Position Papers

Analysis in brief: Spurred by conflict crises that interrupt agricultural activities and climate change that is compromising food production, efforts to make Africa self-sufficient in food are achieving tangible results. Some are technological breakthroughs; others are regulatory and trade reforms. All must be focused on Africa’s primary food producers: the small farmers.

A small farmer is defined as a farmer who produces on less than one hectare of land. In Africa, there are an estimated 33 million small farms who feel Africa’s current food crises most strongly. These crises are fuelled by problems, old and new: from internal conflicts like in Sudan and regional tensions, such as the effect of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, who provided Africa with significant amounts of grain, to climate change that has worsened flooding and drought. New realities call for new solutions. Encouragingly, these are being supplied. Some are technological, such as strengthening food storage and transportation cold chains, while others are diplomatic and regulatory in nature.

Analysis in brief: Small, start-up businesses are proving a viable and sustainable way to grow African economies and provide employment. Driven by a desire to be their own bosses, new entrepreneurs are using their knowledge of the needs of their local markets to provide products and services, while new means of marketing and access to intra-Africa trade are providing unprecedented opportunities for ambitious business visionaries.

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) comprise most businesses in Africa’s formal economic sector, and they employ more people. While the informal sector in Africa actually is larger and a greater employer, MSMEs exist within the rules, regulations and financial institutions of the formal sector. As registered businesses, they are the innovations of entrepreneurs who find the challenge and rewards of starting and sustaining a successful business alluring.

Analysis in brief: Regular progress reports on Africa’s quest to meet its energy needs through solar power are necessary to gauge the continent’s progress towards this important development goal. Progress there continues to be, though the principal hindrance remains the challenge of funding solar projects.

The answer to Africa’s energy needs shines in plain sight. While 600 million or 43% of Africans live without electricity, Africa itself receives more bright sunlight than any other continent. The massive potential is largely unmet due to inadequate investment, leaving substantial needs unaddressed. To achieve the African Union’s goal of having all citizens of its member states enjoying electricity by 2030, US$25 billion must be invested annually in the energy sector. Current funding falls short, although investment is accelerating, particularly through private and public partnerships.

Analysis in brief: Water shortages have either created or exacerbated humanitarian crises in Africa, stalling economic development. Climate change, through worsening or causing droughts, has increased the pressure to secure reliable sources of water. As a result, new and sometimes large-scale water infrastructure projects are underway across the continent.

More than 300 million Africans, which is more than one out of five people living on the continent, do not have access to clean drinking water. Sub-Saharan Africa loses 5% of its combined regional GDP because of a lack of water, contaminated water, and poor water infrastructure, according to the International High-Level Panel on Water Investments for Africa (IHLPWIA). The body was launched in March 2022 during the 9th World Water Forum in Dakar to find a holistic and continent-wide solution to Africa’s perennial problem of water shortages. Run under the auspices of the African Union, the IHLPWIA found that African countries are losing over US$ 200 billion annually because of inadequate water infrastructure. The African Development Bank has also identified other economic consequences to the water insecurity situation. Every year, 40 billion hours of Africans’ time is used to collect water, with women and children being most burdened with the task – rural Ethiopians for example can spend as much as eight hours each day fetching water, and their Kenyan counterparts six.

A business begun from scratch by its founder, using his or her own money or finding financial support from family and friends, had always been called a business before the name ‘startup’ came into vogue. Financing for a startup, which can be defined simply as a company in its fledgling stage, now includes venture capitalists, who the company’s founder convinces that the new enterprise is innovative and has great growth prospects, and crowdfunding, where masses of people buy into the new enterprise with online cash contributions.

Global investors have been attracted to the youthful entrepreneurship that characterises Africa’s business sector. For years, globalisation and the perpetuation of companies established during the colonial era have dominated African economies. However, nowadays, crowdfunding and venture capitalism have allowed Africans themselves to enter the African corporate space and marketplace. No one knows African markets better than the entrepreneurs who grew up within them. Consequently, African startup companies are found in all fields, from agriculture to consumer products, and particularly in new fields that fascinate young entrepreneurs like telecommunications and fintech.