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The 2020 African Trade Report
African Business
The African Export-Import Bank’s (Afrex- imbank) 2020 African Trade Report provides a full analysis of Africa’s trade flows and eco- nomic growth in 2019. It discusses currency fluctuations and commodity prices against the backdrop of global economic develop- ments, while also considering the impact of the unfolding Covid-19 crisis. The global trade situation has obviously been severely shaken by the pandemic but the trends, opportunities and challenges of 2019 will still be apparent this year and beyond.
The African continent as a whole registered growth of 3.6% last year, ahead of total global growth of 2.9%. Growth varied considerably across the continent, with Eastern Africa re- cording the strongest regional growth at 5.1%, including South Sudan’s recovery from its civil war and continued strong growth of 5.6% in Kenya. Elsewhere, Ghana just failed to make it into the list of the world’s ten fastest growing economies with a 6.1% rise in GDP, while Egypt managed 5.6%, partly on the back of huge investment in offshore gas projects.