With an increasingly gloomy international economic outlook for Europe, America and Asia, the African continent is increasingly emerging as an attractive investment option. The continent is undergoing a period of unprecedented economic growth with the number of African nations in decline having fallen from 17 in 2003 to just 6 in 2006. GDP growth across the region has been rising fast (well above 5% in 2005 and 2006 and a forecast 6.8% this year) and is expected to keep doing so. Oil revenues have played a key role; many countries have ploughed sizeable portions of their new wealth into development programmes under the stewardship of the World Bank. Their economic growth has also been supported by the the writing off of many debts owed by African nations to the developed world as agreed by G-7 leaders in 2005.

But what is driving growth outside of the petro-chemical sector? This is partly down to the commodities boom and to the inward investment of commodity-hungry China. Sino-African trade hit $55.5 billion (£27.4 billion) last year, up 40% from the year before. China has now directly invested more than £3 billion into Africa. This has had the effect of not only increasing average incomes, but also rebuilding roads, railways, ports and schools across the continent. Combined, these forces have helped to create an increasing political and financial stability which makes the region “investable”. This new status has acted as a catalyst to the development of the tourism, telecoms and financial sectors.

Increasingly, the future of Africa is seen to rest on the production of soft commodities. The term refers to commodities that are grown instead of being mined. This is the sector that can arguably have the most beneficial effect of all on Africa’s economies, as the majority of poor Africans are engaged in agriculture. An increase in prices at soft commodity level should translate to rising incomes, which may in time give rise to some surplus income which could be the turning point in Africa’s economic renaissance. The main soft commodities produced in Africa are cocoa, cotton, tea and coffee.

The Africa International Soft Commodities 2009 will present the main soft commodities in Africa and other related soft commodities such as palm oil, sugar and grains. Special interactive workshops will take place where participants will be able to debate and exchange expertise.

Alongside this gathering, an interactive workshop on Finance and Soft Commodities is taking place; for more information please visit the official website: www.cubicglobe.com