GB502 Week 1 Discussion
Rymario1
GB502ReadingLecture.docxUnit 1: Lecture
Food for Thought
IMF: Sub-Saharan Africa set to grow 2.6% in 2017
Zahonogo (2016) reported that Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 12% of the global population, while the region represents only 2% of the world gross domestic product (GDP). To put this in perspective, did you know that the combined national output of SSA is equivalent to the GDP of Spain? The GDP per capita in SSA increased from 2.4% to 5% in the last two decades. SSA countries had the opportunity to double their economic size in real terms and almost quadrupled in the nominal dollar terms since the beginning of the 21st century.
Looking at the economic growth of countries, countries such as Ethiopia, Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana have had impressive growth rates. They reached or exceeded the average GDP growth rate in comparison with China and India since early 2000 (See Table 1).
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Table 1: World Bank Country Comparator, 2017 (Links to an external site.) |
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|
Country |
GDP growth (annual %) |
GDP, PPP (current international $) |
GDP per capita, PPP (current international $) |
Population, total |
|
China |
6.9 |
23,300,782,880,353.1 |
16,806.74 |
1,386,395,000 |
|
Cote d'Ivoire |
7.797 |
96,046,410,943.21 |
3,953.38 |
24,294,750 |
|
Ethiopia |
10.246 |
199,336,019,094.66 |
1,899.21 |
104,957,438 |
|
Ghana |
8.507 |
133,826,196,369 |
4,641.32 |
28,833,629 |
|
India |
6.624 |
9,448,658,813,549.45 |
7,055.55 |
1,339,180,127 |
Countries such as Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, and Tanzania all experienced quicker economic growth than China since 2012 (See Table 2).
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Table 2: Economic growth over the last 5 years (2017) (Links to an external site.) |
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|
Country |
GDP, PPP (current international) $ |
GDP Growth Rate (annual %) |
GDP Per Capita, PPP (Current international) $ |
|
23,300,782,880,353 |
6.9 |
16,807 |
|
|
96,046,410,943 |
7.797 |
3,953 |
|
|
199,336,019,094.66 |
10.246 |
1,899.21 |
|
|
133,826,196,369 |
8.507 |
4,641.32 |
|
|
29,055,933,514.39 |
12.702 |
2,284.78 |
|
|
163,886,238,965.44 |
7.104 |
2,945.88 |
Total exports from SSA countries to China, Brazil, and India were greater than exports from SSA to the EU (E.g., France, Germany, Italy, etc) in 2011 (Zahonogo, 2016). This trade difference is due to the increasing demand from the rapidly emerging countries aforementioned. Even with this economic achievement, SSA tends to export primary commodities, and manufactured goods represent only 5% of total exports to Brazil, India and China, 10% to the US and 30% to the EU. A significant rise in intra-regional trade within SSA exists, which acts as a catalyst for export diversification within the region and a rising share of manufactured products within total exports.
Conduct your own research to learn more about the trade growth and business environment in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
References
1. Zahonogo, P. (2016). Trade and economic growth in developing countries: Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa (Links to an external site.) . Journal Of African Trade, 3(1-2), 41.
2. GlobalEDGE Insights by Classification. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://globaledge.msu.edu/ (Links to an external site.)
