Tanzania To Sustain Economic Growth In Sub Saharan Africa In 2016 And 2017, WB Report Indicates

The World Bank has recently released the Biannual Africa’s Pulse Report which indicates that Tanzania, together with other four countries in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), will support the region’s economic growth in the years 2016 and 2017 by posting robust annual growths at around 7.0%.

The report states that even though the World Bank decided to cut the SSA’s economic growth to 3.7% at the end of 2015 down from 4.6% in 2014 and 6.5% in average between the years 2003 and 2008, Tanzania will be one of the SSA’s countries pulling up the region’s growth with average annual gains surpassing the 7.0% recorded in 2014 and up from the average 6.95% between 2003 and 2008.

Tanzania’s economic growth will be sustained by investments in large-scale projects in energy, transport, consumer spending, and investments in the minerals industry, the World Bank reported.

Domestic demand generated by consumption, investment and government spending from Tanzania, Cote d’Ivoire, Ehiopia, Mozambique, and Rwanda will address the region’s growth upwards to reach in the short-term 4.4% in 2016 and 4.8% in 2017, explained World Bank Africa Region Acting Chief Economist Punam Chuhan-Pole.

In addition, measures undertaken by governments to alleviate the power shortages that are hitting the extractive industry’s outputs across the region, will help to further support the SSA’s economic activity towards the year 2017 after a slump in commodity prices in the second half of the year 2014 and which continued in the first half of 2015.

Oil & gas, minerals and metals are the main drivers of SSA’s exports.

SSA exports of crude oil totaled the six million barrels a day in 2012 representing 7% of the total world oil exports while natural gas exported totaled 1.69 trillion cubic feet in 2011, accounting for 1% of the global natural gas exports according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) last statistics.

Regarding to mineral products, SSA exports reached the USD 183.9 billion representing 58.9% of SSA’s total exports excluding oil and gas and 11.7% of world imports in 2010.

Metals are the second biggest contributor to SSA exports excluding oil and gas and they totaled USD 64.6 billion accounting for 14.1% of the region’s total exports and 11.4% of the total imported in the world in 2010 according to the International Trade Centre (ITC), a joint agency of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations (UN).