Africa’s Emerging Competitive Landscape

Q1. Could you start by giving us a brief overview of your professional background, particularly focusing on your expertise in the industry?

I am a frontier markets expert with specialisation in Africa. My professional background spans three distinct domains – media, consultancy, and academia. I currently serve as the Director of the NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies at the Nanyang Business School in Singapore. The NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies is the only research centre in South-East Asia that looks at Africa from a trade, business, and investment perspective.

Q2. How do you see the trajectory of Africa’s economic transformation unfolding over the next few years, and what market signals most strongly indicate the direction of this shift?

Africa is undergoing an economic transformation that is unparalleled in its history. In some ways, it is very similar to that of India’s. First, it is urbanising rapidly. Africa is the world's fastest urbanising continent today. That means cities are fast becoming the engines of growth. So, consumption of urban goods like cars, air conditioners, two-wheelers, and white goods is growing. Although Africa has not yet become a consumption-led economy like India, its urban areas indeed mimic those characteristics. Second, African governments…