World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects shows slow growth in Africa, only 2.9pct rise in 2020

In the Global Economic Prospects forecasts, World Bank has revealed that the economic growth in Sub-Saharan African region is expected to pick up to 2.9 percent in 2020.

The report titled 2020 Global Economic Prospects by World Bank states that the economic growth in the African region is hinged on the assumption that investor confidence improves in some large economies, energy bottlenecks ease, a pickup in oil production contributes to recovery in oil exporters and robust growth continues among agricultural commodity exporters.

"The forecast is weaker than previously expected reflecting softer demand from key trading partners, lower commodity prices, and adverse domestic developments in several countries," the reports states.

Global growth is set to rise by 2.5 percent in this year, a small uptick from 2.4 percent in 2019, as trade and investment gradually recover, the World Bank's semi-annual Global Economic Prospects forecasts. Advanced economies are expected to slow as a group to 1.4 percent from 1.6 percent, mainly reflecting lingering weakness in manufacturing.

Emerging market and developing economies will see growth accelerate to 4.1 percent from 3.5 percent last year. However, the pickup is anticipated to come largely from a small number of large emerging economies shaking off economic doldrums or stabilizing after recession or turbulence. For many other economies, growth is on track to decelerate as exports and investment remain weak.

According to the 2020 Global Economic Prospects, a worrying aspect of the sluggish growth trend is that even if the recovery in emerging and developing economy growth takes place as expected, per capita growth will remain below long-term averages and will advance at a pace too slow to meet poverty eradication goals. Income growth would in fact be slowest in Sub-Saharan Africa – the region where 56 percent of the world's poor live.

In South Africa, the report points out that growth is expected to pick up to 0.9 percent, assuming the new administration's reform agenda gathers pace, policy uncertainty wanes, and investment gradually recovers. In Kenya, growth is seen edging up to 6 percent. Growth in Angola is likely to accelerate to 1.5 percent, assuming that ongoing reforms provide greater macroeconomic stability, improve the business environment, and bolster private investment. Growth in Nigeria expected to edge up to 2.1 percent as the macroeconomic framework is not conducive to confidence.