A Bigger, Brighter Future

While African business leaders admire the United States, I found some of what they said about U.S. businesses surprising and at odds with what I understand U.S. business to be. Bob Rubin had the same reaction, in particular to what African business had shared about U.S. corporate hesitancy. “I don’t agree with that, ” he said, “not at all. Look at how much of the technological development in the world takes place in this country. It’s a goal-oriented, entrepreneurially oriented culture.”

That’s true of the U.S. technology sector today and has characterized broad swaths of the U.S. economy at different stages of its history. Constant innovation, investment in the face of uncertainty, and vast room for both error and success are features that make the U.S. technology sector a powerhouse today. They also characterize the opportunity in Africa for a broad set of mature industries in the United States.

Mike Rieger is the TE SubCom executive who worked with Funke Opeke to lay the Main One subsea cable. It’s one of two major subsea cables SubCom has laid in Africa. The company has its roots in Bell Labs, and was part of the team that laid the first trans-Atlantic phone cables between North America and Europe in the 1950s. “We need to stay at the frontier to win, ” Mike said. “That has always been our history. First between the U.S. and Europe, then to Japan, Asia, and Latin America and now Africa. Working with companies like Main One keeps us at that frontier, where we continue to see growth.” Most recently, the New Jersey–based SubCom is bidding on subsea cables linking Africa to Brazil, part of a broad “south–south” growth area for the company.

SubCom, like Cummins, is symbolic of the way U.S. companies are evolving and winning in Africa. Though pointed in his counsel to U.S. companies, James Mwangi expressed optimism for prospects in the United States and its relationship to his market. “America is going to be able to reinvent itself, ” he said. “I’m not sure Europe will be able to. So the question is, what is America’s role? What will it reinvent itself as? ”

I would describe it not so much as a reinvention as a rediscovery. Africa is a continent where bureaucracy is declining, where optimism in the private sector is rising, and where there is more opportunity than constraint. While the commercial opportunity is quantifiable, the true opportunity for U.S. companies may be in reigniting the dynamism elusive in more mature markets. GE’s Jeff Immelt captures that perspective in considering what Africa means to GE, even beyond the income and revenue generated there:

What makes companies like ours competitive is that we have had to go to every corner of the world and sing for our dinner. I find the challenges of Africa to be immensely personally exciting, as I think others in GE do. It makes us humble and challenges the company to transform again. You always need to be throwing the company in front of challenges like this. It makes us faster, it makes us more entrepreneurial. Being in Africa doesn’t just make us better in Africa. It makes us better everywhere.

Epilogue

In writing Success in Africa, I had no aspiration to save Africa. Africa needs no saving. But in the process, I found that Africa might just help “save” the United States and the role of corporations in national life. Like Adam Smith, I believe in markets serving society. In Africa there are many examples of that happening, and there is space for it to happen more.

Though we often think of it as old, Africa is a new place in almost every way. Its governments are young and its people are young. Its economies are young and growing rapidly. It is time to replace our old image of Africa with this new one.

Africa is a place to be understood in parts and in the whole. Its diversity has at times led to underperformance and even war, but ultimately that diversity is a rich heritage and a source of opportunity. The emerging business leadership in Africa is drawing the continent closer together, displacing local cronyism with genuine competitive strength, and unleashing the continent’s potential as a whole. Investors like ECP’s Tom Gibian and industrialists like Cummins’s Tim Solso have unlocked value in that differentiated whole.

Africa is a place where opportunity doesn’t sit alongside need. Opportunity is embedded in universal need. It’s fueled by it. Understanding that need, as Equity Bank’s James Mwangi has, and meeting it with invention and dignity have proved a profitable path to growth for African and global businesses alike.

That growth requires embracing uncertainty and embedding leadership deep in operations. Like Vimal Shah’s Bidco, successful companies that don’t find what they need around them are prepared to build it, lead it, or catalyze it. It’s a bigger role than companies typically play in a developed economy, as SABMiller has exemplified. The relationship between companies and government (or at least the relationships that work) are of broad-based collaboration and flexibility, though relationships need not be so flexible as to bend core corporate values. Like Africa itself, Success in Africa is filled with companies winning with their values reaffirmed.

But the story of Africa is unfinished. Many of the trends described in Success in Africa are still underway, some just beginning. Their outcomes are by no means certain.

