The subtitle is A Guide to the Business and Investment Opportunities in Emerging Africa and the author is David Mataen (2012).
I started reading it in February, but put it down because I couldn’t find a rhythm. But after reading the book by Joe Studwell, I thought that it would be interesting to see if some of the same ideas about emerging economies popped up when talking about Africa.
As you might have surmised, the book tries to outline the investment thesis for Sub-Saharan Africa. And it is the standard case in many ways – very strong demographic tailwinds, concerted efforts at political and economic reform, an increasingly educated population with rising consumer demands and more wealth, growing financial and credit markets, and improved infrastructure. There is not a huge focus on why instability persists in many countries. And whereas Studwell used Asia as a means to underwrite his thesis about more state control at the nascent stages of development, Mataen takes the approach that state intervention is generally counter-productive and dissuades the foreign investment needed for efficiencies to take hold. While Mataen relies on that last point in making many of his other arguments, he seems to treat it as true by stipulation. However, there is reference to the fact that allowing the former colonial powers to maintain some control over land after independence left many from the indigenous population landless, a big concern within Studwell’s framework and something that Mataen believes led to the large slums that still remain in many African cities.
Nevertheless, I do think that Africa represents the largest, untapped investment idea out there. Assuming you can navigate civil wars, corrupt governments and other obstacles, there is money to be made. And while that last statement reeks of skepticism, don’t misread the fact that I am a long-term bull.
