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Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a region of immense opportunities and complex challenges. Home to over 1.1 billion people (15% of the world’s population), SSA comprises 49 countries spanning four time zones, covering more than 15% of the world’s land surface (AfDB, 2023). Yet, despite having the fastest population growth, SSA has the lowest life expectancy, literacy rates, urban population, and the worst infant and child mortality rates. SSA is however renowned for having the highest natural resource endowments in the world, including the largest arable landmass, the second largest tropical forest, 30% of global mineral reserves (including abundant asbestos, chromite, coal, cobalt, columbite tantalum, copper, and uranium), 8% of the world’s oil reserves, 7% of the world’s natural gas reserves, the highest reserves of platinum and diamonds, and 40% of the world’s gold deposits (Taylor, 2012, pp. 99–100; AfDB, 2016). SSA’s contribution to world trade has however remained stubbornly low at around 3% (IMF, 2022) even though total trade comprises 47.4% of SSA’s gross domestic product (GDP). While average merchandise trade from SSA is an impressive 40.4% of GDP, which is higher than from Latin America and Caribbean (30.1%), East Asia and Pacific (38.1%), and North America (24.9%), a significant portion of this merchandise trade is in natural resources. SSA’s agricultural and ores and metals raw materials exports comprise the highest component of merchandise exports of any region in the world (at 5.1% and 12.5% respectively compared to the world averages of 3.0% and 4.1%), while oil exports from SSA were second behind the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) (4.7% and 22.9% respectively). Over the last fifty years, global net foreign direct invest (FDI) inflows increased from USD 12.4 billion in 1970 to USD 1.2 trillion in 2020 while FDI to SSA similarly increased from USD 800 million to USD 23.6 during the same period. However, compared to other regions in the world, SSA remains at the low end of FDI recipients, receiving only 1.5% of cumulative world FDI.

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Introduction

  • 章节

  • 发表日期：

    2025年

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  • Sean Gossel

摘要

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a region of immense opportunities and complex challenges. Home to over 1.1 billion people (15% of the world’s population), SSA comprises 49 countries spanning four time zones, covering more than 15% of the world’s land surface (AfDB, 2023). Yet, despite having the fastest population growth, SSA has the lowest life expectancy, literacy rates, urban population, and the worst infant and child mortality rates. SSA is however renowned for having the highest natural resource endowments in the world, including the largest arable landmass, the second largest tropical forest, 30% of global mineral reserves (including abundant asbestos, chromite, coal, cobalt, columbite tantalum, copper, and uranium), 8% of the world’s oil reserves, 7% of the world’s natural gas reserves, the highest reserves of platinum and diamonds, and 40% of the world’s gold deposits (Taylor, 2012, pp. 99–100; AfDB, 2016). SSA’s contribution to world trade has however remained stubbornly low at around 3% (IMF, 2022) even though total trade comprises 47.4% of SSA’s gross domestic product (GDP). While average merchandise trade from SSA is an impressive 40.4% of GDP, which is higher than from Latin America and Caribbean (30.1%), East Asia and Pacific (38.1%), and North America (24.9%), a significant portion of this merchandise trade is in natural resources. SSA’s agricultural and ores and metals raw materials exports comprise the highest component of merchandise exports of any region in the world (at 5.1% and 12.5% respectively compared to the world averages of 3.0% and 4.1%), while oil exports from SSA were second behind the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) (4.7% and 22.9% respectively). Over the last fifty years, global net foreign direct invest (FDI) inflows increased from USD 12.4 billion in 1970 to USD 1.2 trillion in 2020 while FDI to SSA similarly increased from USD 800 million to USD 23.6 during the same period. However, compared to other regions in the world, SSA remains at the low end of FDI recipients, receiving only 1.5% of cumulative world FDI.