Southern Africa Quarterly Report 2nd Quarter-2014 Issue No.13

The Southern Africa region reported an acceleration of growth in over half of the countries in the second quarter of 2014. In five countries, growth either decelerated or stayed on course. Growth was strongest in Angola, which grew by 8.8 percent, driven by growth in non-oil activities in the construction and energy sectors; followed by Mozambique, which grew by 7.5 percent, supported by the acceleration of trade related activities, transport, telecoms, and manufacturing and electricity; and Zambia, which grew by 6.5 percent following strong public expenditure in social sectors and infrastructure.

However, there are downward risks in the 2015 growth outlook of Angola and Zambia, specifically the reduction in oil production in Angola due to low productivity of existing wells, and a large fiscal deficit in Zambia. Although falling below the Southern African Development Community (SADC) macroeconomic convergence target of seven percent, strong growth was recorded in Botswana and Namibia, driven by increased mineral production benefiting from favourable international prices of diamonds (in the case of Botswana) and strong construction activities in the mining and housing sectors (for Namibia). In Malawi, growth was boosted by strong performance of the agriculture sector following good maize and tobacco harvests, while in Mauritius, financial intermediation and a steady performance of the tourism sector supported second quarter growth.