Macroeconomic and social developments in Eastern Africa 2016-17

Abstract

The economic performance of Eastern Africa has been impressive in recent years, with an average annual growth rate of 6.8 per cent between 2012 and 2015 much higher than the African average and outpacing even East Asia. Also, people of the region now on average live longer and healthier, receive better education, and enjoy an improved quality of life compared with just a generation ago. These positive results are largely attributable to the rebuilding of the state, as governments in the region have rebuilt their institutions after the lost decades of the 1980s and 1990s. Where state action has been effective, improvements have been largest. this report stresses the need to continue improving the business environment. Across the region, private sector development has been relatively lackluster. In some countries, the bulk of productive investments are accounted for the public sector and the private sector has generally lagged behind. growth would be stronger and more resilient if policies were made to bolster private sector activity. One key constraint to achieving this, as reflected in repeated business surveys carried out in the region, is the lack of access to credit.