A new Africa. The next Asia?

BY DELORE ZIMMERMAN

China gets a lot of attention for its economic performance, but there's another global growth story that is often overlooked: Africa.

The road exiting the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana, reveals a landscape dotted with new hotels and high-rise office buildings at various stages of completion. The skyline’s multiple construction cranes seem to confirm a growing sense that the African continent has become a likely stage for globalization’s next act, where China was just a mere two decades ago.

Ghana is considered the gateway to West Africa based on its strong agrarian roots and stable, democratic political environment. Agriculture is the dominant sector in Ghana’s economy employing about 60 percent of the labor force and contributing about 40 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP).

Ghana, however, imports food for its growing population and a rapidly emerging middle class. So a North Dakota Trade Office-led trade mission of educators and food specialists visited Ghana in January to talk about the nutritional benefits of products from the state. They, along with Praxis Africa — a venture of AdFarm and Praxis Strategy Group — also demonstrated how those products might be incorporated into the Ghanaian diet.

But the future holds more than agriculture. In early 2013, Hope City was launched, intended as a $10 billion high-tech hub aiming to foster technological growth. The objective is to attract major players in the global ICT industry to the West African country to design, fabricate and export software and everything arising from this country. Microsoft is among the early commitments to the project.

The ambitious, futuristic project — one of Africa’s several proposed technopolis initiatives — will include an assembly plant for tech products, business offices, an IT university and a hospital, as well as housing and recreation spaces, restaurants, theaters and sports centers. If everything goes as planned the technology park could house 25,000 residents and create jobs for 50,000 people.

Certainly Ghana and the African continent still face a number of significant and inter-related challenges including endemic poverty, food shortages and nutritional deficiencies, threats of disease, climate change, gender imbalances and capacity constraints. But a rising consumer class coinciding with a growing entrepreneur class that benefits from relatively affordable housing, good connectivity, and regular power in Accra make the outlook for Ghana’s economy quite promising.

Many people and businesses from around the world are arriving in force in Ghana to take advantage of these growing opportunities. Families who once fled deteriorating economic conditions and limited opportunities now see their children returning from recession-ridden countries to run their own businesses in one of the world's fastest-growing economies. Businesses in telecom, banking, retail, construction and oil and gas industries are booming, sending foreign investment to all-time highs.

North Dakota and the surrounding region have an affinity to Ghana that makes it a global connection with high potential. Agriculture and energy are foundations of both economies. But more importantly, the two geographies have friendly, pragmatic people who value long-term relationships and are willing to work for a better future. PB

Delore Zimmerman President, Praxis Strategy Group Executive Director, Red River Valley Research Corridor delore@praxissg.com Twitter: @DeloreZimmerman