Opinion
Why Africa’s growth outlook is good
By Ragnar Gudmundsson
In the past, when the global economy weakened, sub-Saharan Africa fared very badly. Not so in recent years.
While the global economy spluttered last year, the region notched up 5 percent growth, with some low-income countries growing even faster.
Even in the depths of the global economic recession in 2009, most countries in the region carried on growing.
So, what is different now? And what are the chances that the region’s solid growth performance will continue even if the world economy runs into further problems, for example, if euro zone financial problems intensify or oil prices surge again?
My assessment is that, despite these global risks, the outlook for sub-Saharan Africa remains positive.
Consider first what has happened since the eruption of the global financial crisis nearly four years ago.
While output in many advanced economies has yet to return to pre-crisis levels, growth in sub-Saharan Africa has stayed within sight of the boom period of 2004-08, when low income countries’ growth averaged 6 percent.
