Addis Ababa — The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) held an Africa Region launch of the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2016 on 26th January, 2016, at the United Nations Conference Centre, Addis Ababa.
WESP is a joint product of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN/DESA), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the five United Nations regional commissions (Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)). The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) also contributes to the report.
The opening remarks during the launch were delivered by Mr. Jimmy Ocitti, Director, Public Information and Knowledge Management Division (PIKMD) and Mr. Adam Elhiraika, Director, Macroeconomic Policy Division (MPD), who also presented the findings of the report which mainly focussed on the global and the Africa regional economic prospects and uncertainties.
WESP 2016 notes that the world economy stumbled in 2015 with a modest improvement projected in 2016/17, as a number of cyclical and structural headwinds persist. The world gross product grew by a mere 2.4 per cent in 2015, and forecast to grow by 2.9 per cent and 3.2 per cent in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
In Africa, the report notes that economic growth moderated to 3.7 per cent in 2015 compared with 3.9 per cent in 2014, and this growth was underpinned by private consumption and investment. Government spending, in particular on infrastructure projects, has also been positively contributing to growth over the period. The external balance has negatively impacted growth in 2015, mainly because of weak demand and volatile commodity prices. However, this impact is expected to soften in 2016 with growth increasing to 4.4 per cent. Africa's medium-term prospects remain positive despite the uncertainty in the global economy and the weakening of oil and commodity prices. Sub-regionally, economic growth is expected to accelerate in all African sub-regions in 2016 and 2017 compared to 2015.
The report also highlights the major risks and challenges for Africa moving forward, which include weaker growth in major trading and financing partners (such as China and the euro area), declining commodity prices and currency depreciations. Besides, increases in interest rates in the United States which could divert investment flows from Africa, weather-related shocks and security issues, are further risks to Africa's growth prospects.
The launch was attended by more than thirty participants including several representatives of media houses in Africa, policy makers and UN Staff from different Agencies.
For more information on WESP 2016, the report is available from http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/wesp/index.shtml
