Tuesday, January 30, 2018

African Economic Outlook 2018

The African Development Bank has just released its "African Economic Outlook 2018."

Real output growth in Africa is estimated to have reached 3.6 percent in 2017, up from 2.2 percent in 2016, and to accelerate to 4.1 percent in 2018 and 2019. The recovery in growth has been faster than envisaged, especially among non-resource-intensive economies. Debt levels for most countries have not yet breached the traditional threshold indicators. They have actually declined in nine African countries. But Africa's solid growth rates have not been accompanied by high job growth rates. The lack of job growth has retarded poverty reduction. A priority for African governments is to encourage a shift toward labor-absorbing growth paths, especially modernizing the agricultural sector, which employs most of the population and is typically the main step toward industrialization.

The study includes the following sections:

--Africa's macroeconomic performance and prospects.
--Growth, jobs, and poverty in Africa.
--Africa's infrastructure: great potential but little impact on inclusive growth.
--Financing Africa's infrastructure: new strategies, mechanisms, and instruments.