Africa’s ‘Future Five’ to watch for in 2014

Africa, the cradle of humanity is finally getting the limelight it deserves. Traditionally known for its civil wars and lack of economic progress in tune with the rest of the world, Africa has been seen as the continent to watch out for in 2014. Especially, the five upcoming countries listed below. With Europe in economic turmoil and America venturing into new strategies to gain back its stronghold, Asia and Africa hold great promise for investors. Herein are listed, the upcoming five from the African continent-

Mozambique is one of the world’s largest reservoirs of natural gas and enormous quantities of oil have been discovered off its coast. At a time when petroleum is equated to liquid gold, this discovery holds great potential for Mozambique’s future. The next Saudi Arabia in the making? Definitely!!

Namibia is known for having one of the lowest population densities in the world. Thus, its potential as a shipping country hasn’t completely come to the fore. Its port in Walvis Bay can cut shipping times between Americas and Africa by well over a week, and thus, it could graduate to being one of the most important ports in Africa. It also helps that compared to its neighbours; Namibia is a pretty stable country.

Zambia has seen massive development in recent years. Starting with mining, Zambia is today known for its agriculture sector, tourism that is securely hinged on the iconic Victoria Falls, its range of world class national parks and the overall business climate that is noted for being encouraging, especially for foreign investment. Aside from this, Zambia is also the host for the largest economic regional community in the continent- the Common Market of East and Southern Africa.

Cote d’Ivoire is recovering from a sapping civil war- and this once jewel of West Africa is trying hard to recover its former sheen. Experts believe that if peace shall persist, Cote d’Ivoire has the highest potential to go down the path of economic development as compared to any other African country. Economically, oil reserves have been discovered and foreign energy companies are very interested. The African Development Bank is returning back to its roots in Cote d’Ivoire and might attract other banks to follow suit. Cote d’Ivoire could be the next big banking hub in Africa.

Rwanda is definitely the underdog- but, it has one of the most far thinking national development planning systems in Africa, that is sure to pay dividends, sooner than later. It is also considered a major positive influence in terms of political and economic events in one of the more unstable regions in Africa. Rwanda is positioning itself as a major regional service hub.