Browsing: Economic recovery

Agricultural productivity in Africa

Governments can play a crucial role in enhancing agricultural productivity in Africa for economic growth. Individual nations can accomplish this by establishing policy environments to promote agricultural investment, including providing tax incentives and subsidies to producers. Governments can also prioritize agricultural development in their national budgets by allocating a more significant proportion of their resources to the sector.

Agriculture driving Côte d’Ivoire’s economy

Côte d’Ivoire’s economy remains on a favourable trajectory. The economy needs bolstering to expedite the structural change of its economy as envisioned by the new 2030 plan. To achieve this, the nation needs to raise its investments in new sectors with considerable potential for wealth generation and improvement in quality of life. These sectors would enable the inclusion and realisation of benefits for women and the most disadvantaged populations in society, especially those residing in the most isolated rural areas.

AfCFTA

AfCFTA’s successful implementation can boost trade and promote Africa’s economic recovery and growth. The AfCFTA is the world’s most extensive free trade area in terms of size and number of nations, with a combined GDP of around $3.4 trillion.
Increased integration would improve incomes, generate employment, stimulate investment, and make establishing regional supply chains easier. In comparison to Africa’s external trade, intra-African trade remains tiny. In 2020, just 18 per cent of exports went to other African nations.

Ethiopia's economy

Undoubtedly, the return to peace after two years has restored hope Ethiopia’s economy can regain its growth momentum. According to officials, a permanent return to peace will help unlock more than $4bn in frozen funding. The funds will ease a crippling shortage of foreign exchange that plagued the economy even before the war began. Agriculture, the primary sector driving Ethiopia’s economy, should provide the much-needed boost to economic recovery.

Controller of Budget

Kenya is one of 23 African nations at risk of debt distress. The major causes of debt distress include poor fiscal management and macroeconomic frameworks to sustain growth, a shift in debt structure toward more costly financing sources, and excessive government expenditure levels.

Kenya’s debt was at about 70 per cent of GDP in 2021, up from 50 per cent in 2015. China is Kenya’s biggest bilateral creditor. It accounts for 67 per cent of the bilateral debt (primarily for infrastructure projects), an increase from 13 per cent in 2011.

Rising in Africa

Some worry that monetary policy is still excessively accommodating, given that rate hikes have not matched inflation. Policy cooperation may be beneficial. Fiscal consolidation and a mix of rate rises and currency depreciation may play a role in nations where policy is overly permissive.

The shaky recovery in Sub-Saharan Africa, coupled with domestic demand constraints, has not significantly fueled inflation so far. However, in the coming months, governments and policymakers must carefully monitor and prioritise tackling the rising inflation in Africa.