In the latest economic growth forecast for Sub-Saharan Africa, World Bank has cut its forecast to 2.8 percent from an initial 3.3 percent, for this year. The crash of commodity prices, the continued decline in industrial production and the trade dispute between China and The United States, were pointed out as the major factors for the decline in growth. The sluggish growth of Nigeria, South Africa, and Angola, which make up about 60 percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s annual economic output, also curbed the growth momentum. Nigeria’s economy reflected a modest pick up of 1.9 percent last year, up from 0.8 percent the previous year. Though South Africa came out of recession in the third quarter of last year, policy uncertainty still continues to deter investors. Angola, the region’s third-biggest economy, continued to languish as oil production remained weak. Zambia and Liberia continued to struggle with High inflation and heavy debt loads
The Bank cautioned that “External debt is shifting from traditional, concessional, publicly guaranteed sources to more private, market-based, and expensive sources of finance, putting countries at risk.”Economies that do not depend on commodities such as Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Benin and Ivory Coast, showed strong growth trends, the report added.
