Is Africa finally on the move? The signs are promising.Rich in natural resources and with more than one billion people, it achieved five consecutive years of economic growth averaging more than 5% over 2004-08. In fact, private investment rose every year from 2000 to reach US$472.2 billion in 2008. And despite some fallout from the economic crisis that started in the OECD area in 2008 and brought African GDP per head to a virtual standstill in 2009, activity has started to ramp up again.
Indeed, according to the 2010 OECD African Economic Outlook, growth should bounce back to over 5% in sub-Saharan Africa in 2011. Africa’s success story over the last decade is linked to what has been happening in the wider global economy. The extraordinary rebalancing of the world economy, which the crisis accelerated (“shifting wealth”), has led to Asian drivers pushing prices and volumes of trade in traditional African exports. But Africa’s success also owes much to what has been happening on the continent itself, including improved macro-economic and fiscal management in many countries, and less conflict and political instability.
See full Article.
Posts
