Africa likely to use 2017 to recover from savage commodities crisis
Diversification of African economies is necessary to drive growth, build market resilience and withstand shocks in the face of challenging global economic conditions, writes Mills Soko
The end of 2016 provides an opportunity to take stock of Africa’s recent economic performance and future prospects. It’s been a tumultuous year for some African countries, largely due to a commodities crisis and a global economic slowdown. Yet there were still pockets of good growth that displayed the huge potential of the African continent. And 2017 looks to be the year the countries hardest hit by the crisis seek to recover from the economic reversals of the past few years. Since the start of the new millennium, average economic growth across Africa has been stronger than the global growth rate. Growth across the continent averaged 5%. This fuelled the Africa Rising narrative that permeated public discourse. Among the growth drivers were a commodity supercycle that powered the economies of resource-rich countries. And political and economic reforms paved the way for growth in foreign investment. Urbanisation and a burgeoning middle class expanded consumerism while growing mobile p...
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