How is Africa Navigating the new Reality: Contraction or Expansion?

IMF Cuts 2017 GDP Growth Outlook for Africa’s Largest Economies
The International Monetary Fund has cut its 2017 economic growth forecasts for Africa’s two largest economies as low commodity prices; policy uncertainty and weak investor confidence weigh on output. Gross domestic product in South Africa will probably expand 0.8 percent next year, compared with the 1 percent forecast in July, the Washington-based lender said in its latest World Economic Outlook Report. Nigeria’s economy will contract 1.7 percent this year and expand 0.6 percent in 2017, less than the 1.1 percent the IMF earlier forecast. The two nations make up more than half of the sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP. 

African economic growth to dip to 1.6 pct this year
Economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is likely to slip to 1.6 percent this year, from 3 percent in 2015, due to continuing woes in the continent’s largest economies South Africa and Nigeria, a World Bank report stated. Growth will pick up slightly to 2.9 percent next year, according to “Africa’s Pulse”, the Bank’s twice-yearly analysis of economic trends, which was unveiled in Ivory

 Nigeria’s economy enter recession in the second quarter
Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, officially slid into a recession for the first time in more than 20 years as the statistics office announced a further contraction in the second quarter of the year. The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 2.06 percent after shrinking 0.36 in the first quarter. It said the non-oil sector declined due to a weaker currency, while lower prices dragged the oil sector down.

South Africa’s economy expands 3.3 percent in the second quarter
South Africa’s economy expanded by 3.3 percent in the second quarter of 2016 after shrinking by 1.2 percent in the three months to March, Statistics South Africa stated. Gross domestic product also expanded by 0.6 percent on an unadjusted year-on-year basis in the second quarter, compared with 0.1 percent contraction in the previous three months, the agency said.

 Tunisia’s economic growth slows sharply in the second quarter 
Tunisia’s economic growth slowed sharply in the second quarter to 0.7 percent, the state statistics institute stated, after two major Islamist militant attacks targeting a museum and a beach hotel crippled its tourism industry. In the same period a year earlier, the economy grew 2 percent, and in the first quarter of 2015, it expanded by 1.7 percent.

Morocco GDP growth weakens to 0.5 percent in the second quarter
Morocco’s economic growth fell to 0.5 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2016, slowing from 4.2 percent in the same period last year after a severe drought hit the agricultural sector, the planning agency said. It had said this year it also expects Moroccan gross domestic product growth to slow to 1.2 percent in the third quarter of the year.

Ghana’s economic growth slows in the second quarter 
Ghana’s economic growth slowed to 2.5 percent in the second quarter, compared with a year earlier, as oil production fell, the provisional official revealed. The slowdown in the second quarter was mainly due to a halt in oil production caused by a technical fault at the country’s main production vessel. In the second quarter of last year, the economy grew by a revised 3.8 percent from a year earlier, the statistics office said

Kenyan economic expands at 6.2 percent in the second quarter 
Gross domestic product expanded 6.2 percent from a year earlier in the second quarter compared with 5.9 percent in the previous three months, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said. Farming activity, the biggest contributor to output, expanded by 5.5 percent from a revised 4 percent a year earlier and Tourist arrivals increased by 10 percent to 186,685 travellers in the three months.

Namibia’s economy contracts 1.2 percent in Q2
Namibia’s economy shrunk by 1.2 percent in the second quarter of 2016 compared with a revised 3.4 percent expansion in the first three months of the year, according to statistics agency’s website. Construction, hospitality, and mining sectors were the largest contributors to the decline, contracting 19.9 percent, 15.5 percent, and 13.2 percent respectively in the quarter.

Tanzania’s economy grew 7.9 percent in the second quarter
Tanzania’s economy grew 7.9 percent in the second quarter of 2016, compared to 5.8 percent during the same time last year, the state-run National Bureau of Statistics stated. The growth of GDP in the second quarter was driven by mining, manufacturing and energy sectors. he increased production of natural gas has significantly boosted electricity generation in the country. Tanzania’s growth in the first quarter was 5.5 percent.

Ivory Coast projects GDP growth of 8.9 percent in 2017
Ivory Coast’s government projected on Wednesday that its economy will grow by 8.9 percent in 2017 as it approved a 6.501 trillion CFA franc ($11.11 billion) budget for the coming year, a government spokesman said. The budget marks an increase of 12 percent over the current year, spokesman Bruno Kone told reporters at a news conference following a cabinet meeting in the commercial capital Abidjan.

Mauritius cuts 2016 growth forecast; agriculture, manufacturing seen slowing
Mauritius’ economy is expected to grow by 3.7 percent this year, from a previous forecast of 3.9 percent in June, due to an expected slowdown in agriculture and manufacturing and no growth in construction, the statistics office said. The Indian Ocean island economy expanded by 3.0 percent in 2015, after the statistics agency in June changed its base year for compiling data to 2013 from 2007 used previously.

Mali projects GDP growth of 5.4 pct this year, 5.3 percent in 2017
Mali expects its gross domestic product will grow by 5.4 percent this year and 5.3 percent next year, the West African nation’s finance minister Boubou Cissé said.

World Bank cuts Uganda’s GDP forecast, citing South Sudan
The World Bank cut its 2016/2017 growth forecast for Uganda on Thursday to 5.5 percent from 5.9 percent, citing the impact of South Sudan’s conflict on its exports and sluggish investments due to slower economic activity globally. South Sudan is one of Uganda’s major export markets but roads between the two countries have been unsafe since an eruption of violence in South Sudan in July.