IMF projects sub-Saharan Africa's economy to grow by 3.6 pct in 2023

HARARE, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will slow to 3.6 percent in 2023 and then accelerate to 4.2 percent in 2024, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its World Economic Outlook report released Tuesday.

Projecting a rocky recovery for most global economies due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis, the IMF said for emerging market and developing economies, economic prospects are on average stronger than for advanced economies, although these prospects vary more widely across regions.

Five oil exporting countries in the SSA, namely Nigeria, Angola, Gabon, Chad and Equatorial Guinea, will register a combined growth rate of 3.2 percent in 2023 and 3.0 percent in 2024, the IMF said.

Out of the five oil exporting countries and the entire SSA, Equatorial Guinea is the only country whose economy is projected to contract by 1.8 percent in 2023 and 8.2 percent in 2024.

Senegal in West Africa is projected to register the highest growth in the SSA of 8.3 percent in 2023 and a double-digit growth of 10.6 percent in 2024, while Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, is expected to post growth rates of 3.2 percent and 3.0 percent in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

South Africa, one of Africa's most industrialized economies, is expected to grow by 0.1 percent in 2023 and 1.8 percent in 2024, said the IMF report.

According to the IMF projections, six low-income African countries, namely Ethiopia, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Burkina Faso and Mali, will post stronger growth rates above 5 percent in 2023 and 2024, while among middle-income countries, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire and Kenya are forecast to lead the pack of major performers with growth rates of 8.3 percent, 6.2 percent and 5.3 percent respectively in 2023.

"In low-income developing countries, GDP is expected to grow by 5.1 percent, on average, over 2023-2024, but projected per capita income growth averages only 2.8 percent during 2023-2024, below the average for middle-income economies (3.2 percent) and so below the path needed for standards of living to converge with those in middle-income economies," the IMF said.

The IMF added that more than a year after the Ukraine crisis and the outbreak of the COVID-19, many economies are still absorbing the shocks while the recent tightening in global financial conditions is also hampering recovery.

"As a result, many economies are likely to experience slower growth in incomes in 2023, amid rising joblessness ... Over the medium term, the prospects for growth now seem dimmer than in decades," the IMF said.