Friday, July 17

Countries

Burundi opens a new chapter to grow its economy

Burundi formulated the National Development Plan (NDP) 2018-2027, in order to provide a socio-economic diagnosis of the country to structurally transform the Burundian economy for robust, sustainable, resilient, inclusive growth, creating decent jobs for all and leading to improved social welfare.

By the same token, the National Peacebuilding Program was developed in 2020 to operationalize the NDP. This program serves as a reference for all intervention strategies and actions aimed at promoting economic growth, community recovery, reintegration and sustainable and inclusive resettlement in Burundi.

Late September marked the launch of an economic memorandum report of Burundi supported by the World Bank. This was aimed at identifying opportunities to accelerate economic growth. Prepared with perspective to the successive external shocks of both the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, some of the proposed solutions included increasing agricultural productivity, boosting trade, and managing natural capital, investing in infrastructure, restoring macroeconomic stability and strengthening infrastructure governance.

Oil-extraction-in-Angola. [Photo: Financial Fortune]

Angola is also rich in other minerals like iron ores, diamonds, gold, marble and phosphate deposits. The embassy of Angola’s economic outlook indicates that from the 1950s through 1975, iron ores were explored in provinces such as Malange, Bié, Huambo, and Huíla, and average output reached 5.7 million tonnes per year between 1970 and 1974.

The most explored minerals were exported to Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom, earning Angola US$50 million a year.

Angola’s phosphate deposits are estimated at 150 million tonnes, located in the provinces of Cabinda and Záire. These resources have so far been unexplored. In Southeastern Angola in the provinces of Namibe and Huíla, marble, granite, and quartz reserves abound. Marble is especially consumed in the local market, while black granite is on demand and exported to United States and Japanese markets.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), about the size of Western Europe, is sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest nation with great economic potential. www.theexchange.africa

The challenge facing the EAC is not the lack of natural resources but the lack of high-tech industries. China is a perfect example of a country that transformed from an agricultural civilisation to an industrial one. More than 850 million individuals have been lifted out of poverty due to recent economic growth brought about by China’s industrialisation.

Without involvement in the fourth industrial revolution, the East African Community would never be able to escape its state of backwardness. Therefore, the DRC will catalyse industrial transformation inside the East African Community, Africa and the world.

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