Growth in sub-Saharan Africa was at the lowest level in two decades in 2016, the International Monetary Fund said in its latest regional economic outlook released yesterday.
The IMF said growth in sub-Saharan Africa dropped to 1.4% in 2016. The forecast for 2017 is a marginal recovery of 2.6%.
In South Africa the lifting of the drought restrictions and improved terms of trade were projected to drive growth to 0.8%. But the IMF warned that political risks continued to loom large.
Director of the IMF's African Department Abebe Aemro Selassie said: "The delay in implementing much-needed adjustment policies is creating uncertainty, holding back investment, and risks generating even deeper difficulties in the future."
He said the modest growth recovery would barely put sub-Saharan Africa back on a path of rising per capita income.
The uptick in 2017 would be driven largely by one-off factors in the three largest countries - a recovery in oil production in Nigeria, higher public spending in Angola and the dissipation of the drought in South Africa.
Selassie said the region needed to restore macroeconomic stability complemented with structural reforms.
He said the region had tremendous potential for growth in the medium term if domestic policy measures were implemented.
- BusinessLive