Africa is becoming Africa, but as that phrase suggests, Africa’s integration is in the present tense. The continent’s many trade agreements are still materializing, especially in the regulatory details that really build markets. The East African Community has a free trade zone, but there can still be a schoolteacher shortage in Tanzania and a glut in neighboring Kenya, because cross-border licensing is not harmonized. Many travelers still find it easier to travel between African destinations via Paris, London, or Dubai than directly. In the world of powerful blocs that Mo Ibrahim describes in chapter 3, these practicalities will drive the pace of African opportunity.

Governments create more economic space today than in the past, but Africans will expect more of them going forward. James I. Mwangi reflected that “a certain amount of what we’ve achieved has just been about government getting out of the way.” In some areas, like telecoms, many of them have gotten out of the way smartly, creating space and an enabling environment for a competition that serves the population and advances development. In the future, more will be asked of African governments. In particular, the development of physical and social infrastructure on the continent must be guided by government, even if business’s role is large and well-played. Kenya’s Vision 2030 is a model on which to build.

On a par with infrastructure is stability. As I was in the final weeks of drafting Success in Africa, four African countries faced constitutional crises. In Ghana and Kenya, presidential elections were disputed, but peaceably, and in accordance with the law. These are successes, indicia that Africa will manage crises effectively and in a way that fosters growth. In Egypt, however, the president unilaterally assumed power on the path to passing a disputed constitution. In Mali, an insurrection led to military intervention by France, the recently colonial European power. France’s intervention may have been warranted, and events there and in Egypt may turn out fine. However, to foster growth, Africa needs to see fewer solutions of that kind, and more like those in Ghana and Kenya.

Finally, there is Africa’s youth bulge. Few topics engender as much hopeful and harrowed rhetoric. There is a steady stream of reports from investors extolling its virtues and from development agencies decrying its dangers. Though I’m generally inclined toward the former, the latter are not unsubstantiated. Africa is not Saudi Arabia, and cannot afford to keep masses of young people on the dole. They will work, in one form or another, to be sure. However, to avoid widespread underemployment and disaffection, African economies will need to generate more productive, stable jobs for the 122 million people joining the workforce this decade.¹ Africa may well not follow the path of European, American, or even recent Asian industrialization, but I would look for sectors to emerge that can absorb large numbers of productive youth, including services and a deepened agricultural sector such as Olam’s Sunny Verghese envisions in chapter 4.

If past performance is any indication, Africa’s accomplishments since the turn of the century offer hope for each of these trajectories. It is an extraordinarily inspiring place to work.

It’s inspiring because it’s a turnaround, perhaps the greatest of our lifetimes. Consider Rwanda. For many people my age, it is a word synonymous with tragedy. My colleague on this project, Jonathan Kirschner, is fourteen years my junior. He says that when he sees the word Rwanda, it invokes competence and emerging prosperity. What could speak more plainly to the power of renewal, even in the most dire circumstances?

It’s inspiring to be on the frontier, where things are being created. You find the most energized people there, and the greatest opportunities. Many in business seek a comfortable zone and commodify. That’s not Africa, and not the people who succeed in Africa. They invent. Consider GE, a 120-year-old company with management systems that help make it the fiercest of competitors in mature markets. Yet GE’s leadership enters Africa with the intent to compel innovation in their company, and compel change.

Africa is inspiring because it affords businesspeople an extraordinary—perhaps unrivaled—opportunity to achieve great projects that improve people’s lives by the millions. Consider Funke Opeke and Main One Cable, bringing the world’s information to a Nigerian market of 170 million people, 71 percent of whom have no Internet today.² How many lives will be saved, transformed, and invented by the information that will flow in and out of that cable?

I find those supremely exciting enterprises in which to play a part. Should you become a part of it, I would welcome hearing from you. If Africa is a rising continent, it rises on ambitions like these.

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 1

1. General Electric, 2012 Annual Report. Fairfield, CT; 3.

2. The Africa Report, Top 500 Companies in Africa. February 2012. http: //www.theafricareport.com/Top-500-Companies/top-500-companies.html. Accessed December 10, 2012.

3. McKinsey Global Institute, Lions on the Move: The Progress and Potential of African Economies (June 2010), 7.

4. Boston Consulting Group, The African Challengers: Global Competitors Emerge from the Overlooked Continent (June 2010), 2.

