Sometimes, it takes a while for perceptions to catch up with reality. I was reminded of this at a recent meeting in London. In conversation about the policy challenges facing African countries, a British aid official remarked to me, "Suppose you were a typical African country, and you wanted to raise your average annual growth rate from 5 per cent to 8 per cent ..."
And I thought, how far things have come, that an annual growth rate we in Jamaica could only dream of would, for an African country, have become merely typical. It has been a quiet, but huge achievement.
That is because the perception of Africa in the outside world is still influenced largely by images of famines, civil wars, and dictators. It's not that those problems no longer exist. On a continent of 50-odd countries, you can expect to run the gamut of experiences. Nor do our own positive images in Jamaica always correct the negative perceptions, as they can celebrate a romanticised picture of the continent that precludes stockbrokers and equity analysts.
Nevertheless, on average, sub-Saharan Africa has seen more than a decade of healthy growth. Several new stock markets have been created, and share prices on some of them are surging. Indeed, for the time being, investors wishing to escape the turmoil on the world's markets could do worse than to park their money in Africa.
Reaping the benefits
In part, Africa has been reaping the benefits of high commodity prices. But there is more in play than this, because Africa's reemergence preceded the commodity boom. Policies more conducive to economic growth have helped lubricate African economies. It is not only the primary sector which is booming. African manufactured exports are also increasing.
South Africa's reintegration into the African - and indeed the world - economy has played no small role. Once they regained the freedom to move into foreign markets, South African companies did so eagerly. Not only have they been investing aggressively throughout Africa, but some of them have established themselves as major players on the global stage.
Even so, the dynamism spreads wide. The fastest-growing stock market in Africa is far from Johannesburg, in Ghana. The country's dynamism reflects its political reform in recent years, and its government's commitment to growth and good governance. Near to it, the chronically underperforming Nigeria, having gone to great lengths to restore order to its public finances, has also shown unusual (for it) signs of vitality. It is now closing in on China's rate of economic growth.
Star performers
Despite South Africa's outsize role, the African renaissance did not await that country's reintegration into the continent. There have always been star performers, including South Africa's quiet little neighbour, Botswana. A pleasant backwater at the time of its independence, Botswana's well-managed economy has boomed ever since. Today, its per capita income surpasses Jamaica's several times over.
That challenges still abound, is clear. Botswana is a case in point. Its economic achievements are substantially offset by the severe incidence of HIV prevalence in its population.
Seeking renewed political confidence
And African governments are still trying to find the renewed diplomatic and political confidence to match their economic clout. Recent initiatives via the African Union or in mediating the Zimbabwean crisis reveal progress in finding an African way forward, but also uncertainty, at times.
Furthermore, sub-Saharan countries are suffering more than most from the recent oil and food price-shocks. Their economic recoveries are not yet guaranteed.
All the same, if AIDS deaths, food riots and civil wars make for good newsreel footage, the quiet success of Africa's economic renewal deserves its press time too. The future looks brighter for the continent than it has for a long time.
John Rapley is president of Caribbean Policy Research Institute(CaPRI) an independent think tank affiliated to the UWI, Mona; for feedback, columns@gleanerjm.com.
