Africa's emerging markets are the fastest growing in the world. Photo: Jeff Attaway (Flickr)

Africa now holds an unfamiliar title: Continent with the fastest growing economy in the world.

An article this week in The Atlantic, “The Next Asia is Africa,” provides telling evidence for the economic emergence of the continent:

• Africa will have the fastest growing economy of any continent over the next five years.


• Seven of the world’s 10 fastest growing economies are in Africa.


• By 2030, most African countries will have lower-middle and middle-class majorities.


• Consumer spending in Africa is estimated to triple from $680 billion in 2008 to $2.2 trillion in 2030.


• Africa has more middle-class consumers than India despite having a lower population.


• Enrollment in secondary schools increased by 48 percent between 2000 and 2008 and higher education increased by 80 percent.

The author, Howard French, argues that while few people outside of the boardroom seem to be taking note of this development, big companies are leading the way:

In March, a South African court approved Walmart's $2.4 billion takeover of Massmart, one of that country's largest retailers. IBM has opened offices in more than 20 African countries. In 2009, AES, one of America's biggest private suppliers of electricity, became majority owner and operator of the national grid in Cameroon. In Ghana, a large American data processing company called ACS now employs over 1,800 people. And around the continent, Google is investing in web infrastructure and is launching search pages in a growing number of African languages.

The entire article can be read here.

The litmus test for these fast-growing economies, however, will not be the number of large firms that invest, but whether this investment will include the continent's poorest in its growth.

Markets like these in Egypt bring in local as well as tourist business, helping to increase Egypt's overall economic strength. Photo: effeietsanders (Flickr)

Though they are currently considered to be developing economies, the four BRIC countries — Brazil, Russia, India, and China — are expected to become economically dominant by the year 2050. Now, Jim O'Neill, the economist who coined the BRIC acronym, sees a new emerging power— but it's not a single nation. According to O'Neill, Africa, when taken as a whole, could become the next BRIC.

According to his article in Financial Times, when O'Neill began looking at Africa as a whole rather than as individual nations, he found an economy comparable in growth and potential with the BRICs. Today, Africa has a combined GDP larger than India's and on par with that of Brazil and Russia. If current estimates hold, the total GDP of the 11 largest African economies in 2050 looks as though it would "reach more than $13,000bn, making them bigger than either Brazil or Russia, although not China or India."

O'Neill believes that in particular Egypt and Nigeria are the two countries that have the individual strength to help Africa become a leading world economy. Both are included in O'Neill's group of' the 11 most up-and-coming economies and collectively, they provide almost half of the total African GDP. There is special potential for growth in Nigeria to contribute because almost 20 percent of Africa's population lives there.

While not populous enough to significantly influence continental GDP, South Africa also has a critical role to play. As one of the more developed countries in Africa, South Africa could serve as a connecting force between southern Africa and the strong economies of Egypt and Nigeria.

But in order for Africa to truly emerge as a BRIC, O'Neill acknowledges that reform is necessary. Egypt and Nigeria, as key players in the overall strength of Africa's economy, must take action to encourage business. Rather than promoting censorship, increasing transparency and education is a crucial first step to encouraging economic growth. Focusing on eradicating corruption, lowering national debt and stabilizing inflation are all key moves that must be made, particularly in these leading nations but across the continent, in order for Africa to truly achieve its potential.