Overall economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa slowed to an estimated 1.5% rate in 2016 – the weakest pace in more than two decades, according to the World Bank’s recently released Global Economic Prospect report.

However, numerous agricultural exporters, such as Côte d’Ivoire, which expanded by 7.8%, and Ethiopia, which grew by 8.4%, registered strong output on the back of infrastructure investment. This year, both countries are expected to grow at 8% or above, thanks to large infrastructure investment programmes that continue to support robust growth among agriculture exporters. Ethiopia is also expected to grow at 8.6% in both 2018 and 2019.

On the other hand, South Africa’s growth slowed to 0.4% in 2016, ‘reflecting the effects of low commodity prices and heightened governance concerns’. Other oil exporters were also hit hard by low oil prices – Angola’s growth slowed to 0.4%, while Nigeria contracted by 1.7%, Chad by 3.5% and Equatorial Guinea by 5.7%.

7 February 2017
Image: Gallo/Getty Images