According to Hennie Heymans, CEO of DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa, Africa needs greater regional integration to capitalize on the continent’s growth potential or there is a possibility that the developed markets could stagnate much like in Europe, China and North Africa.
Heymans also said Africa’s intra-regional trade statistics are among the lowest worldwide when compared to other regions. According to the statistics, less than 20 percent of what is produced in the region remains on the continent.
These numbers equate to 80 percent of what is produced in Africa being exported to the European Union, China and the United States. Europe trades approximately 65 percent of what is produced there within its continent and the number in North America is around 50 percent.
The latest International Monetary Fund report in the April issue of World Economic Outlook shows that developing economies and emerging markets will continue to make up a large amount of the world’s economic growth in 2016. The report expects the rate to be at 3.2 percent and that sub-Saharan Africa is expected to come in low in 2016, with a rate of 3 percent, down 0.4 percent from last year.
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