Sees Multiple Opportunities for U.S. Businesses to Participate in Africa’s Rapid Urbanization and Growing Middle Class

PARSIPPANY, N.J - Tuesday, October 28th 2014 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Acrow Bridge, a leading international bridge engineering and supply company, shared its success stories and insights in partnering with African governments and private sector entities to support infrastructure development at the opening plenary session of the 2014 U.S.-Africa Infrastructure Conference in Washington, D.C. Hosted by The Corporate Council on Africa, the three-day event brought together international infrastructure experts, U.S. and African government officials and key public and private sector decision-makers to focus on building resilient cities in Africa.

“The time to invest in Africa is now,” said Paul Sullivan, Acrow’s Director of International Business Development, who was one of the plenary speakers. “European and Asian companies benefit from a significant presence in Africa, and U.S. business as a whole needs to step up or lose out on tremendous opportunities to do business in one of the world’s fastest-growing and dynamic economies.”

Sullivan also pointed out the need for Africa to invest more than $100 billion annually on infrastructure, according to McKinsey Global Institute estimates. “African leaders recognize that developing the region’s physical infrastructure is vital to continued economic growth and prosperity, enabling trade within and between African countries while helping address the challenges of rapid urbanization and meeting the needs of a thriving middle class,” Sullivan said. “They also see the most effective way to accomplish these goals is through long-term collaboration with private enterprise.”

“I fear that lingering misperceptions of Africa are clouding the outsider’s understanding of the opportunities for doing business on the continent,” Sullivan added. “In fact, the rate of progress across the region is clearly visible to anyone who has spent time there, and we see conditions as ideal for other companies to establish a foothold in this marketplace.”

About Acrow Bridge

Acrow Bridge has been serving the transportation and construction industries for more than 60 years with a full line of modular steel bridging solutions for vehicle, rail, vessel, military and pedestrian use. For more information, please visit www.acrow.com.

Contacts
DeMartine Group
Tracy Van Buskirk,
+1-203-221-2790
tvanbuskirk@demartinegroup.com

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