“Africa’s economic prospects are looking brighter following the adoption and ratification of a free-trade accord by most of the continent’s 55 nations,” reports Bloomberg News:
Annual exports from Africa could jump to $952 billion by 2035, from $645 billion currently, and the free-trade agreement has the potential to boost that number by 29% once fully implemented. Within the continent, flows are expected to reach $140 billion, which equates to 15% of total regional exports, the lender said. Trade within East Africa is set to grow by 15.1% and within West Africa by 13.2%, well in excess of the 4.2% global average…[The IMF] envisions sub-Saharan Africa’s economy expanding 4% next year, up from 3.3% this year, amid an environment of falling inflation….“The African Continental Free Trade Area can radically reshape future growth and development,” said Standard Chartered’s Chairman José Viñals. “It will enable higher value-add supply chains and more diversified exports, allowing member states to reduce historical commodity dependence and achieve meaningful progress towards multiple sustainable development goals.”
Challenges remain however. A…survey of 103 senior business leaders identified complex and uncertain trade rules and corruption as the biggest impediments to increasing trade. Their other concerns included underdeveloped infrastructure, ineffective trade facilitators and costly access to capital.
Some African nations are afflicted by wars that are shrinking their economies. Sudan’s economy is expected to shrink 18 percent this year amid a civil war between two factions of its government — Sudan’s armed forces and the rival Rapid Support Forces. That civil war has killed tens of thousands of people, leaving “thousands of bodies rotting” on the streets. It has also driven 2 million people to flee the country, and inflicted severe damage on the country’s capital Khartoum, one of Africa’s largest cities. Ethnic cleansing has occurred in Sudan’s Darfur region, with ethnic Masalit people being massacred in and around the major city of El Geneina, which was largely destroyed. Children in Sudanese orphanages have died in droves of hunger.
Ethiopia’s economic growth also shrank due to a civil war between its central government and the rulers of its Tigre region, resulting in the deaths of as many as 600,000 civilians from 2020 to 2022. Its economic growth rate fell from 9% to about 6%. Ethiopia is now seeking debt relief from its creditors on its substantial foreign debt.
Huge floods last fall caused hunger in parts of Chad, Cameroon, and Nigeria, and shrank agricultural output.
Whole villages have been decimated or wiped out in Africa’s Sahel region by terrorists linked to groups like Al Qaeda and Islamic State. For example, in Burkina Faso, terrorists largely wiped out the village of Kourakou this year. In neighboring Mali, insurgents killed the President’s Chief of Staff and three other officials. And a massive triple suicide bombing killed more than a dozen people and wounded at least 60 people in central Mali. War has inflicted serious damage on these countries’ economies and largely eliminated tourism that used to be a significant source of foreign exchange for Mali.
