Barclays cites Mozambique as one of Africa’s five "sleeping giants"

A Barclays bank economic analysis unit has identified Mozambique as one of the continent’s five "sleeping giants", and also adds Angola to a group of fifteen African countries it praises for their opportunities and openness to business."Barclays Africa Trade Index, which measures the opportunities and the openness to trade in 31 sub-Saharan economies, identifies a group of "sleeping giants" who, after having gone through a significant phase of economic turmoil, are catching up and registering fast growth," reads the research note distributed to British investors.

The five are Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Ghana and Tanzania, economies which the report says will see continuing economic development and an increase in private consumption in the coming years.With a total population of about 270 million people and an average annual growth of 7.3 percent in the last five years, "these five countries represent a significant business opportunity for British exporters in the coming years," the report said."By 2020, these five countries will represent a population of about 325 million people, comparable to the United States’ population, and with economic growth rates than were previously exclusive to India and China," said the director of the corporate banking business of Barclays, John Winter.

"Based on recent estimates, the expenditure of households in these countries should almost double, reaching over a thousand dollars per year in 2020; brands that start to settle in now will be well positioned for a rapid growth in 2020," he adds .In an index that registers unsatisfied demand with the rapid expansion of value chains and the opening of markets and reflects the absence of barriers to international trade, Angola is ranked seventh and Mozambique fifteenth in a list led by South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.