UN Global Compact head Sanda Ojiambo has told investors to do business with Africa, not just take its resources. She spoke to Business Insider Africa at the Unstoppable Africa summit.
Ojiambo is an Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. She named energy, critical minerals, digital finance, infrastructure, agriculture and the creative economy as strong areas for investment.
“The real opportunity is how we ensure that Africa itself is at the table,” Ojiambo said. “So we’re not looking at extracting from Africa or doing business in Africa. It’s about doing business with Africa.”
She placed energy near the top of her list. She pointed to Africa’s critical minerals, renewable resources and place in battery and electric vehicle supply chains.
Ojiambo said energy and digital growth go together. She named M-Pesa in East Africa and Flutterwave in West Africa as African payment success stories.
She said businesses need better infrastructure to trade across the continent. “We have the AfCFTA from a policy perspective, but we need infrastructure to move our goods and services across the continent,” she said.
Ojiambo said the biggest risk to investment is the way Africa is seen. She described a “prejudice premium” in how credit-rating agencies assess African economies.
She said the same premium affects the cost at which countries and companies raise money. “The narrative is not simply a PR exercise. We need to demonstrate that Africa is investable,” she said.
Ojiambo said that means stable policy, clear rules, the rule of law and more ready projects. She also wants African economies to put more of their own savings to work.
“Statistics tell us there’s close to $2 trillion of domestic capital sitting in pension funds on the African continent,” she said.
Ojiambo said Africa should process more of its farm produce and minerals before export. “Are we exporting lithium or are we going to produce batteries on site?” she asked.
She said profit and purpose must go together. Responsible business, she said, covers jobs, working conditions, supply chains, the environment and communities.
Ojiambo did not name any single country for investors to watch. “Africa is a continent that needs to progress as a whole,” she said.
Her own big bets would be infrastructure, energy and the African Continental Free Trade Area. She called the free trade area “a huge trading bloc”.
Source: this article is based on reporting by Business Insider Africa. Image: Business Insider Africa. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Business desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Anelisa Nkuna covers business and money news for Tzaneen Voice. Anelisa reports on the rand, fuel prices, interest rates, jobs, Eskom, Transnet, farming and company results. The aim is simple: explain what the numbers mean for household budgets, small businesses and workers in South Africa.