African economies are growing strong and showing compelling prospects for greater wealth, the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Mr. Akinwumi Adesina, has said.
Adesina made this statement while opening the market at the London Stock Exchange in the United Kingdom on Wednesday.
The London Stock Exchange is the third largest in the world, which Africa is tapping into.
In a statement by the AfDB on its website, Adesina disclosed that in 2019, Africa had 110 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, with market capitalization of $197 billion.
According to him, 17 African countries grew by 3-5 per cent and 20 countries grew by 5 per cent and above.
Six of the fastest-growing economies in the world are in Africa.
He said that Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) to Africa grew at 11 per cent in 2019, far exceeding the 4 per cent growth in Asia.
Adesina added that this is even as FDI declined by 13 per cent globally and by 23 per cent in developed economies.
The AfDB boss also described the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as the largest free trade zone in the world considering its worth of $3.3 trillion.
“It’s time to recalibrate UK-Africa trade and investment and a good place to start on investments is infrastructure.
“The London Stock Exchange can help to unlock a lot of capital for meeting Africa’s investment opportunities.
“The AfDB has been a close partner of the London Stock Exchange and we participate on the Board of the London Stock Exchange Africa Advisory Group.
“We are delighted with our partnership on the companies that inspire Africa report,” he said.
He expressed the readiness of AfDB to work with the London Stock Exchange to deepen the development of capital markets in Africa, and attract UK investors to Africa.
“My ringing of the bell here today marks the beginning of a new, exciting, strategic and impactful engagement between the AfDB and the London Stock Exchange to expand wealth creation in Africa and the UK,” he said. (NAN)
