Africa Wants to Become a Major Player on the Economic Scene

"Today, the only region in the world that strong growth is Africa, it is no longer the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), it is finished " summarizes an expert on the sidelines of the WEF Forum.

According to the ADB (African Development Bank), growth in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to be 5.25% in 2013, two percentage points compared to IMF estimates for the entire planet.

For Indian businessman Sunil Bharti Mittal, Bharti Enterprises Group boss, very active in Africa, the " last bastion of growth is the African continent. "

Ever since the creation of the Forum in 1971, Africa was well represented at Davos, with nine Heads of State or Government, accompanied by large delegations composed of both ministers, businessmen and bankers.

The presidents of South Africa Jacob Zuma and Nigeria's Goodluck Jonathan, wearing his usual black bowler hat, were present Wednesday at Davos, along with their Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame.

For President Zuma, investing in Africa is now no more risky than investing elsewhere in the world, a view supported by the President of Nigeria. " Throughout the world, there is always a risk when investing, today most African countries have a stable political system, " he said.

Nigerian President acknowledged, however, that the crisis could spread to Malian other countries, if it is not "controlled ". " The situation has worsened due to the crisis in Libya, he said, thanking once again France for its intervention.

On the economic situation of his country, Africa's most populous with 165 million people, President Jonathan said he had launched an ambitious program to increase investment in the agricultural sector, which has become a new source of income, next to the oil.

In 2012, Nigeria claims to have invested $ 8 billion in its agriculture and has received over a billion dollars from international organizations and aid cooperation as the World Bank and U.S. Aid Agency ( American development aid).

According to Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture, Akinwumi Adesina, who presented Wednesday in Davos this modernization program, "there is no reason why Brazil has a modern agriculture and not Nigeria . "

"We intend to develop an ecosystem that controls the entire agricultural chain, from farm to fork , "he added.

In 2012, the country introduced a system based on the " electronic wallet ", via mobile phone, for its farmers.

This system, which prevents the farmer by SMS next delivery of fertilizers, has strongly reduce corruption, said Minister of Nigeria.

Nigeria also seeks to make better use of cassava, which is the largest producer, creating products with higher added value, such as cassava flour.

"We started for the local market to make bread from flour of cassava and today we export," the minister said.

Businessman South African Graham Mackay, SABMiller Plc Group President (breweries), said for his part that his company was the first to invest in South Sudan. " We started small, with a brewery, production has doubled in six months and doubled again after a year , "he said during a roundtable devoted to potential investment risks in Africa.

"There is a huge demand in Africa, the level of consumption is very low," he said.