Gulf Africa | Overview
Menu INTRODUCTION Gulf Africa Review (GAR) is a news platform established to highlight trade Created and business ties between the GCC and Sub-Saharan Africa with the aim of informing vested businesses, trade organisations and public entities. The platform will provide an apolitical voice for all channels of economic activity by providing curated and off-diary information from 56 nations recognised as part of either the GCC or Sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting the latest developments with a specific focus towards business, trade, foreign direct investment and ongoing relationships on infrastructure and capacity development. Aetius Media has recently started a direct digital marketing campaign that will support the site’s visibility online, publicising the successes achieved by this ever-broadening regional relationship while promoting the brand to its target audience. VISION To be the most informative and highly credible authority on bilateral trade between the GCC and Sub-Saharan nations. This will include creating stability indices based on project success and performance as well as a regulated tendering platform and eventually biannual conferences. MISSION To provide: accurate coverage of economic activity between the GCC and Sub-Saharan Africa; an authoritative source for all information pertaining to the relations between the two regions; and, a voice for this particular biregional avenue of engagement to rival other commentaries on Africa.
Gulf Africa | Overview
WHY SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA AND THE GCC? Africa has several of the fastest growing economies in the world, and what some countries currently lack in terms of infrastructure and capacity, they are rapidly making up for with strong leadership and economic vision. In many ways, the GCC countries have come on the same journey over the last fifty years, and this presents a unique opportunity for mutual understanding, respect and the formation of long term economic ties between the two regions, and the reignition of historic and cultural links. The GCC specifically has rapidly growing demands for raw materials, greater food security and new markets for both its downstream manufacturing and financial products, while Sub-Saharan Africa has the appetite to encourage foreign direct investment across market sectors. At present, on the macroeconomic level of Sub-Saharan Africa, the most prevalent sectors are: agriculture, banking, consumer goods, infrastructure, mining, oil & gas and telecommunications. Indeed, according to the most recent trade statistics published by the South African Government, bilateral trade between just seven Sub-Saharan Africa countries and the GCC amounted to $16.7 billion in 2011. Dubai, in particular, has made some of the most dramatic developments in its relationship with Africa, increasing the volume of trade by 700% in the past decade to $25 billion, and undoubtedly this is just the beginning. Given these complementary endeavours of the GCC and Sub-Saharan Africa, Gulf Africa Review seeks to improve both the quality and quantity of information between these regions, for the betterment of both.
Gulf Africa | Overview
Menu and Interface USER INTERFACE Gulf Africa Review has been custom designed to provide a clean and coherent user interface that makes the content as accessible to its Created audience as possible, accommodating the needs of users from across the GCC and Sub-Saharan Africa, including tablet and mobile users. GAR’s format has been developed to provide a responsive and mobileoptimised online platform, while the website’s primary features are both self-explanatory and easy to navigate. The core areas of trade between the two target markets are illustrated by four main categories, namely Business and Finance, Infrastructure, Commodities and Agriculture, with Arts & Culture as a supporting section covering media, aid and other forms of dialogue between the regions. With bold imagery and direct language, GAR immediately engages the reader to explore and review its features in editorial, video, audio and infographic mediums, allowing for an interactive experience that encourages sharing via email and social media.
REACH & AUDIENCE With a fixed monthly budget invested in organic optimisation and digital marketing we expect to increase Gulf Africa’s readership to approximately 100,000 unique users per month (from a potential niche audience estimate of one million) by 1st November 2014. Our reach will be focused towards the business communities of the 56 target countries within the GCC and Sub-Saharan Africa, comprising both public and private sectors. In terms of volume, it is our intention to publish approximately one hundred and sixty off-diary stories per month.
Gulf Africa | Overview
BUSINESS AND FINANCE In recent decades, the Sub-Saharan economies have seen unprecedented growth within their business and financial sectors, in part due to the support of a rising middle class for sophisticated supply chains for consumer products, as well as the growing contribution of SMEs towards long-term development. While governance and access to natural resources have continued to be key differentiators in defining the pace of macroeconomic development for much of the continent, in many countries economic diversification and increasing regulation now allow for a greater spectrum of foreign direct investment. Dubai in particular has become a focal hub for the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region, with countless international companies incorporating themselves either in its free zones or in partnership with the Emirate’s own business groups. Dubai also boasts a host of Africa-focused business and investment groups, such as Abraaj Group, Mara Group and Arqaam Capital. Islamic finance is also a key area of growth, with governments from countries such as Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa and Nigeria in West Africa expressing considerable interest in developing regional hubs for financial mechanisms akin to those developed by the GCC’s banking institutions. Having weathered the economic difficulties of the global recession, the GCC remains one of the most liquid markets in the world, a position that is reflected by the region’s rising contributions towards the estimated $70 billion of foreign direct investment injected into Africa last year.
