The World Bank has
said that the economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remains strong with
growth forecast to be 4.9 percent in 2013. It also said that poverty and
inequality remain unacceptably high on the continent.
The Bank said one out
of every two Africans lives in extreme poverty today, expressing optimism that
the rate will fall to between 16 percent and 30 percent by 2030.
In its new Africa’s
Pulse, a twice-yearly analysis of the issues shaping Africa’s economic prospects,
the Bank said almost a third of countries in the region are growing
at 6 percent and more, and that African countries are now routinely among the
fastest-growing countries in the world. The report however suggests that most
of the world’s poor people by 2030 will live in Africa.
Buoyed by rising
private investment in the region and remittances now worth US$33 billion a year
supporting household incomes, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in Africa
will continue to rise and pick up to 5.3 percent in 2014 and 5.5 percent in
2015, the report explained, adding that strong government investments and
higher production in the mineral resources, agriculture and service sectors are
supporting the bulk of the economic growth.
The report said as
Africa’s growth rates continue to surge with the region increasingly a magnet
for investment and tourism, Africa’s Pulse notes that poverty and inequality
remain “unacceptably high and the pace of reduction unacceptably slow.” Almost
one out of every two Africans lives in extreme poverty today. Optimistically,
that rate will fall to between 16 percent and 30 percent by 2030.”
“Sustaining Africa’s
strong growth over the longer term while significantly reducing poverty and
strengthening people’s resilience to adversity may prove difficult because of
the many internal and external uncertainties African countries face,“ says
Makhtar Diop, the World Bank Group’s Vice President for Africa.
“Within Africa,
natural disasters such as droughts and floods are occurring more frequently while
the threat of conflict continues, with recent events in the Central African
Republic and Mali reinforcing the need for peace, security, and development to
take place at the same time.
This is why the World Bank Group pledged US$1
billion in May this year to help bring peace and development back to Africa’s
Great Lakes Region through better health and education services, more jobs and
cross-border trade between the countries in the area, and more electricity. We
will take this same message of peace, security, and development to the
countries of the Sahel over the coming weeks.”
Following the global
financial crisis and recurring climatic volatility on the continent, a growing
number of African countries are setting up social safety nets to protect the health
and livelihoods of poor and vulnerable people during periods of adversity.
Africa’s Pulse notes that safety nets can protect families from the worst
effects of crises and also contribute to growth as well by allowing people to
raise their incomes.
World Bank also
explainsed that Africa’s rising growth was underpinned by strong private
investment. Gross fixed capital formation in the region has steadily increased
from about 16.4 percent of GDP in 2000 to about 20.4 percent in 2011. The
pickup in investment has directly contributed to economic growth and has also
helped boost the productive capacity of the region’s economy. Increasingly,
infrastructure projects are being financed from new funding sources, such as
China, but increasingly from Brazil and India, according to the analysis.
The report stressed
that despite strong growth, Africa’s progress on ensuring that growth
translates into considerably less poverty has been slow and hindered by high
inequality.
“Africa grew faster in
the last decade than most other regions, but the impact on poverty is much less
than we would’ve liked. Africa’s growth has not been as powerful in reducing
poverty as it could have been because of the high levels of inequality. Growth
with equity is possible, but it requires a decline in inequality in both
outcomes and opportunities,” says Francisco Ferreira, Deputy Regional Chief
Economist, World Bank Africa Region.’
Tourism destinations
continue to thrive throughout Africa: tourist arrivals to the region jumped 4
percent compared to the same period a year ago. Among the destinations for
which quarterly data are available, the strongest performers in tourism were
Cape Verde (up 18%), followed by the Seychelles (up 13%), South Africa (up 4%),
Swaziland (up 2%), and Mauritius (up 1%).
Africa’s Pulse noted
that exports from Sub-Saharan Africa have remained concentrated in a few
commodities such as oil, metals and minerals. Throughout the region, countries
have diversified their trading partners and the BRIC countries—China, Brazil,
Russia and India— now account for 36 percent of the region’s exports. These
exports reached US$144 billion in 2012, almost at the same level of Africa’s
exports to the EU and the United States combined at US$148 billion.
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