Economy

At launch of “Country Focus Report”: AfDB singles infrastructure transformation as Cameroons major task.

by Edmond
11 Aug 2024 10:45
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AfDB Group President (2nd from R) with collaborators at launch of report

The African Development Bank, AfDB, has singled out the transformation of national infrastructure that needs to be tackled as a matter of urgency, if Cameroon’s economy must regain its rhythm and stay on the path of progressive growth.

This was at the launch of the bank’s publication, dubbed “Country Focus Reports”, designed to deepen policy dialogue on the macroeconomic performance and outlook of individual countries.

The book, the bank says, is an indispensable tool for policymakers, government and development partners.

According to the AfDB Group President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, more than sixty years after independence, Cameroon, like many other African countries south of the Sahara, still lag behind in structural transformation.

“This is symbolised in the shift of workers from lower to higher productivity employment and intra-sectoral productivity growth which has not progressed as quickly as hoped,” Akinwumi said.

In what the AfDB Group describes as Africa’s economic development paradox, the Group President called on both policymakers and analysts within and outside the continent to be genuinely concerned.

According to the continental bank, achieving structural transformation could remain a mirage for many African countries in the absence of bold structural reforms and financing to support implementation of transformative projects.

Participants at round table prior to report launch

Sub regional outlook

In its breakdown of development effort in the various sub regions that make up the continent, the Group President unveiled that 44 countries were assessed.

Cameroon was lumped among the 10 member countries of the Central African Economic Community, ECCAS.

Growth in this region, according to the AfDB is forecast to moderate from 4.3% in 2023 to 4.1% in 2024 before improving strongly to 4.7% in 2025.

The upgraded forecast is due to expectations of stronger growth in Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo as a result of favourable metal prices.

Meanwhile in West Africa, growth is projected to pick up, rising from an estimated 3.6% in 2023 to 4.2% in 2024 and consolidating at 4.4% the following year.

This is an upgrade of 0.3 percentage point for 2024 over the January 2024 projections, reflecting stronger growth in the region’s large economies—Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal, the AfDB stated. East Africa is the fastest-growing region in Africa, according to the AfDB.

Therefore, the region will see real Growth Domestic Product, GDP rising from an estimated 1.5% in 2023 to 4.9% in 2024 and 5.7% in 2025.

The downward revision of 0.2 percentage point for 2024 compared with the forecast in the January 2024 Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and, MEO is due to larger-than-expected contractions in Sudan and South Sudan following the ongoing conflict in the former, the AfDB said.

For Southern Africa, the AfDB foresees growth to pick up slightly from an estimated 1.6% in 2023 to 2.2% in 2024 and firm up to 2.7% in 2025.

The growth rates for 2024 and 2025 show an upgrade of 0.1 percentage point over the January 2024 projections, mainly reflecting a 0.7 percentage point increase in South Africa’s projected growth.

Due to South Africa’s larger weight in the region, the upgraded growth forecast offset the combined effect of downward revisions in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, the AFDB Group President states.

This Story was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3193 of Thursday August 08, 2024