Africa > East Africa > Economy

Economy in East Africa

  • Tanzania’s economy is expected to grow by 20 basis points to 7.4 % in 2017.

    TANZANIA, 2016/07/04 Tanzania’s economy is expected to grow by 20 basis points to 7.4 % in 2017. According to the country’s central bank, this increase will be driven by construction, communications and finance. The country is experiencing increased real estate development for residential and non- residential purposes and building of road networks. “Construction has been the major contributor to increase for the completed two years contributing 23.9 % and 18.8 % in 2015 and 2014, respectively,” noted the bank in its monetary policy satement
  • Mozambique government wants to increase financial inclusion of the population

    MOZAMBIQUE, 2016/05/17 The government of Mozambique plans for 35 % of adults, by 2022, to have access to a bank account at a formal financial institution and that 75 % of districts will offer banking services, according to a newly approved strategy paper. The document – National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (2016/22) -sets out world goals to be completed during the reporting period inclunding the actions to be undertaken by different actors in the economy.
  • Strong or weak: A look at Africa's economy

    AFRICA, 2016/05/13 At the Africa conference of the World Economic Forum (WEF), currently being held in Rwanda's capital Kigali, participants expressed their optimism about the continent's economic next, writes DW's Manuela Kasper-Claridge. Why is it that there are 10 times as a lot of negative news stories coming out of Africa as there are positive ones? Participants in a background talk on Thursday were at a loss, expressing views of a skewed world perception of Africa to biased or unfair media coverage of the continent. The discussion about Africa's image in the world quickly turned emotional because the World Economic Forum participants were rejecting talking only about Africa's weaknesses. Rather, they wanted to focus on the continent's strengths, too.
  • Africa’s economic growth is likely to be slower in the intervening years

    BOTSWANA, 2016/05/12 Africa’s economic increase is likely to be slower in the intervening years than in the before decade, according to the new rating by Ernst & Young using a barometer to gauge the level of appeal and success.“The baseline projection of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for 2016 is presently reduced to 3%, while it was estimated at 6.1% in April 2015″, Ernst & Young points out in its rating.
  • Opportunities for African companies to do business with Chinese counterparts

    CHINA, 2016/05/10 China’s influence in Africa has grown rapidly over the last decade. Although China’s economy is not growing as fast as it did in recent years, the Asian superpower remains completely visible in a lot of parts of the continent. Traditionally, China-Africa economic activities have focused on government-to-government relations. But engagement between private sector entities is picking up, says Jinghao Lu, project director at the Sino Africa Centre of Excellence (SACE) Foundation, an organisation seeking to improve China-Africa relations. SACE Foundation has been conducting surveys on Chinese companies operating in a number of African nations. It has as well been working with Kenyan SMEs that want to sell to Chinese companies operating in Africa.
  • The need for better economic data in Africa

    AFRICA, 2016/04/16 The African economy is poised to become the fastest growing economy in the world over the next five years. Unfortunately, the American government, the world foreign aid community and business interests around the world have no meaningful, reliable or easily accessible way in which to monitor this increase. It is time that the U.S. federal government begins to play a additional active role in fostering the development of capabilities with which economic data from emerging markets can be additional easily analyzed.
  • Djibouti to launch ambitious job creation programme

    DJIBOUTI CITY, 2016/03/25 Djibouti’s efforts in recent years to foster increase through infrastructure investment have been largely successful, according to the IMF’s most recent Article IV consultation. Accumulation investment reached 44% of GDP in 2014 and is expected to peak at 60% in 2015. As of late 2014, the country had accumulated $1.5bn in foreign capital, up from around $15m in the mid 1980s. Foreign direct investment has been highly concentrated around ports, roads, real estate and hotels. GDP increase is as well expected to continue increasing, from 6% in 2014 to around 6.5% in 2015 and 2016, and 7% per annum through to 2019, as per IMF figures. As the infrastructure drive increases request for housing and services, inflation is expected to rise from 3% in 2015 to approximately 3.5% between 2016 and 2018.
  • A shopper looks for items at an informal shop piloted by Pick n Pay in Soweto, South Africa

    SOUTH AFRICA, 2016/03/16 Slumping commodity prices have taken African currencies down with them, exposing the fundamental economic frailties of the world's poorest continent by driving up inflation in nations that import most of their manufactured goods. Regional economies are in no position to use their weakening currencies to their trade chance because they have few exports beyond their natural resources. The hardship for households has been compounded by rising prices for food - one commodity that has defied the price fall due to drought in southern Africa
  • Kenya - Laying the Groundwork

    KENYA, 2016/02/11  
  • Somber commodity outlook and domestic headwinds continue to weigh on regional growth

    AFRICA, 2016/01/24 Increase in the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region stabilized in Q3 according to a preliminary set of data that accounts for around 65% of the region’s nominal GDP. The regional economy grew 3.3% annually, which matched the result tallied in Q2. Nevertheless, the pace of increase remained at levels last seen during the height of the financial crisis in 2009. Results of note in Q3 include a remarkable acceleration in Nigeria, which resulted from increased oil supply. That said, the ongoing low–oil–price environment and the Central Bank’s stubborn defense of the currency, which is reducing the availability of hard currency in the country, promises to keep increase subdued in the months approaching. In South Africa, increase rebounded in seasonally adjusted annualized terms in Q3 on stronger manufacturing output. That said, the outlook remains weak mainly due to severe domestic challenges.