Trends in Africa

What’s trending?

You might take a sneaky glance at twitter’s ‘trending’ timeline to answer or perhaps Google. What about Africa? [tweetthis]Do you know what the Trends in Africa are?[/tweetthis] Many may answer with, “no clue”.

I doubt that this will be your answer for much longer. The narrative on Africa is evolving, there are more individuals and companies joining in the conversation and rightly so. Previously known as ‘Deepest Darkest Africa’ and most recently dubbed ‘Silicon Safari’, Africa is not only becoming an interest but a Trend in itself.

According to numerous sources the biggest Trend in Africa at the moment is Technology. Frost & Sullivan report that Africa could evolve into a $50 billion e-commerce market within the next three years. Kenya and Nigeria are leading in terms of fundraising and start-ups, other countries include Tanzania and South Africa. Africa has had explosive increases in internet usage and economic growth. In fact Internet usage is now growing faster in Africa than in any other continent and mobile subscriptions in Africa have eclipsed those in the Asian Pacific region. Companies like Safaricom, IBM and Facebook have all realised the significant opportunities for investment and innovation on the continent.

Technology is a major driving force of progress in every industry. This is particularly evident in Education in Africa. Tony Bates highlights the boom in online higher education enrollments in Africa, with many countries using eLearning as a way to meet the increased demand for higher education that traditional programs cannot. South Africa is the dominant country but will be overtaken by Nigeria by 2016 in terms of the volume of revenues from eLearning.

The population in Africa is projected to grow to 2 billion by 2050 resulting in the largest workforce according to the Harvard Business Review. Africa is also rich in natural resources, 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land in fact. Additionally, Africa has a USD$2 trillion economy with approximately a third of its countries obtaining annual GDP growths of more than six percent. [tweetthis]Of the top ten fastest growing economies in the world, six are in #Africa.[/tweetthis]

To end here is a quote to illustrate the Trends in Africa from the 2014 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos:

“Africa is the story. The big story is Africa. The Chinese and Japanese are fighting over Africa. This is a market of a billion people, of natural resources.” Dr Ahmed Heikal, Chairman and Founder of Citadel Capital

Sources:

https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/05/9-mega-trends-shaping-the-future-of-africa/

http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/ten-african-consumer-trends-to-run-with-and-profit-from-in-2015/45999/

http://ww2.frost.com/news/press-releases/frost-sullivan-identifies-top-trends-ict-africa-2015/

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/042915/why-tech-trends-africa-are-good-investment.asp

http://www.tonybates.ca/2013/01/29/africa-is-the-worlds-fastest-developing-e-learning-market/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/faraigundan/2014/01/28/top-quotes-about-africa-at-the-2014-world-economic-forum-in-davos/

About Sasha Anderson

Millennial Mom + wife living the hash-tag life. Reach out if you want to talk: L2B, social media, construction, technology, marriage, parenting, popular culture and travel. Remember: If You Fail - Fail Forward

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