- Internet penetration is set to grow more over the next five years than it has over the past 15: The SEACOM project went live in July 2009 and promises to deliver mass, affordable broadband bandwidth at a fraction of current cost.
- Africans are using digital communication tools to do business, not to ‘friend’ strangers: From farmers in rural Uganda to Black Diamonds in urban South Africa, Africans are using mobile technology to facilitate business transactions locally and globally.
- The ROI is the best you can get right now: According to the World Bank, the probability of an African country experiencing growth acceleration increased to 46% in the last decade, up from 21% in the previous decade; the probability of growth deceleration decreased to 12%, down from 36%. Africa is moving in the right direction. This is the time to invest. As Mo Ibrahim pointed out at the Changes conference in Tanzania, March 2009:
We need to let everybody know that the return of investment in Africa is the highest in the world over the last four or five years.
Bottom line is that for Africa and its 53 nations, the only way is up. At some point, the game of Africa as the global village’s problem child had to play itself out. That time is now. You have a new generation of Africans across the continent who are not emotionally or mentally tied to the harrowing history and psychological limitations associated with that. The new generation has the same aspirations as their peers around the globe – to make a good living, drive a nice car, be able to educate themselves and their children and to just generally enjoy a decent, stable life. Nothing more, nothing less and certainly not too much to ask.
