African trade expands strongly

Continent lags other developing regions’ GDP growth ED RICHARDSON AFRICA’S TRADE expanded strongly in 2004. Exports rose by some six per cent and imports by approximately 11 per cent in real terms, according to the World Trade Organization’s 2005 World Trade Report. Real export growth was about the same as in 2003 but much higher than in 2001 and 2002. On the import side, real growth in 2004 was considerably higher than in recent years. Nominal growth in African exports was, of course, dramatically higher in 2004 than in previous years because of oil price rises which increased their value, according to the report. It estimates that the world economy grew at four per cent in 2004, the strongest annual growth rate in more than a decade. Global GDP last year was also more broadly based regionally than in the three preceding years, providing a solid basis for accelerated world trade growth, it says. World merchandise trade rose by nine per cent in real terms in 2004, the best annual performance since 2000, and more than twice as fast as world output (GDP measured at market rates) in 2004. Trade growth in 2004 also significantly exceeded average trade growth recorded over the last decade. In terms of regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Africa and the Middle East registered growth of approximately four per cent in 2004. This was faster than in the 1990s, and about the same rate as the global economy. At seven per cent and eight per cent respectively, developing Asia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries continued to report the strongest regional GDP growth worldwide. South America recorded GDP growth of six per cent, which represented not only the strongest improvement against the preceding year among regions, but also the highest growth rate since 1986. North America’s growth strengthened to 4.3 per cent, exceeding its expansion rate in the last two decades, which averaged slightly above three per cent. Economic activity picked up in Europe and Japan, but growth remained at 2.3 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively in 2004, which was much weaker than the performance of all other regions.