AfDB forecasts East Africa economies to grow by 4 pct in 2022

Nairobi, Kenya | Xinhua | The economies of the East African region are expected to grow by 4 percent in 2022, the African Development Bank (AfDB) said on Friday.

According to lender’s East Africa Regional Economic Outlook 2022, the region recorded a robust economic recovery in 2021, but most members are yet to achieve their pre-COVID-19 growth levels.

“The report projects that the region’s GDP growth will moderate at 4 percent in 2022 before recovering to 4.7 percent in 2023 buoyed by the reopening of the economies,” says the report which reviewed the economic performance of 13 members.

The report also discusses several policy interventions needed to boost East Africa’s post-COVID-19 recovery and build resilience against emerging vulnerabilities as well as the short, medium, and long term policy options for supporting climate resilience.

The findings show that the expected strong growth is not homogenous across the region, with top performers being Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania and Uganda.

According to the report, lingering political instability notably in Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan could weigh down on the region’s outlook, while at the same time several countries are faced with different climate change vulnerabilities.

“These impacts are becoming dynamic and are compounded by other shocks including commodity prices, health and insecurity which calls for enhanced contextual risk and vulnerability assessments to inform clear adaptation and mitigation measures,” the report says.