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Growing pains
The World Bank’s quarterly report (pdf) on the outlook for economies in the sub-Saharan region of Africa doesn’t make for pleasant reading. The top numbers show growth will slow to 1.6% for the region this year. That’s down from 3% in 2015. It’s also half an earlier World Bank forecast of 3.2%.
Things are not going to get better anytime soon, either. The bank forecasts growth of 2.9% in 2017, as commodity prices are expected to recover, but only at fairly low levels. Growth is expected to improve in 2018, to 3.6%. For context, between 2003-2008 the average annual growth rate was 7.3%. In the post-financial crisis years, 2011-2016, the region saw a more mellow 3.9% rate, on average.
This year’s main culprits are Nigeria and South Africa. They’ve both had a torrid 2016, and the two largest economies together account for 50% of the region’s output. South Africa seems to have made it through the worst of its challenges so far and stabilized its currency, but it is still keeping fingers crossed for an improvement in unemployment and a continued rise in exports and manufacturing.
Nigeria, which marked a somber independence day this weekend, is still going through economic struggles as the naira keeps falling. The World Bank is hoping that a tighter monetary policy and a long-delayed expansionary budget will help restart the Nigerian economy in 2017.
If the World Bank were a schoolteacher, its pet pupils would include Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Senegal—all countries that are doing well in various ways. CIV is acknowledged for its product diversification, while Senegal has been doing well with export diversification. Tanzania and Rwanda get the nod for economic management and good structural policies, particularly the latter. Ethiopia has been doing well with investment growth from China and elsewhere supporting infrastructure and manufacturing expansion.
Aside from Nigeria and South Africa, the continent’s bad students include Zimbabwe, which the World Bank, describes with some understatement as “falling behind.” If you need an explainer as to why, you probably haven’t been paying attention in class either. But you’ll find one here.
Yinka Adegoke, Quartz Africa editor
Stories from this week
Traveling while African. When traveling the world as a citizen of an African nation, Ciku Kimeria says you soon realize some passports are more equal than others. As a Kenyan citizen, she feels her passport wasn’t very “strong” when confronted by embassy officials or immigration authorities. She has good reason to feel that way.
Nigeria’s new not so super highway. The proposed 12-lane, 260 km-long superhighway with Wi-Fi connection is set to create thousands of jobs in southeast Nigeria. But the project is drawing complaints from local activists and international conservation organizations who say over 180 communities will lose their land if the project is implemented, not to mention a large portion of the last remaining rainforests in Nigeria, writes Mark Amaza.
Tourists are heading to Somalia. Somalia, often touted as one of the most dangerous countries in the world, is not your every day vacation spot. Yet, as the nation starts to recover from a two-decade civil war, tourists are visiting to see the country’s ancient and recent ruins and experience its culture, writes Abdi Latif Dahir.
One man’s bushmeat is another man’s poison. Such is the debate surrounding the consumption of the meat of wild animals found in the tropics of West and Central Africa. In Ghana, Yepoka Yeebo writes about the steady supply of bushmeat at the markets’ chop bars bringing in a constant stream of customers. But in a hyper-connected world, Akshat Rathi writes that experts warn an infectious disease that jumps from these animals to a human could spread globally rapidly and kill indiscriminately.
A film about Chinese in Africa, Africans in China and prejudice. Laisuotuo follows a doctor living in China and a Chinese shop owner in Lesotho as they encounter the daily prejudices foreigners face writes Lily Kuo. The movie is an example of how films may be a new venue for bridging Chinese-African cultural and language divides.
Chart of the Week
Half the people in Africa don’t trust national electoral bodies. A new study conducted in 36 African countries shows that only half the respondents trust national electoral commissions either somewhat or a lot. Just 41% of respondents also said that the last elections in their country were completely free and fair.
Other things we liked
A unique experiment in making a conflict-free smartphone.
In the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a collaboration between informal miners and big companies is working on improving the sharing of mineral wealth. As
Thomas Wilson writes in Bloomberg
, the project allows informal miners to mine the site on the condition they sell to Societe Miniere de Bisunzu. SMB then ensures that it tracks the mineral from mine to port, as it heads for use in big technology and industrial companies.
Keep an eye on
Financial Times Africa Summit (Oct. 2-3). The Financial Times will hold its third annual Africa summit to discuss African business and economic environment in London. The conference will bring together leaders from around the world to discuss African currencies, manufacturing, and designing smart industrial policies.
Africa Hotel Investment Forum (Oct. 4-6). The annual hotel investment conference will be held in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. The conference will bring together 490 participants from 45 countries, who are interested in hotel development, air connectivity and driving tourism in the continent.
Morocco parliamentary elections (Oct. 7). The North African kingdom will hold the second parliamentary elections since 2011 protests prompted King Mohammed VI to introduce a new constitution to diffuse tensions in the country.
Our best wishes for a productive week ahead. Please send any news, comments, visa-proof African passports and scientifically-tested bushmeat to africa@qz.com. You can follow us on twitter at @qzafrica for updates throughout the day.