Opened a conference in Lagos of all our UK Trade and Investment officers in Africa- as well as the London team. They're doing a great job in helping British business help Africa. In difficult times of global downturn the standards and quality offered by UK companies give them a special advantage. And the logic for African Governments to push forward their economic and political reforms- and create bigger markets by regional integration- is stronger than ever.
It is also a no-brainer that African Governments can push on with policy decisions that can help the business environment and help the private sector transform their countries. Such as tackling issues of governance, banking prudential requirements, bringing transparency, adopting international standards, looking outwards and refusing to be protectionist. All this will help African economies in challenging times. Britain remains Africa's gateway to the global economy as it starts to recover.
Not easy times for many African economies given commodity prices, tighter credit and a pause button on some internationally financed projects but medium and long term growth prospects are good. With our strong diversified economy, industry, products, services- and our own helpful business environment and global networks- the UK remains Africa's logical partner. Excellent evening event was sponsored by Standard Chartered who are doing great things in Nigerian banking.
Posted at 17:02 28 August 2009 by Bob Dewar | Comments[0]
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