CHAPTER 2

1. The Economist, May 13, 2000.

2. The Economist, December 3, 2011.

3. “The 20 Most Powerful People in Africa Business, ” Forbes, April 15, 2011, accessed March 23, 2013, http: //www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2011/04/15/the-20-most-powerful-people-in-african-business/7/.

4. Institute for Economics and Peace, Global Peace Index, 2012 (June 2012), 9.

5. Rafael Grasa and Oscar Mateos, Conflict, Peace and Security in Africa: An Assessment and New Questions After 50 Years of African Independence, 9. (ICIP Working Papers 2010/08).

6. The Center for Systemic Peace, Global Conflict Trends, last updated October 31, 2012, accessed December 12, 2012, http: //www.systemicpeace.org/conflict.htm).

7. “A Glass Half-full, ” The Economist, March 31, 2012.

8. PricewaterhouseCooper, The Africa Business Agenda (July 2012), 9. (pwc.com/theagenda)

9. U.S. Census Bureau, International database, accessed December 20, 2012, http: //www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/informationGateway.php.

10. John Metzler, Making Sense of Post-Colonial Africa, 1960–2007, (African Studies Center, Michigan State University, 2008), 22, http: //ebookbrowse.com/making-sense-of-post-colonial-africa-1960-2008-adapted-from-original-ppt-d185161372) Accessed December 25, 2012.

11. McKinsey Global Institute, Lions on the Move, 20.

12. McKinsey Global Institute, Lions on the Move, 20.

13. Africa’s Future and the World Bank’s Support to It (The World Bank, March 2011), 3.

14. “Africa’s Mobile Phone Industry ‘Booming’” BBC News, September 11, 2011, accessed December 18, 2012, http: //www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15659983.

15. UN Commission on Trade & Development, Mobile Banking: UNCTAD Report, Africa Research Bulletin: Economic, Financial and Technical Series, 48: 19345A–19346B. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6346.2011.04259.x. 2012.

16. Mark Mobius, “Africa: Investing in the Cradle of Civilization: Part 2, ” Investment Adventures in Emerging Markets, Franklin Templeton Investments, May 9, 2012, accessed December 28, 2012, http: //mobius.blog.franklintempleton.com/2012/05/09/africa-investing-in-the-cradle-of-civilization-part-2/.

17. SABMiller, Annual Report, 2012, accessed December 28, 2012, http: //www.sabmiller.com/files/reports/ar2012/2012_annual_report.pdf.

CHAPTER 3

1. A.A. Taylor, Sam Jonah and the Remaking of Ashanti (Johannesburg: Pan MacMillan, 2006), 1–46.

2. Private Equity Africa.com, accessed March 28, 2013, http: //www.privateequityafrica.com/analysis/africa-2011-pe-deals-close-at-3bn/

3. Peter Wonacott, “An Entrepreneur Weathers a Tumultuous Arab Spring, ” The Wall Street Journal, July 17, 2012.

4. “Cevital Group to Boost Rwanda Agriculture Sector, ” The Rwanda Focus, December 12, 2011.

5. Joe Bavier, “Algeria’s Cevital Targets Ivory Coast Expansion, ” Reuters, June 8, 2012, accessed March 25, 2013, http: //www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/08/ivorycoast-agriculture-cevital-idAFL5E8H88WN20120608.

6. Ernst & Young, “Growing Beyond, ” 31.

CHAPTER 4

1. The Rise of the African Consumer (McKinsey: Africa Consumer Insights Center, October 2012), 1.

2. Kristina Flodman Becker, “The Informal Economy, ” SIDA Fact Finding Study, March 2004.

3. Friedrich Schneider, Size and Measurement of the Informal Economy in 110 Countries Around the World, World Bank Working Paper, (July 2002), 6.

4. Miles Morland, “Notes from Africa 2, ” (June 2011), 11.

5. Equity Bank Investor Briefing, September 30, 2012, 35.

6. Roland Berger, “Profits through Progress: How Investors Can Help Low Income Countries Building Infrastructure Projects Vital for Growth While Reaping Returns, ” June 2012, 3.

7. “Cellulant Wins Sh745m Nigeria Subsidy Contract, ” Daily Nation, Nairobi, April 11, 2012.

8. “The African Business” (PricewaterhouseCoopers, July 2011).

CHAPTER 6

1. “The Africa Business Agenda” (PricewaterhouseCoopers, July 2011), 35.

