GDP - The African Mirror

Nov

2023

Kenya could lose up to 7.25% of GDP to climate change, World Bank says

KENYA could lose up to 7.25% of economic output by 2050 if it does not take strong action to adapt to climate change and mitigate its effects, the World Bank said. Like other so-called frontier economies, the East African nation has been suffering from the effects of global heating, including prolonged droughts, in recent years. "By 2050, inaction against climate change could result in a decline in real GDP of 3.61–7.25 percent," the World Bank said in a new publication called Kenya Country Climate and Development Report. "The impact of climate change on the economy could be partly buffered by…

Jun

2023

By AHMED ELJECHTIMI

Informal labour accounts for two-thirds of Morocco jobs, statistics agency reports

BUSINESS

TWO-THIRDS of Moroccan jobs are now in the grey economy, a statistics agency said, giving its first public assessment of a trend that the government says is depriving the economy of $3.4 billion annually. Nearly all the jobs in the agricultural sector, which represents 14% of the country's GDP, were informal, the HCP agency said in the study, putting the figure at 97%. But with recurrent drought blighting the sector, it expected fewer and fewer people to work in farming, with more people turning to the service sector. The services sector now offers 41% of all jobs in the country,…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

South African rand slips ahead of GDP

BUSINESS

SUSAN MATHEW FRAYED nerves ahead of U.S. inflation data later this week cast a shadow over emerging markets on Tuesday, with South Africa's rand leading losses ahead of domestic economic growth data. Against a stronger dollar, the rand fell 0.6%, pulling further away from 28-month highs. GDP numbers later in the morning are expected to show the South African economy slowed in the first quarter. But the rand is still by far the best performing EM currency this year, up more than 8%, helped in part by rising commodity prices. Turkey's lira – the year's worst performing EM currency so…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

South African economy rebounds in Q3 led by mining, manufacturing

BUSINESS

SOUTH Africa’s economy rebounded strongly in the third quarter as coronavirus restrictions were eased, with mining and manufacturing leading an expansion across all sectors. Africa’s most advanced economy was in recession before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, with a strict lockdown from the end of March leading to a deeper economic contraction. Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday that gross domestic product expanded by 66.1% in seasonally adjusted, annualised terms in July-September from the second quarter, when the economy shrank by a revised 51.7% as lockdowns stalled activity. Compared with the same period a year earlier, GDP shrank by 6% in…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Keeping girls in school seen worth billions to developing nations

EDUCATION

SONIA ELKS MAKING sure all girls are finishing secondary education by 2030 could boost the gross domestic product (GDP) of developing countries by 10% on average over the next decade, according to a report. Every $1 spent on girls' rights and education would generate a $2.80 return - equivalent to billions of dollars in extra GDP, according to the study by rights group Plan International and financial services firm Citi's Global Insights team. "COVID-19 recovery plans that prioritise investment in girls' education and well-being will help communities and economies build back better and stronger," said Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, chief executive of…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

S-African economy to shrink by more than government’s 7% forecast in 2020

BUSINESS

SOUTH Africa’s economy will likely contract this year by more than the 7% previously forecast by the Treasury, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said in an opinion piece published on Sunday. Gross domestic product shrunk by a record 51% in the second quarter, its fourth quarterly contraction in a row, as a strict lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus saw activity grind to a near-standstill. “The contraction in growth is larger than anticipated by the National Treasury and the SA Reserve Bank, which raises the risk that the actual GDP outcome for this year could be lower than previously…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast president sees growth slowing to 1.8% in 2020

BUSINESS

IVORY Coast's economic growth is expected to slow to 1.8% in 2020 from a projected 7.2% due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to President Alassane Ouattara. Several sectors of the Ivorian economy including agriculture, construction, transport and tourism have been hit by the outbreak that has slowed gross domestic product (GDP) in the world's top cocoa producer, Ouattara said. Ivory Coast's GDP growth had averaged around 8% between 2012 and 2019, Ouattara said during a speech at the annual general meeting of the African Development Bank. - Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Zimbabwe economy to shrink by 4.5%

BUSINESS

ZIMBABWE's economy is expected to shrink by 4.5% this year owing to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and a brutal climate change-related drought, the finance minister said on Thursday. The crucial mining sector will contract by 4%, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube added in a mid-term budget speech, although he projected that GDP would rebound to 7.4% growth in 2021. Ncube added that inflation was expected to gradually decline to 300% by December, compared with 737.36% currently. Zimbabwe's economy was in a mess even before COVID-19 struck, with rampant inflation, chronic shortages of food, foreign currency and medicines, all worsened…