SA growth contracts as Africa thrives

Economic growth picked up in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2013, supported by strong resource-based investments, according to the World Bank’s newly released Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report. Real GDP growth strengthened to an estimated 4.7% for the region. Excluding South Africa, the average growth for the rest of the region was 6.0%, the report revealed. The recovery during the first half of 2013 was weak among oil exporters (Angola, Gabon, Nigeria), while industrial output in South Africa contracted in Q3. Robust domestic demand, relatively resilient FDI flows and lower inflation should help support regional growth of about 5.3% in 2014, 5.4% in 2015, firming to 5.5% in 2016.