All-clear

Readers here will note this process began years ago and is now bearning fruit.  The new competition for Africa is heating up.  From a recent report from a large American Investment Bank:

In the early 1990s, few European or American companies would have been quizzed on their strategies for China or Asia. Now it's often the first item on the agenda. Our investigation in this edition is into Africa, and it might provoke déjà vu: is now the time for multi-nationals to be investing in Africa? In short, our conclusion is yes. Africa's exceptionally robust growth over the last decade is probably understated (informal parts of economies are very big), but not being able to measure this growth precisely shouldn't detract from Africa?s potential, which is about much more than resources as it evolves and climbs the consumption, urbanisation and perhaps industrialisation curves that the BRICs have climbed. We believe meaningful opportunities for western consumer companies exist as Africa?s household consumption grow s rapidly (it is already greater than some of the BRICs) and that failure to invest now will see others rush in. Capital flows and trade flows into Africa are a microcosm of the changing world, with the BRICs already there, notably in commodities. We have interviews with investors and Standard Bank and Tiger Brands that paint a picture of rapid and misunderstood change, and pieces from our consumer staples, mining and insurance analysts that reinforce this