12.01.2015 - Why Africa is becoming less dependent on commodities
For decades commodities have shaped Africa’s economic growth. When prices were high, growth was good; when prices dipped, so did the continent. But that is slowly changing. Despite big commodity-price falls this year—oil is down by 50%—the continent will probably grow by 5% in 2015 (and more in the following years). While lots of African currencies lost value in 2014, they have performed much better than during other periods when commodity prices were falling. Few African countries will fall into recession in 2015—unlike other commodity exporters such as Russia and Venezuela. Why is Africa doing better than many expected? Two reasons stand out. First, the continent's economic growth is coming from other places. Governments have worked hard to make life easy for investors. Second, many African governments are better at managing the inevitable booms and busts of commodity markets...............................................Full Article: Source
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