Ecobank boss bemoans neglect of local solutions

Managing Director of Ecobank Ghana, Samuel Ashitey Adjei, has said one critical problem affecting Africa is lack of implementation or execution of the numerous ideas churned out by sons and daughters of the continent for its transformation.

“We have very brilliant people in Ghana and Africa with great ideas. There have been all kinds of papers written, presentations made, and countless analyses -- but when it comes to execution we are found wanting,” he added.

Mr. Adjei noted that there are so many things Africans can do for the continent if only governments and institutions remain committed to implementing those ideas.

Speaking in an interview with the B&FT on the sidelines of a two-day International Advertising Association (IAA) and Advertising Association of Ghana (AAG) leadership conference, Mr. Adjei said: “If we are able to do exactly what we say, I am sure Africa will rise faster than what we are witnessing”.

Africa’s problems have been largely attributed to infrastructure deficiencies, corruption, artificial trade barriers, wars, preventable diseases, and bad leadership; but Mr. Adjei noted that executing and doing “what we say” will bring about massive progress.

“We have so many good ideas that we need to implement ourselves,” he emphasised.

In a presentation titled “Africa Rising -- The New Consumer Generation”, Mr. Adjei -- who manages Ghana’s largest bank by assets -- said the bank’s research across Africa reveals astonishing statistics with regard to growth in middle-class numbers, mobile phone penetration, new apps developed by new entrepreneurs, growth in number of high net worth individuals, and changes in the pattern of consumer behaviour.

Economic analysts have forecast that 100million households across sub-Saharan Africa this year will have an income of US$3,000 per annum.

With a population of 1.11billion, the continent is leading global population growth with 4.7 children per woman; and by the year 2100, half of the world’s under 18’s will be African. Sub-Saharan Africa’s rate of urbanisation has risen from 11.2 percent in 1950 to 36.7percent in 2011. By 2050 over half of the population will be living in urban areas. This rapid rate of urbanisation has huge implications for consumer patterns.

Accra, according to New World Wealth, is expected to be the fastest-growing major African city for millionaires. In 2013 it had high net worth individuals numbered at 800, but this figure is expected to grow to 1,500 in 2020.

Nigeria’s ultra-high net worth individuals saw their wealth shoot up from US$3billion in 2007 to US$30billion as at 2013, while the number of those in the high net worth individual category increased by 44percent between 2007 and 2013 -- significantly boosting spending power in the economy.

The new middle-class is buying more cars and motorcycles. In Ghana, for instance, car ownership has risen by 81 percent in the past five years.

Mr. Adjei explained that with all these glowing statistics it is obvious that not are only cars being bought, but more and more families can afford to pay for better education for their children; go on holidays; build new homes; buy more electronic goods for the household; buy a wider range of foodstuff; and eat out in restaurants and go to the cinemas.

Africa’s mobile phone growth, according to Mr. Adjei, can best be described as “explosive”. Various forecasters put the number of mobile subscribers in sub-Saharan Africa at more than 635 million at the end of 2014. This is predicted to rise to around 930 million in 2019.

In countries like Kenya, around 18 million people use their mobiles as bank accounts to deposit or transfer money. “As a result, technology entrepreneurs have sprung up all over the continent, and start-ups of amazing ingenuity are flourishing.”

It is estimated that between 2000 and 2011, growth in Internet users in Africa was 2,527 percent, compared to a world average of 480 percent.

Over the next 20 years, Mr. Adjei said, more and more people in Africa will join the middle-class rank. “If governments implement appropriate policies on human capital development and job generation, and the continent is not dragged back by unforeseeable factors such as wars and diseases, the sky’s the limit for growth of our economies.”