Sub-Saharan Africa has Nigeria to thank for better economic
growth prospects next year.
The region’s economy will probably expand 3.8 percent in
2019, the International Monetary Fund said in its World Economic Outlook update
released Monday. That compares with a 3.7 percent prediction in April.
Nigeria
Boost
Sub-Saharan Africa has Nigeria to thank for better
economic prospects in 2019
The upgraded forecast “reflects improved prospects for
Nigeria’s economy” and an increase in commodity prices. Gross domestic product
in Africa’s most-populous nation will probably rise 2.3 percent, it said,
lifting its estimate from 1.9 percent in April.
Nigeria’s economy is recovering from the worst
contraction in 25 years in 2016, which was caused by lower oil prices and
output and shortages of foreign exchange to import raw materials.
The IMF held its predictions for South Africa’s economy,
saying it will expand 1.5 percent this year and 1.7 percent the next.
‘Improving
Confidence’
“Despite the weaker-than-expected first-quarter out-turn
in South Africa, the economy is expected to recover somewhat over the remainder
of 2018 and into 2019 as confidence improvements associated with the new
leadership are gradually reflected in strengthening private investment,” the
fund said.
South Africa, the continent’s most-industrialized
economy, hasn’t grown at more than 2 percent a year since 2013. GDP shrank the
most in almost a decade in the first quarter as former President Jacob Zuma
handed the reins to Cyril Ramaphosa. Zuma spent close to nine years in power,
during which time the nation lost its investment-grade credit rating and policy
uncertainty and unemployment increased.
Nigeria
and South Africa’s economies account for about half of the region’s
