Africa Industry Sectors
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The Africa industry sector holds the key for the region’s growth. Mauritius is the best example of how an African country’s economy can transform itself from a poor state to a developing one within a short span of time. Costs pertaining to industrialization are the biggest factor that keeps Africa’s growth under check. Otherwise, the abundant resources make Africa the ideal place for being a manufacturing industry for the entire world and make higher profits than it does by exporting the raw material at a decreasing cost.[br]
The Africa industry sector holds the key for the region’s growth. Mauritius is the best example of how an African country’s economy can transform itself from a poor state to a developing one within a short span of time. Costs pertaining to industrialization are the biggest factor that keeps Africa’s growth under check. Otherwise, the abundant resources make Africa the ideal place for being a manufacturing industry for the entire world and make higher profits than it does by exporting the raw material at a decreasing cost.[br]
Africa’s Industry Sectors
Agriculture is the biggest industry in Africa, and it employs 60 percent of the workforce in Africa. The land of Africa boasts huge amount of natural resources such as oil, diamonds, gold, iron, cobalt, uranium, copper, bauxite, silver and petroleum and also woods and tropical fruits. However, there are still large amount of resources which are untapped, due to lack of infrastructure.
60% of the African farmers are subsistence farmers who grow crops which are enough to provide for their families, and earn a small income. Cash crops such as coffee, cotton, cocoa and rubber are mainly cultivated in large farms that are controlled by large corporations.
Agriculture production in Africa is among the highest in the world, but a large portion of its crops are bound for exports to developed countries in the West like Japan, the European Union and the United States. This drew much criticism and blame on the developed countries for causing famine in the African countries.
In recent years, Brazil agreed to share with Africa its technological advancements that multiplies its own agriculture production. This move aims to help Africa to increase its agricultural production and decrease poverty rate.
Industry in Africa contributes the least to the total GDP of Africa. Africa’s industry is underdeveloped and only a few African countries have significant industry – South Africa, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. According to the African Development Bank Group, industry employs only 15 percent of Africa’s total workforce.
As a large population of Africa is uneducated, foreign investments into Africa to develop the manufacturing industry are limited. Multinational corporations have instead shifted their focus on opening up factories in developing countries such as China and India.
Services is a growing industry in Africa. The services which have seen major progress in recent years include banking and financial services, communication and information technology, and tourism.
Africa’s banking system used to be corrupted and unstable, which led to governments and major companies turning to foreign banks. However, the financial industry has developed over the years, with South Africa and Egypt’s banking system leading Africa’s financier industry. Foreign Direct Investment has increased into Africa, and Egypt became the largest recipient of FDI with US$13.2 billion in 2008.
In the past, attracting foreign investment into Africa is not easy. But increased investments and trade between Africa and major economies China and India in recent years has ignited trade interests from other economies such as the European Union and the United States. These investments are useful to develop some of Africa’s poorest countries like Burundi and Comoros.
Communication and information technology is an expanding industry in Africa. Mobile phones usage in Africa is the highest in the world, and this made Africa the only continent in the world with more users on mobiles than on fixed line services. However, the PC and internet industry is still undeveloped. Africa’s accessibility to the internet is the lowest in the world.
Tourism plays a major role in boosting the economies of Africa. South Africa is one of the most visited country in Africa with more than 860,000 visitors per month, and almost a quarter is from non-African countries. In 2010, tourism contributed 3 percent to South Africa’s total GDP.
