Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa to Hit 5%
Sub-Saharan Africa is often the focus of talks concerning global poverty, but according to the World Bank, growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is set to outpace the global average over the next three years. The high growth is contributed to higher growth in commodities, increasing investment, and the pick-up of the global economy. Predictions are that the Sub-Saharan economies will grow by over five percent in the next three years. Global growth forecasts were only expected to be 2.4 percent this year.
Foreign direct investment into Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to hit $54bn a year by 2015. The growth of the economies and the increase of foreign investment have led to a significant drop in poverty. Estimates of those living on less than $1.25 a day have fallen from 58 percent to 48.5 percent and continue to trend downward.
The World Bank is hopeful these trends can be unleashed to reach their full potential and promote more growth and less poverty throughout the region. One of the keys to continuing this growth is a focus on infrastructure development in the region as well as access to roads and consumer markets.
One challenge Sub-Saharan economies will face is the seemingly constant labor unrest and political instability that can plague the region. When communities start to lift themselves out of poverty, it has been shown over and over to reduce some of the negative aspects of the community. Hopefully, this will be the case in Sub-Saharan Africa as well.
As the spotlight on global poverty continues to shine, Sub-Saharan Africa will be the region to watch as they are set to achieve high levels of growth and development throughout the coming years. The growth in foreign investment, the technology of the region, and reduction in poverty leads to bright prospects for a once hopeless region of the world.
