| June 8, 2006—Bank Group President Paul D. Wolfowitz said Africans can attract far higher levels of investment, and in doing so, generate the jobs that will lift more of the population out of poverty.Co-chairing a roundtable discussion at the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Investment Summit in Washington, he said that since coming to the Bank, “I’ve discovered how much hope there is” in Africa, made stronger by the sustained growth record of some 15 countries. But he warned against impatience and reform fatigue, stressing that economic and social change takes time. Africa Development Bank President Donald Kaberuka, who co-chaired the roundtable, said that African countries need to “close the gap between policies and practice,” noting that many countries have adopted sound economic policies without substantially changing the investment environment. Some of the weaknesses, Wolfowitz said, were “man-made” and could be easily corrected by removing costly licensing requirements and other obstacles that have made Africa home to seven of the ten most difficult countries to do business in the world, according to the Bank’s Doing Business in 2006 . A number of African countries are taking steps to create a more business-friendly environment. For example, Madagascar has brought down the time required to register a firm from 38 to 8 days, while Burkina Faso has created a one-stop shopping concept that cuts by nearly a third the time required to start a new company. Company registration costs there have dropped 60 percent.  | Co-chairs of the roundtable: President Paul Wolfowitz of the World Bank and and President Donald Kaberuka of Africa Development Bank |
Two portfolio investors confirmed that Africa is rich in opportunities. “We invest where the reality is better than the perception,” said Thomas Barry, chief executive of Zephyr Management. “We think in Africa, the reality is much better than the perception.” Thomas Gibian, chief executive of Emerging Markets Partnership, said that one of his funds invested $400 million in 14 companies, with the investment value rising to $850 million over several years. He urged African countries to make sure that companies’ finances were transparent and easily comparable with similar firms in other countries, and he urged nations like the U.S. to encourage companies to invest in Africa by providing them a tax holiday on repatriated profits.  | President Paul Wolfowitz with Rosa Whitaker of the Whitaker Group |
The roundtable coincided with ministerial meetings in Washington under AGOA and was organized by the Whitaker Group, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africva (Comesa), the African Business Roundtable, the World Bank Africa Regional Private Sector Development Group, and Kleiman International Consultants. |
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