How The Eurozone Crisis Is Impacting Africa
Tuesday, January 17th, 2012The Eurozone financial crisis had detrimental global implications. Not only is the future looking terribly bleaks for European nations such as Greece, the implications for the rest of the world don’t look promising either. The recent lack of imported goods into the Eurozone is now causing major problems with economies in Africa including Nigeria who export 60% of their total goods to Europe. Many countries in Europe have now begun cancelling many imports from abroad simply because they are unable to keep spending at a rate they have done in previous years. The finance minister of Nigeria Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said market volatility was threatening Africa’s economic prospects and ”The new epicentre of the crisis in the Eurozone is having a damaging effect on our economies.”
Were you thinking of heading out to Africa on a Zambia safari but now are having second thoughts? You are most certainly not on your own there. The financial crisis is not restricted just to Europe as countries across the world are suffering due to the lack of trade with Europe. Within Europe jobs are being slashed, pensions cut and the age of retirement is increasing. With an uncertain future ahead for many people, booking a Tanzania safari or some other form of holiday in Africa is highly unlikely.
Kenya was one of the first African nations to notice a drop in tourism numbers and acted very quickly by halving visa fees for all tourists in the hope it would convince many people to continue travelling even though the future looks uncertain. This scheme worked for Kenya and although they haven’t received as many tourists as pre-recession they still received more than their projected forecast. There are still however many people out there with job security who are able to continue their lives as normal and go ahead and book a Namibia safari or a safari in South Africa knowing full well they will be returning home to full time employment.
It’s difficult to say when this crisis is likely to end as predicted financial forecasts certainly don’t look promising for the next couple of years at least, meaning many African countries are going to need to sort new export markets if they are going to continue growing economically.