Economic growth and development is a fundamental element to ensure higher living standards as well as a country’s competitiveness in the international economy. In order to achieve that, the country must sustain and promote innovation, competition, entrepreneurship, and diversity. However, in the history of the world, most of the economic developments have dominated in Europe and Asia, whereas Africa has remained to be the least ranked. Besides the many challenges facing African countries like the least developed economies, remarkable efforts and changes have been done to uplift the situation. In the recent past, some African countries have surpassed the threshold and have been ranked as the fastest growing economies in the planet as excellently explained hereafter.
GROWTH DISTRIBUTORS
There are a number of key factors that the growing African nations have adopted which have played a significant role to achieve success;
The best policy-making processes of these nations are indicative of their economic freedom. These policies have created platforms that allow good political and leadership processes which create a conducive environment for economic welfare since they regulate government spending, tax rates, product market, and credit.
Education systems are critical for long term-term prosperity and health of a country. Economic prosperity and growth depend on the available skills, values, and traits of the nation’s workforce. The labor force has the ability to improve efficiency and create new technologies to increase productivity and living standards.
Competition is key to enhance economic development and growth. Most African nations have positioned themselves well enough for the global market in order to stiffen the competition.
There is a considerable correlation that exists between rising income and economic growth. This is true despite the rise in income inequality in most developing economies in Africa.
ETHIOPIA
Ethiopia is a one-party state and is among the top 10 fastest growing countries and the second most populous nation in Africa. For more than a decade the Ethiopian economy has grown consistently with a GDP growth rate of 8% to 11% annually. The growth is driven by the nation’s government of sustained progress in the service and agricultural sectors as well as investment in infrastructure. More than 70% of the total Ethiopian population is employed in the agriculture sector, however, the service sector has surpassed agriculture and emerged as the main source of the country’s GDP. The state is highly committed and engaged in the economy. Most of the infrastructure projects are the construction of rails, airports, industrial parks, and power production and distribution. Power distribution, banking services, insurance, and telecommunication are the key sectors that are owned by the state. Under the current Ethiopian constitution, the land is wholly owned by the country which provides long-term leases to private sectors and tenants. Ethiopia’s service sector is the key element in foreign earnings, particularly state-owned Airlines. The country is committed to diversifying commodities and exports such as sesame, livestock, khat, horticultural products, and gold. However, coffee remained the largest foreign export commodity for decades. Although there is a lot being done in the manufacturing sector, it represented 8% of the total exports in 2016.
RWANDA
Rwanda is a rural country, agriculture being the backbone with about 63% of the total export earnings. Coffee, tourism, tea, and minerals are Rwanda’s major source of foreign exchange. Rwanda was ranked among the top 10 fastest growing economies in the world following its effective implementation of poverty reduction and economic development programs. 70% of the total population in Rwanda are employed in the agriculture sector. Universal health care is one of the milestone achievements of the Rwandese Government. The government is at its final stage of ‘National strategy transformation, the aim being governance, economic and social transformation towards the vision 2050.
COTE D’IVOIRE
Cote D’Ivoire is the world largest exporter of cocoa beans and a significant producer of palm oil and coffee. The nation is heavily dependent on agriculture, which engages close to 70% of the total population. Coffee, oil, and cocoa are the main contributors of GDP that has accumulated very fast in the last few decades hence ranking the nation among the fastest growing economies.
TANZANIA
Tanzania was ranked 10th according to the World Bank 2016 survey. The country achieved high growth rates from tourism and natural resource wealth with a GDP growth ranging from 6% to 7% annually. Tanzania has also transitioned to the market economy, through state involvement in sectors like banking, energy, mining, and telecommunications. The economy depends heavily on agriculture that produces more than 25% of its total GDP and employs 65% of the workforce.
CONCLUSION
Conclusively, African nations have grown remarkably in the past few decades despite the many challenges ranging from poor leadership, infrastructure, technology, and less per capita income. Congratulations to the countries that made it to the top 10 categories. The continent’s potential output is high, the environment is conducive and the land is ripe for investment, hopefully, more African countries will make it to this list.
