IMF revised downwards its growth perspectives for sub-Saharan Africa and called governments to implement economic policies adapted to the new international environment, we learnt from the October 2015 edition of the economic prospects for this sub-region, entitled “Facing a degrading environment”.

The institution recognises that “the fast growth of the last ten years masked the deterioration of competitiveness, especially in countries exporting raw materials”. Its current perspectives indicate that the economic activity of sub-Saharan Africa has clearly slowed down, even though growth remains higher than in many other regions, with a growth rate of 3.75% in 2015, followed by 4.25% in 2016.

In its analysis, IMF attributes the slowdown of the economic activity to the associated large drop in prices of raw materials and less favourable financial conditions. “Oil exporting countries of the region, including Nigeria and Angola, are even more affected, as the decrease in export income and severity of budget adjustments which followed are weighing down on the activity”, the Fund states.

It moreover added that, many middle income countries, including South Africa, Ghana and Zambia, are facing an unfavourable situation, particularly with the weak prices for raw materials, tightening of financial conditions and shortage of electricity. In this situation, Antoinette Sayeh, Africa Director for the Fund informed that, it is even more important for governments to diversify the economic growth drivers by reducing the share of mining industries.

Advice difficult to follow for countries which national savings are relatively weak, education and training system is still under construction, and industrial landscape is rather rudimentary (apart from South Africa). Moreover, strengthening the infrastructure and competitiveness could lead, in the long term, to raising foreign exchanges resources, in an international context marked by the increase in the rates for African sovereign loans.