Some African countries 'not viable', Mo Ibrahim says [View All]

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Source: Daily Telegraph

One month after the £3million African leadership award in his name failed to name a winner due to lack of suitable recipients, the British-Sudanese mobile phone billionaire said bad leadership, and the fragmentation of the continent into small and economically isolated countries meant that Africa could not survive as it was.

Mr Ibrahim told a conference on good governance in Tanzania on Saturday: "We need scale and we need that now - not tomorrow, the next year or the year after".

Speaking to an audience that included Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, Mr Ibrahim juxtaposed the power of tiny African countries with few resources with some of the world's powerhouse economies. "Who are we to think that we can have 53 tiny little countries and be ready to compete with China, India, Europe, the Americans? It is a fallacy."

Rather than arguing for the re-drawing of political boundaries in Africa, however, Mr Ibrahim advocated faster economic integration in the continent. "Intra-African trade represents from 4 per cent to 5 per cent of our international trade. Why? This is unacceptable, unviable, and people need to stand up and say this," he said.


Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/6588919/Some-African-countries-not-viable-Mo-Ibrahim-says.html