LAGOS: The emerging economies of sub-Saharan Africa regions, especially Nigeria are touted to be among the promising economies in the next few decades, particularly in technology. This is due to the recent global financial crisis which accelerated the shift in global economic power to these regions.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of the Computer Warehouse Group (CWG), Austin Okere, these regions are helped by improved investment as well as regulatory environment reminiscent of the BRICS countries. BRICS refers to the countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, a group of leading emerging economies.
While delivering a keynote address on the evolution of CWG, a technology solutions firm in Nigeria, Okere noted that the economic opportunities presented by Nigeria which is targeted to surpass the South African economy by 2025, were sorely missed by global investors.
According to him, at the height of the recent global economic downturn, business growth stalled around the world. But a group of companies grew at an annual rate of almost 30 per cent from 2006 to 2009, far outpacing their global competitors, including Standard & Poor’s 500 biggest American firms.
These companies are quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with in one of the world’s most dynamic markets. They are the Multinational Corporations (MNCs) of sub-Saharan Africa.
In the past decade, about nine multinational companies have emanated from East Africa and 21 from West Africa, 14 of them from Nigeria.
He said the companies, which include Dangote Group, Ecobank, Computer Warehouse Group, have seen dramatic growth in the past several years. They are gradually expanding across the region, and thriving in markets that global multinationals may have been considered unprofitable.
BM
