Did you know that Africa is booming and may be the next great opportunity for global business?

I was really surprised by the article, “Seven Reasons Why Africa’s Time Is Now”, in the October 2013 issue of Harvard Business Review. They explain that one-third of Africa’s countries are experiencing over 6% annual growth–and it’s diversified from the traditional oil and diamonds. Interesting facts:

1) Africa’s middle class is already bigger than India’s, and Africa has 52 cities with one million or more people (the same number as in Western Europe).

2) Political reforms over the last 20 years have greatly increased democracy indexes and political coups–while they do make headlines–are increasingly rare.

3) By 2035 the African workforce will be bigger than China’s.

4) Mobile phone use has exploded from 2% in 2000 to 78% today, the mobile phone industry already employs 3.6 million workers in Africa.

5) There is huge opportunity for growth in intra-African trade as new trade pacts are being formed.

6) 20% of government spending now goes to education, versus 13% in the United States

7) 60% of Africa’s land is arable farmland that has not yet been leveraged for agriculture. Africa could soon be the continent feeding the rest of the world.

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