World Bank forecasts 5pc growth in Kenya

By James anyanzwa

The World Bank expects the discovery of oil and gas in a peaceful political dispensation to boost growth prospects.

The bank forecasts five per cent growth for Kenya for the next three years (2013-2015), though a worsening of economic conditions in the Eurozone, US or China could limit growth in sub-Sahara Africa by one percentage point this year.

In a statement released yesterday, the bank said economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is also likely to reach more than five per cent on average in 2013-2015.

This is as a result of high commodity prices worldwide and strong consumer spending on the continent, which have ensured that the region remains among the fastest growing in the world, according to theWorld Bank’s latest Africa’s Pulse, a twice-yearly analysis of the issues shaping Africa’s economic prospects.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than 60 per cent of Africa’s GDP, remained strong last year.

Further, in the same year, about a quarter of African countries grew at seven per cent or higher, and a number of African countries, notably Sierra Leone, Niger, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Rwanda, were among the fastest growing in the world, the bank said.

The new World Bank report forecasts that medium-term growth prospects remain strong and will be supported by a gradually improving world economy.

However, Bank  Vice-President Makhtar Diop warned that “without more electricity and higher agricultural productivity, Africa’s development future cannot prosper”.