Friday, May 29, 2015

External Financial Flows and Tax Revenues for Africa

The African Development Bank has just released its African Economic Outlook for 2015.  Chapter 2 titled "External Financial Flows and Tax Revenues for Africa" reports that private external flows in the form of investment and remittances now drive growth in external finance.  Foreign investments are expected to reach $73.5 billion in 2015.  Foreign direct investment is moving away from mineral resources and into consumer goods and services.  African sovereign borrowing is rocketing.  Remittances have increased six-fold since 2000 and are projected to reach $64.6 billion in 2015.  Official development assistance will decline in 2015 to $54.9 billion.