destined for sectors, such as metals, renewable energy, automotive equipment and financial services. africa is also seen as an attractive fdi destination by those multinational investor groups that are keen to benefit from the intra - africa trade opportunities that currently exist. in addition, other investors that already have operations in africa are looking to expand their footprint on the continent, to ensure that they are well positioned to benefit from the favourable growth prospects that prevail in many countries. investors from developing economies, particularly those from china, have significantly increased their ventures into the continent. in the post crisis period, china accounted for more than half of the greenfield fdi to africa. it is also worth noting that intra - continent fdi has been growing at a healthy pace. in fact, the share of african countries in total fdi in the continent more than doubled between 2003 and 2012 ; whereas in 2003 some 8 per cent of fdi into african countries came from other african countries and 92 per cent from other continents, by 2012 the intra - african share had risen to 18 per cent. as expected, multinationals from south africa have seized the opportunity to expand their production networks across the continent. the number of projects in africa originating from south africa has increased by over 500 per cent in the past decade. between 2010 and 2013, south african multinationals made fdi investments into 18 african countries. in 2012, south africa invested in more new fdi projects in africa than any other country in the world. according to ernst & young ’ s 2013 attractiveness survey, south african fdi into africa has created almost 46 000 jobs in africa since 2003. the financial crisis has shown that the conventional view of a positive relationship between finance and growth cannot be taken for granted. in fact, the shallowness of africa ’ s banking system has helped to insulate many african countries from the adverse effects of the financial crisis. however, financial innovation and development over the past decade has helped to significantly increase the share of the population with access to basic formal financial services and technology in many african countries. we know that capital markets can be a significant driver of economic growth. while many countries in africa have capital markets that are small and illiquid, some steady progress has been made towards developing financial markets in africa. increasingly african countries are accessing international capital markets, and their ability and success in doing so has contributed towards the funding of massive infrastructure projects, which i will touch on later. the ability to issue in international markets has been made possible by

the labour market each year. secondly, over the longer term there is need to move up the value chain in production in both the manufacturing and service sectors. this would require significant investment in education both at the school and higher education levels. programmes directed at entrepreneurship development and other training initiatives that could provide the technical skills required to support infrastructure development are key to the attainment of sustainable growth on the continent. where do central banks fit into the sustainable growth picture? while most of the structural reform imperatives fall outside the mandate of central banks, i believe that central banks, by keeping inflation in check and creating an environment of financial stability, can make a meaningful contribution. economic prosperity is built on stable foundations provided by central banks taking their mandate seriously. thinking of the dozens of countries on the african continent that had high double - digit rates of inflation 20 years ago and contrasting that with the current situation, much progress has been made. in general, while inflation rates have increased marginally over the last couple of years they remain entrenched at single - digit levels in many countries. the rise in food and fuel prices coupled with the impact of currency depreciations have been important sources of inflationary pressures in many countries. the current uncertainties in the global financial bis central bankers ’ speeches environment and their associated impact on currencies may continue to pose a major threat to inflation outcomes in many countries. recently the issue of currency movements and its impact on competitiveness has received much attention in the general press as well as in policy and academic circles. while it may be difficult to determine the equilibrium exchange rate, it is well recognised that a significantly misaligned exchange rate or excessively volatile exchange rate leads to a misallocation of resources which eventually thwarts sustainable growth. in some countries like south africa for example, a special effort has been made to build up the level of foreign exchange reserves – to some us $ 50 billion at present, from us $ 8 billion a decade ago – since adequate reserves contribute to investor confidence and moderation in exchange rate volatility. in some other countries the nature of the foreign exchange market and risk appetite of the authorities does, at times, allow for central bank intervention in an attempt to moderate episodes of abnormal depreciation or appreciation. the shorter - term challenge to macroeconomic policymakers on the continent is to strike a balance between controlling inflation and supporting economic growth. as pointed out earlier, growth is driven from the supply side over the long - term. the