Can Greed Save Africa?

This Business Week story suggests that “fearless investing is succeeding where aid often hasn’t”, using examples from private equity firm Emerging Capital Partners and South Africa-based microlender Blue Financial Services. Ventures like ESV Biofuels in Mozambique provide “mosquito control, power lines, and potable water” because “you cannot run a business when your workers are out with malaria or sick from dirty water”.

Another take on foreign investment by IRIN News shows how the impressive economic growth rates in some African countries like Mozambique are “illusory at best”. “Based on a few mega-projects, this growth has, however, created few jobs, while its contribution to public revenue has been marginal when compared to its value of production.”