If African countries could do one thing to sustain and improve on economic growth what would it be?
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland Sunil Bharti Mittal — CEO of Bharti Airtel, one of the world’s largest mobile operators — spoke about what he thinks is the answer: investment in infrastructure. BBC reports:
“Africa is a very large continent that [still needs] a lot of investment in infrastructure,” Mr Mittal said. “That is to my mind the biggest risk to Africa’s [economic] growth.
“Governments should go for broke, and get as much infrastructure built as possible. Can you imagine if Africa was to start investing heavily in infrastructure?”
Mittal highlighted Ghana, Rwanda, and parts of Nigeria for their commitment to infrastructure investment. But notes, ”even [a] $93 billion [investment] in infrastructure [in Africa] is not enough. It is a large continent, it has got a lot of catching up to do.”
The Indian telecom mogul has a vested interested in the continent as he operates one of the largest mobile phone networks in Africa and is looking to continue to expand his company’s presence. And it’s hardly a surprise since, as The Economist notes, Africa is home to seven of the fastest growing economies in the world.
Photo: Flickr/World Economic Forum
