Ghana is Africa’s 4th best economic performer in 2012 – Report

…with growth rate of 7.4%

Ghana was among the top-ten best economic performers in Africa between 2008 and 2012, according to the 2013 Economic Report on Africa released March 25, 2013.

With an annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 7.4%, Ghana was number two in West Africa after Sierra Leone whose annual growth rate was over 9%, figures in the report showed.

Respectively the top ten performers were Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Libya, Ghana, Rwanda, Liberia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Mozambique.

“Ghana’s economy, after a sharp increase in 2011 when the country launched commercial oil production, slowed from 15.1 per cent in 2011 to a more realistic 7.4% in 2012,” said the report jointly produced by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Union (AU).

Growth rate in 2012 varied on sub-regional terms but the report says it remained robust in all of them.

The report pointed out that West Africa registered the highest growth, followed by East Africa, North Africa including Libya, Central Africa and Southern Africa.

It says economic performance in West Africa moderated to 6.3% in 2012 from 6.5% in 2011 as Nigeria, the continent’s second-largest economy, slowed to 6.4% from 7.4%.

East Africa’s growth slipped to 5.6% in 2012 from 6.3% in 2011, despite the report saying “most countries performed well in 2012, marking a recovery in agriculture, vibrant domestic demand and expansion in services”.

Growth in Central Africa remained at 5% in 2012 while Southern Africa’s output stayed almost the same for the third consecutive year, at 3.5%.

For North Africa, the report said the region almost fully recovered from the 2011 contraction that stemmed from political and social unrest in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, reaching growth of 5.4%.

The report mentioned Swaziland, Sudan, Madagascar, Comoros and South Africa as having the weakest economic performance during 2008-2012.

In 2008–2012, the 256 page report indicated that the top 11 growth performers in Africa reached the 7% threshold estimated as a prerequisite for achieving the MDGs.

Titled “Making the most of Africa’s commodities: Industrialising for Growth, Jobs and Economic Transformation”, the report was officially launched at the just ended 2013 AU-ECA Joint Meetings in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

By Ekow Quandzie, back from Abidjan, Ivory Coast