One of the paradoxes of Sub-Saharan Africa’s rapid economic expansion is how the region’s most sophisticated economy seems to have become decoupled from the rest of the region. South Africa needs to reclaim the economic initiative, by – literally – building the Africa of the future.
JOHANNESBURG – A paradox of Sub-Saharan Africa’s rapid economic expansion is the fact that the region’s most sophisticated economy seems not to be part of it. Since 2008, South Africa has recorded average annual GDP growth of just 1.8%, less than half the rate of the previous five years. The International Monetary Fund expects output in the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa to grow at a rate of close to 5% next year, but South Africa is projected to manage little more than 1% growth. More worrying still, the country’s unemployment rate – at over 25% – is one of the highest in the world.
JOHANNESBURG – A paradox of Sub-Saharan Africa’s rapid economic expansion is the fact that the region’s most sophisticated economy seems not to be part of it. Since 2008, South Africa has recorded average annual GDP growth of just 1.8%, less than half the rate of the previous five years. The International Monetary Fund expects output in the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa to grow at a rate of close to 5% next year, but South Africa is projected to manage little more than 1% growth. More worrying still, the country’s unemployment rate – at over 25% – is one of the highest in the world.