment
Read more