4/10 Emerging Economies are in Africa says Management Today

The team at Management Today have cast their votes for the top 10 emerging economies for 2014 –  4 of the 10 are in Africa!

So who have they picked and why? Outside of Africa the economies they say we should keep an eye on include Iraq, Macau, Mongolia, Panama, Serbia and Timor-Leste.

Within Africa they have pinpointed Ethiopia, Liberia, Rwanda and Tunisia. Let’s have a closer look at what they say about each of the economies.

Ethiopia

• The government is keen to attract foreign investment.
• Infrastructure is huge – the Chinese provided around $1.4bn for the Grand Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, which is expected to cost about $4.8bn in total.
• A possible new railway is being trialled between Djibouti to Dire Dawa.
• The government has has signalled that the country should harness its natural resources – geothermal energy, solar and wind.

Liberia

• The west African nation is rich in natural resources, including iron, gold, rubber and timber.
• Companies such as Arcelor Mittal, BHP Billiton, Exxon Mobil and Chevron are already exploring and Ericsson is bringing broadband.

Rwanda

• The country is now the World Bank’s ninth fastest-expanding country, with a 7.5% rate of growth predicted for this year.
• Rwanda is 32nd in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking.
• Anyone can incorporate a business in under 24 hours.
• In 2000, Paul Kagame launched “Vision 2020” a plan to transform the country into a knowledge economy.

Tunisia

• The north African nation is at 51 this year in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing business rankings, up from 69th in 2010.
• General Motors, Airbus and Unilever have factories, and the clothing sector, which accounts for almost half of manufacturing jobs, supplies brands from Adidas to Hugo Boss.

What do you think? You can see their full list over the Management Today website.