Gulf Africa | Overview
INFRASTRUCTURE In line with the expanding population of Sub-Saharan Africa, there has been a steady rise in the demand for greater infrastructure, ranging from housing and amenities to railroads and ports. With organisations such as the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, the UAE Ministry of International Cooperation and Development, Saudi Fund for Development, Kuwait Fund for Arab Development and Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud being recognised as key investors from the region, the GCC is becoming an increasingly strategic investor in SubSaharan Africa’s infrastructure development. Given the substantial infrastructure development that has occurred in the GCC in the past twenty years, Gulf Africa Review represents a valuable platform for informing the GCC construction market of potential opportunities within Africa and aid their on going expansion while ensuring they are visible as highly professional and experienced contractors to the key stakeholders in the emerging economies. As an Emirate, Dubai has the added advantage of its status as an aspirational global brand, renowned for its innovative ideas and structures in the world. This facet gives experienced local contractors, architects and suppliers a key advantage when entering the African market, while in the telecommunications sector, Etisalat has already positioned itself as a key technology partner. Infrastructure expenditures are rising significantly faster in Africa in comparison with other emerging economies. Nigeria aims to be among the world’s top 20 economies by 2020, which, as an example, will require investment in excess of $190 billion, or 60% of the country’s gross domestic product.
Gulf Africa | Overview
AGRICULTURE Food security concerns have become a top priority for many countries in recent years and significant investment has targeted Sub-Saharan Africa, where there is the potential to increase the total area of land suitable for arable cultivation by as much as 700% according to the United Nations Environment Programme. In 2007 the Gulf states spent $10bn on food imports. A subsequent rise in global food prices as a result of both biofuel production and restrictions on certain agri-commodities has only deepened the need for the GCC to invest in agricultural operations overseas, and view Sub-Saharan Africa as a strategic focus. Figures from the World Bank indicate that 56 million hectares of land were leased or sold to foreign investors during 2008-2009, 70% of which was in Africa. Al Dahra Agriculture is a good example of a UAE company that has been heavily involved in this process, establishing a joint venture company in 2009 in Namibia to cultivate 200 hectares of land around the Nuate Dam for date production. Lending for Sub-Saharan African agriculture also grew from $300m in 2001-2005 to $1bn in 2010, while the sector accounted for 65% of the region’s labour force and approximately 32% of its GDP. With its increasing population, investment in food security and secure imports of agri-commodities are ever increasing priorities for the Gulf states while the potential for a growth in the export of products such as fertiliser – a market the GCC is expected to control 36% of by 2017 – provides further impetus and cause for encouraging the growth and development of agriculture in Africa.
Gulf Africa | Overview
COMMODITIES Thanks to the endeavours of government organisations such as the Dubai Multi Commodity Centre, Dubai has become a focal point for the exchange of commodities ranging from precious metals to food and beverages. According to the International Trade Centre, GCC exports to Africa were also worth over $16bn in 2011, primarily in oil derivatives. Just as Sub-Saharan Africa’s demand continues for items such as machinery, fertiliser, construction material and electrical equipment, so will the GCC’s demand for raw materials such as base and precious metals, as well as agri-commodities and perishables like fruits and nuts. In terms of exports, eleven of Africa’s countries rank among the top ten sources for at least one major mineral resource, and Africa will control 13% of global oil production by 2015. The Middle East trades and consumes fifty million tonnes of steel annually, and companies such as SABIC and Oman’s Anvwar Asian Investment are already heavily involved in the exploration for new iron ore resources on the continent. According to a the International Monetary Fund’s October 2013 report, Africa’s total output is expected to expand by 6% in 2014, and with indications of a slowdown in China’s economy, the present leader of FDI in the region, there has never been a better time for the GCC to deliver where others cannot. Given the strength of these fundamentals, an elevation in dialogue and the creation of avenues for partnership and technical cooperation between the two regions holds considerable potential for multifarious mutual benefits.
Gulf Africa | Overview
STRATEGIC BENEFITS OF COLLABORATION • We are the only unpolarised news platform that focuses on the trading relationship between Sub-Saharan Africa and the GCC, offering a very specific niche for Dubai FDI to spread publicity. • Any sponsorship provided from Dubai FDI will transparently be used to enhance the quality and volume of content on Gulf Africa Review, including direct marketing budgets which will support increasing our readership. • We will ensure that all banners and advertising space will support a direct link to Dubai FDI’s website. • Gulf Africa Review can act as a voice from the GCC, offering an alternative take on investment strategy from the region, as opposed to the traditionally media dominant African partner countries and regions such as China, the United States and the EU. • As a centralised source for assisting foreign investors looking to build successful businesses in Dubai, Gulf Africa Review would be interested in producing case studies highlighting Dubai FDI’s considerable contribution towards the growth of the Emirate while assisting to build economic bridges across borders. • Gulf Africa Review can help to stimulate greater growth from the SubSaharan market by emphasising Dubai FDI’s vision, positioning Dubai on a global stage as a buinsess opportunity for new initiatives and an essential base for successful business.