World Bank Lowers 2019 Growth Forecast for Sub-Saharan Africa

• World Bank Lowers 2019 Growth Forecast for Sub-Saharan Africa

The World Bank has lowered its growth projection for sub-Saharan Africa in 2019.

According to the bank, the region is yet to recover from weak commodity price of 2015. Therefore, growth would take longer time to recover as weak manufacturing production and the trade dispute between the two world’s largest economies, the U.S. and China, continue to hurt growth in the region and the rest of the world.

The bank lowered its growth forecast for sub-Saharan Africa from the previous 3.3 percent to 2.8 percent.

The lower projection means economic growth in the region will lag population growth for the fourth consecutive year.

“The slower-than-expected overall growth reflects ongoing global uncertainty, but increasingly comes from domestic macroeconomic instability including poorly managed debt, inflation and deficits,” the bank said.

Meanwhile, the Bretton Wood institution has reduced Nigeria’s growth forecast by 0.1 per cent.

It said, “Growth in Nigeria is projected to rise from 1.9 per cent in 2018 to 2.1 per cent in 2019 (0.1 percentage point lower than last October’s forecast).

“This modest expansion reflects stagnant oil production, as regulatory uncertainty limits investment in the oil sector, while non-oil economic activity is held back by high inflation, policy distortions, and infrastructure constraints.

“Growth is projected to rise slightly to 2.2 per cent in 2020 and reach 2.4 per cent in 2021, as improving financing conditions help boost investment.

“In Nigeria, although the manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMIs remained above the neutral 50-point mark—which denotes expansion—they fell further in February, due to weaker rises in output and new sales orders across firms.

“Household consumption in Nigeria has remained subdued, while multiple exchange rates, foreign exchange restrictions, low private sector credit growth, and infrastructure constraints have continued to weigh on private investment.”