African countries must adopt firm and consistent policies to safeguard resources and maximise benefits from foreign investment, a business leader has noted.
Addressing delegates during a panel discussion at the ELISA Business Summit, Bioentreprenuer, Dr Darius Walker, said governments should ensure that local stakeholders retain majority control in investment deals.
“Have policies that are well set and that everyone adheres to. When you have investors, make sure the majority of shares come home to you,” Walker said.
He note that such countries as Qatar, which now have thriving economies, previously required foreign investors to cede majority ownership to the state, to safeguard national interests.
“Most of the countries whose economies are doing well are firm when it comes to managing their own resources,” he said.
Walker added that while such policies may evolve over time, they are critical in building strong economic foundations and ensuring long-term gains from investment.
CEO of the Africa Business Inc, Stephene Chikozho, said African countries are failing to fully benefit from international partnerships due to infrastructure gaps.
“Most African countries are trading with big economies such as China but are not making much out of the investment deals,” Chikozho said.
“China brings in the necessary infrastructure which addresses the gaps that exist in our industries, placing us at a disadvantage to negotiate better terms.”
He also raised concern over Africa’s reliance on foreign-owned digital platforms, warning that the continent is losing control over valuable data.
“As we speak right now most of these platforms we use are owned elsewhere. This means that all the data we input belongs to those countries and companies. They know what our people search for and use it to their advantage,” he said.
Chikozho said investing in locally developed artificial intelligence systems would help African countries retain control over data and better position themselves in the digital economy.
Global Supply Chain expert and CEO of SINCPOINT, Lebogang Letsoalo, advised business leaders to prioritise research and continuous learning to remain competitive.
“One of the most important things we need to do as business people is to research, about your business, market opportunities and strategies,” Letsoalo said.
“Business is like studying. What you want to do, someone has already done it before. Find out how they did it and improve on that.”
She also emphasised the importance of building strong networks to learn more about how other business people are navigating the markets and opportunities.
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