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Growth Slowed In 2015 For DRC To 7.7 Percent

Growth Slowed In 2015 For DRC To 7.7 Percent

From AfricaNews. Story by Ken Karuri.

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) recorded a decrease in its economic growth of 7.7 percent for 2015 from a high of 9.2 percent in 2014, the African Development Bank said in a report released Wednesday.

In its African Economic Outlook report, AfDB said growth during the period was derived mainly from mining, transportation, telecommunications and manufacturing sectors.

The bank also projected the economy to continue with its downward trend in 2016 with growth decelerating to 7 percent before rebounding to 8 percent in 2017.

AfDB said acceleration would be based on a gradual recovery in the mining industry, the revitalization of the agricultural sector with the implementation of agro-industrial parks and the rapidly expanding services sector.

A slump in global prices of commodities has hit DRC’s mining industry, which has been forced to scale back production in the crucial sector.

Mining contributed 4.7 percent to the country’s GDP growth in 2014, and contributed a similar percentage from 2010 to 2013, according to Congo’s Central Bank.

Uncertainty on whether the country will hold elections this year has alarmed foreign investors.

DRC has been one of sub-Saharan Africa’s strongest performers in terms of real GDP growth over the past five years, as the economy recovered after a civil war that ended in 2003.

Read more at AfricaNews.