According to the World Economic Forecasts, released this Tuesday as part of the Spring Meetings, the region's economies will grow 3.8 percent this year, with an expansion of 3 percent in Angola and 6.1 percent percent in Equatorial Guinea, which thus interrupts several years of recession, although it should return to negative growth next year.
According to the document, Nigeria, the region's largest economy, is expected to register an economic expansion of 3.4 percent and 3.1 percent this year and next, representing an improvement of 0.7 and 0.4 percentage points, respectively, compared to the January update of the World Economic Forecasts released in October last year.
"In sub-Saharan Africa, higher food prices will undermine the purchasing power of consumers, especially among lower-income families, which will negatively influence domestic demand; social and political unrest, especially in West Africa, also influences the perspective of evolution" of the region's economies, reads the report released this Tuesday.
Even so, the rise in oil prices, which have been above 100 dollars, is a positive point for the main oil exporters in the region, such as Nigeria and the Portuguese-speaking Angola and Equatorial Guinea, which together are expected to grow by 3,4 percent and 3,1 percent in 2022 and 2023.
The report released this Tuesday does not present forecasts for all African economies, whose regional analysis will only be available next week, when the report on Economic Forecasts for sub-Saharan Africa is released.
