WB: Tanzania 2nd fastest economy in East Africa

Monday, 21 January 2013 23:13

By Victor Karega, The Citizen Correspondent   Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s economy will grow faster than Uganda, Kenya and Burundi in 2013, according to the World Bank (WB). Rwanda will grow the fastest in East Africa, according to the World Bank global economic prospect report. The report forecasts Rwanda to grow at 7.5 per cent while Tanzania’s economy is forecast to grow by 6.8 per cent. Uganda comes third with a growth forecast of 6.2 per cent as Kenya and Burundi come fourth and fifth at 4.9 per cent and 4.3 per cent respectively. According to the WB, sub Saharan Africa 2012 posted a GDP growth of 4.6 per cent in 2012 despite a slowdown in the global economy. “Indeed, excluding the region’s largest and most globally integrated economy - South Africa, GDP growth in the region was at a strong of 5.8 per cent in 2012, with a third of the countries in the region growing by at least 6 per cent,” reads part of the report. The growth is explained by the robust domestic demand, steady remittance flows and increased export volumes resulting from an increase in investment flows to the natural resource sector in 2012. The report says that economic activity was similarly diverse in the region (sub Sahara), reflecting robust growth prospects in the region thus raising private capital flows by 3.3 per cent to $54.5 billion in 2012. Exports grew strongly in the first half of the year; however, a sharp deceleration of industrial commodities and oil exports occurred in the third quarter. \Tourism, a key driver of growth in the region, remained robust, with strong tourist arrivals in many of the popular destinations, including South Africa, Mauritius, Sierra Leone, Madagascar and Cape Verde.