Why is the European private sector so reluctant to invest in Africa despite its huge economic development potential?
It’s not only that European businessmen are still wary of conflict, fragile states, corruption and other roadblocks — the big problem is that companies continue to believe that these obstacles exist everywhere across the continent, Serguei Ouattara, president of EU-Africa Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview with Devex’s Kavita Kalsi at the European Development Days in Brussels.
“European companies are now more and more willing to take risks and go to external markets, especially Africa,” Ouattara explained. “The environment is not encouraging, but we also see that in some countries the investment climate is good … progress has been made.”
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About the author
Carlos Santamaria
Carlos is a former associate editor for breaking news in Devex's Manila-based news team. He joined Devex after a decade working for international wire services Reuters, AP, Xinhua, EFE ,and Philippine social news network Rappler in Madrid, Beijing, Manila, New York, and Bangkok. During that time, he also covered natural disasters on the ground in Myanmar and Japan.