2. “GDP in Current U.S. Dollars—Not Adjusted for Inflation, ” World Bank national accounts data, World Bank, last updated October 31, 2012, accessed January 5, 2013, http: //databank.worldbank.org/data/views/reports/tableview.aspx? isshared=true& ispopular=series& pid=2#.

3. Mo Ibrahim, “Celtel’s Founder on Building a Business on the World’s Poorest Continent, ” Harvard Business Review (September 26, 2012). Used with permission.

CHAPTER 7

1. scholar.google.com, search conducted January 16, 2013.

2. Nicholas Kristof, “Africa on the Rise, ” The New York Times, June 30, 2012.

3. Vivien Foster, William Butterfield, Chuan Chen, and Nataliya Pushak, Building Bridges: China’s Growing Role as Infrastructure Financier for Sub-Saharan Africa, World Bank, https: //openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/2614, https: //openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/2614, 16; Richard Schiere and Alex Rugamba, Chinese Infrastructure Investments and African Integration, Working Paper Series, AfDB, No. 127, May, 2011, 13.

4. China–Africa Trade and Economic Relationship Annual Report 2010, Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) June 22, 2011, 2; Mary-Franç oise Renard, China’s Trade and FDI in Africa, Working Paper Series, AfDB, No. 126, May, 2011, 12–18; “Policy Brief: Chinese Trade and Investment Activities in Africa, ” The African Development Bank Group Chief Economist Complex, Volume 1, Issue 4, July 29, 2010, 2–3; and Peter Wonacott, “In Africa, U.S. Watches China’s Rise, The Wall Street Journal, September 2, 2011.

5. Africa Macro—Insight & Strategy, EM10 and Africa: China–Africa Ties Deepen, but on Whose Terms?, Standard Bank, November 29, 2012, 1.

6. Deborah Brautigam, “China and Oil-Backed Loans in Angola: The Real Story, ” China in Africa: The Real Story, October 17, 2011, accessed January 8, 2013, http: //www.chinaafricarealstory.com/2011/10/china-and-oil-backed-loans-in-angola.html.

7. “Africa and Its Emerging Partners, ” African Economic Outlook, 2011, accessed January 9, 2013, http: //www.africaneconomicoutlook.org/en/in-depth/emerging-partners/.

8. Huawei Africa Fact Sheet, accessed January 9, 2013, http: //www.huawei.com/ucmf/groups/public/documents/webasset/hw_090307.pdf.

9. Ben Ochieng and Chrispinus Omar, “Co-op with China Boosts African Infrastructure, ” China Daily, October 4, 2012.

CHAPTER 8

1. “International Trade Statistics 2012, ” World Trade Organization, 2012, accessed January 10, 2013, http: //www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/its2012_e/its2012_e.pdf.

2. Vivian C. Jones and Brock R. Williams, “U.S. Trade and Investment Relations with Sub-Saharan Africa and the African Growth and Opportunity Act, ” Congressional Research Service, November 14, 2012: p. 13.

3. “Opinion of the United States, ” Global Attitudes Project, Pew Research, 2012, accessed January 10, 2013, http: //www.pewglobal.org/database/? indicator=1.

4. Neanda Salvaterra, ”U.S. Aims to Lift Investment in Africa, ” The Wall Street Journal, August 6, 2012.

EPILOGUE

1. David Fine et al, “Africa at Work: Job Creation and Inclusive Growth, ” McKinsey Global Institute, August 2012, 2.

2. “Internet World Statistics, ” Miniwatts Marketing Group, 2012, accessed March 20, 2013, http: //www.internetworldstats.com/africa.htm.

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Ernst & Young. Building Bridges: Ernst & Young’s 2012 Attractiveness Survey – Africa, 2012.

Ernst & Young. Growing Beyond Borders. Presented at the Africa CEO Forum, November 2012.

Ernst & Young. Growing Beyond—Africa by the Numbers: Assessing Market Attractiveness in Africa, 2012.

Flodman Becker, Kristina. The Informal Economy. SIDA Fact Finding Study, March 2004.

Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). China–Africa Trade and Economic Relationship Annual Report 2010, June 22, 2011.

Foster, Vivien Foster, et al. Building Bridges: China’s Growing Role as Infrastructure Financier for Sub-Saharan Africa. World Bank, 2009. https: //openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/2614.

