Forex Analyst and Director at the Forex Training Academy, Lennis Glover, has stated that if Africa truly wants to become an economic powerhouse of the future, it needs to get serious about reforming its financial markets.
According to him, the current pace of globalization gives no choice to developing countries as they must put in place policies to integrate into the world market if they wish to succeed.
Speaking on the financial market virtual forum on the theme, ‘How to get employed and make money from the global financial market’, he said what is required is an inward and outward strategy to cement Africa’s place in the global economy through foreign investment and improved trading links.
“Why is the global financial market a place we need to step in. First, we are not making use of the resources we have here. For instance, when the foreigners take our cotton, they build a cotton factory in their continent and produce clothing. Why cant we have factories here that can produce?”
“They have banks which finance all the big factories to produce these end products like cereals, cornflakes, shoes etc. but then, we have the resources that we need to produce, yet we are not doing it the right way. If Africa continues this way, by not positioning itself properly to participate in the global financial market, we will be in this position for long. If the factories are built here, the prices of the products will also be cheaper, because there is no export factor,” he said.
He also called for a broad, all-inclusive financial market that makes it easy for investors to enable Africa to grow.
Africa’s population is expected to overtake China’s by 2025.
Already, with the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA), many stakeholders have urged countries to shift from an over dependence on commodities to higher-value added products and services.
If successfully implemented next year, the agreement will create a single African market of over a billion consumers with a total GDP of over $3 trillion. This will make Africa the largest free trade area in the world.
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