President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) says Africa remains fertile for investments, especially in the healthcare sector.
Africa has a mere 365 pharmaceutical companies in total, compared to 7,000 in China and 11,000 in India.
Speaking at the U.K-Africa Investment Conference, Dr Adesina, urged British investors to pay attention to Africa’s health industry.
“That’s where the next frontier is,” Dr Adesina said.
Speaking further at the Investment Conference that brought together UK and African businesses and government leaders to discuss investment and partnership opportunities, Dr Adesina noted Africa still possessed the same fundamentals that had driven the continent’s phenomenal growth over the past decade.
He spoke about the ample opportunities Africa offers in terms of natural resources, vast tracts of arable land, a young and rapidly urbanizing population as well as highlighted the potential presented by the newly launched African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
“The fundamentals in those phenomenal growth rates in Africa are still there…Africa still leads in terms of ease of doing business…It’s very exciting, the digital explosion that you see in Africa today,” Dr Adesina stated.
Four sectors namely sustainable infrastructure, renewable energy, financial and professional services, agriculture and agri-tech were discussed in the one-day virtual U.K.-Africa Investment Conference organized by the UK Department for International Trade.
Participants of the Investment Conference included UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Minister for Africa James Duddridge, Minister for Investment Gerry Grimstone, as well as business leaders from Standard Bank, pharmaceuticals firm AstraZeneca and mobile operator Vodacom.
The conference follows last year’s successful UK-Africa Investment Summit, hosted in London by the Prime Minister, where 27 trade and investment deals worth £6.5 billion and commitments valued at £8.9 billion were announced. At the time, Africa was home to eight of the world’s 15 fastest-growing economies amid a groundswell of optimism about its economic upswing.
