The cotton sector in Mali is facing major challenges to overcome, with low export prices, technical hurdles, and a poorly performing state-owned cotton ginner. Some reforms, most notably with regard to the setting of the farmgate procurement price, have already been undertaken, but more is...

Tanzania’s economic growth continues to be buoyant. The planned monetary policy tightening is aimed at entrenching gradual disinflation. Executive Directors recommend further enhancing the degree of exchange rate flexibility, and the fiscal deficit reduction envisaged in the draft budget...

Tanzania’s macroeconomic outlook is favorable with buoyant growth and declining inflation. The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) commended its prudent policy management and progress in stabilizing the economy. The country’s 2012–13 budget appropriately...

Limited diversification is an underlying characteristic of many low-income countries (LICs). Concentration in sectors with limited scope for increases in productivity and quality may result in less broad-based and sustainable growth. Moreover, lack of diversification may increase exposure to...

Is rapid economic growth experienced by the East African Community during the past decade built on solid foundations? To gain some clues, we use a variety of newly-collected and existing data sources to analyze the structural transformation of output and exports, as well as indicators of their...

The inclusiveness of growth depends on the extent of access to economic and social opportunities. This paper applies the concept of social opportunity function to ascertain the inclusiveness of growth episodes in selected African countries. Premised on the concept of social welfare function,...

KEY ISSUES Macroeconomic developments remain favorable. Economic growth was strong during the first half of 2014 and is expected to remain close to 7 percent. Inflation remains in mid-single digits, consistent with the authorities’ target of 5 percent by June 2015. New national accounts...