Africa seen as the next frontier

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund expect rapid growth in Africa from now on, and many business leaders are positioning themselves to capitalise on this. The Washington-based World Bank says that growth in sub-Saharan Africa would “strengthen” to 5.3% in 2014 – up from its 5.1% projection. The bank forecast that Ethiopia, Mozambique, Niger, Sierra Leone and Rwanda be among the fastest growing countries in the world. But South Africa would lag the rest of the region because of “weak growth in major trading partners, especially Europe, labour unrest and mining strikes, burdensome regulations, and infrastructure gaps. Its view was shared by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).