The World Bank said in its latest growth guidance for Nigeria that the country is anticipated to accelerate to a 2.5 percent rate this year from 1 percent growth in the year just ended.
In a newsletter update, the World Bank said an upward revision to Nigeria’s forecast is based on the expectation that oil production will continue to recover and that reforms will lift non-oil sector growth. Growth in Angola is expected to increase to 1.6 percent in 2018, as a successful political transition improves the possibility of reforms that ameliorate the business environment.
Non-resource intensive countries are expected to expand at a solid pace, helped by robust investment growth. Côte d’Ivoire is forecast to expand by 7.2 percent in 2018; Senegal by 6.9 percent; Ethiopia by 8.2 percent; Tanzania by 6.8 percent; and Kenya by 5.5 percent as inflation eases.
However, given demographic and investment trends across the region over the longer term, structural reforms would be needed to boost potential growth over the next decade.
