With Sub-Saharan Africa’s (SSA) growth rate forecast to be above that of the global average in 2016, the fundamentals for improved growth and sustained development are still in place for the continent, according to Lwazi Bam, Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte Africa.

While difficulties such as corruption, poor infrastructure, currency volatility, terrorism, climate change and the commodity price plunge are evident in both local and global markets, the African continent still remains attractive. The young population, a growing middle class, investments in infrastructure projects, the use of mobile infrastructure and relative political stability (which should not be underestimated), all build the foundations of Africa’s real growth story in 2016 and beyond.

In light of the current headwinds faced not only by South Africa but also other emerging markets, including China, Brazil but also resource-producing African economies, collaborative strategies that identify and position African economies to be more competitive should be the focus for both the private sector and governments. In order to survive and thrive in 2016 and beyond, it is essential for African economies to diversify, especially those that are highly resource-dependent. Global shocks such as the commodity price plunge and the sharp drop in the price of oil are clear signs to this end.

Beyond resource commodity exports, tourism and agriculture are some of the key sectors that African countries need to consider in restructuring their economies.

With the foundation in place for Africa’s growth story, African governments and private sector in the continent’s economies need to work to identify their various unique value propositions in order to be competitively positioned in the global arena. While cognisant of the fact that Africa’s trade infrastructure is still underdeveloped and economies are fragmented along language lines, greater efforts in bilateral and regional integration, all in an effort to come up with an Africa story that is more optimistic and more pronounced, is an important step forward.

This report is a summary of the Frontier Advisory Deloitte Africa Outlook 2016 conference which took place on 21 January.