Figures revealed that Africa’s tourism trade balance with the rest of the world has remained positive since 1995, that is more foreign exchange was earned than was lost due to tourism.
Despite remaining positive, Africa’s tourism trade balance declined from a peak of $19.1 billion in 2007 to $16.3 billion in 2014, according to the latest UNCTAD Economic Development in Africa Report 2017.
The countries with the highest tourism trade balance on the continent during 2011–2014 were Morocco ($6.5 billion), Egypt ($5.6 billion) and South Africa ($3.6 billion).
The report titled – ‘Tourism for Transformative and Inclusive Growth’ noted: ” The contribution of tourism to GDP and employment reflects the sector’s economic relevance. The tourism sector’s total contribution to the continent’s GDP doubled from $69 billion between 1995 and 1998, to $153 billion between 2005 and 2008, and rose to $166 billion between 2011 and 2014, according to the report.
As a share of GDP, tourism contributed 6.8 per cent to Africa’s GDP in 1995–1998, 9.6 per cent in 2005–2008 and 8.5 per cent in 2011–2014. Considering only its direct contribution to GDP, tourism accounted for 2.9 per cent in 1995–1998, 4 per cent in 2005–2008 and 3.5 per cent in 2011–2014.
As noted previously, the sector was expanding strongly up to the financial crisis, contributing most in Northern, Eastern and Southern Africa.
In 18 African countries, this share exceeded 10 per cent, illustrating the importance of tourism to these economies. This group includes all of Africa’s small island developing States, four landlocked developing countries, eight least developed countries and five countries outside of these categories, namely Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Namibia and Tunisia.
This suggests that tourism is a key sector in different types of countries, but particularly in African small island developing States. In fact, the three most tourism-driven countries in terms of the sectors’ contribution to GDP are small island developing States: Seychelles (62 per cent), Cabo Verde (43 per cent) and Mauritius (27 per cent).
These mostly relatively small economies are also among the most dependent on the export of services: Cabo Verde, Djibouti, the Gambia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe and Seychelles (UNCTAD, 2015a). The least tourism-dependent economies, in order, with a share of tourism in GDP of 4 per cent or lower, were the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, the Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Nigeria and Angola. Except for Burkina Faso, all of these economies are among the top 20 African oil-exporting economies.
However, Angola (17 per cent), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (15 per cent) and Nigeria (14 per cent) were among the countries where tourism’s contribution to GDP grew fastest in 2011–2014, along with Sao Tome and Principe (21 per cent per year) and the Sudan/South Sudan (16 per cent), but from a relatively low base.
The report further indicated that countries where tourism makes a high contribution to GDP tend to have a greater reliance on source markets outside of Africa.
The most tourism-dependent countries during 2011–2014 (Seychelles, Cabo Verde, Mauritius, the Gambia, Morocco,) sourced more than 85 per cent of all international arrivals from outside the continent.
The sector’s dependency on source markets outside of Africa is also pronounced in Northern Africa as a subregion, where more than 8 out of 10 international tourists arrive from outside the continent. In contrast, in sub-Saharan Africa, only approximately one out of three international tourists arrives from outside the continent.
This suggests that proximity to Europe is crucial for the tourist market in Northern Africa as well as for Cabo Verde and the Gambia, as several of these destinations specialize in a tourist product based on beach holidays and antiquities.
The report reflected that for Africa overall, the continental and the European markets are the most important source markets.
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, African Eye Report
