Africa Business Communities

Business Leaders Cite Investment As Key To Africas Growth Path

In a presentation at the Vodafone African Business Leaders Forum, Alec Erwin, CEO, UBU Investment Holdings, South Africa, highlighted the need for African leaders to have a focused developmental strategy in order to attract investment.

“It is important to have clarity of purpose,” said Erwin. “We need to attract resources in order to develop infrastructure in Africa, and we will only be able to do this through establishing public private partnerships.”

He emphasised that only by stabilising the economy, legal system and capital markets, can African countries gain the foreign investment that they require.

“It can’t be done by proceeding with ‘business as usual,’” he added. “It means changing the way we govern in Africa.”

Dr. IrajAbedian, Pan- African Capital Holdings, South Africa, agreed, “If we don’t actively engage and take the appropriate action, we will miss out on investment opportunities in Africa. We need to graduate from being subject to being citizen,” said Abedian. “A responsible citizen…an engaged citizen.”

According to Dr. Kofi Amoah, CEO, Progeny Ventures Incorporated, Ghana, “some investors come to Africa, look and turn away. To build a new paradigm, we need to consider key blueprint issues on the continent,” he explained. “These include our political space; human rights; the psychological state of our people; and the global environment.”

These comments were made during a debate on how to tackle Africa’s developmental challenges.  All of the panelists on this session form part of the African Business Leaders Forum Advisory Team.

 

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