NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The global economic downturn, lower commodity prices and tighter credit markets are seriously threatening Africa's economies, the International Monetary Fund said in a new report on Monday. The IMF is projecting that growth in sub-Saharan Africa will slow to about 3.25% in 2009 from just over 5% last year -- that is over 3% less than forecast a year ago. "The gains of the past decade, during which many countries in sub-Saharan Africa saw sustained high rates of economic growth and rising income levels, are at risk," said Antoinette M. Sayeh, the IMF's African department director, in a statement. "While African policymakers are rising to meet this unexpected challenge, donors must also play their part. They must maintain their commitments and scale up, not scale back their support."
When I read information like this, I can't help but think, once again: "what are we measuring and to whom's scale?". If the IMF says Africa will suffer from the crisis, what are the components of the tools used to measure the continent's development?
2 commentaires:
In general, IMF talks about growth (that's the 3.25% forecast). But development is more complex. It's also about how this growth is shared among the population of a country, the quality of the institutions, etc. IMF knows that too, but its economists are specialized in the macro side (growth, inflation, unemployment and so on). It's the World Bank who studies the other components of development and country specifics at the micro level.
The director of the Africa department of the World Bank said last year that the continent is going to receive much less aid in 2009 and has to make its own way. I don't know, it may be a good thing. I will not be surprise if the continent keeps the 5% growth rate despite the aid reduction. There is no consensus about aid effectiveness among the experts on this matter. Some of them say that Africa is rising because of africans themselves, not because of foreign aid.
Macro, micro... What about middle, average? Well anyways, thanks for the clarifications. It's always good to learn more about these organizations. I'm also glad to hear that although there'll be less aid, the continent will keep its growth rate of 5%. It's like growing despite being "fed" from outside, it shows Africa and Africans have something inside... Is there any better sign for hope than that?
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