Economic dynamism of sub-Saharan Africa.

Good News from Africa

By Peter A. Coclanis

The power of individuals and markets in the development process is key to the continued economic dynamism of sub-Saharan Africa

Although much of the recent news from Africa has focused on deadly viruses, violent terrorists, and kidnapped teenage girls, there is good news that is getting less media coverage: since the late 1990s, the economy of sub-Saharan Africa, considered as a whole, has been growing at more than 5 percent a year, and most analysts believe it will grow at that rate or higher in the next few years. Although sub-Saharan Africa’s share of world exports of goods and services remains minuscule (about 2 percent), that percentage is about the same as that of India, a card-carrying BRIC with a population 25 percent greater than sub-Saharan Africa. President Obama’s much-ballyhooed three-day summit meeting with African leaders in August served as a powerful reminder of the continent’s potential for a bright future.

What accounts for these upbeat trends and assessments? Growth is not easy to explain, especially when one is dealing with fifty-odd countries, but the recent surge in sub-Saharan Africa — after the region’s dismal economic performance in the previous quarter century — is due in large part to what has been referred to as “the three Cs”: China, commodities, and communication technology. Chinese foreign direct investment (particularly in transportation infrastructure), the global boom in commodities (resources in which Africa abounds), and the communications breakthroughs occasioned by the widespread use of cell phones (even in remote areas) have been key drivers of growth, allowing many formerly isolated regions to participate vigorously and increasingly profitably in international markets.

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