Reports: African economies gather momentum in 2015; South Africa seen as a drag on the continent

In their uneven economic rise, African economies will gather momentum in 2015 and next year, three prominent organizations said in a joint report released Monday. 

Challenges persist, though. While some countries, like Nigeria and Angola, have been hit by low oil prices, others are experiencing growing pressure from popular demands for a more evenly spread economic empowerment across society.

Africa’s economies will expand 4.5% in 2015 and 5% in 2016, according to the annual African Economic Outlook report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the African Development Bank and the United Nations Development Programme.

The report noted that while the trend signals the continent's economies will return to closely tracking emerging Asian ones as the world’s fastest-growing regions, progress is patchy and precarious.

While East Africa is fuelling the continent’s growth, growing by 5.6% this year, West African economies are expected to show an impressive recovery from the Ebola epidemic with 5% growth in 2015.

Southern Africa, however, once the continent’s economic leader mainly because of South Africa’s performance, is now becoming a drag on the continent’s growth.

In 2015, the region will grow by 3.1%, according to the report, well below the 4.5% continental average for the same period.

South Africa’s poor impact is underscored by the fact that Southern Africa would have grown 4.6%, were South Africa excluded from the calculations. As report says, Africa’s second-largest economy by gross domestic product is seen growing 2%, as it has been hampered by large-scale labor disputes and energy shortages, frequently leaving its key mining sector without electricity.

The joint reports also highlights that Africa's growth has been dogged by a number of factors, including hesitant global economy and political and social conflicts. Over the last two years, public protests and violence remained at all-time highs, fueled by citizens’ demands for better allocation of wealth and fairer chances regarding jobs and salaries.

In the context of fast demographic growth, governments are put under pressure, as public discontent over living standards urges authorities to provide viable answers.