Freedom House. 2012 Freedom in the World. http: //www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2012.

Grasa, Rafael Grasa, and Oscar Mateos. Conflict, Peace and Security in Africa: An Assessment and New Questions After 50 Years of African Independence. ICIP Working Papers, 2010/08.

Huawei Corporation, Huawei Africa Fact Sheet. http: //www.huawei.com/ucmf/groups/public/documents/webasset/hw_090307.pdf.

Ibrahim, Mo. “Celtel’s Founder on Building a Business on the World’s Poorest Continent.” Harvard Business Review, October 2012.

Institute for Economics and Peace. Global Peace Index, 2012, June 2012.

Jones, Vivian C. and Brock R. Williams. U.S. Trade and Investment Relations with Sub-Saharan Africa and the African Growth and Opportunity Act. Congressional Research Service, November 14, 2012.

Krause, Kai. The True Size of Africa. http: //static02.mediaite.com/geekosystem/uploads/2010/10/true-size-of-africa.jpg.

McKinsey & Company Africa Consumer Insight Center. The Rise of the African Consumer, October 2012.

McKinsey Global Institute. Africa at Work: Job Creation and Inclusive Growth, August 2012.

McKinsey Global Institute. Lions on the Move: The Progress and Potential of African Economies, June 2010.

Metzler, John. Making Sense of Post-Colonial Africa, 1960–2007. African Studies Center, Michigan State University, 2008.

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NordNordWest. Official Languages in Africa.svg. http: //commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: Official_languages_in_Africa.svg.

Pew Charitable Research Trust. Global Attitudes Project, “Opinion of the United States.” http: //www.pewglobal.org/database/? indicator=1.

PricewaterhouseCoopers. The Africa Business Agenda, July 2011.

Renard, Mary-Franç oise, China’s Trade and FDI in Africa Working Paper Series, AfDB, No. 126, May, 2011.

Roland Berger. Profits through Progress: How Investors Can Help Low Income Countries Building Infrastructure Projects Vital for Growth While Reaping Returns, June 2012.

SABMiller. Annual Report, 2012. http: //www.sabmiller.com/files/reports/ar2012/2012_annual_report.pdf.

Schiere, Richard, and Alex Rugamba. Chinese Infrastructure Investments and African Integration, Working Paper Series, AfDB, No. 127, May, 2011.

Schneider, Friedrich. Size and Measurement of the Informal Economy in 110 Countries Around the World, World Bank Working Paper, July 2002.

Standard Bank. Africa Macro—Insight & Strategy, EM10 and Africa: China–Africa Ties Deepen, but on Whose Terms? November 29, 2012.

Taylor, A.A. Sam Jonah and the Remaking of Ashanti (Johannesburg: Pan MacMillan, 2006).

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* While many of the insights in Success in Africa are from work with Dalberg, and other firms, all opinions expressed are strictly my own.

* Here I’m borrowing the technique of Miles Morland, a private investor in Africa who sits on the board of one of its largest companies. Miles writes an occasionally brutal and always savvy newsletter, and uses a photo of Ghana street life in a similar way.

* There are many definitions of small and medium enterprises. Most are based on the number of employees, and most of those definitions put that number at fewer than 255.

† SABMiller is listed in London and Johannesburg. Its history, culture, and leadership are strongly African, and I concur with BCG’s description of it as African.

* Africa is a continent; Brazil, Russia, and India are countries. The comparison is primarily to give the reader a sense of scale. However, as discussed in the following chapter, thinking of Africa holistically has merit.

* From 1965–1997, the president of the Congo (which he renamed Zaire). His given name was Joseph Desire’ Mobutu, which he also changed while in office to Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (“The all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, goes from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his wake”).

* Al Shabaab and Boko Haram are militant movements based in Somalia and Nigeria respectively.

* The score is built using key qualities of executive recruitment, constraints on executive authority, and political competition as well as changes in the institutionalized qualities of governing authority. The “Polity Score” captures this regime authority spectrum on a 21-point scale ranging from –10 (hereditary monarchy) to +10 (consolidated democracy).

* In a parliamentary system, the top technocrat in the ministry; permanent secretaries (PSs) often span the term of several ministers.

* Fortunately for this world, there are at least two James Mwangis, both mentioned in Success in Africa. One is the CEO of Equity Bank, the other the general managing partner of Dalberg. They get each other’s e-mails routinely from senders including me. For clarity, and in deference to his seniority, I will refer to the Equity Bank CEO as James Mwangi, the Dalberg GMP as James I. Mwangi.

