[ 2013-05-09 ]

Africa still on the rise but gaps remain: WEF
CAPE TOWN (AFP) - African economies are still on
the rise but gaps in key areas are putting the
long-term viability of the continent's boom in
question, the World Economic Forum warned
Thursday.

"If you look at Africa, you really do see a story
of gaps in a sense," said Jennifer Blanke, chief
economist at the World Economic Forum.

Speaking at the launch of a report on
competitiveness on the continent, Blanke warned
that the stumbling blocks clouded Africa's
long-term outlook after years of fast growth.

"A lot is changing, things are starting to look
better, there are improvements," she told
journalists.

"But the fact that these gaps still remain do
raise questions about whether the improvements
that we've seen, the incredible growth that we've
seen over the last 10 to 15 years, will be
sustainable over the next decade."

Against other emerging market regions, this was
particularly evident in critical and basic areas
such as education, use of technology,
infrastructure, and governance.

The continent also suffered badly on
competitiveness.

"If you look at our rankings of 144 economies, you
will see at the bottom 20, 14 are in fact African
economies," said Blanke.

Regional integration was a key problem with Africa
the world's least integrated region despite
several overlapping trade pacts.

African exports make up two to three percent of
world trade, but only 12 percent of them stay on
the continent.

This was against 25 percent for South East Asia,
49 percent in North America and 65 percent in the
Europe Union.

"Also there is this issue of continuing to produce
goods pretty low on the value chain so there's a
quantity and a quality issue," she said.

Cumbersome border processes and a major
infrastructure deficit were also highlighted.

It was a "precipitous moment" to take necessary
actions, said Blanke.

The report is co-published by the WEF, the African
Development Bank and the World Bank.

Source - AFP

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