April 11, (THEWILL) – The World Bank has said that the growth rate in the economies of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, was sluggish in the first quarter of 2023.
This fact is contained in the April 2023 edition of the World Bank Africa’s Pulse published Monday.
According to the report, economic growth is expected to slow from 3.6 per cent in 2022 to 3.1 per cent in 2023.
The World Bank attributes the sluggish growth ‘uncertainty in the global economy, the under-performance of the continent’s largest economies, high inflation, and a sharp deceleration of investment growth’ which is insufficient to reduce extreme poverty.
Part of the report read: “The performance of the Sub-Saharan African economy is not uniform across sub-regions. The real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of the Western and Central Africa (AFW) sub-region is estimated to decline to 3.4% in 2023, from 3.7 percent in 2022, while that of Eastern and Southern Africa (AFE) declines to 3.0% in 2023, from 3.5% in 2022.
“Investment growth has declined sharply across the board. This decline has been broad-based across the sub-regions, resource abundant and resource scarce countries, and types of investors (public, private, and foreign). Slower investment growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is holding back long-term growth of output and per capita income.”
The World Bank Pulse report added that while headline inflation appears to have peaked in the past year, it is set to remain high at 7.5% for 2023.
The bank, therefore, recommended that African governments must sharpen their focus on macroeconomic stability, domestic revenue mobilisation, debt reduction, and productive investments in the face of dampened growth prospects and rising debt levels
“In a time of energy transition and rising demand for metals and minerals, resource-rich governments have an opportunity to better leverage natural resources to finance their public programs, diversify their economy, and expand energy access,” the report indicated,” the report stated.
According to the Bank, African governments have the power to undertake internal reforms to restore macroeconomic stability and better prioritise spending to lay the groundwork for future growth and jobs.
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
