Africa: A Continent in its Infancy

Africa is a continent in its infancy; as such most African countries have only been independent for about fifty years. Most countries are still heavily influenced by their colonial heritage. For instance, Ghana, the first sub-Saharan African country to become independent, celebrated its 50th anniversary, a very short time in the life of nations (Commission on Growth and Economic Development).

Africa is a continent abundant with natural resources and land mass yet it is the poorest in the world.  It sounds paradoxical but, in fact, Africa’s distinctive physical geography accounts for its slow economic growth.

Africa is a vast continent comprising forty four nations and cannot be treated as a single entity. Strategies must be targeted for the Africa’s countries, because each faces different challenges peculiar to its geography and demographics. Yes, it is a continent abundant in natural resources, but these resources are not evenly distributed among and within the countries. While some parts are rich in terms of these resources, others have scarce amounts of natural resources (Collier 2008, 3).

The major problem facing African nations today is political instability. According to Paul Collier (2008), after independence, Africa like its other developing counterparts, including South America and South East Asia, fell into a range of bad economic policies and governance. Thus, Africa’s unstable political environment has made economic reform more difficult if not impossible and accounts for the adoption of poor policies in Africa compared to other regions in the world (17).

Another important characteristic of Africa’s nations is their high ethnic diversity. Ethnic diversity does not necessarily impede development, but it poses great challenges to governments to include minorities. Although democracy does not cause economic growth, it is much more important in the context of ethnic diversity.  Statistically, democracy is important for growth if the society is ethnically diverse, because in Africa, autocracy has proved disastrous as we saw in Rwanda, Somalia, and Sudan among others. As Collier suggests, in ethnically diverse societies, an autocracy usually rests on the military power of a single ethnic group. The more diverse the society, the less likely minority ethnic groups will share or participate. A minority in power has an incentive to redistribute to itself at the expense of the public good of national economic growth (18).

Africa’s key factor of production is its land. Unfortunately, however, the supply of agricultural land has been depleted by desertification and by urbanization, an immediate consequence of rapid population growth, a major problem facing Africa today.

Africa’s problems are countless, but there is hope and prospect for this natural resource rich continent. An indication of prospect in Africa is the existence of companies like the Saranabu Groups, a Lebanese family business based in West Africa with five generations of experience in trading, industry, and investment.

Mr.Ramses R.Najem and Mr. Sammy R. Najem started Saranabu S.A. in 1983 to import, export and distribute oils and vegetable fats.  Then they expanded their business by building tank farms for the storage of oils and warehouses for the storage of vegetable fats. As Ramses Najem suggests, the idea was to contribute to the revival of their region by establishing a company that creates jobs for locals.

Today, with 15 years of experience in the Oils and Fats trade, SARANABU is a reliable supplier to both industries and merchants, because they keep providing innovative and cost effective solutions to their customers in the volatile African business environment.

Here are some of Saranabu’s milestones: It is the first company in Benin to commence trading with the first West African currency, the Waua. It is the first overland exporter of cement from Benin to Nigeria under an exclusive ETLS permission. It is the first company that imported Soya Bean oil from the USA to Benin.

SARANABU plans to expand to other West African countries in the next 3 years to better service its clients as it incorporates a strong portion of its Crude Oil sourcing from neighboring West African countries.