Sub-Saharan Africa faces ‘lost decade’, its growth weighed down by continent’s heavyweights — World Bank

Economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to decelerate this year by slumps in economic powerhouses South Africa, Nigeria and Angola, the World Bank has announced, expressing fears of a lost decade for the continent, faced with growing instability.
For the current year, growth should reach 2.5%, compared with 3.6% last year, due in particular to the slowdown in the region’s main economies, according to the World Bank’s latest growth forecast for sub-Saharan Africa published on Wednesday (4 October). The Washington-based global lender projects Nigeria’s economy to grow by 2.9%, while Angola’s will reach 1.3% and South Africa just 0.5%. But the fact that its GDP per capita has not grown since 2015 presents an even bigger problem for the region, the World Bank’s report says. However, there is optimism for a rebound with a projected growth of 3.7% in the following year and an even more promising 4.1% in 2025.
Multiple reasons, most notably political instability, fragility, rising conflict and violence, are cited by the institution as the main culprits of the slowdown and sharp recession in some countries, such as the conflict-torn Sudan, whose economy is expected to shrink by 12% this year. Adding to the bleak picture, public debt remains a cause for concern, with more than twenty countries in the region presenting a high risk of over-indebtedness. Moreover, as the region has not recorded positive growth in per capita terms for the past eight consecutive years, it has been inadequate, in light with the rapid increase in population, to reduce extreme poverty, boost shared prosperity, and create jobs.