A busy textile manufacturing facility in Africa with workers producing clothing and fabrics.
The International Monetary Fund forecasts that Africa’s economic growth will outpace Asia’s for the first time this year, with sub-Saharan Africa expected to expand at 4.6% compared to Asia’s 4.1%. Several African nations are expected to register double-digit growth rates, driven largely by the continent’s youthful demographics—Africa boasts the world’s youngest population and will comprise a quarter of global inhabitants by 2050. For Africa to realize its full potential and continue growing, experts urge massive investment in education and the creation of millions of formal jobs. Meanwhile, policymakers argue that international investors systematically underestimate the continent’s opportunities, creating a risk perception gap that makes securing necessary capital investment increasingly difficult for their rapidly developing economies.
Semafor