A recent cover for Forbes India features drawings of a tiger and a dragon, and the two fierce predators are seen in battle over the prized catch: Africa. ‘The Big Game’ is the title of the story. It is a clever way to bring attention to the growing importance of Africa to the future economic growth of India, the tiger, and China, the dragon.

However, in all of my travels throughout Africa during more than two years of research for my latest book, ‘Africa Rising: How 900 Million African Consumers Offer More Than You Think, it never seemed like a trade war of any sort on the ground. I agree with Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor when he recently said that “competition is not the point” in Africa.

What is the point, then?

The bottom line is that Africa will soon have a billion consumers. And just like consumers in other developing countries, they want the best for their children, better than what they had. They will need food, clothing, soap and shelter, and desire cell phones, education, medicine, cosmetics, music, television, toys, cars, computers and movies.

In short, there are opportunities for everyone interested in doing business in Africa. And yet, India and China do deserve credit for leading the way. They have effectively demonstrated to the rest of the world that Africa isn’t a charity case. While those in the West were still seeing huts, savannahs and zebras, India and China were busy building partnerships with the many exceptional business leaders and entrepreneurs born and raised on the continent, in all 53 countries.

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