Economic Report on Africa 2000: Transforming Africa's Economies

Abstract

Africa made impressive economic progress in the 1990s. Several countries sustained double-digit growth. The climate became more conducive to domestic and foreign investment. Capital markets broadened and deepened. Demand for African manufactured goods increased in Europe and the United States. And in the second half of the 1990s real GDP growth in Africa averaged 4% a year, exceeding the continent’s high population growth rate of 2.8% a year. Export growth nearly doubled to 8% a year. Real GDP grew by 3.2% in 1999, up from 3.1% in 1998. Economic growth slumped during the first half of 1999 due to poor performance by Africa’s economic indicators. While bad weather hurt the agricultural sector in many parts of the region, deteriorating primary commodity prices, declining external resource flows, and external debt servicing further depressed economic activity. Although the weather did not improve, a strong recovery in commodity prices helped reverse the trend and create positive economic growth in the second half of the year.