Unit 4 Macro: Growth, Trade and Development in Sub Saharan Africa

This blog entry will feature frequently updated revision resources on economic growth trade and development aspects for a range of sub Saharan African countries

Real GDP per capita (PPP)

Fertility rate

Tax revenue as a share of GDP

Merchandise trade as a share of GDP

Background Data

• Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has 12 % of the world’s total population but only 2% of world GDP
• Since 2000, GDP per capita in SSA has grown by almost 5% per year, compared with 2.4% in the two preceding decades – most forecasts predict that good growth will continue in the next few years
• Since 2000, SSA’s economic size has doubled in real terms and almost quadrupled in nominal $ terms
• To put this into context, the combined national output of SSA is equivalent to the GDP of Spain
• Angola, Mozambique or Ethiopia achieved average GDP growth rates of 8% and more over the last decade – compared with that of China and exceeding that of India
• In 2012, Sierra Leone, Niger, Cote d’Ivoire, Angola, Liberia and Burkina Faso all experienced faster economic growth than China
• Total SSA exports to China, Brazil and India were larger than those to the EU in 2011
• SSA tends to export primary commodities – manufactured goods and agricultural products represent only 5% of total exports to Brazil, India and China, 10% to the US and 30% to the EU
• There has been a significant rise in intra-regional trade within SSA and this is acting as a catalyst for export diversification within the region and in particular, a rising share of manufactured products within total exports – but intra-regional trade remains low in absolute terms
• SSA is investing more heavily in tourism as a growth and development driver. Traditional destinations such as Cape Verde, Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles have served tourists from rich advanced countries for many years; newer destinations include Rwanda and Sierra Leone
• SSA is a net recipient of remittance inflows – they were $31bn 2011 and 2012, 2.5% of SSA’s GDP – remittances provide important foreign exchange, improve the current account and add to a nation’s gross national income (GNI)
• Africa is set to become the world’s second-largest mobile telephony market behind Asia and its fastest-growing one. Mobile money systems built around extensive mobile phone penetration is fast-changing the connectivity available to the African continent.
• When it comes to social development - SSA lags in achieving all the Millennium Development Goals