Africa Economy

With slow but steady growth in 2013, South Africa saw comparatively reasonable performance last year, although there remains a sense that the resource-rich country is operating below its considerable potential.

Après 10 années de trouble politique, la Côte d’Ivoire a renoué avec la stabilité en 2012, accompagnée d’une forte reprise économique qui s’est poursuivie en 2013.

The past year has been another challenging 12 months for Egypt, but going into 2014, the outlook is more bullish for a country that still offers attractive long-term fundamentals.

A number of new initiatives, including educational programmes and a specialised support fund for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), have been established to promote the growth and diversification of small businesses in Ghana.

As Nigeria looks to broaden and stabilise its source of revenues, the government is taking steps to streamline a complex, multi-layered system of taxation that has historically resulted in wide-spread evasion.

In line with its performance in recent years, the Nigerian economy is expected to grow strongly in 2014, with expansion continuing to be driven by high oil prices and robust domestic demand. But the country may need to push forward reforms to encourage broad-based development, alleviate poverty and nurture a trend towards diversification.