Africa's Pulse, No. 17, April 2018

Africa's Pulse is a biannual publication containing an analysis of the near-term macroeconomic outlook for the region. Each issue also includes a section focusing upon a topic that represents a particular development challenge for the continent. It is produced by the Office of the Chief Economist for the Africa Region of the World Bank. Recent data point to a moderate strengthening of economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa in early 2018, according to the new Africa's Pulse, a bi-annual analysis of the state of African economies conducted by the World Bank. Growth is projected to pick up to 3.1 percent in 2018, and to firm to an average of 3.6 percent in 2019-20. This upswing reflected, on the supply side, rising oil and metals production, encouraged by recovering commodity prices and improving agricultural conditions following droughts. On the demand side, domestic demand was the main driver of last year's growth, reflecting a rebound in consumer spending as inflation moderated, and a recovery in fixed investment as economic activity picked up among oil and metals exporters.