São Paulo – The crisis of the Euro zone may reduce the growth of the African continent by 1.3% in 2012, according to a report by the World Bank, disclosed by African news agency Panapress. In South Africa, the rate of unemployment remains at 24% and in Tanzania extreme poverty reaches 35% of the population, according to the document undersigned by World Bank vice president Obiageli Ezekwesili.
The report suggests that Africa would not be facing such a serious problem if it had developed regional integration. The African continent needs to eliminate trade barriers between its countries, mainly neighbouring ones, to increase revenues, says the financial institution, recalling that that was not done in the past.
According to the organisation, barriers “bar the continent from new sources for economic growth and employment, increasing poverty”. To the bank, trade barriers with neighbouring nations motivate exchange between Africa and the rest of the world and cause losses of "billions of dollars".
"It is evident that Africa has not reached its regional trade potential,” says the document. According to the report, obstacles to free trade in the region mainly affect small businesses
"It is now up to the heads of African nations to move from words to actions and to work together to harmonize policies, the institutional framework and mobilize the necessary investment to establish a strong regional market, according to the aspirations of the continent, of its inhabitants and of its US$ 2 billion economy,” says the report.
The document recalls that before the beginning of the financial crisis, most Sub-Saharan African countries were growing above the global average. This was, however, mainly due to the expansion in raw-material prices, as the countries are exporters of products like ores, sold to China and India.
*Translated by Mark Ament
