“The region’s aggregate GDP masks considerable variation among its subregions. The less resource-dependent countries in East Africa, such as Djibouti, Ethiopia and the United Republic of Tanzania, and in West Africa, including Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal, will continue to witness above average growth, supported by vigorous infrastructure
investment, strong services sectors and a recovery in agricultural production.” States the report.
From East Africa, Ethiopia is expected to continue growing in the coming two years amid global and internal challenges, according to a report.
The World Economic Situation and Prospects 2018 launched today projected that economic growth in Ethiopia is expected to increase to 7.3 percent and 7.5 percent in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
Fiscal stimulus, foreign investment in infrastructure and manufacturing, diversification of the economy and strong internal demand will continue to support the growth.
In 2017, the Ethiopian economy shows strong resilience amid continued weak global prices for Ethiopia’s key exports, and re-emergence of drought conditions in parts of the country.
According to the report, Ethiopia’s economy leads the growth of East Africa, supported by infrastructure investment and improving business environment.
Strong private consumption, increase in investments and government expenditure on infrastructure are the main drivers of the Ethiopian economic performance.
In terms of structure, the economy is still dominated by the service sector followed by Agriculture; the latter is shrinking while the industrial sector is expanding.
The African continent is also expected to see a recovery in GDP growth, with an expansion of 3.5 percent in 2018 and 3.7 percent in 2019, up from 3.0 percent in 2017.
The report out looked that strengthening external demand and continued firming of global commodity prices will ease fiscal and external pressures.
However, significant fiscal adjustments lie ahead for many commodity exporters, limiting the pace of rebound in countries of this region, the report said.
Noting the substantial difference in growth prospects among the sub-regions, the report projected that East Africa will remain the fastest-growing sub-region.
The report also indicated that the world economy is also expected to grow at a steady pace of 3 percent per annum.
Source: UN/DESA and Ethiopian News Agency