African Development Bank says risks to growth ‘increasing by the day’

(Dar Es Salaam) REUTERS: The U.S.-China trade war and uncertainty over Brexit pose risks to Africa’s economic prospects that are “increasing by the day,” the head of the African Development Bank (AfDB) told Reuters.

The trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies has roiled global markets and unnerved investors as it stretches into its second year with no end in sight.
Britain, meanwhile, appears to be on course to leave the European Union on Oct. 31 without a transition deal, which economists fear could severely disrupt trade flows.

Akinwumi Adesina, president of the AfDB, said the bank could review its economic growth projection for Africa - of 4 percent in 2019 and 4.1 percent in 2020 - if global external shocks accelerate.

“We normally revise this depending on global external shocks that could slowdown global growth and these issues are increasing by the day,” Adesina told Reuters late on Saturday on the sidelines of the Southern African Development Community meeting in Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

“You have Brexit, you also have the recent challenges between Pakistan and India that have flared off there, plus you have the trade war between the United States and China. All these things can combine to slow global growth, with implications for African countries.”

The bank chief said African nations need to boost trade with each other and add value to agricultural produce to cushion the impact of external shocks.

“I think the trade war has significantly impacted economic growth prospects in China and therefore import demand from China has fallen significantly and so demand for products and raw materials from Africa will only fall even further,” he said. “It will also have another effect with regard to China’s own outward-bound investments on the continent,” he added, saying these could also affect official development assistance.