The World Bank stated this in its January 2020 Global Economic Prospects.
The Bretton Woods financial institution said the economic recovery in Sub-Saharan Africa lost momentum in 2019, with growth estimated to have moderated to 2.4%.
“Intensifying global headwinds such as decelerating activity in major trading partners, elevated policy uncertainty, and falling commodity prices, have been compounded by domestic fragilities in several countries.
“In Angola, Nigeria, and South Africa - the three largest economies in the region - growth was subdued in 2019, remaining well below historical averages and contracting for a fifth consecutive year on a per capita basis,” the bank said.
Global growth projects on modest pickup
According to the World Bank, global economic growth is forecast to edge up to 2.5% in 2020 as investment and trade gradually recover from last year’s significant weakness but downward risks persist.
Breaking this down, the World Bank said advanced economies as a group will see slip to 1.4% in 2020 while the emerging market and developing economies is expected to accelerate this year to 4.1%.
“With growth in emerging and developing economies likely to remain slow, policymakers should seize the opportunity to undertake structural reforms that boost broad-based growth, which is essential to poverty reduction,” said World Bank Group Vice President for Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu.
“Steps to improve the business climate, the rule of law, debt management, and productivity can help achieve sustained growth.”
Focus on the three largest economies in Sub-Saharan Africa
In South Africa, growth is expected to pick up to 0.9% on the assumption that the new administration’s reform agenda gathers pace, policy uncertainty wanes, and investment gradually recovers.
Growth in Nigeria expected to edge up to 2.1% as the macroeconomic framework is not conducive to confidence.
Growth in Angola is anticipated to accelerate to 1.5%, assuming that ongoing reforms provide greater macroeconomic stability, improve the business environment, and bolster private investment.
![President Muhammadu Buhari and his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa [Twitter/@NigeriaGov]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'790'%20height%3D'527'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "President Muhammadu Buhari and his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa [Twitter/@NigeriaGov]")
