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AfDB report says Africa’s economic growth fell to 3.2% in 2023

Published

2 months ago

February 16, 2024

The African Development Bank (AfDB) said on Friday that although the continent’s economic growth dropped to 3.2 percent last year from 4.1 percent in 2022, it was still expected to expand this year in all sub-regions except Central Africa.

According to the AfDB, the effects of COVID-19 and Russia’s conflict in Ukraine are being exacerbated by political unrest and China’s economic downturn.

The AfDB’s November prediction of 3.4 percent growth was not met by the final 2023 result. In the wake of catastrophic flooding in Libya and an economic downturn in Equatorial Guinea, an oil producer, it also lowered its forecasts for regional growth in Central and North Africa.

“The shocks buffeting African economies since 2020 have damaged growth, with long-term implications,” the bank said in a report.

According to the AfDB, 15 African nations—including Ethiopia, which is restructuring its foreign debt—saw economic growth of more than 5% last year despite the shocks that the continent has been dealing with. These nations include Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mauritius, and Ethiopia.

The bank projected faster growth in 2024 across all regions barring central Africa, with Southern Africa continuing to lag behind at 2.2 percent compared to East Africa’s 5.7 percent.

The bank stated that the “sluggish performance reflects the continued economic stagnation in South Africa,” adding that the largest economy in the region—which is hosting national elections this year—is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in 2024, up from 0.8 percent in the previous year.

“This underwhelming economic situation has aggravated the country’s persistently high unemployment, poverty, and inequality and prevented it from reaping democratic dividends in the 30 years since the end of White minority rule,” AfDB said.

According to the report, Egypt’s growth is expected to be hampered by high inflation and shortages of foreign exchange, with growth expected to drop to 3.7 percent this year from 4 percent in 2023.

Meanwhile, Nigeria, the largest economy in West Africa, is expected to grow by 2.9 percent in 2024, up 0.4 percentage points from the previous year as a result of a sharply devalued currency driving up inflation and aggravating a crisis related to the cost of living.

Related Topics:AFDB Africa Economic Growth Featured

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Nigeria wants managers for proposed $10 billion diaspora fund

Published

5 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A tender paper shows that Nigeria is looking for fund managers for a $10 billion diaspora fund to bring in dollars and foreign investment for the economy.

The fund wants to pool the billions of dollars that its people send back to the country every month so that they can be used for local investments in things like healthcare, education, and infrastructure.

The World Bank says that Nigeria got more than $20 billion in payments from people living outside of Nigeria last year.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade in Nigeria said in a public post that it was looking for “fund managers for the development and establishment of a multisectoral, multilateral private sector-led investment fund to form the $10 billion Nigeria Diaspora Fund.”

The tender paper said that the fund manager’s job is to plan and set up the fund’s legal, operational, financial, and administrative structures.

The investment is intended to last for three to five years, and then more money will be put in after that. The government said the fund would last for 10 years and could be used for an extra two years.

The trade ministry’s tender said that people who want to run the fund must have done business in Nigeria in the last five years and must have a track record of raising money and running big, profitable venture capital funds.

Anglo-American turned down BHP Group’s $39 billion takeover offer on Friday, saying it was way too low for the London-listed company and its future.

In a statement, Minister of Industry and Trade Doris Anite said that it was a “once-in-a-lifetime chance for our citizens in the diaspora to drive Nigeria’s economic growth.”

The naira is under pressure because of a lack of foreign currency because of lower crude oil exports. This has led companies and people to buy dollars on the black market.

Nigeria is going to issue migrant bonds later this year to bring in even more foreign currency.

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World Bank grants Malawi $57.6 million for food crisis

Published

1 day ago

April 27, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

As a response to its food crisis, the World Bank said on Friday that it would give Malawi $57.6 million in “quick release” grants.

“This support comes in the context of the severe food crisis the country is suffering due to El Niño conditions in the wider southern Africa region,” the World Bank said in a statement.

“A series of intense disaster events over the last few years has left almost no time for the country to recover and has resulted in a severe erosion of food security at the national level.”

Malawi is one of the least developed countries in the world. It is ranked 170 out of 187 countries in the 2010 Human Development Index. Almost 16 million people live there, and 90% of them make less than $2 a day. That’s 53% of the total population.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says that 46,000 children in Malawi are seriously malnourished. In 2023, UNICEF said that more than 500,000 Malawian children were at risk of not getting enough food.

Now, Malawi has a lot of programs in place to deal with things like poverty, and climate change, and to make the business and agriculture more diverse.