Doing what they do best, Singaporean companies and government institutions are bringing training and commercial opportunities to their
African partners.
"You would be surprised how many leaders of Africa tell us they want their country to become the Singapore of Africa!" says Singapore's minister of state for foreign affairs, MasagosZulkifli.
The entrepot state of Singapore has always been tied to the fortunes of global trade. So, when US investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008 and sparked a downturn, the Singaporean manufacturing base started to suffer. This contributed to a hunt for a high-growth part of the world decoupled from the malaise hitting the US and affecting Asia. That destination was Africa.