Is investing in Africa a good bet?_美文_双语阅读-查字典英语网

Is investing in Africa a good bet?

The company SABMiller has been operating breweries in South Africa for more than a hundred years. And since the end of apartheid in 1994, it has branched out to other African countries.

Chairman Graham Mackay said, “In my perspective, it’s not so much a question of de-risking. It’s taking the brakes off what is already remarkable economic progress by removing some of the bottlenecks. I don’t know of any part of Africa where we could have invested because we thought there was demand and didn’t for risk factors. We were the first investor into South Sudan, I think, of any kind. Great big brewery there next to Juba just after independence.”

He said that the South Sudan brewery has more than doubled in size since it opened. Mackay also said there are hundreds of millions of people coming into Africa’s cash economy, who are looking for quality goods.

“We don’t hold back on investment because of risk factors. We invest as we think the markets can grow,” he said.

But there are ongoing issues threatening stability in some regions, such as the conflict in Mali. Nigerian president Jonathan says the terrorists and extremists must be contained and he thanks France for its intervention. International Crisis Group’s Louise Arbour says the situation in Mali has already destabilized the region and fears militarization could take on a life of its own.

In South Africa, President Zuma acknowledged that violent labor disputes and strikes have been a problem, both socially and economically. But he said those issues are being addressed through better bargaining agreements.