China is still in favour

THE slowdown in the Chinese economy is not necessarily bad news for Africa, says Mthuli Ncube, chief economist and vice-president of the African Development Bank.

China, which has grown at more than 10% over the past 30 years, has invested heavily in Africa, brushing aside suggestions of “economic colonialism”.

It reported 7.5% growth in GDP in the second quarter of the year, which, however, was met with a measure of disappointment by the market.

But Ncube does not see this as a big risk yet.

“We should not underestimate China’s resilience because it has a huge domestic market and there is still huge potential for an upside.

“The drive that we’re seeing around SME support [shows] there is a lot of domestic demand to be unlocked in China,” he said.

The African Development Bank released its African Economic Outlook report this week.

The bank predicted that South Africa would show up as the fifth-slowest-growing economy in Africa next year.

The bank put the country’s growth prospects at 3.2% for next year, well below the 5.3% expected real GDP growth for Africa as a whole.

It is expected that the continent’s fastest-growing economy next year will be Libya at a rate of 11.6%. — Mamello Masote