Tourism
Tourism is widely seen as an area of rich opportunity for African countries. With their diverse fauna and flora, several
countries have long been popular destinations for foreigners. This has been growing over the past three decades. The table
below helps illustrate this.
Table 5: International tourist arrivals in Africa, 2000-2014 (millions)
2000
2005
2010
2013
2014
Africa
26.2
34.8
49.5
54.4
55.8
North Africa
10.2
13.9
18.8
19.6
19.8
Sub-Saharan Africa
16.0
20.9
30.8
34.7
36.0
Source: United Nations World Tourism Organisation, ‗Tourism in Africa: a tool for development, Affiliate Members regional report: Volume
four‘, Madrid: UNWTO, 2015, p. 20.
management.250 In Nigeria, infrastructure problems
undermine tourism.251
The United Nations World Tourism Organisation
estimates that Africa will receive some 85 million tourists
in 2020, and 134 million in 2030. This will account for
6.3% and 7.4% of international arrivals worldwide.244
While these numbers are large, considering Africa‘s low
baseline in 1990, they still represent a relatively modest
slice of the world market. In addition, the continent‘s
growing business community and expanding middle
class promise enormous opportunities in domestic and
intra-African tourism.
Some countries, such as Kenya, Egypt, South Africa,
and Botswana have built tourism industries of some size
and sophistication – and the Zambia CRR notes its
growth in that country245 – but most others have not. For
example, the Rwanda CRR says that tourism makes a
‗marginal‘ contribution to the country‘s economy,246 while
Lesotho‘s notes that tourism has been neglected.247 The
Lesotho CRR remarks: ‗Tourism has long been touted as
a potential growth sector in the economy, but this has not
materialised so far.‘248 In Mozambique, while tourism is
recognised as a major opportunity, the country had no
tourism strategy when the CRR was written.249 In
Tanzania, tourism is also compromised by bad
244
245
246
247
248
249
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO),
International conference on current
challenges and issues for African tourism:
what solutions can be adopted to ensure
its competitiveness? Technical Note
(Tunis, Tunisia, 25-26 April 2013).
Zambia CRR, p. 146.
Rwanda CRR, p. 73.
Lesotho CRR, p. 190.
Lesotho CRR, p. 101.
Mozambique CRR, pp. 170, 191.
250
251
50
Tanzania CRR, p. 214.
Nigeria CRR, p. 304.