ABIDJAN – The International Monetary Fund (IMF), says economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to rise by five per cent before the end of 2014.
IMF’s Director, African Department, Ms Antoinette Sayeh, stated this in a report on the Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abidjan.
“The outlook for the sub-region showed that growth will further rise to about 5.8 per cent in 2015,’’ she said.
Sayeh said that the trends of strong growth in recent years in the region would continue with investments in public infrastructure, the service sector and agriculture.
The IMF official, however, said that the positive outlook had the likelihood of being marred by pockets of severe difficulties in some countries.
According to her, the outbreak of Ebola in some countries in the sub-region posed severe challenges to the realisation of the positive outlook in such countries and their neighbours.
“This positive image nevertheless coexists with difficult situations in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where the outbreak of Ebola is both a health and economic challenge.
“With the unbearable number of deaths, suffering and social gap widening, Ebola has a significant economic impact; its economic consequences are already being felt in some neighbouring countries,’’ she said. (NAN)
