Deglobalisation is set to further marginalise continent, with funds tracking major trading nations’ currenciesPutting Africa on the investment map will require radical policy reform and transparency. Picture: /123RF/OLGACHOV
Regarding the dramatic hit on the economy, trends point towards consequences more severe than experienced during the 2008 global financial crisis, and the odds seem to be increasing. With a steep decline in GDP figures not seen in more than 40 years, the IMF forecasts a general decline of 8% across the world’s advanced economies and 10.2% for the UK, with slow recovery.
With UK-Africa trade at a low ebb, it remains to be seen how far the former will be willing to invest in the continent. After its exit from the EU the UK is likely to look to craft new approaches to trade, aid and investment. To its advantage, Africa has a burgeoning supply of human capital in its increasingly young population: the UN Economic Commission for Africa asserts that by 2050 the teeming numbers of young Africans will form more than a quarter of the world’s labour force.