“With commodity prices expected to remain low for longer amid a gradual pickup in global activity, the Pulse forecasts that average growth in the region will remain subdued at 3.3% in 2016. For 2017–18, growth is projected to average 4.5%. The projected pickup in activity in 2017–18 reflects a gradual improvement in the region’s largest economies—Angola, Nigeria, and South Africa—as commodity prices stabilize and policies become more supportive of growth.”

“Post-Ebola recovery, aid-driven infrastructure investment and some limited growth in iron ore exports should help boost activity in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.”

Report main recommendations for African Governments : 1) Reform urban land markets (simplify property rights, strengthen city plans).

2) Coordinate early infrastructure investments while bringing scale by highlighting the Need for Common Knowledge.

For more information, Download the report.

African IPOs set to raise over USD3.1 billion* in 2016, more than any year since 2010- with Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa likely most active exchanges:

• Egypt looks set to be a particular bright spot for particularly retail, financial services and food sectors;
• Nigeria's in the tech, telco and transport sectors;
• South Africa will inevitably see more than the two deals in the pipeline come to fruition after 9 IPOs last year.

Mauritius continues to act as an offshore financial centre for Africa, while maintaining the region’s highest ranking on the "Ease of Doing Business", at 28 among 189 economies worldwide—followed by South Africa (43) and Rwanda (46).

London remains the key global financial centre for Africa.

Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia and Tanzania, in that order, are expected to grow the fastest in 2016 with GDP growth rates above 6.0%.

Cote d’Ivoire, Rwanda and Tanzania will continue to demonstrate robust growth—as they have are less affected by the commodity slowdown, thus will benefit from large- scale investment in infrastructure.

Kenya government’s recent calls for moderate fiscal consolidation, allowed the country to recently secure USD 1.5 billion precautionary deal with the IMF, showcasing steps in the right direction to reduce economic fragility.

The International Energy Association expects electricity generation in Africa to quadruple by 2040, and that almost half the growth will come from renewable.

To start a business in a Sub-Saharan African country, it takes on average 27.4 days compared to 9.2 days for OECD high-income countries.

Africa has 40% of the world’s biodiversity, 60% of its uncultivated arable land and bodies of water that are three times its land mass.

Africa remains a fringe player in global trade, accounting for a mere 3% of all global exports. Intra-African trade remains an unexploited opportunity, standing at around 13%, compared to 60% for Europe, 40% for North America and 30% for ASEAN.

Africa already features 15 trade blocs (also known as Regional Economic Communities or RECs) with two initiatives launched to bring harmonization and increase trade between African countries. The two initiatives are: the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) covering 26 countries and the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) covering 54 countries.

It has been reported that 136 bankable projects worth a combined total of $246 billion including a $5 billion crude oil pipeline development project in Uganda, $13.5 billion Mombasa-Kampala-Kigali railway and $341 million pineapple production and processing project in Ghana have been presented as investable opportunities.