afrol News, 22 February - The African Development Bank says Africa’s economic growth may reach 6.5 percent next year, as the global financial crisis declines.

The Bank’s President Donald Kaberuka said the real gross domestic product growth could reach about 7 percent in 2011 from a forecast of about 5.5 percent growth for 2010.

“Although this recession has been a major setback for many countries, much of Africa - I’m not saying all of it has avoided the worst effect of the recession,” Mr Kaberuka told a panel of finance-ministers and central-bank officials from 10 African countries in Cape Town.

He said Africa’s economy is expected to grow between 4.5 percent and five percent this year, with the expansion likely to accelerate by an additional 1.5 percentage points in 2011.

The forecasts are more optimistic than the International Monetary Fund’s predictions, issued 26 January, for Africa’s economy to grow 4.3 percent this year and 5.3 percent in 2011, he also stated.

The world's poorest continent, mainly dependent on minerals and commodity exports for revenue, surprised economists by weathering the global economic crisis better than the West, where recession has curbed growth in many developed countries.

Top African economy South Africa which exited its first recession in 17 years last December together with Nigeria and Kenya, is expected to help spur Africa's recovery on the back of improved global demand, according to the official.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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