Investing in emerging and frontier markets allows me to travel around the world and experience a wide range of cultures and traditions. However, across all seven continents some things remain a constant, and one of these is a love of football.With a global audience of over 1 billion, it often seems the whole planet is glued to the World Cup. It brings together communities, villages and countries. This is particularly true in Africa. Once again, the countries representing the vast continent have played well and been unlucky not to advance further in the competition. While an African nation will not triumph on the 15 July, in a series of blogs over the coming weeks, I would like to shed some light on a more significant achievement. An economic victory.I will start by focusing on Senegal, given one of my personal highlights of the group stages was Senegal’s 2-0 win against Poland, evoking memories of their result against France in 2002.Historically, in both football and economic terms, things in Senegal have not always been easy. The country ranks number nine in the world for illiteracy, with 58% of the Senegalese population not being able to read, while 46.7% live in poverty. Both issues are largely linked to Senegal’s agriculture focused workforce, which is heavily affected by extreme weather conditions like droughts.However recently Senegal has certainly made people take note – and not only by scoring goals. In 2017 the country was able to grow by 7.2% – which is more than China or India. Since their victory against France 16 years ago, Senegal has had the second highest GDP growth among all Africa’s 2018 World Cup entrants. This should be taken in context however, as the country’s GDP was $16.5bn in 2017, which is only slightly above the cost of hosting the World Cup in Russia ($14.2bn). Senegal’s currency is also performing well, with an average inflation of just 1.5% per year since 2002, making it one of the most stable in Africa.While Senegal does have some challenges, there also is much promise. After winning independence from France in 1960, the country has only had 4 presidents, but notably every transition has been peaceful. It is frequently seen as one of the most politically and economically stable countries in the region. This solid political foundation and recent economic growth provides the perfect conditions for Senegal to develop into a prosperous nation. The future looks bright both on and off the pitch.
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