Unlocking Africa's Business Potential by 2015 Tutu Fellow Landry Signé has recently been released and has had good feedback and editorial reviews. Landry makes the case that Africa welcomes business investment and offers some of the world's highest returns and impacts. The book examines business opportunities in the eight sectors with the highest potential returns on private investment in Africa. These sectors include: consumer markets, agriculture and agri-processing, information and communication technology, manufacturing, oil and gas, tourism, banking, and infrastructure and construction.
He says Africa is one of the world's fastest growing regions and by 2030 will be home to nearly $1.7 billion people and an estimated $6.7 trillion in consumer and business spending. Landry is a prolific writer and thinker, having authored or co-authored more than 27 manuscripts, books, articles and book chapters, with several books dealing with Africa's economy.
Unlocking Africa's Business Potential analysis of these sectors is based on case studies that identify specific opportunities for investment and growth, along with long-term market projections for better decisions. The publication identifies potential risks to business and offers mitigation strategies. It also provides policymakers with solutions to attract new business investments, including how to remove barriers and accelerate development of the private sector.
Professor Signé is a senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development program and Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution, which is the publisher. He is a professor and founding co-director of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Globalization 4.0 Initiative at the Thunderbird School of Global Management; a distinguished fellow at Stanford University’s Center for African Studies; chairman of the Global Network for Africa’s Prosperity; and has been recognized as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. In 2015 Signe became one of Junior Chamber International's 2015 Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World. He has also taught at prestigious universities and had an award-winning course at Stanford, presenting Africa as a continent of economic opportunities.
In an editorial review, Mo Ibrahim says the book "remarkably outlines why African markets could be at the top of the agenda for global business and entrepreneurs, and which strategies business and policymakers should adopt to improve governance of the economy and make business effectively contribute to Africa’s economic transformation and sustainable and shared development." Florizelle Liser, the president and CEO of the Corporate Council on Africa, says the book is "an outstanding and well-researched book that all business and policy leaders interested in Africa must read". Other positive reviews include Prof. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, a former president of Mauritius, who considers Landry's 'evidence-based and powerful insights' as confirmation that he is 'the best, brightest, and most passionate of his generation when it comes to enlightening the world with the fascinating transformation and potential of African economies.'
More information about the 362-page book can be found at the Brookings Institution Press or at Amazon, where it is available in both print and digital formats.
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