8 BDI – Federation of German Industries Security and Raw Materials BDI Strategy Sub-Saharan Africa Africa – Continent of Opportunities Chart 2 – trend of future growth potential Ethiopia <- Ø GDP growth (2005-2013) in % 12 EAC Liberia n/a Sierra Leone n/a Ghana -> 8 Namibia Burkina Faso -> 6 4 2 Chad -> Mauritius = ECOWAS -> Ivory Coast <- Mali = Senegal SADC <- Kenya <100 South Africa <- Botswana -> Cameroon -> 80 60 40 20 10 GCI 2012-2013 (Rank/144) Source: BDI In order to be able to estimate both the past and also the future growth potential of Sub-Saharan African countries, the average annual growth in GDP from 2005 to 2013 is studied and then related to the GCI. The size of the bubbles in chart 2 corresponds to the gross domestic product of the respective countries. The chart illustrates that particularly Rwanda, Botswana, Namibia, Ghana, Zambia and Kenya represent economies with strong future growth potential (demonstrated by a relatively high level of competitiveness allied to average economic growth of over four percent since 2005). China, India and Brazil, but also the USA, Japan, South Korea 6 and Turkey 7 have recognized these favourable prospects for the African continent and the consequent opportunities on offer and are showing great interest in African markets. Apart from a desire to secure a supply of strategic raw materials for domestic markets, there is also increased interest in Africa on the part of the international capital markets. Here, state-owned Chinese companies, but also Indian and Brazilian energy and raw materials concerns can draw on massive political and financial support from their respective governments. The Chinese model of development cooperation, in particular, seems to be the role model for the new operators. In this process it is precisely the concept “Beijing Consensus” that stands for the economic opening of the countries and the expansion of development co-operations linked to trade policy interests. Here, too, the principle of non-interference is strictly observed. In practice, this means that development cooperation is not tied to considerations of democracy, human rights or the rule of law. In contrast to the Arab donor countries, South Korea or Russia, China, India and Brazil are not primarily guided by the norms of the OECD development committee DAC.8 Business activities by German companies do not receive comparable accompanying support from the political sphere to the same extent as the backing extended by the BRICS countries. For German enterprises there is great potential on the African continent which is already being intensively exploited by some branches of industry. This is also illustrated by the results of the survey 9 of the business activities of German firms in Sub-Saharan Africa, carried out by the BDI from October to November 2013 and in which over 70 firms participated. A large majority of the companies surveyed stated their intention to expand their Sub-Saharan Africa operations in the coming years.