– PRINT & DIGITAL PRESS
For the past 6 years, CT Productions has linked you to The Economist Group products and tailored services or communications. In those years we’ve also produced our supplement publication FOCUS, our in-house publication that gives us the ability to extend our creative prowess more. Alongside the launch of The World Ahead 2022 under license, we also showcased our first-ever FOCUS on Africa edition that will cover all the markets we are operating in.
– FOCUS on AFRICA
Launch of “FOCUS ON AFRICA” edition, 2022
Building resilience in an unpredictable world
Economic diversification is key to building sustainable and inclusive growth on the continent
Growth will be moderate in Africa this year, with the continent expecting to see an average GPD growth of 3.9%, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But economic recovery is extremely different from one place to another. While Rwanda will see a robust growth of 7%, Equatorial Guinea is going back into recession and is expecting a -5.6% in 2022, the world’s worst performance. Mauritius’ economy severely suffered from the Covid-19 pandemic because of its reliance on the flows of foreign tourists. Zambia took a U-turn. In an inspiration move for many African opposition leaders, Zambians elected H.E. Hakainde Hichilema to the Presidency of the country in 2021.
West African economies proved more resilient than others
2021, Nigeria managed to renew with economic growth and even posted a healthy +5.01% growth in Q2 2021. However, recovery was slowed down by decreasing oil production following years of under-investment and under-performance by aging infrastructure. However, levels of pledged foreign investment picked up towards the end of the year. Even as total announced investment fell from $29.9bn in 2019 to $16.7bn in 2020, the pace of commitments picked up over the course of 2020 and remained high in 2021.
In West Africa, 2021 showed the resilience of the region as most markets posted healthy recovery figures despite an unstable global climate. The region is positioning itself as a hub of African growth and hosts some of the continent’s strongest institutions such as the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Abidjan or the new Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in Accra.
