NAIROBI, Jan.9 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank on Wednesday night trimmed its Sub-Saharan Africa's growth forecast for 2020 due to sluggish external demand, falling commodity prices, and adverse domestic developments in some countries.
In its latest Global Economic Prospects report, the international financial institution said Sub-Saharan Africa's regional growth is expected to pick up to 2.9 percent in 2020, which is 0.2 percentage point lower than its forecast made in October. Growth in the region may accelerate further to an average of 3.2 percent during 2021 and 2022.
The institution said the growth pickup is predicated on improving investor confidence in some large economies, a strengthening cyclical recovery among industrial commodity exporters along with a pickup in oil production, and robust growth among agricultural commodity exporters.
The World Bank said the economic recovery in Sub-Saharan Africa lost momentum in 2019, with growth estimated to have edged down to a slower-than-expected rate of 2.4 percent from 2.6 percent in 2018, amid heightened global policy uncertainty and domestic fragilities in several countries.
Economies in Sub-Saharan Africa show divergent prospects in the World Bank forecasts. Growth in the region's three largest economies Nigeria, South Africa, and Angola is expected to rise to 2.1 percent, 0.9 percent, and 1.5 percent, respectively, in 2020, from an estimated rate of 2 percent, 0.4 percent, and negative 0.7 percent in 2019.
However, 2019 also marked the fifth consecutive year that growth in the three economies contracted on a per-capita basis.
Other economies are expected to see growth strengthening, stabilizing just below 5 percent during 2021 and 2022. In the West African Economic and Monetary Union, growth is expected to hold steady at 6.4 percent in 2020, while in Kenya growth is seen edging up to 6 percent.
The World Bank warned that the balance of risks for Sub-Saharan Africa is firmly to the downside. Downside risks to the outlook include a sharper-than-expected deceleration in major trading partners, increased investor risk aversion and growing insecurity.
