<!--?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?--><p><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><!--[CDATA[<p-->Imagine a long drive from Cape Town to Cairo. This could be reality soon. The African continent is the biggest in terms of 54 countries. While there is a big disparity between the economies, several efforts are on to bring the countries together. Businesses in the regions are well integrated, but the policies are now coming into place.<br><br>Issues like common visa, transcontinental transport links and free trade agreements are being worked out with renewed energy. Convertibility of currency is another aspiration. The west African sub-region is closer to common and convertible currency. It requires strong economic decisions in terms of macro economic stability.<br><br>The fear of an Euro Zone like crisis is making policy makers study it carefully before implementing. Weak members of currency pact can bring down the entire region, and Africa is too fragile to take that risk.<br><br>The risks though are negligible in transcontinental transport link, both in highways and railways. The aspiration is to have a Cape Town to Cairo connection. A trans-African highway that connects 26 countries and 590 million people is a reality being driven by the African Union. Countries are identifying the stretches that would be part of this grand highway.<br><br>Several regional links are being worked on too. Highway corridors within west and east Africa are seeking public and private investments. An efficient logistics network would energise intra-African trade and make the continent an even more attractive investment destination.<br><br>The home ministers of 15 South African Development Community or SADC countries are discussing the details of creating a common visa for the members. SADC region extends from Angola to Zimbabwe with South Africa and Mauritius as the economic engines.<br><br>A common commodity exchange is being conceptualised too. Coffee could be a starting point with a shared coffee price index.<br><br>Regional free trade agreements and customs union will be a reality soon. The East African Community, is working with other regional groups like SADC and COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) for a triple FTA. EAC with five member countries has announced its own roadmap for a customs union.<br><br>On many political fronts African unity is coming to fore. The leaders of all countries on the continent were united in their support for Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, economy minister of Nigeria for the post of World Bank president. This was unprecedented in many ways, as they resisted pressure from the US to withdraw her name as a candidate.<br><br>With such resolve, a deeply integrated African market is not too far away. As markets integrate, the next step would be an African Parliament.<br><br><em>(Pranjal Sharma is a senior business writer. He can be contacted at pranjalx@gmail.com)</em></static-content></root></p><p> </p><p>break-page-break<br><strong><span style="color: #993366;">May 10, 2012</span></strong><br><strong>When The Lion Beat The Tiger</strong><br>Many new insights are emerging from WEF on Africa. The dialogue is changing from getting aid to boosting investment and trade. This growth curve is the same that India and China went through two decades ago. The key issue and matter of debate is the quality and quantity of trade and investment flows.<br><br>In eight of the past ten years, African 'lion' economies have grown faster than East Asian tigers and even emerging economies like India and China. Africa is the youngest and fastest growing continent of the world.<br><br>The FDI levels are rising faster than HDI levels. And the quality and direction of investment needs to evolve more. Donald Kaberuka, President, African Development Bank says that more than 85 per cent of FDI in Africa is going to natural resources. While financial sector and telecoms are receiving FDI too, sub-soil oriented investment may not be enough. This does not always create enough jobs, so investing in manufacturing is as important.<br><br>Ethiopia is leading the way in bringing market linkages and boosting capability of agri sector. The Agriculture Transformation Agency, that reports directly to the Prime Minister, is ensuring that farmers have a fair and robust market to work with.<br><br>Also investment in people to improve employability is still not enough. Private investment in social infrastructure is slow and will need policy support.<br><br>The middle class is currently offering a new market. But the estimation is size is debatable because of lack of data. The size ranges from 200 million to 400 million. But since the diversity of economies is huge across African countries, the purchasing power varies. One aspect is certain though, the consumers are becoming increasing brand conscious. Newspapers are full of ads by global companies emphasising the logo, brand and Trademark of their products. Companies that dominate consumer minds now, will benefit in the long run.<br><br><span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; display: inline ! important; float: none;">(Pranjal Sharma is a senior business writer. He can be contacted at<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="mailto:pranjalx@gmail.com" style="text-decoration: none; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">pranjalx@gmail.com</a><span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; display: inline ! important; float: none;">)</span></p><p>break-page-break<br><strong><span style="color: #993366;">May 9, 2012</span></strong><br><strong>Developing Ties</strong> <br>My flight from New Delhi to Addis Ababa this morning was among the most interesting ones I have taken.<br><br>The Ethiopian airline flight begins from Beijing, stops in Delhi to pick up some passengers and then drops every one in Addis Ababa. In the process, it connects three developing countries that are grappling with development issues in different ways.<br><br>Blue collar workers from China shared seats with Indian traders and professional and passengers from African countries making the most of Addis' connection to the rest of the continent.<br><br>The only western influence in the flight was the dated American movie that played to bleary eyed viewers.<br><br>As the World Economic Forum on Africa begins, delegates will debate and witness the fundamental changes in the way African countries are growing and evolving.<br><br>Civil society in many countries are far more vocal. While social media is picking up momentum, the mobile revolution is boosting confidence. I had a good conversation with Jeremy Hillman, director at Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on development communication. Organisations like these are looking at new ways to have a conversation with civil society. Unless they help society achieve what the society wants, all development efforts will be undermined.<br><br>Once a preserve of European imperialists, African countries are increasingly engaging with the developing economies. Thus a flight to Ethiopia is full of Indians and Chinese, watching Hollywood movies.<br><br><span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; display: inline ! important; float: none;">(Pranjal Sharma is a senior business writer. He can be contacted at<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="mailto:pranjalx@gmail.com" style="text-decoration: none; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">pranjalx@gmail.com</a><span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; display: inline ! important; float: none;">)</span></p><p> </p>