By Joseph Akwiri
MOMBASA, Kenya Aug 7 (Reuters) – Africa’s growth could rise
to 7 percent by the year 2015 Driven by a rush of investors
attracted by its drive to improve its infrastructure, the head
of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) in Africa
said.
Ranked as the poorest continent in the world, Africa has
posted strong growth rates of about 5 percent in recent years,
second only to Asia, drawing rising inward investment.
Although Africa may have enviable economic growth rates by
global standards, they are still not enough to pull its growing
population out of poverty.
The IMF revised down its growth forecasts for Africa in 2012
to 5.4 percent, lower than previous forecasts.
Corruption and civil wars are also likely to puncture the
momentum in several African countries, officials said at an
African leadership meeting in Mombasa.
Many African countries had embarked on rehabilitation and
construction of vital infrastructure systems that were quickly
attracting investors locally and internationally, Tegegnework
Gettu, who heads the United Nations Development Programme’s
(UNDP) Africa Bureau, told a conference in Mombasa on Tuesday.
“Investment in Africa has gone up to 15 Percent in the last
five years alone. This is a remarkable achievement. Africa is so
far the fastest growing continent globally. We need to keep this
spirit. We need to hasten our infrastructural development,
because this is the time for Africa,” Gettu said.
“At the port in Singapore it takes 8 minutes to clear a
ship, in Kenya it takes hours, even days sometimes. Those are
the issues we should be dealing with and am glad most African
countries including Kenya are on course,” he added.
Continued…
