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Guest post by: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Become an Author

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This section examines recent economic performance at the continental and subregional
levels. It discusses disparities in growth performance and the factors behind
the observed disparities across countries and subregions. The analysis pays particular
attention to structural factors such as endowment in natural resources, the role of
policies and institutions as well as non-policy drivers of growth, including exogenous
factors such as natural calamities, geography, and civil conflicts. The discussion highlights
key constraints to growth in Africa and strategies to address these constraints.

African economies continue to sustain the growth
momentum

African economies continued to sustain the growth momentum of previous years,
recording an overall real GDP growth rate of 5.7 per cent in 2006 compared to 5.3 per cent in 2005 and 5.2 per cent in 2004 (figure 2.1). For the second consecutive
year, Africa’s growth rate remains higher than that of Latin America (4.8 per
cent) but lower than that of developing Asia (8.7 per cent). As many as 28 countries
recorded improvements in growth in 2006 relative to 2005. Only one country
– Zimbabwe - recorded a negative growth rate in 2006.

Africa’s growth performance in 2006, as in previous years, was underpinned by
improvement in macroeconomic management in many countries, and by strong
global demand for key African export commodities, resulting in high export prices,
especially for crude oil, metals and minerals (see chapter 1). This explains the very
high growth rates recorded by oil-rich countries (see figure 2.3).

However, for most African countries, real growth rates remain low relative to
their development goals. From 1998 to 2006, 25 per cent of African countries
achieved a real GDP growth rate of less than 3 per cent per annum.
Only five countries achieved an average real GDP growth rate of 7 per cent
or more during this period (table 2.1). At this pace, few countries are positioned
to achieve the MDGs by 2015. Hence, the continent faces the challenge
of increasing growth rates and sustaining these high growth rates over
an extended period. Besides sustaining reforms to maintain macroeconomic
stability and further improve the domestic investment climate to promote
private sector activity, a more strategic approach to growth policy is needed,
to effectively address the binding constraints to growth.

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