Africa Is Now The Fastest Growing Continent In The World- AfDB Report

Kenyan engineers with Civicon Compnay taking a rest as they try to raise a tank in Mtwara Tanzania

Africa is now the fastest growing continent in the world a report by the African Development Bank (AfDB) has said.

The Report, ‘Annual Development Effectiveness Review 2013’ said the growth has been pushed by economic governance on the continent and the private sector.

It also places the positive growth on exploitation of oil and minerals and project more positive growth if assets are effectively managed and used in an accountable and transparent manner.”

 “Africa’s economic growth could not have happened without major improvement in economic governance as more than two-thirds of the continent has registered overall improvement in the quality of economic governance,” it said.

According to the report which is published online the costs of starting a business have fallen by more than two-thirds over the past seven years, while delays for starting a business have been halved.

Internal demand has also seen a growth in private sector which is the main engine of growth for the continent’s improved business climate.

“This progress has brought increased levels of trade and investment, with the annual rate of foreign investment increasing fivefold since 2000,” the report states.

The reports forecast a 5.5 per cent economic growth for continent’s low-income countries in coming years after growth exceeded 4.5 in 2012 forecast.

Africa’s collective gross domestic product (GDP) reached US $953 billion while the number of middle income countries on the continent rose to 26, out of a total of 54.

“This growth has reduced income poverty as the share of the population living below the poverty line has fallen from 51 per cent to 39 per cent,” it states.

Some 350 million Africans now earn between US $2-20 (Sh170-1,700) a day with the middle class is increasingly becoming an active consumer market.

However, the report warns of that the continent’s inadequate infrastructure and disparity in earning between rural and urban areas and slums remains a major constraint to the continent’s economic growth and development.

Strong emphasis should be placed in greater regional economic integration to improve prospects for growth by enabling African producers to build regional value chains, achieve economies of scale, increase intra-African trade and become internationally competitive.

Manuel Odeny © 2013