IMF Perspective for Sub-Saharan Africa

      The prospect of economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is on the rise in the face of the complex outside financial crisis coming from Europe. As the trend of high unemployment tend to be visible within African nations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) May 2012 Regional Economic Outlook report on Sub-Saharan Africa is excellent news. On the IMF findings, Ms. Antoinette Monsio Sayeh the Director of the African Department said despite difficult external conditions, output in sub-Saharan Africa grew by 5 percent last year. Most countries shared in this solid expansion. Exceptions included South Africa, slowed by weak demand from Europe, and countries in western Africa affected by drought in the Sahel and civil conflict in Côte d’Ivoire. Consumer price inflation rose, particularly in eastern Africa, sparked in part by a surge in global food and energy prices.

According to the International Monetary Press Release, Director Sayeh went further to say that expectation for 2012 output growth in sub-Saharan Africa will remain strong. Although modest world growth is expected to constrain export expansion, one-off factors, including new resource production in several countries, will help nudge the region’s output growth rate up to 5½ percent. But there is variation in performance across the region, with output in middle-income countries tracking more closely the global slowdown and with some sub-regions adversely affected, at least temporarily, by drought. Inflation is projected to moderate, most notably in countries in eastern Africa that have tightened monetary policy.

With the rise of entrepreneurships and China’s aggressive investment in Africa, the IMF’s promising report on Sub-Saharan Africa is news worth listening to regardless of variations that may cause economic pressure such as the global financial crises, trade margins, and inflation rate ranging from 16 percent to 20 percent in Kenya and Uganda. A UN Press Release on World Economic Situation and Prospects 2012 Mid-Year Report, one of the lead authors of the text and Director of the Department’s Development Policy and Analysis Division Mr. Rob Vos said while many of the key points in the present mid-year report were similar to what was contained in the report — World Economic Situation and Prospects 2012 — launched in January, but some of them had since worsened. If there was any message in the updated report, it was that the world was already in a global economic slowdown, which had started in 2011, he said, pointing to Europe, much of which was already in a recession that was trickling down to the rest of the world. Most concerning was the jobs crisis, particularly in developed countries, he stated.

Further continued slowdown was expected in 2012, with only slight upward trends in 2013, he said. The report estimated that world trade growth would slow further to 4.1 per cent this year, down from 13.1 per cent in 2010 and 6.6 per cent in 2011. Moreover, the risk of a further downward spiral was also very high; particularly from Europe, but also owing to weaknesses in other developed economies. There was also a risk that there could be further increases in commodity prices and capital flow volatility. The report also emphasizes the possibility of sharp rises in global energy prices, mainly caused by supply shocks due to political factors in the Middle East, he explained.

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Despite all the economic uncertainties, Director Sayeh said “This broadly favorable outlook is subject to clear downside risks because of global uncertainties, including the threat of renewed financial stresses in the euro area and the possibility of a surge in oil prices, triggered by geopolitical uncertainties. A weaker global economy would, of course, slow the pace of growth in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the resilience of the region’s economies over the course of the current global economic crisis provides confidence that solid growth can still be recorded under less favorable external conditions.”

“There are no “one-size-fits-all” policy recommendations. In countries where output growth is now strong and where budget deficits have widened significantly over the course of the crisis, governments should be taking the opportunity to rebuild fiscal positions and contain debt build-ups. But fiscal consolidation would be premature in countries where growth is weak and links to Europe are strong, unless borrowing capacity is eroded. Countries in the process of reducing elevated inflation rates will need to maintain monetary policy on the tight side until there is clear evidence of progress.”

A July 5 CNN Market Place interview with Frank Braeken, executive vice president of Unilever in Africa, said that for a long time multinationals have thought of the vast continent as a “monolithic” market, failing to address its diversity. “The African consumer has been underestimated, underserved and underserviced,” said Braeken. “What I mean is we have looked at it a little bit generically, like ‘the Africans,’ a little bit patronizing generically. Now we start to take the African consumer seriously.” Unilever, the maker of brands such as Lipton and Knorr, has been active in the continent for more than a century, with a presence in 15 countries and employing thousands of workers there.

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