WASHINGTON (AFP) — Sub-Saharan Africa is enjoying its strongest economic momentum in more than four decades, with some countries at last recording "substantial progress" in reducing poverty, the IMF said Wednesday.
The International Monetary Fund, in its biannual survey of the world economy, found that while African oil exporters are growing the fastest, "most other countries are also growing strongly and outperforming historic trends."
It said sub-Saharan Africa "is clearly enjoying its best period of sustained growth since independence" in the early 1960s and "faster growing countries in the region are making substantial progress in reducing poverty rates."
But the report also warned that the robust pace could slow if the global economy were to contract sharply, cutting demand for African commodity exports and imposing financial constraints.
The IMF said the economies of sub-Saharan Africa should expand at a rate of 6.1 percent this year, after 5.7 percent in 2006, and 6.8 percent in 2008 -- four tenths of a point faster than it foresaw in a July projection.
The report attributed the region's "growth success" to a generally healthy global economy, sound domestic policies and increased "openness" to the world on the part of many countries, which have now begun to attract more private investment capital.
It noted that African nations had also managed to diversify their export markets, finding new outlets in Asia for example.
But the IMF also urged sub-Saharan governments to carry on with reforms to improve their administration, develop infrastructure and strengthen the business environment.
The report finally said many countries should implement more flexible exchange rate regimes and make greater use of monetary policy.
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