* At the time of this writing, a mobile phone call from Nairobi to New York costs $0.03 per minute.

* Unless otherwise specified, earnings refers to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or EBITDA

* When Bob and I discussed cross-border projects like the LAPSSET corridor in East Africa, he saw far greater potential to generate investor interest.

† naturalresourcecharter.org.

* North Africa is included in two RECs that are not currently active, the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) and the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU or UMA)

* According to the World Bank methodology, lower middle income is $1, 026–$4, 035; upper middle income, $4, 036–$12, 475;

† To be fair, the best reports by consulting firms, and most notably McKinsey’s analysis of consumer trends and urban centers, do look at primary and secondary cities. They do not, however, capture the kind of analysis that James and his partners conducted to see and act on Two Rivers.

* One World Bank expert with unrivaled visibility on these figures estimates that “something between 50 percent and 100 percent of intra-African trade does not show up in the trade data.”

† Mohammad VI, the current Moroccan king. He ascended the throne in 1999.

* The Tijani are a Sufist Muslim order living primarily in Senegal, The Gambia, Mauritania, Mali, Guinea, Northern Nigeria, and Sudan. The saint Mohamed refers to is the founder of their order, S d 'A mad al-Tij n (1737–1815). He is buried in Fez.

† The Wolof are an ethnic group who live primarily in Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania. There are about 6.2 million Wolofs.

* As of 2011

* Population figures are based on July 2012 estimates from the CIA World Factbook

* In a recent survey conducted by private equity firm Jacana Partners, 70 percent of Africans in global business schools are planning to return to Africa. See http: bit.ly VAYF1i for details.

* Nigeria has a population of 162 million and is the first- or second-largest economy in Africa.

* The McKinsey report is based on a survey of thirteen thousand consumers from fifteen cities in ten countries in 2011 and 2012, with a focus on the largest African cities.

* Beer enthusiasts around the world, including me, love home brew. When 50 percent of alcohol consumed in a country is outside the formal sector, it presents social, health, and fiscal challenges.

* NYU economist Dan Altman and I have written more on the merits of a long-term single bottom line approach. For a summary, please see Stamford Social Innovation Review, June 24, 2011.

* Animal metaphors tend to proliferate in books on Africa. I have allowed just this one.

* A lesson learned well by Russian former business leader Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once the wealthiest man in the country and currently in a prison in Siberia.

* Requests for proposals

* Daniel Arap Moi, president of Kenya from 1978 to 2002

† 20 billion Kenyan shillings is $230 million

* Three billion Kenyan shillings is about $35 million.

* That there may be a causal link between the two is an interesting theme.

* Salim Ahmed Salim, the former prime minister of Tanzania

* The recipients to date of the Ibrahim Prize; they are, respectively, Presidents Joaquim Alberto Chissano of Mozambique, Festus Gontebanye Mogae of Botswana, and Pedro de Verona Rodrigues Pires of Cape Verde

* Someone who is expert on that topic is Johns Hopkins professor Deborah Brautigam. She is one of the few scholars equally at home in China, Africa, and a public finance term sheet. See her scholarly writings at http: www.sais-jhu.edu faculty-and-scholarship faculty-profiles deborah-br%C3%A4utigam-phd or her blog www.chinaafricarealstory.com. See also the work of retired U.S. diplomat David Shinn, best accessed via his personal blog, http: davidshinn.blogspot.com. Each presents a dimension of the China–Africa public sector relationship.

* Based on the data of the World Bank’s Public–Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility, which takes the approach of only reporting projects that are reported by the Chinese press, whose values could be confirmed by Chinese sources and have been confirmed as signed

* A trade term for joining in the development of an oil or gas producing asset

* On this point, Aidan’s head of external affairs, Rosalind Kainyah, really brings the point home. “What the Europeans and Americans could use, ” she said, “is fewer conferences on China and Africa, and more investment in Africa.”

* SEACOM is a subsea high-bandwidth cable serving East Africa, as Main One serves West Africa.

^* The distance to frontier measure shows how near, on average, an economy is to the best performance achieved by any economy on each Doing Business indicator since 2005. The measure is normalized to range between 0 and 100, with 100 representing the best performance.

 

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