Kenya, Tanzania and host Rwanda are the countries in vogue at the World Economic Forum’s annual conference of Africa’s business and political leaders that began on Wednesday in Kigali. All three economies should expand in growth by 6% this year, double the sub-Saharan Africa average, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Growth in Ethiopia, the investors’ preference at last year’s WEF Africa summit, is set to slow to 4.5% this year, from 10.2% in 2015, as a drought curbs farm output.
Investors targeting Africa are now looking east, as depressed commodity prices and slowing growth in China put the brakes on a two-decade growth surge in the world’s poorest continent.
Kenya, Tanzania and host Rwanda are the countries in vogue at the World Economic Forum’s annual conference of Africa’s business and political leaders that began on Wednesday in Kigali. All three economies should expand in growth by 6% this year, double the sub-Saharan Africa average, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Growth in Ethiopia, the investors’ preference at last year’s WEF Africa summit, is set to slow to 4.5% this year, from 10.2% in 2015, as a drought curbs farm output.
“Looking at East Africa, anything below 6% growth is considered a really poor performance,” Martyn Davies, the MD of emerging markets and Africa at Frontier Advisory Deloitte, said in an interview at the WEF summit. “Low oil prices are a tailwind for growth in this part of the world.”
Besides benefiting from lower energy costs, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda are reaping the spoils of developing their tourism, agriculture, services and manufacturing industries and improving their transport links and energy supply. East Africa has also been leading economic integration in Africa, helping promote regional trade.
