Indian trade to grow in Africa
A report out this week suggests India will quadruple revenues from Africa by 2025.
With weak demand for Indian goods in traditional markets such as Europe and the US, Africa is already proving to be increasingly important.
A number of companies hope to boost their presence on the continent in the coming years, as Shilpa Kannan reports.
Towards accelerating inclusive growth in Africa
At the opening plenary of the 24th World Economic Forum on Africa on Thursday, May 8, 2014, it was revealed that 112 million workers would enter Africa’s labour force by 2020.
According to President Goodluck Jonathan, who expressed the view that the need to create jobs remained a global problem, in Africa, unemployment problem was compounded by youthful population and pending demographic transition.
According to him, “an additional 112 million workers will enter Africa’s labour force by 2020. This is daunting and should be a wake-up call to all of us in Africa to work harder on job creation with a great sense of urgency.â€
Job creation, which President Jonathan said remained the main focus of Nigeria’s Transformation Agenda, was the main focus of the event, alongside inclusive growth. Without inclusive growth, it was observed, “inequality will endanger progress in Africa.
For growth to count, Africa must industrialise
By Carlos Lopes of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
In an era of high volatility and deep crisis, Africa has been an economic success story. A combination of high commodity prices, increased domestic demand, improved economic governance and management and stronger trade and investment ties with other developing economies has helped African countries record on average an impressive 5 per cent annual GDP growth over the past ten years. It is a performance which more developed and wealthier regions simply cannot match.
But while this record should be reason for celebration and confidence, progress on social development has been far slower. Africa’s growth, contrary to the headline figures, has not been sufficiently inclusive or provided the new jobs the continent and its people desperately need.
Escorts launches Farmtrac Heritage range in S Africa
Tractor manufacturer Escorts Ltd launched its Farmtrac Heritage range at South Africa’s biggest agriculture show, Nampo 2014. The Heritage range is being introduced in South Africa.
These tractors range between 50 HP and 75 HP, and are set to bring about generational change in the tractor markets of South Africa, the company said in a statement.
The ergonomically engineered Farmtrac Heritage series, available both in 2WD as well as 4WD variants, are the most fuel efficient tractors in their class. Escorts Ltd brings with it a mix of Indian engineering excellence and great designs. The new offering is aimed at driving a revolution in the under-served small HP farm market.
The South African tractor industry today stands at 6,000 units a year, which includes tractors up to 450HP.
