"Just going through the GTI Quarterly, which you posted on Wednesday. While in general agreement, there is this table on page 3, comparing Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole - an artificial entity with often thinly traded stock markets, which nevertheless experiences growth in many areas - with other emerging markets. Quote: "The most important statistic is that the median age in SSA is 19." Yes, but. The table doesn't include that the median life expectancy in quite e number of SSA countries is in the forties, due to AIDS and often poor healthcare. In other words, many of those nineteen-year-olds will not be consumers for another forty or sixty years, but sadly not even for the next ten, ensuring that the median age remains low. Students and teachers are often among the most affected. I don't know the figures for other continents, but in this one respect GTI might be comparing apples with pears."

Eoin Treacy's view Thank you for this topical question, which remains highly relevant to any prospective investment in Sub-Saharan African. The general trend of political governance has improved considerably across Africa over the last decade leading investors to begin to believe the region's fortune's are improving, albeit coming from an extraordinarily low base. However, even with the reduced threat of intra nation and internal civil conflict, most Sub-Saharan countries face considerable hurdles on their road to greater prosperity. Improving standards of economic, civil and corporate governance remain preconditions in this regard. With these in place, I suspect healthcare conditions will improve. From your base in Tanzania you will have a privileged perspective on how the region is progressing and we would welcome updates from time to time.

HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, diarrhea and other potentially life threatening illnesses offer major headwinds to quality of life, economic prosperity and development generally. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as well as other charities and development organizations are making progress in saving lives and extending life expectancy but this is a long-term program and it is likely to take a number of years, perhaps decades, before these illnesses are considered manageable. From an investment perspective, the trajectory of development is more important than the absolute level of progress, although the speed of healthcare improvements will of course be a significant consideration.

I strongly believe that a major milestone on the road to development is the empowerment of women through greater access to education, healthcare, family planning and career prospects. Much is made of the positive demographics of the region but a large population is not enough. For a country to prosper, the population needs to be adequately fed, relatively healthy and with a comparatively high literacy rate. These are not trivial assumptions for some African countries.

I fully believe that the trajectory of development is positive for much of Africa but the micro cap nature of its financial markets means that a small number of funds are capable of having an inordinate effect on the region's stock markets both up and down which means that high volatility and low liquidity are part and parcel of investing in these markets. (Also see David's Comment on this email yesterday).