African enterprises on track

AFRICA

Kevin Daly, fixed income portfolio manager at Aberdeen Asset Management, explains how Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya are living up to Africa's ‘shifting from aid to enterprise' moniker.

The moniker about Africa shifting from aid to enterprise has attracted attention in recent years, as the continent’s economies have grown strongly. But monikers almost always underestimate the underlying picture. Rhetoric about Africa has certainly changed. The IMF and World Bank, who direct most of the donor aid to the continent, talk about underpinning strong growth with appropriate institutions, a vibrant civil society and improving governance. This is a long way from the 1980s talk of reducing bloated African governments, slimming public sectors and improving trade relations. Af...