Industrialisation is central to Africa’s development. With its young labour force, abundant natural resources and fast-growing internal markets, Africa has the potential of being the next global frontier for industrial development. In January, in order to further promote the process of African industrialisation and support China-Africa cooperation in trade and investment, China Africa Industrial Forum (CAIF), an organisation facilitating China-Africa exchanges and cooperation in diverse fields, published the 2024 African Industrialisation Prospects Index and 2024 African Business Environment Index for the first time in ChinAfrica.
The two indexes are based on data collected and verified by experts, academic institutions, scholars, government officials, and entrepreneurs.
The 2024 African Industrialisation Prospects Index uses the latest data published by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Economic Forum as reference. CAIF assesses and measures the changes in the economic development of African countries. Since the data from some African countries was missing, CAIF relied on the data for last three years and did a comparative analysis to determine the current development status of these countries.
The 2024 African Business Environment Index uses the Doing Business Ranking produced by the International Finance Corp. of the World Bank and the World & Global Economy Rankings on Economic Freedom released by the Heritage Foundation as reference. It is based on specific indicators such as business registration procedures, approval of building permits and loans, protection of property rights, the tax system, and other factors that affect the process of doing business. It also measures economic freedom based on 12 quantitative and qualitative factors, grouped into four broad categories including rule of law (property rights, government integrity, judicial effectiveness), government size (government spending, tax burden, fiscal health), regulatory efficiency (business freedom, labour freedom, monetary freedom), and open markets.
The two indexes provide a comparative assessment of the business environment and conditions for doing business in African countries. “The reports provide useful information for the business community, researchers and investors in China and African countries,” said Cheng Zhigang, CAIF secretary general. “We will continue our research and analysis on the markets of China and African countries to provide mutually beneficial economic and trade data information.”
