As Africa reels from the Covid-19 pandemic and fallout from the Russia-Ukraine war, Ivory Coast’s prime minister says the private sector is key to driving development in the continent.
Patrick Achi made his remarks at the opening of the Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan – it’s the largest international meeting of the African private sector with some 2,000 business leaders, investors and policymakers.
This year it’s focusing on how to increase the number of African businesses with a turnover of $1bn (£800,000). Since 2015 businesses this size have slowed in growth, according to the management consultancy McKinsey.
As it stands, the firm says Africa has 345 companies turning over $1bn or more, Europe has more than 2,700, and Asia has more than 3,000.
Speaking at the Africa CEO Forum, Ache Leke, a senior partner at McKinsey, said that Africa’s biggest companies play a significant role in increasing the continent’s resilience to economic shocks and increasing economic sovereignty.
“By 2030, more than half of these companies could increase their collective annual revenues of $1 trillion by more than $55bn, by accessing new markets and increasing productivity.”
